Brendan Leonard

I do a lot of things and wear a lot of hats, so I don’t have a nice tidy bio like “Olympian” or “Polar Explorer”—but I have run 52 marathons in a year, and I’m a columnist for Outside Magazine.

I’ve been an “adventure writer” since 2004, have authored 10 books, created award-winning short films, illustrated ad campaigns, and spoken to audiences across the United States, and around the world. I have spent cumulative months of my life climbing rock faces, running trails, summiting peaks (and skiing down them), and traversing mountain ranges, and I’ve held down a full-time job since I got out of college. I love talking about all these things, but what really gets me going is human persistence and resilience, and thinking about creativity. I create my presentations following the same steps I do with everything else I make: Be Curious -> Go Out And Do Interesting Things -> Survive -> Report Back (with Humor).

My editorial work has appeared in Alpinist, CNN, Outside, Men’s Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Backpacker, Adventure Cyclist and dozens of other publications. I am a contributing editor at Adventure Journal and am a former contributing editor at Climbing Magazine.