Ria Xi - Running 20,000km Across the Silk Road to Redefine What's Possible

Two years ago, Ria was burnt out from her tech career in Silicon Valley, coming out of a difficult relationship, and struggling with mental health issues. Running became her way out.

Within a year, she went from struggling to finish a half marathon to setting ultramarathon records on world-renowned routes.

The Via Francigena: 1,014 km in 21 days

The Camino de Santiago: 780 km in 12 days

And now she has just started her journey to become the first human to run across Eurasia on the silk road, or what she calls: the 20000km Experiment.

In this episode, Ria shares how running helped her rebuild her life, the mindset shifts that enabled her to go from beginner to record-breaking ultrarunner, and the enormous logistical challenge of planning a 20,000km expedition through 17 countries.

Listen to this episode to learn about resilience, finding purpose after burnout, taking bold leaps into the unknown, and why sometimes the most "delusional" dreams are the ones worth pursuing.

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Show notes

• Who is Ria?
• Trying to run across the Asia and Europe on the Silk Road 
• Currently being in her support vehicle in the northeast of China, approx. 17 days into her journey 
• Calling in from the road after running 50km
• Growing up in China as a child figure skater
• Trying to make the Olympics
• Living on the edge of Beijing 
• Moving to the USA at 14 for school 
• Suffering from some knee injuries and not being into running 
• Her final year of high school and trying out running in nature 
• Going through a significant breakup 
• Starting to run everyday for 30 days
• Struggling with depression and reaching the point where nothing made sense 
• Having no control over the situation of her life
• Not knowing what to do with herself 
• Being in Chamonix and being inspired by the humans running the UTMB
• Going to Egypt to become a free diving instructor 
• The Sinai Trail in Egypt 
• Going from a half marathon to running 539km 
• Deciding to run across the length of the silk road
• Continuing to challenge herself in daily distances 
• Running the Sinai Trail and what the experience was like 
• The logistics and planning behind the trail 
• Running in Egypt
• The logistics of the Sil