Adventure Sports Podcast
Ep. 566: Climbing the 50 U.S. Highpoints in 50 Days with Type 1 Diabetes - Michael Shelver & Patrick Mertes
02 Sep 2019
Patrick and Michael have been living with Type 1 Diabetes for most of their lives. Feeling a bit isolated and hesitant as children to venture too far away from available insulin or glucose monitoring tools, they individually pursuit adventurous lives before coming together to show the world anything is possible with T1D through their latest adventure, Project 50-IN-50 They climbed the 50 highpoints of each U.S. state and finished in 49 days – making them the first people with Type 1 diabetes to complete this achievement and joining an elite group of fewer than five people to do so the fastest in the world. Over the course of the 2019 summer, the team road-tripped over 17,000 miles to hike, run, climb and ski through 315 miles of trails. Patrick is the first person with T1D to successfully summit the highest peak in each of the 50 states. Michael experienced an emergency Life Flight off of Granite Peak in Montana and had to miss out on a handful of the peaks. Thankfully, he’s made a full recovery. After loads of tears and challenges along the way, Patrick and Michael persevered to complete their challenge. Project 50-IN-50 is an initiative of The Diabetes Family Connection, a North Carolina based 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. In addition to achieving a new milestone in mountaineering, Michael and Patrick have grown local and global communities of people with diabetes inspired to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. www.project50in50.org Instagram: @project50in50 Facebook: @project50in50 www.thedfc.org Their upcoming events: project50in50.org/speaking Photo credit here Athletic Brewing Company is a pioneer in craft non-alcoholic beer. They make great-tasting beer for the healthy, active, modern adult. Athletic uses certified all-organic grains and only 50-70 calories a can. With IPA, Golden Ale, stouts, and tons of seasonal style offerings. Save 15% by using ADVENTURE at athleticbrewing.com @athleticbrewing ASP is also sponsored by CS Instant Coffee. CS Instant Coffee is 100% Arabica Instant Coffee. Their compostable packaging provides guilt-free convenience that is perfect for the trail, office, and fitness. Visit csinstant.coffee and use promo code 'Adventure' for 20% off at csinstant.coffee @c.s.coffee If you're in need of some personalized advice before buying your gear, go to backpacktribe.com. You're not only able to purchase the gear you need on their website but talk with someone with the experience and know-how. They also offer gear bundles and free shipping. @backpacktribal Support the Adventure Sports Podcast by giving as low as $1/month to our efforts to produce this show at patreon.com/AdventureSportsPodcast Call and leave us a voicemail at 812-MAIL-POD or 812-624-5763 or send an email to [email protected] Sponsors:* Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/ASP* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/aspSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other recent transcribed episodes
Transcribed and ready to explore now
#2426 - Cameron Hanes & Adam Greentree
16 Dec 2025
The Joe Rogan Experience
#2425 - Ethan Hawke
11 Dec 2025
The Joe Rogan Experience
SpaceX Said to Pursue 2026 IPO
10 Dec 2025
Bloomberg Tech
Don’t Call It a Comeback
10 Dec 2025
Motley Fool Money
Japan Claims AGI, Pentagon Adopts Gemini, and MIT Designs New Medicines
10 Dec 2025
The Daily AI Show
Eric Larsen on the emergence and potential of AI in healthcare
10 Dec 2025
McKinsey on Healthcare