Overview: Yassine Diboun is a professional ultramarathon trail runner, coach and entrepreneur (Wy’east Wolfpack) in Portland, Ore. He’s also nearly 17 years sober. In this conversation, we talk about Yassine’s story of addiction, which started at a really early age. And we talk about sobriety. Serious topics no doubt. But we have some good laughs along the way too.
We also talk about Yassine’s transformation from, as he tells it, spiritual bankruptcy to spiritual awakening, and his becoming a pro athlete and a community leader, on the trail and off. Among other things, like diversity in the outdoors and the Japanese concept of shin-rin yoku (“forest bathing”).
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EP 119 SHOW NOTES, LINKS & TRANSCRIPT
Connect with Yassine Diboun:
Website: wyeastwolfpack.com
Instagram: @yassinediboun
Wy’east Wolfpack on Instagram: @wyeastwolfpack
Connect with Adam Williams / Humanitou:
Humanitou on Instagram: @humanitou
About Adam
Art Credits
Photo credits: Cortney White
Episode cover illustration: Adam Williams
Intro/Outro Music
“Upfronts” by Ketsa | freemusicarchive.org
*Full transcript coming.
[INTRO MUSIC: UPBEAT, ELECTRONIC, INSTRUMENTAL]
INTRO TRANSCRIPT
Hey! I’m Adam Williams, and this is the Humanitou Podcast.
Today, I’m talking with Yassine Diboun, an elite ultramarathon trail runner in Portland, Oregon. He also is co-owner of a training and coaching business there called Wy’east Wolfpack.
Now, I like to think of myself as a runner. Sort of. But like I told Yassine when we got on our call, I have had a pretty on-again, off-again relationship with the sport. And I’ve never tackled an ultramarathon, though I think the idea is pretty amazing.
And I’d have to say that Yassine has me thinking about it again. Not because he tried to, but simply because I think his story — in life and running — is … well, it’s just inspiring.
He and I don’t actually talk much about running in this conversation, by the way, as much as I would have loved to make it all about trail running for my own selfish reasons, since I recently started running consistently again.
Instead, Yassine and I dig into the real grit of his life story, like we usually do here on Humanitou. We talk a lot about his story of addiction, which started at a really early age and escalated for years, breaking down relationships and opportunities as he went. And we talk about sobriety. Serious topics no doubt. But we have some good laughs along the way too.
Ultimately, with the tough love of Yassine’s mother and brother, and the support of many others, he was able to shift from what he describes as spiritual bankruptcy to spiritual awakening.
As you’ll hear Yassine say, “Something inside of me didn’t want to die anymore.”
Now nearly 17 years sober, he’s a community leader, a mentor, a professional athlete, an entrepreneur, a husband and father, and so much more.
So we talk about those things too, and other stuff. It’s a great conversation.
Oh, and we get a couple visits from Yassine’s cat, Hunter, to further liven things up. You’ll know it when it happens.
As always, show notes and links are on the website, at humanitou.com.
And now, here we go. My conversation with Yassine Diboun.
