Mike Rouse: Ultramarathoner, Triathlete, Endurance Athlete, Philanthropist

If you’re looking for the definition of perseverance, endurance, and a ridiculous “Never Quit” mentality, you will find it in today’s episode with Mike Rouse. Here’s a guy who went from having it all into falling into a cocaine habit that sent him to prison. But the prison life caused him to seek life again outside the prison walls, which, in turn, caused him to start running. Since his freedom from incarceration, Mike has devoted his life to helping others and has become one of the country’s elite runners. He has run hundreds of marathons, dozens of 50-kilometer races, 31-mile races, and 50-mile races. Twenty-four-hour runs and 100-mile races are like home to him, as are Ironmans and Ultramarathons. Mike has won 2 world championships. One of his closest friends, a Navy SEAL was one of 31 soldiers killed on a mission, and every year since then, he’s been running 3.1 miles, 31 times in a row, wearing a shirt with the names and faces of those 31 men. He changes shirts upon completion of every 3.1 miles. He never met most of those men, but Mike feels like he knows them because of the research he’s done on them, the families he’s met, and his own bond with his friend, JT.