Rise and Run
Rise and Run
143: Jonathan Siebert: Overcoming Adversity and Inspiring Others
Ever wondered how to balance intense summer training while keeping your motivation high? We promise you’ll gain invaluable tips as we navigate the challenges of running in hot weather and share humorous yet stress-inducing tales of the infamous runDisney registration chaos. Chadwick Moore kicks off our episode with an engaging introduction, setting the stage for a series of updates, training tips, and inspiring stories. Alicia offers her personal comeback narrative from recent health setbacks, and we celebrate the spirit of camaraderie within the running community, emphasizing the importance of adjusting to the heat for those pivotal fall races.
Our special guest Jonathan Siebert joins us to share his incredible journey of overcoming 27 surgeries due to Apert syndrome. Jonathan’s positive outlook and perseverance shine through as he recounts his path from Disney’s Castaway Cay 5K to preparing for the Dopey Challenge. As a motivational speaker, he has reached students worldwide, spreading messages of kindness and resilience inspired by his experiences. Jonathan's story is sure to leave you feeling empowered and ready to tackle any obstacle, both on and off the running track.
Tom stopped bye and talked about his new Stoked Metabolic Summer Challenge an eight-week summer transformation challenge designed to motivate participants to kickstart their training and aim for significant body transformations. Use Code Rise for a discount if you sign up by 6/24.
We also recap remarkable race achievements and personal records from our listeners. Highlights include Grace’s sub-60 goal, Kylie’s record at the RC Cola Moon Pie 5K, and Nicole’s journey to becoming an ultramarathoner. Amidst these achievements, we extend our support to community members facing personal challenges and celebrate the strong bonds within our running family. Whether you're gearing up for the Wine and Dine or Marathon Weekend, this episode is packed with inspiration, practical advice, and a heartfelt sense of community. Tune in, stay motivated, and keep running strong!
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3 am again.
Speaker 3:Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast. Join our group of Run Disney friends. As we talk about running at Walt Disney World and beyond. We'll discuss recent runs, training, upcoming races and surprise topics suggested by you, our listeners. Well, the alarm's gone off, so let's go.
Speaker 4:Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. Welcome to another wonderful episode of the Rise and Run podcast. I'm Chadwick Moore, calling in from the center of North Carolina, Sanford. Whether you're training for your first ever race walk or have been running since the day you were born, I'm so glad to be a part of this family with you. Happy training.
Speaker 5:Morning, afternoon and evening Covered them all. Chadwick, Well done, what a great intro. Thank you for that. We're proud to have you as part of the Rise and Run family. We're proud to have all of you as part of the Rise and Run family. My friends, welcome to episode 143. I'm Bob. I'm here this week with John hey, how you doing. With Greg, hey, hey, hey. And with Alicia, hello, good to see you. My friends, no crickets tonight, friends. If anything, we're going to test to see how good the wind screen on this microphone is, because it's very breezy Not stormy, but very breezy in central Florida. So if you hear wind noises, it's all good to go.
Speaker 5:This week's episode, our featured guest, jonathan Siebert, remarkable, remarkable young man. Jonathan is Suffers from Apert syndrome and has one heck of a story to tell you. Talk about upbeat and inspirational. Jonathan will get you going. And thanks to Melissa Leanne for recommending that we get in touch with Jonathan In the race report spotlight. I'd had enough. I had to go across the ocean and get in touch with Danny in the Netherlands so that he could pronounce the names of the races for me this week. So Danny's in the race report spotlight.
Speaker 3:If you enjoy the Rise and Run podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. We want to share in their run Disney journey. Please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast, on Instagram at Rise and Run Pod. Check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, riseandrunpodcastcom. If you have any questions, comments, race reports.
Speaker 3:You want to tell us what the dew point is at your house on your training runs since I feel like a third of the country is going to be going through a heat wave this week, or you want to introduce an upcoming episode? Give us a call at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.
Speaker 6:We also want to thank our patrons, whose support helps keep the Rise and Run podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join the Patreon team, please check us out at patreoncom. Slash riseandrunpodcast.
Speaker 5:Sounds good guys. Thanks. Rise and Run podcast brought to you by our friends at Magic Bound Travel. Magic Bound Travel, the place to go for all your run. Disney needs Some cruise line reservations Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line and they'll also help you out at Universal Studios in Florida.
Speaker 3:You know, speaking of cruising, bob, I did see day of recording Disney released information on, I think it's their fall 2025 and spring 2026 cruise itineraries. And if there's one thing I've learned about cruising is that if you want to get the best price 2025 and spring 2026 cruise itineraries yeah, and if there's one thing I've learned about cruising is that if you want to get the best price, you got to book early. So if there, if that's a timeframe that you're looking to go on on a Disney cruise, definitely get with magic bound and they can help you get locked into, you know, hopefully the cheapest price possible.
Speaker 5:Since you mentioned that, greg, brad and Maggie will be with us next week and we'll be talking about the potential for a rise and run cruise in April of 2026. Magicboundtravelcom is their website. Please check them out. Let's take a look at the training schedule. Disneyland halloween race is now 11 weeks away. You did a six and a half mile long run last week, so we back it off here for training week number seven. Back to the base of three miles for your long training run this week. Oh, looking at the training schedule, we're not far away from starting training for Wine and Dine and for Marathon Weekend. We had a momentous occasion occur earlier on this day our day of recording. We'll get to that in just a moment, but first let's talk training a little bit. Alicia, you wanted to talk something today.
Speaker 6:Yeah, so today I got to do my first run in over a month. I was having ankle problems and then I had really bad allergies and then I went on vacation and then I got COVID and now I'm finally getting to run again. It was slow, obviously, but it went really well.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's okay.
Speaker 6:I was really happy and grateful for my body to let me do three miles today pretty seamlessly, given all of the things that I've gone through over the last month, so I was really grateful for that. I also wanted to mention, if anybody because we are having all these things with training coming up if anybody is still looking for a run coach. We know lots of other ones, but I am a run coach as well. So if you want to check out my website at runningwithalishacom, I do have a discount for our Rise and Run listeners, so it's $10 off a month if you're interested. So I just want to throw that out there.
Speaker 5:Okay, fair enough. Yeah, it's a challenge to come back. You have to be patient, you have to take baby steps. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's a challenge to come back. You have to be patient, you have to take baby steps.
Speaker 5:Yeah, absolutely yeah. I want to talk a little bit about a topic that's going to become more and more popular. We're into mid to late June now. Through most of the country you're starting to get the hot weather. In fact, I know there's very hot weather forecast for the Northeast US this weekend. July, june, july, august are tough. It's hot, slow down. I don't care how slow you go in these summer months. These are tough months to get through. We haven't really started dopey training yet. You will in July. It's a challenge. Stay hydrated. We all say that, but I think what we miss sometimes is that hydration is an all-day process. Miss sometimes is that hydration is an all-day process. I'm not talking about just taking your water bottle with you on your 10k run or whatever your training is for that day, but stay hydrated throughout the day.
Speaker 6:And throw in some electrolytes here and there too, because you're losing a lot of those with the extra sweating.
Speaker 5:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a challenge. It really is a challenge. However, and I'm offering a double your money back guarantee on this summer training leads to fall PRs. You'll hear that again. Summer training leads to fall PRs. If you can get through it, get the miles in, get the time in. I almost don't care how slow you go. When the weather cools off and the dew point drops and there's more oxygen back here in the atmosphere or there's less water vapor and you're absorbing more oxygen molecules, it's going to feel a heck of a lot better. You're going to get out there one day in depends on where you live somewhere between September and November and go oh wow, this is great. I feel like I'm carrying supplemental oxygen and I'm going and you wait and see. We're going to be doing, we're going to be wearing out the PR bell this fall if you do your training this summer.
Speaker 7:Something else with the heat we need to talk about too Heat stroke and heat exhaustion. It can happen. So biggest difference between heat stroke and heat exhaustion is in heat stroke you stop sweating. If you stop sweating, start getting confusion, call 911, get in the shade and try to cool down as quick as possible. Heat exhaustion you're over, sweating more than normal, you know, might be a little faint or dizzy, that's you need to stop, get some water, cool down and keep yourself safe. Just don't overdo yourself.
Speaker 6:Don't be afraid to go and find that place in the shade too, and sit down for a few minutes. It's important, more important than getting the times right now. It's more important to keep yourself safe, so take that time that you need.
Speaker 3:I agree a thousand percent.
Speaker 3:Alicia Bob said about you know, you know managing expectations in terms of paces and that you can't go too slow.
Speaker 3:You know when you go to input your magic mile into the Jeff Galloway magic mile calculator, you know it's going to shoot out your long run pace, and I know for a lot of people that sometimes that number seems really slow.
Speaker 3:I can't run that slow. But the thing that really blew my mind in terms of the Galloway method is that when it comes to the long run, is that that number not only is your pace but it's also your speed limit, because I have heard coach say over and over and over again that you know really forward momentum is a pace and that if you want to be able to conserve as much energy as possible and still get the same amount of endurance benefit, try not to go over that limit. And then obviously throw the heat onto that as well too. That number is going to start to that long run pace is going to get slower and slower as well too, especially since the rule of thumb with Jeff and I'd have to imagine, other coaches as well is you should be slowing down 30 seconds per mile for every five degrees over 60 and, and I'll tell you right now, I honestly think there is no shame in walking workouts you know these next couple of weeks, and I'll give you a perfect example.
Speaker 3:Last week was my daughter's last week of school and she had half days, and so I was in a crunch to be able to get some work done and try to get my work done, and I didn't have a ton of time, but I had enough time to get out and I was like you know what?
Speaker 3:I'm going to just walk this workout instead of run. That way I won't have to shower and I'll still have enough time to get my daughter off the bus. And let me tell you, by the time I was done with my walk, I still needed to take a shower. I feel like, as interval runners like outside of, like maybe going on a family walk with other people that aren't walking as fast when you're just walking by yourself and you do interval running, your pace is always faster. So of course, I was definitely working up a sweat in the ground. It was also pushing lunchtime too, so you know, was a little bit warmer as well, but you can still get a great sweat just by walking and you know, just realize there is zero shame in that whatsoever.
Speaker 5:Yeah, agreed. A couple of favorite sayings You've already heard one Summer training equals fall PRs. Another one if it's hot where you are, it's hot, we are all acclimated. And I had a conversation, a long conversation, with Jeff around about this, that that rule of 30 seconds every five degrees over 60, I won't see 60 here until November at the earliest.
Speaker 5:First thing in the morning I went out this morning. First thing I try to time my runs when I'm running. I've been doing a lot of aqua jogging lately, but when I'm running I try to time it so that I get done 30 minutes after sunrise. 30 minutes after sunrise is typically the coolest part of the day. The temperature continues to drop Even as the sun comes up. It takes a little while for the sun to heat the earth back up and then the earth heats the atmosphere. The sun doesn't actually heat the atmosphere, it's the other way around the sun heats the atmosphere, the sun doesn't actually heat the atmosphere, it's the other way around the sun heats the earth, the radiation heats the earth, the earth heats the atmosphere. So the coolest part of most days and you can find exceptions, but most days about 30 minutes after sunrise. So I go out.
Speaker 5:This morning Temperature was 75. Dew point was 70. For a lot of people that would feel warm. I went oh man, this feels great. But the point I wanted to make is going back to that conversation with Jeff, and I was joking. I said, jeff, if I slow down 30 seconds a mile, or for every five degrees over 60, I'll have to start running backwards. And he said to me Bob, you'd be surprised.
Speaker 5:The people who suffer the most heat-related injuries are those people who are accustomed to running in hot weather. And I did. First of all, I trust Jeff and I knew he was correct. But I did a little further research just to understand why and it is a fact and it has to do with you feel like you're invulnerable to it. You've done it before and you feel like, oh golly, I can keep going. So, even if you're used to this kind of heat, be careful, be careful. All right, I think we've. I think we've laid on that. We'll come back to it. I promise we haven't seen the hottest days of the year yet. We'll come back to it. I promise we haven't seen the hottest days of the year yet, we'll come back to it. But I do feel comfortable telling you that if you can get out there and do some training, even at a very slow pace in the summer, it is going to pay huge dividends for you in the fall. All right, let's talk about something by the time. This episode is released.
Speaker 3:It's a subject that might make some people hot, Bob.
Speaker 5:Ah by the time you're listening to this episode, we don't know if this situation will have been resolved or what status it will be in. Of course, I'm talking about the Tuesday registration for the Disneyland half marathon weekend. All right, calm down. Calm down, let's talk through this. I was not. None of the gang is registering for this race. Gang is registering for this race. Nonetheless, I jumped onto our group chat at 945. I do not know how many folks were there. There were a fair number and everybody's excited and ready to go and folks are nervous and they're saying they're nervous. And of course I've done this a lot of times and I'm saying calm down, it's going to be okay. First thing we notice is that the registration links aren't open, and by 945, 950, they usually are and I thought this is odd. But maybe because it's the West Coast run, disney folks are going to do it right at 10 o'clock and we got forward. And then someone posted into the chat the image of the dwarfs we're working on. It Is.
Speaker 3:Run Disney PTSD, a thing it could be.
Speaker 5:My comment was I can't believe you saved that image from 2023. Because my browsers hadn't changed changed. I didn't see that and and I should have looked. I don't I don't remember who put this up, but they came back and said that's today on.
Speaker 3:Oh well, if you, if you sat through it, you know what happened next and basically, what happened next was nothing yeah, when, when you posted your screenshots in our private co-host chat, I was like oh, let me, let me see what's going on. I couldn't even get onto run disneycom it was it was that bad.
Speaker 5:You mentioned that. You mentioned that I related to the rest of the group. Um, I had every intention, as we've done before. I had my browsers open, I was going to get qids, share them, help people get registered nothing. And when I say nothing and if you were there, you you know what I mean Not only did the screens not change, but we did not hear anything from Run Disney. I think it was almost noon before we heard from Run Disney and when we did, they said nothing. They said, oh, the system's not working. Well, we know that.
Speaker 7:I was seeing photos where people said the races were sold out.
Speaker 5:That did happen At one point. What happened is the screens changed from. Well, the dwarfs went away, the screens came back and instead of saying registration will open soon, they all said sold out. Everybody said sold out. Now, I don't think that was up for very long, but that did happen.
Speaker 7:That must have freaked a lot of people out, yeah it did.
Speaker 5:But yeah, I can't speak for anybody else.
Speaker 3:But at that point I think we were incredulous and we went. I don't think that's right and of course it wasn't the idea of the compliment sandwich. So we'll start with something good, we'll go to something bad and then we'll end it with something good and this is my compliment sandwich for the situation today. Now, again, full disclosure I am not planning on running this race weekend and it wasn't in the chat. But again, I can sympathize with everyone out there. Oh, I feel bad for him. I am actually.
Speaker 3:And Greg, maybe this is a hot take I'm actually not going to fully pin this one on Run Disney. And the reason why I say that is because it wasn't our Facebook page, but it was a different Facebook page and, john, I think you might have even made a comment about, wasn't our Facebook page, but it was a. It was a different Facebook page and, john, I think you might've even made a comment about this in our group chat is um. Someone had put up this post that apparently AWS, which is Amazon's, um, like server web web services or whatever they're cloud, that's cloud.
Speaker 3:Correct? Yeah, they're cloud. Um web services or whatever. They're cloud. That's the cloud. Correct? Yeah, they're cloud. Apparently, a lot of websites that use AWS were having difficulties today, and I found that to be really interesting. So while I was at my daughter's swim lesson today, I Googled AWS issues, and usually, whenever I have any technology or website snafu or whatever, I always go to down detectorcom, and when I clicked on that, it showed AWS is experiencing difficulties and you saw, like this massive spike you know for for today.
Speaker 3:So, while we don't know for sure if run disney uses aws, I, I feel like it's. There's a pretty good chance that they might. So if they do, if aws is part of their infrastructure system in terms of registration, obviously that is kind of out of their control and I'll slightly give them a pass now. The negative, though, is and and I'll I'm right there with you, bob I think it took run disney way too long to put out updates today. Yeah, absolutely I, I want to. I I feel like like the first update that I saw was something in in relation to um. We know we're experiencing difficulties please be patient with us but I feel like it took 45 minutes to to get that message out and, in terms of, like, you know your brand, you're the one that built the brand. You know that these races could sell out in 45 minutes, so I I feel like that should have been done within I don't know 10, 15 minutes of of this whole absolutely snafu happening and then, but now I'll finish the others.
Speaker 3:The other uh bread piece of the sandwich here with the compliment is I think they made the right call in terms of just shutting it down for the day, because I think what created a lot of issue and a lot of hurt feelings and ptsd is you know. I'm going to go back to marathon. You know what you referenced before bob marathon weekend registration for um, the marathon weekend 2023. So that would have been what april of of 22, bob, I remember you having a hell of a time getting oh, yeah, and I didn't going from, you know, dopey to goofy, to just the marathon and then
Speaker 3:the 5k and then alicia, you being completely shut out, yep, and I think where they created issue there was the fact that, okay, they were having all these technical errors, but then they were like, okay, registration is now going to open at 1230 pm Eastern. But obviously some people were still looking at their spinning wheels and they got placed farther in the queue where people who joined in earlier were able to get in. So I think by them saying, listen, we're shutting it down, it's not happening today, we're going to pick a different date. I thought that was a really smart move on their part, but again, their communication in the interim between those two points really needs to get better.
Speaker 5:Well, let's hope the communication is good on letting friends know when it's going to be back up, on letting friends know when it's going to be back up. Obviously we're recording and then this will release on Thursday. I am hopeful that between the time of recording and the time of release Disney has an update to say all right, registration is going to occur on such and such a date at time. I don't know that. The folks I feel terribly for well, I feel bad for everybody. But in the group chat there were several folks who said I took the day off of work because I know this can last all day. Now what am I supposed to do? I, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if we can. If we can think of a way to help you, we will, but I don't know what that is.
Speaker 3:So now I do have a tin hat theory, though, or or tin hat conspiracy theory, all right, and and for me this was plausible, for maybe, like the first hour before you know, they, they like, started putting out statements themselves, or whatever.
Speaker 3:I was like I wouldn't be shocked in the least bit if the reason why this isn't working is to push more people to do club run disney, but then I but then I realized, though, that that really isn't plausible, because there are so many people who already do club run disney and it sells out, especially within the renewal period, so quickly that I'm like, well, no, they actually, in theory, don't have any other, any other spots to be able to open up. But, um, you know, seeing a lot of banter though, and and and the memes and we can talk about the memes later if we want, because there were some real good ones that got shared to that but it was our friend Amanda over at Once Upon a Marathon. She had brought up a really good point, but, again, I don't ever see this coming back, though, because of the birth of Club Run Disney. The reason why there was a crash is the number of people who were inundating the system and having multiple browsers open and log jamming.
Speaker 3:Everything is. Bring back the idea of early registration for annual pass holders and DVC members, and even if you wanted to incorporate Club Run Disney into that, I think you could still have that. But maybe let club run disney register two weeks before the public and then let aps and dvc register a week before, and then, you know, finish it off at the end, you know. So I I don't know if that helps alleviate the system, but again, we'll never know the technical reasons as to why today was such a kerfuffle.
Speaker 7:And also with the AP and DVC early registrations, they gave a percentage of the slots to those days. On that day it wasn't all you can. No, everybody wasn't in Right. No, it wasn't like, OK, there's 7000 spots, If there's 7000 people for AP and DVC, you're eating up before General Reg. It's only percentage. So they gave you a percentage early. It wasn't like, oh, you're AP, you're DVC, you're getting anything special, You're getting earlier to station. But you still had, say, a percentage of the available slots. You didn't get full cart.
Speaker 5:Right, and I think we've devoted enough time to this, because it ain't coming back. No, I know it's not no reason for Run Disney to do that. It'd be nice if it would In fact there's a reason not to do it, and that's that Club Run Disney thing, because Greg got his AP.
Speaker 7:That's why.
Speaker 5:I'm going to conclude this section with I'm going to quote Alan's note. I don't know if he put it on Instagram or sent it to me directly. I can't recall. I miss snail mail registration. I don't remember snail mail registration, Alan, but yeah, I imagine it was a whole bunch easier.
Speaker 7:That could be interesting too.
Speaker 5:All right, friends, let's visit with our guest for the week. Friends, our guest for tonight comes to us at the suggestion of another friend, melissa Leanne. A mutual friend said hey, you need to talk with Jonathan Siebert. And I go I don't know who that is, but I pop onto social media, onto Facebook, onto Instagram. I see this very compelling story. I go, yeah, this should be interesting. And I notice in every picture Jonathan's got a big smile and I say I need to meet this guy. And here he is with us tonight, jonathan, welcome to the Rise and Run podcast.
Speaker 1:Hello, thank you so much for having me, oh man.
Speaker 5:We're delighted that you're here. It's exciting, it's going to be fun, I promise, and we are anxious to hear your story, jonathan. I think you've got a very compelling motivational story. You suffered from Apert's syndrome. I pronounced that correct, I hope Apert syndrome.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, apert syndrome, apert syndrome.
Speaker 5:Can you tell us what that is?
Speaker 1:It's a rare syndrome and it affects the hands, the feet, the skull and my whole body and, due to Apert syndrome, I have had 27 surgeries in my life, from five months old to 21 years old, and I basically grew up in a hospital having surgeries and having medical appointments, and it's been hard, but I've always had a positive attitude and I always kept my head up high, even though times might be sometimes maybe difficult, even though times might be, sometimes maybe difficult.
Speaker 5:So it's a syndrome you were born with. It's not a progressive disease, but it's a syndrome that you needed to have multiple. You said 27 surgeries. Yes, sir, to fix from age five months to 21. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you now?
Speaker 1:I'm 27 years old, that's good.
Speaker 5:Just a kid. I get to say that Just a kid, but that's great. Now going forward, will there be more surgeries required at?
Speaker 1:some time. At this time not right now Doesn't look like it.
Speaker 5:Okay, well, I'm sure that you're good to know that I mean, you're happy to know that. I'm sure that's good and mostly grew up in hospital Remarkable. What else can you tell us about your experiences growing up? You mentioned that you were in hospital so much. Were you able to attend school and if so, how did that go?
Speaker 1:Yes, sir. So I went to school, from elementary to college and I went to public school and growing up was challenging because I was bullied a lot due to what I looked like and even though those times were hard, I always ignore it as much as I can and I just tell them, hey, please don't say that and oh, please don't do that, and that's not kind. And I always kept my head up high even though I was being bullied. And I'm now a motivational speaker and I speak to kids around the world about my story growing up and I want to just inspire the world that you can do anything that you set your mind to and in that, to always choose kindness, because you don't know what somebody's been through in their life and with the world that we're living today, kindness should take place instead of brilliant yeah, absolutely, jonathan.
Speaker 3:I agree 1000, and that's so admirable of you to be able to take your journey and your experience and be able to share that with the world. And in doing research in preparation for, uh, this interview, I came across a lot of articles, especially from school news bulletins, that again you're going into the classrooms and speaking to kids about this, especially the anti-bullying efforts. Can you tell us what kind of impact that has had on you? And then also, how did you get involved in that process? Do you work with a motivational speaking firm or is this just something that you do on your own?
Speaker 1:That's a really good question. So in 2017, the movie Wonder came out and when I was watching the movie at the movie theater, I just had a mind thought to start speaking to schools. One day and one night, I created an idea and I talked to my parents about it and I started speaking to schools a few weeks later and I just wanted to tell my story related to the book and movie Wonder, and even though my syndrome is different than Augie Pullman's, the main character in the Wonder story he has Tricia Collins syndrome and I have April syndrome, but I relate to what he is going through because I've been through it as well in my life with the Boolean and people who have been cruel to me, and I just wanted to start speaking to kids and give my message to them and it makes me feel good about doing that, and I have been. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback from schools around the world. I've spoken to all 50 states in the US, including Australia, pakistan and India.
Speaker 6:Wow, that's so cool.
Speaker 5:I talked over you. Let's say that again All 50 states, Australia, Pakistan and India. Yes, sir, Well done, my friend.
Speaker 3:And then a majority of these speaking engagements. Are you going to the schools in person or are you doing them virtually? What's your setup in terms of that?
Speaker 1:So for the majority of the part I do it online. So like on Zoom or Google Hangouts.
Speaker 3:Okay, very cool. Can you share a story with us of maybe whether it's a student or an educator that might have reached out to you after you were done speaking to say that your story inspired me or helped me in some way?
Speaker 1:Yes, so actually I've been speaking to schools since 2018, and I've been getting letters in the mail from students around the world, and I remember one of the letters said that thank you for coming to my school today. You have changed everyone's life and I have noticed less bullying at recess and everyone was kind to one another and want to play with one another at recess, and to me, that made me feel happy to hear that and that I have changed these kids already to choose kindness and to accept one another, because everyone in this world is different and we may look different on the outside, but on the inside we are the same.
Speaker 5:What a remarkable thing that must be. What a remarkable feeling to realize you've had that impact on people's lives. Yes, sir, fantastic Congratulations.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much.
Speaker 6:Wow, Jonathan, that's so inspiring that you've done all of that and got to speak to so many people. Throughout all of the things that you have done, have you noticed any misconceptions about Apert syndrome that you would like to address that people might have come to you with?
Speaker 1:So, yes, I have had a lot of people say that I can't do something. When I say I can, and speaking about that, I have a lot of people assume that I couldn't run and since I've been a kid I've been running and I've been doing 5Ks, 10ks, half marathons, 10 milers and next year I will be doing the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World.
Speaker 5:Amazing. We're going to talk more about that in just a second and you led me into where I wanted to go next. Does the syndrome cause difficulties for you? The physical difficulties in running? But you just said you've been running since you were a kid.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, it doesn't affect me, it inspires me.
Speaker 5:Oh wow, what a great answer. That's fantastic. Have you started training for DOPE yet, or are you just trained up all the time?
Speaker 1:I have. I started last week and I'm on week two of the DOPE training gallery program. Great.
Speaker 5:Good, good. So you actually got a little bit of a head start on that one. Yes, sir, I'll tell you you're going to do great Stick with that training program and it's going to provide wonderful benefits for you. And pardon my ignorance, are there any mobility or general difficulties involved with running for you? No you're good. That's great. I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 7:So, speaking about running, and you started running. Uh, how did you discover run disney? How did you get involved in running and run disney?
Speaker 1:that's a good question. So in 2014 I went on a disney cruise and they have a cast of a key 5k and I wanted to do it because I knew a lot of people who have done Run Disney in the past and that inspired me to do Run Disney and I did that 5k and after that I was hooked on Run Disney and I've been on many Disney cruises and every time I go to Castle Bay Key, I have done the Castle Bay Key 5K and I one day wanted to do the Walt Disney World one and so in 2021, I did the Wine and Dine 5K and Half Marathon and that was my first ever half marathon, ever event in person.
Speaker 5:Run Disney strikes again. It's not only we have a love of running, but we have a love of Run Disney, despite the mess that we had at registration this morning. It's tough to get rid of us.
Speaker 3:So, even though you've been doing the races in Orlando since 2021, so I mean in theory, your, I mean, yes, Run Disney does extend to Castaway, as you mentioned, but really your, you know, let's call it the mainland Run Disney journey started when Run Disney came back after COVID. So you have, you know, a couple of years and a couple of races under your sleeve. Obviously, I know you're gearing up for a big one now for dopey, but can you give us like, what would be like your best run Disney highlight that you've had since you've started running in 2021?
Speaker 1:For me, is my best highlight is to just inspire people that they can do anything that they put their mind to, and also I want to inspire those who have April syndrome like I do, especially the younger generation, that they can do anything that they put their mind to when they grow up or when they decide if they want to run, and I just want to be a motivator to them too that they can do anything in life.
Speaker 5:Well, I think you're a motivator, not only to them, but to a whole group of people, those who have Apert syndrome and those who don't, those who just can look and say hey, if Jonathan can do it, what's stopping me? Hey, I've got a question. When you run at Disney World, do you run in costume?
Speaker 1:Not yet, maybe one day.
Speaker 6:You've got four days coming up, you can pick one.
Speaker 5:I've got a deal for you. You need to join us running as a Dalmatian in the 5k for dopey that'd be, fun. Yeah, I'll let. When we get offline I'll let you know all about it awesome sounds great well, that sounds really exciting.
Speaker 3:I hope you pick an awesome costume. You just, you know, find, find that favorite movie of yours or or a show, and just go off and I know you'll come up with something incredible. But not only do you love running at Disney, but when I was doing my research, I learned that you also have another exercise passion, and that is Zumba. I believe you are a certified instructor, right? Yes, sir, okay tell us how that journey started and what makes you love Zumba so much.
Speaker 1:Sure. So back in 2016, I was at my local YMCA and I was walking down the hall and I noticed music going on. I was like, hmm, what's this? And I looked inside and I noticed a class going on. That was a Zumba class and I was nervous to do it so I said maybe another day. And I finally one day had the courage to try a Zumba class and I was hooked on Zumba and I did many classes and then one day I wanted to become a Zumba instructor and I taught from 2017 to probably 2020. Eventually, I don't teach anymore, but I'm still a licensed instructor if I decided to go back. But I just it made me happy and I loved dancing yeah it's super fun.
Speaker 1:Indeed, and I took dance classes when I was in college, and that also made me inspired to try a Zumba class too.
Speaker 3:All right, I got the costume. Everybody you ready, go ahead Take notes here, all right. So whenever I think of Zumba, don't ask me why. All I can think about is Shakira. That's what I think of too. So, Shakira was was it Giselle or Gazelle or something like that? Not Inside Out. From.
Speaker 1:Zootopia.
Speaker 3:I think, right there, that's your perfect costume and then, as you're coming across the finish line for the marathon, you can Zumba across that thing, and I'm sure Carissa and Riley and Pelkey would absolutely love that.
Speaker 5:That'd be funny it would. The costumes are fun.
Speaker 7:Make sure it's something you want and think other people will enjoy.
Speaker 5:Jonathan, it's really been enjoyable talking with you. I don't want to. I'm reluctant to let you go. I don't want to let you go, but before I do, let me ask is there anything else you'd like to share with our friends that we haven't covered yet?
Speaker 1:I would like to say is that don't listen to haters and to keep being yourself and to keep doing what you want to achieve in life and, even though it might be difficult, always keep your head up and don't give up.
Speaker 5:That's. That's a wonderful message. If our friends want to follow you on Instagram, what is your Instagram handle? Jonathan Siebert? I will make sure, we will make sure everybody knows that.
Speaker 3:Well, actually and here's another plug we should ask you for If we have any educators who are listening to this podcast and they want to book you for a motivational speech in their school, how can they go about reaching you in that way?
Speaker 1:They can contact me through Instagram.
Speaker 3:Okay perfect. Awesome.
Speaker 5:Great, great thought, greg. I'm glad you thought of it, thank you. Thank you All right, jonathan. This is your warning. You're part of the Rise and Run family now.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. We are.
Speaker 5:Oh, thank you, man. We are delighted that you're with us. Thank you so much. We enjoyed it and I'll see you in January.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 5:I say this a lot because I mean it. My favorite part of doing this podcast is the people that we meet and the friends that we get to make, not only when we see one another in the family at Disney World, but the guests that we've met and have become friends with and got to know. And it was just delightful talking with Jonathan and I'm very excited to see him and I'm glad he was suggested. Hope you enjoyed that and if you see him at Disney World, make sure you tell him. I know who you are. I heard you on the Rise and Run podcast. Oh, thanks, jonathan. Let's see what we got going on. Kids, a little pup date. Sales of the 101 Dalmatian shirts continue to go well. I wanted to remind you, friends, that if you order from Alec at Kawhi and Pizza Apparel, the rise and run code will not work on the 101 Dalmatians shirt. However, it will work on the rest of your order. So if you wanted to order either more than one 101 Dalmatians shirt or 101 Dalmatians and maybe something else that Alec has for later in the race weekend, when you get over $50 on your order, you can use the code free ship 50, then your shipping is free and you will get the discount on the remainder of your order, just not on the Rise and Run shirt. Rise and Run is the code for that one. Again, you don't have to buy the shirt, but we think you're going to want to once you see it. It's great. This is going to be a lot of fun. Look forward to seeing you there at the 5k. Let's see.
Speaker 5:Here, john, we were talking about the shop. We're working on getting that reopened. I don't really have a date yet, but I'm hopeful that we can get the shop reopened by the 1st of July. We're looking at a couple of things we're looking at. We still have inventory from the old shirts, which is with Judy now in Florida, so she'll be ready to ship those. We are most definitely looking into ordering visors. There's a lead time on this stuff, guys, but we're definitely looking into that, and perhaps running hats was suggested. We're looking into that also. We're looking into shirts and perhaps running hats was suggested. We're looking into that also. We're looking into shirts for next season. So we'll see. But if nothing else, I'm hopeful that we can get for existing inventory. We can get the shop reopened on July 1st. By the way, let me toss this out there. I think I know the answer to this question, but I want to cover just to be sure the way. Let me toss this out there. I think I know the answer to this question, but I want to cover just to be sure. All existing orders should be filled now. If, by some chance, you placed an order and you haven't received it yet, please let me know bob at riseandrunpodcastcom or let us know thegang at riseandrunpodcastcom.
Speaker 5:Friends, I like to make some notes that I see the information that you post in social media that I think is relevant, that the rest of the Rise and Run family would like to know about or would want to hear about, our friend Sue of the 169 races in Connecticut. She's actually in Ireland right now on a vacation. Sue's father recently passed away at age 93. Sue, our thoughts and prayers, our condolences with you and your family. Our friend Amy Beth last Monday went through her final surgery for her mastectomy. It's part of this process and I'm not going to pretend to understand it all, but I do want to talk about what an amazing thing this is to me. Amy Beth is on her marathon journey. She's going to be running Chicago in October.
Speaker 5:We have I have to think about this every now and then. We have multiple people who are suffering from multiple maladies, from things, from challenges that's the word I want from challenges that gosh. We hear about them and read about them and go, gee, I hope everything goes the best for this person. And then we see the post where they say, hey, I'm doing real well and I'm recovering, and we see the smiling faces. And then we forget about it. And I was actually. I was honest to goodness. I was thinking about this.
Speaker 5:I was listening to Fitz's podcast while I was doing my aqua jogging and we know Fitz is a cancer survivor. She's been cancer-free for years, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have challenges every day. Years, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have challenges every day. That doesn't mean that her life is back to what it was before, and that's true for all our friends here too. So I just wanted you to know that we know that what you're going through is really challenging. You're going through is really challenging, that we want to support you any way we can and that we kind of understand that, even though you're smiling and you're saying everything's great, we know it's not quite what it used to be.
Speaker 6:I think it's super important too, bob, is that some of our friends might be going through things that they don't feel comfortable talking about as well and, like Jonathan talked about in the interview, just be kind to one another, because you never know what somebody is going through, and our friends might be going through something and we don't know about it, and so always choose kindness in your heart towards everybody. But we do a really good job here at the Rise and Run podcast for that.
Speaker 5:Isn't that the truth? And not only the podcast, but, beyond the podcast, the entire family, the entire organization. I'm so proud to be a part just a part of this organization that treats one another so beautifully, and I couldn't be happier about that. All right, my friends, I think I've dwelt on that long enough. Upcoming episodes next week World Traveler Lindsay Henry is with us. That should be entertaining. Okay, my friends, it's time for the Race Report. The Race Report is brought to you by our friend Tom Stokes, stoked Metabolic Training, stokesfit slash riseandruncoaching. And as I look over top of my microphone filter here, look who's here with us. It's Tom himself. Hi, tom, how you doing? I'm doing well. How are you guys doing tonight? Oh, great, buddy. So, tom, you joined the family about six weeks ago. We had you on and you had this great offer for our friends to join Stoked Metabolic Training. How's that going for you? So?
Speaker 8:far, it is going awesome. It has allowed me to meet many people in the community, hear about their goals and help push them towards their goals, so I absolutely love it. I love staying linked up with everybody and really keeps me accountable during the off-race season, which is about to be over yeah it is, and we like that part.
Speaker 5:I'm getting nothing but positive feedback. It's really pretty exciting. Tom, you got a new challenge that we talked about a little bit last week. Can you explain that to us? Tell us what's?
Speaker 8:up. Yeah, I'm doing a little summer transformation challenge Now. This one is inspired by a lot of the people I've already spoken to that that you know they don't start their their training right when they say they're going to start their training. So I've done this myself before and I want to kind of want to play on this one and have a little fun with it. And it is an eight week challenge. So I'm kicking off right around the start of dopey training because that's when I'm going to be getting very serious and I want people to start off on the right foot and really go in successful and win and crush it on this Dopey Challenge. When I say win, I mean cross that finish line. Oh yeah, of course.
Speaker 5:Yeah, couldn't agree more. What's involved?
Speaker 8:So eight weeks, our main prize is going to be for most body transformation, so weight lost, which is main goal, but I'm also going to have some giveaways and prizes along the way. So the big one, what everybody wants to know about, is going to be that weight loss. But we're also going to you know, anybody that's with me now knows I do everything through my own app and we're going to track cardio activity, completed workouts, completed daily habits, that you complete personal bests, that you hit you hitting your daily nutrition goal All to keep you accountable going through those first tough eight weeks of training, Wow.
Speaker 5:Tom, that sounds really, really interesting. I also wanted to add personally I appreciate how active you've been in that weight loss accountability chat group.
Speaker 8:You've really added a lot there, when you guys bring me on, I can talk all day about fitness and nutrition, but I know you've got other guests on the show, so that's been a nice outlet for me. I think sometimes I talk too much about it and it drives the wife nuts, so now I'm not a wife-tribe friend.
Speaker 5:That's one of the reasons for this podcast is to spare our family members At least one day a week. They don't have to hear all about running at Disney.
Speaker 8:She'll be on dopey training with me, so she'll be hearing all about it and I'm going to be hearing all about it myself. Good stuff.
Speaker 5:If our friends are interested, how do they get involved in this challenge? And they're going to want to know this anyway. What will it cost? What will it?
Speaker 8:cost. I'm glad you asked so how they get involved. First, actually, I'll send you guys the link so you can drop that and I can also share it on the Facebook page. After that it's a $97 challenge, but I also have a rise and run promo code going awesome, so coupon code is set to rise. Everybody that joins before Monday will get in for $47 for the eight-week challenge. This includes almost everything you get on one-on-one coaching. We'll do group check-in calls but you don't get the one-on-one coaching. We'll do group check-in calls but you don't get the one-on-one dialed in. So it's a great way, if you've been thinking about checking me out, to get a little taste of it.
Speaker 5:Tom, I think you might have me hooked.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I'm excited for this.
Speaker 8:I told Jack I wanted to challenge the entire team, so whoever's up for it, I'm obviously going to let you guys into the party and let you guys play along.
Speaker 5:Good deal, Good deal. We're excited about it. I have finally. It's only taken me 70 years to learn the importance of balancing your muscle development and not just running. You've got to do something more than run.
Speaker 8:We're trying to get you to 100 years old. You've got to do something more than run. We're trying to get you to 100 years old.
Speaker 5:I appreciate that. That sounds awesome. Of course, your full-time training, your full-time one-on-one training, continues, and you've been generous enough to give Rise and Run friends a code for that one too, which I didn't. I believe it is Rise and Run on that one.
Speaker 8:Yep, that one is Rise and Run, so you've got your own spot on my website.
Speaker 5:I've got a spot on your website, a spot on our website and a spot at the featured section in our Facebook group, which the eight week challenge will also have, so you'll be able to get that information there.
Speaker 8:So head on over stokesfit, rise and run coaching. If you ever want to talk one-on-one, I may. If you ask anybody who's been on the call, I'm no pressure. Once we jump on and chat. I usually book 30 minutes and I spend about an hour with you just trying to get a feel for your fitness goals and make sure we're the right fit to work together. I know everybody's got different goals and make sure we're the fit. That's awesome. I know everybody's got different goals and make sure we're the fit.
Speaker 5:That's awesome, tom. And from our friends who have, who I, from whom I've heard, I've heard nothing but positive, as I said earlier. So that's great. I'm excited about it. I'm going to be I'm a tough customer, tom. This is something I have, I mean from my days as a basketball player. Baseball player coach would have to beat me to get me into the weight room. As a basketball player, baseball player coach would have to beat me to get me into the weight room.
Speaker 8:So let's see how it goes, but I've got some motivation and I'm kind of fired up Now. Who on the team is going to win is going to be the question. If everybody joins, I don't know. We're all pretty competitive.
Speaker 5:All I've asked of our friends is, if they join, be fully committed. Don't just join and go. Ah, let me check it out, but make that mental commitment.
Speaker 8:Anybody that trains for a Disney race. I know they're going to be committed.
Speaker 5:Yeah. In more ways than one. All right, all right.
Speaker 5:I think we'll let you go on that, my friend. Thanks so much. Thanks for everything you do and thanks for giving us some time this evening. Of course, anytime Good to hear from Tom, and I really appreciate all the work he's done. Now, don't forget the code to use for this eight-week training challenge is RISE, and you've got to get that done. You've got to get registered by Monday, the 24th of June, so get that done. You've got to get registered by Monday, the 24th of June, so get it done by then. It sounds great. All right, let's take a look here.
Speaker 5:Let's start on Thursday, and I just noticed we had several runs outside of the US this week. This is not one of them. Our buddy, the Camden County runner, jack, did the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay in New York. Let's move to Friday and visit the Netherlands. I think I'd like to visit the Netherlands, john. What about you? I'd go there. I think Looks like a beautiful place. Well, since we can't get there, at least not right now, our friend Danny has joined us here in the Race Report Spotlight. Hi Danny, how are you doing? I'm doing great. We've met before and you really seem like a great guy and I know you're a good runner and all that, but for one week now I don't have to pronounce the Dutch names. Let's start on Friday. And here's how I would say it. I would say the Amsterdam Zuidas run. Am I close Amsterdam?
Speaker 2:say it. I would say the Amsterdam Zuidas run. Am I close? Amsterdam is good. If you pronounce it in Dutch it's Amsterdam Zuidas.
Speaker 5:Okay, see, that's why I do my best. That wasn't particularly good today.
Speaker 2:You can make it out, the Zuidas is the financial district of the yeah, yeah, I saw that in the photos.
Speaker 5:This one was a 10k. Before we get into the race, specifically, I always like to ask our friends and uh, how long they've been running, how they got started? I'm going to guess you've been running for a while, is that true?
Speaker 2:um, yes, I started running in 2016 real running because before that I played soccer. And then you run in the summer months to stay fit, because in the summer months there's no season going on, so we run to stay fit, and after that I did some indoor soccer. And when I quit it, I have to do something. I love Disney and I love meeting characters, and I saw there were rare characters in Disney races. So I trained for the 2017 half marathon in Paris. So that was my first Disney run and one of my first runs as well Disney run and one of my first runs as well and after that I never really quit when you said rare characters, he was talking about you and me.
Speaker 5:We are.
Speaker 2:I saw John once in a line, but I didn't know it was John until afterwards now, you'll know next time next time, I'll know yes absolutely Good deal.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and you you, I was going to say have become a good runner. You probably were a decent runner being a soccer player.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've gotten good endurance, so that's. That's always helpful, and I think the mind is important too. So so I think 85% of running is your mind and you can be more fit, and others but and some have more experience, but it's, it's a lot about the mind and, yeah, I am lucky, I'm a little fast, but I train four times a week, so yeah, it helps.
Speaker 5:I I've told this before on the podcast that I used to officiate and in our area it was high school and men's amateur. But I put a garment on one time as the referee. It was between seven and eight miles. I ran in a 90 minute match yeah, yeah, you can.
Speaker 2:You can get a good amount of running in the soccer and it's more sprinting and going, and and hanging back and then sprinting again. So so it's more.
Speaker 5:Yeah, If you're the official, it's sprint stop, sprint stop. And when I finally quit officiating would be when I would sprint and think, gee, I wish I was way up there, but I'm still back here. That's it. I'm not giving these guys a good game anymore, I think I need to call a penalty because I'm tired.
Speaker 5:Fally kick. No, we never did that. I I enjoyed the heck out of. That was great. That's not why we're here. Let's talk about these runs. Let's start with the one that you just told me I'd butchered the name on the business district run in the 10k. How did it go?
Speaker 2:uh it went pretty well it was a pretty big race for the netherlands, about 3 000 people, and half of that did a 10k and the other half to 5k, and it was partly through the financial district in amsterdam and partly through umstall park that's a nice park over there and then back to the financial district to the finish and it was nice weather and I started a little too fast, but in the end I'm I made up for it and, uh, I did a pretty decent time within 45 minutes.
Speaker 2:So that's not a pr but I I was very satisfied with it and there were two speed skaters running with the race and I beat them and they were like a big medalist, so I was very happy with that.
Speaker 5:That is impressive Because it's not the same skill but it's the same endurance.
Speaker 2:They were talking to each other and I was having a tough time.
Speaker 5:Hey, you didn't have to share that. You could have just stopped the mic when you said I beat him. Now you did this one last year also, right? That's correct.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 4:And it changed up a little bit, or about the same.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, the weather is not good the last couple of weeks here, so it's a little bit cooler, so it's a little bit better, so it's a little bit better to run a little windy, but it stayed dry for that evening, so that's nice. So I did this pretty good and they had a nice medal too, and there was a little festival at the end and we with some drink and food booths and and it was nice great when I was with two colleagues, so that's nice too. So just only they did the 5k, but we came together and had a drink together, so we had a nice evening.
Speaker 5:That sounds fantastic that makes it more fun when you got somebody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's more fun yeah.
Speaker 5:Good stuff, but you weren't done. Let's jump ahead to Sunday and you had go ahead. You pronounce it.
Speaker 2:That's less difficult. It's the Yenmar Elmira City route.
Speaker 5:Elmira. See, I would have said Elmira. I wouldn't have pronounced the last vowel there, elmira.
Speaker 2:I did a 15K there and it was kind of coincidence because I registered for that one and after that my work gave me the bib for the other race. So it was kind of a coincidence. It was two in one weekend, but it's I do it more often. So I thought that's nice, just, and I had a rest day in between yeah, yeah, nothing you couldn't handle.
Speaker 2:15k yeah, 15k, yeah it's a nice, nice catered training run for you, danny yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely, and it was a nice crowd and I was lucky because it was dry. This morning was very windy but it was dry and it was about 55 degrees, so not bad for running and it was a beautiful run.
Speaker 2:The omnia is. It's a very young city, only 50 years old. Oh and uh, it was. It was sea 50 years ago, so he made land out of it. Out of it as the medellins and it was. It was mostly through parks and greenery, so that was very nice.
Speaker 2:And he had some good crowd support and some entertainment and that was really nice. And towards the end because we started really early around 8, and towards the end there were a lot of people watching and we got a medal and a nice granola bar, so it was very nice, okay, that sounds wonderful.
Speaker 5:I have not been well, I haven't been to Europe, our friend.
Speaker 2:Arno Tessers Run Arno run. Yes, I know him Not personally, but I know who he is. Yeah, he's a pretty good runner too.
Speaker 5:Yeah, he is a good runner. Yeah, but he posts some beautiful videos. Yeah, he is a good runner, but he posts some beautiful videos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he is. I'm not capable of doing that and the area not all Netherlands is the same, but the area I run through today looks like where he runs through with the cows and all that.
Speaker 5:It's beautiful, it really is beautiful. So one of these days, I hope, my friend, one of these days, you're always welcome Bob. Thank you, danny. I believe it. We have friends in the Netherlands. I'm very proud of that. We have quite a few and, yeah, we'll see. I have no promises, yeah, hey, on the other side, you're coming to the States a couple of times for some Disney runs. Why don't you tell us about it, please?
Speaker 2:Yeah, in two months a little over two months I'm going to run the Disneyland Half Marathon Halloween weekend. Yeah, so all three races there, very excited to get my Coast to Coast medal there my first one. And in January I do Dopey, so you're not the only one.
Speaker 5:I know you've been to Marathon Weekend before. Is this your first Dopey?
Speaker 7:No, my second.
Speaker 5:I didn't know if you ran Dopey or not.
Speaker 2:I ran Dopey.
Speaker 5:I look forward to seeing you there now. Chances are real good. If after the marathon you go back to your room, shower, change and take a brief nap, you can come back. And I'll finish how's that?
Speaker 2:I did it in four hours last year four hours is rock solid uh I've never done a four hour, even as a young man.
Speaker 5:Four and a half, but never four I don't know.
Speaker 2:Dope is the hardest thing I did. I did so. Every everybody who finishes is is doing a really, really good job we're proud of everybody that finishes that is a difficult challenge.
Speaker 5:It sure is all right. All right, my friend. Look. Two races one weekend, one race report. Spotlight, we again appreciate you spending the time with us and we look forward to seeing you. As you said in about, I think we're down to about 10 weeks.
Speaker 2:Yeah something like this I can't either.
Speaker 5:Thanks, danny. Good talking with danny, that was fun. We had to. Uh, because of the big time difference, we had had to record that on Father's Day, which I found out was also Father's Day in the Netherlands, so that was cool. Let's move to Saturday and start in Cleveland, ohio, with the Happy Jack 5K where our friend Devin she won the daggum thing. Wow.
Speaker 5:Way to go, great job First overall female Devin way to go. She didn't say that it was a PR, but I don't care. If you win, you get a bell anyway. Great job Devin In Benton Arkansas. You know what Benton Arkansas is famous for guys.
Speaker 3:Joe Graham.
Speaker 5:No, no, joe's Fort Smith. I thought maybe it was the next town over. Well, benton, arkansas, is the home of Walmart, that's where the corporate headquarters are.
Speaker 5:Anyway, that's also where they had the Arkansas runner two-mile run. Shelby Allison was there pretty happy with her finish time, considering it was warm. We've talked warm enough for now, but it's going to be warm for most of the rest of the year. Italian ice for a summer race finish man? That should be required. That should be regular, right up there with Watermelon, and they did in this case. They had Bananas at the finish Plus two-mile run. Shelby Allison set a PR.
Speaker 3:In Flushing Meadows, new York, home of the less superior baseball team in New York City, we had the New York Roadrunners Citizens Queens 10K. We had three Ryzen runners there. First up we have Rob. He said it's one of his favorite courses and he tried something new. Whenever he felt like he wasn't in a group, he accelerated into the one in front of him, which I think that's a pretty good idea. He finished a tick under 52 minutes, which is an age group and course PR. Next up, our buddy, doug, said it was hot and fun. He took this one easy and made sure that he stayed hydrated and relaxed, still had a great time and secured a spot in next year's New York City half. That's a tough one to get into, for sure, thanks to this race being part of the New York Roadrunners. You know that's a tough one to get into, for sure. Um, thanks to this race being part of the New York Roadrunners four out of six program. So next up for Doug. He's bringing on New York City and dopey training and then rounding out this race in Flushing Meadows.
Speaker 3:Grace was there. Uh, she set an ambitious but doable a goal, which was to make them challenging. She settled into her B goal, though, of a sub-60, and she did make that. Getting to run past the sights of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fair Also, that's where the tennis center is as well, for the US Open were real highlights for her. Wouldn't it be cool, though, if they put a replica of the World's Fair and you could run by the OG Carousel of Progress? Wouldn't that be a sight to see on a run?
Speaker 6:That'd be cool.
Speaker 3:Uncle Orville in the bathtub.
Speaker 5:That sphere, that globe and the towers behind it are from the 64 World's Fair. They were made famous in the movie Men in Black. They're from the 64 World's Fair. I was to that World's Fair when I was 10 years old. My father went to the 1939 World's Fair in New York City when he was 12 years old. So for what it's worth, let's move to Bellbuckle, tennessee. You know what Bellbuckle's famous for gang. Bellbuckles.
Speaker 5:Yeah, no, not much really. I don't think it's a quaint little town. It's not far from the Jack Daniels distillery, but it's a nice place, Very pretty. Anyway, kylie was there. Kylie ran the RC Cola Moon Pie 5K in Bell Buckle Toasty and humid weather, but Kylie said, of course, pr, humid weather, but Kylie said, of course, pr.
Speaker 5:In Roscommon, michigan, the Hickens Lake Sunrise Half Marathon. Liz, actually there were two Liz's. There were two Liz's there. They ran this small local race. A lot of serious runners, lots of hills. The Liz's kept their intervals up until mile 12 and then walked until the finish line was in sight, rounded in said course, support was starting to break down before they finished, even though they were within the time goals. Now we hate to hear that Liz says good event for the 12 minute per mile folks, maybe not for the back of the Packers. We also wanted to make sure we understand that Mark, mark Liz's husband, did not run and should not receive any credit for any of these miles. That's very important. He did, however, drop off, pick up and provide lunch, so that's worthy of acknowledgement.
Speaker 5:Baltimore, maryland, the Pride 5K. Let me take you back a couple of weeks to the Baltimore 10-Miler and you may recall our friend Latia and I do hope I'm pronouncing that right Latia. Letia and I do hope I'm pronouncing that right Letia posting a photo she had fallen in the Baltimore 10-miler and she posted a photo with her cousin, got an ambulance ride, all that good stuff, said she was fine. Well, she was Letia and her cousin Stephanie were back out there, back out for a 5k in Baltimore hot day, otherwise great with her cousin again was able to pay Stephanie to a PR in this 5k. Glad you're back, latia.
Speaker 6:And in Lexington, Kentucky, the Wild Hearts 10k happened. Our friend Jordan was there. They used the 10k as their training run and still ended up with a 14-minute PR Finished in just over 60 minutes. Congratulations, Jordan.
Speaker 3:That's a heck of a PR for a 10K Wow.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and then in Hopkins.
Speaker 5:Hopkinton.
Speaker 6:Hopkinton, that's really hard to say.
Speaker 5:That's where the Boston Marathon starts, okay.
Speaker 6:Hopkinton, that's really hard to say.
Speaker 5:That's where the Boston Marathon starts.
Speaker 6:Okay, Hopkinton. Okay what Bob said Against the tide 10K. Christina was there.
Speaker 5:In Canton, michigan, the Canton Liberty Fest 5K. Christy and her best friend Elise. Christy had a much better race than last weekend and improved her post-ankle rebuild 5K time by over two minutes. I don't know if you remember last year Christy just about destroyed her ankle and had serious surgery with lots of hardware in there. Pretty good recovery. Pretty good long recovery. But I'm glad again, glad to see she's doing so much better. So that's a ah, let's call it a post ankle rebuild PR. Age group sixth for Christy that's outstanding. And age group three third place for her friend Elise.
Speaker 3:Up in New Hampshire, the home of our dear friend Miss Allie, we had the Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race. Our buddy Run, diznerd himself, michael was there. And then in Plano Texas was the Mellon Dash, plano Texas 5K, 10k and our friends Haley and Cody ran that one.
Speaker 5:I'm sorry we didn't hear from Michael, because I read about that Mount Washington road race. I understand there's only one hill on the entire course. Starts at the start and ends at the finish.
Speaker 7:It's uphill all the way starts at the start and ends at the finish. It's uphill all the way. In Niagara, canada, the Niagara Ultra 50K. Our friend Nicole did that. Nicole's officially an ultra marathoner so I guess that's a PR right, bob? Absolutely. She hurt her knee about 20 kilometers in ran the next 30 kilometers in a lot of pain, but crossing the finish line made it all worth it. We can do hard things. Great job, nicole Zach. Her husband was doing the half marathon. She wants to congratulate her husband, Zach, who crushed this half marathon PR and got a POT for Dopey. So another PR bell. Another PR bell Carhays Castle 5K. Our friend Anna did that around the beautiful grounds of the castle here in Cornwall. A lot of hills and trails but very pretty. Finished a nice refreshing dip into the sea. So way to go, yeah good job, anna.
Speaker 5:Couple of interesting ones to finish Saturday. Let's stay in the UK, newcastle upon Tyne. Our friend Andy did the drop. Now this requires a bunch of explanation. First of all, I didn't hear from Andy. The race was on Saturday and he didn't do the report until Monday. Saturday and he didn't do the report until Monday. Now I'm starting to get nervous because the way the drop works is you choose a distance 10 or 15 miles you are taken to a starting position and you have to find your way back. I was afraid Andy got lost and didn't get back. Let me explain a little more.
Speaker 5:You start at the meeting point. You do your paperwork. You start at the meeting point, you do your paperwork, you sign your releases. He had a friend with him. They give you a tracker, a race bib, a bag and essentially a blindfold. They're blacked out glasses, I believe. You take your phones, your watches, any other GPS stuff you have or any other maps that you might have and you put them into this sealed bag. Then you get on the coach, a bus here in the U? S, and you put your blacked out glasses on the bus doesn't go straight to the drop point, they go. They make left and right turns, they double back, they go around roundabouts multiple times so people can't really tell what direction they're going. They finally drop you off at a starting point and it's on you to make your way back to the finish line at Newcastle upon time.
Speaker 5:Now, andy said when he dropped off. He said he knows the local area pretty well so it didn't take him that long to figure out where he was and how to get back. He noticed a lot of runners were all taking the same route, but he and his friends decided to have a little more fun, take a more scenic route. In total, the 10 mile is a radius. It's a circle, so it's as the crow flies. So if you're running on roads, it's going to be more. He ended up doing about 14 and a half miles in less than three hours. Had a great time. Less than three hours, had a great time. If this sounds interesting to you and you want to learn more about it, check out Andy's YouTube channel Roller Coaster of Running. I think this one's pretty cool. Good job, andy.
Speaker 5:Another unusual event, this one in Greenville, south Carolina. Catherine ran an ultra with a twist. It's a two-mile loop. Catherine ran an ultra with a twist. It's a two mile loop. It's hilly, uneven grass, divots, clay, kind of a tough trail. You start at 6.30 in the morning. You got 45 minutes to complete that first two mile loop, regardless of when you complete it assuming it's under the 45 minutes of when you complete it, assuming it's under the 45 minutes you cannot start the second loop until 7.15. For loop two, you have as much as 44 minutes to complete it and then it doesn't start until 44 minutes later. Then 43 minutes, 42 minutes goes on and on until, if you're still with it, at 10 at night. You got 15 minutes to do the last two-mile loop.
Speaker 5:Catherine trained hard, maybe a little over-trained for this. One Wasn't really prepared for this kind of trail running. Heat index of 95, finished up on lap 9, 18 miles, catherine, that's still pretty cool and what an interesting race. Couple interesting races to finish up on Saturday. Let's move to Sunday, canada, the Banff Half Marathon. Ellie, ellie was there quite a day at the Banff Half Marathon. It was cold, unseasonably cold even for that part of canada, in fact, later on they had some snow, but it was chilly and rainy that day. The highlight, or low light, or most interesting part of this race was the 20 minute bear stop in the route. They were actually stopped by park rangers because there were bears in the vicinity.
Speaker 3:Do you think it was the same bear that stopped Shailene all those years ago? Remember when we had her on the spotlight?
Speaker 5:Yeah, but she was in Alaska.
Speaker 3:I mean bears can travel. They can swim. They can buy plane tickets. I mean heck Fozzie drove a car cross-country in the Muppet movie. It's possible.
Speaker 7:Did it have a picnic basket A?
Speaker 5:picnic basket.
Speaker 3:That's Yogi Bear. Let's not get Yogi and Fozzie confused here yeah.
Speaker 5:Good event here. Actually, the Rangers kind of ended up escorting the group using the trucks. They didn't put them in the trucks, but they escorted the group for about a quarter mile until they got off the parkway and clear of any bear danger. Now it rained off and on. Ellie said that the Canadian forecaster is saying trace of rain. She goes well. Trace of rain means it's going to pour. Apparently it did that four different times throughout this uh half marathon. Nonetheless, an experience she'll never forget and would recommend to anyone did the bear pr.
Speaker 3:Probably any chance, probably if you came from alaska, he did that's true absolutely.
Speaker 5:In clarendon hills, illinois, dan with his wife, jennifer, and their two children did the daisy dash dash. It was for the kids. They took off right at the start and left dan and jennifer behind. Dan and jennifer stayed together. This was a 5k jennifer's first 5k quite a while, first one that she ran the majority of and that mean for jennifer it was a pr the home of the football hall of fame canton, ohio, was the pro football hall of fame father's day.
Speaker 3:5k laurie ran this one. So she woke up, she bladed her it band and then taped her knees and hoping to survive the race. After a disappointing run the day before, she felt good after the first mile, turned up the pace a bit and felt pretty good after that and she was very happy to see so many friends at this local race wrapping up sunday in sayville, new york, we Ambulance 5K Dina ran this race, a small-town race, to help support one of the volunteer ambulance companies in Long Island. Way to go, dina.
Speaker 5:Race report concludes on Monday, as I think it will for a couple of weeks here this summer because there's a series of runs in Long Island. The New York State Parks Summer Run Series sunk in Meadow Park. This was supposed to be a 10k but it was shortened to a 5k due to construction. For the main part the race was run on the boardwalks along the beach. Megan and Dina, who had done the run in Sabel on Sunday Megan was there Two co-workers joined Megan. It was nice to have some running buddies Ended the evening with ice cream and beer Not a bad start to the week.
Speaker 5:Dina also says great race support, great crowd support. She mentions the beer and ice cream Must have been pretty good. Mentioned twice, beautiful sunset and this week she won a trip to Saratoga Springs in November. Congratulations, congratulations to all of our runners in the race report. Great job, especially as the weather's warming up. We're proud of you. Hey, friends, it is a Zoom Thursday. Now I'm going to be at Disney World, but I'll get on, log on and maybe have some friends with me and we'll all get together and join in on this Zoom. We sure do hope to see you there. You can vent your frustration. We sure do hope to see you there. You can vent your frustration about the Disneyland weekend registration and maybe, maybe, maybe, by then it will be over.
Speaker 7:Not over Probably a date announced, I would hope.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I don't. Yeah, who knows, john, who knows? I would hope at least that much. Yeah, all right, my friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. Thank you so much for listening we, and if you run, you know you are our friend. Thank you so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed episode 143 of the Rise and Run podcast. We look forward to seeing you real soon.
Speaker 3:But until then, happy running. The Rise and Run podcast discusses general information about Run Disney and is in no way affiliated with Run Disney or the Walt Disney Company. Any information or advice discussed on this podcast should not be considered medical advice and should always consult with your healthcare provider or event organizer.
