188: Dr. Michelle Quirk - Coach and Host of the Mindful Marathon

Have you ever wondered if you're a "real runner" because you take walk breaks? Dr. Michelle Quirk, pediatrician and running coach, sets the record straight in this episode, sharing why walk intervals are not only acceptable but beneficial for all runners. Her thoughtful advice for beginners—remember your "why," start slow, and focus on effort rather than pace—offers a refreshing foundation for anyone lacing up for the first time.

The conversation with Dr. Quirk delves into practical wisdom that both novice and experienced runners will appreciate. She explains how to distinguish between normal muscle soreness and potential injuries through timing, location, and relieving factors—information that could save you from sidelining yourself unnecessarily or pushing through a genuine problem. For parents, Michelle offers sage advice on introducing children to running in a healthy, sustainable way that keeps the focus on fun rather than competition.

Following our expert interview, we're treated to emotional firsthand accounts from three Boston Marathon finishers, including two who completed their Six Star journey at this iconic race. Their descriptions of the overwhelming crowd support and the profound feeling of turning onto Boylston Street for the final stretch will give you goosebumps. As one runner put it: "If you ever want to feel like a rock star, run the last half mile of the Boston Marathon."

The episode wraps with our comprehensive race report, highlighting achievements from runners across the country and around the world—from PR-breaking performances at the London Marathon to the quirky "Reverse London Midnight Marathon" where participants run the course backward starting at 12:01 AM. Whether you're training for your first 5K or your sixth major marathon, this episode offers both practical guidance and the inspirational stories that make our running community so special. Join us as we continue to rise, run, and celebrate each step of the journey together!

Dr. Michelle Quirks Links
Mindful Marathon Web site
Mindful Marathon Instagram
Mindful Marathon Facebook
Mindful Marathon You Tube

Rise and Run Links
Rise and Run Podcast Facebook Page
Rise and Run Podcast Instagram
Rise and Run Podcast Website and Shop
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(00:27):
surprise topics suggested by you, our listeners.
Well, the alarm's gone off, solet's go.
Hey, rise and Run family, thisis Dan Kelly from Lyle, illinois
, calling in and you'relistening to the Rise and Run
podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Dan calling us from Illinois and leaving that
splendid introduction.
See how easy that is.
Perfect, right to the point.
Thanks, dan, appreciate that.
We have some.
John went around.
We have some intros John pickedup at springtime so we may
start using two intros everyweek.

(01:04):
We get caught up a little bit,but for now we got Dan helping
us open episode 188 of the Riseand Run podcast.
Hello my friends, so gladyou're joining us.
This week I'm Bob and this weekI'm here with Jack.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
Hiya.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
With John, hey, how you doing.
With Alicia, hello.
And with Lexi, hello.
Good to see you, friends.
On episode 188.
Dr Michelle Quirk joins us.
Michelle's a pediatrician, arun coach.
We think you're going to runDisney fan.
We know you're going to enjoythat interview and we had

(01:44):
several folks run Boston acouple weeks ago.
Three of them joined us to tellus their stories.
Great interview for the BostonMarathon.
Stick around for that one.
We'll put that in just beforethe race report.

Speaker 5 (01:58):
If you enjoyed the Rise and Run podcast, please
share us with your friends andintroduce them to the Rise and
Run family.
We want to share in their RunDisney journey.
Please remember to follow us onFacebook at Rise and Run
Podcast, instagram at Rise andRun Pod.
Check out our YouTube channeland visit our webpage at
riseandrunpodcastcom.
If you have a question, comment, raise support or want to

(02:19):
introduce an upcoming episode,call us at 727-266-2344 and
leave us a recorded message.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
We also want to thank our Patreons, whose support
helps keep the Rise and Runpodcast rising and running.
If you would like to join ourPatreon team, you can check out
patreoncom slash rise and runpodcast and we have one new
Patreon.
We would like to welcome Amy atthe plastic cheese level.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Welcome, Amy.
Thank you, Friends.
The Rise and Run podcast issponsored by Magic Bound Travel.
Hotel reservations have openedfor next year for Walt Disney
World.
Those of you who registeredtoday for the Disneyland half
marathon for Walt Disney World,those of you who registered
today for the Disneyland halfmarathon in January Disneyland

(03:10):
reservations are not open yet,but contact our friends at Magic
Bound, Get in the queue so thatwhen reservations do come open
they'll be able to help you outas quickly as possible.

Speaker 6 (03:23):
Magicboundtravelcom is the website Check them out
and I know they have been sobusy and all of the travel
agents.
We have been so busy over thepast week making sure to get
quotes out and everything andthey've worked really hard.
I know they have.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yep, yep, I know I've already got a response and I'm
already set for marathon weekendand working on the rest.
All right, a quick apologiesand alibis Golly Race report.
I do my best, but every now andthen one slips by and it
frustrates me.
Sometimes I think it might bethe Facebook algorithm.
Things get put off.

(04:00):
I won't catch them all, butthere's a couple I want to catch
up on.
In Peoria, arizona, chase ranthe Hippity Hop Half Marathon
two weeks ago.
He ran a PR and got a proof oftime and we featured the
Crescent City Classic in thespotlight.

(04:21):
The race in New Orleans Mirawas also at that race.
Let's look at the trainingcalendar.
Friends.
Now registration for Disneylandtoday.
So we're looking to next season.
We had a gap.
Now we finished SpringtimeSurprise.
We had a gap where nothing wason the training schedule.

(04:43):
Well, hello.
Next week training officiallyon the Jeff Galloway plan.
Now Training officially starts.
Next week is week one forDisneyland Halloween races.
Yeah, that event is now 18weeks away, 126 days till the

(05:04):
expo out there in Anaheim.
Next week we start training onthat one.
And it's also those and a lotof our friends run bird in hand.
That's the same weekend, sobird in hand is also 18 weeks
away.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
And it's really nice, Bob, because I looked at the
schedule just for the half.
It's only a nice, easy two-milerun starting off.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, jeff's plan is to start you off easily and
build.
But there we go.
That's good.
I'm excited that we're gettingback into some training.
Speaking of training friends,we have any updates on training
from the gang.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
It's not so much of an update but a story, a short
one.
Okay, you know you're with theright person that when you're
running outside he's cheering mealong the way.
Yeah, the way.

(06:06):
Yeah, like right after work Iwent outside to go do my run
because there's this reallybeautiful fountain outside the
studio that Lexi and I work atand I was like I can't miss this
run and David had his car inthe shop so he took the train
over to my, my job, so that wecould both drive back home
together, and he was chillingwith me going for my run still
and like, literally, it's justthe cutest thing.

(06:28):
He'd be like go, jack, go.
He'd be like cheering me alongthe way and it's like I'm trying
not to run fast because likeit's supposed to be a chill run,
but at the same time it's justkind of like I feel the energy,
I feel the crowd of one.
Oh he's cheering for me rightnow on the.
I feel the energy, I feel thecrowd of one.
Good stuff.
Yeah, oh, he's cheering for meright now on the side over here.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
You can't see him.
Great podcast Jack.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
There he is.
Oh, podcast Jack.
I know you guys can't see him.

Speaker 4 (06:57):
But he's like so extremely supportive and I'm
forever thankful to have him inmy life.
Good stuff but yeah it was agood Monday, good stuff, but
yeah, it was, it was good Monday.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Good stuff.
I don't have anybody cheeringme on my training runs.
If I'm lucky, when I get back,Becky will let Lily come running
outside to greet me.
That's as good as it gets.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, bob, for your training runs, just log into
Holler Hype, because I know allour friends are having a great
time or having a great time withholler hype.
They're getting their theirhypes, or no?
Encouragement out in the course.
So I mean if you haven't joinedit yet.
Log into and download theholler hype app and get some
holler hypes good john, goodcomment I.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
After we initially talked about that, I said, all
right, I'm not gonna talk aboutit for a while.
But yeah, you're right, it's sopopular and I knew it would be.
I knew this family would justlove it.
But HollerhypeH-O-L-L-A-R-H-Y-P-Ecom, and you
can go to the Apple store or theplay store and download it and

(08:01):
when you log in initially, usethe group, use the code rise and
run all one word and that'llput you into our mega group and
I don't know how many.
You can look on our Facebookpage I don't know how many
people talk about the number ofhypes and how excited they are
to get them and it just worksout really well, and I think we

(08:23):
actually had someone's.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
I saw a story on facebook that someone was
running by a lake yes and theyfound out that they run that
same lake and now they're doingtraining runs together.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yes, yes, there's a post on facebook and I don't
have the names, but yes yesthere's a post on facebook for
both of them, so that's a lot offun.
Hey, we had a registration eventtoday, as of the day of
recording, two days ago by thetime you're listening to this
Registration for the DisneylandHalf Marathon weekend in late

(08:58):
January.
I think the half's actually onFebruary 1st.
I know Jack was there.
Jack, I think it was just youand me in terms of people who
were online doing that.
I thought it went great.
What'd you think?

Speaker 4 (09:12):
So I'm glad that I logged into that Zoom that you
posted in the half marathon chat, because I was like you guys
are just so nice and so chill,like I always know, like
everybody was so nice in thecommunity, in the running
community, but like it was justa good time being with friends.
To be honest, it was a goodtime hearing.

(09:33):
It was funny Whenever the thingwent off.
How does the thing go?
Yeah, and you're like, oh,somebody got in and we cheer for
each other.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
If you were on the Zoom call and someone got in and
they played the chimes when itwas your time to register?

Speaker 2 (09:53):
we'd all hear it.
It's like an angel got itswings, bob, yeah, yes, there you
go, john.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
Beautifully said John , but yeah.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, the group chat worked well, but the last couple
of races I've also opened up azoom so that we can not
necessarily watch each otherbecause we're busy doing other
things, but we can talk to oneanother and it makes things just
a little bit easier.
But gosh, I think, especiallyin the last two registrations,

(10:27):
it seems to me that disney hasincreased their bandwidth or
their ability to process theregistrations faster, because it
went by pretty quickly todayand everybody that I saw in our
group, either in the zoom or inthe chat, got what they wanted

(10:49):
yeah, well, it was also likereally weird because, like
everybody was saying, oh, I'mgoing to sign up for this race
now that it's going to be thelast one for a while, and it's
just like I don't know aboutanybody else.

Speaker 4 (11:01):
But that scared the living crap out of me.
I was, I was worried becausethis was one I wanted to do even
before that was announced.
I've been wanting to do itagain for a while, since the
first time in 2024.
Yeah, so I was just, I wasreally worried, but I'm glad I
was able to get in so I I lookedat some numbers for that.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
So the 5k sold out at 10 46, so that about 46 minutes
.
It's about average.
The 10k was a little strange.
It sold out in 48 minutes butit opened up again at 11 13,
yeah, which was a little strange.
The half is still open as ofrecording.

(11:42):
Yeah, dumbbell sold out at10.52.
The kids race an hour and nineminutes and yoga an hour and 12.
So I mean, with the yoga andeverything, I guess the theme of
the yoga was really big.
So everything's basically soldout for the half.
But it's been opening andclosing all day.
Some of the events.

Speaker 6 (12:03):
Yeah, I even heard that marathon weekend, the half
marathon, was opening andclosing a little bit today.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
Oh yeah, I'm not surprised.
They usually have, like anotherrace weekend pop open and close
during those registrations.

Speaker 6 (12:17):
Yeah, it was super fast and it was just the half.
But yeah, I heard from one ofmy clients that said that they
were trying to get it.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
Didn't notice, although I believe it Just
didn't notice that Wasn'tlooking for it.
I did notice the Disneylandraces popping open and closed
and, as a surprise and I wasgoing to try and keep this quiet
, but enough people know alreadyI was not going to register for
anything.
In fact I was supposed to be onthe road today and not here for

(12:50):
the podcast recording or not atthe registration this morning,
but plans changed so that Icould do all of those things.
And during the Zoom call,during our Zoom get get together
last week, the thursday nightzoom, talking to friends, I
realized if disneyland staysdown for five or six years which

(13:12):
some people are speculating I'mlooking at being 77, 78 years
old the next time it opens up.
I hope I'm still participatingin the events then.
But gosh, there are noguarantees.
So I talked it over with Beckyand she said yeah, I think you

(13:33):
need to go, I'm registered forthe half, so I'll see you in
California in January.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
We can be at the meetup together yes but it did
go well.
Congratulations to everybodythat got in.
Uh, it was fun.
Like you said, jack, it was funseeing everybody on zoom this
morning.
Okay, next registration iseight weeks away.
Princess registration is next.

Speaker 4 (14:07):
In June.
Who's doing that one?

Speaker 3 (14:10):
It comes up in 54 days.

Speaker 6 (14:12):
Wow, anybody here?

Speaker 3 (14:15):
I'll do something that weekend yeah.

Speaker 6 (14:19):
Oh, the perks of living down in.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Florida.
Yeah, that's it.
I'm going to drive over thereand I'll do something.
Whether it's the half orwhether it's several, I'm not
sure, but I'll do something.
I'm going to enjoy it.
I'm not going to miss theopportunity.

Speaker 4 (14:35):
When do you think the Princess in the Springtime
Surprise artwork will come out?

Speaker 2 (14:42):
Themes Two weeks before probably, like usual I
think after this, now that thisregistration is gone, I think
it'll probably come out a littlequicker.
I think they can't.
We're coming out almost a monthin advance now.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
The uh, the artwork that's true, because disneyland
came out way early you knowyou'd think as many times as
we've gone through this, I'dhave notes on this, as to when,
and i't.
I try to re answer the samequestion every year and I don't
have notes.
I should have notes from yearto year.
This time I'm taking notes.

Speaker 6 (15:15):
Well, we have springtime surprise to look
forward to, springtime surpriseregistration, since that
coincides with the cruise therise.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, yeah, that's important.
That's still a ways off.
Now it's uh 89 days, so it's uh12 and a half weeks star wars,
star wars you're killing me jackall right, friends, let's move
along here.

(15:47):
let's move along and visit withour guests for the week.
Friends, one of my favoritethings about doing this podcast
is all the wonderful people.
We get to talk to, some folkswho we know well, some folks who
are meeting for the first time,and that's the case this
evening as we welcome DrMichelle Quirt to the Rise and
Run family.
Michelle is a running coach, arun Disney runner and a

(16:12):
pediatrician, and in her sparetime she hosts the Mindful
Marathon podcast and she's herewith us this week.
Michelle, welcome to the Riseand Run podcast.

Speaker 9 (16:23):
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm very excited to be herewith you all.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
Yeah, we're glad you're here.
We love it when friends spendsome time with us.
I think this will be fun.
Michelle, I know how much timeI put into a podcast.
How in the world do you findtime to do all of those things
in addition to a podcast?

Speaker 9 (16:50):
I think I have a lot of help.
That's my number one answer.
That's good, I have a lot ofhelp and I also I like to keep a
lot of boundaries.
So when I'm doing doctoringstuff, I'm doing that.
When I'm doing run coachingstuff, I'm doing that and I have
I batch a that.
When I'm doing run coachingstuff, I'm doing that and I have

(17:11):
I batch a lot of my coachingand podcasting.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
So that's how I get it all to fit in.
Okay, cool, what got youstarted?
I mean, what inspired you to gointo medicine and pediatrics,
and then, later on, whatinspired you to become a running
coach?

Speaker 9 (17:24):
I think, probably, when I think back to when I was
a kid, I probably to some extentalways wanted to be a doctor,
but I don't know where that camefrom.
There are no doctors in myfamily.
I was always the kid who waschecking out my dolls and my
Disney characters, my FisherPrice stethoscope case yeah yeah

(17:46):
, so that was me as a kid.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
You played Operation a lot where you posed the guy.

Speaker 9 (17:50):
No, no, I never really liked that game and maybe
that's why I'm not a surgeon, Idon't know.
But yeah, when I ended up, Iwas interested in science and I
think I made the decision,probably pretty early on in
college, that I was going to gopre-med.
But for a while I thought maybeI would do research, but I

(18:13):
realized quite quickly in thelab that I like talking to
people and I didn't really wantto spend my life in a lab, and
so I think it's really, yeah,the love of people and helping
people that brought me tomedicine, and I think that kind
of spills over into run coaching.
But I didn't find running untilmuch later.
Well, tell us about that.
I was, you know, not much of anathlete and I used to look at

(18:47):
the track team and the crosscountry team and think that they
were made of some kind ofdifferent genetics than I was,
because I was just so bad atrunning, like I couldn't even do
the 5k or the mile run thatthey would make us do, you know?
And so, yeah, I always wantedto run, but it seemed like
something that just wasn'tavailable to me.
And so, anyways, fast forward,I finish medical training and

(19:11):
residency and all of that, and Ireally was.
After all of that, I think I wasreally burned out, although I
didn't have that word at thetime.
So this is maybe like 15 yearsago.
I found myself in my first joblike newly married, moved to a
new place, and I was really notexercising or taking good care

(19:33):
of myself at that time and I hada moment when I was like
standing in a patient's room andtalking to him and his family
about the importance of exerciseand good nutrition and getting
sleep and all of these things,and here I thought you know, I'm
not doing any of those thingsLike something really has to
change.
And so that was really theturning point, I think.

(19:54):
I went home, I dug out myrunning sneakers in the closet
and I just decided you know what, it's okay if I can't run a
mile or a 5k right now.
I'm just going to go fiveminutes around the block.
Better than being on the couch.
Yeah.
And so that's how it started.
I literally did like fiveminutes a few times a week and I
worked my way up to 10 minutesto 15.

(20:15):
And then I signed my husbandand I up for a 5k.
We were living in Gettysburg,pennsylvania, at the time, and
that was the first race I did.
That was 2013.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
In Gettysburg you did your first race, yeah.

Speaker 9 (20:28):
The Skirt of Gettysburg, 5K.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Okay, because it just so happens, there was a half in
Gettysburg this last weekend.

Speaker 10 (20:36):
Ah, okay.

Speaker 3 (20:37):
I know one of our friends did it.
We'll talk about it in the racereport later in the episode.

Speaker 9 (20:42):
It's a cool place to run.
Yeah, it's a pretty place torun.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yeah, it's a pretty place to visit too, of course.
In addition to the history,it's just a nice place to visit,
yeah.
Yeah, you kind of touched in onthis and we'll talk about
running a little bit.
I mean, you've already givenmost of the answer to this
question, but let's flesh it out.
At this time in the run Disneyseason, which is what we talk

(21:06):
about a lot and I know you're arun Disney friend and fan also
yes, definitely, registering andgetting ready for next season
so it's kind of a time where wepick up friends who are going to

(21:27):
do their first Run Disney event, which in many cases, is their
first running event of any kind.
I think Run Disney does a goodjob of that.
What kind of advice can yougive to those folks who are just
getting started?

Speaker 9 (21:47):
Yeah, I think let me give three things.
How about three tips?
Yeah, wonderful.
Yeah, I mean, I remember thatpoint in my life and thinking
about that first 5K, like I wasso excited to sign up for it,
but I also had a lot of fearabout being able to do it.
So I think the number one thingI would do is just remember why
, like remember your why.

(22:08):
Why are you signing up for therace?
Why did you want to go on thisjourney in the first place?
And just spend some timethinking about that, because
when things get tougher later onin the training, you can always
go back to your why.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Which they will.

Speaker 9 (22:23):
Yep, they always do.
And then my advice forbeginners of all types, no
matter the distance, is reallystart low and go slow, so you
don't have to hit any records orbeat any time that you may have
in your mind.
So, whatever you do, just startnice and easy and you can work

(22:47):
up from wherever that base maybe for you, so that may be from
the couch, that may be from aplace of walking a few times a
week, but wherever you are is afine place to start.
Just remember to ramp up niceand slow.
And my third piece of advice,which ties into that, is to

(23:08):
spend some time thinking aboutyour level of effort.
So level of effort scale I usewith all of my runners, no
matter, you know, from thebeginner to the advanced.
But for those who are juststarting out, I like to talk
about it like the pain scale.
So like level one would be abrisk walk and 10 is like the
bear is chasing you and you'rehuffing and puffing and red in

(23:29):
the face.
So we don't, we don't want tobe a 10 when we're out there,
you know, practicing for ourfirst race.
So I like to have beginnersstay in like a two to four out
of 10.
So I call it easy pace or othercoaches may call it
conversation pace.
So if we're out there joggingor we're doing a run walk
together, we could talk.
You know, maybe not as easilyas I'm talking right now, but

(23:52):
pretty easily.
So that's a way to measure foryourself, you know, without any
watch or device or not evenworrying about the numbers.
Like, check in with yourselfand what is your effort and keep
it nice and easy.
And that's a great way to startout.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Can I carry on a conversation?
Yeah, that's good advice.

Speaker 5 (24:10):
Michelle, I also think that's great advice For
those of us who aren't beginnerrunners.
What advice would you give torunners during this off season
to keep them motivated?

Speaker 9 (24:23):
Yeah, this is a good one.
I think I would fall into thatcategory because I did the
springtime surprise weekend andthen I don't have much on the
calendar until later on thissummer.
So I'm in the off season and Ithink for a lot of us it's a bit
of like a letdown, like afterall of this excitement and you

(24:44):
go into this race weekend andhave such a great time and see
all of your friends, and thenit's like okay, there's nothing
on the schedule for a while.
What do I do with this time?
So a couple of things.
Um, one would be you know, usethe time to rest and recover
which we.
You know we're a couple ofweeks out now and so we may have
already done our rest andrecovery, but there's a lot of

(25:05):
people who are just finishing up.
You know, a big goal race forthe spring or a spring marathon,
for example.
So take this time and rest andgive yourself like the
appropriate recovery before youstart into something else.
But I also love the summer as away to maybe get the family
involved.
So sign up with a you, with afriend's family, for a local 5k,

(25:28):
for example.
Just something fun to do withothers that maybe you don't have
a time goal and it's nothingthat has to be too serious, but
just to keep everybodyinterested and maybe share your
love of the sport with peoplewho may not always do the races
with you.
So summer's a great time to dothat.
And another thing that I liketo do is, if you're taking a

(25:51):
trip anywhere, like summervacation, look up a destination
race like wherever you happen tobe visiting.
I love the websiterunningintheusacom, but you can
kind of search right.
You can search wherever you'regoing to be, the type of race
you want.
They even have triathlon,swimming events, cycling,
whatever you like to do, but youcan find almost anything

(26:14):
anywhere at any time.
And then you can do a race in adifferent place.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
Running in the USAcom Sounds good.

Speaker 9 (26:22):
Yeah, we've done that a lot and it can be last minute
.

Speaker 5 (26:26):
Alicia, you've looked at that one, huh, I have,
because minnesota is a biggerstate and so we have races all
over, and having it the winterin the middle of it, um, it's
hard to find races sometimes, soI use that to see, um, what is
available.
I haven't used it for when I'mtraveling, I have done

(26:46):
destination races, which is fun.
But, yeah, I've also used it tohelp my clients as well find
races local to them.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
Yeah, it's interesting the time of year you
can see where the race isWintertime.
They're in the south Nowthey're moving.
We're going to get out of themin the south it's going to be
too hot.
They're going to come up aroundAlicia's area, up around you
and John Michelle, and yeah, sonot that they ever stop anywhere
, but they do tend to movearound.

Speaker 6 (27:17):
And that also goes with international.
I know Jack and I have bothdone a couple of races
internationally and it's assimple as uh.
Races in paris this week, oryou know just playing google.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, this weekend.

Speaker 6 (27:32):
Um, google is an amazing, amazing tool.
Um, and I mean you can.
You can go on a trip and cateryour trip around the race, or um
, as a way of just getting in,you can just go and be like oh,
I'm going to do a 10 K just tosay that I ran while I was in
Barcelona, or you know somethingcrazy like that too.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
What about cross training this time of year,
Michelle?

Speaker 9 (27:58):
Yeah, that's also a another nice thing about the
summer.
So if it is really hot to runwhere you are or you just want
to take a little break fromrunning, it's a great time to do
the other things that you loveto do but may not always have
the time for.
So I have a lot of athletes wholike to cycle or they play
tennis or they swim, andsometimes in the middle of a big

(28:20):
training cycle for a longdistance race, there's not as
much time for those things.
But it's also a great time todo strength training, which I
know a lot of runners don'talways love to do strength
training, but it's a great timefor it.

Speaker 3 (28:33):
Yes, it's a great time and it's very worthwhile.

Speaker 2 (28:37):
Yes, michelle.
Going back to getting thefamily involved in the off
season, I know some of us havechildren, I have grandchildren,
my granddaughter's doing herfirst 5k at Wyn Dine, so what
advice would you give parentsfor your younger runners?

Speaker 9 (28:54):
Yeah, this is a topic that is near and dear to my
heart.
But I love talking to theyounger runners and seeing young
people really excited aboutrunning.
I think that the main thing isto keep it fun, like keep the
goal as fun.
And it's nice to know, right so, if Wine and Dine would be in
November, so if that's going tobe the first 5k, you know, it

(29:17):
might be a good idea to do acouple of local runs just to get
practice, like see how, see howthings work in a race setting,
and not have the first run be inrun Disney.
I mean I feel like it's a wholedifferent atmosphere and a lot
more people.
So just getting kids used to therace atmosphere and really just

(29:40):
focusing on the fun.
So not so much worrying abouttimes and any kind of specific
hard training but to focus onfun, especially in the summer.
But I think kids just reallyenjoy sharing this with their
family and friends.
So as many family members asyou can bring along for the ride
.
I know we've done variousturkey traps and got my niece

(30:03):
and nephew and my mom and auntand uncle.
Anyway, we get the whole familyinvolved.
Sometimes you know they're alittle bit unwilling at the
beginning, but it always ends upbeing a great time.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
Are there like any specific concerns or cautions
when kids want to start runningcompetitively?

Speaker 9 (30:21):
Yeah, yeah, I would always say, you know, definitely
, although I am a doctor, right,I'm not your doctor or your
kid's pediatrician.
So definitely talk to theirdoctor before starting any kind
of new exercise regime, whateverthat is running included.
But the general things I willsay is that most of the time

(30:44):
kids can run quite easily andsometimes more easily than
adults.
I think the important thing isto make sure that they're not
running really really longdistances.
So for a half marathon and afull marathon, I like kids to be
through puberty, like throughadolescence, there are some

(31:05):
specific concerns about bonehealth and stress injuries.
For those longer distances, butfor you know, like a 5K and a
10K, most young kids can dothose pretty easily.
But again, I would, yeah, keepthe focus on fun.
I feel like sometimes we canget very competitive with
ourselves and our times and alot of athletics for kids can be

(31:28):
really competitive and I loveto keep these runs as something
fun and low stress.

Speaker 3 (31:34):
Yeah, sometimes mom and dad don't help Right With
the pressure.
So you know, disney has therule five-year-old for a 5K,
10-year-old for a 10K.
That sounds good.
Huh, yeah, that sounds good.
I love seeing the kids run,especially the 5K runners.
Oh yeah, the little ones.
I think it's awesome runningwith mom and or dad.
I think it's fantastic.

(31:54):
Let's see Michelle back torunning in general.
Back for beginners now.
What do you think some of thebiggest misconceptions beginners
have about running?

Speaker 9 (32:12):
Yeah, I think there's a lot.
I'm trying to go for my top twoor three.
Probably.
Maybe number one is that to bea runner, you can't walk, like

(32:32):
for a long time I thought thatVery good, yeah, and you guys, I
know that you have had JeffGalloway on and I love Jeff
Galloway and his run-walk methodand that's how I got into the
longer distances when I startedwith half marathon and marathon
and so, yeah, the fact that youcan't walk, I don't know, I
thought that for a really longtime Like, oh, I'm not a real
runner because I took this walkbreak, especially at the aid
stations, like you want to dothat.

(32:53):
That's a good thing.

Speaker 3 (32:54):
Oh, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 9 (32:55):
So, yeah, that's one, and then the other might be
yeah, to call yourself a runner,you have to do a marathon.
I think I thought that for along time too, and I've had a
lot of athletes say like, oh,I'm not a real runner, I haven't
done a marathon, yeah, butyou've done lots of other
distances.
Like, if you run, you're arunner.
So I feel like those are, thoseare like the two, the two big

(33:17):
ones, but yeah, I don't know.
What do you guys think?

Speaker 3 (33:21):
You get a lot of support for those here, I
promise.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
Because yes, we are.
We are very much a lot to MrGalloway, and he's the reason
I'm still out.
There is no question about thatfor me, so that's great.

Speaker 5 (33:36):
I think that's the biggest one that I hear too is
well, I hear from all thesepeople that I'm not a real
runner because I walk.
And no, you are.
Like you said, michelle, if yourun, you're a runner.
So I I a hundred percent agree.

Speaker 9 (33:50):
Yeah, and also maybe that you have to be a certain
age right Like I, my mom did.
Uh, we did the half marathon inDisney in 2016 and that was her
first half marathon and she wasalmost 70.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
So All right Way to go, mom.
Yeah, I like hearing that.
That's good stuff.
Old folks rule.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
Okay, michelle.
What's one other piece ofadvice you would wish every
runner would take to heart?

Speaker 9 (34:15):
I think for this one to keep your easy runs easy Good
.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
Yeah, good, absolutely.

Speaker 9 (34:24):
Yes.
So again, this is going back tothe level of effort scale.
But most of us, at least whenwe start out, I certainly was
this way.
I was running my easy runs waytoo fast and I don't think I
realized it at the beginning.
But as the training progressedI wasn't able to hit paces for
the speed work or in the longrun that I was aiming for, and

(34:47):
part of the reason is because Iwas not giving my body the
chance to recover from theharder efforts and really
running the easy runs easy.
So I think it's easier saidthan done, I admit that, but
with time and practice we kindof learn to embrace the easy
runs.
But that is probably thebiggest, the biggest one.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Yeah, that's that, that that's.
That's kind of hard becauseyou're looking at progress.
I go.
Well, I'm getting slower, butbut in the long run I will be
faster.
It's a weird process.

Speaker 6 (35:17):
It is Speaking on that.
Um, how do you feel likerunners can balance a drive to
improve with the need for restand recovery?
Because we all know you can'tgo out every single run and do
race pace every single time, butwe're also runners and we want
to get better, so how do youfigure out which one to target?

Speaker 9 (35:42):
Yeah, A lot of this has to do with, I think,
trusting the process and lookingat weeks and months at a time
and not just one run at a time.
So if we really have speedgoals and pace goals for a big
race up ahead, a lot of runnersspend, for example, for a half

(36:04):
marathon you might spend 12 to15 weeks training for that.
For a marathon that might be 16to 20 weeks, plus maybe some
additional time of base trainingbefore that.
So that's a long time andduring that time you can make
the focus different paces.
So if you want to get fasterand do speed work, that would be

(36:26):
just one small component of thewhole training.
But we want to have the body beable to do the speed work and
then recover enough for you tobe able to do your long run on
the weekend, for example.
So it's kind of looking at aweek and balancing the training.
The majority of the week isstill going to be at an easier

(36:47):
pace, but we have that so thaton that one day when you have
the speed work, you're able tohit the paces and then allow the
body to recover and kind ofabsorb that effort and make all
of the changes that happen inour muscles and our liver and
all of these wonderful changesthat you know three weeks from
now we're able to sustain thatpace that we practice three

(37:11):
weeks in the past and eventuallywe get to that race pace.
So it's looking at the trainingcycle, I think, as a whole, and
maybe not just from run to run,but of course it feels great to
run fast in the moment.
It's just hard to take a stepback and say, okay, I can't do
that every day because I won'tbe able to continue to hit those
paces and my body won't be ableto make the changes that it

(37:34):
needs to make for race day farin the future.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
Absolutely.
We emphasize that when we getinto the training for a marathon
weekend or some of those longchallenges, is that you've got
your long race weekend butyou've got to go back to
training again next week, soyou've got to be able to do it
at a pace which leads us to.
We do everything we're supposedto, we pay attention, we go
easy on our easy runs and thensomething starts to hurt, and I

(38:01):
use the expression how do I knowthe difference between an owie
and an injury?
How do I know okay, this isjust a tweak, I can go through
it.
Or, man, it's time to stop.
Or maybe it's time to stop andsee the doctor.

Speaker 9 (38:15):
Yeah, yeah.
This is a great question.
I'm glad we're talking about it.
It comes up a lot Again.
Let me give you three things soI'm liking this, Michelle.

Speaker 3 (38:26):
Three main points, that's good we can, we can
remember those.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 9 (38:32):
Otherwise we could write a book and we'll be here
till next week.
But these are the three mainones.
So the first one I would say isthink about the timing of the
onset.
So if you're feeling sore aftera long run or after speed work,
that makes a lot of sense andmost of us will be sore.

(38:53):
So if it's happening after abig effort or after you did lots
of hills or this weekend myhusband and I went hiking and we
did like a four mile uphillhike and everything hurt, that
makes a lot of sense and so thatis usually regular soreness.
That will go away quite quickly.
But if you notice that the owieis happening, like during your

(39:17):
warmup or in the middle of a run, that would raise some flags
for me Like, okay, why is ithappening in the middle of the
run?
I haven't done my big effortyet, I haven't done my long run
this week.
This is happening on an easyrun.
So think about timing of onset.
The second thing would belocation.
So for this one I thinkbilateral, both sides of the

(39:41):
body versus one specific part.
So usual soreness after a longrun or speed or a hard effort,
you would feel that both sides.
So maybe you're feeling alittle bit of soreness in both
of your calves, your glutes,your hamstrings, but if it's
always like one hip or one knee,one ankle, one area of the foot

(40:04):
that raises more flags for me,so one area that's really
bothering you versus generalizedsoreness in multiple sections
of the body.
And then the third would berelieving factors.
So if you rest after your longrun or your speed work or your

(40:25):
hill workout, if you take a restday and the soreness gets
better, that's always a greatsign.
But if the soreness persists orif the pain is still there, even
when you're walking up and downthe stairs or doing your
laundry, and you're like, hmm,that knee is still bugging me,
that would also make me scratchmy head and say, maybe time to

(40:45):
get it checked out.
My head and say, maybe time toget it checked out.
So always, you know, if youhave questions concerns aches
pains, don't ignore them.
Maybe that's the big, thebiggest piece of advice.
Like a lot of us run to tuneout, and I am not an exception
to that, but I want you to tunein when things maybe feel a
little bit off and, just ifyou're, if you're questioning it

(41:07):
, think about it and and writeit down, like keep a little
journal for yourself so that youcan follow it and that will
help your doctor later on alsoin figuring out what may be
wrong if you end up going to seethem.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
That sounds like excellent advice.
Appreciate that, Michelle.
This has been terrific.
It's been fun, but I'm notready to let you go yet.
I want to learn a little more.
How about telling us about theMindful Marathons podcast,
please?

Speaker 9 (41:37):
Sure, yeah, so this started a couple of years ago,
jack, you will like this.
I started the podcast because afriend of mine who is a
physical therapist at thehospital where I used to work,
he ran a hundred mile trail race.
And I wanted to interview himabout the experience because he

(41:58):
was very humble about the wholething and I had a gazillion
questions for him and wecompared notes for training and
fueling and that kind of stuffand I was like, matt, I would
love to just like interview you.
And he's like nobody wants tohear about this.
I was like no, no, I reallythink so, and so surprised.
Yes, so I did it as like aYouTube video, put it up there,

(42:19):
and then I started interviewingother friends who were runners
and then started interviewingsome of my clients who were
runners and it sort of morphedinto a conversations, sort of
podcast, and then now I decidedto do some solo cast episodes.
So it's a mixture of like aninterview show and then running
advice mixed in.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
So that's how it started.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah, I've listened to severalThank you.
Michelle's not as long-windedas we are.
Her podcast probably averaged20 to 30 minutes.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
They're perfect for those tuesday, thursday runs.
Yeah, yeah and they're.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
They're enjoyable.
Mindful marathon this is thename of that podcast.
You can find it.
You can find it wherever betterpodcasters sold right.

Speaker 4 (43:08):
Uh, spotify apple yes , that stuff good so, with all
the episodes that you'verecorded already, what is your
favorite episode that you'veever done on your podcast that
you feel like is like the mustlisten to?

Speaker 9 (43:25):
I have about.
I'm up to about episode 35.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 9 (43:30):
Okay, so it's fairly new, I think I would pick.
I'm going to pick the recentone.
I interviewed some friends witha local nonprofit here called
the Students Run Philly Style,and I love them, I love their
group.
They are a group in Philly.
Other cities have, like Chicagoand LA have, a students run

(43:52):
group, but they work with middleschool and high school students
to run the longer distanceraces here in Philly.
So we have the Broad Street Run, which is a 10 mile race that's
happening like this comingweekend, and then we have a half
marathon and a full marathon inthe fall and they have coaches
paired as mentors with thestudents.
And these are students who wereessentially like me, like not

(44:15):
runners, not on the crosscountry or the track team, just
wanting to run for fun.
And so, anyway, I interviewedtwo of the students and one of
their mentors and that episodewas probably my favorite.
It was just a lot of fun, thekids were really uplifting and
it was just like a joyfulepisode.

Speaker 3 (44:34):
I love that it's good .

Speaker 4 (44:36):
Wait.
So are there any episodes thatyou are going to be recording
soon, that you're super excitedabout that will be coming out?

Speaker 9 (44:45):
Let's see yes, I did a springtime surprise.
Recap that that was really,really fun as you should that
one already came out, but thatwas really fun, and that was the
first time I did my own racerecap, so that was a fun one too
.
That's just me talking, so ifyou want a solo cast, go for
that one.

Speaker 3 (45:06):
She missed the meetup , though, jack oh yeah can I
tell you why no?

Speaker 9 (45:12):
that's okay, you can yeah, of course we were doing a
monorail crawl for a friend's40th day outstanding.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
And?
And did you run the 10 mile thenext day?

Speaker 9 (45:30):
yes, oh man, I I had non-alcoholic beverages so you
mentioned springtime.

Speaker 6 (45:41):
Surprise, do you have a favorite run?

Speaker 9 (45:44):
disney weekend, I think probably marathon weekend
yeah, I think yeah, yeah, thatwas my first half marathon and
my first full marathon, like.
A lot of firsts happened atthat weekend, so I mean, they're
all really special, but thatone is especially.
And have you done Disneyland?
Yes, not all of them, but a fewof them, and I love Disneyland

(46:10):
and it's much easier to get myhusband to go to California than
it is to go to Florida.
So I think, he prefers theDisneyland.
Okay, that's fine.
He's not as much of a Mickeyfan as I am.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
I understand that.
You're a run coach also.
Where can listeners connect toyou and learn more about your
coaching services?

Speaker 9 (46:33):
I would say two places.
The easiest is the website.
It's mindful-marathoncom or.
I'm pretty active on Instagramand I'm at mindfulmarathon, so
you can follow all my adventuresover there.

Speaker 5 (46:46):
All right, michelle, so we have loved hearing from
you.
Where will we see you next?
Are you going to be at a RunDisney race soon?

Speaker 9 (46:54):
I am hopeful to be at Princess Weekend.
So let us hope that theregistration goes okay, because
that is the next one that I'mplanning to sign up for.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
Okay.
Very cool yes.
Yes, michelle, it's been grand.
Thank you for joining us, foreducating us a little bit and
just having fun talking with us.
We've really enjoyed you beinghere.

Speaker 9 (47:19):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 5 (47:20):
It was fun.
That was such a fantasticinterview with Michelle.
I know I got a lot out of itand I hope our listeners did too
.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it, Alicia?

Speaker 5 (47:30):
It was.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
Yeah, alicia's going to talk to us about her run
coaching here in an upcomingepisode in the next week or two.
I think we've got it on theschedule.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
Yep, I think that's what we have.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
Chat with Alicia a little bit, but good stuff.
Thanks, michelle and thank youAlicia.
A reminder on the HonoluluMarathon.
I only bring this up because Iknow a bunch of us are going, a
bunch of the Rise and Run family, a bunch of the customized
training family, because of JeffGalloway announcing it would be

(48:01):
his last marathon.
There's still a questionnaireand interest link on our
Facebook page.
Our friend, sherry, is tryingto find out what interests, how
many people are interested ingoing and perhaps getting
package deals for hotels andmaybe some excursions.

(48:24):
That's still all very much upin the air but if you fill out
the interest it will help her toget an idea how many people are
going over to Honolulu inDecember and maybe an idea of
what can be arranged.
More details on that as we findthem out.
I know Sherry just today, theday of recording, just now got

(48:46):
back from London.
She doubled up recording.
Just now got back from London.
She doubled up.
She did London after Boston.
Speaking of Boston, before weget to the race report, our
spotlight this week, talking toa few friends who did this
recent Boston Marathon Friends,let's step back just a week or

(49:10):
two here and we love to givetime and credit and props to our
friends who do world majors.
So we had to finish notterribly long ago.
We love to give everybody timeto get home because folks tend
to travel to the majors.
Well, let's talk about theBoston Marathon, the 120,.

(49:34):
Help me out.
Sixth, ninth, ninth, I wasclose.
Running of the Boston Marathonoccurred just a couple of weeks
ago.
We had several friends there,but we've got three of them
joining us tonight.
Please say hi to Julia, toDanielle and to KG.
Thanks for joining us, guys.

Speaker 11 (49:54):
Thanks for having us .

Speaker 3 (49:55):
Yeah, it's fun.
Let's see.
I'm going to real quick goaround the room and let you tell
our friends where you're from.
And how about just telling usif this was your first major, if
not, how many you've done, orjust a little recap?
Julia, I'll let you start.

Speaker 10 (50:15):
Sure, I'm Julia.
I'm from Pittsburgh, pa, andBoston was actually my sixth
World Marathon major, so Ipicked up my six star medal in
Boston, which was just anamazing experience all around.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
Yes, I knew that.
I did know that you put it inand you should be proud of it.
And that's cool, Danielle.
How about you?

Speaker 11 (50:42):
Hi, I'm Danielle.
I am from South Windsor,connecticut, and, just like
Julia, boston was my sixth worldmajor, so I also picked up my
Abbott majors medal.
Took me 18 months to do and itwas the journey of a lifetime,
and I'm kind of still riding theBoston high a week later.

(51:03):
So it was an experience, and so, yeah, I finished the sixth and
I will be off to Sydney fornumber seven in August.

Speaker 3 (51:12):
Oh man, that's really cool.

Speaker 11 (51:15):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (51:16):
KG.
You're up, my friend.

Speaker 8 (51:18):
Hi everyone, kg here.
I am from Medford, mass, whichis just outside of Boston, and
this was actually my second timehitting the start line of
Boston and, spoiler alert, itwas my first finish, so big
redemption tour this year.
It's really exciting that'scool.

Speaker 3 (51:38):
I'm excited for all of you.
That's outstanding news.
All right, let's see we youknow sometimes, and let's go
ahead and talk a little bit.
Sometimes I like to talk aboutthe expos for the world majors.
Any comments, anything exciting, any observations on the expo?

Speaker 8 (51:58):
I really enjoy the expo and I think, especially for
folks that go to a lot of runDisney races, it feels very
similar but it also feels, Ithink, a little bit more hectic.
And for someone who grew up inthe Boston area, finally getting
to the Boston Marathon Expojust feels even more, almost

(52:19):
like momentous.
Like you walk in and you'relike wow, it is huge.
And for everybody listening ifyou think the snake room is bad
at a run Disney race, foreverybody listening if you think
the snake room is bad at a runDisney race the amount of lines
and curves and swirls that youdo through the Heinz Convention
Center at the Expo is incredible.
They are so organized, thereare so many people and again, it

(52:42):
feels a little bit hectic butit also still feels smooth.
I think they do a really nicejob at also making it feel
inclusive.
I think for me, my favorite partof the expo is seeing the giant
Boston Marathon wall that hasthe names of every athlete
that's running the race orparticipating in the race and

(53:03):
seeing how excited everybodygets when they find their name
is so cool.
So it's like cool to find yourname.
But if you ever go, just standthere for a few minutes and
watch everybody else find theirname on that wall.
It is such a cool experience tosee how excited everybody gets
like, oh, there I am, I'm reallydoing it.
It's like one of those momentswhere people are like, oh, this

(53:23):
is really happening.

Speaker 3 (53:24):
I think those moments are the best.

Speaker 8 (53:26):
I'm on the wall, yeah .

Speaker 3 (53:28):
Yeah, that's good.
Danielle, did you find yourselfon the wall?

Speaker 11 (53:38):
I did.
I was like the second or thirdrow from the bottom near the
floor.
So I had to like crouch downbetween people's legs and like
leave and like find my name.
I was like there I am.
I'm like upside down on thefloor, I'm like it's there, it's
there.
No, boston is a very well-oiledmachine when it comes to the
expo and everything around it.
My only criticism of the expois that there weren't a lot or a

(54:04):
ton of exhibitors or outsidevendors, and I know that's
because I think Adidas has kindof pushed a lot of the vendors
out.
So I would say the run Disneyexhibitor room is better than
what Boston has.
But the flip side to that isthat off of Boylston Street and
Newberry Street, that's whereall the pop-ups were, which I

(54:24):
wish I knew going in because Imissed a lot of it.
Like every, a lot of differentathletic stores had pop-ups or
companies took up little spacesand had their own events with
like shakeout runs, merchandise,specials, group events, and
I've heard that was prettyincredible.

Speaker 8 (54:42):
And one of the secrets, if you're in the area
or from the area too, is a lotof those shops like Marathon
Sports, for example, on Boy areatoo is a lot of those shops
like Marathon Sports, forexample, on Boylston Street, has
a lot of the official merch andthey usually have more sizes
and it's a little bit easier toget in, get the merch you want
and then leave, instead of themassive lines in the Adidas
section.
So I feel like that's a littlelocal pro tip.

(55:07):
If you're heading to the expoand you're looking for the merch
and don't want to wait inreally long lines, definitely
hit up those those shops in thepop-ups.

Speaker 11 (55:14):
Dick's Sporting Goods had a lot of the same
merch too.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
Yeah, Okay, julia, kg and Danielle talked about
finding their names.
I'm just curious, and I don'tknow the answer to this one Was
there a special area, was therewith folks who were earning
their six star, where they hadnames also?

Speaker 10 (55:33):
Yes, so we had our names on the six star hopeful
wall and then at the Abbottworld marathon majors booth they
also had a wall.
I think they do it for the pastlike year of finishers.
I think the number of six starfinishers is hovering over like
22,000 at this point in time, sothey don't have all of the

(55:54):
names on there, but they'll havethem for the next couple of
races.
So I'm actually doing Chicagoin the fall and I'm excited to
see my name on that finisherlist when.
I go back to that expo.

Speaker 11 (56:07):
I'm spectating Chicago and New York so I'll see
it there and I'm hoping theyhave it up for Sydney.
So, if I find it in Sydney,Julia, I'll let you know.

Speaker 10 (56:18):
Yes, take a picture of my name, I will Thank you.

Speaker 11 (56:20):
I'm so excited.
Finding our name on the HopeFalls list was really really
cool too.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
That is.
That's really fantastic.
We had several others.
I'll mention them after we'redone here.
I I know we had several.
We had a couple folks who wentfrom boston to london and
knocked out a six star at london.
I don't none of you went tolondon this year, did you?

Speaker 10 (56:41):
no, they said they did announce that there are I
think 67 people that got starfive in boston and then went on
to get six in London thefollowing weekend.

Speaker 3 (56:51):
Yeah, I think a couple of them are friends of
the podcast.
I know at least one.

Speaker 11 (56:56):
I actually went to London to spectate the marathon
right after Boston.
My best friend is actually oneof those people who got star
number five in Boston and starnumber six in London.
She and I were supposed to runLondon together last year for
star number five in Boston andstar number six in London.
She and I were supposed to runLondon together last year for
star number three and she brokeher leg four weeks before on a

(57:17):
training run like five miles in.
She slipped on ice and sheneeded surgery and she tried to
get permission to do the race oncrutches and everybody told her
no.
But she still flew to Londonthree weeks post-op with her
boot and knee scooter to be surethat I still had somebody there
to spectate for me.
So she followed me around twodifferent checkpoints in London

(57:38):
still recovering from surgeryand it pushed back her.
We were both planning onfinishing in Boston but because
she deferred London she wasgoing to go this year.
So after she still flew toLondon to spectate me, I flew to
London to spectate her.
So it was really cool to be onthe spectating end of the World
Majors ride last week and towatch all the six-star hopefuls

(57:59):
get their medals, including mybest friend who was one of those
67.
So that was really cool.

Speaker 3 (58:05):
We know the Boston Marathon is point to point.

Speaker 10 (58:18):
Did?
I assume you stayed around thefinish and took a bus to
Hopkinton.
Is that how it worked?
It's actually very efficienthow they were shuttling people
on, but that's how they buseveryone out to what's called
Athletes Village, where you kindof hang out for a little bit
before they call you to get intoyour corrals, because the start
line is actually about a milefrom the Athletes Village.

(58:40):
So you get called to the startline and then you file into your
corral from there.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Is that a free service or is that something you
need to sign up for?

Speaker 10 (58:50):
And it's free.
It goes by your wave, so it'sdifferent times for different
waves and it's free.
Now there are some other folksthat you can, you know, have
chartered buses that go up thereand that would be for an
additional cost, but for themasses going on the school buses
, that's all included.

Speaker 11 (59:11):
I was very surprised at how again a good, well-oiled
machine that was.
It was a big crowd, for youknow that's way for people who
needed to get there at 9 am, butit was really efficient.
It took a bit to load everybodybut there were like 20
different queues with rows androws and rows of buses so they

(59:32):
were just getting them off andthey had dedicated like parts of
the street blocked off just toget the buses to I-90, to get
them on the road, and it was.
I was pretty much in awe of howwell, like, down to a science,
the execution of the BostonMarathon is.

Speaker 3 (59:50):
Keiichi, I know the elites go off first.
Do you get a chance to see that?

Speaker 8 (59:55):
We did not, so I was also in wave four.
So by the time we got toHopkinton most of them had
already either finished or werepretty close to it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:07):
That's not fair.

Speaker 8 (01:00:08):
Yeah, I feel like that's always tough.
What's exciting, though, is, bythe time you're either in the
corral or on your way, there'slots of excitement and chatter
about where the elites are, howthings are going, things like
that, and I think that makes itjust as fun, because you're kind
of like celebrating and talkingabout it with other people that
are just as excited aboutactually experiencing it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:29):
And you're about to hit the same course, which is a
neat thing.

Speaker 8 (01:00:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Eventually, Danielle.
You had wonderful weather,didn't you?

Speaker 11 (01:00:35):
We did.
It was a beautiful day and Iknow historically for the Boston
Marathon KJ, I'm sure you canback this up.
Boston is very hit or miss thistime of year, oh yeah.
It could be really hot or reallycold, or a swimming pool or
completely dry, and the BostonMarathon is known to get a fair
amount of range in weather.
But it was beautiful.

(01:00:57):
This year it did warm up alittle bit during the race.
I think it got to the 60s atone point with no shade.
But by the time most of us inWave four finished, the clouds
started to come in and it justit took the edge off.
Just enough at the end that itwas sweltering, but it was one
of the best weather days for arace, in my opinion at least.

Speaker 8 (01:01:21):
Yeah, and in comparison to last year it was
hot.
Last year it was like mid-70sno shade whatsoever the entire
course.
And this year I remember a lotof folks when you're like before
you actually hit the city,people were like it's cooler in
the city.
The temps are going back down.
So a lot of people were likethey could see that people were

(01:01:42):
hot and they're like don't worry, you're going to hit some more
clouds as soon as you get intothe city.
So, I think a lot of peoplethat spectate Boston as well
kind of know what the runnersare thinking by the time they're
hitting Brookline and actuallygetting into the city too.

Speaker 11 (01:01:56):
And that is about what happened.
By the time we hit the citylimits, the temperature dropped
and we had the cloud cover.
A friend of mine from highschool, her husband, ran Boston
a few years ago and I promisethis is a relevant story to the
weather.
Her husband ran Boston a fewyears ago and I promise this is
a relevant story to the weather.
The year he ran, I think it wasin 2018 or 19.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
18 was the worst weather ever, he said he hit all
four seasons in one day.

Speaker 11 (01:02:16):
It started high and then got low and then started
downpouring and then he said hegot all four seasons in one day
and it was one of the oddestdays of the Boston Marathon ever
.
And I heard them like, okay, Iremember hearing about that now,
but to talk to someone whoactually ran that year, I only.

Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
I only remember watching 18.
So I only watched the elite andthat was about the worst
weather I could imagine.
It was like 35 degrees, about30 mile an hour winds, and it
was pouring rain.
It was awful.
That was the year Des Lindenwon.

Speaker 8 (01:02:50):
It was very fun to spectate.
I will say oh boy you're.
You're pretty courageous,you're a trooper in that weather
that was actually my first yearback to spectate the boston
marathon since the marathonbombings and I had a bunch of
friends that were running thatyear, so it was a very big race
in general and I mean bostonknows how to get after it and if

(01:03:12):
you give them any kind of crazyweather, people will be outside
drinking and trash bags andwhatever else you got to keep
them dry.
They'll figure it out.

Speaker 3 (01:03:20):
Okay, all right, julia, you're now in Hopkinton.
You're toeing the line for theBoston Marathon and your sixth
world major.
What's going through your mind?

Speaker 10 (01:03:30):
Just excitement, you know, ready to get going.
I think that it's somethingthat I had been working towards
since my very first marathon,which was Chicago 2019.
And the fact that I was aboutto accomplish this momentous
goal that I had been workingtoward for so long, it was just,

(01:03:51):
it was surreal, for lack of abetter term.
I couldn't believe that it wasactually happening.
And, of course, you know, Ithink the the best, two best
places are at the start line andthe finish line of a marathon.
And at the start line, everyonehas that nervous energy.
You're kind of all in ittogether.
Everyone has that nervousenergy.
You're kind of all in ittogether.
And the start of a marathon islike the camaraderie is just if

(01:04:13):
you need anything.
Hey, does anyone have a tissue?
Does anyone have chapstick?
Does anyone have, you know, anextra bottle of water and people
just start like throwing thingsat you.
It's one of the most fun placesin the world, because you're
all excited and ready to go andeveryone kind of knows that
they're about to share thisexperience with the people
around them, and there's onlyyou know, less than 30,000

(01:04:35):
people that can say they sharedthat experience on that day,
which is so cool.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
How about you, Danielle?

Speaker 11 (01:04:41):
It was realizing that it was a culmination of
this epic journey of the mayorof the world majors, and there
was so much excitement walkingout to the start and the music
was blasting.
The crowds are roaring.
Everybody in the crowds werejust so excited.
And so the start line of theBoston mayor the corrals are on

(01:05:03):
an uphill.
You crest the hill and the racestarts going down.
So for me I know I could feellike the energy and the
excitement building the furtherup the hill I got and you crest
it and you hit the start andit's just everything like
release and you just went.
It was incredible.
It was so much fun.
It was just realizing I wasactually crossing the start line

(01:05:29):
was yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:31):
Keiji how are you feeling at start time?
Now you had a differentchallenge because you tried last
year, didn't make it.
There's no.
You know that's no big deal, weknow that happens.
But how are you feeling atstart?

Speaker 8 (01:05:43):
You know it was.
It was great because, like youmentioned, last year I had my
first ever DNF after a lovelylittle visit with the EMT at
mile 14 or so.
Last year and both years I ranwith the Doug Flutie Jr
Foundation for Autism in honorof my nephew, and two things
that I said when I hit the startline this year.
One is that I am not allowing asingle negative thought to

(01:06:06):
cross my mind this year.

Speaker 3 (01:06:08):
Good for you.

Speaker 8 (01:06:08):
I was like if it doesn't feel great, I can say it
doesn't feel great, but I'mstill going to keep going, and
that was my mindset through thewhole entire race and I think
that actually made a big impacton the day for me.
The other thing was thinkingreally about why I was running
the race, not only just forredemption, for myself, but for

(01:06:30):
my nephew, for everyone in theautism community.
The Flutie Foundation is alsothe sponsor for the adaptive
program and we had 17 adaptiverunners on our team this year.
So really like runningalongside these incredible
athletes that you know arebenefiting from.
You know, the money that we allraised for the Flutie
Foundation just gives you such agreat reminder of why things

(01:06:52):
like this are important and theimpact is bigger than just than
just you and, like you said,julia, you know all the people
that you're running with andbeing able to kind of keep that
forefront was was huge for me.

Speaker 3 (01:07:04):
That's great.
All right, let's get to thecourse Highlights, please.

Speaker 11 (01:07:14):
You don't have to go mile by mile, but how about
some highlights?
Danielle, I'll ask you to kickit off.
I would say when we were in allof the individual towns, like
Framingham, natick and Wellesley, and each town showed up in
their own way to spectate andevery town was a party for me,
just people overflowing thestreets, screaming your name.

Speaker 3 (01:07:41):
Honestly, you wore it on your shirt, of course.

Speaker 11 (01:07:44):
Yes, I have a Boston shirt.

Speaker 3 (01:07:46):
I have a Boston shirt .

Speaker 11 (01:07:48):
If you ever want to feel like a celebrity, put your
name on your shirt running aworld major.
I never felt more cool in myentire life than running the
Boston marathon or running anyof the majors.
But for me, I have my ownopinions about the course itself
, but the thing that really didit for me was the support, as KG
says.
For me was the support.

(01:08:12):
As KG says, boston turns out,boston shows up for this
marathon in a huge way andeverywhere where I would have
needed an ounce of support,there were hundreds and if not
thousands of people lining thestreet in these little mountains
and that was a highlight andtowards the finish, was probably
my highlight of the course Ingeneral.
The support is what made thecourse awesome for me, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
I think it's a huge source of civic pride for the
city of Boston.
I really do, and it'swell-deserved.
Kg, I'll come back to you.
What were your highlights?

Speaker 8 (01:08:45):
I would say very, very similar.
Especially, I was very back ofthe pack, like very, very late
as it was, and every person thatwalked by me because at that

(01:09:13):
point I had probably moved overto the sidewalk and there were
people that were like you gotthis, you can do it, keep going.
People cheered until the lastperson crossed the finish line,
which you see on the news andit's incredible.
But to see people out there allday long was really
unbelievable and I think theother part for me that was

(01:09:36):
really exciting is especiallyafter last year.
Finally, seeing thecongratulations on hitting the
summit of Hot Break Hill was waspretty awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:09:45):
Yeah, yeah, julia, julia, I'll give you the same
question, but I'm going to tossin something else here.
How does it compare to some ofthe other world majors?

Speaker 10 (01:09:54):
I found this course to be technically the most
difficult, but I think that, asyou know, danielle and KG have
both said the why you run thisrace isn't because of the course
.
Why you run this race is becauseof the history, because of the
spectators and because of therunners around you.
So I was, you know, constantlyreminding myself you are running

(01:10:23):
the Boston Marathon.
You know, like you're not goingto remember what time you hit
or what time you didn't hit.
When you retell the story in 10years, you're going to remember
the experience and the energyand how excited you were the
whole time.
And I, you know, anytime Iwould start to hurt or get in
the pain cave, or those creepswould, those thoughts would
creep in of oh, I just wish thiswere over.
I, you know, had to pull myselfback to reality and say no, you

(01:10:47):
are running the Boston Marathon.
This is a core memory.
This is such an experience thatyou will take with you.
Enjoy it the sights, the sounds, and I think that you know my
highlights are probably just thesupport along the way.
Obviously, the Wellesley ScreenTunnel is, and I was blowing
kisses the whole way to everyonethat was there the kids, the

(01:11:09):
college students that were fromBoston.
College.
You know they're all having agreat time, everyone having like
lawn parties, and there werespectators that literally had
tables set up with anything thatyou could possibly want,
because they were there tosupport their runners.
And I will say, you know,having run all of the majors,

(01:11:31):
the last half mile when you makethose turns you know on to
Hereford and Boylston are justincredible and you feel like
such a rock star and you'recompleting something that you
know is the culmination ofthousands of training miles,
years of work and it's just suchan amazing feeling to to cross

(01:11:54):
that finish line and get it donethat that absolutely nothing
compares.

Speaker 11 (01:11:59):
It was approaching here.
For that it truly hit me like aton of bricks that I was
finishing the Boston marathonand that I was finishing the
six-star journey.
I actually had a personal bustin Boston, but I knew I was
doing it and that I got tofinish this historic race for
the most.

(01:12:19):
I ran for an amazing charity tosupport them and I was cresting
the last bit of on thingsCommonwealth as a street and I
could see the road start to turn.
And then I saw the Herefordsign and just started bawling.
That was the moment I knew Idid it.
I I had over 25 miles.

(01:12:41):
I had less than half a mile togo.
I was there and I'm there.
I'm doing this, doing it.
I'm actually, it's actuallyhappening.
And I'm texting my husband.
I'm like, right, doing it, it'sactually happening.
And I'm texting my husband.
I'm like right on Hereford andI'm like running up the hill
left on Boylston.
I'm like hyperventilating atthe top of the hill, and then I
just you make the left-hand turnand it's less than half a mile.

(01:13:02):
It's like three-tenths of amile, four-tenths of a mile, and
you just see the big finishline in the distance and it's
just a straight down and thestraight of boils like boilson
was packed.
It was packed and you couldhear people for miles.
I actually turned my music offthe last mile just to listen and

(01:13:24):
just be in it, and that isprobably one of the best things
I've ever done in a race was notlisten to the music I love it
wow, like I think you cagey andjoy you can vouch, the crowd
cares you like, pretty muchcarries you to the finish line
if you ever want to feel like arock star, run the last half
mile of the boston marathon,because, yeah, I.

Speaker 10 (01:13:46):
it's like six people deep, just a wall of sound
around you and it's just amazing.

Speaker 3 (01:13:55):
I love the excitement .
I really do, and KG, julia andDanielle beat me to my last
question because I was going toask you turn left on Boylston.
What are you thinking?

Speaker 8 (01:14:04):
I am also cheesing and like tearing up so hard over
here because, as someone whogrew up here, my whole life I've
worked on Boylston Street.
I went to school in the cityLike hearing people not from
Boston talk about how impactfulthe city is for them and the
race is.
I could literally listen to itall day long and cry.
It's incredible.

Speaker 3 (01:14:23):
Oh, it's fantastic, yeah, and.

Speaker 8 (01:14:25):
Boylston Street is very special to me.
Like I said, I worked there fora long time.
I was there for the BostonMarathon bombings and there's
just so much history and likepersonal memories on Boylston
Street for me that it's such aspecial place.
And, like everybody said so far, like you turn and you're like,

(01:14:48):
oh my God, this is it, likewe're doing it, we are almost
there and it just gets louderand louder as you go up Boylston
, then it's just something youreally can't do justice in words
.
You have to really experienceit.

Speaker 3 (01:15:03):
Well, you three are doing a really good job of it.
You really are.
I appreciate it.

Speaker 11 (01:15:08):
I don't.
I even feel the tears wellingup now.

Speaker 1 (01:15:11):
I believe you.

Speaker 11 (01:15:12):
It's not something that happens very often.
I can't remember the last timeI cried at a race.
That wasn't because I was inpain, but it's just.
It's one of the most corememories were made that day at
the Boston Marathon.
It's just the crowds, theenergy, the impact, the memories
, the history and just knowing.
Oh my gosh.

(01:15:33):
I am one of the people crossingthe finish line at this amazing
event and I know for me.
My family flew in from out oftown to be here and they've
never spectated me before and Ihave memories of me and my
daughter hanging over thebarricade and everybody's
screaming and my dad's likethat's my girl, my girl's
running the boss of the marathon, my girl's finishing.

Speaker 3 (01:15:54):
Oh, that's wonderful.

Speaker 11 (01:15:55):
And I'm just like I'm not going to make it over
here, guys.
That's wonderful.
I actually stopped and I'm likecrying and I'm like throwing up
hearts and I like book it tothe end because I knew I was
doing it.
But I saw that same energy thatmy family gave me, Like
everybody was throwingthemselves over, like you've got
this, you're at the end, you'regoing, you're going, you're

(01:16:16):
going, and it's amazing how muchthat sticks with you.

Speaker 10 (01:16:21):
The support is just unreal.
And I'll say you also neverknow who you're impacting with
your journey.
So, I have been posting about itprobably a little bit too much.
I'm going to stop soon becauseI've got some other races coming
up.
But people that I went tocollege with or to high school
with that I probably haven'ttalked to in 15 years were
commenting on my post sayinglike you're inspiring me on my

(01:16:43):
own journey and things like that.
You're inspiring me on my ownjourney and things like that.
So it's just, you know, likeyou have your own personal
experience where you're gettingenergy and inspiration from
those around you.

Speaker 2 (01:17:04):
But you also don't know who you're inspiring with
your journey as well, which issomething that I thought was
really cool and something that,you know, I didn't even know was
happening until these peoplewere saying, no, it's very true,
very true.
Boston Marathon's completed.
What's up next for you guys,and when is the next time you're
going to be at Disney?
Julia?

Speaker 10 (01:17:13):
So I actually have the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and
5K Challenge Love, a GoodChallenge coming up this
upcoming weekend, and then theBrooklyn Half two weeks after
that, and then I'll go intobuilding towards Chicago
Marathon in October I will be atWeinensein in the fall, as well

(01:17:37):
as doing my sixth DopeyChallenge in January.

Speaker 2 (01:17:41):
Okay, All right, danielle.

Speaker 11 (01:17:45):
My next big race on the calendar is also the
Brooklyn half?
Um in May.
Um, gearing up then for um, Ihave some other New York
roadrunners, 10 Ks and five Ks.
In the meantime, um, I'mrunning the Sydney marathon in
September and August.
I'm we'll be down for wine anddine to spectate.
I am up for the.

(01:18:07):
I'm going to be running theEvery Woman's Marathon in
Scottsdale, arizona, thisNovember and I am on tap to do
my second Dobie in January andthen princess in February,
because I'm a princess everyyear.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
Okay, Jay, let's go.
What do you?
What do you got coming up you?

Speaker 8 (01:18:25):
know I am trying to give myself a little bit of a
rest.
Okay, which is nice.
So my next race is the Run toHome Base in Boston.
I'm doing the 5K, whichsupports veterans' mental health
, and you actually get to crosshome plate at Fenway Park.

Speaker 3 (01:18:39):
Fenway yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:18:40):
Yeah, it's one of my favorites that I do every year
and then got in today for the 5Kfor Disneyland and I'll be at
Miss Piggy Yoga, because therewas no way I was missing
anything.
Miss Piggy themed in Januaryand then I will also be at
Princess, my favorite raceweekend.

Speaker 3 (01:18:58):
KG, have you done a Boston wrap on your podcast yet?

Speaker 8 (01:19:02):
not yet the podcast, because Boston has been such a
big focus, been on a little bitof a hiatus, but lots, lots more
to come.

Speaker 2 (01:19:11):
I have to have.

Speaker 8 (01:19:12):
Julia and Danielle come do another extra spot yes,
you should Sure, yes, you should.

Speaker 3 (01:19:16):
So, friends, if you want to hear more live in the KG
life, yes, look for it.
Guys, that was awesome.
That was one of the bettersummaries we've had Well, maybe
ever.
That was just a great job.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
It was fun and we really lookforward to seeing you soon.

Speaker 8 (01:19:38):
Thanks for having us.

Speaker 3 (01:19:40):
It was fun, exciting and wonderful talking to
Danielle, julia and Kristen, youknow, as KG probably.
I don't want to forget otherfriends who ran Boston Boyd,

(01:20:04):
sherry, steve.
Steve also completed his sixthstar, jason I hope we hear from
Jason because Jason ran Bostonand then went to London and
completed his sixth star inLondon.
Bob was at Boston, as was Devin.
Congratulations everyone.
Let's see my friends.
It's time for the Race Report.
The Race Report is sponsored byThomas Stokes.

(01:20:28):
Our friend Tom of StokedMetabolic Training, Stokesfit,
slash Rise and Run Coaching isthe website.
You can find more informationpinned the featured section on
our Facebook group page.
Friends, let's start the racereport.
On Friday in Louisville,kentucky, part of a race weekend

(01:20:52):
, the inaugural running of theKentucky Derby Festival 5K.
Ashley was there, about athousand runners for this event.
We're going to hear more fromAshley next week about this race
.
So let's move on.
We had another weekend longevent in Eugene, oregon, eugene
Marathon weekend.

(01:21:12):
Jonathan was there.
Jonathan did the Krusty'sDouble Stack Challenge 5K and
half marathon, both races endingat historic Hayward Field on
the University of Oregon,jonathan saying maybe the most
iconic running track in the US.
Yeah, I would not argue that.

(01:21:34):
I can think of a couple others,but that certainly is way up
there.
You get to finish this race inthe stadium where the world and
US champions have finished theirraces.
Kind of a feeling like no other.
Says Jonathan, no matter howtired you are to finish, you're
going to run those last 200meters as though you're just
starting your race.
He had four goals for this tripto the States the two Eugene

(01:21:57):
races which are done now, a runon the Nike jogging track at
their headquarters in Beavertonand then doing the Save the
10,000 virtual run.
A race from another podcast.
I think that's DesLindeninden's podcast.
I'm not sure and I'm not beingobtuse.
I'm not sure the name of it.
I'm almost positive.
But others there, brandy wasthere.

(01:22:18):
Brandy ran the half, uh, losther race to a pair of pancakes.
The race mascots Flap Jack andFlap Jill, who giving these big
costumes.
She posted a video of it.
It's kind of fun and they runfive minute miles.
She had a great time there.
Christina was there.
Christina ran the half startedfast, kind of congested as they

(01:22:43):
ran through the streets ofEugene.
The runners in Corral Sea had anine minute per mile pace that
she kind of got swept up in Alittle faster than she wanted to
start but she was fine.
The finish, as Jonathan said,is amazing.
You get to run into the stadium, finish on the track.
They had great post-raceactivities.
That's up in Eugene Sounds goodguys.

(01:23:07):
Saturday, the other half of thatevent in Louisville, kentucky,
and, as I mentioned, we'll getAllison not Allison, ashley and
Sarah to join us next week, buton Saturday they ran the
Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon,the half marathon, neat event,
12,000 runners for this.
One.
Starts in downtown Louisville,goes through the historic old

(01:23:31):
Louisville, does go intoChurchill Downs, finishes back
at Waterfront Park.
Let's see.
Ashley had a three-hour goaland just missed it.
Three hours, two minutes.
Sarah was there.
Sarah said a PR, but it's thekind of PR I want to wait and
let her tell you about Again.
We'll hear from Ashley andSarah next week.

(01:23:53):
Rob was in Punta Gorda, florida,for the Gator Wilderness Camp
15K trail run.
Lots of fun, nice wooded course.
The best part was the Gatorsslowly approaching the 15K start
line, which was right next tothe lake, which I'm going to say
was probably decent motivationto get off to a good start.

(01:24:14):
Best post-race setup Rob's seenin a while.
Lots of good food at the finishline.
Marty was in Atlanta, did therun-like wild 5K at Zoo Atlanta.
There was a rock and rollseries run in Nashville the St
Jude rock and roll runningseries.
Jennifer and her daughter wasthere.

(01:24:37):
Jennifer says when she lookedup the results this morning
there was an article in theTennessean that popped up and
the first thing she noticed wasa picture of a woman wearing a
Rise and Run t-shirt.
Pretty cool.
Now Jennifer's daughter isnamed Baker Baker.
Nice job, young lady, a30-minute half marathon.

(01:24:58):
Pr Baker.
This PR bell is for you.
Anthony was there rocking thehalf.
Leslie was there, as was Amy.
Amy said no PR, but she stillfelt amazing, even on the
Nashville Hills I've run inNashville a little bit.
Yeah, I sure can get hilly Rana minute faster than her magic

(01:25:20):
mile prediction time.
Good for you, weather wasoutstanding.
She was rocking her Rise andRun t-shirt, met a friend who
took her medal photo on thebridge, who also listens to the
podcast.
That's pretty cool.
This one gave Amy theconfidence she needs going into
the flat Broad Street 10 miler.

(01:25:43):
Lori was in Canton for the draftday 10K Canton, ohio.
One in four in a series ofraces that will total 26.2 miles
.
Drizzly cool day.
Weather's off and on up in thatpart of the country.
Back to layers again.
Another race that gives you aChick-fil-A sandwich at the
finish.
That's always a good thing.

(01:26:06):
Lisa in Nevada, for the biggestlittle half marathon in Reno,
was expecting rain, got snowsnow in April in Reno.
They were able to wait undershelter until race start.
In honor of Aaron, lisa stoppedand gave out pets to all the

(01:26:30):
furry supporters along the waywithout having to adjust her
pace and after doing a 5K and10K two days prior, she PR'd
this half and got a lovely newpiece of hardware.
Gotta love the bling, lisa,good job.
Gotta love the bling, lisa,good job.

(01:26:51):
Patrick was in Atlanta runningthe Move for Grady Grady
Foundation run.
Lessa was in Elizabethtown,tennessee, for the Music and
Miles Half.
Her goal for the year and sheexpected to do this in November,
by November anyway was to havea sub three-hour half marathon.

(01:27:14):
Well, today, meaning Saturday,she reached that goal already.
So that's I'm assuming that's aPR.
Lessa, congratulations, I'mglad you're excited about it.
That's cool.
Congratulations, I'm gladyou're excited about it.
That's cool.
Dorothy's in Kennesaw, georgia,the Fit City 5K this is race one

(01:27:34):
of the Kennesaw Grand PrixCourse is close to her home.
So she's actually been on her49th try.

(01:27:56):
This is eight and a half yearsafter setting a previous record.
So good for you.
Dorothy's added some strengthtraining at the Y and coach
Chris's speed work really payingoff for good stuff.
Speaking of draft day, ourbuddy, tony was in Green Bay,
wisconsin, where the NFL draftwas held.

(01:28:17):
Running the draft day 5k alongthe Fox river, he broke his PR
that he'd set only a few monthsago, running a 23, 20, 5k,
closing in just a couple secondsaway from his seven 30 per
running a 23.20.5K, closing injust a couple seconds away from
his 7.30 minute per mile goal.
Tony, that's outstanding, goodjob.

(01:28:41):
Robin was in Milford, michigan,for the Michigan Made Half
Marathon.
A couple of hills that showedup during the race surprised her
.
A small race, everyone wasreally kind, supportive of one
another, and she ran a 20-minutePR.
Let's go to Oklahoma City forthe Oklahoma City Memorial 5K.

(01:29:02):
Anna was there in New Holland,pennsylvania, not far from where
they run Bird in Hand, theGarden Spot Village Half
Marathon.
This is in fact a sister raceof Bird in Hand.
If you run this half and thenrun the one in September, you
get the coveted Road Apple Award.

(01:29:26):
At the end of the Bird in Handrace, steve and ally were there.
Ally, without any ally.
Heard her back thursday morningwashing her foot in the shower
ally, you're too young for that,all right, you shouldn't be
injuring yourself by washing inthe shower.
But she wasn't sure that shewanted to start the race.
But she woke up feeling prettygood.

(01:29:47):
That's always nice.
Fortunately Steve was there.
They ran together this one'shilly, a little bit of horse
poop to dodge along the way.
It rained the whole race sothat made some of the spots a
little, we'll say, messy.
So there they are, and bothSteve and Allie now are halfway

(01:30:11):
to their poop on a plaque.
Award coming up at Bird in Hand.
Next race up for Steve is theMaine Coast Half Marathon this
Saturday.
Let's see the Erie.
Runners Club 224.4,.
Michelle did it left us thisrecorded report.
Good morning Rise.
And.
Runners Club 2-2, 4.4.
Michelle did it.
Left us this recorded report.

Speaker 7 (01:30:32):
Good morning Rise and Runners.
This is Michelle from Erie, pa.
I just finished the 4.4 of a2-2 run and it was well prepared
.
I had all of my 2-2 runningfans from Disney in my mind and
we had a great race.
Happy running to everybody,cheers.

Speaker 3 (01:30:52):
Jennifer with her running buddy, juliet ran the
Girls on the Run 5K in Lewisburg, pennsylvania.
Rain stopped right before therace started but part of the
course was muddy, like huge mudpuddles Kind of, I think.
For a girls on the run race.
I can imagine having fun inthat, but I'm not sure.

(01:31:13):
63 degrees at the start, it's anice temp, a little humid, lots
of fun encouraging one anotherduring that race.
Way to go, jennifer and Juliet.
Out in Utah, the Salt Lake CityMarathon.
Emily we're getting a reportfrom her sister, sarah, because

(01:31:34):
Emily's not on Facebook.
Emily said there was a changeto the course after she signed
up that included more elevationgain.
That didn't stop her from PRingby 20 minutes.
Nicely done, emily and Sarah.
Thanks for the report.
In Lake Wylie, south Carolina,debbie did the 10K and Blake did

(01:31:58):
the 5K in the Run for Lifeseries.
Out there, redemption run forDebbie Personal record of just
under 58 minutes on a hilly 10Kand first place in her age group
.
Way to go, debbie Finishesdownhill.
She was pumping her fists withexcitement and celebration, knew

(01:32:20):
she'd hit her goal, also alittle teary-eyed because she
was just so relieved and happyto be running and feeling good.
And, debbie, we're happy foryou, I promise I'm glad.
I know you had a scare a coupleof weeks ago.
Hopefully that's all behind you.
It sure sounds like it is.
It sounds like Blake isrecovering from his knee surgery
pretty well also, so that'svery encouraging and exciting.

(01:32:44):
Really happy to hear it.
Let's go to Juliette, illinois,for the Rock Run 5K.
Kelly and her husband, dave,did this one Small local race
around an industrial park, notmuch to look at, but Dave's work
was one of the race sponsors.
They paid for the race entry,so can't complain about that,

(01:33:06):
and they got her done inJuliette.
Let's finish Saturday inChesapeake Beach, maryland,
where Carrie and Catherine didthe eighth annual Shatter, the
Stigma 5K.
This is a rail trail run which.
This part of the rail trail isa boardwalk over wetlands and

(01:33:28):
paths that follow an old railwaypath.
Now, rail trails are fun.
I'm not familiar with boardwalkrail trails, but this looks
great About 10 minutes fromtheir house.
Does training runs thereregularly.
The course is mostly flat,except there was a steep hill at
mile two.
Both Catherine and Kerry got 5kprs.

(01:33:56):
We move to sunday a runningevent that's on a lot of folks
bucket list the big sirinternational marathon weekend.
Bunch of different races here5k, 12k, 11 miles, 21 miles in
full.
A couple of unusual distances.
Our friend jack, the camdencounty runner, did the full.

(01:34:19):
Bethany did the 12k.
It's her first ever 12k, so weknow what that means.
She gets the pr despite makingseveral stops on this
breathtaking course hilly butcool and a hundred percent worth
it.
Now jen did the 11 miler.
Also complements theorganization of the race

(01:34:41):
countless volunteers passing outwater, electrolytes, flute and
fruit along the way.
One of the highlights for thisweekend for Jen was meeting up
with Bethany.
I think that's terrific.
Jen doesn't mention it as heronly 11 miler, so I'm going to
just assume she's done it beforeand I'm going to pass on the PR

(01:35:03):
bill.
You can correct me if I'm wrong.
Jen Staying out in Californiaanother popular event.
This one was postponed due tothe LA fires not long ago.
But the Rose Bowl Half Marathonin Pasadena starts and finishes
at another famous stadium.
Fred and Jackie did this one.

(01:35:24):
This race completes the ConquerLA Challenge.
For them.
This challenge is 48.6 miles.
You get six medals for it.
Sound familiar.
That's why Jackie likes to callit the SoCal Dopey, both of
them excited to finally finishthis one.

(01:35:44):
Kayla was out there too Greatweather.
The final miles were thetoughest.
On this one she had a minorfall at mile four, dropping her
out of the three-hour pace group, but she continued with her
run-walk-run intervals, finishedat the stadium, felt great.

(01:36:06):
Good job.
Friends.
Let's go to Australia.
The Ballarat Marathon thisweekend includes a 5K and a mile
championship on Saturday, afull half and a 10K on Sunday.
Rebecca Jane and her husband,john, were there.
Essentially they ran as thesweepers, the six-hour balloon

(01:36:29):
ladies.
If you will not john balloonpeople, balloon persons it'll
have to be, since it was rebeccaand john.
Uh, the events only in itssecond year, gaining rapidly in
popularity in australia.
You run around a lake which wasbeautiful, stunning views,
black swans and ducks, ahighlight.
A roar of cheering as theypassed, a pub full of athletes

(01:36:52):
and their families with theirback-of-the-pack running group
Pacing six hours thrilled, tofinish at 5.59.38.
Pretty daggum good.
39.38.
Pretty daggum good.
Hopefully that confirms herpacing gig for Sydney in late

(01:37:14):
August.
John deliberately dropped backjust a little bit to finish with
.
I think it was an 82-year-oldgentleman who finished this race
in just over the six-hour time.
There was also a gentleman,mick Marshall, who in this
marathon broke the world record,becoming the first person ever

(01:37:39):
to finish a sub six-hourmarathon on crutches.
Oh, my goodness, wendy wasthere also.
Good to hear from Wendy.
She's out running.
I know ross is uh recoveringfrom an injury not injury
illness and he's doing somerunning also.
But wendy did this marathon.
She met rebecca at the expo andshe got introduced to the 530

(01:38:03):
pacer.
She opted to start with thembut wendy felt really strong.
At the halfway point Ross toldher she was seven minutes ahead
of that 5 30 group.
Lots of entertainment on thecourse, nice crowds again, the
scenery was glorious, everythingwent her way.
So she finished and this washer first marathon.

(01:38:25):
This is a PR five hours, 10minutes, wendy.
Way to go.
A biggie in bloomfield,connecticut.
We've been talking about it fora while the balloon green 5k.
Sue, it's the big day.
Sue finished town number 169 ofthe connecticut 169.
Uh, this is, I believe,bloomfield.

(01:38:47):
Bloomfield is the town wheresue grew up, so it was a perfect
way to end this quest.
Great flat race with herrunning friend friends feels
great.
Now can't wait to get back outthere and run the races that she
most enjoyed in the quest anddo them over again.
Way to go squat.

(01:39:07):
The sacramento, california, theamerican river parkway 5k
bridget was there took advantageof being on a trip to the area.
Rainy and cool weather insacramento, some smaller hills
on the race, but this is a greatway to see a spot she might
have missed otherwise.
They even had bagpipers at thestart.
In portland, maine, the, thePortland 10 miler.

(01:39:30):
Heidi ran this one, rainy andcold, for this race.
She's on track for a PR up tillabout seven and a half miles
and her knees started acting up.
Must have been all those hills.
Sure, could have been Heidi,but good job sticking it out and
finishing In Rochester, newYork, the Rochester Regional

(01:39:51):
Health Flower City ChallengeHalf Marathon.
A couple of friends running thisone, amy.
Amy says everything about therace was just about perfect.
Course went through somebeautiful areas of Rochester.
She even picked up a runningpartner for 10 or so miles when
a struggling runner asked if shecould run walk with her.

(01:40:14):
And then Amy winds up withnearly a 12-minute PR.
Congratulations, amy.
You've just been doing reallywell lately.
We're proud of you.
Really well lately.
We're proud of you.
Allison says she fueled andhydrated wonderfully and just

(01:40:35):
missed her two-hour goal Just atiny bit over two hours.
Allison, you'll get that.
Haley nailed a goal.
She was after the 2.30 halfmarathon, did it and finished
with an 11-minute PR.
Nice job everyone.

(01:40:57):
Let's go to Toledo, ohio, forthe Glass City half and marathon
.
Nicole with her sisters,kristen and Mallory.
Nicole decided to register whenshe saw she had 13 miles on her
training schedule anyway andher sisters were already
registered.
So what?
The heck Course was pretty nice, one of her favorite parts.

(01:41:21):
There were two churches in thesecond mile of the course and
they had priests outsidethrowing holy water on the
runners as they passed by.
I think that's cool.
A little bit confusing.
At the end of the course Now,even though they ran a pretty
decent time, they were towardsthe back and there weren't many
runners with them and they wereafraid they were lost.

(01:41:44):
Now they saw a runner a couplehundred feet in front of them,
followed him.
They finally caught him andpassed him and he goes.
Oh good runners.
I thought I was off course but,like I say, they finished in
240, which is more thanrespectable, and after party was
excellent.
So all's well that ends well.
Weather was beautiful, turnedout being a great day.

(01:42:05):
The vintage 5k ink in Texas.
Katrina and her children didthis one.
This is the running family.
They walked this event becausethey were wearing stitch onesies
which were probably kind ofwarm.
The kids are looking to dotheir first ever 5 and 10k at

(01:42:25):
Marathon Weekend in 2026.
At Marathon Weekend in 2026.
In Northern Virginia, megan ranthe Alexandria Half Marathon.
Weather was cool and nice.
Beat her previous half marathontime by over 40 minutes.

(01:42:47):
That's a major PR, megan.
Megan says this is scientificproof that glitter makes you run
faster.
I'll take your word for it,megan.
I'm not going to test it outAgain.
We've got a report beingsubmitted.
Beth is submitting a report forher husband, mike, who did the

(01:43:07):
Gettysburg Blue Gray HalfMarathon in Pennsylvania.
Mike finished the race at 2.37.
Just missing that Disney POT.
Still nice race, really greatlooking medal for this one.
Let's go out to Maui whereValerie ran the Maui Half

(01:43:28):
Marathon first time at thisevent.
Not a lot of crowd support, butthe way it was set up, there
were a lot of fellow runnerssupporting one another, a lot of
out and backs on the course, alittle difficult emotionally
running in the Lahaina areafollowing all those devastating
fires.
Valerie's 12-year-old son PR'din the 5K.

(01:43:52):
Their daughter also PR'd andwon her age group with her
husband pacing her.
And Valerie said a Hawaii PR.
Of course, the big event thisweekend and I haven't forgotten,
the London Marathon.

(01:44:12):
Now we're going to have theLondon Marathoners join us in a
couple of weeks, so I'm justgoing to hit the highlights here
for now.
Anna ran this one felt gooduntil mile seven foot started
giving her problems.
She adjusted her intervals,visited the med tent, got some
painkiller, installed herBritish stiff upper lip and

(01:44:33):
carried on.
Ashley ran it a little warm andall of our runners commented on
how warm it was, great crowds.
Carolyn was there with Jennifer.
Sherry ran this one Also ranBoston.
Devin did that same double up,also running Boston.

(01:44:55):
Gabby did it Marathon number 12for her Finished strong, happy
and healthy.
That's the way to do it.
Grace comments on the heat butstill said she had a great
experience.
Jason finished this one.
That finished off his sixthstar.
Jason was also in Boston.
Two Jennifers Previouslymentioned running with Carolyn.

(01:45:20):
Jen Rickerson, star numberthree, for Jen had a lot of fun
on this one.
Jennifer Hudson, marathonnumber seven.
Star number two Laura was there.
Our friend Laura from theNetherlands said time flew by
Great marathon really loud.

(01:45:40):
She heard her name.
She had her name on her shirt,as many do at world majors,
heard it a thousand times.
Tara earned star number fourand, while not running, I have
to give kudos to Heather, whooperated the aid station at our
comfort station a personalizedaid and comfort station at mile

(01:46:04):
17.
A lot of the runners commentedon how nice that was.
And then let's finish up withour friend Amy, who did what's
called the Reverse LondonMidnight Marathon.
The way this works is it'sunofficial, but they get
together at 12.01 so that theyare officially running on the
same day as the marathon.

(01:46:24):
They start at 12.01 and theyrun the course backwards.
They don't run backwards.
They start at the end01 andthey run the course backwards
from.
They don't run backwards, theystart at the end, run to the
start.
Amy will get a virtual medalfor completing the distance.
She put a great story infacebook.
It sounds like it was a long,fun day because after she
finished, she's cheering for themarathon participants who

(01:46:47):
started just a few hours later.
Uh, in fact she commented afterthe run.
She waited in a coffee shop tomeet her friend.
She's cheering for the marathonparticipants who started just a
few hours later.
In fact, she commented, afterthe run she waited in a coffee
shop to meet her friend and thenthey went on to spectate the
main event.
So that's it, folks.
That's the race report forepisode 188.
All right, friends, no Zoomthis Thursday.

(01:47:07):
We'll be back on Zoom nextThursday, my friends, and if you
run you know you are our friend.
I hope you enjoyed episode 188.
We had a lot of fun recordingthis one.
Be a little while till we'retogether again, but it won't be

(01:47:27):
too long.

Speaker 1 (01:47:35):
But until that occurs , until we meet again, happy
running.
The Rise and Run podcastdiscusses general information
about Run Disney and is in noway affiliated with Run Disney
or the Walt Disney Company.
Any information or advicediscussed on this podcast should

(01:47:56):
not be considered medicaladvice and should always consult
with your health care provideror event organizer.
Thank, you.