2025 April VFE Featured Athlete – Juan Jose Caudillo; Sport – Ultra Marathon Runner; Athlete/Teacher/HS Track & Field & Cross Country Coach

My running journey started when I was 13 years old in middle school. It was an outlet and an escape from a somewhat troubled adolescence. My parents made me join an afterschool running club where we only ran short distances. To my surprise I enjoyed it. I continued running in high school where I ran cross-country and track and field all four years. I found that running not only kept me out of trouble, but it also brought me much happiness. From the beginning it brought me out of a dark space and into a place of light. After high school I continued to run and in my early thirties I started Ultra running.

Being an Ultra marathon runner has many challenges. Trying to find the balance between the sport I love and all other aspects of my life; full-time work, my own training, coaching high school cross-country and track and field and family quality time has forced me to learn how to make time and schedule the time to train. Knowing the importance of sleep so that I can wake early to be on the trails for hours and taking care of my nutrition by preparing meals and planning my hydration is key to being able to accomplish the goals I set for myself to be and do the best I can in my sport as well as being the best coach to my athletes.

I can honestly say there have been downfalls with this sport but with the downfalls, there is opportunity for the comebacks.
After completing the Kodiak 100 which was my first 100 miler, after long hours of running up and down trails, training in high elevations for excessive hours made me realize how much my body could endure and achieve,
After a few days of a runners high, physically my entire body hurt. My legs had gotten me through those 100 miles but now they were letting me know the impact of running that distance and elevation in 30 hours. Mentally I had no desire, motivation or grind to get back on the trails. I felt alone because I had isolated myself from my running community. Running friends were reaching out to me to try to motivate me to get back on the trails. One of those friends told me she thought I had the “Ultra Blues”. Ultra Blues is a common experience among runners, especially after completing a challenging endurance event. After researching I realized that ultra blues is a form of depression, and this is what I was going through. The comeback from this downfall for me was knowing I had to seek professional help to get back to the sport I love.