Where Rory Bosio has been?! Well, this weekend, she’ll be at The North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Mile Championships. In the following interview, Rory talks about how the TNF 50 was her first (and hardest) 50 miler, what she’s been up to, and where you’ll see her on TV soon.
For more information on who’s running this year’s TNF 50, you can check out our women’s and men’s previews. We’ll be covering the race live starting at 5 a.m. PST on Saturday.
[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]
Rory Bosio Pre-2015 The North Face EC 50-Mile Championships Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Rory Bosio before the 2015 The North Face 50 miler. How are you?
Rory Bosio: Hi! I’m great! How are you, Bryon?
iRunFar: I don’t know if I ever knew this was your first 50 way back when.
Bosio: Way back… 2008?
iRunFar: 2008 or 2007?
Bosio: It was the first 50-mile race I had ever done. Previously I had just done a 50k. It was also the first time The North Face had ever done this race.
iRunFar: Okay.
Bosio: Things have improved since then. There was a little sabotage that went on the first year, I think. I ended up running in downtown Stinson Beach. “I don’t think I remember seeing that we were supposed to run through town.” So things have improved. Yeah, I find this race tricky time-wise because it’s snowy in my neck of the woods and I’d rather be on skis. However, I do love the Headlands, and it’s just so beautiful.
iRunFar: Is it true that it was maybe your hardest race ever?
Bosio: Yeah, that first 50 annihilated me. I remember my friends and I the next day were doing some shopping down in San Francisco and I was like… I looked like I’d ridden a bull the day before or something and did not stay on for the eight seconds. It was horrendous. Things have gotten better. The first one, I feel like, is the hardest.
iRunFar: Where have you been this year? You have been not here.
Bosio: I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been very fortunate that I had a little project I was working on, and I got to go to Greenland, Chile, Sweden, Scotland, France, Canada, and all over the U.S.—cool places.
iRunFar: Maybe it’s on the web, but is it public what you did?
Bosio: It’s on the dark web. No, it’s all legal. It’s for a TV show. I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it yet, but whatever. It’s called “Boundless.” It’s myself and three other crazy guys, and we just went around the world and once a month did an extreme endurance event. Some of them were ultras. We did a 100-mile run in the Atacama Desert in Chile which was phenomenal. Other stuff was like a three-day cross-country ski race in Greenland. There were some really awesome, awesome things.
iRunFar: You do some skiing anyway, but were there any that really challenged you?
Bosio: We did a 90-mile mountain-bike race in France that they purport to be the world’s hardest race. I don’t know who gives out that designation or like if it’s a UN thing, [iRunFar: UNESCO Hardest Mountain Bike Race in the World] but it was near Chamonix. You can imagine the terrain. It’s either straight up or straight down. That was definitely challenging. It’s fun, though to mix it up. I like variety as the spice of life.
iRunFar: Normally this late in the season, a lot of people are at least mentally burned out. Are you here to run?
Bosio: I’m here to run. You want the realistic answer? I’m not in the best shape I’ve ever been in, but that’s okay. I really love the course. I think it’s beautiful. I’m just excited to get out there. You see so many friends and catch up with people. I know, for me, I’m never super competitive at this time of year, but that’s just me. The timing is a little tricky.
iRunFar: You’re neither sick nor tired?
Bosio: No, I’m just me. I’m just meh. I’m here. I’m here to do it. I’m excited.
iRunFar: There’s some good competition out there this weekend.
Bosio: Oh, I bet. I don’t follow things. I don’t know.
iRunFar: You don’t follow things. It will all be a surprise on Saturday.
Bosio: I’ve heard there’s lots of stuff going on. I’m like, “What? What’s going on?”
iRunFar: You’re just like, “Give me the Elmo.”
Bosio: I’m not supposed to call it “The Elmo,” but it’s really… this thing is amazing. Doesn’t it look touchable? Don’t you just want to touch me? If you were a handsome man who’s single and ready to mingle, wouldn’t you just want to touch me?
iRunFar: The Deuce. Well, have you actually done some training for this? You may not be in the best of shape, but…
Bosio: I did some training for this. I crewed a friend of mine at World’s Toughest Mudder a few weeks ago. That required a lot of running. I was like, “Okay, I feel good doing this. Hopefully I’ll feel good during the race.” I don’t know. You never know. I’m definitely not in top form, but I like to go out and grin and bear it. I’m ready to punish myself for all the sins I’ve done this past year. Penance. Penance on the trail.
iRunFar: Fifty miles of penance.
Bosio: Yeah, exactly.
iRunFar: Good luck out there, Rory.
Bosio: Thanks. Hi, mom!
