If I Can Stand, I Can Start: Patrick Yalon’s Moab 240

Become a Distance to Empty subscriber!: https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod

Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!

Check out Mount to Coast here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Use code DISTANCE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Janji.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select 'podcast' > 'Distance to Empty' on the post purchase "How did you hear about Janji" page. Thank you!

Patrick J. Yalon was training for Moab 240 when a routine surf at Ocean Beach in San Francisco went catastrophically wrong—his board stopped, his body didn’t, and he broke his neck, drowned, and was revived on the sand before undergoing a nine-and-a-half-hour spinal fusion and learning to move again one toe at a time. Just three months later, still battling nerve pain and fear of re-injury, Patrick toed the line at Moab anyway—finishing 144+ miles before making the hard call to stop, knowing the difference between “good pain” and “bad pain.” In this episode, he walks us through the mental darkness before the accident, the identity reset that followed, and why Moab became his North Star—then returns in 2025 for redemption, fighting brutal weather, river crossings, shredded feet, and soul-level lows to finally earn the finish. It’s a raw conversation about gratitude, grace, and pushing forward “aid station to aid station”—and why Patrick believes he may never find his distance to empty.