Wake up, it's new film day over at Rabbitwolf

Queue your favorite YouTube recording of Taps because we’ve officially retired our beloved Reader of the Week gag. It was fun! We forgot about it a few times and probably gave it to the same person a few times due to circumstances beyond our control, but it’s time to move on. Though we do reserve the right to bestow it sporadically and as we see fit.

And remember: maybe the ROTW was the friends we made along the way.

Stephen: Alright, I’ve got a steaming bowl of soup in front of me. I’m ready to podcast.

Ryan: A good way to start any conversation is asking your friend what kind of soup they’re eating.

SK: It is a creamy tortellini soup. Except I had to toss some ravioli in there because I couldn’t find any tortellini at the two stores I went to yesterday. Tortellini would have been better in here for the size element, but anytime you’re wrapping cheese in dough I think you’ll enjoy yourself.

And actually, you can see the recipe I used because, Ryan, we share a New York Times Cooking subscription. Share meaning I use your account without paying you one red cent. It’s fun to share with you because I can always see what you’re planning for your next meal.

RS: We share a phone plan and a subscription to the Failing New York Times, the bedrock of any good relationship. I’m not sure what would happen if this relationship ever fell apart.

SK: Living without a phone and access to the New York Times actually sounds fantastic but I’d obviously hate to know it came at the expense of losing a dear friend and business partner. I will keep reading the slop to further our relationship.

RS: No more of this. We have actual important shit to share in this newsletter for the first time in a long time. Isn’t that exciting?

SK: It’s thrilling. It’s release day for Terminus. Our movie on Kristian Morgan and his attempt at the FKT on the Appalachian Trail.

What do we want the people to know? Other than knowing we are begging them to watch the film.

RS: We’ve already talked about the most exciting part of making this movie: we destroyed a rental van.

Outside of that, I suppose what we want people to know is inside the film. If you’re reading this newsletter as a sort of companion piece to the film I’d love to know what you thought. Did you find Kristian to be an interesting character? Do you know of anyone else with this sort of…the only polite word I have is DRIVE?

What do you want the people to know?

SK: Kristian has a particular kind of disease. I don’t mean that in any sort of pejorative way, but he is fully consumed by this trail in a way I haven’t really seen elsewhere. We don’t dive super deep into his obsession, but I’d like people to know that this man is obsessed.

I think the thing most striking about what we saw out there was really what the film leans into, and that’s the relationship between Kristian and his mom, Sharon. She’s been with him for all seven of his attempts at the record. It was really fascinating to see them work as a team — though that mostly meant Sharon being incredibly organized and cognizant of Kristian’s needs. And to do that for multiple years in a row? For fun? C’mon.

RS: Yeah Sharon was the real MVP of the trip. Without her leadership we would never have been able to find them on the trail, the numerous pacers and crewmembers would have been boned, and Kristian would not have had a single meal or a place to sleep. And you’re right, the organizational aspect of it was truly impressive. She had custom built out her rented Chrysler Pacifica (the best van on the market in Rabbitwolf’s humble opinion), with shelves, a bed, places for her enormous coolers, etc.

When Kristian finally pulled the plug (spoiler, sorry) we helped her clean out the van a little bit and this is when I learned that her bed, which was a foam mattress on top of a piece of plywood was propped up on a few cans of soup. Somewhere along the trail one of the cans had burst and we spent a considerable amount of time getting a rather large soup stain out of the van’s upholstery.

SK: This is to only further your working Theory of Life: Soup as Man’s Bedrock.

I know we are mostly pessimistic on the word COMMUNITY but did the AT community that you came in contact with change your opinion on communities in the sport?

RS: I think so. Everyone we talked to along the trail kept one upping the previous person as the nicest person we’ve ever met. Most community suffers from the members (read: fans) wanting to be too close to the “stars” of that community. While I do think there are people along the AT that are revered there seems to be a mutual respect for everyone out there, whether you are day hiking a couple of miles, section hiking, or doing the entire damn thing.

Is this a good thesis on toxic community?

SK: I wonder if the ailment in the proverbial community stems from community members wanting to be a stars? Everyone yearning for stardom, aching for spotlight, creating a toxic environment where the support system a healthy community can boast has all but failed.

The AT we saw — our AT — was a nice mix of folks just looking to have an experience and support one another. Whether hiker to hiker or Trail Angel to hiker. It was nice. I can be earnest for one whole paragraph and say I liked it.

RS: But as you repeated over and over again out there: you would never do it.

SK: Don’t do this here, man. Not in front of our dwindling fanbase.

RS: I’d like you to declare right now, to our audience, to me, to your wife and child, that you will never do the AT

SK: I don’t speak in ifs, buts, or maybes. I speak in absolutes. So I cannot answer that question.

RS: Tune in next year folks, for our premiere of Terminus 2: The Stephen Kersh Story.

SK: In the meantime, please enjoy our latest offering. We had heaps of help on this one! Ryan was out on three trips to film Kristian in Maine, Virginia, and then Georgia. He directed the hell out of the thing.

Our dear friends Brendan Davis and Paden Spencer filled in for us during the New York segment of the trip, capturing some essential footage and a key interview with Warren Doyle — the arbiter of good and evil on the AT.

Luke Adams filmed with Ryan in Virginia and Georgia. He seemed to be the only one concerned about b-roll the entire trip and we’re thankful for him.

I was able to be helpful by editing the film. I missed out on 75% of the filming trips because I was either preparing for or in the middle of running UTMB. I’m sorry, Ryan. But I actually really enjoyed piecing this one together.

Calvin Keller scored original music to this while living deep in the Alaskan wilderness. He remains to be one of the most interesting people we work with.

In post-production, we had Quang Nguyen of Mural Studios turning the knobs on the color grade and our trusted sound mixer Cody Troyer.

And this was all made possible with support from HOKA.