Rise and Run
Rise and Run
227: 2026 WDW Marathon Winner Matt Hensley
Confetti at the finish is only part of the story. We sit down with Walt Disney World Marathon champion Matt Hensley to trace the path from family running roots and college grind to a smart, tactical win built on adaptation, fueling, and a decisive late-race move. Matt walks us through race-week realities—working the expo, long park days, heavy legs—and explains how dew point data and small early adjustments can save a marathon when heat sneaks in. He opens his playbook on fueling (60–90g carbs per hour), mid-race decision-making, and the difference between racing for time and racing for place, including the surge that sealed the pass near mile 20.
The conversation widens to purpose, mindset, and coaching. As the founder of Boulder Underground, Matt shares how he coaches beginners to elites by aligning big goals with daily habits, calling on a trusted network of PTs, dietitians, and mental performance experts. We dig into his three-part framework for 26.2—body, mind, and spirit—so listeners leave with practical steps: test nutrition in training, find early flow instead of forcing splits, and anchor to a meaningful why when the tough miles arrive. Along the way, you’ll hear a hilarious nearly-Guinness-record family saga, Disney course highlights, and the energizing role of characters, music, and community on race day.
We also spotlight our Disneyland meetup details, roll call an enormous list of racers, and celebrate listener PRs from 5K to marathon. Whether you’re chasing a Boston qualifier, your first half, or a steadier long run, you’ll find tools and motivation to sharpen your next start line. If this conversation helps your training, share it with a friend, follow our show, and leave a quick review—what’s the one strategy you’ll try on your next long run?
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Well, hello, my friends. Welcome to episode two hundred and twenty-seven of the Rise and Run podcast. I'm Bob, and this week I'm joined by Alicia. Hello. And John. How are you doing? I am great, John. A little chilly, but nothing. Nothing compared to what you and Alicia are dealing with up north in here. We think it's cold in Florida because the wind chills down in the 20s, which isn't pleasant for us, but we can deal, you know, it won't be long. It won't be long. Plus, I'm I'm tired. I'm blowing this popsicle stand on my way to California, California, where it's supposed to be nice and warm. Hey, friends, you probably noticed no intro, no friend intro this week. We're out. You can uh in just a moment, Alicia is going to give you a phone number that you can call to leave us an intro. But uh going back to last week's intro, did you finally figure out who that was, friends? We we played it and then kind of ignored it after that. You may have picked up on the fact that that was uh Brittany Charbonneau who left us that intro. She gave us a bunch of them. With we asked her to that's her second city training coming out, her improv training that she gave us a bunch of intros like that. But this week we have the male champion from the 2026 Walt Disney World Marathon. Matt Hensley's with us. Great interview with Matt, another new friend of the podcast, really terrific guy, very, very interesting to listen to him talk about his race in the race report spotlight. And this happens every now and again, and it is nobody's fault because I have to, in order to make this work, I typically ask one of our friends to be on the spotlight, uh, not exactly at the last minute, but maybe if I if I can get 24 hours, 36 hours of warning, that's pretty good. So once in a while, what'll happen is a friend will say, Yeah, I'd love to do it, and then something will pop up and they can't make it. Usually by then it's too late to replace them. Again, nobody's fault at all, and I'm sorry it happened, but uh no race report spotlight. However, our friend Tom Stokes is with us. And Tom, Tom more than makes up for the lack of a race report spotlight.
SPEAKER_01:If you enjoyed the Rise around podcasts, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise Run family. We want to share in their Run Disney journey. Please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise Run Podcasts, Instagram at Rise and Run Pod, check out our YouTube channel, and visit our webpage at RiserunPodcast.com. If you have a question, comment, race report, or want to introduce an upcoming episode, please call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.
SPEAKER_10:We also want to thank our Patreons whose support helps us keep the Rise and Run podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join the Patreon team, please check us out at patreon.com slash rise and run podcast. And we'd like to welcome uh new Patreon, Elizabeth, to the Happy Running Level.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you so much. Thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you to all of our Patreons. We appreciate you more than you know. So thanks very much. Hey friends, the Rise and Run Podcast is sponsored by Magic Bound Travel. Magic Bound Travel is the place to go for your Run Disney needs. Before you know it, we're going to be talking about registering for next season. It's not that far away. We'll go over that in just a moment. Hey, great time now to take a look and see if you can get your reservations booked for those races. Remember, the deposit is refundable. If you have to make a reservation and then cancel it because you couldn't get into a race or something comes up, you can get that refunded. All of Magic Bound Travel services are complimentary to you. MagicBoundTravel.com is the website. Check them out. Let's take a look at the training schedule, kids. It is Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. If you're listening to this episode, chances are, and you're going to Disneyland Half Marathon, chances are you're there or you're on the way. I'll be on my way when this thing uh airs on Thursday. It's Disneyland Half Marathon week. Princess Week is now four weeks away. Expo 28 days away. This is training week 14 on the training schedule. You have a four-mile walk and a 12 and a half mile run if you're doing the challenge. Last race of the year, springtime surprise is 11 weeks away. We're in training week seven, three miles on the training schedule this weekend. About now, we usually talk training updates, but for I know Alicia and John and a good chunk of the USA.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, it's pretty darn cold.
SPEAKER_10:Pretty darn cold, pretty darn snowy. Got like 10 inches of snow.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah. It's not conducive to training. It's it probably borders on being a little dangerous. Uh and hey, look, cut yourself a break. If you can't get to an indoor pool to do some aqua jogging, if you don't have a treadmill, don't have an indoor running facility, it's okay. It's all right. I know we're really suffering in Florida with attempts in the 40s. Brrr. BRRRR, as they say in the cartoons.
SPEAKER_10:Break those uh ice skates out, Bob, soon.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, yeah. Get my snowshoes. But it's okay if you if you gotta back off for these couple weeks, it'll be all right. Hey before long, at least here, and it'll take a little while to filter north. We'll be complaining about running in the hot weather again. But in the meantime, make the best of it. Hope everything's okay where you are. Hope no one ever got hope no one got hit too hard by this storm. Hope you all have power and the running times will come back. Uh let us see. Before we get to our guest for the week, I want to mention that while this would normally be a Zoom Thursday, we're gonna push it off one more week. The next Zoom will be on, I believe it's February 5th, Thursday, February 5th.
SPEAKER_08:Caution runners, change of topic ahead.
SPEAKER_02:Friends, an exciting opportunity on this episode, still going back to the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend. But I am really happy to let you know that for the first time we have the male run champion, the man who won the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2026. Matt Hensley, it's great to see you. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Rise and Run Podcast.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, thank you guys for having me. Super excited to be here.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we we are too, Matt. This is great. Uh, we really appreciate you taking our invitation, and we look forward to getting to know you a little bit. You know, we on this podcast, we typically have one of our friends who's run a race during the week, and we give them about 10 or 15 minutes to tell how the race went. We call it the race report spotlight. We always start with this standard opening question, and I'm curious to ask this of you. Matt, how did you get started running?
SPEAKER_03:Oh wow. Great question. So, both of my parents were runners. My dad was uh actually a 216 marathoner back in the day. Yeah. He ran at the University of Oregon uh when Steve Prefontaine was there. Uh, they won a national championship. He yeah, went on to run marathons. He actually ran the Disney Marathon uh in the early years in the mid-90s. And my mom was a runner as well. She got after she met him, and she was a sub-three marathoner. So both uh yeah, very serious runners, and I fought it off as long as I could. I was gonna be I was gonna be a basketball player, and for those of you that can't see me, I'm about five foot five. But uh that was my sport, that was my first love. And uh yeah, I think I think me and my brothers did our first 5K, you know, when we were five to seven years old just for fun, you know. Yep, and uh maybe once or twice a year we uh we hopped in one of these local 5Ks and got to be around a lot of people that did run. And then when middle school came, our high school was a combined middle school and high school, and there was an opportunity to run on the cross-country and track track team. So I'd say, yeah, middle school is when I got into running, but I wouldn't say I became a runner until seventh grade. Uh I was in a two-mile race, and what happens in high school or middle school is if you get lapped, you have to get off the track. They make you get off. Back in the day, and uh, I was a seventh grader and I got lapped by this 12th grader, and I had to get off the track, and that's kind of when the fire started. When I was like, hey, I want to get to keep running. Why why do I have to get off the track? Uh so that's kind of where the the fire was born. And yeah, I'd say as I entered eighth grade and and early high school, is when I really became a runner.
SPEAKER_02:Great story. I and I I'm glad you shared it. I knew about your parents, I didn't realize they uh that's elite-level running. That is very, very impressive. Now, as a college athlete, you ran at the University of Florida, as I understand. Now, how did that experience, including you did some competing against athletes you're coaching now, I believe. How'd that build your foundation for your success?
SPEAKER_03:Training at the University of Florida was amazing. I was just a walk-on. Um, I was just lucky to be there. Yeah. And the head coach, uh, Coach Holloway, he's still there actually. They are a powerhouse, they win nationals every few years. Um, you're just surrounded by the best of the best. And I was just this little walk-on, you know, I I barely even got to compete in track. Um was on the cross-country team, but we had, I want to say it was three years straight where we missed making the national meet by like one spot. And so you'll notice this consistent theme where I keep missing out on things by a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:We'll get to that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It keeps the fire, fire going and um more in an exciting way, not in a you know, feeling bad for myself way. Just I yeah, I love competing and and surrounding myself with the best and just seeing kind of kind of where that puts you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you use it for motivation, for strength. That's cool. Now, you mentioned your wife is also a runner, correct?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, my wife is uh uh her name's Tansy, Tansy Hensley, and she went uh to University of Portland, and she gosh, she went on to run, I think 1540 in the 5K. So she's legit. She I I give her all the she's uh you know the one I look up to and just an incredible athlete. Um she's struggled with some health issues the last few years, um Lyme disease specifically. So golly. Yeah, we're working through that, but she'll be back and you know, strong as ever once once she works through the treatment of that. Um, but it's it's been so wonderful to have someone that understands running and you know, understands the sometimes. Hey, I'm I'm gonna be gone for a while here. She's gonna be gone as well. Um, and then yeah, as far as like going to races, she's just incredibly supportive. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it to Disney because we just got a puppy recently.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, cool. Tell us about that.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, so it's a Vishla, and her name is Ember, and she is quite the spark. She we don't have kids yet, but man, she she is a lot of work, but she's so much fun. We love uh love having her, but she's only a year and three months old now, so running. You're supposed to kind of slightly introduce them into running and stuff. So we've done a little bit, but still kind of being patient with that. Uh but she wants to run, she wants to be let loose. Um, those are running dogs, aren't they?
SPEAKER_10:Those dogs are like they are need to run to get rid of all that extra energy.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. And luckily, Colorado is such a great place um with a lot of the open space here, and then also the tons of dog parks. So, I mean, she can just go for hours.
SPEAKER_02:A lot of our friends know this, and I'll just share real quickly, Matt, the reason I got back into running as a senior adult was because of our puppy. So I have all of that. Yeah, the dog kind of dog we have is a Catan de Tuliar, not terribly well known. It's in the Bichon Free family, it's about a 15-pound dog, but it's a it's a long story. If I get a chance to meet you sometime, I'll bore you with it there. But our friends on the podcast have heard it over and over. But that Lily is the reason I got back to running. Lily's the reason we have this podcast. So it's the reason a lot of us know one another. So those are canine friends, man. I'll tell you. They keep in place. Yeah, they surely do.
SPEAKER_01:All right, Matt. So now we are going into marathon weekend. Um, and we know the end story, but let's start at the beginning. Tell us about that start line in Epcot. What was your mindset heading into that race morning?
SPEAKER_03:It was kind of a unique race for me because the company I work for, Roll Recovery, we went to the Disney World Marathon to work the expo. And so that was kind of the primary focus. I had signed up for the race and it was kind of like, all right, let's see how we feel. And the founders of the company came with me, with their family, to Disney World. And so they want to see all the parks. So all week we're working the expo and going to the parks. Oh man, a lot of time on the feet, a lot of time on the feet. Trying not to look at the watch of oh man, you might have been a 20-mile day there. Um, you know, but so yeah, all that to say, like, you know, I was nervous, but I was really excited. It's as you guys know, it's such a great event. They do such a great job with everything. So a lot of excitement, and I think too, just you know, having faith that things would work out and really just creating the expectation of having fun and and executing. So there wasn't, you know, obviously deep down I I wanted to go for the win, but at the same time, uh I love there's this quote in yoga that you have a different body every day, and I really think that's the thing in running as well, that you can't always control exactly how you're gonna feel that day. And so a lot of times I just accept the way I'm gonna feel that day, and you kind of run and execute within whatever that performance window is for that day. I like that.
SPEAKER_02:That's very interesting philosophy. And anybody who's been involved in athletic athletics at any level knows that just some days are better than others.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Now, you this was not your first Disney race. How many Disney marathons have you competed in?
SPEAKER_03:So this was my fourth Disney race. I competed in 2012, 13, and 14 through a program called Florida's Finest that they used to have. I used to live in Florida and it was an excellent program that uh Disney put on where they invited a lot of the you know athletes around the state to to come in and compete. And yeah, in the the first year, uh I wanted to go for the win and uh place third. And so it's kind of been the seed in my head of oh, I want to get back to Disney to see if I can pull it off. So yeah, so this was my fourth attempt. And uh, I guess they say three's a charm. Sometimes sometimes you gotta you gotta go for four.
SPEAKER_02:Because you had a third place in 2012 and 2013, correct?
SPEAKER_03:Yep, and then 14. I really tried to go for the win and I paid the price big time. The last I think it was three or five miles. I I hit a wall like like you've never seen.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I I uh I'm gonna say I understand, but I don't, because I don't compete anywhere near that level. But I have certainly seen it amongst the best in the world. You tow the line for a marathon, there's no guarantee you're gonna finish. Absolutely. Yeah, you can put yourself in better position to do so, but uh there's just no guarantee. And I you see people they I call it blowing up, but it's what happens hitting a wall, blowing up.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there's kind of this added element. So most of the marathons I I compete in, I'm I'm in the middle of the pack too. You know, I'm around tons and tons of people. And so Disney's this unique experience for me. This is a new experience to me to be competing for a win in a marathon. And you're right, it's it's totally different because just for example, this past year, you know, feeling pretty good at mile 23, but then I'm starting to feel a little off, so I take a gel, and then I'm feeling good, and anything can happen. You could pull your hamstring or half, or and and so you almost have to manage your effort in a slightly different way when you're competing for place than than for time. So that that was a unique experience for me. I'm I'm not used to that. I'm I'm used to you know being with the masses and run my strong, even effort and you know, going for kind of the fastest time you can, whereas sometimes there's a little chess going on when you're you're competing for the win.
SPEAKER_02:I find it really impressive that 12 years for the gap between your last run and 14, and you come back here in 26 and win it. That's I'm not gonna ask you what happened in those 12 years.
SPEAKER_03:I think I've run like 30 marathons still in the in that time. Some some number that's ridiculous. Yeah, I I think a big challenge for me the last uh in that time was to try and qualify for the Olympic trials. And I just kept giving myself every opportunity I could, and I've come up Uh short each time. Um I think my best so my best is 219 and the trials time uh has ranged from 21900 to 218 217. This now it's 216. So yeah, this was kind of the perfect time to come back and and give it a shot.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, we're glad you did. That's those numbers you just talked about, that sounds very frustrating when you're when you're you know.
SPEAKER_03:All right, I was gonna say it's it it's so much fun at the same time. Um, I I get a thrill from just having big goals and and chasing them. And I think a lot of times too, when you reach those goals, you realize that it's all about the process anyway. And so I love just the process of training and going out and running, and I'm sure a lot of your followers as well. Like, if there wasn't a race, I would still be a runner. I mean, uh competing is a huge part of what I do, but I still love to run.
SPEAKER_10:Last week we talked to Brittany, who's also from Colorado. Uh, she said that the weather was a little a factor for her for her event. So did the heat affect your race or pacing and did you have to modify your race plan because of it?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I I think it played into my hands a little bit because with all the work from the expo and the uh walking around the parks, if I was trying to go for my you know strongest time, I think it would have been really difficult. And so the fact that we all had to adjust uh was something that was helpful to me. And over the years, having done so many marathons and coached so many athletes, um, I usually refer to these dew point charts and they've they've actually been fairly accurate. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I talk about that a lot, Matt.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, you live in Florida too, Bob, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. People talk relative humidity, I just kind of go, no, what was the dew point?
SPEAKER_03:Yep. So these dew point charts will reference kind of the temperature and the dew point. And you know, depending on how high the temperature is and how close that dew point is to the temperature, becomes how more challenging the event is going to be. And so, yeah, so this this year it was, I think 62 was the low, and the dew point was pretty close. So, so these charts kind of tell you, you know, you need to adjust, you know, one to two percent. And it kind of depends obviously on what what those are. And so if you're able to make that adjustment early, you don't quite pay the price later on. And knowing I wasn't gonna feel great anyway from the start, I kind of made that adjustment immediately, and I think it it helped with the performance.
SPEAKER_01:So you had mentioned that around mile 23, you're feeling okay, and then needing the gel and everything towards the end. Was there any point where you were like, today is gonna be the day that I win this?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it it's funny. Early on, I was so far back. I I had done my homework and I recognized there were three points along the course, I would get an idea of how far ahead they were, and I could kind of gauge, you know, if if I was gaining or and how much time I had at least to kind of catch them. And yeah, early on, I want to say mile four, I think it was 30 seconds, and then, or no, maybe been a minute by then already, and then mile 10, it was up to two minutes for the leader.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and so I was kind of aware of it, and then it's so dark, as you guys know, when when you're running through Disney, it's hard to tell where things were. But I I caught second place somewhere around 15 or 16, and then I couldn't see the first place bike until about mile 19 and a half or 20. And right around 20 miles, I can see the bike, and I look at my watch, and I want to say it was about a minute that he was ahead. And I did the math in my head and was like, oh man, this is gonna be really close. You know, doing the math, I was like, we will actually finish together if he stays at the same pace and I stay at the same pace. By the way, doing math in your head in a marathon, it's a crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, running running math is hard.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. I don't recommend it, but my brain for some reason is able to do that. And uh, so anyway, at that moment, I was like, okay, this is gonna be close. Because before that I didn't know, I was like, maybe he's he's got it in the bag. Um, so until mile 20, when I saw him, then I was like, okay, this is gonna be close. And I want to say within 30 seconds, uh it looked like his shadow, I don't even know if it's his shadow, the figure had stopped. And I was like, oh, I think he's walking. And so within 10 seconds, he he started running again, but I was like, he was walking, so he's definitely feeling the heat. So I would say to answer your question, at that moment, I I knew I had a really good shot. And so when I passed him, I wanted to make it, you know, I did I wanted didn't want him to second guess. And so this is where some of the some of the chess comes into play. Uh I think I was probably running low 540 miles at that point, and so I made the decision to run, you know, right around 530 pace every 10 seconds, you know, for a couple miles just to to make that move significant. And and that ended up uh working.
SPEAKER_02:Wow. Really interesting, Matt, to hear what's going through your mind at a significant race like this, especially one that's so long. Now you mentioned the bikes. Was the uh was your bike rider helpful to you?
SPEAKER_03:Uh absolutely. I I got lucky actually. So being in third for most of the race, I didn't have a bike. Second place, first and second had a bike, but I could see second most of the time to at least be aware of how close he was. And then it just helps to to see along the the course when um when it's that dark. So once I got second place, I did get the second place uh biker, and she was super helpful. Um just being able to see where the sharp turns are coming, um, it's definitely a lot of help. And then as I caught first place, they swapped.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's interesting too.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so the the bike swapped, and um yeah, it it's just helpful to have someone out there with you, you know, for such a long race and for it being dark, and then knowing when the turns are coming, I think, in in some of the parts can be super helpful. And then yeah, just at the very end, you know, having that support, I think, is is pretty cool. They the cyclists were very kind um and supportive, but they didn't give too much away, which is was good too. They let us let us compete. Very good. Fascinating.
SPEAKER_02:Really, what was there a toughest stretch of the course, either physically or mentally?
SPEAKER_03:I think early on, being patient, you know, I'm I'm so used to races where all right, I'm sending out on my pace and I'm I'm gonna try to ride this as long as I can. Whereas this one showing up with on kind of tired legs and not knowing, you know, if the elements would catch up with everyone, was a little nerve-wracking, but it was exciting at the same time. And I think 23 was the only point I you know, I made the move to pass him, um, and then I backed off slightly. And then I've been taking a lot of carbohydrates throughout the race, so I knew I was in a good spot, but I did feel a little bit of that tiny bonking feeling around 23. And I remember uh I remember just thinking, make sure you get this gel down now because you know that's significant that you felt that. But as soon as I got it down, I actually I felt better. And uh your brain goes through a lot of thoughts at that time, but I I knew all the stories from childhood and watching marathons to like just keep pushing, keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other, um, don't celebrate early. You know, I I did feel good, but at the same time, I knew anything. I had so much respect for the marathon. Anything can happen, and so just keep keep competing, keep executing, keep getting your carbs down. Um, and then yeah, the last couple miles were were really fun.
SPEAKER_01:So, how did it feel winning this race given the size and the spectacle and the Disney magic? Um, did you enjoy seeing the characters as you were going along and knowing you had hit that first place spot?
SPEAKER_03:It was so much fun. And so I was only in the lead, I think, the last 10k. So, yeah, the last mile or two, I got to see more of the characters uh being in the lead. But it was also fun to not be in the lead and see all the characters as well because it was a great distraction, you know, just having fun. You have the different themes and the different music and kind of just embracing that as you go. And my family grew up on Disney, so we grew up in South Florida, and we would go to Disney World, you know, once a month at least. We had the annual passes, and it's yeah, it's just a big part of my childhood. So it was so much fun, you know, going through the parks and and seeing all that. And then yeah, the last mile when you know you kind of recognize, all right, I just got to keep keep executing. I I really did try to soak it in and and have fun. And yeah, their final home stretch is so so exciting. You have yeah, I couldn't even help myself. I was like cheering myself and and trying to get people excited, and and then obviously the finish, the uh the confetti goes everywhere, and you got the felt like I won the Super Bowl, which is pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02:Nice, yeah, and of course, just like the Super Bowl champion, you said I'm going to Disney World, and I did.
SPEAKER_03:Me and my parents went to Magic Kingdom that day, so we we stuck to it. Perfect.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, have you done any other Run Disney events?
SPEAKER_03:So I've done the Wine and Dine 5K and the Disney Marathon 5K and Marathon now. So a lot of times it's I tie it to work. Um, the company I work for Roll Recovery, we sell recovery tools for athletes uh at these expos. And I'm always I I love hopping in the races, so yeah, the 5Ks I've done quite a few times. Any costumes? Not yet, but this year I really wanted to every day. So we were working the expo all day and then going to the theme parks in the evening, and I could not figure out the the theme I wanted to do for the race. And the last day the expo comes, and we're breaking down, and I finally get to the hotel, and I'm like, I didn't get my costume. So yeah, next time I do it, I'm fully committed to having having something, at least some Mickey years.
SPEAKER_02:All right. I'm gonna hold you to it, buddy. We look forward to that.
SPEAKER_10:So your win was mentioned as a family celebration with your father having completed in the marathon in the early years of the marathon. Can you tell us more about that family connection to the race?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'd say the the the coolest thing we did as a family was in 2013. Oh, this is a great story. I uh I reached I reached out to the Guinness Book of World Records because at the time my siblings were all runners, were all fast. You know, I have three brothers. They were all running in like the 230s in the marathon. I was like, man, I I wonder if there's like a category for fastest family to run a marathon. So I reached out to Guinness. Um, they didn't have that record, they thought there were too many variables with it, so they said, Oh, we'll create this new category called most family members of multiple generations to complete a marathon. So all we had to do was finish, and the record was ours. So I convinced my family to do this, and I reach out to Walt Disney World as well and tell them about this goal that we have. So they put us up, they they treat us well, and we're gonna go for this record. So my family can't just enjoy a marathon. Everyone had to get in the best shape of their life. So my parents who hadn't run a marathon in 26 years or something at the time. Oh wow. Yeah, they're probably around 60 at this point. And yeah, my dad's you know had some knee trouble. He's worried, can am I gonna be able to finish this thing? My mom is you know concerned about how many porta potties are gonna be out on the course. Are we all? My oldest brother uh is having his first child that is due that day. Oh my goodness. Uh my sisters never run more than 16 miles, and then yeah, me and my other brothers, you know, just had to get in the best shape of our life. So it could have been just things, you know, that we just finished. We all tried to get in really great shape for it. And it's probably one of the best weeks of my life, to be honest, because we, you know, we got tickets to all the parks, we had extended family come in, aunts, uncles, grandparents, um, friends, went to the parks. Uh they hooked us up with some hotel rooms and some Disney money and just this amazing time with family. And so we we do this marathon, and we all start finishing, and it comes down to my mom. She's the only one left, and we're all at the finish line waiting for her. Oh, is she gonna make it? Hope she makes it. She gets across the finish line. We have all of our medals on us, and we start putting them on her. Little we know how tired and fatigued she is. She basically falls over.
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_03:She has, you know, seven medals on her, and they need a wheelchair to wheel her away. But we did it. We got this Guinness record. You know, we get interviewed. I do all the paperwork um to get this record uh certified. And somewhere around January 1st, you know, back in the day when they had the Guinness book of World Records comes out at the start of my brother runs into a Walmart and uh flips to the running page, opens it, and there's this other family with like 18 people there. So we did this whole thing and uh didn't even get the record. Uh, but it's just this like funny memory. Uh, my family, like, you made us run that marathon to get that record. Oh jeez, man. We we got certified that we had it, but I I believe this family must have done um paperwork as well and just backdated it. Um it was around the same time that that we said ours. So anyway, great memories at Disney World.
SPEAKER_02:It is. It's a great family memory. You always have that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's a great story.
SPEAKER_02:We're glad you got to tell it.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah, we still got treated well. We we had the most amazing Disney World trip you could you could possibly have.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's that's fantastic. I'm glad to hear all of that. Matt, great story. I love the family story. Great way to to let's great way to transition, I think, from talking about the racing to talking about what you're doing now and your coaching. You've founded Boulder Underground Coaching out there in Colorado. How'd that get started?
SPEAKER_03:Man, I would I would say it actually goes back to high school, probably. I uh our team, so my older brothers won a state championship when I was in eighth grade. They won the 2002 Florida track and field championships. And I always wanted to win states too as a team. And so as I entered high school, I was recruiting all my friends that were basketball players and soccer players to join, you know, the cross-country and track team. And so, yeah, I'd say somewhere around high school, you know, a few of these athletes, I'd I'd send them kind of training in the offseason. And then when I reached college, I had a few athletes trying to walk on the team. So I remember sending them some training. And then really, it was post-collegiately, I'd run my first marathon, Chicago marathon in 2010. And one of my best friends uh and high school teammates, Craig Sinbine, asked me to coach him for his first marathon. And so this is 2012, I believe. He was doing the New Orleans marathon, and he kind of had this high goal of breaking 240. And it was a long buildup, and he went there and executed perfectly and ran 237. And when he finished, he sent me a photo of him like crying at the at at the finish. And I think it was like that moment was when I was like, wow, this is like this is so much cooler than me ever running fast, like helping someone achieve something that you know means so much to them, is really where the the seed was planted. That wow, I I really enjoy this.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. Can you tell us a little bit about Boulder Underground running? I'm gonna call it B U R if that's okay.
SPEAKER_03:B B U is what everyone calls it, but B U. Okay. Yeah, so yeah. So from there, um word got around, just other friends and family and and people asking for training. And it finally got to the point where I had enough people that I was like, okay, I I should probably establish establish this as a business. Uh and at the time I was living in Boulder in my friend's uh basement, basically. And um I'm like, man, I'm out here in Boulder living the dream, living in a basement. Like, what am I doing? And I was like, yeah, I was with uh some friends at the time, and uh we all were chatting about it and just came up with this idea of Boulder Underground. Um was kind of the idea of there's so many runners out there that you know sacrifice, I wouldn't even say sacrifice because we love to run, but you know, we're if you live in Boulder, you understand this. There's so many runners out here packed up in a house with multiple people, uh trying to save on rent, just trying to live the dream out here because it's it's such a beautiful place to run and train. And so, yeah, the the Boulder Underground name kind of came from that. And yeah, from there, we've worked with athletes of all levels. We've been fortunate enough to have um numerous Olympic trials qualifiers, also, you know, Boston qualifiers, beginners, run walkers, uh you name it. We're we're trying to help people get into running.
SPEAKER_10:And you're like a full service uh coaching establishment there, looking at your your stuff. You have sports nutritionists, uh sports psychologists.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we have a a network, I would say, of of resources for people that re um work with us. So generally um on our website, when you work with us, you kind of have access to these member resources. They have a little bit of everything. But we also understand, you know, a lot of people need additional support. And where, you know, I'm not a dietitian, um, I'm not a physical therapist, but we know excellent um PTs and dietitians that they they can work with. And so we we try to create this network to be able to support each other because as you guys all know, it takes a team to run a marathon, to stay healthy, to eat well, all these things. And we try to bring the best people together to kind of get people to to perform at their best.
SPEAKER_01:What would you say is the most rewarding part of having started this organization?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I'd say just going back to helping my friend Craig there, when when you first hop on the on a call with an athlete, they're really opening up to you, they're sharing you their hopes, their dreams, their goals. And that can be scary sometimes because those are, you know, intimidating or they're so far away they seem like you can't accomplish them. And our goal is to listen and be honest with them, you know. Like I don't like to say realistic because I've worked with athletes, so many athletes have done. Things that even I was shocked that they could do. And so not putting limitations on them. And really what I always think of is you kind of have this main goal, and it's kind of like your North Star. But what the day-to-day focus is always on the process. And so we set these kind of big goals, but then we kind of let those goals go into the universe, and we just focus on the day-to-day and creating this environment where they can adapt and they can have fun and they can make it a habit in a way that they they really enjoy. And that's when it starts to really get exciting, is when you start doing things you didn't think you could do, um, stacking days together, weeks together, months together, years together. I've had you know a few athletes I work with for over a decade, and it just brings so much fulfillment seeing them accomplish things that they didn't think they could.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome. From what I've read here, BU uh kind of fosters excellence in runners of all levels. Uh how are you able to support runners at varying levels of ability?
SPEAKER_03:Yep. So we we do have different coaching options. Um, and so a lot of times we'll kind of um screen someone that emails or calls and kind of see what type of training they're looking for. You know, are they uh a mom with kids that have a lot to do and they only have this amount of time that they can go out and run? Is it someone that's very serious and all they're doing is running? Is it someone just trying to complete their first 5k? And so we kind of get a feel for you know what the athlete's goals are and what they can work with, and then finding them a right coach, I think, is is very important. And then yeah, I think a goal for us as coaches is to continue to learn, to continue um to adapt and and listen and stay up to date on the latest research on what can be beneficial. And um, I know you guys work with Jeff Galloway a lot. He he's incredible because he's gotten so many people to just just get out the door, put just put the shoes on. If you don't think you can run, wake up and just put your shoes on.
SPEAKER_02:That's absolutely right.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and if you can put your shoes on, okay, just step outside. All right. And if you want to go back in, go back in. But the next day, go back outside again, and maybe you go for a walk, you know, and then the next day you're you're doing a little run walk, and then some people then they're fully running. And I think just figuring out what A, obviously what your goals are, but then like creating the habits in the environment to make them sustainable.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. Now you mentioned some high-level successes you've had out of BU. But are there any standout success stories or any moments that really capture what the organization's all about?
SPEAKER_03:One of my friends that I worked with, I want to say his first marathon was was around four hours, and he had this goal to to break three. And I mean, an hour is such a long period of time. Now, granted smile.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, three minute that's a three minute smile, two and a half, yeah. Yep. See, running math is hard, Matt.
SPEAKER_03:Doing podcasts and doing math is even harder. Yeah, so that was a big goal. And I mean, he did have a pretty strong bonk in that first marathon, but you know, an hour's uh a lot of time. And so working with someone like him, his name was Wayne, and it took a few years, but he worked his way down and he broke three, and I'll never forget just you know, crying at the finish line, something he didn't know was was was possible, and just stuff like that, I think, really makes running so fulfilling, you know. It doesn't have to be even hitting a time. Some people the goal is like, can I can I complete this distance? And that goal is just as honorable. And I think just putting something that's a little scary out there is good, and then working backwards, you kind of just break it up into smaller chunks, and then yeah, over time you can accomplish that goal. Great.
SPEAKER_02:Again, I love all those stories, they're awesome. And and we understand them. Our friends who are listening understand them too. Uh, it's good stuff.
SPEAKER_01:All right, Matt. So last week we talked with Britney Charbonneau and she told us, quote unquote, you were her coach for a hot minute. Do you have any good stories working with Britney?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, Britney's amazing. So I first met Britney and I want to say it was like 2018. I was working the Disney Marathon Expo, and she was there um helping her husband out at the booth next to us. And somehow we got chatting and she had talked about winning the race or something, and I want to say she had like just got into running. And for those of you that know Brittany, her story's incredible because she she started as like a Disney marathon runner, or Disney runner, let's just call it, and got better and better every year, where she eventually placed in the top 10, I believe, at the Olympic trials. Just like phenomenal story, just incredible. And and as you guys know, she brings so much um to the Disney family that that that's been so cool to cool to witness. And yeah, our uh the hot minute coaching was more so she was, I want to say she was preparing for a an ultra and she was just a few weeks out, and so she had me kind of review some of the training and and have a look at it. And I mean, I was fascinated by I was like, wow, you you know, she she ran a lot and she trained hard. She she really worked for the results that she got, which was was really cool. But yeah, she's just so so much fun to be around. I don't know if you guys know it too, but she's like a stand-up comedian as well.
SPEAKER_07:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. She's she literally does it all.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Second City trained, aspires to be on SNL someday.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, she'll get there, I have no doubts.
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't put anything past her. Yeah. But I really was hoping you'd give us a story we could hold over her head, but I guess that's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_10:That's for the Rise and Run after dark, Bob. Oh, yeah. Okay, so just some final thoughts here. So for our friends who might be an aspiring marathoner, what is one piece of advice you would offer regarding training or mindset?
SPEAKER_03:Great question. I I kind of will give you two because, well, three, because there was this great uh doctor I listened to once, and he he said that a lot of times people come to see the doctor for health issues that apply to just the body. However, he said there's three parts there's the body, there's the mind, and the spirit. And he says, honestly, as a doctor, I prefer to treat people for all three or chat with them on all three. So to answer your question, I'm gonna approach it from those three things. So I'd say from a physical perspective, you obviously have to be ready for the distance, but glycogen depletion is the number one limiting factor in the marathon. So once you've you're confident enough you can complete the distance, I would really focus on making sure you're getting enough carbs in throughout the marathon. And nowadays they're kind of saying 60 to 90 grams of carbs per hour. So write that down 60 to 90 grams of carbs per hour. And a lot of the data, they're trying to point it even higher, possibly. So it could be even higher than that. But I think that's a great place to start. So physical, uh, the mental, I think, you know, learning to um find flow, find your rhythm, whatever that is, if you're a run walker, runner, or you know, just walking, learning to find flow, I feel like is a great, great thing. And those of you that have been running for a long time, you know that feeling I'm talking about. And in the marathon, more than any other race, you don't want to get out too fast. So I think to find flow, you know, mentally is to uh have a positive mantra, you know, it's to focus on your breathing, your form, those types of things. And the third thing is spirit. You gotta have a reason that you want to do this race, you gotta have a meaning, a greater purpose. Um, it's a long distance. There's gonna be negative thoughts at some point. And so I think having a strong purpose behind what you do uh is a big part of that. So I know that wasn't one thing, that was kind of three and one, but that's great, Matt. A little differently there.
SPEAKER_02:That's great, Matt. We have we have really appreciated all of your insights. It's been really fascinating for me at least, listening to someone who's won this event talk through what went through their mind and what their strategy was as they went along. And it's just been a lot of fun. It's been really great talking with you now. Before we let you go, I I did uh I did give you some idea of what we talk about, but I didn't give you these rapid fire questions. We're gonna hit you up here with at the end. So let's just a couple quick ones. First thing that comes to the top of your mind, they're all Disney related. All right, let's just start here, Matt. What was your favorite and your least favorite part of that marathon course?
SPEAKER_03:Favorite part, uh entering Magic Kingdom. So many people there, yeah, so loud, so energetic, definitely. Uh entering Magic Kingdom. Least favorite part. Um least favorite part. I got lucky that I didn't have any super low points in the race where you you know you you feel really bad, but I would say uh I wanted to see more of Hollywood Studios this year, so I'll say I didn't get to see as much of Hollywood Studios, so that was a lower point.
SPEAKER_10:Common complaint. Post-race celebration, Disney style or low-key recovery?
SPEAKER_03:Definitely Disney style. Tried to relax, but I was like, mom, dad, you guys ready to go to Magic Kingdom? Let's do this.
SPEAKER_01:And then if you could run any Disney race again tomorrow, which one would it be?
SPEAKER_03:Definitely the Disney marathon again. Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense.
SPEAKER_02:Good answer. Really, Matt, it's been a joy. Uh, once again, another another new Run Disney friend for for we mortals, we appreciate it. We mid-packers, back of the packers, we appreciate you spending time with us and sharing really a deep insight into what you did and then a lot of tips that all of us can use. Uh, before you go, can you tell us again how is it possible if one of our friends wants to contact you about coaching in Boulder Underground? Uh, can they do that? And if so, how?
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. So uh in uh the email is info at boulder underground running.com. Or we do have a uh Instagram account, Boulder Underground, that you can uh message through. So I can't let you guys get away. I haven't had a chance to get to know you guys a little bit, but I ask a lot of Disney fans this question, so you guys got to answer it. Okay. Your top three Disney movies in order. Animated. Ooh, ooh, rapid fire.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I John, go.
SPEAKER_10:Okay, I would say because it's the first one I saw with my grandparents, Peter Pan, Bambi, and The Rescuers.
SPEAKER_01:Mine would be Mulan, um, Lion King, and Hercules. I'm a 90s kid.
SPEAKER_03:I know what era that was.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. See, I can go back to 101 Dalmatians. I remember that quite well. That was a favorite. Uh, I'm looking for another animated because my all-time favorite Disney movie in the genre you're talking about, Disney branches out, sports movies, and all that. My all-time favorite's Mary Poppins. Uh another one. Come on, Bob. Another animated. Uh, I'll go Peter Pan also. Great choice.
SPEAKER_03:That was tough. Yeah, it's it's tough, and it it can shift, I feel like, different times. So for me, Lion King. Lion King's the number one, Monsters Inc., number two. Little Mermaid was always three, but Moana might be might be pushing it out. They're they're even.
SPEAKER_02:Those top two, I hadn't thought about. Those are very good. I like those.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Lion King is, I feel like, the great metaphor for life. So you can't, you gotta have that one in your top three.
unknown:That's a good one.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's a fun way to finish, Matt. And congratulations, you're the first person that's done that to us. I appreciate it. It was fun. Put you on the spot. Ah, thanks a lot, man. It was great. And it's been great talking with you again. We really appreciate you spending the time. We really hope to see you at a future Disney event. But until then, happy running. No, that's the way we sign off every episode. But until then, thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much for having me and uh really appreciate what you guys are doing, inspiring as many people to get out and run these races.
SPEAKER_08:Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know about you two, but I think it is so much fun to be able to talk to these top-level athletes and to kind of listen to them talk about what they go through and to realize yeah, they're a whole lot better than what we're doing than what we do. But the mindset's not that much different.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Yeah, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. But I do appreciate Matt spending the time with us. That was fun. And I I hope we uh I hope we get to talk with Matt again in the future. He he was uh really a really pleasant guy to talk to, really enjoyed the interview. Hey, as I mentioned at the top, no Zoom this week. We're it's Disneyland Race Week. We'll be back on the 5th of February. Heck, we can talk about Disneyland races. Speaking of Disneyland races, our meetup, if you're listening, the meetup is Saturday. So the meetup is if you're at Disneyland, at the Disneyland Park Combo, if you're in the area, you're coming out of California Adventure, walking towards the Disneyland Park, heading to the main entrance, turn to your left at about the 10 o'clock position. There's a building over there. They've got some bathrooms, they've got some lockers, they've got the lost and found, and there is a picnic area over there. There are signs that say picnic area. It's behind a bunch of tall hedges. We will be there at the meetup at 3 p.m. on Saturday. We'll take a group photo around 3.30, and then we'll be there until you decide you want to go somewhere else. I do hope you can make it. Come on by. It's a little easier to get to here at Disneyland because the park's not that large. You can actually just step out of the park and walk on over. Uh, spend some time, bring your friends. If you got folks who maybe don't listen to the podcast, bring them by, introduce them, maybe they'll become part of the family. But we sure hope we can see you there on Saturday afternoon. And I think now it's time to take a look at the rise and run tradition, the roll call, the roll call of Disneyland Racers. Our friend Rob does a great job of helping out with this, and he told me that this is a record number of people who have put their names on the race report for the Disneyland half marathon weekend. And I'm thinking that record's going to stand for a while. I think so too. Yeah, we don't know how long, John, but it it is. So the rules are call your name. If you hear your name, please stand up. Remain standing until everyone's been called in your race, and then you can sit down. The only exception, and this may actually work for me this time. The only exception is if the fastened seat belt signs on in your aircraft, then you get a pass. I should be listening to this probably on the flight out Thursday morning before maybe if they're driving. Yeah. They pull to the side of the road.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:All right. We'll give them a pass for driving too. Alicia. How many times have we done that? You just mentioned it for the first time. Right. Yeah. All right. All right, good stuff. Okay, kids. Uh, let's kick it off with the Dumbo Double Dare. Go.
SPEAKER_01:Starting off the Dumbo Double Dare. That's hard to say. Adrian, who's pacing, Allison, Allie without an E doing Coast to Coast, Allison doing first half marathon, Amanda, Amy, Coast to Coast number three, Andrea, Angela, Anna, first challenge, Ashley, coast to coast and first Disneyland race, Beth, Coast to Coast, Bethany, Brandy, Bridget, and Carol.
SPEAKER_10:And we have Kathy going coast to coast, Charlie going coast to coast, Jace, we have Chris B, Chris in Hawaii, Christina, Dan, he's pacing, David, Denise going coast to coast, Dina, Divya coast to coast, Dorothy coast to coast, Emily, Erin, and Fred and Jackie.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Glenda's there, as is Heidi, who's going coast to coast. Hera, Holly, Jake, Jason. We got a bunch of Jennifer. Jennifer H, Jennifer I, Jennifer, uh, Jennifer Cam and Jennifer Kelly and Jennifer Kennedy. I ran out of initials there. Jennifer Kennedy's doing coast to coast. Jessica is going to get her fourth Coast to Coast and her third Dopey to Dumbo. Joseph will be there. Julie and Emmy will be there, as will Kate.
SPEAKER_01:We also have Caitlin doing Marathon to Dumbo and Coast to Coast. Katherine M, Katherine W, another Katherine W, Katie. We have three Katie's, two Katie M's doing Coast to Coast, both one doing Dobe to Dumbo, and then Katie T. We have Kayla, Kelly, and husband Dave, Kendra doing Coast to Coast, Carrie, Kim, Kimmy doing Coast to Coast, Kaze, Coast to Coast number three, and Kristen.
SPEAKER_10:We have Kylie, we have Laura, first in person at Disney race, Linda, Lindsay, Lisa, Mara, first coast to coast, Margaret, Coast to Coast number four, Marielle, Mark, Coast to Coast, Mary, Coast to Coast, Megan, first Dumbo, second coast to coast, Melanie, Melissa, second dumbo, second coast to coast, Melody, Morgan, and Morgan's going coast to coast.
SPEAKER_02:Right. We got Morningstar, Nana, Coast to Coast, Noelle's first Dumbo, first coast to coast, Rondala, first Disneyland race. Rondala, I hope I pronounced that correctly. Sarah. Sharon's doing the double dare. Son's gonna be joining her for the 10K. Shawnee will be there. Stacy, Stephanie, Steven, Coast to Coast number four, and Adobe Dadumbo. Taylor, Tony, Tanya and Dan, Trisha, and Vanessa. Those are our double dare runners. You may be seated.
SPEAKER_01:Going to the half marathon, we have Ellen, who's a perfect, Annie, our very own Bob doing Coast to Coast, Cindy, Emily doing first half marathon, Eric, Grace, Eileen, Jen, Jeannie, first Run Disney race weekend and first half marathon. Jessica doing coast to coast, Catherine, Kay doing Coast to Coast, Kim and Mallory.
SPEAKER_10:Maureen. We have Megan, Melissa, Coast to Coast, Miranda, Nicole, Ray, Rich, Ruth, and Sheena all doing the half marathon.
SPEAKER_02:That's it. Those are our half marathon runners. Continue with our 10K runners. Emily's doing her first 10K. Jacqueline's there. Jordan doing a first 10K. That's outstanding. Liz and her husband, Mark, Lori, Melissa, and Ripley, and that's who we have who have put their names down for the 10K.
SPEAKER_01:Alright. And then for our 5K, we have Alison, Allie without an E, another Allison, Allison M, Amanda, Andrea. We have Andrew who's eight, Emma, who's seven, and they are both doing their first 5K, and they're running with their mom, Katherine. We also have Angela, Ashley, Bethany, Brandy, Brigid, Carol, Kathy, Charlie, and Jen, and Chase.
SPEAKER_10:Davis, Dina, Dorothy, Emily, Erin, Heidi, Holly with Mom Kathy, some Jacqueline person that we don't know because she just got married. James and Mason, who are 11 and 9, who's running for Mom Jessica. Jason, Jenny, running for a charity bid with the American Cancer Society. Jennifer K, another Jennifer K. John Jordan.
SPEAKER_02:And speaking of Jacqueline, though, we just mentioned her for the 5K. I don't think we mentioned her on the 10K, but she's doing that one also. So Jack's doing the five. Oh, yeah, we did. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_10:She's using the maiden name now, but that's why.
SPEAKER_02:That's that last name that fooled me. That's right.
SPEAKER_10:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, let's let's continue on for the 5K. Joseph, Julie, Kate, Katherine, two Catherines, Katie, two Katie's. One running with her mom Laurie. Another Katie, Katie T. K will be there, as will Kendra, Carrie, Kuzai, Laura, Linda, and Lindsay.
SPEAKER_01:We also have Lisa, Liz, Mara, Margaret, Marielle, Mary, Megan, Kay, Megan R, Morgan, Morningstar, Noelle, Rachel running with eight-year-old niece Ellie, Sandy, Sarah, and Shawnee.
SPEAKER_10:And to finish out the 5K, we have Stacy, Stephanie, Taylor, Trisha, and Vanessa.
SPEAKER_02:And those are the Rise and Run Runners at Disneyland this week. Hey, you know, yoga's also going on. People told us they were doing yoga, so let's go down the list there. Allison, Anna, Bethany, Holly with her mom Kathy, Katie with her mom Lori. Kay, Laura, Linda, Lisa, Margaret, Marielle, Megan, Sarah, Stacey, Taylor, and Vanessa will be warming up with yoga. I believe that's on uh Thursday morning the yoga is, I think. It's it's before the race is not after them like it's been sometimes. So there we go, my friends. The rise and run roll call for this year's Disneyland half marathon weekend. Hey, let's real quick, the event guide came out. Gang, I'm just gonna buzz through this. If I miss something important or if I goof up, let me know. The uh the expo starts Thursday is at the Disneyland Hotel Hotel, the exhibit center. It's actually on two floors. You get your bib on one floor, the uh expo, health and fitness expo is on another. Thursday it opens at 10. Friday it opens at 12. Both days it closes at 8. On Saturday, it's open just from 10 until 4. Uh, you got the merchandise shopping. There will be a virtual cue on the first day, and I believe it's two virtual cues. Is that right, guys? One for the Disney merch and one for the Brooks shoes?
SPEAKER_01:I believe so, yep.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so look for those virtual cues. They apply only on the first day. You can find them in your Disneyland app. Uh, I've got to make sure I get my Disneyland app back on my phone. I know I got it there somewhere. Uh, once you've been called, you got 90 minutes to go. You've uh the Brooks shoes, we've talked about them before. There's a place where you can try them on, and then you fill out the form and you go get them. No discounts on those shoes, you annual pass and DVC folks. Let's see. Yoga is in fact the first day. Security gates open at 3:30 for all of the events. Uh let's see the 5K, the corrals start to open up at 4. Uh, the corral, I the 5K course at Disneyland. That could be the best. That could be the best running course, maybe anywhere. It just goes all around. It starts on Main Street. Or it starts, no, it starts behind the castle, I guess. Starts behind the castle, runs around in Disneyland, comes and finishes in California Adventure. This will be my second trip out. I haven't done the 5K on either one. I think I've kind of missed the boat. What a great running course. The the 10K is excellent, also. Now, the 10K starts in that parking lot. The reason that we're not going to have any more Disneyland races for a while, because that parking lot's going to be under construction. But the 10K goes from the parking lot, and again, it ends. This one goes into California Adventure, then up through Disneyland, and then more or less right back to the start-finish area. The half does virtually the same thing, starts out very nearly the same as the 10K. Then at about the six-mile mark, it heads out into uh Anaheim and finishes at the start finish area. Good courses out there in Disneyland. Sad that we're not going to be able to run them again for a number of years. So I blew through that really quick. If you've got questions, please consult the official race weekend guide. All right, so there you go. Disneyland race weekend is upon us. Sure. Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you there. Now, next week on the podcast, we'll be doing a recap of the Disneyland Race Weekend. And now, please stand clear of the door. It's time for a race report. The race report, sponsored by our friend Thomas Stokes at Stoked Metabolic Training, Stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching is the URL for more information. I keep saying that I need to get in touch with Tom. I want to get back in touch with him, get back involved. Hang on just a second. Oh, there he is. Hey Tom, how are you doing? Get in touch with me. It's about daggum time. Took me long enough. I must have said that on the podcast four straight weeks. I gotta get with Tom. I gotta get with Tom. But uh it's good to see you, my friend. Thank for thank you. Always good to be back. Always love hanging out with y'all. That's great. Uh let's see. Last I saw you, you had just finished dopey number what?
SPEAKER_09:Dopey number five. And if five, if you saw Adam's post, the other two two guy, there is no five timers jacket. This is not Saturday Night Live. That was a joke. I've done five.
SPEAKER_02:Wait, would you wear the jacket?
SPEAKER_09:I would absolutely wear the jacket. I wouldn't take it. Heck yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Any any one of us would. Um, I got permission from no less of a source than Jeff Galloway to hang it up after five. I remember I remember finishing that fifth one. Whoo, that was tough. That was that was the one where I pushed the whole time, pushed the chair the whole time. That was tough. I said to Jeff, I think this is it, buddy. I think five's gonna do it. He goes, Well, I did five, and I retired after five. You have my permission. I don't think you're ready to hang it up yet, though.
SPEAKER_09:I I told the missus that I was going to potentially spectate the marathon next year. We had we had so many athletes that I work with cross the finish line, and one of the hardest parts for me was not being able to just be cheer squad the whole time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_09:And it took about two seconds for her to say, absolutely not. If you're not out there with them, it's gonna kill you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, she probably knows you better than you know you. She probably does.
SPEAKER_09:And she told me she she made me feel better. She goes, They they want you out there with them.
SPEAKER_02:It's oh yeah, we'd love to see you on the course. It's fun. Um, what do you got planned coming up?
SPEAKER_09:Well, kicking off a big transformation challenge on February the 9th. So six weeks. Super exciting.
SPEAKER_02:That's cool. And I definitely, absolutely, that's the reason I have you here. That we ask you to come back. But I want to know what Tom Stokes is doing for Rudy Bowl.
SPEAKER_09:Well, as everybody's listening to this, I'll be flying to California to uh run Disneyland, but that that's not my big one this year. It's uh I got into New York. I'm I'm running New York with Team for Kids, so excited to raise raise money for that, and just super excited to knock out the first major ones.
SPEAKER_02:That's out that's outstanding. What is your uh what is your marathon training schedule look like?
SPEAKER_09:You know, a lot of you are probably familiar with a Mr. Adam Earl, who's one of the chasers. Yeah, and I have not looked as far into my training as he has, and he let me know that he wants to run my long run. He goes, You have a very long run on the calendar, and I want to get there with you. I want to go on it with you. He lives about 15 minutes from me, so I'm terrified.
SPEAKER_02:That's good. You're working with coach, you're working with Coach Twiggs, right?
SPEAKER_09:Working with Coach Twiggs, yeah, and he put a long run on for you. Yeah, I I I need to go see it because now after Adam Adam won't I'm a little there there are concerns.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. Well, that's great, man. That's exciting. We we'd like to hear more about that in the future. And uh I'm I'm also heading out to Disneyland as we as you listen here. And you know the rules on the roll call. If you're not on short final, you have to stand up when your name gets called. So we'll see. We'll see how they how it comes out. Uh all right, but now, yeah, let's get back. You started, I interrupted you. Let's get back to what's new with stoked metabolic training. What's coming up, Tom?
SPEAKER_09:We are kicking off our six-week transformation challenge. This is the one I get asked the most about. New year, I think, new year, new me. And I'm not I'm not you big on the new year, new me. Let's let's always work on ourselves, let's always keep working on getting better. But this is always the most requested. So it's a six-week challenge. Build out your strength training plan, personalize your nutrition goals, do weekly macro adjustments, weekly calls where I if anybody that spent more than two minutes with me on the course knows I geek out over health and fitness, and we'll focus on strength training. I could be here for five hours talking about health and fitness, and we'll focus on strength training, nutrition call, and recovery, and all of the things that support your fitness journey and support you improving your goals.
SPEAKER_02:I think some folks don't understand that you do have a very well-rounded, dare I say, holistic approach. I think, I think it's common folks who have met you who go, Oh, that's all a strength training program, it's all about bodybuilding. That's just a part of it. I think you're uh you have some significant expertise in nutrition and helping people drop some pounds. At least I hope that's true because I'm that's what my number one goal. Uh but it it's an overall fitness program.
SPEAKER_09:I I try to cover, you know, I I look back at my own journey and I started, oh, I say 15 years, it was probably about 17 years ago now, 23 years old, when I started in the gym and I went and just lifted things for two years and I just didn't see the results that I craved. And start talking to somebody about nutrition. And once I start geeking out on something, I'm like, let me pour myself into it, learn about nutrition. I'm like, wow, this really makes a difference. And then pairing that with with my love for running now, I'm like, wow, that nutrition goes even further because if I don't, we I think we all know if I don't feel right or you don't feel right, it's it's not a fun race the next morning. It's night and day, and no one wants to gas out at mile 18 of a marathon.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, 100%.
SPEAKER_09:Run the full thing. Yeah. And then you we get a little older. Sometimes we get a little older, so then I started looking at the recovery aspects and what else comes into play so that I perform my best on on game day, and I'm you know putting my best foot out there.
SPEAKER_02:Getting a little older is a good thing. I mean, we're older now than we were when we started the interview, but it's it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_09:We've got two options in life get older or the opposite, which I don't think anybody wants to sign up for.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_09:Not right now.
SPEAKER_01:So, Tom, you mentioned that this is six weeks challenge. So, when does it start and what does it go through? And how do people sign up for it?
SPEAKER_09:So it runs till February 9th, and this is actually, you know, I've run probably three or four of these challenges, and this is the first time I'm I'm offering two different options. So I want to keep the doors open. I used to, we used to do the discount, and I said, discount of price is gonna be the base. You you're gonna get in, you're gonna get the strength training, you're gonna get the macros. But some people did crave a little more, and I always had people that, hey, I want to learn more about this, I want kind of a deeper taste in the program. So that's that's what we're calling the finish line VIP. So those people, they're gonna get a one-on-one onboarding call. So one of the I one of the things that just drives me personally is hearing about other people's goals and journeys. I've been coaching for 10 years, 10 plus years, and just finding what drives you, and also what's your struggle? How can I coach you better? So we're gonna find that out on the way in. And with that, you're gonna get those VIPs, they're getting weekly video call video reports from me. So I'm gonna show you all the data. I'm gonna say, hey, this is what your workout looked like. Here's an area of opportunity, and same for your nutrition. Usually with nutrition, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. And I see that a lot in January, where I'm gonna give up carbs. Terrible idea for runners. Uh, I'm gonna give up this, I'm gonna give up that. And usually a few small tweaks will get the needle moving in the direction you want. And that's gonna be my goal with the, you know, when I send you those weekly videos just giving you my assessment, it's what actionable thing can I give you to work on so it's not an overwhelming journey. I quit so many times before I got to where I wanted to be when I was starting my journey. I was the guy that bought the fanciest Nikes. Anybody remember the little chip in the Nike?
SPEAKER_07:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_09:One of the first trackers. I bought that. I bought the Nikes and I laced them up for the first time, and I barely made it off the street before those went back in the box and went in the closet, and I was not a runner for another six or seven years. So complicate. I try to let's make it as simple as possible on you. Let's keep it super simple. And like I said, I geek out on these things, so let's teach everybody about it. So I'll I'll share the link on Thursday when this comes out, but also Stokes.fit slash New Year's Challenge. New Year's Challenge, okay. But I gotta worry about my own goals too. I had Adopte and I had a I got Disneyland to get through. That's why we didn't do it in January 1.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. That's right, not till we get back.
SPEAKER_10:And another thing, you don't need a fancy gym to do this challenge, right?
SPEAKER_09:You do not. Usually, you know, I can build around anything. I ideally, dumbbells will get the job done if you got a bench, even better. But if you do have a fancy gym, I can build towards that. If you've got a barbell at home, I can build towards that. And some people that just want to do body weight, I've been doing this for a while now. I can build, I enjoy the build.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I'll go back to what I said just a minute ago. You you're building a really well-rounded thing, it's not just a gym thing. Uh, your your weekly Zoom meetings on this, I found to be very educational, very worthwhile. Again, you put your your heart and soul into those, and you do a good job with them. So I think this is a great program. And what's the price points on it, Tom?
SPEAKER_09:So for the this calling it the starting line, that's 57. That's the entry level. So get you the plan, get you the personalized macros, you get access to the group coaching calls, QA, app access, all that fun stuff. That's 57. The finish line, that one's 97. And that gets you the additional calls, the weekly feedback for me, onboarding, offboarding. You're gonna you're gonna be tired of me in six weeks with that one. But it's it's worth it because see a good amount of success with that one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it sounds cool.
SPEAKER_10:And those are those are the discounted prices with our code, correct? Yep. Okay, just so everyone knows. And they're they're a deal, my friends.
SPEAKER_02:That's real, no joke. That's a good deal. You still run your uh other programs, your accelerate program, and I can't remember the name of the group coaching and one-on-one.
SPEAKER_09:Those are the two main ones right now. The group coaching, that's that's one of my favorite times of the week. That yeah, who I don't think one of one of those things when you when I started this, I gotta give a shout out to everybody that shows up and spends an hour with me every Thursday at six. 630. You guys they're family, and I was so excited for Dopey Weekend just to see everybody in person. I can't wait to see everybody. I'm crashing your meat up, too, by the way. They wanted me to sell it.
SPEAKER_02:I'd be disappointed if you weren't there. You're not crashing. You guys aren't in Rise and Run. Get it together. Yeah, bring bring your friends. Absolutely. Um, I haven't been for a while, but I've been to several of them. They're great Rise and Run family because on Thursday nights we finish with Tom at 7:30, and then every other week we get together at 8. So it just slides right in there. Works out perfectly.
SPEAKER_09:It's a good schedule. I try not to mismatch with anybody else's calls. And then so, yeah, the group coaching, they're yeah, they're family. But my one-on-one's it's funny because I at one point I said, one-on-one's they they meet with me 30 minutes, 30 minutes weekly, where we just really dial in. We make sure everything is perfect. If there's anything bothering you, I want to know about it so that we can just improve, keep you getting better, keep moving forward. You know, a couple of my I'm gonna shout out two of them. I'm gonna shout out two of them. Yeah, guard, please go ahead. About you, because you know Val, we got to give a shout out to the Val every Friday at 2 30 p.m. My calendar closes at 3, and it's one of the highlights of my week. So Val, shout out to you and uh and Kat. Kat, and I wanted to mention Kat because Kat's like, I love the when I do the challenge, I love these group coaching calls too. Can I come to those too? And I said, absolutely. Is that is that is that Kat from Orlando? She nope, this is Kat from from Austin. Okay. Who also works with Alicia.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, she does. Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_09:Very good. Very good. I don't have favorites. Bobby's one of my troublemakers, though.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I'm Tom, uh, I'm back in. I'm back in. I need this. Uh, I need it for the accountability, I need it for your very helpful advice. Uh, and I need it just to be a better overall in better condition. It's important. It's in you talked about aging. It's important uh as you get older, absolutely.
SPEAKER_09:I mean, you and I just touched base. Bob and I just touched base about what he can what he can do currently, you know, what he can do and where we're at. And you heard it here first. He is starting again on Monday, so help me hold him accountable. If you see or talk to Bob next Monday, make sure I'll be on the airplane Monday.
SPEAKER_02:I'll be on the airplane Tuesday. I'll start. All right, Tuesday. Yeah, Tuesday or Wednesday. Uh maybe pick it Wednesday. Well, that the week's almost over. Maybe I should do the next week. Maybe well, that February would be almost over. Then it's over the start March.
SPEAKER_10:January 2027, Bob.
SPEAKER_09:And that is why I put you on blast to all of the listeners.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's good. It's good. Oh, I definitely I need the accountability, and I definitely our friends are going to hear from me about how this is going because that will help. That will help me. I need that kind of uh discipline to help me out. All right, so there you go, friends. Uh I can't, it's it's a great program, it really is. I've I've known Tom, worked with him, need to work with him more interrupted by uh interrupted for things beyond either one of our control, but let's get back to it now that we're under control. And I look forward to it. I would like to encourage you who are listening to give it a shot. I think a lot of Tom's friends who tried this six weeks end up staying with him on his other programs for a long term. So uh it's worth it. It's worth a try. You got very little to lose and a whole lot to gain. Hey, Tom, thanks for joining us, man. Uh, hope you have a great trip out to LA.
SPEAKER_09:I can't wait. I'll see you out there. I'm gonna miss miss John and Alicia and the rest of the crew.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'll be looking forward to you. I'll you running all three races.
SPEAKER_09:Oh, but I will see Jack, who's in group coaching I'm excited for that. Yeah. Are you are you doing all three, Tom? Only the 10K and the half, unless the Expo gods shine their light on me and I sign up for a last minute 5k.
SPEAKER_02:So only the only the challenge. Well, I'll see you in line. You'll be way in front of me, but for our uh coast to coast medals. How's that? Sounds like a plan. All right, my friend. Thanks so much for taking the time, Tom. Uh you guys in touch. Yeah, we'll talk with you later. Talk to you soon. Appreciate Tom dropping by spending some time with us. Let's take a look at the race report on Saturday. The Fud Sickle 5K. This is week number four. This race in Tewkesbury, Massachusetts. Sophie did this one. She forgot to post about last week, week three. She ran that one with Audrey and Sophie's younger sister, Muriel. The weather was okay for that one. This one was cold. Uh, as was probably the icebreaker marathon and 5K. That's in New Jersey. Our friend Jack was scheduled for that. It was canceled due to the weather. Over the weekend, Clearwater Running Festival, Clearwater, Florida. The Clearwater combo, the 5K and the Half. A friend Kim did this one. She and her sister walked the 5K. They wore their Run Grover shirts to honor their mom, who passed away in 2024. Grover had been her favorite character. For the half, she made the last-minute decision to stay with a pacing group. It was a good call. The ladies in the group were fun and encouraging. The pacers, it was also wonderful, took the pressure off of her having to watch for her own pace. Uh, wasn't sure what would happen. While the rest of the country was in a really cold, cold spell, Florida was warm this weekend, really like record-setting warm. So she wasn't sure what was going to happen with the humidity, but Kim did get a PR. Seven seconds faster than her previous half marathon PR, a princess half marathon that she ran 15 years ago. Now Ken was also at this race. On Sunday, big event in the town of Celebration, Florida. The town of Celebration Marathon and Half Marathon weekend running the marathon. We had Kay, who didn't tell us much about the race, but we did see Kay photo bombing Jason's video. That was pretty cool. She looked like she had a lot of energy, so that was good. And then Megan was scheduled to run it, but couldn't because of injury. Sorry, Megan, that that happens sometimes. We had a bunch of friends running the half. Abigail, Abigail was entering her first non-run Disney half. She did it on a whim. She set her sights on a PR and a new proof of time that would work for Dope next year. She shaved four minutes off of her time from wine and dine and ran a 220. That's good enough for proof of time. Good job, Abigail. Adonya, Adanya got a PR with two amazing girls pacing her. Carolyn ran with Jennifer. Carolyn missed a PR by five seconds, clocking in at just a little over 2.15. So close. That's still a good time. Jen did get a PR by three minutes with a 216 half marathon time. Another good one. They went from celebration to the uncelebration, the Harry Potter event at Universal Studios. Let's see. Jared was there. Peyton ran this one. It was her first time running this race. Been on a list for her to-do list for some time. Glad she did it. Half marathon number nine and a PR. Almost seven minutes faster than her previous PR time. 310's her new PR time. Sub-three is so close. Great job, Peyton. Ashley was there. Michael, Debbie, Donna, Jen was there, had some goals for the race, but the humidity made it difficult. Ryan and Tracy encouraging her probably kept her going. She might have walked miles nine to thirteen. Ryan paced him and made sure that she PR'd the half marathon. The beer at the finish was well earned. Good job, Jen. Let's see. Trevor was there. Kayla says it was an awesome day with friends. She got there early to get a good parking spot and then napped in the car for about half an hour. It did get warm, as I mentioned earlier, so she was happy just to finish this event. Post-race party. This post-race party and celebration sounds really, really good. So many food samples from the local celebration eateries. And I guess a blanket is given to the finishers because Kayla says the blanket was extra soft. Let's see, Jason did this one. Really proud of this race. He set seven PRs last year, but not in the half. This one snapped a seven-year PR drought at the half marathon distance. Ironically, it is the same race where he PR'd ten years ago. This is eight minutes faster than any half he's done in the last nine years. Way to go, Jason. Renee had an amazing run and a great time on the course. No PR, but just missed it by about three minutes. Up in New York, Rob was going to do the New York Roadrunners Fred Lebeau half marathon. No surprise there, it got canceled. On uh, well, it's not really the Florida Panhandle, it's the Alabama Panhandle, the Big Beach Half Marathon, Marathon and Safari 5K. Emily did the Shark Challenge. So she starts with the five. Emily started with the 5K on Saturday, then went on to do her second marathon. And her first marathon that wasn't part of a Disney Challenge weekend, she earned a 17-minute PR coming in at 4.17. That's a good marathon time, Emily. Great job. Here's how good it is. Second place finish in her age group. Great job. So there we have it, friends. The race report for episode 227 of the Rise and Run Podcast. Friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Boy, we really enjoyed talking with Matt. We had a great time. Hope you found that interesting and informative. If you're out in California, look for me, look for Jack. We'll be looking for you. Hope to see you there. Hope you see you at the meetup on Saturday afternoon. But if we don't see you then, we'll see you sometime soon. And until then, happy running.
SPEAKER_00: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 World Advice discussed Walt Disney company that should not be considered medical advice, and it should always be considered with your health care company or even four.
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