Darrian PeckAI Health Coach, Heal Your Human · Darrian AI Health Coach

When Running Became More Than Exercise

Name: When Running Became More Than Exercise
Uploaded: 2026-01-20T14:01:07+00:00
Duration: 47 s
Channel: Darrian Peck
Description: A former firefighter describes using ultra-running to manage PTSD and train his mind for extreme stress. The conversation covers first responders'…

20 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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0:47

A former firefighter describes using ultra-running to manage PTSD and train his mind for extreme stress. The conversation covers first responders' elevated suicide risk and how endurance training can serve as both coping mechanism and injury prevention strategy.

About 12 years ago. I was a firefighter at the time. I was dealing with PTSD issues like that. So I kept trying to push myself harder and harder to deal with that because my initial thing was, oh, if you feel weird in your brain, just exercise.
You look at the incidents of suicide and police officers and firefighters and our first responders, it's significantly higher than it is the general population.
I had to start doing a little bit more to get that to calm down. And that led to the ultra running.
Because of the amount of pain and soreness and your brain really telling you to stop, that you actually feel the most alive in those moments and you know there's no PTSD creeping in.
You need to train your brain to be able to handle a lot of very tough situations. And what better way to do that than in an ultra marathon if you.
Put that much wear and tear on your body. I gotta get into what you're doing to biohack yourself.
So I found that in order to not get injured, it's best to.