278. Uniting Runners, Building Community: David Lam's Path to Western States

This episode of the For The Long Run Podcast was recorded 1 week ahead of 2023 Western States Endurance Run with ultrarunner and Western States debutant, David Lam. More than a runner, David, fondly referred to as the “Mayor of San Francisco”, is heavily involved in the running community, and uses running for connection, representation, and support. Professionally, David works in the tech industry and calls San Francisco’s Bay Area home.  In this episode we talk about:  -running community and connection -starting running as an adult in 2017 to 2023 Western States 100-miler -leaning on the running community and asking for help -running through grief and loss -representation and belonging in the running community, on the trails and at events Follow David on Instagram @davidtlam and For The Long Run @forthelrpod  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/forthelongrun/support  Past guests on For The Long Run include: 177. Molly Seidel; 226. Mike "Kofuzi"; 228. Kara Goucher; 59. Shalane Flanagan; 234. Camille Herron; 198. Courtney Frerichs; 229. Jes Woods; 207. Tyler Andrews; 197. Dean Karnazes; 206. Katie Arnold; 220. CJ Albertson; 153. Joe Holder; 199. Kelly Roberts; 188. Gwen Jorgensen; 205. Emily Abbate; 209. Sara Vaughn; 174. Nick Bare; 97 Amelia Boone; 101. Courtney Dauwalter, 219. Dylan Bowman; 191. Matt Chittim; 200. David Roche; and more! BetterHelp Here at the For The Long Run Podcast, you know we love to talk about the BIGGER stuff, the DEEPER stuff, and get down to the nitty-gritty of what makes life interesting and beautiful. And while a lot of what we talk about on this show is about our physical capabilities, a big part of what we believe in here at the podcast is doing the internal work. And that’s why we’re proudly sponsored by BetterHelp, because, like them, we believe therapy is for everyone. With BetterHelp, you can tap into a network of over 25,000 licensed and experienced therapists who can help you with a wide range of issues.  If you’re ready to do the internal work, go to betterhelp.com/FTLR. HydraPak Thank you to HydraPak for supporting this show and the community around it. HydraPak create better hydration solutions for performance-driven people, and have been helping us stay hydrated and happy out on the trails for years! If you need hydration support, head on over to HydraPak.com and enter code LONGRUN23 for 20% off.  Skratch Labs We are proud to be sponsored by Skratch Labs, a local, Boulder-based sports nutrition company. You can grab energy bars, energy chews, hydration mix, recovery drink mix, and super high-carb drink mixes for your big days from Skratch to fuel your training and upcoming adventures. Get 20% off your order with the code FTLR20 when you shop through this link. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/forthelongrun/support