S6E3 -- Steve King : Ask Me Anything!

Steve King is a foundational guest on this podcast.  Even though he appeared in the first three episodes (S1E1) (S1E2) (S1E3), I am not sure that we know all about this man.  So, I hosted an online Zoom meeting for anyone who wanted to show up and partake in the AMA with Steve.  

This episode is the recording from that meeting.  You can just look down at the resources and people mentioned to see what a wide variety of questions there was.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ultra TriFest Canada
• Ultra 515 World Wide Championships
• Paris Olympics 2024
• Finding Ultra (book)
• Greenwood to Midway
• Penticton Pounders 
• Peach Classic Triathlon
• International Ultra Triathlon
• Faceplants to Finish Lines (Podcast)
• Comrades Marathon
• Badwater
• World 100km Championships
• UM Australia
• UM World Championships
• UM Canada
• UltraCzech 515
• Ultra 520K Canada
• Ultra Tri 515 RD
• Run for One Planet
• UM Canada 
• IM Canada
• UM Florida
• Otillo Swim Run Whistler
• Vasaloppet 
• World Police and Fire Games
• Commonwealth Games 
• FitSpeek Podcast
• Haney to Harrison 100km
• Detachment Technique 

Shout outs and mentions in this episode:

• Rick Kent (S3E8)
• Evan Dunfee
• Eddy Merckx
• Axel Merckx
• Tom Bosworth
• Cowman A-Mooha
• Rich Roll
• Ron Zalko
• Lynn Van Ert  
• Lucy Ryan (S2E5)
• Chad Bentley (S1E1)
• Tony Davis 
• Sister Madonna Buder
• Jeff Morris (S5E13)
• Simon Cochrane (S4E8)
• Steven Ledger 
• Shane Duffy (S4E5)
• Armando Armelini  (S4E9)
• Maksim Kniazev  (S1E4)
• Petr Vabrousek (S2E2)
• Dede Greisbauer  (S3E13) 
• Michelle Vesterby (S5E13)
• Kate Bevilaqua (S5E10)
• Chris MacDonald 
• Kurt Madden (S5E3)
• Ardis Bow
• Scott Molina
• Richard Thompson
• Matt Hill 
• Jean King
• Stephanie Tait
• Amy Van Tassel 
• Van Sanchez (S2E13)
• Ana Gallardo Avila
• Tony O’Keeffe (S6E6)
• Dan Bodden
• Ryan McKenzie
• Jane Bockus (S1E4)
• Sheryl Cobb
• Dave Cobb
• Miro Kregar
• Jochen Dembeck
• Marty Raymond
• Peter Mueller 
• Jen Annett
• Barry Berg (S1E9)
• Dale Tiessen 
• Brian McKeever 
• Kieiren Perkins 
• Kevin Heinze (S4E11)
• Tim Franklin
• Gail Laux
• Ferg Hawke (S3E10)
• Rick Hansen 
• Filip Vabrousek
• Arnaud Selukov (S2E3)
• Mika Selukov
• Peter Kotland 
• Eric Seedhouse
• Rick and Dick Hoyt

Show Contributors:
Host : Larry Ryan 
Contributing Raconteur : Steve King
Announcer : Mary Jo Dionne
Production : 5Five Enterprises
Music  :  Run by 331

For show notes and past guests, please visit the Podcast Website: https://515theultrapodcast.buzzsprout.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/515TheUltraPodcast
Insta : 515theultrapodcast
Email : 515Ultraman@gmail.com

Transcript

Larry 0:00

Hello, listener. I want to remind you to check out my new Ultra Trifest coming to Whistler, British Columbia in August 2025. It has five racing formats to choose from, and the feature event will be the new Ultra 515 Worldwide Championships, in which racers from every 515 race in the world may attend. Get all the details at UltratrifestCanada.com and feel free to contact me personally with any questions. Thanks to everyone who joined us. Just before we get to Steve, I wanted to take a minute to talk directly to you about this podcast. Earlier this year, 515 the Ultra Podcast was downloaded in the Cook Islands, which was the 100th country in the world that has downloads. That's just insane. It amazes me that people in over 100 countries listen to this. First of all, because you must have an understanding of English. It's not like I have translations. And secondly, because we all know how niche the Ultraman community is. So another milestone was recently reached. And I have to say once again that I am just blown away. It's because of listeners like you who tell their friends to listen that the podcast has grown. So I really must thank you. And also ask that you continue to be my advocate to your ultra and Iron Man friends. Despite reaching this new milestone, I'm sure that there are untapped Iron Man fanatics out there who would also find this podcast interesting. So, what is this new milestone you're asking? 2000. Two freaking thousand. This little podcast with its amazing guests that tell stories about their lives and their ultra adventures has now been downloaded from 2,000 different cities in the world. How crazy is that? If you've been here from the beginning, subscribe to the feed and listen to every episode, I truly appreciate you and I am sure that I owe you a debt of gratitude for sharing this with your friends. And if you are new to 515, I appreciate you as well because I know that people have lots of choices when it comes to podcasts. It is said that there are now over 5 million podcasts out there. The fact that you take the time to listen to me and my guests while doing those long workouts, it's not something that I take lightly. I know that you choose to spend your time with this podcast, and that is why I do my best to produce the best sounding product possible when I spend time creating this. But I get to speak with these amazing people and catch up with old friends. So it's also fulfilling and fun. I know it could all be gone at any moment when the next shiny thing comes along. So please, whether you are new or you've been here since the beginning, please do not hesitate to reach out to tell me how I can be better or who I need to have on the show. 2,000 cities in over a hundred countries is truly amazing. And I want these stories of the Ultra Family to continue to reach more and more people. So, 515 listeners, thank you, thank you, thank you. Now let's hear from our friend Steve King. Stealing from David Letterman, my next guest needs no introduction. Everyone in this audience knows and loves Mr. Steve King. Welcome back to the podcast, Steve.

Steve King 4:42

Thanks very much, Larry. Happy to be here.

Larry 4:44

Yeah, thank you for uh offering your time to take part in this special 515 event where we have listeners joining in to ask you their questions in this ask me anything format. Um I figured as the host, I'm gonna just uh take the reins here and ask the first question of you. Obviously, I feel like I've asked you many of these questions or many questions in the past. We did the three episodes together at the beginning of the podcast, episodes one, two, and three. You were generous enough to give me your time and and we went through a lot of your life and a lot of your accomplishments. But I do have a couple extra questions that we didn't get to during then. So I'm gonna start off with those if you're okay with that. You bet. So, my my first question is how do you remember so much about so many that you can just pull some of this stuff out of the top of your head sometimes?

Steve King 5:37

Well, interesting. Uh, just as before we began, uh Rick and I were talking, he mentioned a name, and for the life of me, I couldn't remember who he was referring to because I thought he was referring to triathlon, and uh he was talking about someone who was running around the world, or purportedly was at that time. Uh and now it makes sense. So I tend to think of it in blocks. Uh, I can focus in on different events because I've been to some events many, many times, and therefore you get to know the players or the runners or uh triathletes, etc. Um, and it's purely because I have a fascination and a passion for it. Uh, there are quite a few sports that I I'm not overly keen on, and therefore I don't remember too much about. But uh when it comes to Olympic Games, when it comes to uh national championships, uh I man, those are the sports I'm really keen on, and ultra man, of course, and therefore I spend a lot of time pouring over information from the internet and uh reading whatever books I can or magazines on the subject.

Larry 6:42

Yeah, and you brought up one of the things that I was going to ask you about as well. This episode will be airing shortly before the Paris Olympics. What are you looking forward to and seeing at the Olympics? Because I know you are a big fan.

Steve King 6:54

I am, and uh, so what I've been doing the last couple of nights, and I will again this evening, I'll be uh watching the trials from the U.S. uh for swimming and diving and track and field. Track and field is my uh main love and triathlon, of course. I'll get into that. So um I have to devise my work schedule around the actual Olympics because I can sit up for 24-7 watching those.

Larry 7:19

Yeah, yeah. I'm actually going to be going over to France during that time.

Steve King 7:23

Oh, lucky you. So you'll be able to see Evan race walking at least.

Larry 7:27

I will be there banging on the side for Evan as he goes by, yes, multiple times. I envy you. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Yeah.

Larry 7:35

Um, uh one more question from me, and then we'll open it up to some of the people that have sent in questions and that are joining us here on the Zoom today. Um, when people meet you, it's it's become a big deal. I I know one of the guests in the Zoom right now, it was a big deal for her back in the day. Um who who have you met through competition that maybe you were a little starstruck, like athlete-wise, maybe when you were younger or even even now? Who have you met that just you were starstruck with?

Steve King 8:06

Probably the biggest one where I acted just like a little kid uh was Eddie Merckx. Uh, when Eddie Merckx was here because we had the grand fondo, the event had just finished and Eddie and Axel were walking away, and I hadn't had a chance to speak to Eddie. I we had had a breakfast, uh, but really didn't get a chance. And I ran over and said, Do you mind if I get a photo with you guys? You know, because I have admired him, obviously, for many, many years. So I would say that was the most star strike I was, but it's been a pleasure meeting anybody because everyone's got stories, and there's been all sorts of people. I mean, you know, I'm a big fan of Evan Dunfey, for instance. Uh, I really appreciate what he's done for the sport and what an incredible athlete he is. I, in fact, watched something just last night where Tom Bosworth, who's uh just received, I believe it was an MBE in England, he was their number one racewalker and uh still holds, I think, the mile record at 531 for racewalking. And this gentleman wanted to see just how fast uh racewalkers were. So he went to the track and uh with Tom Bosworth and was shown how to race walk. And the guy said, Oh, so I I should be able to at least finish in 85 seconds, one lap. And Tom was a bit hesitant. And anyway, the guy went round as quick as he could, and he was two minutes and 25 seconds. And then he realized, you know, because I know Rick used to racewalk as well. You realize just how phenomenal that is. So I I've also had the pleasure of meeting many swimmers, great triathletes, you know, track and field athletes, and I'm just so in awe of uh the performances. And I love to hear story as well. There are many athletes that have done Ultraman, for instance, that have amazing backstories. And so uh, and then you run into people over the years, uh like someone like Cowman, for instance, who uh was an incredible uh gentleman. I always liked him, and he came here and with his horns on and Amuha, uh, you know, uh, and sadly we lost him. It was talking about people who are no longer with us. We just lost him a while ago. And uh, but a character, you get people who are just great characters out there as well. And then you get people like Rich Roll, who did Ultraman and now is now known worldwide because uh he wrote that book, Fighting Ultra. And a lot of people have said it was as a result of that book that I've ended up doing Ultraman, for instance. So uh people have a lot going for them outside of the sport, and for others, a sport is the number one focus.

Larry 10:40

Yeah, and and I get a chance to talk to these people and hear all these stories with the podcast and and share those stories with everybody. So that's that's why I keep doing this. I really enjoy it. And and you're right, finding ultra is probably the most common way that people find out about Ultraman, and and that has come up multiple times, yeah. Okay, well, let's open this up to some of the guests in the Zoom meeting today. Uh, I think first of all, I'm gonna go to this gentleman who was on in season three with me, episode eight. It is the most downloaded of all of the episodes I've done so far. So you you're number one. Um, Mr. Rick Kent, what's your question for Steve King?

SPEAKER_08 11:27

Oh, thank you. Thank you a lot. Steve, you know, I um your race announcing is is how most people, I would imagine, know you. They know the name Steve King from race announcing. How long ago was it that you did start kind of getting into doing the race announcing? Yeah, because race.

Steve King 11:54

Yeah. Well, what happened is um when I came from England to live permanently in Pentikton, there were no races going on. We had a charity walk, and that was about it. And so I used to run that. But then I decided to try and set up a running club because we went to an event, it was called the Greenwood to Midway, it was an eight-mile event, and um there were like 120 people or something in the race. And afterwards I realized once they were giving out awards, there were probably 20 people there that came from Penticton or the area. So I decided to form a running club, and uh we did, and that's the Penticton Pounders, and it's still going strong. And this was in 1981, and so it was necessary to start putting on races. So uh Gina and I and a couple of others, so we put on our lake to lake race, amongst others. Then we had our um what we called the sun run at the time, which was 16.65 kilometers. Uh, and and so we began putting on races, and um now we have the blossom, it was became the blossom 10 mile, and now it's a 13k. And that was in uh 1981. So what happened is because I was uh a decent runner at the time, uh I would race and finish and grab the ballhorn, and so it started from there. Um 1983, uh we had our Peach Classic uh triathlon, which is still going, and that was the first triathlon in the Okanagan Valley. And uh a month after that we had the International Ultra Tri, which was uh became I Man Canada in 1986. So that was 83, 84, 85. It was uh by a different name, but it was the same distances.

SPEAKER_08 13:36

I I signed up for that, by the way. Mm-hmm.

Steve King 13:39

But you never turned up.

SPEAKER_08 13:41

I wasn't able to come up there. And it was freezing temperatures, wasn't it?

Steve King 13:45

Uh well, 84 was, yes. Um 83 wasn't too bad, but 84 was freezing. I'll tell you a little about that in a moment. Uh uh, but as a result of doing that, like that morning, they they said uh it Ron Zalkow Lim Van Dove as it was at the time, Lim Van Eert. Um they asked if I would do the announcing that day for I Man. And so I I I I had some other plans at the time, but uh obviously being asked, I thought about it and agreed. And so uh that's when I did the first uh I-Man commentary as well. And after that, a number of people asked me if I could come uh to their events, including cross-country skiing. So I still do quite a few cross-country ski events as well, but that's where it all began, basically 1981 onwards.

SPEAKER_08 14:31

Well, you certainly have a love for it.

Steve King 14:34

Mm-hmm. That's very true. And I appreciate what you've done over the years, uh, not only as friends, but you got me down to Texas a few times here because I love the events that were held down there, except the one time when it got flooded, and that was just unbelievable. Yeah, 3,000 athletes having to be moved. It was just amazing how that operation worked. And you got to see Steve uh Leon Russell. Absolutely, yes. Wasn't that a treat? So, yeah, I'm glad you remember that. That was a highlight as well.

Larry 15:06

All right, thanks, Rick. I appreciate that. Maybe stick around when we might come back for a second question from you.

SPEAKER_08 15:12

We do have a thank you.

Larry 15:16

We do have another guest here in the in the Zoom meeting who has also been on the show in the past. Uh, somebody who I'm quite familiar with. Uh, she was on in season two, episode five. Uh, and this is Lucy Ryan. And Lucy, you were recently on Chad Bentley's new podcast, Face Plants to Finish Lines. Um, I listened to that. Uh, we have uh another person just joining us at the moment who's also been on that podcast. And of course, Chad Bentley is another Ultraman, uh, part of the Ohana. And uh you and he were discussing how the two of you got involved in the early days back then. And both of you, of course, had uh an admiration for Steve King as well. So now you're back on here and and you and Steve have become good friends. What what is the question that you have for Steve King that you might not have had a chance to ask in the past?

SPEAKER_11 16:13

Well, Larry, I was gonna ask that question. I was gonna ask you this question, Steve. What what is your favorite race? And then Larry piped up and said, Oh, I know the answer to that question. It's comrades.

Steve King 16:28

Ah, yeah. In terms, yeah, in terms of having done the race, um uh I would I would say as an ultra, that would be along with Badwater, in terms of you know, the um uh the character of the event. But comrades, I looked at the results again this year, and uh it's so fast what those some guys at the front are doing. It was won by a Dutchman in like five hours, 25 minutes, and that's 90 kilometers, you know, and to see uh the speed, uh it's just phenomenal. And trying to get in the top 500, which was my goal, and thank goodness I made it. But when you think of you know 20,000 people doing a 90k race, uh it's something else. But I often say to people, if you if you're down to one thing, which I was at the time, um, when I was looking at the end of my career, I was thinking of what races would I regret not doing if if I backed off right now? And Comrades and Death Valley were the two events that immediately came to mind. And uh they're both superb. So if anyone ever gets a chance, uh I would urge you to think about it, especially our popular ultras now are.

SPEAKER_11 17:40

Well, I'll turn that into the next question because that wasn't really a question. Um so okay, I'm gonna do the opposite. What was your worst race? What yeah. Oh, see, okay, as an athlete, it's hard to pick out a worse race because we all learn from them, and at least we're getting some training in if you can't get anything else in, like the finish line. Um, so what what race did you find challenging?

Steve King 18:11

Well, I would say my worst race from uh uh the perspective of not enjoying it much and things going haywire uh would be the World 100K Championships in Holland some years back. Um I was fined for probably 60, 70k, and then not not only did the wheels come off, but it got really cold. They didn't start till like uh two in the afternoon or something. And uh I was just wearing a singlet and we were next to a canal and winds came up and I couldn't get enough um in me to to keep going. And I I started to uh uh ease down thinking, well, I'll get my mind together. And I I got to 87 kilometers and everything went spinny. I I literally fell against uh a railing and I remember someone yelling at me and and I said, Can you help me please? I remember that. And um then I I was in an ambulance and in the hospital, wow, and it sort of really knocked me for a loop uh because I'd never experienced that level of dehydration before, but I I was shaking like a leaf for ages after that. Um, and it was because I think we did 10 loops of 10k, something like that. It was, I think it was 10 loops, and I'd gotten onto the uh penultimate one and uh having to go another few K, if I had picked up more earlier, I would have done better, let's put it that way. Um I I won't go into more detail other than other than to say uh maybe a little extra planning on my part would have been it good, but that that was certainly one of them. And then you look at you know, time-wise, what was your worst experience, maybe? But sometimes time-wise doesn't reflect the experience you have, because on a time event, uh say Iron Man, my worst ever time was pretty obvious, it was 16 hours, 41 minutes, or something, and that was my worst time by like uh six hours. However, it was the best time ever because I was with a dear friend, uh Tony Davis, and Tony hadn't been able to complete the event many years earlier. I was uh fortunate enough to be able to persuade him to take on the challenge one more time. I said, Well, you can beat me on the swim, you can beat me off the bike, and I can uh get up to you on the run and we'll just walk together. And we did. And I'm happy to say, because I think she was like 82 at the time, we beat Sister Madonna Buddha by uh 10 seconds.

unknown 20:52

Oh, no way.

Steve King 20:54

But it but it was the it was the it was the most enjoyable worst performance I've ever had. Let's put it that way. Yeah, and and Tony finished. I was so so proud and pleased uh that he he wrapped up his day and can call himself an Iron Man.

SPEAKER_11 21:10

Oh, that's great.

Steve King 21:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 21:12

Great stories, thank you.

Steve King 21:14

Thank you for the question. I appreciate it.

Larry 21:17

Thanks, Lucy. Thanks for that. Yeah, that that's it's it's always good to hear some of the the not so great stories as well. Um, we've had a few more people come and join us in in the Zoom. I I know one of them is at work and is on a different time zone. So I I think I might jump ahead to him. He's also been on the podcast a couple times, a couple times in the last season, doing a preview show with me and part of the round table that we had. So um Jeff, if you want to unmute over there in Australia, say hi to Steve. And uh, what's your question, Jeff Morris from Ultraman Australia?

SPEAKER_06 21:56

Uh good morning, Steve, and good morning to everyone. Well, good morning from Australia. Australia started my work week over here.

SPEAKER_05 22:02

I just wanted to um have Steve's take on being in Australia last year for uh Simon Cochran's world record. Um given how heavy that performance was, what um I guess what are some of the other amazing athletic performances you've seen? You know, obviously Simon stands out, but are other athletes that have pushed themselves or something of that ilk um around the world or at our race and what it felt like to be there for Simon's performance across those three days?

Steve King 22:33

Yeah, I'm really pleased you would ask me that sort of question as well, because I tell you, uh you had to be there, and you you were lucky enough to be there and to to see what he did. Um I'm not sure if everyone's aware, but I think it was what 1948, uh 47 was his overall time. And uh he came out with the second fastest swim ever there as well, with a 227, and then set a fastest time on the bike day one with a 357, I think it was, and then uh um was it six hours 24 minutes for day one? And he just continued to break the records. Uh uh and he he did, in fact, the second fastest uh bike spit on day two, but he and Steve Ledger were like four minutes apart, and they were they were one and two uh in terms of the fastest uh bikers that you had ever seen over the years. And then you look at that um overall two-day total for him, it was uh the only person who's ever gone inside 14 hours. And then he ran a new record by like 22, 23 minutes on the run. I think it was uh 6.06. So um it was absolutely phenomenal. And I I think we all knew that he would do extraordinarily well, uh, but to to wrap it up the way he did, and and then for him to have to do three events inside the course of a year in order to get to the world championships and set three records uh in those events because he was then told, you know, you've got to do uh Ultraman Canada, and there he set a new record as well, uh, and then went to Hawaii and set a new record, and you go, that is phenomenal. Um even though we talk about a number of people who have done uh three in uh a 12-month period, and now we've got uh Shane Duffy from Australia who did six, you know, Armando with four. Uh, and then you've got even I think Rick Rick had done three in a year as well in the 12-month period. We've got now a couple of females who have done that, but I think Simon he really opened things up. I mean, uh Maxim Nyaziev, uh, what he had done as well, just a couple of minutes shy of that sort of time. Um, and then uh, you know, Arizona is uh winning performance there. You've got the uh Peter Vabrashek, who had done a 21 plus in uh the Czech Republic as well. So he's bringing the caliber of athletes uh uh to the front. Uh and the caliber being looking at the pros. And now you've got pros, Didi Gries, Bauer, Michelle Vest, these sort of people. Um, obviously Kate Bevelaca as well, with what she has done over the years and uh what she did uh at the World Championships and Penticton at the 520, as well as in Australia. So I think that's what's happened. Uh Chris McDonald will be another one who is one of the top pros that has come along and taken on this challenge. And we've got to remember when you think of pros too, uh here's Kurt Madden, the original winner in Hawaii, who still, and we're talking 1983, here he is, he's still out there racing himself but coaching people, and turns up now as crew at the Ultra Man. Artist Bo does the same thing, the original women's winner, she won uh twice, as did as did Kurt from 83 and 85. But it sandwiched in between the the two of those in 1984. You've got to remember one of the original greats, uh Scott Molina, uh, took on the challenge. So he was the first pro, but really there weren't too many pros who came behind until the last few years. But Simon, I think uh when you think of Richard Thompson, he put out that, you know, the possibility of a sub-20 happening. I remember he contacted me and we sort of uh looked at, you know, what would be the ultimate sort of time that someone could do. And bear in mind, we used to say that about an eight, a sub-8-hour Iron Man. And now you had uh in uh Germany just uh recently uh an amateur or non-pro triathlete doing seven hours 50 minutes. And here you've got guys now that have done, you know, 720s, uh and women that are doing eight eighteens and thereabouts as well. So things have totally transmuted in terms of performances, but it also brings great personalities. And Simon, as you know, he's a really nice uh gentleman. He may be a Kiwi, but he he's a uh a great athlete in every which way, and I'm sure it's going to draw more athletes uh to Australia, which hopefully means more athletes to the other Ultraman events around the world. And as you you're well aware, there's quite a few Ultraman events in some far-off places, Dominican Republic, for instance, uh India. They've got them many athletes from India have been joining us at different events over the years as well. But really appreciate you asking that question. And uh I think it speaks for itself that a man took on three within a short period of time, one or three, and set new records for each of those courses. And now who's going to try and follow that up?

SPEAKER_05 27:40

To us it was epic, and to someone like Steve who's seen so many races, it was cool to to get his take on it. And yeah, the fact that uh you mentioned Richard Thompson in there, and and Simon mentioned it in his speech at the awards that um you've got to be challenged. And and Richard put that challenge out there. Um, and I think uh that that's part of what we do is put those challenges in front of people. So yeah, thanks, Steve, with your take on that.

Steve King 28:04

Yeah, well, I I think the other part of that is you know, Richard himself, he may have been disappointed with the outcome, but uh the point was he was sick and yet he gave it his all. And we do have to remember he he came away with two world championships himself in uh 2018 and 2022. So uh it's not like he walked away from Ultraman without uh some magnificent titles behind his name.

Larry 28:29

And and Jeff, I I understand that you've closed the applications for the UM Australia for for next year. How how did the applications go that were coming in?

SPEAKER_05 28:41

Uh really good. Uh it's gonna be our 10th year, so it's a bit of a celebration for us. Um, a really cool milestone. Uh yeah, a few of us have got um a difficult few weeks ahead. We're uh we're oversubscribed with with course capacity and what what we run in the race here. Um yeah, amazing. I think we've got around 30 people applied that have raced before, um, and then a whole stack more that want to come and give it a crack. Um yeah, good uh international contingent that have come along. Um yeah, so you mentioned uh our Indian athletes. We've got really good support from our Indian athletes, um, and then a few other places around the world, uh, people that have done some in other locations. So uh yeah, we've got to sit down uh in coming weeks and uh hopefully sort of around end of July, we'll announce our field for uh May next year for our 10th anniversary here in Australia.

Larry 29:35

Excellent. Yeah. Uh well, thank you very much for joining us today, Jeff. Uh, please stick around, listen to the other questions if you've got time, if you don't have to rush back to work. Um, and we'll probably have like a more informal chat here at the end for anybody that's able to keep sticking around.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

I'll flick my camera off but keep listening because I do want to hear what's going on.

Larry 29:54

Absolutely. Okay. Uh Steve, one of the people that you mentioned in that last answer, uh, Peter Verbruzik, uh, he was on in episode two of season two, and he did send a question in. He's not able to join during this time, but he did send in a question. So I'll I'll I'll ask you um the question on his behalf. He said, Steve, you are famous for your top-notch detailed intros of athletes in races that you commentate. How would you introduce yourself if you were one of the athletes? Please don't be shy. We know that you have a very strong athletic history. Thanks. Petter.

Steve King 30:34

Well, I appreciate that very much. Um I would uh probably say um something to the effect that uh a gentleman who's uh raced over 500 events uh anywhere from uh 100 meters uh through to uh Death Valley, 135 miles, uh has been a BC Marathon champion. I wouldn't I wouldn't necessarily let people know uh uh my time though, because it was in Penticton at the marathon, not the Vancouver Marathon or the Victoria Marathon. So um, however, uh we can embellish a little bit. I would definitely say that I was the first local person in Penticton ever to finish the I-Man distance, uh, that I was sixth at that race overall. Um that I was on the national uh ultra team, the uh 100k team that I've um I've done the uh Western Saints 100, uh Comrades and Death Valley, which was my final big race, and came fourth and won my age group there, and was seventh in the Masters in the Comrades. So something like that would be what I would say.

Larry 31:53

I I I feel like he put you on the spot a little bit there.

Steve King 31:55

That's yeah. Well, it's hard to talk about yourself. I mean, it's uh no, that's great.

Larry 32:03

And and of course, you spoke about a lot of those races back in those first couple episodes. So if people want to hear more about those events that you've done and more about your race history, please go back and listen to episodes one, two, and three of the podcast. We got another person that's jumped into our meeting here that I I know you recognize, and he he's wearing a little Penticton swag uh in the meeting. So uh next up, uh Mr. Matt Hill. What's your question for Steve?

SPEAKER_09 32:34

Oh hello, all you beautiful people. Hey, buddy. Hey Maddie.

SPEAKER_10 32:40

It's funny, I was actually thinking this. Hopefully, this is completely appropriate. Um, so just say, no, you can't ask that. Um, but I was just thinking for real this morning. I was like, okay, what am I gonna ask Steve? It's like I've known you for how many years now, right? It's like um I don't even know, a bunch, right? Um, and in that time, I only knew you before that was the guy who calls everybody across the line and you know knows more about them than they know about themselves in like you know, 30 seconds of going across the finish line. And I was thinking, like, you've called so many people out on races and across the finish lines. Of I don't even like, do you even have a count of how many individuals you may have actually said, hey, you know, I recognize you in this moment. And like it's it's probably in the hundreds of thousands by this point, right?

Steve King 33:35

I I would think so, Maddie. It's a good question. And uh I I'm not sure how one would even really um guesstimate, except the fact that if you look at some of the bigger races, if you look at the uh sun run and sometimes have like 35,000 to 40,000 finishers, you look at the Vancouver Marathon between the races, they had 20,000, uh the Victoria Marathon, and then you add up the IMM races and and uh all the different ones during the course of a year. I think even amongst that, you've probably got 75,000 people. So if you put that, that would be probably a million and a half, then.

SPEAKER_10 34:11

There you go. Thank you for that number. So it's like a million and a half people you have personally elevated their life in all these ways, in all these start lines, finish lines, and everything in between. Um, it's what it's what is it that lights your fire for like that? Because you it's like I've also experienced working with you when you know you get on the mic, it's not anything other than you want to you want you connect with people on a way that is ultra incredible, that not many people have that ability to do. Like you don't even go to the bathroom until we make you go, Steve, you gotta go pee. So that that's not ego. That's not it's it's there's something in you that turns on that goes, I gotta be here for it, right?

Steve King 35:02

Yeah, absolutely. I I hate the idea of missing someone who has an expectation because sometimes people will contact me and say, Can you please mention this? And as you know, you've been there before at a finish line, even uh say the Vancouver Marathon this year where you did the starts. It was uh when you came up, we we had a couple of people that have been in touch. And so Jean, what part of her role that day was spot these people at all costs because there's something very positive uh we need to be able to say, and thank goodness uh we were able to get them because you you have a great deal of relief. But when it comes to the majority of people, um, some I used to do uh spend hours and hours and days and days and weeks uh putting stuff together in preparation. I no longer have that sort of time availability, uh, uh partly because I am getting older and uh don't have necessarily quite the same energy, but I can still do, you know, my my favorite races uh as a commentator are the Ultraman races, and I love doing that over the three-day period. Um, but it's the the passion is there because I loved, I used to love to race and I love to witness the events and I know what goes into some of them. Um, but I also know the backstories for many people, and I love hearing what the backstories are, what the motivations are. You know, when I think of your one for Run for One Planet, uh the motivation to talk about the world and bettering it and making it a cleaner and greener sort of world in many ways, and to provide healthy um things about the future for the kids when you think about what their life is going to be like and uh what are their aspirations, because they need to be inspired to have aspirations in the first place. And I know you guys did that. And so you look at uh the light up of kids' faces when you put on one of the voices that you you mastered uh for the different cartoons. Well, I like to think if people hear my voice, number one, they know they're getting close to the finish line. And then they hear the cheers, they see the flags of the nations, they hear the music, uh, they see the banners that people have put up for them and stuff. And and and many times I'm aware of what their goal was. And obviously, we have certain goals that uh uh it could be an overall placing, obviously, in a marathon or triathlon, but it could also be a time goal. And so if I'm aware of those things, that adds that extra element. Where if someone has said to me, uh, which happened a few times, you know, I'm going to propose to someone at the finish line, or I've got a special guest, my mum's flown in from England for the finish to do this and that. It's always nice to recognize those sorts of profound things because they're meaningful to the athlete, therefore they should be meaningful to us. And I think people like those types of details. If you're watching and listening, my mother, uh, I'll tell you something about my mother when she was with us uh, because this this surprised me. I'd never seen my mother watching sports on TV ever. And uh one day, years and years ago, I saw her watching a snooker match. I said, Mom, you're into snooker? What's this about? Oh, she said, Well, this is so-and-so, so-and-so. Well, he's been married three times and he drinks 28 beers a day, apparently. And so she knew all these details about the guy, and it was like blowing me up, blew me away. So I it really struck me that okay, it's because uh she recognized he was a character, you know. So if you understand the nature of what is character, well, it means different things for different people, you know. For me, if if someone's a philanthropist for all the right reasons, you know, or they give freely of their time without even letting people know about it, or they do something special for their community. I mean, those are the characters that I really love to get to know. But obviously, there's characters who dress weirdly, who have backstories and have done, got into the Guinness Book of World Records, which we've seen a number of times with Ultraman and stuff as well. So I I love finding out that you've got the character of the race, which presents a lot of different factors, whether that's uh the course or the bands around the course or where you can view them, jumbo screens nowadays, which make it even better. I was at a cross-country running event in Kelowna last year, and they're going to put the U Sport Nationals on where they put a jumbo screen up. So I could literally commentate the entire time around and and uh view the race that way and uh and inform people how things were unfolding. So those are the things I love, Maddie, and thanks for the question, mate.

SPEAKER_09 39:33

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Well, it's funny you talk about the voices.

SPEAKER_10 39:36

I actually I I knew the voice who was Steve King before he even met you for years, obviously, you know, hearing you call people across the line and then you know, Iron Man. And I remember when I'd signed up for my first Iron Man, I didn't even know you yet. But I did my last, you know, going around Bernie Bay Lake, my last 5k would be I'd be I'd literally be like, Yeah, man, Maddie Hill, he's coming down the line, he's in his best time ever. So I did a really bastardized version of Steve Kane without even knowing it.

SPEAKER_09 40:04

So when I finally got to meet you in person, I was just like, Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. So thank you, Fred. Cheers, man. Yeah, thank you.

Larry 40:16

Hey, hey Matt, maybe we can um keep you on for just a second because Steve mentioned the run that you did, and that that was a pretty epic run. And uh we've haven't talked about it on my podcast before. Maybe you can just give us like that 30-second elevator pitch of what it is that you did and how it's still continuing on today.

SPEAKER_10 40:36

Oh, well, sure. Thanks, Alaire. Um, I uh we did a run called Run for One Planet, uh, which Steve was saying um it was also uh Steve is a huge part of uh as we built it, um, lending his vo vocal chops and uh but also incredible um insights on how to even run around North America, which um Steph and myself were uh partners in on doing this, uh, which was an 11,000 mile run around North America. Uh that we it took us 369 days to run around North America. Um we started in Vancouver at the Vancouver Marathons, thanks again, Steve. Uh as well as then we finished um the day before the marathon, a year and three days later. Um, and uh yeah, covered our beautiful continent in however many days. I think it was 369 days it took us. Um and in that May, we were able to connect with um almost 100,000 kids in schools, um basically sharing the message of believing in themselves and making a healthier choices for the for themselves and the planet. Um and uh yeah, we have a legacy now that's uh I guess in year 15 um that we grant kids green dreams in um kids' elementary schools. Um so uh uh the legacy lives on. And um, you know, like I say, all the local heroes that helped us, Steve and everyone, um, incredibly uh changed our lives. Absolutely. So you yeah, if you wanted to learn more information about you could go to run for one app runforoneplanet.org is the website.

Larry 42:10

Excellent. Thanks for sharing that with us, Matt. Thanks, very uh yeah. No, that's that's an incredible cause, and I I know that it's still important to you, even though the run is finished and that you have that legacy part of it. So just wanted to give you a chance to share that. Thank you. Yeah. Um, Steve, so my next question is gonna be an uh recorded audio question. This person was also unable to be here. This comes it it comes on the heels of what what Matt was saying. So this question's a little bit similar. Um please uh have a listen, and uh, I'm sure you know this person.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Hi, Steve King. It's Amy VT. It's been a long time. I miss you. I wish I was there for the Zoom, but I'll have to wait for the recording. My question for you is how do you do it? How do you stay enthusiastic with all the alacrity from the start of a race to the end, from the elite athletes in the front to the endurance monsters at the tail, sometimes spanning multiple days? Essentially, what do you eat for breakfast?

Steve King 43:20

What do I eat for breakfast? I love that. And thank you, Amy. And uh uh wow, I'm so honored that uh she would uh come along and join us there with that question. Um her finish um in on two occasions. Obviously, uh Ultraman Canada. Um when you've got someone who takes your overall victory and then goes to the worlds and comes second overall to Simon Cochrane, um, amazing, amazing athlete. And when you consider the women that were in the field that she when she won um Ultraman Canada, uh again, that included a five time world champion. Uh so a stunning performance. Performances from her. But to answer the question about breakfast, very little. I eat cereal, maybe have a cup of tea, and then depend on people like Maddie or Gene during the course of an event to get me something. Other than that, I'm not really sure what to say. It depends what's there. I'll take anything. You know, sometimes someone throws you a muffin, and sometimes I'm holding on for that for like 15 hours before I actually get to munch on it. That's the one thing that Matt Maddie mentioned there about bladder control. That's another thing. It seems like my body's willing to shut down until the event is over, and uh, and that has happened many times. Uh so I think it's partly passion, and I don't want to miss anything. Uh I also, you know, over the years, one of the interesting things that has happened, and it's happened, I think, three or four times. So we're talking, you know, as I said, maybe a million and a half people, but maybe maybe there's way more that would like to get hold of me that to say so. But I remember getting an email from a very irate gentleman after I Man Canada one year. He said, You miss me. He said, After all the training and everything I've done, I came through the finish. You're talking about other people and you miss me entirely. And he was really upset. And I received this from the office, and I contacted the gentleman, let him know how sorry I was. I went back over the footage and I was looking to see what could have happened. Well, one of the things that can happen is I'm being given lots of pieces of paper uh throughout the time I'm up there. You know, this is what's happening out in the course, this is what's going on, you know, so-and-so, so-and-so. Or you've got to mention this. I can only imagine that maybe something like that was going on because I'm relying on uh myself to spot someone as well. It's not just something pops up on the computer. I have an amazing team of people that have worked with me over the years, and they're always spotting for me. Look at this, look at that, pointing fingers, you know, or writing notes, um, put them in front of me. And I apologize profusely to the person because you can't just go back and undo that. And that so I'm sort of always sad. But that's one of the reasons I I want to stay on top of things, and I I get really frustrated when um I'm given the wrong name. And I do apologize to any of my team when that's happened, but I'll give you a quick story. Uh I uh Van Van Sanchez, who was the youngest athlete ever to finish uh uh an Ultraman, he was 19 years of age when he finished. Well, a year or so ago, he invited me down to um Mexico uh to do his event. And um, so I went down there and there's a turn that to make the final turn to the finish line, and they're yelling at me that the first lady is coming and they're telling me who it is. Okay, great, because she had been uh this person had been um leading, but they said there's a man ahead of her. Okay, so I say, Who's the man? And they're giving me details. So I go on and on about the gentleman, and the next thing I know, this person turns a corner, comes up the finish line, and it's this lady, Anna. And uh so I am totally miscalling the person coming across the line. And instead of me calling out it's the first woman, it was a gentleman I'm calling through. So I apologize profusely. Well, uh, she comes up and and uh I saw her racing again at a different event. And here we are at this event down in Florida, Ultra Man Florida, and she's doing very nicely. Had a rough first day, but uh her and her partner were there, and uh she's coming to the finish line, and we get this call out from about a kilometer away telling us who the next person is, and I'm going on and on about this person and who's coming to the line. Well, it's not the person we were told, it's Anna coming to the line. It's the only time it's happened twice, but to happen twice at an ultra man finish is just plain awful. So not only obviously did I apologize to her there, but during the awards, I'm I brought this story up and said, you know, I sincerely hope the next time I see you or that we're at a race together, I'm gonna make sure I'm gonna wait until I see you myself rather than relying on call-ins, because, you know, understandably the guys are doing their best they can to see numbers and call in. Um, but it's terribly frustrating. And it's it's only happened a few times, but I hate to miss someone or get the wrong person. And it can happen after all when we're talking that many numbers, especially in big races uh where you've got a few thousand people, but when there's only like 20 sometimes or 30 or 40 uh or 50 when it comes to Australia, you know, those are the numbers. And so you want to make it personal, you want to make it individual, and you want to have the big wind up towards that finish so they can hear you for quite a while, like to make noise.

Larry 48:58

Yeah, yeah. And I think nobody does it better than you, Steve. So if you if you've messed up one out of one and a half million, we'll let that slide. All right. My next question is going to be a video question. I'm just gonna turn my mic here, and I'm hoping everything is gonna be okay. Um I was doing a recording with this person yesterday for an upcoming for an upcoming episode that'll be coming in September. But uh, he wanted to ask you a question as well.

SPEAKER_07 49:32

Hi, Steve King. My name is Tony O'Keefe. I'm a first-time caller, longtime listener. I got big love for you, brother, and I got one question. Tell me, what do you get out of broadcasting all these altered endurance races? What what makes you smile? Tell me.

Steve King 49:49

Good question, Tony. O'Keefe. What makes me smile is seeing people like uh you more than once, Tony. I really have to say that is uh one of my favorite all-time people in the universe, regardless of his magnificent athleticism as well. Um, this was a gentleman who was in the military. It's uh so good. When he came out, there was a wonderful ambassador for Canada at the World Ultraman Championships. Uh always placed so very well, second, third, fourth, fifth, those sort of placings, magnificent times. Gave it his all all the time. Uh, him people like Dan Bodden, Orion McKenzie, these these are the people over the years, Jerry Van Der Wint, of course, you know, the original Canadian. Um and Tony, I love the fact that since he retired, he's grown his hair long, he goes cycling on a tour de France, different uh climbs, uh, through Italy. Uh he's just an absolute wonderful guy. And I think that's what part of being in the Ultraman family is about as well, whether it be in some, for us, far-flung place like Australia, where they've got amazing athletes, but incredible human beings. And we've got to remember the race directors as well, which Tony has been fortunate enough to meet with uh Jane, of course, uh Curtis and um Cheryl Dave, all the people that over the years have been so involved and so inspiring. But also the buddies that meet up. Uh as he knows, uh there's a group of guys that uh meet up every year and they formed a team last year. Miro Krieger uh turned up as crew. You know, Jochen Dembek, Marty Raymond, another Canadian military person, was there. And so you you look at that and you and Peter Mueller was the other part of the crew, by the way. They were one of uh two crews who turned up, and they do a wonderful uh job of inspiring the solo athletes when they turn up as a team like that. And they're just really good guys, and and they would be um, we all would be pleased to see all of them turning back up at any of the Ultraman races. And I'm hoping that uh, you know, uh when Tony decides to do another one, maybe he'll make it uh right here in Pentick. And it would be lovely to see some of these guys doing Ultraman Canada, which is the next event uh in the series anyway. So hence the reason I'm wearing this shirt. And uh I know we've got a few people coming who have done worlds before, and uh there's uh a surprise entry. I'm not sure if everyone uh is aware, but we've got a local that's going to be doing the event that uh uh could be similar uh to what's happened in a number of events recently where women have been uh taking the titles overall, not just uh in the women's division. Uh, don't mean to minimize that, but when you've got women who have led the way over three days to a finish line, it it speaks um uh to the extraordinary athleticism and the passion for the sport.

Larry 52:42

Yeah, I I think she announced it on Facebook, or maybe not. Maybe we shouldn't say yet.

Steve King 52:48

Well, no, feel free because uh yeah, Jenna Nett is who we're referring to, and she has a lot of people know that. Yeah, okay. Um, but I don't want to put a jinx in things. So, you know, I I I hold back until they give me the formal list because uh I heard the other day, unfortunately, another athlete um had to step back. It was a gentleman, Barry Berg, who uh had accidents twice on the Big Island at the World Championships, and he so deserves another brilliant uh performance uh because he has performed at the very top before. So I certainly hope all is going to be well for him.

Larry 53:21

Yeah, he's he's a local here to Vancouver. And uh when I first started this podcast, I started it as a way to help promote Ultraman Canada because I was co-race director at that time. And Barry was one of the people that was on in the first season. He was one of the athletes in profile. He was uh he was on in episode nine of the first season. So yeah, hopefully all's well for Barry. All right. Uh Steve, I'm gonna give you another question that was written in here. This one is coming from Dale Tyson. Uh, he is busy right now working on the inaugural Otillo swim run event, which will be coming up July 7th. So just a short time away. Um, so he's he's gonna be organizing that event. And his question for you is what are your top three memories from announcing?

Steve King 54:14

Hmm, very good question. I sure wish that event wasn't on the same date as our Peach Classic. I would love to watch that event. Otillos are exciting as well. Uh difficult to commentate necessarily, but uh nowadays uh what I what I love is the tracking. But if if I look at from an announcing perspective, I would definitely say any Ultraman event, any Iron Man event that I have been involved with. Um and if you if I look at uh a third event that uh I do love some cross-country ski races that have been very exciting uh to see when you Brian McKeever comes to mind. We have the Raino Keski Sami Lopid up in Salmon, and here's a gentleman who's won all sorts of medals in Paralympics. He is visually impaired, so that's why he's in the Paralympics. But he won their race outright uh one year. So to see, have the privilege of seeing that when all he sees is uh like black and white shadows, basically. And for him to uh be that fit, be that fast, and take overall victories in an event, it's magnificent to see. I would love to see something like the Vassalopi. I'd love to commentate there, where they have like 17 to 20,000 skiers. Um, but you know, we're uh when you the other the other thing that I've really enjoyed over the years is a couple of times we've been the commentators for the World Police and Fire games. Uh and and in those games, we've we've usually done the triathlon and um uh open water swims, mountain biking and stuff. But the open water swims, I think, are equally as as exciting as you can make them. And that's why I love doing commentating there too, because there's a difference between being in a pool. And I was fortunate enough to be uh poolside and commentating at the Commonwealth Games in 1994 in Victoria, and on the final day, Kieran Perkins set a world record at the 1500 meters, but he also set a world record at the 800 meters en route. So that was exciting. But in open water swims, it always amazes me how sometimes there's nothing going on, meaning there's no music, there's no one on the sound system making noise, there's no one telling you who's coming in. That that pains me. I I I I love making it as exciting as possible because it is for me. Uh, we recently, our um our grandson uh has um Sri Bulpausy, and he uh is part of a wheelchair basketball team, and they did very well at the games um last couple of years, and we went up to watch them. And during the course of it, I'm getting into it, understanding the rules and everything. And I said to my wife, dang, I wish I bought my sound system. I could have been commentating on this because it was that exciting, it gets to me. You know, there are some events that do that for you, and some events it's blah. Um, so yeah, I'm passionate and hopefully answered the question about three. I probably gave five different events here that I really love, but they're the ones I'm passionate about.

Larry 57:15

Yeah. And thanks, thanks for that question as well. Um, another person who you you recognize has has sent in a question for me, and you've been on his podcast as well a number of times, the Fit Speak podcast, uh, Kevin Hines. Him, he and I did a crossover episode where we interviewed each other and then we both released it as part of our podcast library. So he he wants to ask you some musical questions because you know, those of us that know you, we know that you're very into music. You play music and uh you enjoy listening to music. So his his two questions are number one, what are your favorite workout songs? And number two, what are the songs that you are sick of playing while you're announcing?

Steve King 58:01

Oh, great questions. I have 18 hours of recorded music uh that I play at maybe an I Man, if they let me. On occasion, they've shut me down and said, Oh, you know, that's not the stuff we like to play. Well, I am a 60s person in terms of my favorite music coming from them, but I understand it and they're certainly entitled to do that. Um, I I don't have when I do a workout, I'll um I don't often have music. I don't carry a headset with me or anything. I never do that. Uh, but I do sing in my head, and I often sing things that I hate. And by that I mean, you know how jingles get into your head and you can't stand them, uh, but you find them going spinning around. So uh there are some jingles, maybe that are uh pretty fun, but uh no, it it given a choice, give me the stones, uh the Beatles anytime, uh Credence Clearwater. I mean, I I love the 60s rock stuff, and um and then I can space off. I I love Moody Blues uh as well. But I also there I I'm I can listen to MM and people like that quite comfortably. Uh uh I like reggae, scar, blue beat, all the stuff that uh so I'm I love a gamut of music, and that's what I try to share with people uh when I'm providing the music.

Larry 59:23

Excellent. Yeah, those are great questions. All right. Uh next question then. I'm gonna go um back over to Australia. Uh I was hoping this person was gonna be able to join us, so I kind of held off on it, but it doesn't look like she's going to be able to. Um she's been doing a little bit of work with Tim Franklin, by the way, uh, as he starts running into the finish line. He's he's agreed to come on the podcast after he finishes his his run as well. So I'll probably have him coming up toward the end of the year. Um he finishes on June the twenty June the 30th in Brisbane. And he's been inviting people to come out and finish that last 10K with him. So people over there, uh, I'm sure you're you're lining up to go do that. And this question is going to come from Gail Locks, and she actually has two questions. She has a statement and two questions. So I'll just read it as she's written it for you. Steve King, your knowledge is incredible, and you have met and interviewed so many athletes over the year, over the years. We have all benefited and still are from your knowledge. What is the most interesting advice you have heard through your interviews? I'll give you that one first and I'll come back to the second one.

Steve King 1:00:36

Okay, and what I would say to that is uh focus on what you can do, not on what you can't do. Uh because that also means to me that um you're the world's leading authority on yourself and you know how you operate. And that means you've got to sometimes go to the internal coach. In fact, I often will use just the word coach when I'm stuck with something, uh even with a client. You know, if I'm feeling like I'm not sure what the next move should be, or if I was in a race and wasn't sure if I was uh suffering a bit or uh feeling like things weren't going too well, I would often say to myself, coach, what do I need to do? And so a lot of people, especially in the sport of triathlon now, do have coaches. So on the literal side, you could ask coach in terms of performance, but in terms of maybe what your body or your mind are doing, I would say you're the eating expert there. So you've got the internal coach and the external coach. And I would say, call upon that, name it so you can call upon it at any given time. I had an experience in um 1997, I think it was the very first um time the Haineater Harrison relay opened up to soloist doing the 100K. I entered the event and um I moved into first place just beyond 50k, uh, or just before 50k. Yeah, I remember that. There was one toilet that around the 50K mark. I'm looking forward to it because I can see it ahead of me. I just moved into the lead, and as I'm getting closer to this washroom, it was a porterloo, a volunteer goes running in there, and I'm yelling, please let me in, let me in, let me in. And the person wouldn't, it obviously they needed it as much as I did. So I had to stand outside for like five minutes, and this person, another runner, came past me in that time. Anyway, it was sort of funny afterwards, but it wasn't funny at the time because I'm desperate to get going again. So I got going again, and about seven kilometers later, um, I didn't feel well, something was amiss. So I literally inside, I said, Coach, what do I need to do? And very quickly, uh I was sort of reminded, grab this, grab that, you know, uh, because I had a crew. Um, my stepson was there, so he was able to give me some uh liquids and something, uh cookie or something. And very, very quickly it said, ease down, get the pace going again, and boom, you know, see how it unfolds, sort of thing. And I ended up doing very well. I won the race, and um uh we have people like Ferg Hawk, one of my heroes. He he was there, he was second that year. And so it turned out that we set a benchmark for people. Um, unfortunately, that event is no longer going. So, you know, it's sad sometimes when you lose some of the great events, but now they host one of those type of events up at Whistler.

Larry 1:03:22

Yeah, yeah. Um, so her question was what is the most interesting advice you have heard through your interviews? So, did you hear that advice from someone else?

Steve King 1:03:32

Uh Rick Hansen.

Larry 1:03:34

Rick Hans Okay.

Steve King 1:03:37

So I I don't need to say more, I hope. Everyone should know the man in motion himself. Yes, yeah.

Larry 1:03:44

Um, and then um during that question, you also touched on something else that I I want to jump into just before I go on to our second question. You were you were talking about your day job, and so probably everybody who knows you knows that you are a clinical psychologist and you're you're helping a lot of people, and and that's really where you one of your other passions. And recently you released a PTSD app to help people that could get help all over the place. So you wouldn't have to necessarily just see them yourself. Uh, you and a crew of people work together on that. Um, how's that been going? Um, and and maybe just drop the name of that again in case somebody you know out there needs to uh use that as a resource.

Steve King 1:04:31

Yeah, thank you, Larry. It's called uh the detachmenttechnique.com. You can find out all about it. It's on the website, and it's to assist anybody, even though we we we talk about first responders there because we're a number of the people that are involved with us are first responders, but it is available for anybody, and it's a uh a speedy way of literally collapsing the disturbances, the images, and the emotions connected to trauma. And uh the app is on there, it's a free app. We are a nonprofit that we formed uh for the purpose of getting this out there. It's going slowly, it's hard to uh put get your foot in the door fully, but clients I work with, I'm seeing lots of success ongoingly. And um, I just hope uh we can get clinical trials going. We have uh uh Dr. Lee Blaney who's working with us as well, that's um uh she's put in an application to get clinical trials done, and we hope that that can happen uh this summer, in fact. So uh we're we're very much on the ball as far as we can be, but uh it's not easy to get um something going that's uh quite new because there's plenty of people involved in the field and uh plenty of people sadly who need this. And so all that matters to me is it it gets to those that it can. If that's one person or 10,000 or 100,000 or a million, um, the important thing is to have things available for people so they don't have to live longer with uh the disturbances and the overwhelm that it can cause.

Larry 1:06:01

Yeah. And and for people that are going to be signing up for Ultra TriFest and Whistler, um, there is also an on the sign-up page, we have a spot for them to make a donation to your nonprofit to help keep that going as well. So um just my way of you know showing my support to you and what you do and as a thank you for for all you do for the Ultra community and and for this podcast because you come on so many times. So thank you. Thank you so much, Larry. Appreciate it. And now I'll go back to Gail's second question. So this one sounds very specific. There will be one athlete in particular that will stand out for a reason that had a background that surprised you. What was that reason?

Steve King 1:06:47

Background that surprised me. Well I've had lots of people with backgrounds that surprise me. Are you able to give me another clue? That's that's you just wrote the question and then background that surprise me. I'd love to know who she's referring to there because uh I mean when I look at who's listening in here, every one of you has surprised me in a positive way. And there are some people who surprise you uh in weird, wacky ways in terms of their occupations or what they've done previously or where they've come from. Um I can't think who she's referring to. I'd love for her to come on and just uh give me an extra clue on that. I mean, Tim Franklin comes to mind in terms of what he's about to achieve and some and his background. Uh, I mean, uh if you go online, it's interesting when he talks about, you know, where he was at 20 20 years ago or something and where he's at today. Um, and I'd love to be there to see him coming in. I hope they've got someone commentating of that when he does his final kilometer or so, or maybe a lot more. My guess would be there would be a whole host of people uh closing on through. But I think probably Shane Duffy, maybe she's referring to as well, having done half a dozen and the Guinness Book of Records, uh getting into that undeservedly so. Um, so uh again, if I knew it a little more, because there's so many incredible people in the sport that uh I'm sorry I can't be specific there, Gail.

Larry 1:08:25

Okay. Um I had another question for you, and and that is because I know you do watch um a number of different sports and things like that, and you follow the families of the people that are involved. Earlier on, we had a question from um Peter Verbruzik. And I'm wondering have you been following along with what he's doing within his own family? He's he's training up like the next generation of these people. His son uh in particular um has been doing like amazingly well at a bunch of races, and together they just raced their first 70.3. I think he just became of age to to do a 70.3. Have have you been following along with Philip's progress?

Steve King 1:09:08

Uh yeah, I just think that's wonderful when you see some of the greats over the years that have done so very well that their kids are involved. Um, you know, Arno uh is another person who we've seen uh the Frenchman who won Australia. In fact, at one point, his young son uh Mika is just doing amazing things as well. Um it so it's nice to see the next generation coming up. Now, with whether they'll choose to do ultras or not is something else because we all know how special it is to uh do your first triathlon, uh to do the first um uh standard or Olympic distance or to complete uh uh uh 70.3 or Iron Man, but to go up to the Ultraman distance does require uh something different in terms of um your ability to take out the time necessary, the perseverance necessary, the finances necessary. Uh and so I think all those elements uh can come to be when you're saying uh Peter Vaprashek's son, of course, you've got some benefits there. Uh he has the ability to coach, he has the ability to organize races, get sponsors, uh, and is well known. So he can draw in um the collective community that is required to host these events as well. Uh, but I also think he's wise enough because it obviously the genetics are very good there in the family system, uh, because I know he's got brothers who are rowers and stuff like that, uh uh performed at high levels. And uh so it's interesting the sports that people were doing before they got in. Quite a few of the athletes are also uh into winter sports. Right. And uh uh so when you can do cross-training like that, it really is helpful, especially in countries where the winters are quite severe. We're fortunate in the Okanagan Valley, uh, you could pretty much cycle most year-round. It could it would be nippy for quite a while. But uh, you know, in Vancouver you're going to be in the rain quite a bit and uh be a bit windy, but we can do these things. Unfortunately, it looks like Kit's pool is going to be closed for a while there now. Um, so Matty will have to find a different location to do his swimming. Uh, but uh Rick is lucky enough to live in the Austin area where they have gorgeous weather and uh and great people and great organizations, great events and great music. So this is the other thing about this sport is the locations. If you look at, you know, Florida, Arizona, Canada, Hawaii, you know, wherever it may be now that people are hosting these events, um, they're gorgeous spots. Noosa, one of the nicest places you could ever visit in Australia. So I would urge people to start to look around and see, think in terms of if you've got family involved, even if they're into the sport or if they're willing to come and crew, you might as well make a holiday of it as well, unless you're right there in the location. And if you're lucky enough to live in one of the locations, then it's like down the road you're going to regret not doing a certain event.

Larry 1:12:13

Yeah. And you know, I've been trying to follow along with with Philip as well, because he he posts a lot about them. And you know, they've done a tillos, they've done swim runs together and things like that. And I think they were really happy to do that first Iron Man together. And uh just so that you have a little bit more, because you know, I know you like to put this stuff in the bank. He's he's got a 10,000 meter time now, Philip, of 3257. So you can put that in and start thinking about uh his intro when he when he shows up at one of these races. And I know for Peter, one of the other things when I talked to him before is he wants to stay fit enough and healthy enough that he can also, you know, get to do races with his youngest child, Vera, as well. So that would be neat.

Steve King 1:12:58

Yeah. Well, when you think of you, you know, people who have run and uh people who understand the nature of what's going on out there, where you've got people doing 235 marathons, uh and and you look at um uh some of the amazing splits that have been recorded, uh say a double marathon at the end of an Ultraman um on that final day, you know, to think there are two people who've gone sub six hours on the big island, for instance, you know, Peter Cotlin's amazing 533, uh Eric Seedhouse's 557 clocking. You you break the splits up with the swims, the bike and the run at the end of it when you think you've already done two days of very hard and long distance, and often in the heat of the day as well. Um, it speaks volumes about the caliber and talent that these athletes have. And but we also have to remember the good thing is you don't have to be one of those guys. You can still be someone who gets inside 17 hours or gets inside 36 hours for an ultraman. You've got to determine for yourself who is your competition, because often your competition is yourself, and you want to just improve on who you were last year in whatever capacity, whether that's as a philanthropist, a community giver, a volunteer, um, a race organizer, director, or an athlete. You know, it's how can we improve and improve the quality of life for ourselves as well as those around us, including our families.

Larry 1:14:27

Absolutely. Well, we've got uh two people that are still hanging around on this Zoom call. So I think they deserve to get to ask one more question each at least. So, Rick, you've been you've been shaking your head at a lot of this stuff. Come on, give us another one.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:43

Yeah, uh definitely well I want to I want to add to Steve's uh someone asked him about how do you remember all these people at uh races when they come across. Well, I can tell you how he does it. Part of his part of his uh technique is uh you know, I've been don't give away any secrets. I've been his roommate uh on several occasions, and me preparing for my photography and Steve preparing for his race announcing. First of all, he spends hours and hours and hours. People don't see him working behind the scenes. Now, what he does that impresses me of those is now I I can speak from a uh a race organizer standpoint because I hired him three times. What he asks for part of the deal is we have to prepare him by having printouts of every single name with the hometown and who basically you know who they are. I think part of the part of the uh part of it is there's a a comment or two about you know how you you fill out a race uh application and asks you what special things, you know, it's for the racing. Well, you know, so I watch Steve get these poster boards, you know, in Austin. I fur I furnish them with these big poster boards, and he tapes them down, tapes these uh sheets with all the names, all of the you know numbers, and he has this long table with all that pasted down, and on top of that, I had to furnish him with clear uh in case it rains, right? So he's so he's prepared. Now that's all that's is is if the computer breaks down, so he's got that as a backup, and he's got Gene there in some cases, you know, pointing here and there and all that, but but Steve, people don't see all this stuff you do getting ready, they just think it's all walking up up to the stand and and uh do your erase announcing. Well, I I can speak from experience on several occasions, these other things that you do, and uh I I'm just glad you never upped your your sell your your uh parents fee on it.

Steve King 1:17:29

No, and it's funny you should mention those sheets. Uh I still use my sheets, Rick, funny enough. And and uh I have had so many race directors or others say, why do you bother nowadays with computers? You wouldn't believe how many times I have to go to those sheets where something's gone down or or uh you know it's not functioning well for whatever reason, you know, because signals aren't aren't the best in some locations. So it's amazing how many times I have to revert to them. So I'm glad I still keep them.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:59

Well, and I I got one question for you. Uh that was more of a comment. Um, do you recall the time that we were in um uh Wells, North Wales, at that hotel at the what's it called? Betsy Coe. Betsy Coe. Um I was doing my photography stuff on the computer, and you were doing your whatever you do preparing for the race housing. Well, you had actually you'd taken a break and you're on the bed sleeping. Okay, yeah. Do you know what I'm working up to? No, you don't. Well, I I just uh I let go of this huge fur, right? And I thought he was like right next to me, and he he turned out his bunk bed was like right behind me and and pretty close to my butt. So you know, I felt so bad, but I I I wouldn't be able to tell that story. And you yelled out, tricky, tricky.

Steve King 1:19:18

I have to point out they were very small rooms here, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:19:22

Yes, yes.

Steve King 1:19:24

Okay, Matt.

Larry 1:19:26

Thank you, Matt. Please clean it up a little bit for us.

SPEAKER_09 1:19:31

What do you how do you go from that? Oh my god, I love it. Yeah, it's like tricky, tricky. Oh, thanks, I better, a better mute.

SPEAKER_10 1:19:48

Well, uh go back to that same theme, Steve. Is um, do you remember what first race it it was, or that moment for you where it was like something happened that then it's now why we're talking about your incredible ability to impact people by wanting to recognize them in an athletic event, or or like do you was there like that?

Steve King 1:20:16

I I think I think I can. I appreciate you. Uh that's a good question, Maddie. Um you may remember how when Iron Man Canada finished, um, people would stay in the hotel lobby at the lakeside to sign up for the very next year, because that's how popular it was. People would camp outside, but literally bodies, and they allowed it in the hotel. People would sleep right outside where you'd have to register the very next day. So the very next day um after the event, and it was a very successful race. Uh, this would have been probably 1986, I think, when it was first uh Iron Man Canada, officially Iron Man Canada, and that's when Rick and Dick Hoyt were there, amongst others, and uh we had that tremendous finish with thousands of people staying around. I I walked in um to the lobby, and there were a lot of friends there or people I knew, and people just started clapping. Like I'm walking through and they were clapping at me. Uh and that sort of just it gave me goosebumps. And I thought, well, hold on, people realized, you know, I was doing something up there, or that they connected me to the voice at the finish line and obviously appreciated it, and so many pats on the back and things like that, that then I realized, okay, this is something that uh I just want to continue to embrace and enjoy because you know, if I can make people feel special because they are, you know, it seemed natural. And then um, for anyway, it was just such a neat thing, and then to to get with CBC and different uh TV productions, and I love that too, you know, being in front of a screen just going as though you were sitting at home watching the TV, but this is actually being recorded. Um, it's a very neat thing to be able to do, as I I know you you're well aware of yourself.

SPEAKER_10 1:22:09

Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, no, that's uh thatadays a big deal because uh, like you say, it's like that that connection of human beings going like oh, and then they they're just like, Yeah, and you're like, What?

SPEAKER_09 1:22:21

Me? What do you say? Oh my god, okay, and yeah, yeah.

Steve King 1:22:25

Thanks for continuing. You betcha. Great question, and uh, look forward to seeing you soon for the grand fondo.

SPEAKER_09 1:22:32

Gf, year 12.

Larry 1:22:34

Steve, uh, I really appreciate the time that you've given today and and the thought that you've given to all of these different questions from from all your friends from the past that that wrote in and voice recorded and video recorded and and joined us here on the zoom. So if if there are other people out there that have questions for Steve King, you know what? I bet you he could answer them again. Um send send me some questions, and if I build up enough of them, maybe we'll we'll do another. Hey, Steve King, let's let's get together and answer some of these fans questions because um you you do a great job of it. You you always have the the the answer and the time and the date. And people love that about you. And you you put all of that into your answers today again, and and I really appreciate it and the and the time. So and and all the people that joined us and and sent in questions, thank you very much as well. Um, it's it's been uh my pleasure to be able to host this Ask Me Anything with you, Steve. And uh thank you. Thank you very much.

Steve King 1:23:38

And thank you very much, Larry. Great questions and thanks for those who've turned up, dear friends. Uh we missed you and uh look forward to seeing you again at the races. So try to keep fit, everybody.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:23

A lot of respect. A lot of respect. I I I'll I'll leave you with one uh story about Steve. He he he used to invite uh he used to invite uh athletes over to his place in Pentecost, and and uh one year he was hosting Cowman. It was the first time I I'd actually physically met him. I'd seen him in Hawaii, but first time I met him. Cowman was, I think he was staying with Steve. Anyway, Steve invited him to uh to have something to eat. Cowman emptied his fridge of everything. I saw I saw him later that day. He had a big Tupperware jar. He had a big Tupperware basket on his bike, and he was downtown signing autographs for the kids. That was all Steve's food. He emptied his. There's another question what'd you think of that?