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Home > The Swing > From winning national titles to ultramarathons with the Matthai twins and Julia Hartig
Podcast: The Swing
Episode:

From winning national titles to ultramarathons with the Matthai twins and Julia Hartig
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2026-02-09 09:05:18
Description:

From 8k to 100-miles, we covered the distance runners with UW-La Crosse national champions, Aidan and Grant Matthai, and ultramarathoner Julia Hartig in studio for La Crosse Talk PM.

The Matthais are in the midst of trying to win back-to-back triple crowns — winning national titles in cross county, plus indoor and outdoor track. So far, the seniors have four wrapped up, as they’re in the midst of indoor season at UW-L.

Meanwhile, Hartig is coming off winning La Crosse’s Hixon 50 and breaking the course record in the Midwest States 100K, as she gears up for multiple ultramarathons this spring.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Find the show on Spotify, Apple Podcast or here. Tune in on the WIZM app or on air at 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska)

On the show, we talk about the emotions leading up to winning — and losing — a national championship, what you eat before a big race and the mindset you need to run an 8K vs. a 100K.

We also talk about “The Matthai Twins” channel on YouTube, and their recently released documentary “The Road to Repeat,” chronicling winning last fall’s cross country national title.

The origins of that channel are funny, as it didn’t start because of running and one of the most popular videos on there is “Cell Analogy – How an Animal Cell is Like a School,” from eight years ago. That video only needs about 3,000 more views to be their most popular one ever.

We also joke about being identical twins — as both the Matthais and Hartigs are just that — and how that hasn’t seemed to pay off in their running careers.

ABOVE: FILE – Julia Hartig poses with some hardware after winning the HIxon 50 in October of 2025 (PHOTO: Josh Wolcott, @Hixon50 on Facebook). TOP PHOTO: The Matthai twins compete for UW-La Crosse at the Notre Dame Invite on Oct. 3, 2025 (PHOTO: Mackenzie Ginder, UWL Athletics).
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