“Running at a competitive level, that’s just who I am. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to go all out. I’m not going to half-ass anything.” – Kyle Dietz
I mean, it makes sense. At the end of the day, each discipline — mixed martial arts and long-distance running — require a kind of limitless endurance that is a raw but rare trait to possess. Back against a literal and metaphorical chain link fence, or running head-first into that figurative wall, these athletes have this inspired ability to overcome those obstacles and break through to an advanced plane.
Iowan Kyle Dietz happens to be one of those athletes. This short film, “Ultra Fighter,” follows the former MMA-fighting midwesterner as he trains and prepares in and around his home state of Iowa, before heading to Big Sky, Montana for the RUT 50k.
What I felt was the most inspiring thing about Kyle was not necessarily his superhuman ability, but that the experience (for him) was more than about the feat or challenge: “I felt like a kid again, hanging out in the woods, being free and wild and becoming one with nature… all that jazz that everyone talks about — it’s real. People find those feelings when they’re out there.”
Then there is the whole lack of altitude training, yet him not willing to split up his family for the sake of sport. Not only a warrior’s warrior, but a man’s man.
Finally, let’s revisit that whole five world champions at one time in one town. You got to check that water. Definitely something in the water.
