249: Alan Asks...Why Did You Start Running?

The reason you started running is probably not the reason you keep running, and that’s the point. We open with a simple community question from our friend Alan, then hand the mic to friends whose answers stretch from “I’ve never been an athlete” to “running became my only quiet place.” You’ll hear how stress, family health scares, grief, postpartum life, and plain old curiosity can turn into a steady running habit and a stronger sense of self.

We also get practical about summer training when the weather stops cooperating. We talk dew point, humidity, pacing, hydration, electrolytes, treadmills, and the mental game of making smart adjustments so you stay healthy enough to reach the starting line. There’s also a useful health sidebar on the cardiac calcium screen and why some runners consider it for peace of mind.

Then we hit the runDisney news and community buzz: Springtime Surprise registration and the messy feelings around Perfect status communication, plus a marathon playlist update and a corral prediction data project. We wrap with race reports, including a standout spotlight from Alicia on the Leadville Heavy Half, a brutal and beautiful 15.5-mile mountain race topping out at 13,185 feet, and a powerful moment of running in someone’s memory.

If this one resonates, subscribe for more, share it with a running friend, and leave a review. What’s your running “why” right now?

Rise and Run Links
Rise and Run Podcast Facebook Page
Rise and Run Podcast Instagram
Rise and Run Podcast Website and Shop
Rise and Run Patreon
Runningwithalysha Alysha’s Run Coaching (Mention Rise And Run and get $10 off)
Johns Fundraising Link For The Special Forces Foundation 

Transcript

Joke And Full House Welcome

SPEAKER_18 0:45

Good morning, Rise and Run family. It's your friend Mary from North Carolina. I hope y'all are having a great run. And I got a joke to start your day off is what kind of car does Luke Skywalker drive? I think he drives a Toyota. Have a great run, everybody. Happy running.

SPEAKER_14 1:02

Well, thank you, Mary. Thank you for that introduction. John, what'd you think of that joke? I think they got it at the Dagobah Auto Squad. That's right. The Dagaba Auto Auto with the Auto, what do you call store? I don't know. But I I like the answer. I like the answer. But that's good. That was fun. Thank you, Mary. Hey, look, welcome, my friends. Welcome to episode 249 of the Rise and Run podcast. We're glad you're here. I'm Bob, and this week I'm here with Jack.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Hiya.

SPEAKER_14 1:31

With John. Hey, how you doing? With Alicia.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Hello.

SPEAKER_14 1:35

And with Greg. Hey, hey, hey. Full house, good to see you all. I get myself confused when I try to add lib on the uh intro and forget to introduce everybody. So anyway, we're

The Big Question Behind Your Miles

SPEAKER_14 1:50

glad you're here. Hey, this week, this week's episode, this week's episode is all about you, really, and why. And why you got started running. And we've asked some friends to join us and share that answer. Our buddy Alan posted that question to Facebook and got a huge response. So we picked some folks at random. And hopefully, hopefully, you can identify with their stories, and maybe they represent some of your why also. In the spotlight, I think this is interesting because just last week we were talking with Coach Chris Twiggs. We talked with him about the Hard Rock 100. We mentioned the Leadville Marathon in there, and by golly, Alicia, not Alicia with a why, Alicia with an I, ran the Leadville. They call it the heavy half, and she'll explain to us what that is.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

If you 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 Run Podcast and Instagram at Rise and Run Pod. Check it out, check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, RiseRun Podcast.com. And if you guys have any questions, comments, race reports, or just want to introduce an upcoming episode, go ahead and call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

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

Patreon Bonus YouTube And Travel Deals

SPEAKER_02 3:30

patreon.com slash rise around podcast. And Greg, I think you have another exclusive that you did for our patrons.

SPEAKER_17 3:37

Yes. So I mean, in theory, I guess we're hopping in the Mandalorian a little bit. Uh so opening weekend of Toy Story 5, I got to see the movie. And on the drive home, it uh spurred a debate with uh with my wife and and my daughter about how would we rank those five movies. Oh. So I was like, you know what? I think that would make a really good Patreon episode. So I I actually recorded it, but then life lifed, and I didn't get a chance to get it published until last weekend. Um, but yeah, so if you're interested in how I like ranking all of the um the Toy Story movies in the franchise uh Patreons, be sure to go check that out. And and I guess small spoiler alert, we don't talk about light year.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

I forgot about that movie.

SPEAKER_17 4:29

Yeah. I think a lot of people forgot about that movie.

SPEAKER_14 4:33

So I'm thinking uh one, three, four, five, two. I don't know. I just made those numbers up. Hey Jack. What's new on YouTube?

SPEAKER_03 4:44

Well, Bob, there's a lot going on, and I'm really excited about it. We're continuing with our Run Disney, well, running at Disney Resort Run series. Um, I'm gonna make it a little surprised about which one I put up next. Um, I have uh definitely a good number of them filmed. I just have to choose which one I actually want to show.

SPEAKER_14 5:05

So you'll be surprised as well.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Yes. But good thing is, is I'm very excited to show it to you guys. Um, and it's going to be coming out um definitely on Sunday, and I might have one more coming out um on Tuesday. The yeah, because this comes out on Thursday, the following Tuesday. Yes, you guys can do that. I got it too. There we go.

SPEAKER_17 5:28

All right. Good enough. Now, one thing that is not confusing is that the Rising One podcast is sponsored by our wonderful friends over at Magic Bound Travel. And I I will say the travel advisory world has been quite a buzz uh these last couple of weeks because uh Disney Cruise Line has been dropping a lot of discounts, and uh they have one right now that they're saying you can save up to uh $1,500 on uh your fare for select sailings. Now, the only way that you can get $1,500, I'm looking at the fine print here, is if you're on a uh seven night treasure sailing in a veranda room. Yes, so you got to be dropping a pretty penny in order to get that fifteen hundred dollars off. But if you are booked on uh a sailing that's going out uh in the rest of the calendar year of 2026, you might want to be in contact with your Magic Bound agent to see if maybe they can get you a new discounted rate or if this is something brand new that you want to try, head over to Magicboundtravel.com. They'll get you connected with one of their agents to be able to get you a free no obligation quote. So again, Magicboundtravel.com is the website.

SPEAKER_14 6:46

Check them out. Thanks, Greg.

Training Calendar And Season Kickoff

SPEAKER_14 6:48

Apologies and alibi section. Let me apologize. I'll start apologizing by apologizing to Greg. Greg wasn't here last week. We left him a mess with the files. As usual, he did a sparkling job of cleaning them up, presenting them to you in a coherent fashion. So we had an episode 248. But along the cutting room floor there, the race that Christy and Isaac ran last week, the name of the race got left out. Christy and Isaac finished the Liberty Fest 5K in Canton, Michigan. I wanted to point that out. Nice job, Christy. Nice job, Isaac. Let's take a look at the training schedule. It's a big week for training. We'll start with Wine and Dine, where we're in training week two. 16 weeks to go till race weekend, and the long run. When I give this, I'm always talking about the challenge, okay? The long run for the challenge this weekend is four miles. We recognize that at least we don't think anybody is listening to the podcast and going, oh gee, let me listen to the podcast to see how many miles I have to run this week. We we figure you're on your own training program or with your own coach, but it's a way of keeping us all together and kind of tracking and keeping track of how we're doing and getting towards our goal. With that in mind, once again, I need a drum roll.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Oh, I used to be a drummer. Oh, wait, there's John. He's a professional.

SPEAKER_14 8:24

Training for the Walt Disney Marathon weekend began uh officially today, the day that we are recording. So we're training. We are in week one. We are 27 weeks away from marathon weekend. We're actually 27 weeks away from the 5k day. You have whether you're doing uh the challenge, dopey or goofy, or the marathon, your long run is three miles in week one. It's a big deal. You know, um well, we'll talk about more in just a second. I'm looking at other races we have coming up. Uh we've got registration for springtime surprise on Tuesday, friends. So we are finishing up the season already. We haven't run a race, we're finishing the season. Uh but yeah, Tuesday. Uh I suppose I didn't read anything about it, but since we record on Tuesdays, I suppose our uh Club Run Disney friends registered today will be online registering next week. Oh yeah, it sure did. We'll we'll talk about that more in just a second. Uh let's see. Uh Space Coast is 144 days out. Burden Hand. Burden Hand's only 71 days away. So we're getting there. I didn't mention it last week. Flying Pig is becoming a favorite of the Rise and Run family. It's 300 days away, but we've got discount codes if you want to register for that outstanding event, the half and the marathon. They have a 10K uh half and a full. I don't know if they have a 5K there or not, but it's a great race weekend. You can use the discount FPM27 Rise Run, Flying Pig Marathon 27 Rise Run. Or you can use Allen's, which is Allen 10, which I get a kick out of. A-L-A-N-1-0. I know which one I'm using. It's less typing. Uh, let's take a look at training updates. We mentioned that this is the beginning of training for marathon weekend. I like to say there are three very exciting days in marathon weekend. The day you get registered, the day you start training, and the day you cross the finish line. And there's a lot of days between that second big day and that third big day. And this is what we talked about last week. This is where you need to stay consistent. You need to do your best to get those days on the training plan in, especially the long weekend runs. But try to get them all in. Try to be consistent. Your motivation is high right now. It's going to fade a little bit. You can be out there in hot weather. We'll talk about that again in a little bit. But you can do it. Just stick with it. Uh, any training updates, friends? Anything you want to talk about that's going on in your training world?

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Um, I just hit a big celebratory moment with um Tom. I have done officially 200 workouts, actually, over 200 workouts with him now. And on that last one, I hit two PRs, and I because I've done so many, it's hard to hit a PR at the moment. So that was a huge win. And um, obviously, starting the run for Marathon weekend, it was nice. It was hot because I started much later than the day than I should have. You think I'd learn still, but I don't. But yes.

SPEAKER_14 12:05

No, you're I I know you're in Florida now, and it was very, very steamy this morning. Uh, our friends throughout the country, though, it's going to be, at least this week, is going to be crazy hot almost wherever you are, at least in the eastern half of the United States.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

Is this the hottest summer in record? We don't know in the world.

SPEAKER_14 12:27

No.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_14 12:29

But we're we're off the there is some dangerous heat approaching in the northeast. It's and we go back to it's if it's hot where you are, it's hot, but those are the kind of temps that I would consider hot in Florida.

Dew Point Heat And Staying Safe

SPEAKER_14 12:45

All right. Now that's the kind of temp I went out in this morning. It was 81 or 82, or I forget what it was when I took off this morning. Uh dew points are up 75. We we talk about the dew point. I I need to do some kind of a class on the dew point, but the it it's a much better uh indication of the moisture in the air, and it'll tell you then relative humidity. Relative humidity changes throughout the day. Dew point does not. Uh the amount of water vapor in the air is relatively constant unless a front front comes through or something like that. But it affects you. I I and it a lot of it has to do with what you're acclimated to. For most of the people throughout the country, a dew point above 70 is really high. And you're gonna find that it's it's tough. Uh it will affect your breathing. It it affects your body's ability to cool off because you sweat. And the way you the way your body cools is you sweat, and then that sweat evaporates, that is a cooling effect. When the humidity gets real high, the sweat won't evaporate. It just pools and drops on the ground. And I ain't uh I ain't helping anybody. But uh now I I really start to notice that I've I've seen dew points here of 82. Now that now don't is we don't see them very often. I don't see them every year. But I've seen 82. At that point, when it hits eighty, I'm not going out. I ain't running. But I I will run between 75 and 80. And that is the reason I talk about it. It's it's a much better indicator to you of what to expect. You really can't do much, it's not like you can dress for the humidity, but you can know, hey, the 2.75, that's going to affect my breathing a little bit. And I'm I'm gonna have to slow down even more. And if you find yourself having a difficult time, it would explain it. Get down to 65 or less. Yeah, 65 can still feel sticky in some areas, but at that point it's not going to affect you so much.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Yeah, Bob, I think over the last couple of weeks we've talked a lot about what to do in these high temperatures and this high humidity, but we really just want to make sure that our friends hear us. We want you to be safe if you have the ability to have a treadmill in an air-conditioned area. That's a great option. If you don't, please make sure you're slowing down and taking water because we want heat exhaustion and heat stroke are very serious things. We we don't want our friends to get into trouble.

SPEAKER_17 15:20

Pull a Tony?

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Right. We do not want people to pull a Tony. He is in Wisconsin, which is right next to me. So yesterday, our dew point was 77. Um, that's hot here. And so it was very hot, feels like over a hundred. I think it was I had messaged Bob and it was hotter here than it was in the world.

SPEAKER_14 15:40

Yeah, it was just it was a little bit hotter, yeah, it sure was.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

So we just want to make sure that our friends are staying safe while you're out there doing these runs.

SPEAKER_17 15:47

No, Alicia, I'm right there with you. I mean, as I uh as I labeled my run on Strava today, day of recording, uh, on the treadmill until the heat wave is over, because Bob, uh as you were saying, you know, Philadelphia has the chance to hit the um I want to I think it's the first time ever the high could hit uh 100 or higher three days in a row, which I guess uh either has never happened or would tie a record or or something like that. So yeah, you you just you just gotta be smart. But at least you're going to you know what you said in terms of you know being able to make those adjustments, if you're not going on the treadmill. I mean, I I tried to prepare myself for my long run uh this past weekend as best I could. Now, the mistake that I made is number one, as everyone well knows on this podcast, I am a night owl, so I could not get my butt out of bed on Sunday morning. So I was like, oh, well, I'll just go later in the day when it's cooler. But I I went from grocery shopping to helping uh my wife finish some yard work right into a 12-mile run. Uh and that was probably a mistake because even though I had Gatorade, I actually froze some Gatorade in like my bladder leading up to it. I bought one of those uh pickle shots. I I know our friends uh Kristen and Devin, they swear by those all the time. So it's like, well, maybe I'll give this a shot. I like I had all my fuel laid out. I I wore a sleeveless shirt, and by the 10k mark of that 12 miler, I was like, I am so over this run. Uh by that point, like all of my Gatorade even you know had melted and then became warm because you know I'm just exuding heat. I wasn't even in the mood to try the pickle shot, so it's still sitting in my fridge now. So I think that was probably the most disappointing thing of my run the uh the entire time. So I mean, overall, it was a good run. I mean, really, the only bad side effect now is uh I have some poison ivy on my body from uh from doing yard work, but uh but we we live and we learn though. But um but the thing is if if you have to make the adjustments out there, please make them for your safety. Because again, I I know you know for for some, you know, as we've been talking about, this is early on in the training cycle for wine and dine and marathon weekend. Don't try to set PRs, don't try to improve yourself. The way that I kind of look at it right now is the summer training is just like survive in advance, because remember, the you have two goals. Your goal is to get to the starting line of your race, and then once you've started your race, then get to the finish line. And obviously, if you do something that prevents you from getting to the starting line,

Fueling Tricks Gear And Run Breaks

SPEAKER_17 18:40

that's going to be a huge detriment, and none of us want that for you.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

So, Greg, you kind of said something that like kind of sparked a question in my head.

SPEAKER_17 18:49

Where's the poison ivy on my body? It's on my arms and on my eyelid.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

I know, I wasn't, but that's sad. I'm sorry. But no, my question for you guys is because it's the start of a brand new season, is this a start of trying something new? You talked about, you know, trying potentially trying the pickle shots. Is there anything new that everybody else is trying that you're like, you know what, let me try this. Maybe it might be an inspiration for somebody else to try for the start of their Ron Disney season.

SPEAKER_14 19:19

This is gonna sound silly, but I am the ultimate do what I say, not what I do. And I'm terrible when it comes to fueling. So, what I have made a promise to myself to do is to try to fuel with some constant routine on all my long runs. And usually I just blow it off. So let's see, let's see how that works after 50 years of running. See how the next 50 years go if I get that down right.

SPEAKER_17 19:56

Jack, I think the thing that I'm gonna try, outside of the the pickle shot, of course, is for my long runs, changing up the like the pathways in which I go on on the trail. So, like, for example, I'm I'm very blessed. Within a couple of minutes of my house, there is a trail that if I wanted to run a marathon, doing an out and back, I could. I mean, in theory, I could do an ultra marathon, I could run from my house to Center City, Philadelphia, but I have zero interest in doing that. Why? But the but the the idea that I've always employed in my head is okay, park my car at the trailhead and then you know, take my distance, split it in half, and do an out and back. I think probably what I especially if this summer is going to trend the way that our forecast is going to be your day of release and into the weekend, is finding a more centralized point where I can almost break it up into quarters and then always be able to come back to my car because the the problem, Bob, similar to you, to where I run into is sure. I had myself prepped for my fueling and you know, freezing some Gatorade and stuff like that. But again, an hour plus into my run, all of that liquid that's in my my bladder is warm. Right. And I just have zero interest in putting that into my body. And if I even do get it in there, it's it's just not a pleasant feeling. So being able to come back to my car at shorter intervals, and then you know, maybe instead of taking my bladder, having my handheld, and then just refilling my handheld with ice and with cold beverages and such, and I think maybe that might help things. Now, the only mental hurdle to be able to get over though, in that case, is okay, I'm back in my car. Absolutely. Yeah, yo, absolutely, I'll just go drive home and figure this out later. So so there is some give and take to it, but again, this is the perfect time to trial things, and I think that's something I'm definitely gonna trial.

SPEAKER_15 21:59

I've been running with uh a vest too it's like i i have a hydration hydration vest i don't use the bladder because i i guess i would like what greg says it's on your back uh and then it it's it hit the sun hits it it's like drinking you know that a first sip out of a hose when you when you when you're a kid with that's been sitting in the sun all day it's like you know it's like come on guys but uh I've been I've been using that and I found out like after god knows how many years having my Garmin that you could set alerts for fuel oh yeah and yeah and other things like like if you're gonna do an out and back it's like hey I'm gonna do 10 miles today turn around at five after five miles say turn around so I'm like oh wow this is interesting you know if you if you start going deep into the menus of your garment and just hitting start and stop yeah it was pretty cool so I've been trying to like every 45 minutes uh fuel if I'm on a longer longer run than that you know get my drinks uh got some water got some extra packets of uh hydration stuff so that if I do have to stop at a a convenience store or a gas station to get something I have something else to mix and make more uh drinks with Jack this wouldn't be something new that I would be trialing but just like a piece of advice that I would just like want to pass along to everybody as we continue to talk about running it in very warm weather is there is no shame in terms of splitting up your run.

SPEAKER_17 23:38

You know we we we have we have learned through through Jeff and through Coach Twiggs and I'm sure you know Alicia I'm sure you probably have thoughts on the matter as well too but at least from the Galloway method side of things is that you get the same endurance benefit if if you do end up taking a break as long as from the time you stop your watch to restarting it as long as that is within two hours you are getting the same endurance benefit as you would if you were going you know the whole distance so if you feel like you're in the position where I need to get into some air conditioning I need to you know change clothes pull an alley and change your socks if that's something that you need to do again know that there's no harm in that now again similar to what I was talking about before you have to be able to have the mental fortitude to get back out there but know that if you split it up whether it's two runs outside or maybe starting on the road and then finishing at the uh on the treadmill or at the gym or something like that know that you have those options and you're still being beneficial to your body.

SPEAKER_14 24:51

Oh shucks you you sure about that two hour thing?

SPEAKER_15 24:54

Yes two hours yes it's exactly two hours I was hoping it was two days two twenty two another thing too like like you said Greg like some of us have the opportunity to run it where there's you know a lot of stores and convenience stores so if you do get hot out there and it's like like up by us where we're looking at 100 degree days for you know the first time we've had probably like in 15 years up here. Yeah but you you're guys you're not running in the hundred degree weather tell me you're not running in the 100 degree weather absolutely I I ran in 90 some today I ran in 90 today so uh but but uh yeah but uh but yeah but still it's still more than it's it's hot it's hotter than what it should have been absolutely this time of the year right now. Like go in there like and like even if it's not hot like if you're running on some of these streets and remember you have pavement below you that's that's that's burning up a lot of heat a lot of asphalt that's a lot of heat coming back on coming back your way you know get into a cool location hop into a hop into a gas station hop into a convenience store cool down for like five ten minutes you know then get back out there just to cool your body down because that's the biggest thing you don't want to overheat and like I said get heat stroke or uh worse uh heat heat sickness or heat stroke worse and as a kind of reminder from what Twig set last said last week in that heat discussion go and get yourself a bandana for like the gentleman put a nice little ice bandana around your neck and for the ladies it's okay to have an ice like put ice down the bra.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

I've done it for a number of races and that's a huge game game changer.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Yeah it's a uniboob but you know it's the best uni boob you're ever gonna have for the marathons when they hand out the sponges for marathon weekend I always grab two and I put one down my bra um and then have the other one to put on my forehead. So um yes it's a great it's a great place to put things to cool down.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Bob that's actually a really fantastic one I've actually seen one of those like wet rags that people have those wet dry rags they will actually get them really nice and cold put some ice in them and then put it underneath their hat and that's how they keep part of their head warm or cold I mean

Heart Health And A Simple Screen

SPEAKER_03 27:15

anyways that was fun.

SPEAKER_14 27:16

Yeah we've we've talked a lot about hot weather I I I think our friends are smart enough to know what to do we just want to make sure they don't hurt themselves I'm gonna I'm gonna share a personal uh sidelight on topic really before Jeff passed away about five years before he died he had a heart attack and he was probably the last person on the planet I expect to have a heart attack Jeff was eight years older than I am so that kind of got my attention first of all I felt really bad to know that Jeff had a heart attack and secondly I started thinking golly if he can so I talked to my doc there's a test and I'm I'm sharing this with friends particularly senior runners but anybody can do this it's called a calcium cardiac screen it's a CT screen insurance doesn't pay for it but it's a hundred dollars and you get the results almost instantly and they'll give you an evaluation what it's really is checking is the plaque that's built up in your arteries around your heart and it will give you a subjective rating on the likelihood of having a coronary event within the next five years. And I took it five years ago and I scored a zero which is a perfect score. I didn't get a zero this time. The the knots go they start at zero and they go somewhere I think it's open-ended but if you look at the charts that tell you what you should expect they just go and if you're zero to ten this ten to a hundred four hundred or more you know get your get on the operating table today. Oh my score this time I got a two so that was good but I I do want to share that because it's peace of mind if nothing else does it mean that I won't no but does it mean I won't have a heart attack no but it means the I the likelihood of having one is very low very low. I think it's like less than one tenth of one percent in the next five years. So that encourages me that when I go out and do things like get my heart rate up much higher than is typical for a person of my age and I'm not all that worried about it that I can handle it. So cardiac

Springtime Surprise Perfect Status Confusion

SPEAKER_14 29:43

calcium screen ask your doctor about it if you're interested caution runners change of topic ahead we talked about springtime surprise registration is today and we mentioned that Club Run Disney registered today and the perfect springtime surprise runners registered today as well surprise so they changed their mind I guess and uh we found out we found out about it at last year's race that Disney had in fact changed their mind from what they had put out in writing it wasn't just rumor Disney had put out in writing that oh because the races are going to change there would be no perfect uh perfect racers for springtime surprise well there are and those fortunate souls and I and if you are one of them good for you okay I we have we're not we're a little well I'll let my friends characterize how they feel a little disappointed a little what but we're certainly we're certainly not disappointed for our friends who made it we're just a little disappointed in the way run Disney handled things. Is that fair gang?

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Yes yeah I think that like you said Bob I I'm very excited I am perfect status for wine and dine so I know how great that feeling is so I'm very excited for our friends that that have that opportunity. But it is frustrating because I I'm one of those people that I emailed them originally asking about the perfect status and got the response saying what you said that they weren't going to do it because things were going to change. And so now the fact that they have it is kind of frustrating and I I know there's a lot of our friends who feel frustrated about that too. Overall I'm not horribly mad about it for the fact of that was one of the weekends that I was thinking about stepping back from anyway. Yeah that's true. Just because it's getting to be a lot um and I want to keep wine and dine and marathon weekend for sure. So on that front I I'm not upset I just I wish that there wasn't kind of like this wishy washy oh we weren't going to do it but now we did it type of thing.

SPEAKER_15 32:02

Yeah disappointing and then you also have the people that were four years uh running at the Star Wars races that said okay we're no no perfect's not happening uh boom it's a new race series nothing it's it's done and now though those people could have had perfect also which you know they might be some of them out there that did springtime but you know it's like hey we're cutting this off and doing a new race season now and then boom you know you're you're out of perfect status.

SPEAKER_17 32:29

Yeah I mean I I definitely chalk this one up to you know in the grand retrospect of things like first world problems for sure. Um but but but I I do I do get the the disappointment I mean but you know I I think with hindsight being 2020 you know after experiencing a couple of springtime surprises you know and realizing how warm it does get in Florida uh in April or or depending on how the calendar falls sometimes you know late March you really probably couldn't do more than a 10 miler in April and I mean you know maybe they could have gotten rid of you know gotten away with a half but you know so the fact that I think they had this grand and glorious idea of you know oh we could you know we could change it up from year to year and make it super exciting and and make it a real true springtime surprise and maybe they realize two to three years in no like this is it this is this is working for us people are liking this they're getting you know good guest feedback and we're gonna change it but then it you know it kind of goes back on their word but I I guess it it really boils down to the wording of the communication with Run Disney you know that like if they put the phrase in a in a correspondence that said at this time there is no plans for perfect status then I guess that has like their legal backing and such like that. But I mean it is what it is. I mean you know it it does make me a little you know bummed and and disappointed that I was the only host that first year that didn't do springtime surprise because I was like oh wait there's gonna be there's gonna be no perfect and I decided to do cherry blossom that year and I remember you guys video chatting me into the um the first ever springtime meetup that that we had and such but it is what it is and um we we just move on it it's it's gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_14 34:27

True I I've actually been there all five weekends.

SPEAKER_15 34:31

I'm kind of curious of how many perfect there are because like you said like getting registration is tough as it is now depending how many perfect they had that's perfect challengers and perfect 10 milers I don't think they do they don't do for the 10k right and it's not not that it's only ever the the longest distance the weekend or the challenge that's trying to get in now is gonna you know because a lot of people said oh I knew they were going to do it and they kept doing it and you know it could be interesting.

SPEAKER_14 35:06

Well we'll find out before the next episode airs because registration is Tuesday. Good luck friends I I will set up a uh zoom not that we can really do much but I enjoy the opportunity to get together with everybody and it gives us something to do while our uh screens are saying your wait time is more than one hour.

Listener Panel Why We Started Running

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Caution runners the topic is about to change right now friends if you're in the Facebook group and I I'm sure many of you are you saw that our buddy Alan made an interesting post earlier in the week that got tremendous attention well tonight I we have invited a group of people who answered those questions to discuss and to try to answer well Alan's here with us so Alan why don't you tell everybody what question you asked because we've been running for so long I've seen like a couple of the running booms occur and when we in the 60s running was usually a punishment and then after the Olympics it started to become a thing and then they started a couple of marathons and then there's been a real insurgence when Disney started doing it in 94 and it's continuing to grow and I really wanted to know why people started running. Was it Disney was it something else?

SPEAKER_14 36:39

So you asked the simple question why did you get started running? Did you expect the number of responses you got? I was expecting about 10 people to answer. Well over a hundred answered and I attempted to break them into categories and invite a person from each one of five categories health stress relief favorite races injury recovery family history fitness and community and I realize that's more than five but I put a couple of those together. So here with us this evening we have Ileana hello hi Iliana good to see you Christy hello Denise Karen and Jenny hey friends thanks for joining us well let's start and let's start with Jenny why did you get started running?

SPEAKER_13 37:36

Well I I got started running pretty recently actually only about a year and a half ago uh I had never been a runner I had never been any type of athlete in my entire life and at 46 I had come off an incredibly stressful year where I had a couple of different family health issues happen both from my nine month old baby at the time who's nine months old got diagnosed with a heart condition and then just a couple of months later my mom who I live near was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was a pretty complicated journey and between those two things and all the rest of life I found that I just stopped taking care of myself completely and wound up with my own set of health issues. And as I was coming back from that I was getting healthy and exercising more and just getting myself up to move. And I have always had a huge love for Disney. I am a West Coast girl so my Disney has been mostly Disneyland and I found out during that getting myself healthy journey that Disney had races and I thought to myself okay if anything could motivate me to run the idea of running through the parks at Disneyland could do it. So that's what brought me in that was that was how I got started running.

SPEAKER_14 39:03

So you got started in age 46 not being an athlete before right that's pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_13 39:09

How did those other problems if you don't mind me asking how did uh how did your baby and your mom work out hopefully well yeah thanks so my son who's now three and a half um he's doing really well um he's it's a kind of a heart condition that sort of takes some ongoing monitoring and medication but fortunately for us um no major complications and my mom's in recovery you know she's got through that year of treatment really well and she's she's recovering now. So yeah thanks.

SPEAKER_14 39:42

Great news are you gonna get her to start running?

SPEAKER_13 39:45

I wish no but she's she's getting herself active again after all of that. Yeah but I'm I'm recruiting other family members my daughter and uh my husband thanks for your candor thanks for your response there were a number of folks who uh who got started I think I think it helps relieve the stress of family problems.

SPEAKER_14 40:08

Did anyone else here have similar reasons for starting? Because I noticed Jenny said something in her answer that was pretty popular and that is I wanted to run a either at Disney or a favorite race.

SPEAKER_12 40:27

Christy I think that was the reason you got started isn't it yes my kids were big Disney fans my brother in law worked for Disney so when I found out Disney had races I was all good to sign up. What did you sign up for? The first race I did was uh during marathon weekend a 5k at the time that was the only one available and then a few months later they had um this was 2008 they had the mini marathon which was a May and it was a 15k so that was the first long distance race I ever did at Disney at Disney World. Disney World yes I'm sorry yes yeah I'm not familiar with that one guys you know that one that's before my time Christy yeah good tell us about that one the 15k I don't even know how I got signed up for it I think I ended up going through a travel group we were staying at the animal kingdom and they did have activities for us to do but I I don't even know if I remember where we started it was so long ago we might have started at Epcot or not at Epcot at uh the wide world of sports oh we might have been there. Yeah and then I think we went through I think Animal Kingdom possibly I'm pretty sure we went through Animal Kingdom and I could I'm sure I I could be definitely wrong but for some reason that one sticks out and um and I don't know I you usually I try to take in everything I think at that point because it was my first long distance race I just wanted to finish. So it was nice to run through everything.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Of course but yeah okay so Denise how did you get started with all this I basically got started I started late like in my late 40s as well like Jenny and you know I I hadn't really been taking care of myself I looked at my family genetics and I went you know this I wanted something better for myself so I started just like walking in a track is basically how I started. Yeah quite a few good way to start and just you know trying to pick up the pace and and you know get a good steady uh walking pace going and then through that I said okay let me just I did a few local races like 5Ks 10 K's just to kind of get my bearings of this is really what I wanted to do. And I found doing the races or and even just working out that it it is a stress relief you know and you know at the time my husband traveled a lot so I was home a lot with the kids so it was like get them off to school and then I went out and did my thing. And that was something that I did for myself while they were in school while he was working and traveling and then it just kind of took off from there and the more races I did the more I wanted to challenge myself and when I decided that I wanted to try like a half marathon it was the Disney race that popped up in one of my searches and foolish me I thought I was going to get a Mickey medal because I was just I'm Disney Fanatic. Signed up for the half only to find out it was Donald, which is not a problem. Nothing wrong with that. No, not a problem. I've got tons of Donald medals in in my closet. But and then shortly after that, when I discovered that they were having the races in Disneyland, that very because 2009 was my first Disney half marathon. It was my first half marathon, my first Disney race. I immediately went to California for that September race, and then finally got my Mickey Medal for doing the half marathon out there. And I've been going to Disney ever since. And I've done others, other races as well. But it's just Disney just keeps bringing me back year after year.

SPEAKER_14 44:48

Denise, you and Christy reminded me. I I you know I tried to answer the question too, but I'm so daggum old I can't remember why I started. But and there's been starts and stops. But uh but you reminded me that when my when my father was fifty-seven years old, he had a heart attack. It was probably the healthiest thing that happened to him because he immediately stopped doing all the things he shouldn't have been doing and started doing the things he should. He lived to be almost 90. But now if he was 57, I would have been about in my early 30s. But it was enough for me to go, uh, maybe I better look into doing a little more recreational running. So that's one of the things that got me kicked off.

SPEAKER_15 45:35

Okay, so Karen, uh, what got you started into running?

SPEAKER_05 45:40

Okay, so I I I kind of have a start and a stop. Um, the first time I started was right after I finished grad school. Um, I moved and I was in a whole new location, no friends, no family. So the only people I really knew were the people in the lab that I I was working with. And um, you know, in grad school you have a tendency to gain a few pounds too, right? Um, and so I was trying to be a little healthier and everything, and and trying to meet some people, and some of my lab mates were like, hey, you know, there's this 10K that they have every year in our town. It's like super popular. There's like tens of thousands of people, you should do it. And I said, Ha ha, no. Um, I had I had a memory of my uh friend in grad school had actually talked me into doing a 5K while I was in grad school that I did not train for. It was in New Orleans in May, hot, humid, and I thought I was gonna die. So I I thought that was gonna be like a one and done, never run again thing. Um, but they were like, no, no, it's really fun. They have people of all different paces, and they have these training teams, and so and they're all over the city, so you could pick a location and you'll get with coaches and all this stuff. I was like, well, maybe I could do it, right? So I I let them talk me into signing up, hit the registration button, and as soon as I did that, I was like, uh, I don't know what I just did. I just started having a little anxiety attack. But um, it ended up being one of the best decisions because I showed up on a Saturday morning with a whole bunch of other people, including people who were just like me. They're like, I'm brand new, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm you know, really slow, I don't feel like I belong here. And instead, I met a bunch of people who encouraged me and gave me support and um made me feel like I did belong and made me feel like this thing that seemed really impossible and kind of crazy for me to do was very doable. And um, as I was doing it, I found out that not only was I making friends, but it was really good stress relief, and it was helping me with some of my my health considerations. So as soon as I finished that 10k, I'm like, well, maybe this is kind of crazy, but I saw they were advertising a half marathon training team. Maybe I step it up and I do that. So I joined the half marathon training team, and I don't think I was even, you know, two months into that before I decided to sign up with team in training for a full marathon. So um, if you're familiar with team in training, you know, that's um it's Blood Cancer United now, but at the time it was leukemia and lymph.

SPEAKER_14 48:34

Oh, I didn't that I didn't know. They just changed this.

SPEAKER_05 48:37

Yeah, they did change their their names. So um, because I figured if I was gonna do like the whole thing, um, I needed something to motivate me that was outside of me. You know, I wanted it to be for something bigger, something more important. I had had a classmate when I was um in elementary school who had cancer. So that was like my first run-in with what cancer was and what it could do, and so that had had a big impact on me. And I I was like, this this is this is what I want to do with my my training. So I did that. And so by then, obviously, I'm hooked, and I just I just kept going. I had made some really good friends um that we would meet up during the week to go do our runs. And um, unfortunately, uh a few years later, I managed to injure myself. I was three weeks out from Marine Corps Marathon and had this foot pain. I was like, well, I'm gonna just go to the doctor and get like a steroid shot, right? And it turned out it was a bigger injury than that. And um, you know, I'll save the specifics. But basically, I I was down for a while and because I ended up having to have foot surgeries. And so I got to a point where I thought my running days were done. Um, and I tried to get back here and there sporadically, but it it was hard because I'd lost the motivation, I'd lost touch with the people I'd I'd been running with, I kind of lost my community. Um and then a couple years ago, my friend from grad school, the same one who talked me into running that 5k, um, we were both Disney fans. And she knew I'd always wanted to do a Disney race, and she'd been doing them for a couple years, and she'd been trying to talk me into it. And she finally was like, you know, the National Avarian Cancer Coalition has spots for Princess if you want to do that. And I said, Okay, because we were both impacted by that. And I again thought I'd do this and then I'd be done. But I got into the Run Disney and I was like, this is my community that I was missing that whole time. And suddenly I didn't have to feel like I was, I guess I'd been feeling like, oh, I I wasn't the runner I was before, and somehow that made me feel like I didn't belong anymore, that I wasn't really a part of the running community anymore. And Run Disney proved me wrong with that, and so I've been lacing up my shoes again ever since and just having the time of my life.

SPEAKER_14 51:03

Outstanding.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

All right, Eliana, we've heard from all these lovely ladies, but I want to hear from you what is the reason that you started running?

SPEAKER_04 51:10

So it's a mixture of all the um everyone's answers, but general what I answered on the post for Alan was I sucked at it. Legitimately. I just uh since I was a kid, as he mentioned earlier, uh running was a punishment, right? And I played tennis, and so when you, you know, miss have a terrible practice, what do you do? Go run laps, go lines. Oh yeah, and I absolutely hated running. I was slow. Fourth grade, um, I distinctly remember that like we still did the president's test thing. I was always the last girl to finish, and it was embarrassing, but it was just one of those things that I could not understand how to do. And so, you know, I go through college, I go through things, and I'm not out of shape by any means because I play tennis and all that stuff, but I never had that, I didn't understand why people ran and why they did it for fun. Um, I tried and I just never could get into it. And then um out of my dad, uh, which I I know that I mentioned him a lot in races, especially at Disney and the flying pig, because he runs with me a lot uh around um I call him his midlife crisis, but he started running and he started being really good at it. He there's a local uh out in my hometown, the Columbus um half marathon that they just started doing, and he has run every half marathon there. And I'm like, gosh, 13 miles. Like, who would want to do that? But I went and supported him and I've I did a few of the 5Ks and I saw the people and I saw them, and and then my brother-in-law did the full marathon, and my other brother-in-law did the half marathon, and I'm like, oh my gosh, if they can do it, I can do this. Yeah, and so with my um youthful naivety, as you will say, I'm like, I'm gonna sign up for that half. And it was the most miserable 13 miles of my life. I it was mile four, and I was cramping already, and I'm like, I gotta do nine more miles. And so when I crossed that finish line, at that point, I kind of knew that Disney was a thing, but I also knew it was expensive and it was out of my reach. And so I outwardly said, I will never run another half marathon unless it's at Disney. So fast forward, you know, that was like 20, 2015, 2016. Um, fast forward, COVID hits, you know, and of course, I think a lot of the running boom happened during COVID because like there was some for sure. Yeah, we were bored, right? And so I I just had uh my son, and I was trying to get back into feeling like myself again um as a new mom. And so I started walking. And then um 2021 came along and Disney started bringing the races back. And I looked at my dad and I said, Wouldn't that be fun? Wouldn't that be fun to write race? Well, he was like, Yeah, sure, why not? Well, then I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter, uh with my second child. So then we deferred for one more year, but then the next year I asked again, like during signup time. I'm like, Dad, are you are you serious? And he says, Yeah, well, let's do it. So I got us into the princess half marathon of 23. And uh, of course, you know, you sign up in the summer and then you realize, oh, well, if I just drop this much money on a race, I better not suck at it. So then that mentality, don't suck at it, comes back. And then I'm like, okay, I'm gonna train and I'm gonna do this. And so I found Jeff Galloway's plan online, you know, it was suggestions of how many miles you should run. And for the first time in my life, I actually stuck with the plan. And eventually, like I did a couch to 5K kind of thing, and then I realized, okay, I'm not dead. So let's try this again. And then I went into the half marathon training. And then at a certain point, when you're a new mom, you also need me time. And so I was kind of also um with you, Jenny, like just uh feeling that because I needed me time and running became that. So like I I could look at my husband, and it's a valid excuse to be like, hey, I need to go run for two hours. And so I put in my audio book and it'll be like, have fun with the kids, and I'll do it. And like I would wake up early to run those runs, but it was okay. It was like it was my me time. So uh yeah, yeah. So that's why I started running. And then, of course, after you run one Disney race and you discover Rise and Run, and all the people that run in general, like even the people around me, like here in West Virginia, I'm like, these are the people, the coolest people I ever met. Everyone's super down to earth, and uh, no one's ever made me feel like less than because I'm not fast. I'm never gonna win a race. I and I'm okay with that now because it's not a mentality about getting that first place thing. It's more about wow, I did something super hard and all these people did it with me. And I also enjoy just like going against myself. So do one, I would like to PR my half marathon, but that's on me. It's not because of somebody else. And um, yeah, and then the people are you all, you all and all the people around me are just super supportive. And so, yeah, the community is just what keeps me going.

SPEAKER_14 56:42

Nice. Hey, here's something to look forward to, Iliana. If you run long enough, you'll start to win your age group because I can't wait. I see Adam shaking his head. Yeah, yeah. Win my age group. I'm gonna turn it back on. I I uh turn it back on our hosts here, and I'm gonna ask Alicia, do you remember why you started running, Alicia?

SPEAKER_02 57:05

Yeah, so actually my why has changed over the years. Um when I originally originally started running, um, I had seen that they had the um Castaway K 5K, um, and I found a couch to 5K program that I put on my iPod nano when I was in college. Um, it was some British guy, and it was a great program, actually, but I couldn't even run a quarter of a mile. Um, like you, Ialy on. I didn't want to suck at it. There's a lot of pieces of your guys' stories that I resonated with. Um, but around the same time that I started to train, my grandmother, who I helped take care of, passed away. Um, and so my why originally was to get through that grief, to move forward and have something that still kept me going, um, because she was my best friend and I was I was struggling, trying to do all of my jobs, all of this stuff at school. Um, so I got through that. Um, and then it moved into um overall in life, um training for the one in dine half marathon. And around that time, again, as we all know, life kind of can hit you in the face. Um, and so it switched into more mental health needs. Um, and that is a huge proponent of why I still run, is for mental health. Um, it helps me tremendously. So at this point, not only does running help me connect with the community, because truly that's what we are. We're a family, we're a community, but also it helps push me every single day to be the strongest and best version of myself. And um so although it all comes down to mental health, um it it truly my why is that running has showed me things in my life that I didn't even know were possible. Um and I'm very, very grateful for running.

SPEAKER_14 59:13

We're grateful that you do too. Jack, how about it?

SPEAKER_03 59:18

So technically, if we start from the very beginning, chapter one.

SPEAKER_14 59:23

It was a log cabin down by the lake.

unknown 59:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

Um, I've my family has always been a sports family. And um I re I did soccer for so many years, travel soccer. And um, when it became an option for me to sign up for sports in middle school, I just kind of was like, well, let me just try this one, this one, this one, this one, see where it sticks. Just shoot something on the dartboard, see what hits. Uh, volleyball hurt my arms, didn't do that, didn't like softball, wasn't good at that. And then it became like, oh, but cross country, I've never done a sport where it was individual before. I've always done a sport where you're you're you're a big team, you know? So you work collectively towards a goal. And so that I found interesting, and I did track, and they always stuck me a long distance, and I never understood why. I said, why? Oh, you're a distance runner, you just look like a distance runner. I'm like, okay, yeah, okay, that's fine. And I did high jump and and I and I learned to like it, and I got really good at it. And when it came time to go into high school, um, they told me that I wasn't allowed to play more than one sport in a season. So it had to come down to, okay, do I play soccer or do I play cross cross country? And I said, for once in my life, I wanted to choose a sport because I wanted to do it, not because I'm being told to do it. And I was like, you know what? I think I really, really want to do just cross country. And then I got a call from the head coach from high school saying, Hey, we have a goalie. She is about to be her senior year and she'll be graduating. We need a goalie. And of course, that was exactly what I was, and I felt bad. So I gave up the sport that I really want to do to help a team out that needs somebody because they didn't have anybody. And honestly, I felt really bummed, but then again, it's like, well, I've been doing it for so long, who else are they gonna have to be the goalie? Because I don't know of anybody. And I was like, okay, whatever. So I did it, and then my junior year, I kind of was able to state that because cross-country is an individual sport, there's potential for me to be able to do both because you're not relying on me for a team sport, you're just relying on me to show up for a race or something and do some practices. That was probably, and I and I won. And I was so excited to be able to do but I've never been so exhausted and so in in the best shape I've ever been because I was doing color garb for marching band, I was doing cross country and then soccer. So when the two days came for both cross-country and soccer, I had essentially four practices in a span of right before school started, like weekly, and it was wild, and I loved it. It was so exhausting that I I just stuck to the once four because I'd already stuck to well, not technically just the once sport, I was doing track tube. That was spring. Um, and I was like, okay, well, I'm exhausted. I don't know if I could do that again. But running was fun, and it was until Lexi had said, Hey Jack, did you want to run at Disney? Did I ever kind of pick it back up again? And I feel like, and I feel, and I know a lot of people probably would agree, it's kind of fun to do the impossible. I know that's the saying that Disney always has. And I think the one thing that truly has always held dear to me is I like doing things that are bigger than myself. I like teaching myself and learning more about myself because I feel like as you get older, you think you know yourself, but in you start doing things and you're like, you know, I don't think I I think I'm learning a lot about myself. And it's always grown with every distance I've done. Well, I signed up for a 5K right after I did the, I signed up for the princess registration. I remember me and Lexi being like, oh, we got in, and I had no clue. She's like, it's really hard to get in, you don't understand. Okay, she got us in. I was like, well, okay, well, cool. I I registered, that's awesome. So I signed up for a 5K, and I hadn't done the 5K since high school, my junior year. And I was like, wow, that was fun. And I only got up to eight miles that first year before I did my half marathon. I learned a lesson there. Always be consistent. But, anyways, just to kind of shorten it, short and sweet, I do I do love the community. And I think the community is what's made me stick with it because there's a sense of family and knowing, and always have an understanding for the other person. And I do like learning the fact that no matter how far I push myself, there's always more I can give. And I think that's why I've always pushed the distance further and further. And I'm sure 100 miles, it's probably not going to be 100 miles sooner or later, maybe in the next 10 years. Maybe I might try more. But knowing that I could do hard things and knowing that it's a community that is so loving and caring, it's so special. And that's why I stay.

SPEAKER_14 1:04:33

All right, Jack. Thanks. So let's finish up amongst the uh the co-hosts here. John, why did you get started?

SPEAKER_15 1:04:40

Okay, so I did kind of run in elementary and junior high, but I got pulled off a drummerizer in uh in high school and I cracked my ankle. And yeah, but uh the doctor said, Oh, it's sprained, you're fine. Next the next what do you call it week I went out and ran you know the mile for the presidential fitness award. Did really well in that. Uh then that Saturday they go, Oh, we reread the X-ray. Uh you're you cracked your ankle. So you gotta come back in and get what do you call it uh casted up. After that, I kind of didn't do anything after that because I just said, okay.

SPEAKER_14 1:05:25

Because you had this big cast on your leg.

SPEAKER_15 1:05:26

I had a cast on my leg. It's hard to run that way. Hard to run, and then you know, get into height, I uh get out of that. It still hurt. Every time I did something, there's some aches because I guess I don't know whatever was going on with it. And I got to high school, other things came around and uh I stopped. But then I did run the treadmill, like I said, a couple times, and then then this little my buddy goes, you know, there's a Star Wars race at Disney. Oh what? You know, do you want to do it? I go, Oh, yes. So I got ready. Trained for the 5K, got jacked, and it was it was it was fun. So okay, good. Next year I'm doing them all. Now that didn't happen. Uh they got canceled, what, three weeks before the oh right, right. Yeah, because because of COVID 2020, because of COVID, and they never came back. But I said, okay, I'll do the other races, and I just started going there and having a good fun time. Like you said before, it's the community that you feel you see, the people that you see there, you know, and also some of the other things. The mental thing. You're out there running. You get time for yourself, you can think of things and do other things out there that uh help keep your mind uh occupied sometimes when you're just need that break and you just need to get out there and run and just get some me time. And that's basically it. Nice.

Longer Distances Medals And Milestones

SPEAKER_14 1:06:50

Now, Alan, you started all this, you son of a gun. You kicked all this off, but you've listened to all these answers. Have these answers that you've heard from our friends generated any more questions you'd like to ask?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:03

A lot of people started with smaller distances, 5K's and things like that. And I wanted to know from the group, except from Christy, why'd you decide to move up into further distances or challenges? And what part of it was there any part of it of getting a medal that was important or was motivating? Uh, because I probably ran for for eight to ten years and ran probably a hundred races without ever getting a medal for a 5k or a 10k or a half or even a marathon. I ran like four marathons before I finally got a medal.

SPEAKER_14 1:07:39

Yeah, and that that's I forgot about that. You're right, Alan. We didn't get medals in the uh 80s and 90s.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:45

I signed up for a long distance race unintentionally, pretty much right off the bat. As soon as I started running.

SPEAKER_14 1:07:52

Unintentionally.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:53

Unintentionally, beating.

SPEAKER_14 1:07:55

Tell us more.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:56

I um I really wanted to run at Disneyland. It was so this was registration for this past year's Disneyland Half Marathon weekend that happened in 2026. And I had convinced some friends who were also Disney people to sign up with me, some girlfriends. We were all gonna go out together and do it. And we got all ready on registration morning. We were all of us on our computers in three different states. I was traveling for work. One was down in Texas, one was up in Oregon, and we were all online, ready to go. And as we were sitting there, and finally one of us got in the queue, we watched the 5K disappear. And we went, Oh, do you think we can do the 10K? Because the 5K seemed like a lot at the time. Could we manage the 10K? The 10K disappeared. And then it was just the half marathon left. And in a split-second decision, we just had to call it and we went, okay, let's sign up for the half. And we just went for it and just trusted that we could get there. That was in, I think it was April of 2025 that the registration happened last year. And then it wasn't gonna be until February. First week in February, we thought, okay, well, we can we can do something, we can get there, might as well go for it. So yeah, I I accidentally signed up for a long distance. I'd only been running kind of um haphazardly without even really training at that point for about three months and uh didn't really know what I was doing still. So, but that motivated me. Man, having that registration in in the bag was so motivating. And then ultimately I did, I was able to get us all registered to run the half K half of the 5K with American Cancer Society. So we signed up to do that through a charity, and we were able to run the 5K and the half at the Disneyland half marathon weekend um this year, which was fantastic. And yes, the medals are motivating, Alan. I love the medals. And I um the very first 5K I ever did, just as I was starting my running journey, was a local race, and I didn't know we would all get medals. And man, I love that thing. I still have it. My first 5K ever.

SPEAKER_14 1:10:06

Who else is motivated by the medals?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:09

I sure am. Sorry, I know it's a podcast, but I uh I like shiny things, and so now I can collect it and say, look what I've done.

SPEAKER_14 1:10:17

So that's fair.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:20

But Alan, to uh uh to answer your question as to why um to sign up for longer distance, so I started I did the 5Ks, but then did the half marathon and I didn't die at Princess 23, and I was actually sobbing going through with my dad, you know, holding his hands, crossing that finish line. I was sobbing. I'm like, I did this and I don't feel terrible. And that was just so and it was because my first half was such a bad experience. Um, but then so my dad, you know, we got the Disney bug, and I told him about Goofy and Dopey and Marathon Weekend. And he was like, Well, uh he he just turned 70 um last year, and he said, Well, I've only ran one marathon, and if I'm gonna do it, I will do it at Disney, it'll be my last one. And I said, Okay, dad, we'll sign up for the marathon. He says, No, I want to do one of the challenges, and I said, Oh, okay. And so we were at uh we signed up for the goofy challenge, and um I said, Well, I've heard many advices which said don't uh some people are like go all in at marathon. Some people say do another marathon first to get that under your belt. So I signed up for my uh the one in my hometown, the marathon distance. So uh September of last year was the first time I ever ran the marathon distance, and then uh it was almost like a jumping stone for Goofy, so that I could be mentally prepared to go that distance. And um, it was uh that so my dad was a motivator, but also yeah, more shiny things, you know, medals are fun, and then also just to say I did that, and it's just that personal accomplishment that many of you guys said, you we you can do hard things and you can push yourself so much than you expected. And now I'm like, oh, uh, well, I ran a local 15 uh miler, and then I'm gonna uh do a relay and uh a hundred K relay, and I I who knows, I might run a hundred K on my own one day, who knows? But it'll be a very future distance. But I think it's just that if I can do this, I bet I can go a little bit more and a little bit more.

SPEAKER_14 1:12:37

So did dad finish goofing?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:40

He did, he he and I finished together, yeah.

SPEAKER_14 1:12:43

He's 70. But he's still young. That's right. He's a young, he's a young guy, Alan. But we're still proud of him.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:50

Yeah, well, so funny enough, he said that it was gonna be his last marathon distance. And of course, as soon as we crossed the finish line, he's like, Well, I really want to do dopey. So I was like, okay, I knew you were gonna say that. I was like, Well, dad, like, let's you know, make sure that you're healthy and all of that. Um, because he um yeah, you know, he said that his hip was bothering him, and so like I just want to make sure that he's healthy, and then if you know, not this coming year, but the next year, if he's good, then we might sign up. So who knows?

SPEAKER_14 1:13:22

The last time I did dope, I was 70. It doesn't get easier, but but I'm still proud of him. But let's get back to Alan's question if we have more answers on that. You do you run for the medals now, or is there something else? You already told us why you got started. Is there something else that keeps you going?

SPEAKER_12 1:13:42

My story of how I got into a long distance race was Alan's fault. Oh, good. I was it it actually is a I I love the story. It actually I was um staying at the Swan and decided to do my laundry, which I typically don't do during a trip.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:01

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_12 1:14:02

I went over and Alan and Grace were in the laundry room.

SPEAKER_14 1:14:06

John, John, didn't we meet Alan and Grace in the laundry room? There was like a special room there.

SPEAKER_12 1:14:12

They must have. So I was doing my laundry and I recognized Alan, I think from the Facebook groups, that he had done all was a perfect marathoner. And I had no intention of speaking to him. I'm an introvert. I'm not gonna talk to him, but uh he saw my Run Disney. I think I was using my Club Run Disney bag as a laundry bag, and he struck up a conversation and asked me if I was running the next day. So we had we really had a lovely conversation, Alan, Grace, myself, and um and I'm like, I'm so inspired that you've done all these marathons. I can say after my first princess marathon, the first half marathon I ever did, I thought to myself, I am never ever going to do a full marathon. And um so I thought about it, and I happened to be on the plane going to Disneyland. I would, I was 5K's and 10Ks were my distance, and the Galloways were sitting next to me. And again, again, I didn't want to bother Jeff. I'm an introvert, but I did talk to Barbara on the flight, and she's so lovely. And uh so I didn't want to bother him, and I went to do the 5K, and Alan happened to be right behind me. Sure, we didn't plan it, but he was behind me, and he asked me if I wanted to run with him. I'm like, sure, I'd love to. So we ran together and then we ended the race, and Jeff and Barbara were there, and I ran up to them, and I I did talk to Jeff then, and he was so kind and said, Look, never feel like you can't talk to me or approach me. And um, we shared a story about how my daughter kind of got me into running because she said I could, she goes, My mom could run five miles. I had never run five miles before, so I felt like I had to do it. So we had that exchange. So I thought that's my sign to do a full marathon. So I signed up, and and Alan has been like just an amazing mentor. Alan, Grace, Melissa, and then Julie um got me through the finish because it was brutal. It was very difficult, it was so hot, but I finished, then I went to Disneyland, did the Disney and got my coast to coast. So it was an amazing experience. And along the way, Alan knows I had a few challeng life challenges, and um, you know, it was tough. My husband had a serious medical diagnosis and still going through it, but um just they're family. They check on me, they check on my husband, they're just like amazing people, and I'm signed up for the marathon again.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:05

Okay, but during Flying Pig, didn't you have another running partner?

SPEAKER_12 1:17:10

Yes, I think I did. Well, I had two of them. Well, actually, there were several of them. I was had the honor of running with Bob and Alan and Julie's husband, and uh, and uh Mellon and we had an it was just an amazing race, and uh they took we were almost to the finish line, they took off and left me in the dust. Didn't they?

SPEAKER_14 1:17:35

Those sons of guns. Yeah, that Alan will do that to you. You didn't do it. I didn't let him get away from me at Disneyland, but I couldn't keep up with him in Cincinnati. Good stuff. I want to wrap up here with a a question, and I'm gonna start, I'm gonna ask Denise.

Stress Relief Grief And Real Benefits

SPEAKER_14 1:17:53

We've talked about the why we got started and what keeps us going and some of the highlights, but from a practical point of view, are there tangible benefits that you've seen in your life from running?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:06

Well, definitely I think uh the the health aspect of it is is definitely a key component, um, as well as the the the stress relief, you know, what day-to-day stresses. If I'm really, you know, I really have found a benefit if I'm really stressed, and if I go out for a run, I just kind of like process the whole thing, and then when I'm when I'm finishing up my run, I feel like so much better that I can continue on with the with the rest of my day of whatever, whatever, you know, whatever I need to do. Um, and you know, I I have met a lot of good friends. I have a few friends that still run with me, not necessarily the distances that I do, but um, you know, we will get together. So you have those friendships, and then of course, the you know, the rise and run group and the meetups. And I I've always felt like the going back to Disney year after year that I have been doing is the the atmosphere there is just so welcoming. And you know, you you go there and everybody is just so encouraging and so friendly that that's really you know, you go to your local races and people are nice, but there's just a different atmosphere when you're at Disney. So um that's what keeps me going back. But you know, the the benefits of the running is definitely, you know, and I've gotten to the point where I run like three days, three times a week, and it's like I need to get out and do it. It's like just that it's part of my routine now. And I just I just and if I don't do it, you know, it's like, oh when I gotta move my stuff around because I gotta get out and get, you know, so it's you know it's what my lifestyle is really right now, is the the health benefits and getting out and moving. It's it's the act of movement.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:04

Obviously, uh I think we've all experienced a lot of similar things in terms of the health and the the stress relief. I know for me the stress relief is definitely a a big one when I had gotten injured and I couldn't run, I was going stir crazy for a while. Um, so when I got back to it, it was really nice to be like, oh yeah, this is this is what this feels like. I forgot how good this feels to just get out there on and just leave everything on the pavement, you know, and then you go back inside and it's like your day is so much better. Um I think for me the the this second time around, um, you know, I I had a lot of personal stuff going on with my mom being sick and and uh we unfortunately fortunately did lose her uh uh a year ago. And for me, the runs became a time to process a lot of what I was feeling, a lot of stuff that I kind of pushed to the back of my mind during the rest of the day. Um it would kind of come to the surface and when I was out by myself with the quiet and able to run, and it it made it a little easier to acknowledge, you know, what I was was going through and everything. And so I I think there was like a real, you know, kind of healing aspect to that with my running and being able to have that time to um actually let myself grieve, you know. Now that you know, time has passed, um, I just enjoy getting out there and knowing that I have things to look forward to. Um you know, if I'm having a bad day, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna be at wine and nine in October, you know. That's right, that's right. I'm gonna get my medal with my aristocats on it, and it's just gonna be crazy, you know. Uh I am mad that there are no Star Wars races I was looking for. I was hoping, I was hoping, but um you're the only you're the only one. I know, I know. I'm I'm I'm an anomaly. Um, but it's also helped me just feel energetic and alive and appreciating the time that we have now. It's and you know, I hear you guys say this all the time. We get to do this, and I love that because that is absolutely true, because none of us knows what's gonna happen tomorrow or next week or next year, and so I feel blessed with the time that I have and with my friends and the community, and I want to make the most of it because we, you know, we don't get we don't get to decide how much time we have to do this, and so I've decided that I'm just gonna live it up and I'm gonna keep running uh as long as I can. I'm gonna keep doing my Disney races as long as I can and enjoying everybody's company. And I guess that's all I gotta say about that.

SPEAKER_14 1:22:58

So, Alan, you started all this. See what you you see what you did? Did you get a good answer, Alan, from all of our friends?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:08

Yes. I mean, uh it's it's amazing how this has basically motivated people and brought them together. And the rise and run community has has been terrific.

SPEAKER_14 1:23:20

I will I will let it go there. That was wonderful. Friends, thanks for joining us. Ilyana, Christy, Denise, Karen, Jenny, and Alan. Thanks for your time and your input. And thanks for being part of the Rise and Run family. We appreciate all of you.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:40

Caution Runners, change of topic ahead.

SPEAKER_14 1:23:44

Well,

Playlist Corral Predictions Zoom And Episode 250

SPEAKER_14 1:23:45

there you go, friends. That's the that's the why from some of our friends, and we know a lot of you answered that question on Facebook. I hope, I hope you could relate to some of that. I hope our friends who we had on with us shared what really, in essence, was some of your whys also. But if not, the thread's still open. Let us know. Let's see. Hey John, how's our playlist going for now that we've got marathon training going on? How's the playlist working out?

SPEAKER_15 1:24:13

Oh, the playlist. So let me just start off. Uh the way Spotify did this, they they expire the link after a while. I don't know how long it is. I think it's two weeks. So uh if you can't add a song, just let me know and I'll re-resend the link out and re-update the link in our thing. But our playlist is going really well. So we basically can cover the marathon, basically, with a seven-hour and six-minute playlist. So uh and I I get a kick out of it. I mean, you can tell kind of people's genres and their errors of music by the songs they put in there. I knew most of the songs probably going down for like the first 45, 50. And then some of them like, I don't even know who that is. You know, uh like, okay, and I I I know Bob, you're probably in the same boat because some of them.

SPEAKER_14 1:25:10

Oh yeah, I'm worse than that. No. I listened this morning uh on my 45 minute run, I listened to the playlist. I recognized one artist because it was a country artist, and maybe two songs, but it was okay because the music was fine. It was upbeat, and even though I didn't know it, it was good. So I'm glad we had it. So yeah, I'll listen to it some more. I I appreciate our friends participating in that.

SPEAKER_15 1:25:44

So if you want just keep your adding, keep adding a song. It's it's it's a fun little uh I guess social experiment to see everyone's uh yeah little uh genres. I mean you might you might find a new song that gets you pumped up, but that that that's that right tempo for your uh for your for your cadence.

SPEAKER_14 1:26:00

For your cadence, yeah. I haven't added any yet. You'll probably know when I do. What the heck is this? When you wish upon a star. Oh, that's gotta be Bob. That would be one. I I wouldn't do that, I think, to a running playlist. It's already my telephone ring. I saw this, one of our friends posted it to the Facebook group. Our buddy Matt at team hashtag run dis has done a lot to help out with information and sharing information about Disney runs, some of which you really don't get anywhere else. So, right now, what he's doing is collecting data about corral placements for the last three Run Disney race seasons. And what he's asking is if you go to the team hashtag run dis webpage and you scroll down the posts, you will find a link for a Google form. And all he's asking for is the race that you ran, the year that you ran it, your bib number, and what corral you were in. And what he's hoping to do is come up with a formula so that when we get our bib numbers for future races, we can go to his site and there'll be no guarantees, but you have a pretty good idea what corral you're going to be assigned to. It's a neat thing. I hope it works out. I had no problem going back, and I've been to all those races for the last three seasons. Well, I've been to all the race weekends for the last three seasons, so I have plenty of data to put in. But if you see that, uh try and help him out. Hey, our next Zoom is not this week, it's next week. It's July the 9th. I know we'll be able to talk about springtime surprise registration, if nothing else. Upcoming episodes, hey, it's episode two hundred and fifty next week. You know how we had to plan, how carefully we had to plan to make episode 250 coincide with America's 250th birthday. That took a lot of work, but we did it, by golly.

SPEAKER_17 1:28:07

A lot of calculators and calendars. It was tough.

SPEAKER_14 1:28:09

Yeah. I think we snuck in maybe one or two extra episodes just to make it work. But there you go. Next week, episode 250, and we are going to discuss what we think are the top ten races in the United States of America. And now please stand clear of the door.

Race Reports And Big Personal Wins

SPEAKER_14 1:28:35

It's time for a race report. The race report sponsored by our friend Thomas Stokes of Stoked Metabolic Training, Stokes. Taking a look, uh holdover from last week. Now remember, we talked about Chad running the six days in the Dome in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That's right, the six days in the dome was a ten-day event. Chad finished. And he's back home. He finished the ten days with a total of, and I'm just going to say this number, and this is staggering to me. Five hundred and thirty-nine and one quarter miles.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:33

That's just insane.

SPEAKER_14 1:29:36

I think so too. I think it's marvelous. I think it's I mean, that's more than adopte a day. It turns out that he picked that number. 500 was his goal, but he picked that number because it was equal to the distance from his front door at his home in, I believe, western Pennsylvania to the venue in Milwaukee. This vested his previous distance event by 138 miles. So that's a 138-mile PR. I didn't realize this. Back in 20 years ago, Chad weighed in at 407 pounds. So crossing that PR number was a big deal. But and this was kind of interesting mentally. I was listening to Chad talk this morning uh on customized training. So he he he beats that personal best. And then he's a hundred miles away from his next goal. Now we talk about dopey downers because we're a couple weeks. That's a lot. That's mentally that's a big hurdle to get over. Didn't expect that in the middle of a race, but he did. But uh I think it's noteworthy and wonderful. And Chad, we're proud of you. Congratulations on your PR.

SPEAKER_17 1:31:01

Way to go, Chad.

SPEAKER_14 1:31:02

Incredibly proud, brother.

SPEAKER_15 1:31:04

That was a hundred and thirty-eight mile PR.

SPEAKER_11 1:31:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_14 1:31:07

That's right. Now there was another race, and I don't have the day here. I think this was actually on Tuesday of last week, I'm pretty sure. The Angry Chicken 2.62 mile run in Lowell Mass. Sophie did it. She was planning to do the early start there, but it wasn't anybody else starting early, so she'd rather decided that she would start in the back with everybody else and hang in the back of the pack. Another couple of miles in the books, another freeze pop at the finish line. That's a win. We had midweek races last week on Wednesday in Boston. The JP Morgan Corporate Challenge. Rob was there. This is a nationwide race series. This year's three and a half mile series, they had great early summer weather in Boston. The start was a little crowded, but after about half a mile, things opened up. It was smooth sailing. He finished this three and a half miles in 32 and a half minutes. Jake was there. Jake finished the course down Commonwealth Avenue in Boston in a little under 30 minutes, feeling good and strong. So two solid efforts in Boston. We had runs on Thursday in New York in West Seneca, the West Seneca Community 5K. Emily was there. Emily has recently started running again after some hip issues, maintained a good pace by doing 60-30 intervals. It's a fun way to kick off her wine and dine training season. And also on Thursday, there was a run in Bloomfield, New Jersey. John, tell us all about it.

SPEAKER_15 1:33:01

Yeah, so uh like this is something else like in Bloomfield, uh the last Thursday of June, they have the Tom's Fleming Sunside Classic that runs five miles throughout the town of Bloomfield and Glen Ridge. So, but it's it starts and ends in Bloomfield. And that's been like my my my uh marathon weekend, the wine and dine weekend, kickoff training run for the last couple years that I could run it. Uh I know I had my knee done a couple years ago when I wasn't able to run that race. But uh it's it's a fun little race through uh through the town. I set a goal, I came 40 something seconds shy. But you know what? That's good. Hey, I had a good time. People were out cheering, and it goes by my house. So at that last uh that last pass by my wife was able to get get me a bottle of uh water with some electrolytes in it, so I had a little extra aid stopped than anybody else. I'd probably be disqualified because I got because that's uh off course aid, but it was fun. And then afterwards we go to the town, they have hot dogs and ice cream and talk's are the big hot thing now. I don't know. I don't I I still don't you never have Takis, Jack?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:23

Is it like a walking taco? No, Takis are they're a chip.

SPEAKER_14 1:34:28

Like the the rolled up tortillas. Stop, stop. Jack, a walking taco? Yeah, you ever heard of that? Is that what you said?

SPEAKER_02 1:34:39

Yeah, but you've never had a walking taco?

SPEAKER_14 1:34:41

Can you picture a walking taco? I gotta see like little legs.

SPEAKER_03 1:34:46

No, they Bob, they sell it in the the the coaster courtyard now.

SPEAKER_14 1:34:52

I'm trying to picture this taco walking around.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:55

Are you being serious that you don't know what a walking taco is?

SPEAKER_14 1:34:58

100%.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:00

Okay, so a walking taco, maybe this is a Midwest thing because Bob doesn't know about it.

SPEAKER_15 1:35:07

It's a college, it was a college thing, I think, for college.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:11

A walking taco, which I've never actually eaten, but you like crumble up a bag and you open a bag of chips, you open it up and you put like the meat and the cheese and the lettuce and everything and it's called a walking taco. Oh my goodness, you you have the bag and you just walk around and eat it.

SPEAKER_14 1:35:26

I'm just picturing his taco walking around.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:29

I like the picture. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_14 1:35:33

Okay. Oh, you kids, what do you think of next? But the but the colors of these chips are like outrageous.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:39

Yeah, I don't like Takis. I tried them once and they they were not. Blue, purple. People do really, really like Takis.

SPEAKER_17 1:35:46

Well, listen, John, I'm I'm really, really proud of you, but like as I mentioned on your race report on actually it wasn't a race report on Facebook. The the video that Diane posted of you, I'm incredibly disappointed in you. Because you run by, you get you get the hydration from her, and you don't say, Hey, how you doing? Oh it was a perfect opportunity for that, and and you missed it. It's just my wife there. It is, yeah. Yeah, but you should find out how your wife is doing.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:14

Yeah, she should be asking me how I'm doing. I'm doing right. I'm with you, John. I'm with you on this one.

SPEAKER_11 1:36:20

I'm with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:21

But yeah, it was a fun race. Uh I'm planning, I'm planning on doing again next year. Uh, and it's hopefully it's uh just I I can get past that uh time goal, but it's the second fastest one I've ran so far.

SPEAKER_14 1:36:39

So that's good, John.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:40

That's great, John.

SPEAKER_14 1:36:41

Yeah, glad you had fun. All right,

Leadville Heavy Half At Altitude

SPEAKER_14 1:36:44

let's move to Saturday. And we were talking about this just last week with Coach Twiggs, Leadville, Colorado. Turns out the Leadville Marathon and Half Marathon were this past Saturday, and we are fortunate that our friend Alicia was there, and she's joining us for the race report spotlight. Hi, Alicia, good to see you.

SPEAKER_19 1:37:06

Hi, good to see you guys too.

SPEAKER_14 1:37:08

Thank you for joining us. Yeah, well, we're excited to have you. Thank you for joining us. Boy, this is a biggie. This is a we'll get into this one a little bit. We want to hear about it. You know what the first question we're gonna ask you is we're gonna ask you how you got started in running. We uh we always ask, we always lead off with our spotlight with how did you get started running?

SPEAKER_19 1:37:29

So I was a hiker first. I did I've done a bunch of long distance hiking um and things like that. My husband got into trail running initially um as a way to enhance his training. And I was always like, oh gosh, like I'll never do that. I hate running. I'm not a runner.

SPEAKER_14 1:37:47

Where were you living that you were doing this hiking?

SPEAKER_19 1:37:49

We were in Colorado at the time.

SPEAKER_14 1:37:51

Okay, beautiful place to hike, right?

SPEAKER_19 1:37:54

Yeah, love it there. Um, I'm in Pennsylvania now, so I miss it. But um, yeah, he got into it there, and I always said I would never run because I hate running. Um, is I'm a self-proclaimed hate hate runner hater. So uh I said no, I was just a hiker. And it was actually a year or two ago that I decided to try and give running a try um to try to get faster at hiking. Uh, so got into trail running and always said that it would be cool to do at least one road marathon in my life. And if I was gonna do it, I was gonna do a Disney marathon. Um, so I signed up for the Disney Marathon uh 2026 this year and did that. Got hooked to Disney running, but uh also yeah, now I'm a trail runner, primarily is my sport of choice.

SPEAKER_14 1:38:53

Picked a hot marathon to start with.

SPEAKER_19 1:38:55

I sure did.

SPEAKER_14 1:38:56

Yeah, you had you had no way of knowing, but uh it was pretty warm that weekend. So so that's cool. So you went from hiking and and got into running that way. That's that's pretty neat. No, so you're in Pennsylvania now, so that's where you live now. Yes, but you went back out to Colorado to do Leadville. What uh what made you decide to do that?

SPEAKER_19 1:39:19

Well, we were my husband and I were gonna go out to Colorado for the week already. Uh, we have a timeshare out there that we had bought into when we lived in Colorado. So we haven't been in five years. Figured it was time to go use our week at our timeshare. And I got to thinking, oh, I wonder if there's any trail races going on when we're out there. We had already booked the week and come to find out it was gonna be the Leadville heavy half and marathon weekend, uh the Saturday before we were gonna leave. So we would have been out there already for a week, and it was just perfect. Um, perfect timing to give ourselves the week to acclimate and then go do the race.

SPEAKER_14 1:40:01

Because you had lived, had you lived at a decent altitude when you were in Colorado?

SPEAKER_19 1:40:06

Uh primarily I was in the Denver uh suburb region. So 5,000 feet or so. Yeah, like 6,000 something, I think, is where I lived. And then I lived out in Gunnison for the last uh six or seven months prior to moving back east, which I don't remember what altitude that's at, but that's okay. Yeah. A little higher than Denver.

SPEAKER_14 1:40:26

Oh, a little higher. Okay. So you did you find that it really didn't take you that long to get back with it? I mean, a week, a week is is decent, but it's I definitely felt the altitude.

SPEAKER_19 1:40:39

Um, you know, it had been we moved back east eight years ago, um, but it had been five years since I'd been out.

SPEAKER_14 1:40:47

So um that's been a while, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:40:51

But a week was a good amount of time, definitely the first couple days. We spent the first night in the Denver area with a family member, and then we moved out to uh Breckenridge, Colorado on Sunday, and we our timeshare's at the base of the ski area. Uh so it was around 10,000 feet of elevation, and we slept there all week, so it was really good opportunity for acclimating.

SPEAKER_15 1:41:17

So this is the heavy half, so it's not really a half marathon, right?

SPEAKER_19 1:41:23

Right. They call it a heavy half because it's technically longer, you know, half marathon, 13.1 miles. This race was 15.5. So a little on the heavier side of an ultra half.

SPEAKER_15 1:41:35

Ultra half. And so how did the race go for you?

SPEAKER_19 1:41:40

Um, it went really well. I was really nervous going into the race because, like I said, with the altitude and acclimate acclimizing, I wasn't sure how prepared I would be. Um, we had done a couple hikes earlier in the week that went up to um the highest point was 13,918 feet, was the one summit hike we did. And that was on Wednesday. Um, so I was definitely struggling a little bit on that hike. You know, my pace was slower than what the cutoff pace was gonna need to be for the race on Saturday. And I was a little bit nervous. Um, didn't know if the extra three days of being out at altitude would pay off or not after that, after that hike we did. But um it went well. Uh, it was a beautiful day of weather, you know. Uh there was a little bit of smoke in the air earlier in the week from the Utah fires, I think, but at that point there weren't really any fires in Colorado yet. I know that has since changed, unfortunately. So the air quality was pretty good. It was really dry though out there, so there was a lot of dust in the air. Uh the race goes up um sort of like a four-wheel drive Jeep road. Uh technically, you can drive all the way to the high point of the race. It's uh a pass called Mosquito Pass at 13,185 feet.

SPEAKER_14 1:43:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_19 1:43:12

And it's a big thing. People go out there and they drive, you know, up and over the pass and down the other side. Um, but so it's a very dusty, rocky road, and uh with the drought, so much dust in the air. So I did have a moment in time, sort of near the top of the pass, that like my lungs were kind of burning and just really heavy. Um, so I was a little bit concerned then because you know, when I would cough, it was actually pretty painful. Uh but I kept going, just power hiked on the way up. Um, this is why I like trail running because I'm a hiker at heart and I can just, you know, speed hike and then run the flats or the downhills as best as I can. But um, it was a little cold of a day, it was sunny, but it was really windy on Saturday. I think there were probably gusts in the 40 mile per hour range up near the top of the pass. Uh, but it was a beautiful day. Um, met all the cutoffs. There was only one intermediate cutoff at mile 11, and then the final race cutoff at the end, but met all those, ran as much as I could on the downhill. You know, even though I was going downhill, breathing was still hard. So um had to take some walking breaks.

SPEAKER_15 1:44:29

You used to live in Colorado and you had to see some people that are out there supporting a friend's dad that ran this race, you said.

SPEAKER_19 1:44:35

Yes. Um, so we had moved to Colorado in 2011. Um, later that year, you know, we were really active in a hiking community. There's peaks out there that are referred to as the 14ers. They're peaks that are over 14,000 feet in elevation. And we got really um dialed into that community soon after moving out there, and they would have these happy hours in the Denver area to get together and meet each other. And one of the first 14er happy hours we went to, uh, we met this individual named Rob. He was around our age, um, maybe a little bit younger than us, uh, young 20s, and super friendly, super knowledgeable. He had just moved out to Colorado himself after college, after graduating. Um, loved the mountains, uh, was super experienced. And it was the next year, 2012, I forget what month, I want to say August. Uh, he was hiking a 14er and traversing across a ridge to another high peak nearby uh with some friends, and there was a a rock slide um incident that happened, and he unfortunately got caught in the rock slide and passed away um from that accident. But he was also a runner. Um, he had run the Leadville races previously, and every year after that accident, his family and close friends go out to this race and run the race in honor of him since he was also, you know, a runner. So um this year we were hiking along going uphill, and I saw this man during one of my breaks when I was just taking a breather. Uh, I saw this man walk by me with a shirt that said um something along the lines of in memory of Rob Jansen, our our our light, or something like that, and had a picture of him on there, and I immediately recognized the picture and his name. And at the time I was a little too winded to uh speak up and introduce myself. So the man passed me by, and when my husband caught up to me, I said, I'm I'm pretty sure that's Rob's dad that just passed me. Um, you should go talk to him because I was in no place to go speak at the time. So uh yeah, my husband went up and struck up a conversation, introduced ourselves and let him know how we knew Rob and shared some stories. Um his dad was kind of, I don't want to say struggling a little bit at the time, but he was. He was, you know, at that point in the race where you start questioning everything. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_14 1:47:18

Yeah, questioning your life, yeah.

SPEAKER_19 1:47:19

Yeah. And uh he later told us that it was, you know, kind of meeting us and talking to him during that uphill final push to the summit of the past that got him up there.

SPEAKER_14 1:47:31

Yeah, I can believe that.

SPEAKER_19 1:47:33

Um yeah, it was a super, super great experience.

SPEAKER_14 1:47:36

Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure you helped him out a lot.

SPEAKER_19 1:47:39

Yeah, he he loved, you know, meeting Rob's friends and people that knew Rob and of course hearing about the stories.

SPEAKER_14 1:47:47

Yeah, I can understand that completely. Well, Alicia, good stuff. What a challenging event. Uh, are there more of is there more Leadville or other races of this type in your future?

SPEAKER_19 1:47:59

Uh no Leadville in my future yet. I always say definitely not to Leadville 100. Um, but I could be swayed if I had more time to acclimate than a week. Uh I am an altar runner, uh, so my husband has paced someone for Leadville 100. So we're we're familiar with it. Um, I would like to maybe at some point in the future, if you know, if we are living out there at any point and I'm actually better acclimated, I would say yes, if I had the chance to get in, you know, through the lottery. But um, yeah, I would say the next things I have coming up kind of similar to this. I've got a 100k trail race in December in Northern Virginia.

SPEAKER_14 1:48:42

Northern Virginia, okay.

SPEAKER_19 1:48:43

Yep. Um, but that's the next big one.

SPEAKER_14 1:48:46

That can that can be you're you're not gonna get the uh altitudes, the elevation that you get in Colorado, but that can be steep, the Northern Virginia climbs.

SPEAKER_19 1:48:55

Yeah, yeah, and probably a little bit of cold. Um could be, yeah. Some snow.

SPEAKER_14 1:49:00

Yeah, yeah. How about Disney? You heading to Disney anytime soon?

SPEAKER_19 1:49:04

I am, yeah. So I've uh I've got I'm doing wine and dine uh weekend. I'm doing the Grumpy Challenge. Um that'll be my first back-to-back, you know, road race. And then I got back in through a charity for uh Marathon weekend in January. I'm doing uh Goofy.

SPEAKER_14 1:49:24

Good for you.

SPEAKER_19 1:49:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_14 1:49:26

We will see you there.

SPEAKER_19 1:49:28

Yeah, hopefully I can make the uh one of the meetups.

SPEAKER_14 1:49:31

Alicia, thanks for taking the time to join us. We always appreciate it. Good luck, and we will talk with you later.

SPEAKER_19 1:49:38

All right, thank you guys.

SPEAKER_14 1:49:39

So

More Race Reports Plus Ice Cream Runs

SPEAKER_14 1:49:40

from Colorado, we go back to New York, the Frontrunners New York LGBTQ plus Pride Run. We had several folks there, but no report. Grace, Divya, Brenna, and Nikhil were there, but I didn't either I missed it or we didn't get a report. Kayla's on the race report. Twice this weekend. The first one's in Bristol, Rhode Island for the Independence Road Race Half Marathon. State number nine, she's trying to do 50 halves in 50 states. She took the early start option on this one so that she could go easy, remain ready for the next event, but still finished three minutes ahead of her A goal time. Kelly was in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, doing the Stars and Stripes half marathon. She went into the race to attempt a POT for Marathon Weekend, but wasn't in the cards. That happens. Around mile five, she dialed it back, made it a catered training run. Not her favorite course, lots of out and backs and lots of hills. A couple of other runners that she was leapfrogging with for the last five miles. They all encouraged each other and got to the finish. Caitlin was in Geneva, Illinois, for the Swedish Days, Swedish Lop. Geneva, Swedish. I'm not going to try and figure that out. But Caitlin says this is part of the annual Swedish Days Festival in Geneva. Great morning for running along the Fox River. She ran with six co-workers from the Geneva Public Library and got a second place age group finish way to go. In Ashburn, Virginia, Taylor ran the red, white, and blue 5K, a small race, flat course. She's run it for the last four years. She let the first mile decide how she was going to pace this one. Turns out that if you eat your body weight in melting pot the night before, it gives you superpowers. Now, I didn't know what a walking taco was. I don't know what melting pot is eating.

SPEAKER_17 1:51:54

Oh my lord, Robert. Okay. Melting pot is a restaurant chain that is all fondue.

SPEAKER_14 1:52:01

Oh, fondue, I know.

SPEAKER_17 1:52:03

So the fact that Taylor did so well in this race with probably copious amounts of cheese in her body is a feat upon itself.

SPEAKER_14 1:52:12

They don't have, they don't, they don't got them things in the South. At least I haven't seen one.

SPEAKER_17 1:52:18

I'm shocked if there's one in the Greater Orlando area since I feel like every chain now is in Orlando.

SPEAKER_14 1:52:23

That could be. That could be. And there are uh yeah, there are fun. I haven't been to a fondue chain in a long time. Anyway, anyway, so meanwhile, all right, back to Taylor. Eating her body weight in a melting pot. She runs negative splits, comes in one minute under her previous 5K PR. Well, there you go. And then she watches a hot dog race. Meanwhile, Emmy with her grandpa, Taylor's stepdad, did the 1K fun run. Emmy left stepdad in the dust. This was her second 1K and a PR for her. So here you go, Emmy.

SPEAKER_17 1:53:01

She is just the cutest little thing that I have ever seen. Anytime Taylor posts a photo of her, regardless if it's a race or not, it always melts my heart. But Emmy, we are so, so, so, so proud of you. Way to go, kiddo.

SPEAKER_14 1:53:14

Good job. Uh, let's go to Stephenville, Texas, where Jason did the third annual Stephenville Run Club beer run. It's a 5K loop. At the end of each loop, you get a six-ounce beer. Now you don't have to drink it. I'm not sure what the point of getting the beer is if you don't have to drink it, but you do as many loops as you want between the hours of 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. His plan was to do a 10K, and he did. Uh he made ice cream while doing his first loop. You guys familiar with this?

SPEAKER_02 1:53:44

Yeah, this is a new trend. And I haven't done a run where I like wanted to try it out, but yeah, people are putting the ingredients to make ice cream in their hydration best, and then going out um and making ice cream, and it sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_17 1:54:02

It all started with all started with the butter and then it it turned the ice cream. But Bob, I mean, this is huge in our customized family right now. And I I believe it or not, uh, you can actually request that Coach Twiggs gives you an ice cream run and he'll give you all the ice cream. I'm sure you're right. So I you just have to ask for it, and I'm sure he'll give it to you.

SPEAKER_14 1:54:23

So, but it's you still gotta freeze it. You put a bag of ice in your backpack, also. Right. And it works. It works. Uh, you can check out Jason's video. Not only did it make ice cream, it made it it's frozen solid. I mean, he had to he couldn't really spoon it, he had to break off a chunk. But apparently it turned out great. It was a hot day, so he made salted caramel vanilla ice cream. Turned out great.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:50

That sounds delicious. I wouldn't do that my next ultra. There you go.

SPEAKER_14 1:54:55

There you go. Uh I'm I'm sure we're gonna be trying that in the not too distant future.

SPEAKER_15 1:55:02

There should be spaghetti in her backpacks on our run. Spaghetti?

SPEAKER_03 1:55:06

Don't even that's what I have for dinner tonight.

SPEAKER_14 1:55:11

Oh, golly. All right.

SPEAKER_17 1:55:14

Bob, do you do you know what spaghetti is? I I just want to I just want to double check real quick.

SPEAKER_15 1:55:18

Actually, yep. I actually misspoke and usually we call it macaroni.

SPEAKER_14 1:55:23

I got spaghetti now. I got spaghetti, yep. All right. Let's go out to the west coast where Jenny was doing the Vineyard Stomp 5K at the Wetzel Estate Winery. That's outside Salem, Oregon. It's a small race, gorgeous vineyard location. It's in the Willamette Valley Wine Region. 18 runners. Two loops through the vineyards, right between the rows of the uh wine grapes, and she ends up at the winery's tasting room. You get a celebratory glass of the estates wine. Now she ran with a friend. A friend was doing her first race in 10 years. It was slow, they went slow to avoid rolling their ankles on the uneven terrain, but they both placed in their age group. Jenny's friend took first and she took second. That's the Jenny who was with us earlier today. In Buffalo, New York, Rich did the Miles for Migraine eighth annual 5K run. This is run six. Oh, I'm sorry. He has run six of these eight races. One to PR, still happy with his time. A little over 27 minutes. Great time for a 5K Rich. Way to go. Joe did the true grip 5K in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Arkansas. Small race at a 61 to 99 year old age group. His buddy Johnny managed third, but the victory for Gary and Joe was finishing in all that humidity. Wrapping up Saturday in Exeter, New Hampshire, Mike did the Bubba Palooza, a loosely organized, unsupported, untimed, last man standing type of event. Three and a half mile trail loops every hour on the hour. He only had time to do five. That's a little over 18 miles, but felt great and had a ton of fun. Having a break between loops to hydrate and eat was awesome. Apparently, donuts were the fuel of choice in Exeter. On Sunday, back in Massachusetts, second run for a couple of our friends here. The Cambridge Summer Classic 5K. Another beautiful day. This course winds through the Central Square region in Cambridge and a portion of the MIT campus makes for a fun route. It's also flat, leads to some great times. Jake is back in this one, this time with his wife and son. His wife usually walks, and Jake runs with his son Teddy. Teddy didn't feel much like running in the heat. So Jake and his wife switched rolls halfway through. Jake ends up running crazy negative splits to finish this thing in 2853. Rob had a finish time of just a touch over 25 minutes. A 15-second improvement over his spring classic time. Great run, Rob. You don't mention that that's a PR, but that's an outstanding run. Rob wants to thank his friends for the holler hypes. Audrey and Sophie, with their mom and younger sister, were there. Audrey had a great race. She just missed a PR. Them daggum water stops. Hadn't been for the holdups at the water stops, she probably would have made it. There was another run in New York City. The New York Roadrunners, Achilles Hope, and Possibility 4 Miler. Brenna and Nikhil were there. That's their second races of the weekend. In San Jose, Costa Rica, Irene ran a 5K. I'm going to butcher this, Irene. I believe it's the Carrera de la Leche 5K. She calls this her revenge stration race. Because in 2025 she thought she was going to be her first sub-35K. Wasn't, but this year, 2913, and that's a PR. In Newburyport, Massachusetts, the town and country half marathon. Kayla back on the report. State 10 now. 9 on Saturday. State number 10 on Sunday. A little sore. She got some blisters on the first race. This one started out well, but then things went downhill, not literally, but figuratively. She did finish. Didn't make the official cutoff time because the blisters just gave her too much trouble. But she did get her medal, but not an official finish time. But still, I'm counting that as state number 10 out of the 50. Des Moines, Iowa. Boy, we've been there a couple times in the race report the last few weeks. Angela did the 10K at the Treat Trot in Lavonia, Michigan. Christy and her friend did the Spree 5K. Now, they went to a double feature the night before. They stalled Toy Story 5 and Grogu and didn't get to bed till 3 a.m. But got up for the race, run Disney, prepared them well. No frills, no timing chip, no medals, did get a shirt and an amazing pancake breakfast. Despite the poor sleep, Christy managed a course PR of almost two minutes. In Mopeth UK, the Mopeth 10K, the one with all the hills and the heat, Andy and Jamie ran it. Andy says there are steep drops and what feels like even steeper inclines, just as you get settling into a rhythm. The positive is you get to the finish, you know you've had a great workout. Andy finished this one under an hour. Jamie pretty much killed it with a 53-minute finish. Want to learn more about this race? Check out Andy's YouTube channel, Roller Coaster of Running. We wrap up the races in Moosick, Pennsylvania for the mainline Moosick 5K. Steve did this, his first trail race. Up, across, and then back down a ski trail. All types of terrain. Kept a pretty good pace. Finished this tough event. Finished it in 42 minutes. No medals, but you get a t-shirt, a free beer at the finish line, and a really cool perk was admission to the water park at the base of the mountain. Let you cool off. Now they got done early. The water park didn't open till eleven, so they had it mostly to themselves early in the morning. Finish with a special mention, not a race, but a bicycling event. A six-day two hundred and ninety-mile bicycle ride across the state of Michigan that Michael did with his adult son Ben. In fact, Michael was telling me they both recently celebrated big birthdays, Michael turning 60 and Ben turning 30. Now it's time to shift gears. See what he did there? Shift gears because it was a bicycle race, shift gears. And he's going to start training for his first 10K race in August. And there we have it, folks, the race report for episode 249 of the Rise and Run podcast.

Holiday Plans Consistency And Sign Off

SPEAKER_14 2:03:06

Friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. Thank you for sticking with us. One more time, mentioned it earlier. Happy birthday, America. 250 years. You don't look a year over 230. Hope you got plans for this special 4th of July celebration. I'm going to be going to St. Petersburg and running the 4K as I've done, or 4 Mile, as I've done every year that they've had it. This is the fifth year. I know I'll be there with some rise and run friends. I'm going as Sam Eagle friends. You won't have any problem finding me. Hope you have a great holiday weekend. Hope your training's getting off to a good start. Stick with it. Consistency is the key. Until we meet again, happy running.

SPEAKER_16 2:04:00

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