Ep. 5 | Mark Dowdle

We were so blessed to have our friend Mark Dowdle on Always Sunday. Mark is an ultrarunner, endurance athlete, Team USA Backyard Ultra competitor, Arrowhead 135 champion, and one of the most genuine people we know. Over the last few years, we’ve watched him go from working odd jobs and chasing the dream of becoming a professional athlete to competing at the highest levels of ultrarunning and building a massive community around running, faith, and pushing yourself beyond what you thought was possible. In this episode, we catch up on everything — ultramarathons, backyard ultras, extreme endurance, training, recovery, sponsorships, social media, turning running into a career, and what it actually feels like when the dream starts becoming reality. But this conversation goes much deeper than running. Mark opens up about his relationship with Christ, fasting, surrendering control, handling success and influence, imposter syndrome, marriage, identity, and learning not to let race results or social media define who he is. It’s a conversation about ultrarunning, faith, fitness, suffering, purpose, friendship, and figuring out what really matters when the race is over. We’re grateful for Mark, grateful for his friendship, and grateful we got to sit down and have this conversation. If you're into ultrarunning, endurance sports, backyard ultras, mental toughness, fitness, faith, or simply hearing from people willing to push themselves to the limit, you’ll enjoy this one. 0:00 – Stewarding Influence, Scripture & Mark’s Faith Journey 12:09 – Fasting, Faith & Redefining Success 24:16 – Influence, Evangelism & Running With Christ 34:25 – Quitting His Job & Chasing the Pro Athlete Dream 46:00 – Success, Identity & Being a Man of Your Word 56:00 – Becoming Sponsored, Social Media & Theo Von 1:06:30 – Ultra Running Longevity, Recovery & What’s Next