At Go To Team, we take our work very seriously, but we also think of everyone at this company as our family. While we love getting to showcase the incredible content that our cameramen capture everyday, we thought it was time to let you guys get to know them outside of their videography! Our first spotlight is dedicated to our Denver DP, Ryan Dumville. Ryan is passionate about endurance sports and already has an Ironman under his belt. Instead of trying to explain why he pushes his body to the limits in these races, we’ll let Ryan take it from here:
“It all started on vacation on the island of Kauai in 2018. The urgent care doctor held a popsicle stick on my tongue as he peered into my mouth with a flashlight. “You look pretty rough…. I’m glad you didn’t wait another day to come in.”
I had every symptom imaginable, dry heaving, cough, night sweats, chills you name it. I was soaking wet, every bone and muscle in my body ached. My throat felt as if I had been gargling asphalt for a week. I just hiked twenty-two miles out of the rainforest sick as a dog with full blown bronchitis. I was a mess. The doctor sent me on my way with a bag of cough syrup, antibiotics and various other medications. The duration of the trip was spent apprehending my surroundings through a blurry haze of flu medicine.
Anyone who’s seen the movie Jurassic Park knows this iconic portion of the Napali Coast State Park. The Kalalau Trail lines the coast with it’s lush, green cliffs of jagged lava rock and ocean water that resembles the color and clarity of Windex. It was paradise, until it wasn’t.What started out as a leisurely camping/hunting trip on one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world, ended up being much more than I bargained for.
So what does this have to do with endurance sports and ultra running?
Well, lots! I flew back to Colorado with a new mindset and the question of untapped physical and mental potential still inside me. Call me crazy but the irony of that experience made me laugh. In my head I thought: “There’s no way anything could hurt more than hiking twenty-two miles while fighting off a viral infection. Imagine what I could do if I was healthy!?”
The gears started to turn. When I got home, I looked up races and I found the Ironman 70.3 in Boulder later that summer. I had 5 months to train and without much hesitation, I signed up.
Fast forward to August, in the blazing afternoon heat, with miles of training in the bank, I finally crossed that finish line. It was a surreal and unbelievable experience. One that would launch me into a whole different world of self torture.
Fast forward to this past summer. I found myself filming for Go To Team at the Leadville Trail. The trail is home to the 100-mile run titled “Race Across The Sky.” We were filming a piece for a gala video and profiling a runner, Amar Kuchinad, who was attempting the 100 mile race in the Rocky Mountains all while raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
There were many highlights from that shoot. During that race I ran into my hero. Former Navy Seal, Ultraman champion, Author, and Ultra Runner, David Goggins. If you don’t know who he is, look him up! If you need some inspiration and you haven’t read his book, Can’t Hurt Me. Do it!
The 100-mile race is a beast, with right at 600 racers 50% of those DNF “did not finish” Witnessing the race that day In September and seeing Amar, David, and the many other superhumans going deep into the “pain cave” to finish that race was highly motivating and Inspiring.
The gears started turning again and my interest toward trail running rapidly started to snowball. I asked myself the question “What’s next?” “What else am I capable of?”
In October I decided to get my knees healthy again. I found physical therapy, got a running gait analysis and started strength training 3 times a week. I found a coach, I started running consistently, six days a week, no excuses, with a plan to slowly build miles. I was doing this while also logging every mile in a training log.
When I travel, my shoes go with me. I think that’s the beauty of running. You don’t need a gym and fancy equipment, just a pair of shoes and you can run anywhere. That’s why I have two ultra marathons and another half Ironman scheduled this year. Some people are probably wondering why the heck I chose to do this.
Well, the reason I chose to do it is that I love the community and the shared trail time with friends. I love the challenge of testing your mental and physical abilities in the mountains. The idea of fighting through the highs and lows, to be aware of pain and decide to keep going.
Training with consistency in mind, knowing that when race day comes I can look back at my logs and remind myself that the miles are there. It’s training with the peaceful feeling that you can run forever and nothing is impossible.”
MAJOR props to Ryan for setting his mind to something and putting in extremely hard work to accomplish his goals. We can’t imagine the level of intensity and endurance it takes to run an Ultra-marathon, but we definitely don’t mind bragging about how impressive our cameramen are! Stay tuned for more spotlights on the rest of our awesome video camera crews!