50 RANDOM LIFE & CAREER FACTS (AND 1 LIE*)

1

Born in Minnesota

2

Founded GearJunkie at age 25

3

50+ marathons & endurance races completed

4

Ironman finisher 🥇

5

Broke 7 bones growing up

6

Married to my high school sweetheart

7

We have 5 kids 👶

8

Dog named Toby

9

I once jet-skied with deadmau5

10

Met the Dalai Lama

11

Trekked to Mount Everest

12

Climbed Devils Tower at age 17

13

Earliest memory: In canoe w/ my dad

14

First job: Dishwasher at a pizza joint 🍕

15

Worked as locksmith during college (the family business)

16

College degree: B.A. Journalism

17

First in my family to graduate from college(!)

18

GearJunkie launched as a print newspaper column 📰

19

Was a freelance writer for 5+ years

20

1,000+ articles published over career so far

21

50+ articles published in New York Times

22

Climbed Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest 🌋 in Iceland

23

Explored the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave in Belize

24

As a dirtbag climber, I once made my own ice ax

25

Raced for 9 days in Patagonian Expedition

26

Arm-wrestled famous climber Alex Honnold (lost)

27

Rode camels in the Wadi Rum

28

Sailed with explorer Mike Horn

29

Nominated for (and joined) a government Task Force

30

Try to run or workout daily

31

Once ran 50 miles straight

32

Have found many strange items while running... one time found a live missile in the forest (and the U.S. Army later came to detonate it 💥)

33

Also found a giant faux egg (15 in. tall)

34

Favorite sport: Orienteering

35

Created a popular, multi-year event called Checkpoint MN

36

A mega-fan got a huge Checkpoint MN tattoo on his back 😅

37

Recently, I gave a 5,500+ word speech about AI

38

Speech was titled “Mountains beyond Mountains” (ChatGPT did not write it)

39

My kids: 1 girl, 4 boys

40

Also own a tortoise

41

Coach my kids’ school mountain bike team

42

Live in Minneapolis

43

On snowy days, my youngest kids dogsled to school 🐕

44

YouTuber “Jimmy The Giant” featured me in a recent video

45

Bike to work

46

Once biked 135 miles in snow

47

Contemplating writing a novel

48

Do some angel investing

49

LP at Groove Capital

50

Slight obsession with Bag Balm

*The 1 lie? I never met the Dalai Lama (#10). However, I did meet Lama Geshe in Pangboche, Nepal. After some prayers, he grabbed my shoulders and we bashed forehead to forehead in a ceremonial blessing for our trek through the Khumbu and to Mount Everest beyond.