Meet Rebecca Rusch. Someone who has used her own life experiences to drive positive change in the world.

Rebecca lives in a beautiful mountain town in Idaho. The outdoor world is her church. A multiple world champion and master of many sports, from mountain biking to white-water rafting, adventure racing and climbing, Rebecca was crowned the Queen of Pain by Adventure Sports magazine and was also in Outside Magazine's top 20 female athletes. Put simply, she’s a pro at suffering. Yet Rebecca is also a human being who, like all of us, struggles to get out the door for a ride or run some days. She puts herself out there in brutally tough races, and faces up to challenges and dilemmas shared by endurance athletes, whether its navigation or fighting through adverse weather. Her “why” is not to win at all costs, but a much deeper exploration of self and connection.

Rebecca is a writer of beautiful stories about her lived experience; including through her memoir, Rusch to Glory, and a brilliant TEDx talk. Last year, she launched an award-winning documentary film called Blood Road, which follows her 1,200 mile journey deep into the jungles of Vietnam and Laos, along a trail littered with unexploded bombs, to find the spot where her father was shot down in the Vietnam War.

Our conversation covers goal-setting during Covid-19 lockdown, self-compassion in racing, Rebecca's pre-lockdown experience at the Iditarod Trail Invitational, her evolving relationship with suffering, those life-changing days on the Ho Chi Minh trail, grief and finding new purpose from her father's death, through her Foundation.