246: Movement Is Life: A Conversation with Donna Raskin of Runner’s World

Princess registration has turned into its own endurance event, and we felt every mile of it. We break down what we saw during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend queue, why more runners are walking away disappointed, and what might be behind the slower movement now that old workarounds are gone. We also talk through the bigger forces at play like field size limits, staging constraints, rising demand, and the way social media can amplify FOMO and frustration.

Then we pivot back to what actually moves the needle: training with humility and consistency. We share practical summer running reminders on hydration and slowing down in heat, plus a smart pacing tool for sticky weather: the Galloway magic half mile. If you’ve ever panicked after getting new training paces, this conversation is for you, especially if you’re trying to build longer run intervals without blowing up.

Runner’s World Senior Health and Fitness Editor Donna Raskin joins us to talk longevity, evidence-based fitness advice, and why runDisney stands apart from typical racing culture. She connects movement to independence, community to health, and reminds us that “old” and “overuse” aren’t diagnoses. We wrap with a race report spotlight that hits straight in the heart: Amy returns to racing on the Yellow Brick Road after chemotherapy and celebrates being cancer free.

Subscribe for more runDisney news, training talk, and community stories, then share this with a friend and leave a review so more runners can find us.

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Transcript

Welcome And Community Updates

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Good morning and welcome to the Rise and Run Podcast. This is Brandy from Houston. I'm calling you from Encore at the Grand Teton House Marathon. Happy running. Bye.

SPEAKER_06 0:55

The Queen of Intros is back. Brandy, Brandy, she's on a vacation race out in Wyoming when she records this intro. By golly, she just came back from an amazing vacation in Thailand.

SPEAKER_07 1:09

I don't think she's been at her house in probably two months. I think she went from the Rise and Run cruise to Thailand, to New Orleans, to Wyoming. Brandy, I want to know how many airline miles you have.

SPEAKER_06 1:21

It's impressive. But before we go much further, welcome, friends. Welcome to episode 246 of the Rise and Run Podcast. We're so happy that you are here with us. And I am here this week with Greg. Hey, hey, hey. With John. Hey, how are you doing? With Alicia. Hello. And with Jack. Hiya. Hey, my friends. Good to see everyone here this week. Nice guest this week, a good friend of the podcast, Donna Raskin, is the senior editor for Runner's World magazine. We talked to her about a variety of topics. In this race report spotlight, which is back this week, Amy ran at least part of the Yellow Brick Road. We'll let her tell you about it.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Well, if you guys enjoy the Rise and Run podcast, go ahead and share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. We want to share in their Run Disney journey, so please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast and Instagram at RiseRun Pod. Go ahead and check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, Rise and RunPodcast.com. If you have any questions, comments, race reports, or just want to introduce an upcoming episode. We do need a few more people if you don't mind or would like to introduce an upcoming episode because it's pretty epic. You're right at the beginning. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_10 2:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:53

Yeah. Oh, go ahead and call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message. I'm always chaotic when I talk. I'm so sorry, people.

SPEAKER_06 3:04

It's okay, Jack. I would I would leave that in.

SPEAKER_07 3:07

Oh, I'm going to leave that in. The other thing we want to leave in is that we also want to thank our Patreons whose support helps keep the Rise and Run podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join our Patreon team, please be sure to check out Patreon.com slash rise and run podcast. A quick update. Tom from Wheel Run 4 still has not joined the Patreon. So for those of you who can score at home, but for our Patreons, you should have gotten a notification over the weekend. I did another Greg Solo show. And I really like doing those because I mean, obviously we talk about running and run Disney here all the time. But you know, sometimes it's it's cool just you talk about other topics outside of those things. And uh this past weekend was the Tony Awards, or if you don't know what those are, that's the Super Bowl for theater nerds like myself. Uh so I I went and I chatted about some dream roles that I would uh love to play on stage. So if you're a if you're a theater dork like myself and you are a member of our Patreon, uh be sure to go and check that out. And as always, patrons, thank you so much for all of your support each and every week. We could not do this show without you.

SPEAKER_06 4:17

Very nice. Very nice. The Rise

Sponsors And Trip Planning Tips

SPEAKER_06 4:20

of Run podcast is sponsored by our friends at Magic Bound Travel. Hey, we're gonna talk uh princess registration here in a minute. I know there was a lot of disappointment, but there were also a lot of people that got registered. So now's the time. If you haven't done it already, now's the time to see if you can book your hotel stay for Princess Weekend and in fact uh also springtime, and as Greg pointed out to me early, we can already book out through October for next year's wine and dine. Remember, you can book it complimentary through Magic Bound. If you have to cancel it, you can get your deposit back. MagicBoundTravel.com is the website. Check them out.

New Resort Run Videos

SPEAKER_06 5:02

Jack, you mentioned YouTube in your in your little intro there. Is there anything new going on with YouTube?

SPEAKER_05 5:09

Of course there is. There is two things that are new this week. Whoa, I'm just doing crazy stuff. Well, I will let you know, you guys, I was telling them this before we started recording. I you know what? I'm gonna do this in the Bridgetrin uh words. I burn for you. I don't think I could do a British accent. You know what she's like, I burn for you. I literally burned my shoulders because I forgot to put suntan lotion on because I was like, oh, I'm not gonna be outside for very long. No, I was.

SPEAKER_06 5:38

Oh, welcome to Florida, Jack.

SPEAKER_05 5:40

Yeah, you think like it's not even so yet.

SPEAKER_04 5:43

You do know the color of your hair, right, Jack? No, I know.

SPEAKER_05 5:47

And I I I burn like a peach and I should know better, but I just wanted to think maybe once in life. You know, I probably shouldn't anymore. I've learned my lesson probably way more than I have. I'm gonna stop talking. Remember how I said we talked about chaotic stuff. Jack, I'm being chaotic in here.

SPEAKER_06 6:05

Let me bring you back for a second. You were gonna tell us about YouTube.

SPEAKER_05 6:08

That's where I was going next. That's where I was going next.

SPEAKER_06 6:10

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 6:12

So um, yes. We have we have two episodes coming out this week. Um, the reason why it burned was because I went to two hotels this week and I ran at um two places. I ran over at the Contemporary Bay Lake area. I also ran at Coronado Springs in uh Dostino. Is it Dostino Tower?

SPEAKER_07 6:33

Dostino Tower, yep.

SPEAKER_05 6:35

Oh, I said it right. Yay. Okay, yeah. That was beautiful. I mean, yeah, those the places I've ran at have been beautiful. Well, that one, I really liked that one. So I hope if you guys are saving some runs on the dreadmill. Oh, sorry, treadmill. Um go ahead and take a run um with me at these lovely resorts.

SPEAKER_06 6:57

Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_05 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:59

That's great. Sounds like fun, Jack. That's cool.

Training Calendar And Summer Heat

SPEAKER_06 7:04

Well, since you started talking about running and training, let's take a look at the training calendar. And of course, the next Run Disney event is Wine and Dine, which is 133 days away. That's 19 weeks. Uh, training starts two weeks from the day that we're recording. 23rd of June. Training starts for that. I've been tracking some other events that attract a lot of Ryzen Runners, like Loopy Loop are now 51 days away. Bird and Hand, gang, Burton Hand's only 92 days away.

SPEAKER_05 7:37

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_06 7:38

It is it is creeping up on us. Uh Space Coast, Space Coast still about half a year. Just be you know, we've already talked about it. Space Coast has changed to the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It's changed from the Sunday after Thanksgiving to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It's 165 days away.

SPEAKER_07 7:58

I don't think I realized that. Yeah, I did. Yeah. Oh, you know, I feel like that's gonna make it a lot more feasible for people because that's one of the reasons why I've never done it, is because that obviously the busiest traveling weekend of the year, and you know, flight prices are insane at that time. I'll have to ch uh look at that for next year.

SPEAKER_06 8:17

That may be the reason they did it, Greg. I don't know. You that is Florida's oldest marathon. I don't know that they've always done it on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but I've done it uh this will be my seventh consecutive year, and it's always been in in in that relatively short period of time, it's always been after Thanksgiving. But it is, it's uh 165 days away. The the marathon sold out, they're running a waiting list, but the half still had spots. And I'm looking at Flying Pig, which is becoming a favorite Rise and Run event. It's 323 days away. We have a discount code. Emmy was nice enough to give us a discount code, which is FPM, as in Flying Pig Marathon, FPM 27, because it's for the year 2027. Rise run. That's all one word, FPM 27, RISE, RUN, or she gave Alan Young a discount code all to himself, which is Alan 10, which is which is a whole lot easier to remember. So I don't know. I don't know if I like Alan stealing our thunder and and and using that part. Anyway, there you go. We got discount codes for uh Flying Pig, a great event held in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the end of I think it's the end of April. What's going on in training, gang? Any any training updates as we're in what I kind of call this trough in the training schedule? I've been running.

SPEAKER_08 9:50

I I said I've been training for some races. I got a race Sunday night. Uh it's it's a 5k. Uh weather out weather forecast is a little rough. It's supposed to be nine, it's supposed to be 90 at 5 30 on Sunday. So it's gonna be a little rough, you know. But yeah. Hopefully everything goes well. And I've been doing pretty good out there. Got out for a good run on uh Saturday. Actually ran today, so I'm ready for this. Hopefully everything goes well on Sunday. This heat up here is really rough. It was like 82 degrees today. So oh wow, yeah, it's it's we got a heat, we got a heat advisory up here right now.

SPEAKER_07 10:29

Freddy too. John, is this the run that runs by your house?

SPEAKER_08 10:33

No, that that's that's in two weeks.

SPEAKER_07 10:35

Oh, that's in two weeks. Okay, well, if it's hot for that one, then you know, just stop.

SPEAKER_08 10:39

It's it's fine. Actually, hey, it's an extra water stop on the it goes by my house twice. Oh so I got a water stop going in and a water stop on the way back. So good.

SPEAKER_04 10:49

That's awesome. But yeah, John, you've been really consistent in your runs and your strength training. I've loved seeing um the posts that you've made on your Instagram. Training for me has been going well. I have been consistently getting all of my workouts in, which is a big win. Um, and over the last week or so, I've also consistently gotten more protein in, about 30 to 50 more grams of protein each day than I had been previously. So big wins for me. Um and I'm feeling really good.

SPEAKER_05 11:22

I totally forgot that I thought my 10,000 step challenge was supposed to end earlier this past week. And in fact, I do not know how to count 30 days, and I should have marked it on my calendar. So thank goodness, like at like, what was it? Like nine o'clock at night. I was like, I still have like a few thousand feet or steps to walk. Do I really want to do it? I think I'm done. And I was like, no, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna stay consistent because I think I want to go 60 days. Yeah, no, I wasn't even, I still had like a week, week and a half at that point to continue for with 10,000 steps. So I'm proud of myself. Good that I pushed myself doing something I didn't want to do.

SPEAKER_13 12:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:04

And I still did it. I was wondering how that challenge went. I meant to ask you, but then you weren't here last week.

SPEAKER_05 12:09

So yeah. Well, I'm gonna actually be doing a whole video about 10,000 steps and what may or may not be good for, you know, it's just out of curiosity. I think 10,000 steps is different for every single person. This is just gonna be my personal experience that I'm gonna put up, and it might continue on because oh, I don't want to ruin it. I'll just put it in the video.

Magic Half Mile And Run Walk

SPEAKER_07 12:33

Training for me continues to go well. Um, yeah, and Bob, I I hope it's okay if we just chat about this real quick. The the one thing that I did this past week, because I know you had mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, is I was due for a new magic mile. And but obviously it's this well, I mean, technically, we're not officially in summer yet, but obviously the temperatures feel like we're in summer. Yeah, you are so you know, so this comes to the season where I much prefer doing magic half miles than I than I do magic miles. So if you've never done one before, um you know, Reader's Digest version is warm up for a mile at your long run pace and then go as quickly as you can for a half a mile, probably preferably on a track, but obviously if you don't have access to a track, you know, maybe find a trail that's marked, or you know, with all of our smart watches now, you know, you could set workouts where you know, you know, like uh the George Foreman, or not the George Foreman girl, what was that thing that you set it and forget it, you know? You know.

SPEAKER_06 13:41

Oh, golly, great. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_07 13:43

Oh it was some infomercial back from the 90s or early 2000s or whatever. Set it and forget it. Yeah, yeah. But um, and then what you do is once you're done with your run, and then obviously, well, let me back up. Once you're done with that half mile, then take a couple of minutes to recover by strictly walking, and then finish out the rest of your run for that day. To calculate the magic mile from the half mile, what you do, take your time, double it, and then add 18 seconds. And then that time, that's what you can plug into the magic mile calculator that's on the Galloway website, and that can help generate your paces. So, but I'm happy to say I PR'd my magic half mile by a good chunk, I would say. And uh, coach texted me my new paces today, and I dropped my phone. Uh, I was I was a little uh shooketh by by what it was saying, but the difference this time around, and and what I said to him is I now have the confidence that I know that I can achieve it in time. I think that the the box that I've put myself in in the past is okay, I get these new paces, I see them, I panic, and I try to like go gangbusters on those first couple of runs, and I realize that, you know, that that's just not gonna be feasible, especially with the summer heat coming up. So for me, what I'm gonna be focusing on is, you know, I'm now gonna be reaching territories of run intervals that are a lot longer than than I'm typically used to. I mean, you know, I'm one of those runners where, again, you know, I've said this on the podcast before, what is on that Galloway chart has never matched up to what I need. I'm usually way faster in my run segments than I should be. So right now I'm in this area of I need to find that that magic distance, but it's gonna require me to go for more than 60 seconds. And I know in the past that has been a struggle for me. So I know now I have time to build it up and I have the confidence that I will eventually get there. So excited for the new paces, but I'm I'm gonna be patient with it uh this time around.

SPEAKER_06 16:02

So good job. Thanks. Good job. I think that's great, I think that's exciting. Uh, I'll just pick up on I just want to say, and you talked about it, Greg, slow down. Not you, no, you don't have to slow down, but it's summertime. You will need to slow down. You will. And we talk about it a lot on these run-walk intervals. You go, you use the magic mile calculator, that's the way to do it. Start out with those intervals. Let's say they're 6030. Start out with them. Then experiment. You may find that you're better at 7530. You may find you're better at 5030. I know back in the day a couple five years ago, where I was running at a decent pace, I would always be a little bit faster. Let's say if my recommended was two minutes run, 30 seconds walk, I'd always be a little faster if I did a minute 45 run and 30 seconds walk, because I would run a little faster during the run intervals, and it just worked out for me that way. So that's the idea. The idea is to use it as a start and to uh uh tailor it and make it your own. So I'm glad to see training's going well. I don't have any really exciting updates. I I had a little hole in my training, I'm gonna get back to it. The idea is to stay with it. I keep talking about that all the time. Stay with your training. You can do it. Slow down, summer. Who says that? Summer training equals fall PRs? Some guy. Some guy.

SPEAKER_08 17:29

I don't know if I believe that, but anyway. Bob, one other thing that I should say again with the summer training, hydration, hydration, yeah, hydration.

SPEAKER_06 17:39

No doubt. No doubt. Well, I'm glad we're all doing well, gang. I'm glad we're all getting out there. Uh, I gotta get back with Tom, too. I've I've I hate to fuss. I had a little minor medical issue. It's all good. I'm fine, but it just kept me from doing things for a couple weeks. But now I'm ready to get going again.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

SPEAKER_06 18:01

Well,

Princess Registration Wins And Losses

SPEAKER_06 18:03

yesterday was interesting. In fact, since we last spoke, Tuesday a week ago, it's been interesting. Princess registration. Uh, I got on yesterday with a bunch of our friends. We had, again, we had 50 or 60 people on the Zoom call, which I love. And even though we cannot help one another as much as we usually do, it's helpful just to be there talking to one another, commiserating with one another. But let me check. I think, Jack, I think you were the only other person trying to get registered. Is that right?

SPEAKER_05 18:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:41

And how did it go?

SPEAKER_05 18:43

So I was definitely offered help, thank you, Greg. Um, and you know, told told me to go on to the group chat because at that point it's about an hour-ish in, and I still hadn't gotten in. And I think because Run Disney had to reschedule it, I had a longer time to look at the price of the half marathon and have an extra week being like, do I really want to spend $269? And so I was very back and forth about it. Because maybe like, maybe I could be invited to pace, and that was a thought, but there was no guarantee, and then I really wanted to run. So, um so I did, I was able to get in and um I wanted to go in the old-fashioned way, um, you know, by registering myself. I I put like checked in at like 8 15 or 8 20 in the morning. I could not believe that it took that long. I I can never get a fast time. I I don't have magic like John.

SPEAKER_06 19:49

You know, enter entering before 10 is fine, it but it doesn't really matter what time you enter so long as it's before 10, because then you get assigned randomly.

SPEAKER_10 19:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:00

When registration opens. If you wait till after 10, then you're in the queue sequentially, then you you're almost without hope. Well, not almost.

SPEAKER_08 20:09

Yeah, and I think that new way kind of makes it a little more crazier because before you had to sit there and wait.

SPEAKER_05 20:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 20:17

And then about 10 minutes before 10 o'clock, yeah, the waiting room opened. Now the waiting rooms open up at 8 o'clock. I don't know, whatever time it opens up, so you have a lot easier time to get in, just sit around.

SPEAKER_04 20:29

You know, there's I heard a a number of people say that they saw it open earlier and then they clicked it and then they went for the runs or whatever, and then came back to register.

SPEAKER_06 20:40

Yeah, you can do that. It was tough. It was tough. We uh we had more people this time than I can remember who said I tried to get in and couldn't. I I don't recall seeing that large number of folks not make it.

SPEAKER_07 20:56

Yeah, this registration reminded me a lot of White and Dying from a couple of months ago. That you know, the overall theme was a lot of people not getting in and you know, also hearing a lot of stories. You know, I had my browsers open and none of them moved off of you know more than an hour. And I mean, really, the the only theory that I can come up from from that perspective of you know, you know, my bar, you know, even though my bar moved, the time never went down, is obviously you know, they they changed something where you know you can't share the QIDs anymore. Okay, that's fine. So obviously the new tactic you know that you know we have been using in the Rise and Run Zoom, and again, this is not exclusive, we're not the only people doing this, nor you know, is this something new? But just other people once they've gone in offering up, hey, give me a phone call and I'll get you registered. And I wonder if with if since that's kind of the new Way to have a little bit better of a chance of getting in that's holding up more spots, you know, because you know people aren't closing those out. And I think that that's what's making those wait times a bit longer than usual because you know you have so many people that are just leaving their cue spot open so that others can get in and they can you know communicate and um you know again try to help you know as many as possible.

SPEAKER_08 22:33

And that's a gamble too, Greg, too. Because you know, I got my Q spot open. Okay, I'm registered now. I'm gonna get Jack in on the uh the challenge and the 5k and Bob in on the uh half and the 10K. And oh one of them's set one of them sold out already. I got it kicks you back out, and you gotta start all over again and pick new races. And then then maybe both of you are getting knocked out instead of instead of one.

SPEAKER_06 23:00

I think there's a tendency. I I think there's a feeling that Run Disney has changed something and made it more difficult. I don't believe that's the case. I believe it's just a matter of so many people are trying to register.

SPEAKER_08 23:18

It's becoming more popular. And like with our guests we'd be talking to later on, Des Linden ran this race last year.

SPEAKER_06 23:26

Yeah. I think it's just numbers. I think that's all there is to it. And I I don't have a solution. There is, I don't think there well, there isn't a solution unless they completely revamp the uh registration system. And I don't people will talk about going to a lottery. I'm not gonna say I have no idea if that will or will not happen. I tend to don't not want to see it, but I don't know.

SPEAKER_08 23:53

You are in a lottery, technically. You're in a live lottery. You're in a live lottery.

SPEAKER_06 23:57

Okay, yeah, you are in terms of those those cue numbers. I get all that. You're right. Uh the only difference would be a lottery would allow uh it would allow people a longer time to get in. And then if it was a true lottery, if if Disney ran lotteries like London and Boston and others do, uh, I don't know if Boston runs a lottery. I know New York does. You know, you'd have a a period of time in which you could enter and then Disney would make the selection and tell you whether you got in or not. That would be a little different. I understand you're in a lottery in terms that you get into the queue prior to 10 o'clock and you were assigned a random position. That's true. But not everybody can do that.

SPEAKER_05 24:37

I pulled up uh Ryan Teeth's Ryan on the Run um information for finisher numbers from all the way back from 2019 through 2026. And it is interesting.

Why Registration Feels Harder

SPEAKER_05 24:48

Obviously, there's a drop-off after COVID happened and it coming back up and it dropped by a good bit. But for example, in 2019 for the half marathon, the men and women combined, the total number of finishers was 20,088. Whereas if you go back to this past year in 2026, there's only 16,625 that finished. It's not saying necessarily how many people registered, but they're clearly still not letting the amount of people technique like they're just not letting as many people in. And it's kind of proof if you go through his post and you see like the years and the distances, like the 10k in the challenge tends to be pretty close to the same, if not potentially more. But the long, the single distance, like the longer distance for each weekend, is the one that always has the less number. And I mean that's twofold. One, it's a longer distances, so maybe people were dropping because the distance, maybe, or two, Disney isn't letting as many people in as they used to. And that could be a number of reasons. And maybe one of the reasons is the fact that the location where you start the race has changed, which means that the corral area has shrunk. And we all know the Epcot parking lot isn't the biggest thing in the world, and they have people come in in waves at different times to be able to get to the corrals, whereas you used to walk almost a mile and be able to fit as many people in. And people used to complain about it, which meant that, you know, maybe Disney wanted to change something. I do kind of miss the longer walk because it left for a wider area at the start area. But you know how things go with Disney. But I'm just saying that could be one of the cases, and I think Disney knows how to create FOMO so well now because influences have created this FOMO for you as well. You see it all over social media. I'm going on a tangent, but it's just so interesting seeing that way. And I wonder if they think it's better to create the FOMO.

SPEAKER_06 26:48

I don't think it matters.

SPEAKER_07 26:48

Jack, I I was gonna bring up that that exact same point about the numbers, you know, again, because you know, the same could be applicable to marathon weekend. I mean, you know, I remember one of the first times I ever ran a marathon weekend half. You know, I think at one point there was like 22,000 finishers for the half marathon, and and clearly we're not at that number. You know, and I again I was gonna bring up the staging area as well, too. I mean, clearly things have not changed in quite quite some time because you know, I I remember that one time, I think when we were interviewing John and Carissa, you know, they talked about that, you know, it is quite a production and and it is costly, especially for Marathon Weekend and for Princess to be able to erect the stage, put it up for the beginning, tear it down so they can reopen the road, and then re-erect it, then at least in the case of Marathon Weekend, then for Sunday for for the marathon. So I do wonder if you had those few extra thousand slots open, if that would help uh help the situation by any means. But at the same time, when it comes to inflation and typical Disney price increases, and in terms of the profit margins that they have to hit, maybe they have found their their sweet spot that you know if we can keep raising the you know the prices of the races by a certain percentage every year and we keep the field size the same, we we still hit our margins and and such. So that's one thing I'm curious about. And the other the other idea, now I will fully admit I this is not my idea. And I want to give credit to our buddy Amanda over Once Upon a Marathon. She theorized an idea that I think is fantastic. I don't think Run Disney is ever going to go back to that, and that is allow travel agencies to have bibs again. Because the the point, the the great point that she made is that, you know, what is the one thing that is so special about Run Disney is that we love the community. And I mean, sure, there are people that, you know, just you know, I'm a random person, I'm gonna go run this race. Great. But obviously, there's a ton of people that have made large groups of friends and they want to be able to run these races together, or family members want to be able to run these races together. How great would it be if a travel agency had the opportunity to sell you a vacation package that had a bib attached to it? Then that way, when registration day does come, you don't have to stress out about going into the registration. I wonder how many less people that would bring into the foray, and I wonder if that would speed things up. But I mean, again, clearly Disney's able to sell all these races in under 90 minutes. So why would they go forward and do that to the travel agency?

SPEAKER_05 29:51

Well, also make the club run Disney benefits kind of that too.

SPEAKER_07 29:56

Yeah, again, that yeah, that's the reason the other reason why they'll never bring it back, correct?

SPEAKER_04 30:00

Hot take, honestly, I think that if they did give them to travel agents, I don't think that would help for the average person because not everybody wants to go through a travel agent. They of course in different things, so I think that would actually make it worse. I know last week I talked about it. Princess, as far as I have been running Run Disney, has always sold out. So I'm really not surprised with this particular race selling out that it's it's always been that way. But I do think that Jack, you talked about it having this influx of social media and running in general since 2019 has significantly increased. Absolutely. And so having social media be out there and people seeing these posts, like, yes, it's on our feeds because we're in the Run Disney sector, but like if anybody is looking at running things on social media, it's gonna come up somewhere or another. And so I think when people see or hear about it, I know I was talking to somebody today about it, and they were like, Oh, I had no idea. That's so cool. I would love to do that. You get to run through the castle, like so. I think that idea behind it is bringing in even more people. And also, Jack, you talked about the start areas. I think that that is a big piece of it. That when we started on that main big road, things could spread out more and they could potentially have more people. But now, because of where we start, I think that they are limited, limited in the amount of people that they are allowing to be at the races, and rightfully so, because honestly, it can get pretty crowded right now. I can't imagine if they went back to pre-COVID numbers with how we're starting the crowds.

SPEAKER_05 31:48

Yeah. I and I and I will admit, so I've I've been running my first race was in 2018 for Princess Half Marathon. And yes, it was hard to get into that, but I can I just say I just missed the days when it was like, ooh, wine and dine. Do I want to do it? Do I not? Yeah, you know, I think I'm gonna do it. And it was not even wine and dine or marathon weekend.

Lottery Talk Field Size And FOMO

SPEAKER_05 32:09

I said I wasn't gonna sign up for the marathon until close to wine and dine that year of 2018. It was still open in September for me to do sign up for the marathon.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

My first marathon in so I did it in 2018. So in October of 2017 is when I actually signed up.

SPEAKER_05 32:26

I I just want to say I wish the reason why I say it is I wish it gave people who have never been able to do it before that don't know the process of what it's like to register for Run Disney a better chance of getting in if they just increase the numbers a little bit, because it doesn't create the stress. It just it just allows more people to experience something that we all know is true and magical.

SPEAKER_08 32:49

It's it's going back to supply and demand, right? It's not just Run Disney, right? You look you look at New York City, you look at London. London's thinking about adding a second day to their marathon because of all the people that want to get in to give them more. That is that an option for Disney, probably not. But that's the thing. It's the demand at these races is a lot more than what you know the supply is. You know, there's only so many registration spots we can give these people.

SPEAKER_07 33:19

Yeah, I mean, think about New York. I mean, I I think I was looking at some statistics that I think in previous years your chances with the lottery were like not high, but you had like a three to five percent chance of getting in via the lottery. And based on the increased numbers for this past year, that acceptance rate went down to one percent. So this definitely is not an exclusive Run Disney issue. It's you know, it it's it's high-level racing across the board. Um, but no, Jack, I I'm I'm right there with you with what you said about you know others being able to to get involved for you know for their first time. And and where where I really feel for for the new first-time runner or or first-time exposure to Run Disney is you know, obviously we love the Disney Parks product, and but at the same time, for as much as we love it, you know, when it comes to a vacation, it's it's a really I don't want to say stressful, but but but it's a situation where you you have to have a lot of knowledge to be able to plan a seamless Disney Parks vacation. And I feel like that that is what is now happening in terms of Run Disney is if you want to be able to have a shot to run these races, these are all the hoops that you have to jump through. And I really wish that wasn't the case. And I I do agree with you, Jack. I think if you increase those numbers a little bit, that might ease things ever so slightly. I'm not saying it's gonna solve the problem, but it might ease it. It just, you know, it just you know, the these post-registration days, I just I feel for so many people because you know, I I hate to say it, but like social media that especially on some Facebook groups, not not in ours, but I mean I I've just I'm seeing some really negative and really nasty posts on on social media about the whole process. And granted, and now some of them do offer very healthy debates about how this should be addressed, but Bob, like you said before, I I don't think there's one right answer or one thing will unfortunately solve the problem.

SPEAKER_08 35:30

Yeah, because think about it. You go to a lottery like New York does, right? Okay, I want to run with my granddaughter and my wife. Oh, my granddaughter gets in, but no one else gets in. Or I get in, now she can't get in. So a lottery, you're gonna take that away from people. There is no real solution to this whole process, uh, unless you have to have a one every a race every weekend. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 35:57

I do want to thank everybody who got onto the Zoom. Oh, yes, it was a it was a great time as usual. Did help one another, and uh again, a lot of people were able to get registered because of the Rise and Run family helping one another out. So thank you all for that. It's uh always always a pleasure. I I stuck with my uh entries into the into the lottery, John, if you will. I stuck with my random, I stuck with my random draws, uh, mostly because, Jack, of what you said. People were asking me, hey Bob, are you in yet? I'll get you in. And I I said, as grateful as I am, and as as well meaning as that was, and how much I appreciate it, I love you all, but uh I wanted I didn't want to jump in front of anybody. Uh if somebody hasn't done it before, I've done it, I don't know what my numbers are. And I got over a hundred medals. I I'm going to sometime next season I'll get over a hundred runs. Um if I have to miss one, so be it. I wanted the challenge, I wound up with the 5k and a half. That's just fine.

SPEAKER_07 37:06

I will say, Bob, I did feel for you because I think in the Zoom call, someone was offering to you to register you, and you were like, Oh, I only have a couple of minutes left of my QID. And then I remember I was like, Hey, Bob, uh, challenge just sold out. And I think you processed it for like two seconds, and then you pivoted and you went right to what you needed to do.

SPEAKER_06 37:27

So it's like well, the other thing that happened is in in the interim, uh, I took a look at charity bibs, and you had you had postulated last week that you thought this would help the charities. Oh, yeah. There are no charity bibs, they were gone. Wow. Not completely, but almost entirely. When I went to look for them at about 11 o'clock on Monday morning, uh I think the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation had openings across the board, which they no longer do. And there was maybe one other charity that had a couple of races available. I was gonna do St. Jude's because I've done them before. And it's you know, it's it's a charity I like, but uh nope, nothing doing. So I'm happy that I got what I got. Look, if I had if I had gotten shut out, it wouldn't have been a fate worth and worse than death. I've done a bunch. I'm gonna go cheer for people anyway. And I think a lot of our friends will find a way in either through the team run dis alerts or uh well.

SPEAKER_07 38:29

But that's the thing with that though, they they haven't been popping up. I I remember our buddy uh Matt Marcella over at Team Run Diz, you know, he he did a whole big long Facebook post a couple weeks back about listen, like the programs that I have set up continually to check and they're not dropping a lot of speculation about why is that? Are they waiting? I I know there was conversation about you know uh international travel companies getting access to the bibs as well, too. So um, so I I'm be very interested as we get closer to the start of the season, if we'll start seeing those more and more. But the other thing that I'm really intrigued by about as well, too, is now we are less than a month away now from registration for springtime surprise. Right. Obviously, probably of the four, the you know, the um the smallest weekend of the year, I'll be interested to see if we go three for four in terms of um race registrations where a lot of people come away disappointed or not.

SPEAKER_05 39:39

I think the 10 miler is still open.

SPEAKER_08 39:41

Not I I usually get the 10 miler after work or I it doesn't sell out the first day usually, but you know it I think it's going to. I mean, depending on the stuff of course the uh theming that we haven't gotten released yet. But yeah, that 10 miler kind of stays open.

Charity Paths And Fundraising

SPEAKER_04 40:02

As we wrap up um this princess conversation, for our friends who did get in with the charity, um, I just wanted to mention that John does make a post every month on charities for um you to post links. And John is actually raising money for a charity, um, not for Princess, but for Marathon Weekend. Um, and we haven't gotten to hear about it, so I want to give John an opportunity to talk about it.

SPEAKER_08 40:27

I'm running for the uh Special Forces Foundation. They were on our podcast uh in March. Uh talking about they they don't they uh help special forces, green berets, you know, kind of it's kind of like uh the gold star type system for for them. Um raising money for charity. Uh I have some really cool stickers if you if you want. I got dopey theme thick sticker, a marathon theme thicker, theme sticker, sorry. Um I did 48.6, I did the half marathon, I did the marathon, I have make the most of your dash, and I have a hey, how you doing with uh a little Jerse accent to it. If you want to donate, uh I'll have a link. You check my uh social pages, and uh I'll put a link in the bio this this uh episode also. And uh check check my Facebook page. You'll see my uh link there.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

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

Donna Raskin Builds A Career

SPEAKER_06 41:29

Our next guest has spent years helping runners become healthier, stronger, and smarter through her work at Runners World. She's an author, a runner, a Run Disney enthusiast, and a strong and faithful member of our Rise and Run family, and someone, or I'm gonna say someone else, who's showing that running doesn't have to have an expiration date. This week on the Rise and Run Podcast, we are delighted to welcome Donna Raskin, Senior Health and Fitness Editor at Runner's World, and as I said, friend of the family. Hiya, Donna, good to see you.

SPEAKER_09 42:05

Nice to be here. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_06 42:08

Well, as always, thank you for joining us, sharing your valuable time. You know, we usually start by asking friends how they got started in running. And if you want to tell us that, you can, but I want to modify it a little bit and ask you to take us back to the mid 80s and tell us how you became a writer and how you became interested in fitness journalism when honestly the field was just brand new.

SPEAKER_09 42:34

Was was really non-existent.

SPEAKER_06 42:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 42:36

Well, I went to a college in which I never took a test. I wrote papers and um long, long papers for every single class. And um for every class, I also I and everyone else did independent work. And so I've always loved to write, uh, certainly much more than I like taking tests. But most people would rather take a test than write, but I would rather write a paper. And so um I just was writing all the time, and I moved to San Francisco after I graduated and I did a lot of exercise classes, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do. And one day I was sitting on the floor of a pretty famous uh aerobic studio, and I thought, I wonder if I could write about exercise. Like those were the two of the things I loved the most, aside from music and reading and traveling, I guess. And so I um I came back home to New York, where the publishing world is and was, and my dad knew someone who worked on a magazine who has been my best friend now for 40 years, Kate. She worked in a magazine and they needed an editorial assistant. I got a job, it happened to be a health magazine. And eventually, when I was ready to get a promotion, I asked if I could be promoted to assistant fitness editor from editorial assistant. My boss said there's no such thing as a fitness debt, and I said, That's what I want to do. I want to write about fitness, and that's what I've been doing. That's so cool, though. Yeah, I mean, honestly, I would just go to any event that was about exercise. I I met Raquel Welsh because of her yoga at the time, her yoga um VHS tape. And I would go to Kathy Smith events and Denise Austin events, like all of those old school aerobic and exercise things. And I got certified and things like that as to be a personal trainer because that's what I cared about. And that's what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_07 44:38

Donna, I want to go back to something you said a couple of minutes ago, you know, in talking about your promotion to an assistant editor, you know, and you uttered the phrase, you know, there's no such thing as a fitness editor. What happened in your career after that point?

SPEAKER_09 44:53

After that point, I started writing for different health and fitness magazines. And as I did that, I got an assignment to write for an article for Vogue. And that, you know, Vogue, right? Like thing in the world. And the assignment was to interview someone who um about exercise shows on TV, like about Gala, remember Jalot Galad, Glod, whatever his name was, people like that, like to write about those shows. And Anna Wintor, famously, Anna Wintor of Vogue killed my story. I was heartbroken. Yeah, it was also awful. And but the person I um the person I ended up interviewing for that story, who was the ex expert in the story, he asked me a few months later to co-author a book. He got a huge book contract, but he couldn't write. And so that would ended up being the first book I wrote, Chris Imbo's Peak 10. He would train people for 10 weeks for $10,000 back in the 90s. A lot he had a lot of celebrity people. And I ended up writing my first book. And because I wrote that book with him, a personal trainer, I ended up getting the job at Men's Health to write books. Like my my I always tell people when I tell young people like about what how to pick a career. Don't pick a cre a career, create a career. Figure out what you want to do, figure out who who you are, and just like move along and good things will happen. I really believe this. Good things will happen. And so I ended up getting hired in men's health to write books for men's health. I was the token woman on that team. And then a couple of years later, I got my dream job at Shape. And it all happened when bad things happened, like when I didn't get the job at Vogue, and when I didn't get, you know, like so. I always feel like there's always something better, even if you don't get what you want. I really believe that.

SPEAKER_07 46:59

Donna, I love that you're a trailblazer in that space that you know, you just said you're you're the token woman at Men's Health. Talk about that aspect of your career. Like, you know, was you know the rest of your colleagues embracing of you being, you know, as part of that that news and journalistic team, or were there some uphill battles that you had to climb that tenure uh at that publication?

SPEAKER_09 47:20

I was I replaced the first token woman.

SPEAKER_07 47:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 47:25

So she was I she was around, and there were other women in the book division, obviously. Um the the guys were wonderful to me, actually. They were really, really wonderful to me. Um, the best part about that job, aside um, all my jobs I've been very proud of because I've worked at magazines I respect, that are reliable, that are authoritative, you know, that have good information. And so um the best part about that job, though, was that I had to write as a man. So the all the books I wrote, you know, men's health, like I was writing in that men's health voice. And because I'm a writer, uh that was a challenging and it was super fun. Sometimes I wrote like as Donna Raskin female, but mostly I was writing as if I were a man. So and and here's a little funny story, again from the 90s. I wrote a book with others called Good Loving, which was I thought it was the men's health book about marriage, but all my colleagues, all my male colleagues would say, no, no, it's about sex.

SPEAKER_04 48:30

So there was the big difference.

SPEAKER_06 48:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:33

So Donna, you've you've mentioned working at Men's Health. You've also um worked at Shape, Self, Cook Light, Runner's World, and many other publications. Over the years, how has health and fitness in media evolved um over the decades?

SPEAKER_09 48:48

Oh,

Research First Fitness Advice

SPEAKER_09 48:49

it's evolved in many ways. First, I would say it is no longer about looks. I think it's about looks when you look at influencers and you're just looking at somebody who's like, you know, filming themselves in the gym. But the magazines and the books, I think mostly are about longevity. In the past, it wasn't really about longevity. It I mean, prevention was always about longevity, but other magazines were really about you know how you looked and fitness in that way. Although, although eventually, you know, eventually it was a lot about like heart disease. I mean, we've changed a lot of the information over the years, right? Like when I started, you know, everything was fat-free. And now we know that that did not work, you know. So, so there have been a lot of trends too. And I would say that another way it's changed is that it doesn't follow trends, except for again the influencers. But the magazines, the reliable information, uh, follow the research. The other thing I think I would say is that we now realize that really what keeps us healthy is relationships and love. And so it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you can do. I mean, it matters, but you know, in the end, what most studies have found is that you may be fit and you may have good heart health and everything. If you are lonely, it will be hard to overcome the loneliness. And there's and it's not about marriage or it's not about like one solution to loneliness. It's about friend. I mean, I think this is very much about Run Disney, right? It's about friendship, it's about having fun, it's about community, feeling like you belong. And so it's not whether you can win a marathon, it's not whether you can run a certain speed, it's whether you feel good when you do it.

SPEAKER_06 50:46

Run Disney may be the ultimate example of that. Yeah.

unknown 50:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:50

We'll get to that. We'll come back around to that, but you've kind of led me in a direction here. I I know you've got some coaching and fitness certification, but you you said you kind of use them primarily to become a better writer. Uh, tell us about that philosophy, how that works for you.

SPEAKER_09 51:05

I have had a lot of certifications over the years. Uh to become a good writer and to become a good editor, I have to know a little bit more than everybody else, including sometimes the writers, you know, because I have to know what questions to ask. And so um, I've gotten a lot of certifications over the years so that I understand what's underlying the advice that we're getting. And also so that when someone asks me a question in an article or here, like in an interview, I can answer it because I really know the research.

SPEAKER_06 51:42

Yeah. It also helps you understand their answers too, I would think. And to dig deeper when necessary.

SPEAKER_09 51:50

Right. It know it helps me know what questions to ask. Um, and and also to not to to question the bad advice. We all get very bad advice all the time, you know. And so I I I give it a lot. So, so I I mean the the thing, you know, it's funny about the giving advice. Like I am the person my friends call to ask, what should I do? You know, should I have this? Should I do this? And I always say, you know, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist. Here's what I know based on research. So I never just give my opinion, or I'll say, I actually don't know the answer to that.

SPEAKER_06 52:29

So do you see that and your your writing, your books and articles? Do you see that as a form of coaching?

SPEAKER_09 52:35

I see it as a form of teaching.

SPEAKER_06 52:37

Okay. Coaching to you. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_09 52:40

Teaching. I think the only reason I mean it is coaching, yes. And I know that people certainly look to runner's world as a coaching tool, you know. Um, but it's not personalized.

SPEAKER_08 52:54

So, Donna, over the years, have any of the readers of your articles or your books told you something that you wrote to change their running or fitness journey?

SPEAKER_09 53:04

Yes. I mean, we don't get I don't get a lot of um direct direct response now because people don't write letters anymore like what used to be. We get letters and more emails, but now uh we get a lot of responses on Instagram posts, or you know, and people, I'm sure you've seen this if you've looked at the Runners World Posts with me or my colleagues, people will say, Oh, this helped me so much, or um, this is how I feel. Like a bit a big part of my videos are often about my age. And so people will post their age underneath, you know, I'm 58 and I do this too. This is exactly how I feel, you know, because it's real representation to see someone who's 62 and a fitness editor who's not skinny and who clearly is not, you know, is I don't look like somebody who's running, you know, 40 miles a week or anything. I walk that much and I run a little bit, but I'm not, I'm not, you know, winning any races.

SPEAKER_04 54:11

What is one piece of running or fitness advice that has stood the test of time over the years?

SPEAKER_09 54:18

I think over the years, the advice that has stood the test of time is you need to move even more than you think you need to move.

SPEAKER_06 54:27

Amen.

SPEAKER_09 54:28

A hundred percent we know that now more than anything. Like movement is life. I think what has changed though, to add to that, is that we now know that it doesn't have to be always intense movement, it doesn't have to be a long amount of time. You can't, there's all kinds of ways to move, even doing something very slow like Tai Chi or Yoga, you know, all of those things really help. And a balance to me really helps. Now that's not necessarily going to make you a better runner, you know. Like if your goal is to win a half marathon, you know, cross-training has its place, but it's not the only thing to do. But if your goal is to be happy and live long longer and be healthy, then you want to cross-train.

SPEAKER_06 55:15

Yeah, there's a tagline. Uh, we had interviewed uh an author a while back, and one of his lines in his book was uh movement is everything, movement and relationships. And I think you uh are saying exactly the same thing, tying back into what you said earlier.

SPEAKER_07 55:31

All right, Don, let's move into the you know the the current part of your professional journey, and that is being the senior health and fitness editor at Runner's World. Tell us what does a typical day look like for you?

SPEAKER_09 55:44

A typical day is a very long commute into work.

SPEAKER_07 55:48

You are right.

SPEAKER_09 55:57

And I'm saying that because that's the one of the best parts of my day. And then I go to work and I um I used to assign a lot of stories, but now I do a lot of writing and I update stories, and so it's very desk bound, you know. Like many people, I'm at a desk, but I'm fortunate that where we work, we have standing desks, and so I'm always going up and down, sitting, standing, sitting, standing. And I work out during the day. We have treadmills in our office, so that's my work out. Yep. Oh, a lot of treadmills and and bicycle, because we're also bicycling magazine, and I do work with bicycling. I'm not a strong cyclist, so I don't really go out and do that, but um, yeah, so we have treadmills at work, so I run at work um during my lunch hour, and and you know, we're really encouraged to do all of those things. Like almost everybody is going out and um either riding or running. And also, you know, I also do a lot of research because one of my skills I think is coming up with story ideas. And so I need to think about what are people wondering? What's a question people have, what's something I can answer? I mean, you know, how much has been written about running? Everything, right? So I part of my job is to think of new things that people want to learn. Because the thing about people who are passionate about something is that there's they always want more. And runners are very passionate about running and their health. And so they just always want more.

SPEAKER_04 57:35

So, Donna, I'm curious. When you talk about the research that you're doing, is it coming from reading books, articles from other authors? Um, or is it coming from like actual research-based studies or just a combination of all of the above? It's all of the above.

SPEAKER_09 57:51

You know, I listen to a podcast, I I hear somebody say something, and I think, I wonder if that question has been answered scientifically or research-wise. Or I'm reading a book and I'm right now I'm rereading Des Linden's autobiography, which I've read before, and you know, she'll say something, and I think, oh, that would be a good thing to tell our readers a point that she makes. Um, I look at scientific research to see what studies have been done recently about VO2 max or you know, repain, and you know, I find something. And I there was just a big study that has not really quite been published yet about um this part of the body called I think the interstitium, which is sort of like fascia, but it's not fascia. You probably know all about this, Alicia, right? Because you're the nurse, right?

SPEAKER_04 58:46

Yes, I'm a nurse, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 58:49

So they're not sure what this stuff really does, right? This part of the body. And so I wrote to the scientist who did the study, and I said, Do you think this is why they don't have good research about foam rolling, but everybody loves foam foam rolling? And he said, Yes, but there isn't the research. So I can't write a story about it yet, right? Because I can't say, well, here's what we we right now, honestly, there's no good research on foam rolling, but everybody loves it.

SPEAKER_05 59:22

So I'm actually really curious, when you're developing the stories, do you work on multiple stories at once? Do you usually have a time frame, or do you let some of the bigger stories just kind of age and build itself up before you actually show it?

SPEAKER_09 59:38

All of those things are true. So I am somebody who can write very quickly, and so if something happens, like when Des, when Des, you know, ran the um Princess Half, um, I wrote that story very quickly, right? Because we didn't know she was gonna run, and you know, um, or unfortunately, when Jeff died, like I had information about that, and so I was able to write about that very quickly. Um, on the other hand, I did just interview somebody about a book he did um about it going fast as you get older. This man that I interviewed was is 82 and he's a uh cyclist and runner. Um, that's been sitting around. I interviewed him like a month ago, and I haven't done anything with it yet because it's not newsy, you know, it can last. So I have I have a lot of story. We all do. Everybody I work with has a lot of stories um in our content management system, and some are going fast and some are going slow. In general, I cover news though, I cover health and fitness. So unless it's newsy and it's something specifically related to me that I do, like Jeff, um, then I'm not covering it.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:57

I love that it's all fact-based because I feel like so much in social media, you don't know what to believe or not to believe, whether someone's just posting because they want a good viral hit for something that they didn't even research, probably. So it's always nice.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:09

I that's you should only believe if something if someone says, and here's the research that's been done.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:15

Yes, exactly. And I think that's why Runner's World is so highly looked upon. Right. Because they come with evidence. Yes, always.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:24

Now, Donna, I do have to ask though, when you wrote that story about Des that Princess, were you like in your like Disney resort room, like eating your plastic cheese while you were typing that story?

SPEAKER_09 1:01:34

I wasn't. Somebody else on staff was, but she did wasn't able to write the story. But I have been in that room on very nicely by Disney and by Runner's World. Um, but I didn't happen to go to that race. And what I'll tell you what happened though, you know, I heard about it, and so um I wrote the story and then I interviewed Des the next week, and so we added a couple of quotes into the story because you know, with the internet, like the stories are on there forever. Had we gone to print with that, um, that it wouldn't have happened that way, but we only print four times a year.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:18

Oh, okay. I actually I was kind of curious. So there still is a hard copy.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:24

Nobody reads magazines anymore.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:25

No, that's a fact.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:26

I do at the airport though, and at the grocery store when I'm waiting in line.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:33

Even when I hand magazines with my name in them to my family, they're like, Yeah, we we don't care. Oh I know, it's terrible, it's terrible, but it's just I don't use them anymore.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:44

No, no, it's a lost it's it's gone. It's gone. We can lament it. Yeah, we we'll get together, we'll have a beer, we'll talk about the days when we had new and newspapers anyway. All right, I'm I'm going down a rabbit hole here.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:58

Okay, so now we're gonna talk about Run Disney. How did you first get involved in the Run Disney events where you're a runner, or did they invite you here? How did you get involved?

SPEAKER_09 1:03:08

So back in I'm thinking it was

Run Disney Community Over Metrics

SPEAKER_09 1:03:11

2004, I was at Disney World with my whole family, and I very vividly remember thinking, oh my god, they should close this place so people could run through it. I had no idea they were already doing that. And never found out about it until 2016, when I randomly saw the course for the princess half and posted on my Facebook page. I'm no longer on Facebook, but posted then this is my bucket list dream is to run this race. And I started to train. Runner's World was six years into my future at that point. Yeah, six years into my future. Like I didn't get to go. I, you know, I had no idea. And fast forward, I get the job at Runner's World in 2024. We got an invitation. We didn't, we had kind of lost our relationship with Ren Disney. We used to have a pretty solid one, but because of the pandemic and everything, and because of being bought by Hearst, the relationship kind of fell apart. Jeff was no longer writing for us, and so we got a random invitation to go to Springtime Surprise, and I was like, I'll go, I'll go. I was so excited, but I had not trained, I was not that's why I ended up walking with Weston. One of the reasons, because I hadn't trained at all. So I went to Springtime Surprise, I was so excited. Um, and I did the 5k, ran my fastest 5k, like shot out of the gate, and then went to Animal Kingdom and walked like I don't even know, nine miles or some crazy nine miles. And the next day did the 10K and also like went too fast, and then it got chin slinse, something that never happens to me. And that was the night that um Disney World called me, Run Disney called and said, Oh, you can rate run with Weston Galloway tomorrow. And I was like, I can, I can barely move. And so he was kind enough to walk the whole 10 miles with me, which was he's a good guy, yeah. He was he's a great guy, but it was also fantastic because we got to talk about his dad and run walking and runner's world, like it really I was so grateful for that time, and I think he was too, although he was embarrassed that he had such a slow 10-mile time. Oh, I bet he wasn't. I heard Carissa teasing him about it once on her podcast, um, which I miss so much. I miss their podcast. Yeah, I really do, but anyway, so that's how I got into it, and then I got to go to um the Princess Marathon in 2025, or Princess Half Mat Weekend in 2025, which was Great, had a great time. And then this past year, I did the uh marathon weekend, but I got sick. Um, I was gonna do all the races, but one of my best friend, one of my best friends, um, her name's Susan, she came with me and she did the dopey challenge. So I uh I only did the 5k and the 10k. Oh wow, and that was a great weekend, and she was really happy. So I will be back. I hope. I never get in on I never get in on my own. I'm just telling you, I had my browser open yesterday for for the Princess Weekend 2027, and I did not get in.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:37

So I know. What surprised you about that event, that first event, that springtime surprise? Anything?

SPEAKER_09 1:06:43

Oh, everything, everything surprised me. I am not a competitive person, I do not like other races, and I am also I do I don't like crowds, and so I was a little worried about the corral and like just all the people, but who cares? Like the whole thing is so heartwarming, and um I just love that I saw so many different kinds of people. People, you know, I love Runners World. I'm so proud to work there, but you know, it's the magazine focuses on very traditional runners. I mean, not always, but it's had a long, a long history of focusing on very skilled runners, very fast runners, very accomplished runners. And at Run Disney, as you all know, you see runners and walkers and run walkers who you know they're so impressive just because they're doing it. People you wouldn't expect. I just find the whole thing like I could cry right now.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:44

No, you you nailed it. You see a more broad, diverse cross-section of athletes than I think you'll see at any other run. And I know I used to have these conversations with Jeff about how he always he he believed firmly that Run Disney may have been the single greatest force for improving the health of people in the country.

SPEAKER_09 1:08:07

I think that that's true. I really do. And and on the flip side, when Des Lyndon ran and won the Princess Half last year, that really validated it because it goes to show you that even though there's lots of people run walking and doing the best they can, you can also be a very, very accomplished runner and take part. And she had a great time.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:32

Donna, in your personal and journalistic opinion, what makes the Run Disney community unique or different than other running communities that you have experienced?

SPEAKER_09 1:08:43

Um, I I think it comes down to a folk a focus and a lack of focus on metrics. When you go to another race, most people want to know what was your time? How you know, how fast did you go? That is not a question I hear a lot of people talk about after a Disney race. Like, what are they talking about? Costumes, character stops, you know, the experience. And so I think it's the focus on having fun, but it's also the focus on other people, right? Like in most races, what you're focusing, what a runner is mostly focused on is their own performance. But at Run Disney, you're focused on everything you're seeing, which is not yourself, right? You're looking at other people and other things, and so I I think that's why I love it so much, and why everyone else loves it so much, which is why I can't get in.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:45

You think that's what keeps people coming back?

SPEAKER_09 1:09:47

Yeah, I think I think people who who feel like runners uh but who maybe don't look like runners feel accepted there, you know, and that can be because of age, it can be because of weight, it can be because of an infirmity, you know, it could all kinds of reasons.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:05

100% at your Run Disney races. Do you have a favorite Run Disney racer moment?

SPEAKER_09 1:10:12

Well, I'm gonna cry again. Um, you know, the thing that I couldn't wait to do was run through the castle, just like everybody else. And while I was running down Main Street, I kept thinking, I cannot believe that I am doing this and that I'm doing it with Runners World. Like it almost seemed un unbelievable, unbelievable, and that I was doing it at my age, and as not a kid, you know, it just all seemed completely remarkable, and so certainly going through the castle was amazing, you know. I mean, it just it just all felt extraordinary, but also bringing my friend there. I mean, I think the other thing that really meant a lot to me was bringing a friend who just who never thought she'd do the dopey challenge, um, but being able to bring her and um she had a great time, like that really meant a lot to me, um, to her. So that was great.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:13

So you kind of mentioned earlier on when you had um come for a Run Disney race that you ran the race and then you went to Animal King and you felt like you walked nine miles. So, how would you tell someone who may be going to do Run Disney for the first time or second time, how do you tell them how to balance such an event like this when it's such long distances, but you just want to have fun?

SPEAKER_09 1:11:37

How do you balance the fun and the distance? Yeah, and by the way, that time I went to Animal Kingdom, like I I still have all the photographs, like it was in a meeting because I got there by 8 a.m. Oh, so I got to see all the animals, like it was extraordinary. I mean, I was like this far from a rhinoceros, it was incredible. Um, so I don't tell people to I, you know, one of the good things about being a journalist is that you're not giving people the answer, uh, really, you know, you're trying to give people information. So what I say is, well, think about, you know, how are you going to feel the next day when you want when you have to run uh six miles, not to mention just getting to the corral, you know? Yeah, and and what what are you able to do? What will work for you? Because I think when you let people make the choice themselves, they are better able to if you just said to people, don't don't go to a park, don't walk around Epcot, they won't people don't like to listen to advice.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:45

Well, not like that, no, no, right, right.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:48

But if you say, you know, this will likely add nine miles to your day, and then the next day you're gonna get up at 3 a.m. or 2 a.m. and have to run, make a choice. Now, I'm gonna say that um, you know, I told my best friend Susan, who did the Adobe Challenge, I told her all of this. She didn't do a lot of extra walking, but she ran the 5K and the 10K without walk breaks, without walk intervals. And we all told her not to do that, you know, and she did it anyway, and she felt like they were kind of shakeout runs. And then she took walk intervals during the half and the full marathon, and it worked for her. She got a really good time.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:33

Donna, the one thing that I'm curious about is you've mentioned a couple of times during the course of this interview that you know you have been able to participate in these events either on the dime of Runner's World or have that invite from Run Disney. When you're participating in these events from a professional capacity, how does that experience differ from the common runner who's you know going hunger games at a registration and then waiting in long queues to get merch? And was there is there any difference? Like, do you get like is there like a special like press access area to like interviews of the the winners and such? What what is what is that experience like?

SPEAKER_09 1:14:13

There is that, and and if I didn't participate in the races, I could be in like one of the tents or I could be kind of hanging around at the finish line or something, but I have always participated in the races, and also I'm not covering it as news. So, like I've written about the balloon ladies, I've written about um different strategies to do the races, and so I'm not really covering it as a journalist covering the event itself in that way. Um when I am gonna say though, Disney treats me very well, my company treats me very well, and and and I am very appreciative of that. And sometimes they do have special events, but I still stand in line for my bib and for my merch um

Running Over 60 And Staying Young

SPEAKER_09 1:15:03

and all of that stuff.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:05

I'm gonna move into an area near and dear to my heart. And although you're just a kid, Donna, I would like your professional opinion on the biggest benefits for us of continuing to run as we age.

SPEAKER_09 1:15:19

I think the biggest benefit is feeling young. Like it's not so much that I care about how fast I'm going or what races I take part in, but that I feel young because I'm still doing it, you know. But I don't say to myself, I can't do this anymore because I'm 62. And frequently, uh, if I ask people like, do you run? They might say, Oh, I did when I was younger, but I this just happened literally like two hours ago. I said to one of my neighbors, do you run? And he said, Well, I used to. And I think that many people give up running for no real reason.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:02

I agree.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:02

I agree, because they think they're 40 and they shouldn't run anymore, or because they, or something hurts, and instead of like figuring it out and managing it, maybe going to run walk, maybe slowing down, maybe all they're all the solutions that we know about, they just stop. And that stopping is an avalanche of bad decisions.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:28

Yeah. That that is an interesting take on that. I was expecting to hear, oh, you have this physiology that, but that that whole idea of keeping keeping young, an interesting observation. Thanks.

SPEAKER_09 1:16:42

Well, physiologically, it is good for you. But so are a lot of things. So are a lot of things. Like you could be swimming, you could be cycling, you could be, you know, doing yoga. Like any activity is good for you. But it's but I think running actually very particularly makes us feel really good about ourselves, even if we're only doing it for short bits of time.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:02

Donna, I find it really fascinating that you brought up that people just kind of decide to quit. I had a coworker tell me she used to run for years and now she's in her 70s, and she just decided one day, well, I'm just going to be done running because why would I keep doing it? And I'm like, well, why wouldn't you keep doing it? And I was reading an article today about how we should keep running if we're able to, because there's beneficial. Um, I'm curious to know what does the science tell us about staying active later in life?

SPEAKER_09 1:17:32

The science absolutely says that most aches and pains are due to inactivity, not to overuse. And in fact, a doctor I interviewed said that if a if a doctor ever tells you your knee hurts or your hip hurts, your shoulder hurts because you're old or because it's overuse, go see a different doctor. Because there's no that's those are not diagnoses. Overuse is not a diagnosis. Old is not a diagnosis, right? It's just a thing. It's just, you know. Um, so and it's likely that when you let's say you have an I have I have knee pain a lot. Let's say you have knee pain. It's likely that my knee pain is caused by something other than the running. It may be caused by the fact that I'm in my car three hours a day, or that I sit the other hours of the day. Do you know what I'm saying? So people people jump to the conclusion that I have pain because I'm active, when it is more likely that you have pain because you're not active. And so the biggest benefit is that it's probably keeping away the pain. The other thing is that the more active you are, the more independent you are. So when you when you see older people like be unable to go somewhere by themselves or unable to live by themselves, it's frequently because there's something in their in their body that where they feel like they might fall or maybe they really will fall. But if you stay active, those things are less likely to happen.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:11

Move it or lose it. That's what we always say in healthcare.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:15

It's true. So, what is something you've truly accomplished as a runner in recent years that makes you the most proud?

SPEAKER_09 1:19:23

What makes me the most proud is even though I have knee pain and even though I got sick over the marathon weekend and I was so heartbroken that I couldn't do the half and the marathon, I am training again, that I am not giving up. That is the thing I'm the most proud of. And and I'm also proud of the fact that often when I tell people I run, they I do get that look like, really, you're a runner, you know, and I because of my age, because of my weight, and I kind of feel like just saying that to people is so brave because you know, we we live in a world where we are judged by our looks a lot, a lot of times. And so it's important to give people the message that you know you may be looking at a runner, even if you don't think you're looking at a runner.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:15

It's stinking cool, Donna. That's what it is. It's yeah, I got another word for it, but I'm gonna let go. Uh, this has been fun. Hey, let's wrap it up. We like to do this. I think you will enjoy this especially. Let's wrap this up with some rapid fire questions. You ready? Jack, kick us off.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:33

All right, first up, ready to go. Favorite race distance? Probably a half.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:39

Yes, I really enjoy that. Good answer. Challenge for me. I've never done a marathon. I am aiming to try a marathon. Not sure I'll be able to do it.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:50

But you will you'll do it.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:52

Oh, yeah, you can.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:53

No question.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:54

All right, next one, Donna. Morning run or evening run?

SPEAKER_09 1:20:57

Both. I do both. I will not choose. I I'm serious. I am outside my door every morning at 6 a.m. and I am outside my door every night at 6 p.m. Wow, I love that. I have a 60-pound hound dog, and you know, she needs a lot of movement, and so I do both, and I believe in a lot of activity.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:21

Favorite post-run tree.

SPEAKER_09 1:21:23

Well, not that cheese.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:25

Come on.

SPEAKER_09 1:21:27

I do not eat that, nor do I eat any kind of chips or anything.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:31

All right, look for many, just give them to me, okay?

SPEAKER_09 1:21:33

I am really like that box after after the races, like, I just do not understand the box. So a banana. Really, like every every race. I'm like, what is it with this stuff? It's terrible.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:48

I don't really like the box either, Donna.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:50

All right, young lady and more coffee. More coffee, I'll work with that. That'll work.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:56

Okay, Donna, one running book every runner should read.

SPEAKER_09 1:22:00

Oh my god, there's so many. Um, definitely Lauren Fleshman's Good for a Girl, which really is very fact-based and it's an amazing story. Cara Goucher's autobiography about taking on Nike, well worth it. Yeah, those are the two I would recommend the most. Most underrated piece of running gear. Well, since I've never gotten a free vest and I've wanted one and still do not have one, I'm gonna say a vest with those water things coming out of them.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:22:34

Um, so yeah, I would say I don't really get that. I also would say, I mean, some of my colleagues would really hate this, but I am not a big fan of super shoes or carbon-plated shoes. Okay. Um I think unless you are really fast, those shoes are probably doing more harm than good. I am not a shoe expert. We have shoe experts on staff, but I'm gonna say those shoes as well.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:02

I think you're right.

SPEAKER_09 1:23:03

Favorite Disney park to run through. Oh, it's really tough. I in all honesty, I the going through the castle was like, you know, so emotional for me, but I did not know that um I would end up going through Toy Storyland and Star Wars. Like that was a surprise to me because I hadn't been to Disney since those things were created, and I was overwhelmed with excitement when I because I literally came upon them in as a surprise. I'm not even a Star Wars port person, but it was amazing. It was amazing. Oh, it is so I've got to say Toy Storyland and Star Wars, so um Hollywood Studios.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:48

One word to describe the Run Disney community.

SPEAKER_09 1:23:52

I I guess I would say loving.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:54

Good one, and I'm gonna wrap it up with this one. They saved this one for me. One piece of advice for runners over 60.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:02

Don't push yourself, but appreciate what you can do.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:07

Beautifully said, my friend. Thank you. I agree completely. Hey, it has been fun, Donna. Thanks for joining us. I hope you had as much fun as we did.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:17

I absolutely did, and I'm so honored. Thank you for asking me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:22

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

Zoom Invite And Race Report Setup

SPEAKER_06 1:24:27

Hey, it was a good time talking with Donna. I appreciate it. And uh she is a she is an avid rising runner. So you see her out on the course, say hi. Hey, it's a Zoom Thursday, friends. Instructions for logging in will be on the Facebook page. We can uh we can talk about we can talk about princess registration. We can talk about every whatever you'd like to, though. I I have a feeling that'll be a big topic of conversation this Thursday. Look forward to seeing you there. If you're new to it, drop by. It's a lot of fun. We just talk. We're normally there. We kick off at 8, and we're normally there till sometime after 9. If we get going much past 9.30, I cut it off because it's I'm old and it's my bedtime. So all right. And now please stand clear of the door. It's time for a race report. The race report is sponsored by a friend Tom Stokes of Stoked Metabolic Training. Stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching for more information. Uh hey friends, how are we doing on Tom's challenge? I know some of you are doing it.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:46

I've been enjoying it. It's been lovely.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:49

I have not been able to get involved. I I very much want to, Tom. I really do. I need to get in touch with you. I really want to, but I have not. I just have not been able to do it. Uh it's important. I want to try. Uh how's it going for the rest of you?

SPEAKER_04 1:26:04

It's going well for me. I I have to be very mindful of the strength just because I have the lower back problems and all the aches and pains that I've had previously. Um, but I'm able to do some stuff and I'm really proud of what I've been able to accomplish so far.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:22

Yep, me too. I'm doing really good. Uh I put my ego aside, you know. Yeah, you gotta do that, John. I'm not not 25 anymore.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:31

You gotta do, that's right.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:32

Yeah, so um going a little lighter weights than I would have done before. Uh, and I think some of the actu different leg exercises, the lower body exercises, have really helped because uh I don't want to say it, but some body parts aren't hurting as much.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:48

There you go. Outstanding. Good good news, good report. Glad to hear it. Uh, a couple of notes here before we get into the week's report. Uh, several of you have noticed that we keep the race report file on the Facebook page, it's pinned to the featured section. Google has done something to change access to the report. I really don't quite understand what it is. I get a note saying this this report looks suspicious, and if you want Google to analyze it, so I've checked the button asking for them to take a look at it, but right now I'm having a heck of a time giving anybody else authorization to enter into the report. So for the time being, if you want to put your races in your comments in the race report section, I will add them for you. Hopefully, we'll be able to get this straightened out here in the coming weeks. I also want to remind our friends that uh our buddy Andrew, the puppet runner, has his virtual run. That's still up and available for you. And two good pieces of news. Number one, it's free. And number two, uh you don't have to wait in line. To register, it's easy to get in. Yeah. I did. I entered, I think. I did it too. I did the five minute 10K. Yeah, yeah. That's good. Well, let's go to Wednesday for the International Pediatric Radio Radiology Congress, SPR Research and Education Foundation Fun Run. With a name like that, I mean, how can it be fun? It was up in Boston, and our friend Divi is there. Dibby is uh at a conference, I assume, uh said it started about 545 up in Boston. Run Disney prepares her well for that. It's a two-looper through the Boston Commons, nice area. Option to repeat as many times as they wanted. Most folks stopped after one. A couple of them hung around and did a bit more. Some stopped at 5K. And ultimately, Dibia and one other person were the last people standing. They stopped after four miles. So there you go. You want me to read the name of the race again? No, I don't think I could. Let's move on to Saturday and Ocotomawaka, Wisconsin. What a great name for it. I love saying that. That's a great book. Where Amy ran the Yellow Brick Road 5K.

Yellow Brick Road 5K Spotlight

SPEAKER_06 1:29:25

And Amy's joining us this evening in the race report spotlight to tell us all about it. Hiya, Amy. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:29:32

Hello.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:34

We're glad to have you here. The Yellow Brick Road 5K. I'm going to guess that might have something to do with the movie The Wizard of Oz.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:43

Yes. The town of Oconomoc, I found out from a coworker who grew up there, was one of the first host cities to show the movie in 1939. I guess the theater that it was held in is no longer there, but they've got kind of a specialized area in their downtown where they've got like the the um statues of the characters from the Wizard of Oz.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:09

Ah, cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:09

And the ground is painted and yellow brick, like a yellow brick road. And um there's kind of some murals on the sides of the building that have um that kind of look like the the land of Oz.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:21

Neat.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:22

And um it's it's pretty neat.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:24

So you're not in Kansas anymore, you're in Wisconsin.

unknown 1:30:27

No.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:28

I thought you were gonna tell me that the theater wasn't there anymore because it got blown away in a tornado.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:34

It got blown away, no.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:36

Uh no. Okay, that would have been good. Hey, here John and I were talking about this before you came on. Trivia question. 1939, Wizard of Oz. My dad's favorite movie, by the way. Dad was 11 or 12 when that movie came out. And uh we used to have to watch it. It used to show on back in the days when there was only three channels on TV, and my goodness, I'm aging myself. So I'm gonna I'm gonna go through this quickly. Uh, Wizard of Oz would play right around Easter every time, and we'd have to watch it every year. Uh but 1939, Wizard of Oz was nominated for, but did not win Motion Picture of the Year. My trivia question is do you know what did?

SPEAKER_02 1:31:17

Was it gone with the wind?

SPEAKER_06 1:31:19

At a girl. Yes, it was. Good for you. I'm that's the yay. Let's see. There you go. Awesome. 1939 Goldwin won the motion picture of the year. Well, all right, that was fun. Okay, all right, okay, crowd. Okay, that's enough. Um, hey, Amy, how did you get started running?

SPEAKER_02 1:31:44

You know, I ran high school track and I absolutely hated it. So I kind of I didn't do much, you know, obviously um into college, but when I got into my 30s, I kind of just felt like I needed to do something more besides cart my children around to soccer games and and I needed to do something for myself. So probably when I was a little bit closer to 40, I started doing local races, 5K's, 10K's, half. Um, I did my first Disney race in 2011. I did um half marathon. And then um I did it, let's see, marathon weekend. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:27

Marathon weekend, okay, sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:29

Yeah. And then um then I didn't do anything again for like another 10 years with with Disney anyway. And I started doing the the wine and dine races in 2021. So um kind of took off from there.

SPEAKER_08 1:32:44

Yeah. Well, great. We all know Wizard of Oz is based in Kansas, but it starts in I I ain't gonna pronounce it because I'm gonna get it wrong. So but now I'm picturing start line. Has to be a yellow brick road?

SPEAKER_02 1:32:59

It was near the yellow brick road that they have painted, but it's just pretty much their downtown main drag street. And then um you follow it along, got go past a couple pretty lakes and some nice homes and through a neighborhood and back back down through the um main street again.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:19

Nice. This was a 5k yeah, I said that earlier.

SPEAKER_08 1:33:24

Yeah, any other Wizard of Oz themes on the course or just at the area where we're at the There were some people that were dressed up.

SPEAKER_02 1:33:33

There was uh a kid that was carrying a big lollipop for the lollipop. Um a couple people were dressed like the lion. Um other than that, everybody some people had t-shirts, you know, with maybe a Wizard of Oz theme on it or something, but a lot of the little kids, they have a little kids' race ahead of it of that, and they were some little kids were dressed up too, and that's kind of fun. It's only kind of like a down and back race for them, so it's not very far, but they all get medals and everybody was having fun.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:06

Little munchkins out on the course.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:08

Yes, little munchkins.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:09

I love it. How'd you do, Amy?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:11

I actually placed um fifth out of 13th in the 55 to 59 category for the ladies.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:20

Outstanding. Now that's wonderful. That's outstanding on its surf on its face, but this was a special event for you. Tell us why.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:32

I um

Cancer Free And Back Racing

SPEAKER_02 1:34:33

just finished six rounds of chemotherapy for uh stage one ovarian cancer. And um I actually started doing some running during my chemotherapy treatments just because I was so used to doing it and I needed to get out something to to make me feel good. And um, so I just kept doing it and I thought, well, this local, this local race was coming up, and um I thought, well, I can do a 5K. That that's that's not gonna be a problem. If I have to walk, I'll walk.

SPEAKER_13 1:35:03

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:03

But I ran most of it and I'd stop and do my little walking sessions and I'd start running again, and and I felt really good. You know, that's wonderful. Um, I found out last week that my CT scan was clear and I am cancer free.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:18

Golly, that's great. We're so happy to hear that. That's wonderful news. Um yeah, I we have so many stories and so many friends who have suffered through things like this and and courageously fought through them and come back and continue to run. And I find it highly motivational. We're I'd say we're proud of you. We are. We are proud of you. We're thank you. We're happy for you, but I just it it takes something special to say. Not only am I not giving up, by golly, I ain't gonna quit what I love to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:56

Good for you, good for you, Amy. And and again, congratulations. Now, what's on the horizon? What's coming up next for you?

SPEAKER_02 1:36:02

Um, let's see. I am doing a couple races in the fall here, um, a 10K and a 5K, actually on the same day, two different events, but um, but I am I'll be down for the um wine and dine. I'm doing all three races. Great, and then I am doing after I told myself doing Dopey once, I was never gonna do it again, signed up for number two, and I'll be doing that marathon weekend.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:28

Okay. Well, outstanding. I know what I know I know what that's like. Yeah. I know I I held to it the last time I said I'm not doing it again. I haven't done it since. We'll see. But up to now, up to now I've I've held firm. But that's great. So we'll see you in October.

SPEAKER_10 1:36:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:47

And once again, we're happy for you. Congratulations. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:53

Well, thank you for having me.

Race Report Roundup And Good News

SPEAKER_06 1:36:55

And that is life in Oconomawak, Wisconsin, and the Yellow Brick Road. So there you go. That's a good one. Uh, let's go to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where Joe did the run for the girls 5K. No age groups at this race for the amigos. Boo. Halfway through the race, the downpour arrived. Uh still some good. The Linnum Farm BlackBerries were there at the farmers market. I assume that's a local thing, and I'm sure it was good. Kaylee, who was one of our superstars at the uh, I think it was this, Cayley, at the at the uh Zoom for helping other people register, did the Bex 5K run walk in Atlanta, Indiana. Who knew there was an Atlanta, Indiana? I didn't, but apparently there is. First race she's done. Now this ties right back to our friend Amy in Economawak. This is Kaylee's first race since the event last year. She's been on a cancer misadventure, including a lung wedge resection and one chemo session before a second opinion came back that she probably didn't need the chemo after all. So she got a port taking that a few weeks ago. She's running a little bit, signed up to walk this one. Glad she did because the wind was pretty intense, kind of tough. Uh she had to leave before they did the charity check presentation, but this year the money was for food banks, and they typically raise over $50,000. And as I read that, I think this is a different Cayley than the one who was on our uh Zoom call. In New Jersey on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. Oldest boardwalk in the country, Atlantic City, and largest in the world now. Uh five-mile run, Michael and Terry did it. Nice flat run on the boardwalk. Got a little warm, especially on the back half. Of course, there's no shade on the boardwalk, uh, but they still stuck it out. That sounds like a fun event. Running on the boardwalk. Sounds neat. I was a kid.

SPEAKER_08 1:39:00

It's weird, Bob. It's weird. Yeah, is it?

SPEAKER_05 1:39:02

Why?

SPEAKER_08 1:39:03

Because, you know, you get the vi like because you're running on wood. Your rebound's a little different. Yeah, but I can't. It's weird. Like you get a little weirdness on the uh like I said, the rebounds. Like, but some of the when you hit a loose board, it's like, woo. Oh, that's different, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:39:20

Yeah. Our buddy Matthew was in Portland, Maine for the old Port Half Marathon. Morgan and her husband Jared did the big kahuna 10K at Cook's Landing Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. They PR'd their time goal in preparation for the 2027 Princess Half Marathon, which I hope they got in. I do not know. Our friend Jody from the Disney with the Ducks podcast was in Cincinnati for the Red Legs 10K. It was her uh her first running race post. She had surgery for her hamstring. Actually, she had a couple surgeries. I've had some hamstring injuries, kids. I've had some significant hamstring injuries. I've never had one where they had to operate and reattach the uh what is the hamstring? It uh ligament or uh I'm not sure. But that's a big deal. They told her the recovery would be a year, but it's only been nine months since the surgery, so she's doing very well. I didn't realize that she had also fallen and broken her jaw. So uh she's coming back strong. Jody, we're glad for you. She's so happy that she's gonna be.

SPEAKER_07 1:40:31

We're so happy that you're on the road to recovery here. I was so excited to read your report.

SPEAKER_06 1:40:34

Now she's going to wine and dine, that's good. And 10K and a half at Marathon Weekend. Uh not only did she come back for this one, the 10K, she ran a proof-of-time pace. Pretty impressive. In Central Park in New York, it was hot and humid for this women's only New York Roadrunners MasterCard New York Mini 10K. Several runners there. Jen was there. Uh fun scenic start to run down Central Park with a little more than 10,000 women in this race. Uh hills were a challenge, wasn't any shade, but Jen got it done. Loves the metal design this year. She somehow ended up with a very Princess Diaries look for the race. Highly recommend running with a tiara. Now she's going to rest up because she will be back on the report tomorrow. Uh, Jen and Grace were also there, as was Divya, who was in Boston on Wednesday and in New York on Sunday. Also mentions it's hot, it was crowded, she forgot to bring breakfast and eat it beforehand. And nice race. Everybody got flowers at the end.

SPEAKER_13 1:41:42

Aww.

SPEAKER_06 1:41:43

Yeah. Started out a bit later than she was supposed to because she stopped to help someone with a medical emergency right at the entrance to the corral. Dibya, as I mentioned earlier, is a physician. People were lining up at the crowd, which definitely added a few minutes to her time. Overall, still enjoyable, and she had a good race. All right, this happens from time to time when we get a big race report. I don't realize that I've got the same race listed twice. And sometimes it's because Friends you listed as a different name. I had the Atlantic City Boardwalk run. Now I've got the Bungalow Beach Boardwalk Five Miler in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They got to be the same race. Pete was there, loves the race. Summer starts to hit New Jersey. It's flat, of course. Short beach finish on this one. And free beer afterwards. Can't beat that. Michael and Terry. I already read Michael and Terry were there. Danielle was there. Ran this for the fifth time. Danielle finished age group third. Also mentioned it was hot, but she managed to push through it. All right, that happened sometime. Sorry if I confused you. Let's go to Houston for the Houston Running Company Lemonade Dash. Jennifer ran the 10K with her husband Steve, who did the 5K. Warman Muggy and Houston stuck to, Jen stuck to 30-30 intervals, finished sixth in her age group. Steve, her husband, finished fourth in his age group for the 5K. Of course, there's a double loop for the 10K. That's okay. It tests that mental toughness. Let's go to Glen Rose, Texas, Dinosaur Valley State Park out there for the Dino Stomp Out Kids Cancer 5K trail run. Rachel and her family did this one. First ever trail race as a family. Fundraiser to benefit children battling cancer in honor of a little girl named Brooke who battled stage four neuroblastoma cancer for five of her short eight years of life. Brooke was a dinosaur fanatic, also deeply cared about helping other kids with cancer. So this park was the perfect place to honor her. Of course it was an out and back with some hills, some rocks, some wildlife, but no dinosaurs. Hmm, surprisingly. Rachel's son Caleb left them in the dust before mile one. Rachel and Monty, her husband, used some intervals throughout the race. At about mile two, Monty turned on the jets. Rachel continued race to the finish with the words, We're not gonna make it, echoing in her head. Appropriate. All three of them finish with PRs and age group first place finishes. Wow, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_07 1:44:34

Way to go. Rachel's got that patented uh final kick, and I think she just employed it for the entire race. So I guess. Well, way to go, Scott family. Way to go.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:43

Congrats, guys.

SPEAKER_06 1:44:45

Got that motivation, right? We're not gonna make it.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:47

We're not gonna make it.

SPEAKER_06 1:44:48

I love it. You're bringing up a bad topic, Bob. I know. All right, let's move on. Let's go to Salem, Oregon for the wicked wine run in Salem, Oregon at the Left Coast Winery. Rebecca with her husband, after 26 years of marriage, their first 5K together. They walked the entire way, then enjoyed a glass of wine at the finish line. Uh Rebecca was wearing a Run Disney shirt and a tutu. Her husband had dressed for the rain that, if the pictures are any indication, never came. In Johnstown, Ohio, uh the Mastodon March 5K Kayla did it. Race was flat, mix of shade and sun on the road, but the community breakfast after the race was excellent. It was the Baltimore 10 Minor this weekend. Lori did it. The motto that they have on the medals, and I think for the race, you too can do it. The toucan bird was a symbol for the race and on the medal. So okay. You can't you toucan do it, but Lori adds you might not want to, because it was hot, it was hilly, mostly in direct sunlight, but she got it done. In Canal Fulton, Ohio, the Eagle Up Ultra 25K with five extra miles thrown in. Lori did that. Lori says this is one of the largest 24-hour events uh held worldwide. So Laurie ended up with a new distance PR. It's a five-mile loop along Towpath and Butternut Trail. There's aid stations at the start, so every five miles you could get food, and they had water available every one mile. So congratulations on that one, Lori. Out to Provo, Utah, the Utah Valley Marathon. Sarah's sister, Emily, a rise and run member without Facebook. Emily doesn't have a Facebook page, so Sarah posted this for her. Thanks for doing that, Sarah. This is a picturesque event. Starts out in the mountain farmlands, winds its way down a canyon to Provo. Crowd support a little light till the end. Mountains, river, water, and waterfalls were motivation to keep moving forward. Beautiful area. Plenty of fresh fruit and fuel for the runners. Ended up being warm, but Emily managed to sneak through the finish line in just under four hours for a marathon. Thanks again, Sarah, for making that post and congratulations, Emily, on that fine effort. And our friend Brandy, who introduced this episode, was on one of the vacation races, the Grand Teton half marathon in Wyoming. Ten out of ten stars, says Brandon. An amazing course, perfect weather. It was actually cold at the beginning. Beautiful metal, well organized. She's signing up for more of these vacation races events. She got a balloon lady picture and maybe the best on-course dog picture she's ever had. Nice job. Congratulations. That's Saturday. Let's look at Sunday, the Covered Bridges Half Marathon at Quiche, Vermont. Jake and his son Avery did it. Jake says the race starts at Palmfrit, Vermont, because he didn't think St. Quiche was hard enough. He had to throw in Palmfrit. About 2,500 runners. This thing always sells out within minutes. Mostly flat, a few rolling hills, and one big hill around mile nine. He took this one, Jake did, his second half marathon in a week, kind of easy. Was happy how he was able to keep his heart rate down and lock in to a reasonable pace. Christy was also there for this beautiful race. You take in the nature without with the running trails, a well-run race with views that she won't forget. That's half marathon number 10 for Christy. In Ithaca, New York, the Ithaca Gorges Half Marathon. Alicia signed up for this one with hopes of snagging a run Disney proof of time. Beautiful race. About four miles on road, about eight miles on packed gravel, and the final mile on a sidewalk along Cayuga Lake Inlet, all with a net downhill. Again, waterfalls, gorges, farmland. Around mile four or five, she was averaging a low 11-minute pace, which was a little slower than what she needed. But the back half of the race, she made a point to stick to her strategy, started picking up time, and ultimately crossed the finish line in 218, not only a half marathon PR by about 34 minutes, but a POT for January. That is impressive. 34 minutes in a marathon. Not quite three minutes a mile, but close to it. In Montclair, New Jersey, Jen did her second race of the week, as we talked about earlier, the 43rd annual Montclair Run 10K. The start was only five minutes from her house, and she got to run through some areas that she usually trains in. That's kind of neat. She ran with two friends. They were excited. They're going to pace her for an hour or under in this 10K. About mile five, getting close to it. She realized she was going to be close. But after a water stop, they noticed a runner who was struggling, realized that runner was having a medical emergency. So they stayed with her, took care of her till the EMTs arrived. No PR for Jen, but grateful and that she could provide help for someone who needed. In Orlando, Florida, the annual community rainbow run. Christian did this one, second time running this one, this Pride Month and Pulse Nightclub Memorial Event. A lot of community support on the back half of the course, especially running through a residential area. People had their lawns decorated, they were out cheering. Some were even standing on the side of the road handing out water, power aid, candy, all that good stuff. This is a favor for Christian. He intends to run it again. Vanessa and Lace were at the Great Ferry Race Half-Marathon out in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The ferry ride might have been the easiest part of the day. Bainbridge Island Hills are no joke. Lace says the incredibly steep run, steep uphill between mile eight and nine really put the FU in fun. Wow. What does she mean by that? I don't know. Alright, I'm gonna keep reading. Okay, I'm gonna keep moving. Great support for this race. Uh Vanessa says her mistake was not wearing trail shoes. Trail sections, a lot of roots, uneven footing. Kept her from paying attention because she was always looking down, I'm sure. But the trails are beautiful. Running through the forest, surrounded by ferns and moss, sun occasionally peaking through the trees. Quintessentially Pacific Northeast.

SPEAKER_07 1:52:07

I I love seeing race reports like this because I feel like this is a relationship between Lace and Vanessa that has gone formed because of Rise and Run. I know they did that uh that Ragnar you know relay together, you know, a couple of months back. So again, it just goes to show how amazing this community is.

SPEAKER_06 1:52:22

Oh, I agree, Greg. I agree. I I was thinking that too as I read it and as I saw the two reports. Good stuff. Let's go back to Jersey, the Oceanport, New Jersey, specifically for the big steps for Little Feet 5K. Kelly with her husband Bob, the race benefits the NICU at her hospital. And it's so sweet to see all the NICU graduates on the course. It was hot, but everybody did well. The course is great, took past the new sound stages being built by Netflix at Fort Monmouth. Yeah, I was wondering about that. I think uh not I don't think they're for anything specific right now. I think it's just that Netflix is opening up a new big soundstage area there. Kylie and her mom are in Sacramento for the Kaiser Permanente Women's Fitness Festival. Kylie was inspired by all the amazing race day hair from the races, so she decided to do it herself, represent some Disney magic out there on the course. Glad to have her mom with her doing the 5K. That's terrific. Had a time goal in mind, but didn't make it. She was uh happy just to be out there, be healthy, and having a good time. Great day running with friends. In Worcester, Massachusetts. No, no reaction here. Um there are a bunch of people in New England now going, no, Bob, it's Worcester. Okay.

SPEAKER_07 1:53:46

I was gonna say Allie's Allie's gonna correct you.

SPEAKER_06 1:53:49

It's Worcester, I know it is. Worcester Firefighters 6K, Sarah did it. Race honors the memory of the Worcester 6 who lost their lives in a fire in December of 1999, as well as other firefighters lost in the line of duty since. Uh this year marks the race's 25th running. Sarah ran this one with her husband, a firefighter, proudly representing the city. Her mom, Judy, another member of the Rise and Run family, by the way. Hi, Judy. And Judy's husband running at age 73. God bless you, Judy's husband, somebody older than me. I love it. I'm glad to see that you're all out there. That's exciting. Fantastic. Great race, great cause, great people, great job, everybody. Zach was in Savannah, New York for the Montezuma Festival of Races half marathon. This race was in a wildlife sanctuary. Temperatures were in the 60s. Zach finished in two hours and eight minutes, four minutes faster than when he did it a couple years ago. All right, let's wrap up the race report in New York for the Law Enforcement Torch Run Special Olympics event. Richie did this one. I've got it here on Sunday, but John tells me he thinks it was probably on Friday, John.

SPEAKER_08 1:55:02

Yeah, because uh we our our department ran uh Thurs on theirs on Friday. Uh and I think a lot of other departments did it also uh in the area.

SPEAKER_06 1:55:11

So I think chances are good you're right. But uh Richie says it's a 4.3 mile event, point to point, where they carry the flame of hope, probably Olympic torch style, and then pass it off to the next group. So I suspect you're right, John. It probably was an event that went all around in the uh North Jersey and New York City area. But glad you were part of it, Richie. Glad you told us about it. Congratulations. And there we have it, friends.

Final Thoughts And Happy Running

SPEAKER_06 1:55:40

That does it. The race report for episode 246 of the Rise and Run Podcast. Friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Rise and Run Podcast. Gosh, I hope you got in for Princess if you were trying. And if you didn't, I hope you make it later somehow, somehow. Because you know we're always looking forward to seeing you at those Run Disney events. But until then, happy running.

SPEAKER_07 1:56:21

The Rising Run podcast discusses general information about Run Disney and is in no way affiliated with Run Disney. It is always considered helpful.