David Flynn is no stranger to endurance running. In a sense, he’s been chasing epic for a long time. But when he heard about human trafficking happening in SE Asia, he knew that he needed to dedicate his next adventure to raising funds for this cause. He’d chase epic by attempting to break the fastest known time on the Superior Hiking Trail. We recently caught up with David to ask him about his experience. Listen to the full interview below, or read the consolidated transcript.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Q: Alright, David what did you set out to do?
I set out to get the fastest known time on the Superior Hiking Trail. It runs along Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota and it’s about 310 miles. I was trying to beat the “supported” record, which is 4 days, 9 hours.
Q: Why did you want to do this?
So a couple reasons: First, maybe a touch of insanity. Second, I had gone for it last year and made it about 140 miles before dropping. Last year I decided about two weeks beforehand to go for it. So, you know, I got beat up, got knocked down, but wanted to get up and give it another shot. Last year we raised money for a charity helping the homeless and this year we wanted to make it happen for a good cause as well.
Q: How did it go?
The first day I think we did 70 or so miles, and then the second day it was about 60. (David did 60 miles more on day 3, and 10 miles on day 4 before deciding to stop)
We did a lot more things right this year and went a lot faster. My coach, Jeremy, really trained me well with building speed and turning that into endurance. I was very grateful for that piece of it.
It went a lot better in terms of performance. I think the breakdown was with my knees and ankles falling apart (The SHT is considered a “technical trail” with lots of rocks and roots to navigate).
My feet stayed put together a lot better this year; Thanks to, well, I give a lot of credit to venture socks! So that was fantastic!
Overall, I’m sad and disappointed that I couldn’t take the whole thing but I’m starting to see the fruits of it, and am becoming more grateful for the accomplishment of making it 200 miles.
Q: And part of the fruit of that was the funds that you raised for Venture’s anti-trafficking border patrol operation. You raised about $3,400 – that’s an awesome accomplishment on top of making it 200 miles! Do you feel like it was worth it?
Oh yeah, definitely. It was a great joy to be able to take part in it and learn more about the cause throughout the process. I said yes early on to Jeremy about partnering with Venture and raising funds. Even on the trail during the attempt, I got to listen to Jeremy talk to my other pacers about the cause and how the funds were going to be impacting anti-trafficking in Southeast Asia; it was pretty awesome and definitely motivating in some of the dark spots. It helped me keep pushing through because of that. I wish I could have taken more money from people with the per mile pledges, but I guess that’s for next time! haha.
“…the funds were going to be impacting anti-trafficking in Southeast Asia; it was pretty awesome and definitely motivating in some of the dark spots. It helped me keep pushing through because of that.”
David Flynn
Q: There we go. We’ll get them next time! You mentioned some dark spots. What was the lowlight for you (outside of not making it the full 310 miles)?
Yeah, I think towards the end it was pretty dark, not only in terms of light, but I think the ability to not run anymore and just the general toll and exhaustion on the body was pretty tough to deal with. And, yeah, the pain in a lot of ways was tough to handle and it came about in a lot of different ways: I mentioned joints, but my tongue was also having a heck of a time.
Q: What happened to your tongue?
You know, I don’t know if it was the Tailwind or just the amount of eating or too many Doritos but it just wasn’t fun to have stuff in my mouth. It wasn’t really swollen, but it was tough to have it open and it was tough to have it closed. There wasn’t really a sweet spot with that. Sort of a silly thing to have hurting, but it hurt!
Q: What would you say is the highlight for you?
There were a lot of highlights. In general, it was a blast to have everyone up there together and to see connections being made; even though I was way out of it in my mind, I could still sense people were enjoying one another’s company in the outdoors. I think also there were a lot of moments when people pushed beyond what they thought was possible to pace for me.
There were a couple of guys that hadn’t run much or hadn’t exercised much recently and they just busted out 10-12 miles with me, just kind of on a dime. Maybe one or two of them threw up (haha), but they still did it. So, you know, I’m trying to really reach my level of hard and the threshold of what I can do, but they pushed themselves as well, which was awesome and inspiring.
Q: That’s so awesome. And finally, the question that plagues all endurance athletes, what’s next?
Everest? Haha. No, I don’t know. Well, I’m signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon, so I might try to qualify for Boston there. That’d be a great hurdle to leap! I’m toying with the idea of some more ultras, but certainly down the road I’m going for the Superior Hiking Trail again; because I can be knocked down for sure, but to get up is the most important part and I want to take on that wicked trail again at some point.
Q: Any parting thoughts that you have for the Venture community?
I’m just grateful. I really am just grateful for all the support. I know I don’t know too many in the Venture community yet, but I do look forward to future events and getting to know people more within it. The people I have met and gotten to know, it’s been a real pleasure. So I’m grateful and I’m proud to be part of the community and thankful for the prayers.