237: The Mile That Changed Everything: Jim Ryun's Story

In this episode, we’re joined by the legendary Jim Ryun, one of the most famous names in American middle-distance running, to talk about the coach who redirected his life, the moment he understood what breaking the 4-minute mile really meant, and why “ownership” is the skill that outlasts talent. Jim takes us from being a teenage Olympian to racing at Mexico City altitude, then back to the quieter memories of Tokyo that still shape how he views people and competition.

Because we’re the Rise and Run crew, we also bring it home to runDisney. Jim shares his connection to the first Walt Disney World Marathon, why he leaned on run-walk strategy, and what events like runDisney races do best for brand-new runners: education, community, and a reason to keep showing up. 

Then we shift into Springtime Surprise mode with a listener-friendly logistics rundown, including expo timing, virtual queues, transportation notes, corrals, spectating limits, and key course changes so you can pack your “patient pants” and actually enjoy the weekend.

With Earth Day around the corner, we spotlight Sneakers4Good, a sneaker reuse and recycling organization that helps keep used running shoes out of landfills while supporting microenterprise partners around the world. You’ll learn what kinds of shoes to donate, how the mail-in bag works, and why one simple closet cleanout can create real impact.

If you like the mix of running history, practical race planning, and community vibes, hit subscribe, share the episode with a running friend, and leave a quick review. What’s one goal you’re taking ownership of this season?

Transcript

Welcome And What’s Ahead

SPEAKER_10 0:46

Hello, and welcome to the Randy Munich. Audra and Brandy, and working on it with you.

SPEAKER_04 1:00

Hip hop to the hippity. Hey. Welcome. Thanks for that intro, ladies. Brandy, Audra, and Jennifer. What a great intro. We appreciate it. Hello, my friends. Welcome to episode two hundred and thirty-seven of the Rise and Run podcast. We are delighted that you're sharing your time with us this week. I'm Bob, and I am here with Greg. Hey, hey, hey. With John. Hey, how you doing? And with Alicia.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Hello.

SPEAKER_04 1:34

Hiya guys. It's good to see you. On this week's episode's friends, an interview I've been looking forward to for weeks. The legendary Jim Ryan. Now, if you're if you're young, go ahead and Google him. Okay. Check out YouTube videos. Jim Ryan, 1968 Olympics. Jim Ryan, 1500 meter record holder. Jim Ryan, first high schooler to run a four-minute mile. No. No more. Gotta wait for the interview. It was a fun one. But he's with us this week. In our spotlight, we feature, since it's uh getting close to Earth Day, we feature an organization that does some good stuff with your used running shoes. The group's called Sneakers for Good. And Steve is here with us to tell us more about their organization.

SPEAKER_05 2:29

If you enjoy the Rise and Run Podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. If you 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, Rise and RunPodcast.com. If you have a question, comment, race report, or want to introduce an upcoming episode, call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

We also want to thank our patrons whose support helps keep the Rise Around Podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join the Patreon team, please check out patreon.com slash rise around podcast.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

The Rise and Run Podcast is sponsored by our wonderfully glorious friends over at Magic Bound Travel. And um, we're in April now. I know we're getting close to the unofficial start of summer. Uh, but you know, if you haven't planned that summer vacation yet, boy, does Walt Disney World got some deals right now? Uh, if you're a Disney Plus subscriber, apparently there are some deals out there that you can get rooms at the All-Stars for almost like a hundred dollars a night, roughly. Uh, and then they also introduced uh this new ticket, which is like the perfect ticket for me because I get harassed endlessly on Hollerhype because I always start my runs way too late compared to everybody else in the running world because I like to sleep in. And apparently Disney is targeting me in this ticket offer because they're offering tickets that start after 2 p.m. Yeah. Now, what is that nothing better than being able to sleep in, have a leisurely morning, and then go to the park. So if you're a night owl like me and you're interested in going down to Walt Disney World this summer and getting that special ticket offer, be sure to visit magicboundtravel.com to speak with an agent to get a free, no obligation quote. And again, that website is magicboundtravel.com. Sounds good.

Training Plan And Key Announcements

SPEAKER_04 4:39

Thanks, Greg. Let us look at the training schedule and friends. This is the last time we're gonna do this for a while. Boo-hoo. Uh, springtime surprise. Here's the good news springtime surprise is one week away. Time to get packing, time to get on down there. Training week 17. Four miles. You've done all the hard work, you got four miles, and then we will see you for race weekend. Um, that's it for the training schedule. A couple of announcements. We've talked about it before. There will be a race weekend, a race run for in celebration of the life of Jeff Galloway. Jeff's run is going to be in Atlanta on April 25th. There is a link for the sign-up. I hope that will I'll be there. I hope that I'll see some of you there. Our springtime surprise meetup, let's not forget that. That's going to be coming up on Saturday of race weekend. Not this Saturday, but the next Saturday, at the food truck area at Disney Springs. If you don't know where that is, find that big old balloon, face it. Hopefully, you're not treading water when you face it. So if you're on land and you're facing that big old balloon, turn to your left. There's a Starbucks there. Keep walking. The food trucks area is behind that. We genuinely, we we love those meetups, and we genuinely hope to see you there. Folks, I love to say it. Folks who come to our meetups, come back to our meetups. Uh, Zoom, Zoom meeting this Thursday. We missed one last week, but we're catching up. So the last Zoom before springtime surprise will be this Thursday. Instructions for login are on the Facebook group page.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

And Bob, if I can interject just real quick here, speaking of Zoom, for those of you going on the inaugural rise and run cruise, our final Zoom in preparation for that trip that is taking place this Sunday, April 12th at uh 8 p.m. Eastern. So uh if you have any final questions that you would like Magic Bound to be able to answer for you, uh be sure to hop onto that Zoom call and we'll be sure to get that link uh posted to the cruise uh Facebook page, and uh we'll make sure Magic Bound can get it blasted out as well.

Virtual Runs Selling Out Fast

SPEAKER_04 7:13

Yeah, what because while you were talking, I was thinking, no, no, it's not gonna be a zoom if I don't post the daggum link. So I did create one. I I did, and I will post that. It'll be up by the time you hear this podcast. Let us see, gang. Hey, you know what happened today? Uh no, I didn't participate in it, and I don't think any of the rest of us did, but today was registration day for the summer virtual run. Now apparently that went pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_05 7:49

Quickly's not the word, Bob. What word would you use, John? Uh Jim Ryan fast. So the go to distance 5k sold out in 30 minutes. Holy cow. The Couz Gatopia 5K, 33 minutes, just around the riverbend 5k 31 minutes, and the extremely goofy challenge four hours and 38 minutes. Last year, the pirates won went 42 minutes, the jungle cruise 55, Thunder Mountain, an hour and 14 minutes, and the challenge 21 days.

SPEAKER_04 8:33

Three weeks, yeah. Wow. So they went quick. It's like everything else in the Run Disney World, it's just getting faster and faster.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

I mean, my my post-game analysis on this one is obviously number one, there's still a market for it, and yeah, you know, that's that's awesome for you know those that want to participate, or you know, like we mentioned last week, if you can't get to an in-person race weekend, this is you know an awesome entry point for it. So um, you know, it goes to show that the product has legs. The second thing that I would say is that this goes to show that while I you know compared this virtual theme to that of spaghetti getting thrown up against the wall, obviously they are intellectual properties that people are interested in. So I think to me, if I were Run Disney, I would be taking that data and figuring out ways that maybe in the future of in-person race weekends, you know, let's get a Cusco, let's get Pocahontas into Princess Weekend, you know, figure out a way to maybe reincorporate uh you know Hercules into a weekend because I mean think about it. It took how long for a song that is all about going the distance that it took until last year's springtime surprise for us to finally get Hercules and then it was the the pain and panic at the Halloween uh last year, too. So obviously it took way too long. So, you know, hopefully they'll take that data and and consider it. Now, obviously, the day after we recorded though last week, for the number of people that sent me the Run Disney post about how there was a goofy movie themed challenge, about the same number of people, if not more, uh then sent me the post that Run Disney put up last Wednesday about the power line logo being on the back of the challenge metal. So as of right now, I'm still gonna let my comments stand. Now, I don't know if that metal is going to open, you know, if there's any like a movement piece to it by any means. It looks like there's a hinge on it, but I'm not 100% sure. So I'm still sticking with my comments because at least from the information that we have as of this moment, sure, power line's on there, but if you're just putting a P on the back of the metal, that's not good enough in my mind. So, but that that is uh my continuing uh saga in terms of uh this virtual race weekend.

SPEAKER_04 11:14

But here's the question, and none of us can answer it. How can you sell out of a virtual race? I agree, yeah. Buy more metals, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

I mean, obviously, there's there's production time involved with this, but I mean, look at us, Bob. We just made medals for the crews, and that process didn't take overly too long.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

So, but no, we we stretch we we stretched it out a little bit, it was our fault, but uh if we had been as quick as we wanted, it would have been three weeks. Yeah, yeah. Now no now our medals are nowhere like Disney. No, absolutely not now. But yeah. And if we didn't order enough, we'll order more.

SPEAKER_05 11:56

Something else we talked about too before like like with the uh the main races selling out again, like quickly, also. Yeah, they are that that that virtual uh those old virtual races for the uh race weekends would be great to bring back too. You know, because I mean you can't make the real race, you want the metal. Yeah, now you got a chance to get it.

SPEAKER_04 12:19

Yep, I agree. Well, look, uh friends, if you wanted to do it, I sure hope you got in. If you didn't get in, I would wait and see if it doesn't open again. I would be surprised. So pay attention. I think the virtuals probably will open back up, but I have no inside information. I'm just guessing.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

Early Struggles And Four-Minute Mile

SPEAKER_04 12:45

All right, listen up here, my young friends. Our guest this week is somebody uh very special. Jim Ryan's a true legend in our sport. In my high school and college days, he was amongst the most famous athletes in the world. He was the first high schooler to break the four-minute mile. He represented uh the United States on the Olympic team uh three times, 64, 68, and 72. In 64, he was just 17 years old and made that Olympic team. He helped to redefine what was possible in running. Heck, he even took part in uh Walt Disney World's first marathon. We'll talk about his incredible career, his life beyond competitive running, and what continues to inspire him today. But Jim Ryan, welcome to the Rise and Run Podcast. Bob, it's a pleasure to be with you. Thank you so much for joining us. Uh I got a question we ask almost all of our guests to start out. How did you get started in running?

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I couldn't do anything else. I tried everything else. I tried baseball, you know, when you cut from the church baseball team, that's a pretty good indication you don't have a lot of future there. Uh, I did stay out for the track and field team in junior high for a little while, but I never made the team. And then uh by invitation with the junior high basketball coach, because I was tall I went out for the team. And this in itself is a story because after the first practice, he asked me to meet him in his office, and I thought, wow, I've been discovered. You know, my dad's all over the garage, and I'm sure you can tell where this is going. So as I sat down with him, he said, Now, Jim, you know, do you notice there's a difference in the way you play basketball and the way the other boys play? And I said, Well, sure, coach, by the time I get to high school, my basketball game will be just great. And he said, That's true. You can go hang a single in the door, that's it for you, you're done. And that was that was tough. But you know what, Bob? Let me say this. I thank you. I thank God for that coach. And I thank God for coaches who say, Okay, this isn't where you belong. You've got some other talents. Let's go find them. And that really made a big difference in my life. And I think it's very important for young people not to be discouraged when that happens, but recognize someone loves them enough to say, There's another place for you. Nice.

SPEAKER_04 14:59

Now we talked about it in the introduction. Amazing accomplishment in high school. You break the four-minute mile. I that's another one of those things, the mile run isn't it's still run, but not very much anymore. It's it's not an Olympic event. It's but it was a magical deal. Uh, I remember reading about Roger, Roger Bannister, uh 54, I think, was the 1954, May of 54. Yeah, the first human at the time, there were medical doctors saying, Oh, you can't do this, your heart will explode. And yet he did it. And then you do it in high school. Did you understand at that time how historic that was?

SPEAKER_00 15:41

No, not completely, because you you have to understand that my family wasn't sports-minded. So, with that in mind, uh, as Coach Timmins began grooming me, if you will, uh, to get ready to try and be the first high school boy to run into four minutes, I thought, well, okay, that's great. Sounds like a nice thing to accomplish. And it was really his goal. I did adopt it, but I had no appreciation at the beginning, especially what that meant. But the more I studied and the more I realized what Dr. Bannister had done by the time I got ready for June of 1964, and the real first serious attempt to run into four minutes, I had an appreciation for it. And when it happened that night, it transformed my life forever because uh it was my coach's goal. And that night I I adopted the goal of whatever. I mean, I realized that if I took more ownership of my life in the sense of perhaps maybe a little bit more sleeping, better eating, lifting weights, that perhaps I could run even faster. And so the ownership aspect of it is a big factor that we talk about in our Jim Ryan running camps, and it's one of those things that you you know the coach can only take you so far, but you as the athlete have to take ownership and decide from there where you're gonna go.

Olympics And Racing At Altitude

SPEAKER_04 16:48

Again, you're just a little older than I am. So I'm in high school, as I said earlier, you're you're amongst the most famous athletes in the world. Olympics at 17. What are some of your core memories from those days in the late 60s, early 70s?

SPEAKER_00 17:03

You'll get it. I hope you'll get a chuckle out of this because I still do. Uh, I was such a rookie that when I made the team, I didn't fully understand what that meant. When I went to my first Olympic, I thought, wow, you know, they hold these every four years. Maybe I can come back again and try four more years later. I mean, it was it was amazing. It was an adventure that began because of a coach who believed I could do something. God gave me some wonderful talent, but I was in no way prepared for what was going to happen, and not only in that Olympics, but the days ahead, because it came so fast. I mean, I my first time mile was 538. At the end of my first year, I ran 407, and after that, 359. So it was an amazing progression. As one of my sons lovingly said, Dad, you were a freak. I mean, it was what we did in workouts were just crazy, but they they were successful. And again, God gave me this wonderful coach who was a Marine during World War II, had great expectations, and he was able to transfer those expectations to each of his athletes where they could uh take the talents they had and develop them and and have wonderful achievements in their lives. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Three Olympic appearances, silver medal in the 1500 and 68 in Mexico City, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yes, that's correct.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

Yeah. Well, I'm off script here now. What was Mexico City like with the with the thin air? How how challenging was that?

SPEAKER_00 18:24

It was miserable. We started three years before, once we started realizing what athletes or what altitude was going to be, training and trying to do what we could prepare for it by in the summers going up to a lonely place in Colorado called Alamos, Colorado, which is almost the exact same altitude as Mexico City. And we'd train and we'd race on the track and we'd run the sand dunes. By the way, it's in a unique area with the sand dunes. You go at about 7,500 feet, run up to maybe 8,000 feet in the sand that you can't believe that God just dropped in the middle of Colorado. But we were doing everything we could to prepare, and what we realized later on was there's only one way to really prepare for altitude, and that is to be born there because it takes 25 years for the body to really adjust. So it was a it was a very difficult Olympics giving those that were altitude living athletes an enormous advantage. If you look at the results, you'll see that. But I am honored though to have a silver medal. It represents it's the same size as a gold medal, but just has a different flavor to it. But uh, it was an honor. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

Absolutely. I remember the well, I'm I'd be lying if I say I remembered the race. Uh, I remember, you know what I remember at the 68 Olympics? Bob Beaman's broad jump. Oh, yes, oh yes, record has stood for forever.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

And that's that's that's where altitude helps them because you have a little thinner air, you can jump in the altitude to help those that were sprinters, had a little less resistance from the wind. And so, you know, in that in those cases, those events were helped by the thin air. They were.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

And and once again, friends, if you don't know what I'm talking about, uh Bob Beaman broke the broad jump record by nearly two feet. And I remember they had back in the days, they had a little thing that ran across a rail, and you would sight it, and it fell off. Because it went too far, it fell off. And nobody could believe that it actually happened, but it did. Yeah, it sure did. Um Hey, how do you think the Olympics uh shaped you as an athlete and a person?

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Well, they shaped me in a lot of different ways. I mean, I had the opportunity as a result of the Olympics to compete against the best in the world and to represent this marvelous country, the United States. We always carried uh, you know, ourselves with great honor and dignity because we knew we were representing people back home who had made sacrifices for us that we could go and compete. And it was such a thrill and such an honor uh that in that respect it shaped and molded you to appreciate your country. It was a great honor to represent uh three different Olympics. Actually, Tokyo was my favorite Olympics because it was my first Olympics, and there's some experiences from that I could share with you, but it's one of those Olympics that you know was not really, it was the last untelevised Olympics. 68 was televised by ABC Sports. Uh, if you wanted to watch the Olympics in 1964, you got up at 2 a.m. in the morning and maybe you could find something somewhere. But 68 began the real opening up of the Olympics with television and continued on from there. Sure did.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

Of course, we remember 72, but not always for great reasons. 72 in Munich. Yeah, it was more.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah, it really was.

Tokyo Kindness And Olympic Culture

SPEAKER_04 21:26

Yeah. All right, so we we talked a little bit about 68 and 6 72, but uh 64 is a teenager in Tokyo. Any memories from that one?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Oh, some very special ones. And one of them was as the Olympics wound down, uh, I found myself going downtown because I was encouraged by some of the other athletes to go to the one of the Tokyo banks, and you could purchase these small commemorative coins that were gold, silver, and bronze. And I thought, okay, that'll be a nice souvenir. So I went down to the bank and moved my finally worked my way up to the telephone. Window and I said, I'd like to purchase the coin. She said, Well, you need two identifications. One that you're a U.S. athlete and your passport. And I had my uh athlete's identification, but I didn't have my passport at that point, didn't need it. And she said, Well, just a minute. So she came back a couple minutes later and she said, Go back to the village, which meant a train ride about 45 minutes one way and 45 minutes back, uh, and come back to the back of the bank and we'll sell you the coins then. And I thought, oh man, I'm 17. I'm pretty much maybe a sucker on this one because the bank closed by then. So I went to the village, got my passport, came back, banged on the back door of the bank, and nothing happened. I thought, well, you know, I'm I'm 17, and that's that's it. So I banged one more time and the door opened. And it was the teller, and she led me into the president of the bank, had me sit down with him. We had a little discussion, he sold me the coins, and then went back with this marvelous memory. And the thing that I took away from that is that the Japanese people wanted the rest of the world to see that they were very peaceful, very loving. And this was an example. They went out of their way to help this young 17-year-old purchase some commemorative coins. And to me, that's one of those moments in time that is captured and you know forever will be a part of my memory. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

It's easy to for it's easy to forget that at that time we're less than 20 years after the end of World War II.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

And a second one that goes with that is after we were all finished, the government of Japan realized that uh most of the athletes hadn't really seen any of Japan or very much of Tokyo at all. So they arranged the day after the final ceremony before everybody started going back for I don't know how many buses, maybe 50 buses, to pull up in the Olympic village. They loaded up the Olympic athletes and they took us on a tour through Tokyo and all the way, you know, out towards Mount Fuji. And what they did is they arranged along the way for the public to know where we were. So they were waving flags and, you know, we're opening the window and popping buttons off our jackets and tossing them out as souvenirs. And so it's a very rich memory for all of us that were there. And again, it's the last pure Olympics before you get into television and all the big money that went with it.

First Walt Disney World Marathon

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Fantastic hearing about your Olympic journey and um the three Olympics that you were at. Something that's really near and dear to our heart is Run Disney, and we wanted to have a chance to talk to you about your experience at running the first Walt Disney World marathon. What do you remember most vividly about that day?

SPEAKER_00 24:21

Well, that I I'm not a marathoner. So, you know, I ran some of the race uh at some of our daughters, and we enjoyed it. It was a great experience, but I wasn't really I'm not a I'm not a marathoner. In fact, my longest training run was 20 miles, and that was an effort to do. I would like to have run a full marathon sometime, but I didn't get to do that. But Disney always does such a great job with that event. In fact, uh one of the organizers, he and his wife are some of our best friends, the Hughes, they make everything happen. But uh, so I actually used uh some of the methods that uh Jeff Galloway used in terms of running, you run run for some and then walk a little bit. And that was my experience along the way with our daughters, Catherine and Heather. And we get they through the part of the marathon they wanted to run, and I ran with them different sections, and it was quite an experience again with everything along the way through the theme parks, and it will always be a memory. Did you do any others after that, Jim? No, and I I you know to be honest with you, a mylar has a tough time going that long distance. I get it. Yeah, I'm on the speed side, so I could run a 46-9 quarter, but I couldn't run it. I mean, it was really competitive. Yeah, I get it. But it was it was a rich experience, and it's one of those that continues on. I know it's that races continue to grow and views and all that they're doing, and it's been magnificent to see how it's continued to develop.

SPEAKER_05 25:42

All that said about Run Disney, what's your perspective on the role events like Run Disney races play in bringing new people into the sport of running?

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Well, it's it they show it as not only an adventure, but they also give in the exhibition the opportunity for them to pick up some tips about how to run, how to train some of the pitfalls that they that can happen if you try and do too much too fast, and if you don't have the right equipment, like the right shoes, all those things can contribute to a bad experience. But if you have you listen to the wisdom of those that are there and follow that, you'll have a good experience with it. And that's that's the benefit, one of the benefits of the exhibits that they have at Disney, run Disney and other uh exhibits as well, because you know, runners, a lot of them are experimenting and trying to figure out how to how do you do this thing called running, and it's more than just going out and running 100 yards, it's a matter of running carefully and making sure you have the right footwear so you don't pick up shining plants or fatigue fractures that cause a lot of injuries.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

I love looking at our Run Disney family. I love it looking at the diversity of ages and the women, men, people that don't look like runners, and yet we get out there and we do it, and I think it's it's brought a lot to uh I think it's done a lot to impact the health in a positive way of the people who participate.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Oh, I do too, and I think that's one of the benefits. I'm gonna really date myself here, Bob. I'm going way back to the 1960s when then President Kennedy started the 50 mile run and walks. And so my first cross-country season uh was when that all started, and so I talked my father into taking two of us, my one of my teammates and my down into uh southeastern part of the state, Arkansas City, and we did the 50-mile run walk back. And uh that was that was kind of the beginning for me to be thinking ultra distance. Uh I won that, I actually won a set of barbells. It wasn't fast, but I got through it all. We ran the first 10 miles and then ran and walked the rest of the way, and it was uh it was quite an experience. But all of that's been beneficial in terms of helping highlight the people that exercise is really good for them.

Retirement Transition And Serving In Congress

SPEAKER_04 27:49

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So when your competitive running career comes to an end, what was the hardest part of that transition?

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Oh, I think getting used to not having that physical exertion. Uh, I mean, I raced until I was in my 50s and still continued into the 60s, competitively in the 50s, uh, went from the track to road racing. And so your body gets to the point where it's accustomed to working out hard and you know, sweating, and it's all good for health. But at the same time, when you finally get to the point uh that you can't do all of that, there's an adjustment to make. And I'm grateful for that because now I have more time to spend with my family and with our grandchildren, with our children. And, you know, that's a gift God's given uh to us as a family for Anime. I have the rich time with our grandchildren and children playing with them and doing things that, you know, if you're spending all your time running, you don't have that. And I'm grateful for the running time, but I'm also grateful for this more downtime that allows me to play and talk and read Bible stories to them and pray with them and get to know them in a very special way. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 28:51

You went to Serving Congress. What inspired the path and how that how did your athletic background influence your approach to leadership?

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Well, one of the things that interested me in the political arena goes back to my high school days when I was representing the United States uh against the Russian team. And, you know, we've competed against the old Soviet Union, and then we competed against the Polish team. And I would come back to this country with a great appreciation for what it was to be a free country. And I'd almost get down on the ground after we got home and kissed the ground, thank America, and have a milkshake. But at one point I thought, you know, there's such a vast difference uh with a communist lifestyle and the liberties that we have in this country. Maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to help represent the state of Kansas and uh, you know, carry the interests of the people of Kansas back to Washington. That happened in 1996 when the seat uh 2nd District of Kansas became available. I ran for that by the grace of God and with the support of my family and wonderful people in Kansas. I won my first time around. And it was an enormous pleasure to serve five terms and 10 years and to be able to carry the interests of the Kansas back to D.C. and then take the what was going on in Washington back to Kansas so they could understand what you know what they were what was going on in DC. Well, along the way, I might say this, it was instrumental, is on the river on one of my last uh events before actually running for office, or as I was getting ready to run for office, Congressman T Hart on the uh river in Wichita challenged me. His chief of staff did said, why don't you run for office for the second district? And I'd I realized the seat had just become available. And then with some quick uh looking at the map, I realized that I was in that district, which is not necessarily have to be that way, but it was pretty important, and I was in the district. And so Congressman T Hart and his chief of staff are very instrumental in making that happen.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

All right, Jim, are there any lessons from competitive running that carry directly into your work in public service?

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Oh, absolutely. If I can share this with you, one of the things that we emphasize in our Jim Ryan running camps, and you can go to the website, Ryan R Y-U-N running.com, is that the characteristics, the goal setting, the character development, the discipline, all of those things transfer in terms of your personal life, to your Christian life, to your business life. And I know that, for example, uh for me, running for office was uh first time I had never run for office, but I'd help other people. Goal setting, having to set small goals and seeing those realized was very instrumental in terms of having success. My first time for office. So we emphasize that in our camps that you know, while someday you're not going to be running, you can take those same values and transfer them into a business life or your Christian life or anything and help yourself along the way have a better experience as a result of having had those challenges when you were young.

Running Camps Sleep Food Discipline

SPEAKER_04 31:40

Jim, since you're since you're talking about it here, let's talk about what uh your involvement is in the running community today. And specifically, you've alluded to it a couple of times. Tell us more about the Jim Ryan running camp.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

In 1975, just before that, my wife and I became Christians. And we realized that what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives was to share this value with young runners, at the same time, giving the most running experience they could possibly have. So 1975 was the beginning of the Jim Ryan running camps. Last year was number 50. Wow. And what we do in the camps is we teach them not only to run, what to eat, how to sleep. Uh we put it in a Christian value uh chaplain, we have that along the way. But it it all began with that vision of trying to help young people who are interested in running and want to have uh Christian values along the way. And so, you know, we've had camps all over the country. We start, usually we have one on the West Coast, one in the Midwest, and on the East Coast. And then when COVID came along, we limited it just two that an hour in Colorado. So they can go to our website, RyanRunning.com. And uh we have it's the middle of July, just roughly July 11 to 24, the two one-week camps at Carist College in Carter Springs. And we have scholarships. In fact, if you have seven athletes that come, the coach comes for you. So we make it everything, make it all possible to get them there, and we bring in some of the best coaches to work with them. I'm there the whole time. My wife Ann gives a fabulous uh talk on diet, and along the way, those are all some of the things that are important because running is more than running, it's a matter of learning how to run correctly with good style, making sure you get the proper rest. In fact, one of the things that we have in camp, it's kind of funny because when we start out the first day, they'll look at the schedule and they'll see on there as they look through the daily part of it. There's a part in the afternoon called FOB. And of course, the question is, what's that? Well, it's flat on your back. And of course, their first response is I came to camp to run, and they do. But by the time we get the second day, they're asking for more FOB because we start at six o'clock in the morning, go to 10 o'clock at night. Oh, wow. Very active camp. And rest is critical. If you don't get the sleep, you won't have the performance that you want. Who goes to these camps? High schoolers or high schoolers, uh 13 and up. Uh, we we have a lot of different ages that come. Coaches come, we have families that have come. Primarily it's 13 to 18, but uh, we don't have an age limit. In fact, we've had some of the older campers that have come who found that they thought they might be misplaced, but what happens is the younger campers embrace them. And so if we're doing a workout, they might wait a little bit and encourage them to come in and then they'll go ahead and complete the workout. So it's it's a camaraderie, a bonding that uh lasts the the rest of their lives. In fact, most of the campers, many of them come three or four or five or six times because they're they knew each time and there's a very special atmosphere in camp. We limit the camps to 100 each. So if interested listeners should sign up as soon as possible, because we do fill up. And the reason for that is we want individual attention with the runners to give them the best coaching along the way.

SPEAKER_05 34:32

Talking about your camp and all the things you do there, most of our friends are middle-of-the-pack runners, back to the pack runners. What advice would you give someone just to try and improve and stay consistent?

SPEAKER_00 34:44

I think one of the most important things is to be patient. Patient and your expectations as to how fast you're going to run and the kind of improvements you're going to have. I I use as a rule of thumb that every two weeks, if you want to increase maybe your mileage by 10%, that's more than enough. But don't hurry because one of the problems that a lot of young runners get into, they they start running and they feel really good about it, it's going well. And then they add on too much and they pick up some what I call dumb injuries, like a fatigue fracture, stress fracture, something that lasts a long time and it's challenging to get over. So don't be in a hurry and look to others to learn from them. So when you say middle of the pack, we have runners that come from all talent levels of camps. Some will go back and they'll make their team and letter and get a letter jacket in school. Some of them will just go back and you know, participate in the sport of running cross-country or track. Uh, but they have the same experience, learning along the way how to do it, how to run, you know, let's say an interval workout or how to run stress record fatigue workouts, how to run a far flick, all of those things doing it the right way, then you end up with uh the experience that will allow you to gradually grow and become faster.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Jim, how would you say runners can stay motivated when they're not chasing these records or personal goals?

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Well, I always found that one of the things that helped me, it's almost, I'm almost going to contradict you a little bit there, is you have some goals along the way that aren't necessarily high-end goals, but allow you to continue to keep motivated in the off-season. Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going. And perhaps with the understanding that in the off-season, that becomes one of the critical times for you to really gain strength and experience and become faster or stronger or injury-free. Uh, one of the things that we talk about in camp is if you're a track runner, you need to have cross-country because that gives you the background for track. And if you're a cross-country runner, you want track and fuel during the spring because it gives you something to help continue to build on what you learned during the fall during cross-country. So running with other people, having a coach that understands, you know, how to train and what will be best for you. One of the things we emphasize is that while there are guidelines for everybody in terms of a workout, they need to be individualized so that you will have what's needed to get to again progress and and grow and get faster and stay healthy along the way.

SPEAKER_03 37:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 37:05

Is is there a mistake that you see recreational runners making over and over for yeah, too much, trying to do too much too fast.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

You know, it's one of those things that uh you know you find that it just seems so easy not to do that because but there's a certain excitement and enthusiasm when you see something you've never done before, all of a sudden it's happening before you and go, wow, this is great fun. Well, you want it to be that way. In fact, I encourage people before they run a long distance like a marathon, run some 5Ks and 10Ks and maybe a half marathon. If you're a miler, do some 5Ks in the offseason, but take your time, allow yourself to develop. One of the nice things about running is it's a lifestyle that you can do forever. And what you're learning as a high schooler and as a young person is it'll last you forever, especially if you continue to enjoy it. And that's one of the things that we do in our camp. We have the head coach from uh Tabor College, uh Aaron Yoder, who comes and he's one of those guys that's a great motivator. Uh, but he'll be working with them, talking about how to train. In fact, one of the things he's he's got a unique experience, and that is he has had some knee trouble. So he's perfected backwards running and he's become the world record holder in recto running. Uh so he's in the Guinness Book World Records, uh, Aaron Yoder, and but he's such a great motivator when it comes to camp. He'll show the young runners how to run backwards, but he'll give them all the tips along the way in terms of how to be a better runner because he's the head coach at Tabor College in Kansas. Jim, do you do you still run? Uh I don't know. I'm walking, cycling, stationary bike, uh biking. You know, as you know, down here in Florida, you get good weather most of the time. Today was a rough day. It got only got up to about 60 degrees, you know.

Faith Legacy And Meeting Ann

SPEAKER_05 38:45

I got a jacket on. When people hear the name Jim Ryan, what do you hope they think of?

SPEAKER_00 38:52

Well, that's an interesting question. And it's one that I hope what they'll think of is that uh he's a fine Christian man who lived his life in such a way that uh who they met was who they really thought they would meet. And so I guess what I'm trying to say is it's an opportunity to serve. And I know one of the reasons I ran for Congress, and it kind of became an interesting story, is that when I first started running, I had a couple of reporters that came up to me, knowing I was a Christian, and that I signed my autographs, Go of God, My Name, and then I put on there a Bible verse, John 3, verses 3 to 8. And it was because that was my lifestyle. I want them to see what has helped me along the way. The Lord has helped me with some great talent. And so she said, Well, you know, if you do that, religion and politics don't mix. And I said, Well, they do in my case, because if I hadn't become a Christian, I wouldn't want to serve the 2nd District of Kansas, serve the people. Because a lot of times as an athlete, you get a pretty high opinion of yourself on a pedestal. And I know that I would not have been uh age elb eligible to serve, if you will, or wanting to serve if that experience hadn't happened when I became a real believer. So to me, that's one of the things that's important, being able to help serve people, help love them, help them through the trials, at the same time recognize that transparency is a big thing for people to understand who you are.

SPEAKER_03 40:06

So you answered this a little bit about how you would hope that your life has impacted people both in and out of running. You've you mentioned um the impact that you kind of hope outside of running, but with running, how do you hope that it impacts people?

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Well, I'm hoping they can see uh that there's value in having good coaching uh along the way, establishing goals, realistic goals, knowing that sometimes you won't achieve those goals, but going back and reevaluating them and looking to the future, helping others with the experiences you have that will help them hopefully become a better runner, avoiding some of the pitfalls. See, one of the things that in the Jim Ryan running camps were able to offer is that, for example, when I first started running, I didn't know anything about it. In fact, I remember one of my very first running workouts was leaving my house, going to a golf course in the snow, thinking, you know, I'm gonna run in the snow here. I'm a hot dog, and oh boy, this is gonna be fun. So what I did is uh silly, I wrote my I actually wrapped my feet in rainbow plastic wrappers, thinking I don't want my feet to get wet. Well, you know, I mean, when you're running in the snow, everything gets wet. When I got home, my feet were all sweaty. But that's the experience I had. I didn't have any of those things learning how to run, what kind of how to run pace. And that's what we offer through the 51 years that we've done camps is give them the learning that they can have is they don't have to go back and buy trial and error, but they can be given something along the way that will give you uh a better help along the way. So I've had some good friends along the way, Conrad Nightingale from Kansas State University, George Young from Arizona, all were a great help to me in terms of inspiration and training with. And so that's one of the things we talked about a little earlier. Finding a training partner, whatever level of training and racing you have, and it'll make it that just much more enjoyable.

SPEAKER_04 41:55

Yeah, it does. It does makes the miles go faster. Oh yes. All right. Is there anything people don't ask you that you wish they would?

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Oh wow. That's a tough one. You know, I tell you one thing that I wish they would ask me is about my wife Ann.

SPEAKER_04 42:16

Tell us about your wife Ann, please.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

My wife Ann, we met actually on a blind date, but goes back six months before that, at a race in Berkeley, California, where I had the privilege of setting the world record for an American, the first one in 30 years by two and a half seconds, that that was pretty special. And so when the race is over, since I was the last American uh before, since another Cunningham by another guy from Kansas, Glenn Cunningham, there was a lot of media attention. And so I answered, you know, questions, sign autographs, and about three hours passed, and I'm going to the tent to pick up my gear and everything had been stolen. And uh along the way, this real attractive girl and her brother, and said, Hey, she went to the opposite school, Kansas State University. So I said, Uh-oh, yeah, that's right. I go to Kansas State, she said, uh, I'd like your autograph. And I said, Well, how about later? Well, later came in a blind date, Thanksgiving 1966, and we've been married since 1969. She is a gift to me in so many ways. She's been an inspiration and encourager. She's the first lady of the second district. She helped me through so many things as a result of a congressman uh and and life in general as a runner, and now living as a grandfather uh of 14 grandchildren with our daughter, who, by the way, Catherine, you mentioned earlier, is a foster mother, uh close to an adoption to a little guy named Darion. These are the experiences that add to our lives, and we're so blessed by all of this. She was telling me that earlier.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

I'm glad I asked that question. I'm glad you got a chance to talk about it. That's that's nice. Thank you for doing that.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Yeah. She's the she is the camp mother. She spends a lot of time with the campers answering questions, making phone calls, uh, working with them. And, you know, when they come to camp, sometimes they use that not normally aren't homesick. But she's there to help them. And it's just, it's such an important and integral part of the camps. She's the co-founder. Awesome. Give us that website one more time, please, Jim, for the camp. Ryan Running, R-Y-U-N-Running.com. And I'll encourage people to get on there and look over the site. We have training experiences. We have some of my races with some explanation behind the races. We have the rates and the dates. They come in July of this summer in Carter Springs at Carreta College. Again, if you have seven athletes, a coach comes free. We have discounts. We have scholarships. Our hope is to be able to help the next generation. And that's why we do everything we can to make this available. But make sure you put the the U and the Ryan, R-Y-U-S. That's right, R-Y-U-N, not A.

SPEAKER_04 44:45

That's right. That's right. It's been a pure delight. I've been excited about this for weeks ever since Catherine first wrote to me. And again, oh yeah, please do. Thank you so much. I'll send her a note here in a little bit. Um you said something just a couple minutes ago. You said that you hope that people who meet you meet the person they hoped they were going to meet. It's been a delight.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Oh, you're very kind, but it's been fun doing this show with you guys. It it really has. Let's do it again.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

unknown 45:27

All right.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

Well, we talked about the top of the show, and I'm still trying to process the fact that we are one week away from the end of the 25-26 Run Disney race season. And again, we we talk about this all the time, and a little bit later on, we're gonna get into the excitement of a Run Disney race weekend, especially from the first timers perspective. But this is an interesting weekend because we get really, really sad that the season is coming to an end, but at the same time, though, we have so much fun at this weekend because you know the the distances obviously aren't as strenuous. So so I think it allows you the the best opportunity, I would say, I guess, during the Run Disney calendar to PR and fun, you know, pull our own, you know, inner Britney Charbonne's and and such. Uh, so you know, again, even though it can be slightly melancholy, I always get really, really excited for uh for springtime.

SPEAKER_04 46:26

So melancholy is exactly the word I was going to use, Craig. You nailed it.

Expo Strategy Bibs Shirts Merch

SPEAKER_02 46:32

But before we can get into a race weekend, we need to know the logistics of that race weekend, and no better way to do that than to do a patented condensed version, I'll albeit uh version of the Run Disney Springtime Surprise event guide. So we have all the major events laid out, and we are going to go through those right now, and we are going to start at the expo, and Bob is gonna give us all those details.

SPEAKER_04 47:02

So here's what you do you drive over to here's what I do. I drive over to Orlando, I grab lunch, and I go to the expo. Hey, friends, if you're doing this, if you're doing this for the first time, this is exciting. It's an exciting weekend. It's going to start at the expo. Here's what to expect. Drive, expect it if you go early, expect it to be crowded. The crowds of Springtime Surprise are a little lighter than they are other weekends, but it's going to be crowded. So be prepared for that. Lines will be long, but they'll move. The expo's going to start on Thursday. It's going to start at 10 a.m. unless you're a Run Disney Club member, and then you got rules that I don't even know about. You've got things going on ahead of time, and you just wave at me as you're leaving, okay? So what you're going to do, Thursday is going to open at 10. As I said, it's going to close at 7. Friday is going to open at noon, close at 7. Saturday, the expo is going to open at 11, close at 3. You're going to have to do two things at the expo. You're going to have to pick up your bib, that's in one building at the top of the hill. Then you're going to need to pick up your shirts, that's in another building, where they have what we refer to as the vendor expo. Third building is where they have the Run Disney merchandise for the week. The weekend themed shirts and other items that are there, hats and mugs and cups and all that good stuff. On Thursday, there's a virtual queue for that. Get into it through your My Disney Experience app. That's also where you're going to if you're interested in the Run Disney Brooks shoes. And we're expecting two new shoes for the weekend, but and this is the way it's been every race this year. We haven't seen them yet. Anyone have guesses of what we think they could be? Um I'm thinking Zootopia for at least one of them. I don't know which characters, but I'm I'm thinking Tigger and Pooh.

SPEAKER_05 49:18

I agree with you, John.

SPEAKER_04 49:19

I think it's gonna be Tigger and Pooh, yeah. Okay. Regardless. Uh that's that's how you get into that on Thursday. Now on Friday and Saturday, you'll be able to just walk into the building. That doesn't mean there won't be lines, but that's how you get in. The the queues will open at 8:30 and at 1 o'clock on Thursday. You only join once. You have to be basically you have to be within a radius of like the Orlando airport distance to Disney World. I think they call it 40 miles. I don't know specifically what it is. Uh but that's what you do there. Now, with the Brooks shoes, when you go in, you can try on the generic Brooks shoes and fill out your form. It's a pretty easy process. You'll figure it out. I hope the lines aren't like what they were at Princess Weekend. My goodness, the lines were long for the Brooks shoes. Even even later in the weekend. If you're buying the Brooks shoes, no discounts, no annual pass, no DBC. They are typically 160 to 175, I think, for those shoes. Now you're going to get an expo check-in pass. That's going to come sometime on Monday. Usually come a little before lunchtime. So you'll get that in your email. You get an expo check-in pass. You'll want that when you go to get your bib. If for some reason you don't get it, it's not you, it's not a fate worse than death. You can figure it out. You can get things assigned while you're there. But get have your expo pass ready. That'll help you out. Also, go to your My Disney Experience account and make sure your waivers are signed electronically again. If you forget, you can do one there. Remember the good old days when we had to print them out and take them with us in paper form?

SPEAKER_03 51:24

Yes, and one time at Disneyland I forgot mine and I had walked all the way over there and I was like, no.

SPEAKER_11 51:30

I always did it. It was okay.

SPEAKER_04 51:32

I always did it. I did it at least twice. At least twice, maybe three times. I'd bring it with me. I'd remember, I'd put it in the car, I'd park, and I'd go happily into and I had left my waiver in the car. But we don't do that anymore. Those waivers, uh not waivers, but yeah, the waivers are signed electronically, and the expo pass is on your phone. So head to the expo. Hey, looking for I we always look for one another there. We always look for our friends at the expo. It's a great way to gather and have fun. And uh I also, hey, I know Jeff's gone, sadly. It it still hurts, but uh I'll see. I'll be at the I'll be at the Jeff Galloway booth. There'll still be a Jeff Galloway booth there. Our good friend Chris Twiggs will be there, I know, for most of the time. The pacers will be there. And that's another thing, friends. If you're new to these Disney distances, say you've never done a 10-mile before, you want to control yourself, you don't want to go out too fast, get with a pace group. Absolutely. Yeah. You'll enjoy it. You'll enjoy it. Help you enjoy the weekend.

SPEAKER_02 52:43

Anyway. When is everybody going to the expo for this particular weekend?

SPEAKER_05 52:48

I'll be there Saturday, actually.

SPEAKER_02 52:50

Ooh, don't John coming in late.

SPEAKER_05 52:52

Okay. Coming in, coming in hot and late. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:55

I don't have to go the first day because I'm only, I'm using your quotes, only doing the 10 miler, but I I'll be there the first day.

SPEAKER_02 53:05

Oh, the there's something about the camaraderie, and you know, that's the opportunity to see the most friends and pound pineapple ciders with everyone. You know, it's it's a grand and glorious time.

SPEAKER_04 53:16

I'll be a little on the late side. I will uh drive over there as I started to joke around in the beginning. Uh, we'll leave here probably nine o'clock in the morning. I will have bre uh uh lunch. I'll have lunch somewhere, probably at Disney Springs, and then head over to the expo around 12:30 or one o'clock.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

Okay, so you'll see Alicia and Bob on Thursday. You will see me. I will be there middle of the afternoon on Friday, and then uh you can catch John on Saturday morning. So there you go. Regardless of whatever day you go, you have the opportunity to hopefully bump into one of us and you know just share stories and you know get to meet one another and you know just cheer each other on for the entire week and it'll be wonderful.

Course Logistics For 5K To 10-Miler

SPEAKER_04 54:03

So there you you know, the expo, the expo has a reason to go, but we also make it a lot of fun. So we hope to see you there.

SPEAKER_03 54:13

Alrighty, let's move into the actual races. So the first race we have is the 5K, the Zootopia 5K, which we know if you listen to our March Madness, that got, I think, into our top eight movies. So um a great movie. So for the 5K, there will be no Skyliner or Monorail transportation to the races for the entire weekend. Bus transportation from the Disney resorts will begin at 3 a.m. for the 5K. The bus transportation from the family reunion area back to resort after the race will begin at 6.30 a.m. until 8.30 a.m. There are corrals A through F and open at 3.45 for this race. All runners will be on the course by approximately 6.19 a.m. Spectating will only be taking place at the start and finish lines, and the course is the same as last year and the same as the Princess 5K from February, if you did either of those.

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Isn't it kind of crazy that there's only an 11-minute difference between when the last runner starts the race and then when the buses start going back to the resort? Oh, yeah. That always just boggles my mind.

SPEAKER_04 55:27

Oh, but yeah, if you're in a back corral, again, friends who haven't done this before. If you're in a back corral, as you come around from the start, you you take off from the start, you go under the arch and make a right-hand turn, you go by where the buses are. There will be runners already there who have finished the race and wearing their medals. So they'll be waiting for you to go by so the buses can leave 11 minutes later.

SPEAKER_05 55:52

Then we could we get to Saturday. Saturday's the 10K. Bus transportation begins at 3 a.m., just like the prior day. And bus transportation from the family reunion area back to the resort is available from 6 30 a.m. to 9 a.m. So just make sure you get get on that bus. Correls A through F will open at 3 45 a.m. All runners will be on the course by approximately 6 19. Spectating will only officially take place at the start and the finish lines. But you could cheer at the Epcot Resorts, but remember it's a quiet zone. I know in the past, uh you could take an Uber to uh the Swan and Dolphin Hotel and walk up there uh and get on the boardwalk, but it like I said, it's quiet. They will tell you to please be quiet.

SPEAKER_02 56:49

Speaking of which, John, I have Diane's cowbell. So if she is gonna come out and cheer during the uh the 10K, uh she you know maybe can test those limits of the quiet zone with uh with the cowbell.

SPEAKER_05 57:01

I will find out. We'll find out if you if we need the cowbell or not. All right. Uh one less thing to pack for all of us. The course is different from last year, but it's the same course we've been using for the last several weekends, like uh Marathon Weekend and The Princess 10K. It's that course that runs around the uh boardwalk resort area. So it's uh it's it's a pretty uh it's a pretty good course. It's a good course, yeah. Yeah. And this is the uh springtime surprise 10k with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. And remember, pants must be worn. Very good, John. Glad you remembered that. Yes. If you're bonding as Pooh.

SPEAKER_04 57:47

That's good. That's good, John. And Saturday afternoon, pants will also be required at the meetup. At the meetup at the Disney Springs food truck area. Uh, three o'clock is about when we start. Honestly, people get there earlier, and I I appreciate it. Uh Becky and I'll probably get there around 2 45. I don't know. Because we kind of take over the area a little bit at a time. We grab one table, and then as people start to leave, we we grab more tables. We establish a beachhead, and then we move in for the kill. If you can be there at 3 30, we like to take a group photograph at 3.30, and we like as many people there as possible. Meeting lasts as long as you want, meetup lasts as long as you want. Typically, around 4:30 or so, folks start leaving because they have dinner reservations, and by five, we're usually cleared out of there. But we really hope to see you there. It's a whole lot of fun.

SPEAKER_05 58:50

And I don't like I think at Marathon Weekend, when we got there, the beachhead was already established by our listeners. Oh, yeah. Friends will get there. They will. They will. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:01

Now, that being said, going back to what you started off with, Bob, if we want to clear out the area real quick, then come pantsless. And that should just open up every single table that we could possibly need.

SPEAKER_05 59:14

And and a and a lot of uh Orange County Sheriff's Officers and uh basically offering cookies, it will be glorious.

SPEAKER_04 59:23

They'll be all gone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:26

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_04 59:28

We're gonna start making cookies this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 59:30

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_04 59:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:32

All right. So we are at the meetup. We're meeting new friends and visiting with old friends, and this is going to lead us into the last race of the Run Disney season, the inside out themed 10 miler here at springtime. All right, as per all the races for uh the entire weekend, the bus transportation from your Disney resort will begin at 3 a.m. And just another reminder for the entire weekend, there is no skyliner and no monorail access. Your bus transportation from the family reunion area back to your resort will be available from 7:30 a.m. until 10 o'clock. Again, corrals are A through F and again will be opening at 3:45 a.m. This time, all runners will be on the course by approximately 6:30 a.m. As per similar to the 10K, spectating officially only takes place at the start and finish lines, but based on this course, you could also cheer along the boardwalk. But remember, it's a quiet zone. Uh the course is similar yet a little bit different from last year. Uh, and there's some particular reasons that I will highlight now. Uh, the notable changes are this year we are actually not entering Epcot until about almost mile two. Second biggest change is that once we do our the majority of our loop around World Showcase Lagoon and make our way out the international gateway to the Epcot resort area, again, the boardwalk. Uh, Run Disney has thankfully been listening to all of the feedback that we have been saying for years, and they have removed that water table from the international squeezeway on our way to Hollywood Studios, and looks like they're setting it up just in that area by the Atlantic dance hall. Uh, so it's right after we get off the boardwalk, but before we get onto international squeezeway. Obviously, this is early on in the race. It is a tight area. So just everyone pack your patient pants. You will get through it. Um, you know, and I know sometimes it can get tough with the Galloway Pace team and such like that. So again, just be kind to your fellow runner and your fellow walker. Uh, it's not that far of a distance, and you'll be in Hollywood Studios in no time. Next notable change is uh that now I didn't get a chance to experience this, but I know my co-hosts here this week have. Similar to the wine and dying half this past year, due to the uh construction that is currently going on in the animation courtyard section. Once we exit out of Galaxy's Edge and Toy Storyland, instead of hooking that traditional left, we're actually gonna be going right. You're gonna be going down that Pixar-themed breezeway where the old entrance to Toy Story Mania used to be. We'll be going into a backstage area, which will pop us back out where the uh sci-fi dying-in and the ABC Commissary are. And then from there, you'll make your way down Sunset Boulevard uh in order to head towards uh Tower of Terror and exit out of the park. Uh, then for a couple of miles, this is probably what I label as like the slog of this course. You know, we will probably be on the road from about, I would say, mile five and a half to just before mile nine. Uh it will be all road and on-ramps. Obviously, you know, Disney will you know do a great job of putting entertainment out on that course. But once we do make our way back into Epcot, instead of re-entering, usually, you know, lately it's been you know near the um you know imagination bathrooms and such, we're actually going to be entering behind the seas pavilion, and we are going to be sticking exclusively to that side of the park. So it looks like we'll be going by the seas, the land. I don't think we make our way totally up to journey into imagination, but then we will cut through and then loop back through the new whatever they're calling that now, world celebration or whatever.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:07

Next to the wall statue there.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:09

Yes, yeah. So we'll make our way, and then what I do appreciate about the end of this course is that number one, we'll get to do that little loop in front of Spaceship Earth, which you know, depending on the timing that you hit that, usually, if it is still dark out, produces some really, really nice photographs. Uh, so usually they do have a photographer there, so make sure you smile nice and big. Um, and instead of exiting Epcot through that way that I feel like we do for every single race, you know, between Mission Space and Test Track, and then going underneath Guardians, we're actually going out the bubblegum bathroom way in the front of the park, and that will finish off the 10 miler. And that is uh the final race of the weekend. But that's actually not the final event, though.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:00

For this race weekend, we have yoga on Monday. It will take place at Hollywood Studios at 5 a.m. Yoga sessions will last for an hour. Each participant will be given a mat and a carrying strap and a bottle of water. The Hollywood Studios parking lot opens at 4 a.m. Check-in begins at 4 15 a.m. Please be sure to check the event guide and/or the resort transportation board for your bus pickup time, which ranges from 3 30 a.m. to 3 35, as there is only one pickup time per resort. So don't make don't miss it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:42

And then when you're done with yoga, hustle back to your resort, get a shower so we can go on a cruise.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:48

Yeah. Yeah. This is obviously not everyone's doing correct. It's a it's a fun weekend, friends. If you haven't been there, it's there is a bit, Greg used the word melancholy, that's exactly Exactly right. But hopefully we'll be able to see each other, get a chance to in some cases get a chance to say hello for a first time, but in many cases get a chance to say farewell, not goodbye, but farewell for the summer months, and then we'll see you again in October. It's like 11th grade.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:20

You're you're gonna it's like 11th grade, because you know you're it's the last day of school, you know you're gonna see him in a couple of months, and you just can't wait for it. Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:32

Hey, here's here's something I have not announced yet. I want to remind friends the roll call, the springtime surprise roll call is next week. So if you want your name to be on the list that we call off for the the rise and run roll call, uh let's get it on the race report no later than this weekend, no later than Sunday, because we'll be recording on Tuesday. If you need help with that, that's pinned to the feature section of the Facebook group page. It's all the way on the right-hand side if you're on your desktop or laptop. But you can find it in the featured section on your phone also. If you need help, just put your name in the comments and we will try to help you get on there. I do some of it, but uh our friends Rob and now Monica. Monica's been a big help also in getting names onto that race report. So we appreciate that. That'll be one week from today. We'll do the Rise and Run Springtime Surprise Roll Call.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:37

Caution Runners, change of topic ahead.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:41

Oh, friends, you you may know that April, in fact, April 22nd is Earth Day. So, what better time to talk about using resources wisely than an episode in April? So I was contacted by this organization, Sneakers for Good, and a few days later I'm at the Gasparilla Expo, and I see this fellow walking around dressed like a shoe. I said, That's my guy, that's Steve from Sneakers for Good. Steve, how are you doing? Welcome to the Rise and Run Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:15

Hey, Bob, I'm doing excellent. Thanks so much for having me. Yeah, what a great introduction. You know, literally within days of contacting each other, you came right up and said, You are Steve, aren't you? And it's just meant to be. It was funny.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:28

We had set up a meeting, but we hadn't even had it yet. So, yeah, but by the way, where's the sneakers app?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:35

Steve, I'm a little disappointed. You know, I've got it, got it packed with my bags. We've got a busy April of traveling ahead. So we're you're all over, aren't you? Yeah. Heading to Austin later this week for the uh Cat 10K.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:48

Outstanding, outstanding. Well, listen, let's kick it off. Our friends are maybe here in well, I'm I think many of our friends are hearing about sneakers for good for the first time. So, in a nutshell, what do you guys do?

SPEAKER_06 1:08:59

Yeah, we are a sneaker reused and recycling company that partners with run clubs, retail stores, gyms, races, really athletic communities overall, where we give sneakers a second life. We extend the life of athletic footwear rather than have that sit in the trash for 40 plus years. So, as a runner, as a runner myself, you know, so interesting that there's this opportunity presented here in front of us. And I think us as a company, we are just that catalyst. We're the connector between these communities, between individuals, and the global good, this impact that can come from such a simple act.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:37

What inspired the creation of Sneakers for Good?

SPEAKER_06 1:09:40

Yeah, great question. Our owner and founder, Wayne Elsie, uh, was on a beach, and this was post tsunami, I believe it was in the early 2000s, and he was on a beach and noticed a lone uh sandal floating up on the shore. And so something stirred within him where he put two and two together. This gentleman, Wayne, had has worked in the shoe industry for 30 plus years, and something stirred within him uh to want to give back an aid with that initial disaster relief. And so that became a passion project of his that in tandem combined with his career and and background in the industry, and so he was able to forge these connections and these relationships in developing countries, Haiti, Honduras, Cambodia, Colombia. And it became more than just a relationship, right? We we use this analogy often where sneakers for good is a hand up rather than a handout. So Wayne looks at our relationships, our microenterprise partners in that same vein, right? We're providing so much, again, through such a simple act. It's it's really an amazing opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:55

So when somebody is donating the pair of shoes, where did they actually go?

SPEAKER_06 1:11:01

Yeah, yeah, great question. We've got 20 of those developing nations that I mentioned that we currently serve all over the entire world. Literally, it's that's my my elevator pitch is Haiti, Honduras, Cambodia, Colombia. We are all over the map as far as sending shoes to developing nations, uh, partnering with 4,000 microenterprise partners. So those are those communities and families that band together. And rather than us just drop and go and say, here, have at it. It's working with them on an agreement where we're able to provide jobs, access to resources, and the means to a better life.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:49

Nice. Now, I'm used to a rotation of my shoes: running, walking, gardening, trash. But we don't want to do that. However, what kind of shoes can we donate here?

SPEAKER_06 1:12:03

Great question. As our name alludes to, sneakers for good. We strive again, but reason why we partner with those athletic communities is we're looking for running or walking athletic footwear. Sneakers indeed.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:18

Is there a condition they need to be in or just usable in general?

SPEAKER_06 1:12:23

Yeah, our ultimate goal is reuse. Reuse being the name of the game. That is plan A as far as extending the life of that footwear. I was so blown away with the metrics on waste. Every pair that sits in landfills, you know, for 40 plus years, we're talking hundreds of gallons of water, you know, 30 plus pounds of CO2 for every pair that's kept out of those landfills. And those metrics, you know, are just as valuable as the$16 million that we've raised for these uh charitable partners of ours. I'd failed to mention that, you know, there was really this trifecta of good that occurs through the act of collecting this these sneakers. We've got the microenterprise support, the global impact. There's some local support too, you know, whether we're kicking funds back to charities, organizations, even our partners themselves, internal bandwidth, uh, very much uh a readily available thing that can come from uh our partnerships. And yeah, again, it's interesting to see not only the global impact, but that local support and ways we're able to keep things local, which is a big point of pride for a lot of our retail partners in particular.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:41

Nice. You you cited some stats. Do you have any stats as an organization? Stats or milestones that you're especially proud of?

SPEAKER_06 1:13:49

I would say in our as an organization, we've been around for about 13 years. Sneakers for goods, a little bit younger. We're about eight years old. And it's a wonderful metric to have where we can sit back and say, in that time, we've been able to keep 36 million pairs out of land for 36 million.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:08

That is significant.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:09

Yeah. And equally important to me, you know, along with the the 16 million dollars that's kicked back to these charities and these organizations locally, you know, I pride myself just as much on the stories we get from Cambodia of family members going to college for the first time, or, you know, a family that's out of the slums or able to provide, you know, jobs for other family members, those those stories hit home just as much.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:35

If someone's listening right now who has three or four old pairs of sneakers in their closet, maybe more, what should they do next?

SPEAKER_06 1:14:43

Great question. I would say that's a two-part answer. If they feel so inclined, they can visit their local athletic community around them, their retail stores, their running stores, uh, their gyms, their YMCAs. Very good chance that they might be partnering with us already. And if not, let's say we're in a rural area, less of a readily accessible resource for you. You can simply go to our website, sneakersforgood.com. We have a great tool called the Individual Mail-in bag, where we'll send you one of our smaller-sized individual bags. Fits anywhere from five to eight pairs at a time, and the shipping label is already paid for. I like that it doesn't expire right away, so there's no rush to fill it. Again, if you've got friends, family that might want to join the cause as well. Perfect amount for that household. I know myself alone, I'm guilty of having too many pairs around, and I could easily fill a bag right now if I came down to it.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:40

I don't need four pairs of gardening shoes.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:43

Yeah, the cool thing about those individual bags as well is it it supports some of our major race partners everywhere from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to the Boston Athletic Association, Dell Children's Foundation, a group from Texas called the Sustainable Food Center, and then last but not least, the RRCA Kids Run the Nation. So they're all programs that benefit uh youth sports, you know, physical activity, nutrition, or um health access. Very cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:12

That's great. What is the most unusual pair of shoes that you guys have ever received?

SPEAKER_06 1:16:18

That's a good one. I actually I'll shout out another mutual friend named Alan Young. He is a legend, yeah, who really was the first person to introduce me to this podcast. So I've got to give him a special, special. But Alan has a unique running background, as you know. He's done, I think, every Disney race that's ever been in existence. So a crown that he he has achieved over a long-standing relationship with running. And so he had had some unique pairs that he decided to send. I believe there was a Lego themed Asics shoe and another. I've seen quite a few patriotic options as well. I know Brooks as a brand, you know, they do their seasonal uh fun shoes, and and being a Floridian Floridian and an Orlando native, their Disney custom shoes the last few years have really been eye-catching. Well, thanks, Steve. Is there anything else you would like our friends to know about Sneakers for Good? We are such a strength-based organization. We're a small but mighty team, and we are absolutely nothing without our partners. So whether it's an individual requesting one of those mail-in bags or a major race partner like the Boston Marathon heading there later this month, you know, we're appreciative of that impact and the way that you're changing lives across the globe through that simple, unified act of collecting.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:45

Nice. Thank you. It's sounds very worthwhile. Friends, if you're at a major event coming up and you see a young man walking around who looks like a sneaker, say hi to Steve. He'll be glad to hear from you.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:58

And I'm looking right now on the website, Bob.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:00

Uh, there could be a flying pig. Okay. A whole bunch of our friends will see you there, Steve, myself included. So sounds good. Before we let you go one more time, the website, please, so friends can go if and I appreciate what you said about going to local running stores too.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:18

Yeah, website is www.sneakersforgood.com. And that's the number four. Number four. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:27

Yes, sir. Well, it's been fun, Steve. Thanks for joining us, and we will talk with you later. Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:35

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

Race Reports PRs And Road Trips

SPEAKER_04 1:18:40

A reminder that this is a Zoom Thursday. Instructions are on the Facebook page. Hope to see you there. We'll get a chance to talk about springtime surprise weekend and what plans we have. Upcoming episodes next week. Many of you know her. A professional physical therapist with a doctorate in PT. You may know her as Dr. Allie. Allie will be with us next week. Hopefully, give us some pointers on uh avoiding and treating injuries. The week after that, we have a very special episode, and we're going to be releasing this special episode early. So next episode we'll release on Thursday, but the one after that we're going to release on the Monday, the 20th of April, right after Springtime Surprise. And that's our salute to Jeff Galloway. We had a list of fantastic friends, uh former runners that knew Jeff well, family members, Dean Carnassus, the ultra marathoner, Ambi Burfit, winner of the Boston Marathon, and uh college classmate of Jeff's, Bill Rogers, four-time winner of the Boston Marathon, four-time winner of the New York City Marathon, and another Wesleyan College classmate of Jeff's. Our own coach and friend Chris Twiggs, and Weston Galloway and Carissa Galloway all joined us for a tremendous salute to the life of uh a man who meant so much to all of us. That'll be the week that we're on the cruise. That will be released on Monday the 20th. And the week after that, we'll have the springtime surprise recap. So we got some exciting stuff coming up. And now please stand clear of the door. It's time for a race report. The race report, sponsored by our friend Thomas Stokes of Stoked Metabolic Training, Stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching is the website for more information. Tom's got a workshop coming up. In fact, it's tonight. It's April 9th at 7 p.m. I think it'd be really funny if we all went and then at 7.59 we all we all left to come to the Zoom. But no, don't do that. That would be rude. I will. I'll have to leave early to come to the Zoom. But uh Tom puts a lot of effort into that, and I'm sure that's going to be worthwhile. His his uh workshop. I don't know if you can still sign up for it or not. I will leave the information pinned to the featured section just in case you can sign up for it today, but it is tonight. Without further ado, let's take a look at the race report and start on Saturday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they had a hot chocolate run. Couple of friends there. Michael and Terry ran the 5K with their daughter Mickey and granddaughter Olivia. I believe that's right. A-L-I-B-I-A Olivia. If I said that wrong, I apologize. You you correct me, and I'll fix it next. I'll fix it next time I'm on the podcast. Uh it was a flat course chocolate fondue with the finish. Mickey and Olivia's first 5K, so we know what that means. And Michael and Terry PR'd too, in Pride. We don't have a Pride PR bell, but I understand.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:33

I thought you were gonna say PR and chocolate. Then I could do like an Augustus gloop, you know, kind of like sound effect or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:41

I think that's pretty standard for the hot chocolate runs. I'm surprised they have that one this late in Philadelphia as well into springtime. Normally they're in the colder weather, although I know it can still be chilly.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:51

I've said the only time I have ever done the hot chocolate, it was frigid to the point where my fun do uh turned into a candy bar in no time flat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:02

They run one here in Tampa, they run it in December. It's typically not cold, but it's typically okay. We had more friends there, though. Lizzie was there. She did the 15K and she did a uh volunteer work at the expo. This is Lizzie's first 15K. So there you go, Lizzie. She was in Corral O, and while she was there, she felt that it was only right to take a picture of Corral P, which was right behind her. They literally had a Corral P in this race. Uh, she hit a wall when the sun came up around the mile seven mark. Felt great this run, and it was exciting to get back out there with her first race since Dopey. Can't wait for the Broad Street 10 miler next month. That's a great race, the Broad Street.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:46

Listen, she was probably excited because this course is very similar to what we did at Rocky, and I'm sure she was thrilled that she didn't have to do Mount Drago.

SPEAKER_04 1:23:54

Yeah. Okay. Danielle did this as her first non-Disney race. Ran was her with her best friend Katie. They had so much fun, motivated them to get back into the groove with training. Well, I'm glad to hear that. No PRs celebrated anyway at the Reading Terminal Market with the best cheesesteak pretzel and lemonade on earth. I don't know when exactly the Reading Terminal Market came to be. It was after I left the Philadelphia area. But if you are ever in Philadelphia at all, do your best to make a stop at the Reading Terminal Market. Amen. Spectacular. A gastronomic delight. Yvette had signed up for the Cocoa Club, so she got to start in any corral she wanted. That's pretty cool. So she started in the back of the second corral, stayed to the right. I don't think she got time as a rower, like one of our friends got time as a row. Oh, Jessica last week. Says it's just past peak for the cherry trees. Still pretty, though. Overall, felt really positive throughout the race and crossed the finish line, and they ran out of 10K medals.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:10

Boo. Not good. Not good.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:13

That's not fun. And then just to get her name on the list to have the medal mailed to her, the line was really long. So that's that's disappointing. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:22

If there's one city you don't want to do that in, it's Philadelphia. That's what we're doing.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:27

Well, for sure. You know, you're gonna get a little bit of this, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:32

But uh must happen.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:34

They threw snowballs at Santa. Oh, stop it, John. What year, what year was that, John? That was what 70?

SPEAKER_04 1:25:42

No. No. What is it? 60 something. It was the year that O.J. Simpson was a first-round draft pick. You can look that up. Let's go to New Orleans, where they don't throw snowballs at anybody because it doesn't hardly ever get snow in New Orleans. They had the Crescent City Classic 10K. Again, a bunch of friends there. Jen and Emily were there. Jen wanted to surprise her sister, Emily, for her last race in her 30s. Emily's birthday was that weekend. Turned a big 4-0. Welcome to the club. I remember. A scenic and festive route, uh, a lot of fun, a lot of shout-outs and compliments for her race outfit, including comments like, that's the fastest fancy hat I've ever seen. Uh she could have had her handpick of refreshments from the spectators, including including Easter candy, jello shots, donuts, mimosas, titos, and beers. And I imagine there were some beignets in there somewhere. Uh, Jen loves seeing her sister at the end. They had a fantastic time with the whole family at the post-race party. First time at this event for Emily, it was her birthday weekend. Both Jen and her parents surprised her there. She also met up with Mandy. We'll hear from Mandy in just a minute. Uh, she started towards the front of her corral among a group of teenagers dressed as hot dogs. Pretty cool. As usual, she started too fast, but made an effort to put on the brakes a bit because of the temps and the dew point. No PR, mostly because of conditions, but finish time of just under 51 minutes for the 10K. That's that's super, Emily. Good enough for her to receive a coveted post race poster, which was awarded the top 500 overall finishers. That was her main goal. That's pretty neat. Good for you. Stevie was there. New Orleans like Disney, full of incredible costumes. Normally she's a little burned out on costumes by this time in the season, but she wanted to do a shrimp or crawfish costume for this race. Her sister bullied her in to literally. Living out her crustace. I can say this word. Living out her crustaceous dreams. They didn't plan to go fast, but they did plan to have fun, and that's exactly what they did. Made it all the way to the top four in the costume contest. At an event like this, Stevie, that's pretty darn good. Jennifer says this reason this race is where street party meets road races. 20,000 people, community road race, brought to you by the town that does Mardi Gras. That probably sums things up pretty well. Shannon was there hoping for a PR, but the heat humidity got to her. Came in 40 seconds slower than last year. No problem with that, Shannon. Need to work on the mindset shift and just enjoying the crowds and scenery. That sounds like a good thing to do at this event. Fun, great community support, worth worth slowing down for. And finally, I said we'd hear from Mel uh Mandy. Mandy said she definitely went out too fast for the first part of the race. The New Orleans Glitter, which folks otherwise call humidity. Hit her on the second half. No PR. But she does have a P.O.T. for Wyandine. That's good. The bestest cheerleader came to pick her up. Her Cami Rose. Now, I'm not sure who that is. There weren't any details. And then we got to hang out with Finn, who belongs to Beth and David. I think we're talking about puppies here, I'm pretty sure. But they got to hang out at the Port Orleans Brewing Company.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:36

One of these days, I need to get down for one of these New Orleans races.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:39

Yeah, I'm sure they're a blast.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:41

When I was down there hanging out with Mira and Taryn for Marty Girl, I mean, just that vibe alone, throw a race on top of that. It's got to be spectacular. And I think the uh the every woman's marathon uh next year is in New Orleans. So that that sounds like a really good time, too.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:59

Well, plus, as you can see, we always have a lot of friends at the New Orleans. Oh, absolutely. Yep. Yeah. Uh but let's move on. Colleen was at the Effingham County, Illinois, Lake Sarah, the best dam run 5K. Now, the BDR series are the best damn races. This is a best damn run DAM. I think they literally ran around a dam. Proceeds to the Special Olympics on this event. In Lisbon, Ohio, the second annual Bunny Hop 5K MJ, uh, multiple pre-race goals that she set. Bottom line, she finished in 4530, which is a lifetime PR. Run felt good. No pain. Not sore. Nice having friends at the finish to cheer on Matt, Jessica, and family. And the holler hypes were super helpful too. A lot of friends mentioned the holler hypes. I don't note all of them. I just want you to know that your holler hypes are getting through and being appreciated. In Winter Garden, over in the Walt Disney World area of Florida, the Dream Finders Home Hippity Hop Run. A bunch of friends there. Debbie was there, as was Kay. Tracy did it for the fourth year in a row. This was the best yet. So many friends from near and far in for the holiday weekend. The Big Bunny himself always makes an appearance at the finish line. Tracy finished sub 30. That's a great 5K time. Tracy. Erica, on the other hand, had her worst 5K ever. Spent most of the week sick with food poisoning, yuck, and it was her birthday week on top of it. Felt good enough to go out and walk this one. Didn't feel great after, but wanted that medal. Needed some miles under her feet before springtime. Saw a lot of rise and run friends at the race. Friends like Sherilyn and Kat. Kat, glad she got to run another race this season with so many amazing friends. Didn't get the time goal she wanted, but she pulled out a mile PR, a mile two, so that's pretty cool. Buddy Tom was there. Heather was rolling this one. Mary was there. Mary was shocked that her ears stayed on the whole time. She's not talking literally about her ears. They they stay on all the time. So my big bunny ear she was wearing.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:31

Yo, just one note I have about this race. Uh I'm still waiting uh on confirmation of this, but you know how we talked about our buddy Sam? Sure. Sam and Sam's mom. Well, apparently there's a new rivalry brewing. It's not between Sam and Sam's mom. It's now brewing between Sam and Kay. Apparently, this race caused a photo finish. Yeah. And uh the rivalry is getting even more heated. So I I can't wait until the next installment. Uh yeah that we hear about this.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:03

Yeah, I saw a video a couple weeks ago, uh a couple races ago. Yeah, I did too, yeah. Sam and Kay. And Kay was not letting up. Oh, she won't.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:10

Oh no, she won't let up.

SPEAKER_04 1:33:11

No. No. Yeah, I didn't I didn't hear from uh Kay or Laura on this race, but I'm sure we will. Hopefully, maybe they'll be at uh maybe it'll be at the Zoom this evening. Let's head to King George, Virginia for the Sheets to Sheets trail run. Sheets apparently is a gas station slash convenience store slash place to get stuff to eat that I'm not familiar with in that part of the country. Uh Divia is though, Divia did it. It's a 14-mile running event between two Sheets gas stations. Uh the age stations along the course included apple and cherry pie, beef jerky, fruit snacks, homemade pretzel nuckets, and her personal favorite, an aid station with s'mores and peeps at mile six, complete with a fire and sticks to roast your own marshmallows. Sounds like the beginning of the the bird in hand event or the night before.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:09

Well, I was about ready to say this, Bob. So when you're up for bird in hand this year, uh, I would say about maybe a little less than a 10-minute drive from the the race area, there is a sheets because Lancaster County is kind of like the dividing line in here in Pennsylvania between Wawa Country and Sheets Country. Okay. Uh so yeah, it it's been a rivalry for for quite a while. Um in my personal opinion, there are things that Wawa does better, but I will go out on the limb and say there are some things that Sheets does better than Wawa. Okay. So if you want to be able to experience it, you can definitely do that during Burden Hand.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:53

Yeah, maybe give it a shot. Divya, like she has all these weird races. She was just doing the Taco Bell, like Taco Belly. Yeah, yeah. What's what's next? The uh the Bucky's uh ultra?

SPEAKER_02 1:35:06

Listen, that's what I commented on this Facebook. Uh I was like, if they did a Bucky's to Buckys Ultra Marathon, I would totally be down for that because I I've been once and I need to go back.

SPEAKER_04 1:35:16

Yeah. Yep. Let's see what else she had to say here. Now the trail the trail run trail was beautiful, although as someone who is really a road runner, it can be tricky to run on at times. Uh only got taken back down by a tree route once. I'd say on a 14-mile run, that's pretty good, Divya. Untimed race, so it was nice to have everybody just hanging out and enjoying the aid stations and enjoying the day out in nature. Melody was in North Carolina for the Winston-Salem craft half marathon. She served as the 330 sweeper slash pacer, actually, and she says it's like being the balloon lady in this one. Uh hot, humid, and hilly, none of that mattered when they were trying to help runners dig deep and cross the finish line, some of them for their very first half marathon, and all under time in kind of tough conditions. Melody says being a pacer means putting your own race aside to lift others up. We know that is very true. Honestly, there's no better feeling than being part of helping someone else to their victory moment. In Atlanta, the 404 run, Lauren did it 4.04 miles, her first ever 4.04 mile run. PR. I haven't done a 4.04 mile run. Uh she snagged status for being one of the first to sign up. That made it even more fun. She's usually all about distance, but it felt so good to put the pedal to the metal and chase some speed for this one. In Nashville, Tennessee, Amy did the Richland Creek Greenway Run. Her favorite spring race to kick off the running season every year. It's a five-miler on a beautiful Nashville Greener Greenway, where she likes to train. It's usually beautiful spring weather, but it got kind of warm for this one. 75 degrees and a 65 degree dew point. Loving the dew point references, gang. At 7:30 in the morning. That's kind of warm. Uh, but she made the most of it and only averaged a minute per mile slower than she wanted to. So good for you, Amy. In Windgap, Pennsylvania, the long run spring forward, a six-hour endurance race that Alicia did. It's a five-mile loop. She did this with a friend to use as a training run for their upcoming 125-mile race next month. I'm looking forward to hearing more about that, Alicia. Whether that's a uh it's a 75-hour event, this 125-mile, and her pace will be primarily hiking. So today's effort, the effort in the six-hour endurance thing, was meant to mimic that idea. Her goal was four loops, 20 miles, and to have fun. That's just what they did. The loops flew by since they were walking and talking and hadn't seen each other in a while, and had a lot to chat about. That does make the miles go faster for sure. Ashley did the University University of Louisville 10 Miler in Kentucky, and her comment was, Y'all killed it with the hypes this morning. Our friend from Argentina, JJ, had a 100k ultra marathon in Buenos Aires. Didn't get a report, hope to hear from JJ later. We'll get back to that if we do. In Atlanta, Georgia, they had a run like hell 5K at Oakland Cemetery. Amanda and Brad said it was hilly and hot. There was history, beautiful foliage, and architecture kind of made up for the heat in the hills, made it a little more pleasant. They were able to see the Kenny Rogers and Margaret Mitchell final resting places. No metal, but still a great workout, great experience overall. Jimmy was there as well. The history was worth it for this run, just for the fun of it. He also got a selfie with Kenny Rogers. Oh, and he didn't choose it, but in the cemetery run, Jimmy's bib number was 1313. What are the odds? Come on, what are the odds? 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Yes, that would be uh the Adams family. The Munsters. The Munsters, okay. One or the other. In Chicago, Doug ran the Shy Town half marathon wet and muddy, but a lot of fun. He had a hard fall at mile three and a half trying to get through a muddy puddle, but the good news is he landed in even more mud, so that kind of helps a little bit. Great run. After a while, he just soaked in the views of the lake and the cloud-covered skyline. A lot of thanks to the volunteers who had to set up while it was pouring before the race and then stand around all day in the drizzle. And again, I appreciate you making that comment, Doug, because it's easy to forget that those volunteers don't get a chance to run and warm up. They just have to, whatever the weather is, they're stuck in it. So thank you, volunteers. Jake was in Wyndham, New Hampshire for the cheap marathon. He booked this last minute because he had a 23-mile training run ahead of London. Turned out to be a great race. Interesting start on a narrow rail trail. Runners were set off based on their estimated pace, two at a time, every seven seconds. Interesting. Planned to take it easy, but really felt good. And notice he was approaching a possible PR. So he texts his coach, says, Should I or shouldn't I? Bottom line, Jake runs negative splits, does a 438, which is a two-minute marathon PR. Now that's three PRs in the last month for Jake. A 5K a half and now a full. Now, why is it the cheap marathon? Well, I guess a lot of reasons, but one of them is instead of finisher's medal, you got a ribbon that said I finished a marathon and all I got was this ribbon.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:43

I think we talked about this race last year and looking at the price.

SPEAKER_04 1:41:49

It could be, Greg. It could be. We certainly talked about one. We definitely did. I don't remember if it's this one or not. Uh hearkening back, however, to our intro from this episode, the Easter peep 10K in Houston. And yes, Brandy, Audra, and Jennifer were there.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:04

Bob, can you do that rap again real quick?

SPEAKER_04 1:42:08

You mean the hip hop, dude? The hippity hop. That's it. That's I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:13

Folks, you get Bob enough uh drinks on the cruise. Maybe he'll do some uh freestyle rapping during karaoke.

Closing Thoughts And Happy Running

SPEAKER_04 1:42:20

Oh, golly. I'm not feeling well, Greg. Uh, let's see. Jennifer made the report. She said they started off uh with her former student in the wheelchair division for the 5K. I know Brandy's been working with Achilles. Uh we're proud of her and proud of everybody in this race because they all did it together. They were her guides till the finish. Then Brandi Audrey and Jennifer went back around for a second loop to complete the 10K. A lot of fun running with friends, even more so when you're helping somebody less able than yourself. Miles just went by faster. Running community is just the best, and ladies, you help make it that way. Hey, we had another high rocks challenge. Sabrina did this one. It was probably Saturday and it was probably somewhere, but I don't know where it was, and I'm not, I don't think they would have done it on Easter Sunday. But Sabrina, this is her very first Hyrocks. She did it princess style. Now she's done everything from a 5k to a full, but she thought this was a lot different, and it I think it is too. It was tough. Uh, didn't hit the time she was hoping for, but now she knows what to expect for the next one. So good for you, Sabrina. Already looking ahead. Our man in South Florida, Robbie, was in homestead for the Schnebley Redlands Winery Wine Run 5K. And no, I won't say that fast. This is about as poorly a run race as Robbie's ever been to. 9 a.m. start became a 9.45 start due to long lines of traffic coming in. Long lines to check in for the race. People were still being checked in when the race started. Uh the course they ran was not what was promised. They didn't run through the rows of the vines. The course was mismarked where the turn to the finish was supposed to be. So they ended up running uh an extra quarter of a mile or so in the end. But other than that, it was a great event. Thanks, Robbie. Last one on Saturday was in Woodville, Texas. Amanda and her son Nate did the Tyler County Dogwood Dash 5K. 12-year-old Nate running his first 5K. Not only a PR, but a second place age group finish and an overall 14th place finish. Nicely done, Nate. We'll see Nate at Marathon Weekend. Amanda also ran a PR. We'll see Amanda at Marathon Weekend too. One event on Sunday, it was in England, the North Tyne Side 10K. Andy says this one's been on his list to do for a couple years now. A little afraid it wasn't going to go, or he wasn't going to be able to do it, do a bit of a back pain. There were storms in the UK, but he made it, turned out great. Starts at North Shields, sticks as close to the North Sea as possible, I assume without getting your feet wet, up through several cities before finishing at the St. Mary's Lighthouse. Right after the event, the threatened storm Dave came through, sent everybody scrambling for shelter. Megan was also there, fourth time running this one for Megan. Every year she enjoys it so much. Decided to stay back this year to run with her friends, so no personal best this time, but thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful views of the beaches and finishing at the lighthouse. And there we have the race report for episode 237 of the Rise and Run Podcast. Friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. We hope you enjoyed this one. I you couldn't have had as much fun listening to the Jim Ryan interview as I had doing it. I had a blast. He was great. We look forward to having him back. I think he kind of looks forward to it too. Hey, speaking of look forward, we're looking forward to seeing you maybe Thursday night on the Zoom and hopefully next weekend at Springtime Surprise. But until then, happy running.