Kyle Richardson - Mountains & Music

Episode • Mar 26, 2020 • 1h 4m

Kyle Richardson is a Colorado-based professional runner and mountain athlete who is best known for his high-stakes, high-speed endurance feats in the Rocky Mountains. Over the past two years, Kyle has set several Fastest Known Time (“FKT”) records in the Colorado mountains—most notably on Boulder’s First and Third Flatirons, as well as the renowned LA Freeway route that stretches from Longs Peak to Arapahoe Peak. Away from his endurance feats, Kyle is a formally trained musician, and he composes original music for filmmakers and outdoor brands such as Black Diamond and La Sportiva.

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Kyle’s youth was defined by time in the outdoors with his family and a deep commitment to music and playing the drums. His love of the West’s wide-open spaces led him to college at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he began to realize his talent for endurance and moving quickly through the mountains. After several years of running and climbing throughout Colorado, he captured the attention of the endurance community with his record-setting time on the LA Freeway, a difficult and exposed route that combines running, scrambling, and rock climbing. Since then, he has earned sponsorships from major outdoor brands that have allowed him to pursue his adventures in the mountains with full focus and intensity.

I met up with Kyle in Boulder, where we had a wide-ranging conversation about his passion for the mountains and music. We started by discussing his athletic career and some of the details around his fastest known times on well-known mountain routes. We also discussed Kyle’s love of the process of training—in both athletics and music—and how his commitment to preparation gives him the confidence to pursue challenging and sometimes dangerous goals. We discuss the common skills required to be great in both endurance sports and music, and Kyle talks about some of the mentors and heroes who have shaped his career. Kyle is a voracious reader, so we talk a lot about books, and Kyle reveals a very interesting personal tie to one of my favorite history books, "Empire of the Summer Moon."

Kyle is humble and thoughtful, and it was a real pleasure getting to know him. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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Full episode notes: https://mountainandprairie.com/kyle-richardson/

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

3:00 - How Kyle describes his athletic pursuits
6:00 - Kyle and Fastest Known Times (“FKT”)
10:30 - FKTs in the Boulder’s Flatirons
16:00 - Training routine
18:00 - Growing up in Texas
20:30 - Music and how it informs athletics
22:50 - Film scoring, composing, and music industry
26:30 - Heroes and mentors in the music world
28:00 - Drums, running, and excess energy as a kid
29:30 - When people began to take note of Kyles running
32:30 - Athletic mentors
38:30 - Artistic, cerebral aspects to mountain sports
39:30 - Assessing risk in the mountains
42:30 - Nature making you feel small
46:30 - Kyle’s parent’s support for his career
48:30 - Running goals for 2020
52:00 - Books he’s currently reading
54:15 - Favorite books about the West
56:00 - Limiting screens and social media
57:30 - Favorite location in the West
58:45 - Most powerful outdoor experience
1:00:25 - Parting words of wisdom

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