The Gristmill Grind and Beyond: Conversations with Ultra Runner Dan Stumpenhorst

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Join us as we chat with Dan Stumpenhorst, an ultra runner passionate about nature, farming, and trail running. Listen in as Dan shares his journey into ultra running, how he was introduced to trail running by the Coyote Group, and how this led to creating the Gristmill Grind Race in September.
We discuss the incredible impact that the running community has had on Dan and his wife, Sandy. From the camaraderie of the Yeti group to the Frozen Toe Challenge and the 10-mile Fat Ass event on Thanksgiving day, we delve into the importance of consistency and motivation for running. Don't miss this inspiring conversation with Dan Stumpenhorst, and get ready to feel motivated to lace up your running shoes and hit the trails!

Be sure to follow us at facebook.com/RunnersOfTheCorn or instagram.com/runnersofthecorn

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hi Dan.

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, we have Dan Stumpenhorst with us and my
co-host is here today.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I finally made it again.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Yes, this time.
So we still have no updates,because I just recorded last
week and there hasn't beenanything.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
No, not really.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
No, it's quiet, But it's what's coming up?
We have Kettle coming up thisweekend.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Kettlebrain 100.
That's coming up.
We got a couple of our runnersdoing that.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yes, doing the hundred.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
We have somebody doing their first time, hundred.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Yep.
So good luck to Willie MangramWhen he hears this.
it'll be done in after, but wewish him good luck.
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Yep, this will be out after afterwards, but like
right after.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
No, no, because it's this weekend.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, this will be out in two weeks.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Today So.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
So it'll be a week and a half after.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
And then after that, we've got.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
I don't want to talk about it.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Shoots a nine.
Yeah Well, three of us will be,at that one Yeah we will.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
All three of us will be there, yes.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
You guys are talking about.
Oh, it's just a training runfor me and I'm going for fun And
I'm over here biting my nailsoff down to the knobs.
Good, It's not for me.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
It's just the ambiance.
I go for the ambiance.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
There you go, i'm just getting my spanker.
I'm going to go wave it around.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
I'm going to hit you with mine upside the head And I
get it.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Hey, if you weren't, you deserve it, i deserve it.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
Excuse you when I earn it, not if when That's
right, yeah, there you go.
Yeah, i'm going to eat a steakon mine.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
There you go, i'm going to eat steak on it.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
You're not going to cut the steak out of it, though.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I don't know.
I'm going to hit Scott with ita couple of times.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
There you go.
It's a good equalizer, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'm just so excited I'm going to yeah, that thing is
going everywhere with me.

Speaker 4 (01:52):
Next year's kayak trip.
You'll be paddling it with it.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I'm going to put on the chain where it I don't know,
It's pretty big.
Okay, That's what she said.
Okay, All right.
So one note I want to say aboutthe podcast is we need reviews.
I've never asked for it, Weneed them.
So if you could like leave alittle review a star, I think,

(02:17):
on Spotify and review on Apple,and I don't think I don't know
if Google does reviews but ifyou could leave review, that'd
be great.
That helps us get seen.
I saw reviews.
I just looked at the Apple onesand I saw one from Jason
Zimmerman.
He said I appreciate thecoverage of the Illinois Trail
and Ultra scene.
So thank you, Jason, forleaving that.
If I see some more that arenice, I'll read them, And if

(02:41):
they're not nice but make melaugh, I might read those too.
Let's try.
So we appreciate feedback.
Another thing I did say ishonest feedback honest feedback,
even um, like, i'll put a poston Facebook and people just like
it and I'm like I has toquestion and you guys just like.
So come on, we appreciatefeedback.
What do you want from us?
So?

Speaker 4 (03:03):
yeah, be careful with that, Yeah, that could be a who
knows where they could go,right, yeah, I know.

Speaker 1 (03:10):
I have had some interesting things go into the
inbox a few times and I'm likewhoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I don't want that.
We're going to jump into stuff,which is always.
The first question Always ishow did you get into running,
specifically Ultra running?

Speaker 4 (03:27):
Well, ultra running obviously was a progressive, a
progression right, so it startedtrying to run a mile around the
well, basically a mile aroundthe block where I lived.
So I worked on that first and,um, i was training at work.
We had a really nice setupthere where I could go to the

(03:50):
gym in the morning when I wouldbe in the office and one of my
friends there that would be withthe workout group.
He was an ultra runner and, uh,he kind of pressed me along on
various things over time.
I think it was 2013.
I signed up for a half marathonevery month.

(04:10):
So I did that for the wholeyear And then he said I think
it's time you did a marathon.
This half marathon stuff isn'tenough, so we need to do a
marathon.
So then I, he forced me, ordidn't force me, but he kind of
pushed me.
Well, as friends, do they?
yeah, Yeah, Yeah Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, they feed you the Kool-Aid and say, yeah, you
can definitely do that andeverything And uh.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
So that kind of pushed me.
And then I started signing upfor these races in Florida when
we would go down there in thewinter.
Uh called the Gasparilla seriesIt's in Tampa and uh, that was
a series of four races in twodays.
So you ran two day, two raceseach day.
It was like a five K and a K, ahalf marathon, and then I think

(04:53):
it was a 15 K, so it was like ashort and a long each day.
So when I said, oh, i can kindof put a lot of miles in.
So, hanging with the coyotegroup who's the group that first
introduced me basically torunning with the trails, are
running on trails Um, they weretotally training for alt trust.

(05:15):
They were in the 50 K rank anddoing 50 milers and 100 milers,
um, so I hung with those guysfor a few years and then, um,
they had a fat ass race for a 50K And I did it and I did fairly
well on it and that was kind ofthe start.
So that's how I got pushed, isthe coyote group kind of pushed

(05:36):
me.
And then in the meantime, uh,the Yeti group was starting to
gain, um, momentum And then Istarted to hang around with
Keith and and those guys.
So because they started in 2013.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, That was around the time frame.

Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yep, So how did you?
Yeah, actually we just had thisin this last podcast.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
It was June 1st of 2013.
Well, Michelle would know right?
Yeah, She was one of theoriginal.

Speaker 4 (06:00):
It was the first time .
Right, she was one of theoriginal folks.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
It was Keith's birthday that they decided to
Yeah.
So well, how did you find thecoyotes though?
So there's another runninggroup who is located kind of out
of the Rockford Illinois area,right.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
Right, they're, they're home bases, pretty much
Rockcutt State Park, so they runthere.
Um, how I learned about thosefolks.
So I always ran by myself upuntil 2011.
And then I was like God, youknow, i need to run with some
people I don't have anybody torun with.
So they started searchingonline, and of course, that was

(06:39):
about the start of Facebook andstuff too.
You know all that stuff wascoming online.
And then I searched out a groupand I found a group in DeKalb.
I thought, well, they're fairlyclose, okay, cause at the time
the Yetis weren't really here.
So then I started running inDeKalb with the squirrels, the
Nitro group, okay, that's theNorthern Illinois Trail Runners
group, and they sponsored a fewraces that they had and they

(07:03):
were, they were actually a 501Cand all of that stuff, So they
were doing like fundraising andall kinds of things.
But their big trail was thegreat Western trail, which is a
flat, 1% grade limestone,crushed limestone trail.
So exciting.
It was like running on atreadmill.

(07:24):
But it did improve my runningimmensely because they would run
an eight mile.
So they'd run out four and backand they would cram it good.
So then you know we wereworking hard.
That was probably for me.
It was great because I was likein the eight minute mile range
at that point, You know so itwas a good pace and I was doing

(07:46):
pretty well then.
Okay, so they.
But then there was a smallsubgroup in that group made up
of, like, brian Drendle he mightknow Yep, okay, so Brian was a
member of that group.
Another guy, mark Schmers youknow Tony favor, maybe you don't
, of course Jim Risco.
Jim was there.

(08:07):
So we all were running in thatgroup and we all tended to
migrate.
Then, on the weekends, westarted going to Rockcut and
meeting up at the coyotes.
They met every Saturday morningat the lion's shelter at seven
o'clock in the morning And thenthey ran the eight mile coyote
loop every Saturday.
So then we started doing thatand that's kind of how we

(08:29):
evolved from pretty much a roadrunner before that to a trail
runner right around the 2011timeframe.
Nice, So I started running inlike 2005.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
So you've been running a while.

Speaker 4 (08:41):
Yeah.
For quite a while actually, Andbut those first six years was
pretty much roads.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, by yourself pretty much too.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
Pretty much by myself .
We moved, we were living in thecountry when we I first started
with all treadmill in thebasement In the morning, three
miles on a treadmill every day,you know, not every day but
three times a week or some crazything, trying to be at a six
mile an hour pace, you know.
And doing all that and justjust grinding it out, and then I

(09:15):
would go to the gym at work andI'd get on a stupid.
I did 10 miles on a treadmillone time I may thought I was
going to kill myself.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Luckily there was a.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
TV in front of me and I watched a whole movie Oh my
gosh.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
But I remember that and, yeah, that was crazy stuff.
I used to do like that.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
So, but what made you decide?
I'm going to start running,though What?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Oh well, you know you go through life and things
happen.
Things maybe don't go exactlywell the way you want and you
know there's always stress orthere's not stress and there's
all that, and it was a way forme to deal with stressful things
that might be occurring Whenyou're raising four teenagers

(10:00):
there's stress.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, yep, yep.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
When you're raising a teenage daughter, that can be
stressful.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
I started running when my girls were teenagers.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
Yes, Yeah, so it's not uncommon?
I don't think.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
No For people to do that.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
It was a way to get out a little bit, spend an hour
kind of straighten your head out, think about how you might
respond or deal with some issue,and so it was a good way to
deal with the stress.
So that's what started me, plusthe fact that I was gaining
weight.
I mean I have an IT job, so I'msitting at a desk, i'm at a,

(10:34):
and I've been doing that job for40 years, so you know I've a
lot of desk sitting but I neededto do something.
So that's the other thing thatforced me into doing something.
And I really wasn't like aweightlifter or anything.
I never really cared for thattoo much.
Look at me.
No, upper body at all.
Spaghetti arms.
You know spaghetti arms.

(10:56):
You know nothing really, soanyways, so that's how I got
going, oh okay, okay, kind of alate bloomer, though.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, i was mid-40s.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yeah, i didn't start running until I was pretty much
45 years old.
Okay, i think that's about it.
So I've been running 21 yearsAnd the last two years I really
haven't been running, And youguys know that I'm more of a
fast walker.
Right.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
I've got a lot going.
Yeah, still moving.

Speaker 4 (11:25):
That's exactly my point.
You know, it's like you get toa certain point and you're like
okay, I could really kill myselfor I could just keep moving and
doing things, And I have a lotof other adventures that I still
want to do, mm-hmm.
So I love running and I wish Icould still knock out 7-hour 50K

(11:46):
, you know or whatever, mm-hmm.
But I don't think I can do thatso much anymore.
It's more like 10 hours.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Well, you've put a lot on your plate at home too.
Yeah, I have a lot going on.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
I have ultra gardening Mm-hmm Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
I actually have questions about Yeah, okay.
Yeah, i mean, yeah, it's prettymuch the.

Speaker 4 (12:05):
It's pretty much the I pretty much have three jobs.
I have a full-time job, then Ihave a lawn maintenance job and
then I have the CSA gardening.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Oh, and you have a family.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
And I have a family.
I have 10 grandchildren.
Yeah, that's a lot And you knowevery night is like you could
be somewhere, so there's verylittle time for So, leading up
to this, my question is how doyou manage to balance your
full-time work, farming andrunning?

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Any tips for individuals struggling to find
time for their passion?
Well, juggling multipleresponsibilities, because you've
done it, you've done it, you'vemultiple.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
Yeah, the only way that it works for me is if, when
it comes to running or exercisepersonally, I have to do it
first thing in the morning,before anything else gets in the
way, Because as soon assomething else gets in the way,
I have a tendency to go.
I gotta get that done.
I really need to get that done,and so I kind of put that as the

(13:00):
secondary.
So I need to in order for me tobe successful.
I have to put it primary.
So we're gonna go to Coloradoin August.
I'm going with my son and mygrandson actually two grandsons
and we're gonna climb Greys andTories.
So, that's a 14, twin 14.
So we're playing and doing that, And so I'm on the treadmill in

(13:23):
the morning at a 10% gradehiking, And for 30 minutes every
morning I'm trying to get thatdone And then, I'm trying to do
like squats and pushups and afew things.
I've had some stuff respiratorywise the last couple of years.
I don't know if COVID didsomething to all of us.

(13:45):
I have no idea.
I never was ever testedpositive for COVID through that
whole period.
I'm sure I had it, but I'vesuffered some things that I've
now got to deal with.
Plus, our dog is giving meallergy issues.
Oh no.
Well, we never had a dog in thehouse our whole life.
And now we got Rudy and he'slike.
You know, there's tumbleweeds.

(14:06):
Every time you open the garagedoor It's like it's rolling down
the hall And you're like holycrap.
No wonder I'm sneezing congestedand everything.
So I think I got a handle on itall.
Now I'm feeling better, Sofeeling good.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yep, just prioritizing it then.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
Yeah, i mean, i love running and I love the running
community and the group.
Some of my best friends arefrom that group And so I really
enjoy it.
I really still want to bearound it, but I just have to
take a little bit of a more lowkey approach to it.
You know, at this point.
So everyone will get thereeventually.

(14:45):
Some of us get there atdifferent times, but you'll get
to a point where you'll just say, yeah, i want to go there and
hang out, and then I want to dosomething, and then you'll just
do it.
Yeah, i think about my dad atthis age.
No way.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
So you're doing better than.
That's an accomplishment.

Speaker 4 (15:06):
My dad was a pretty healthy specimen for most of his
life, but then the last part ofhis life was not so healthy.
So, but it was a different timetoo.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
Yeah, yeah, i think we know more now like we need to
keep moving.
We need to just walkingsomething Yeah this is important
, so living on a farm andgrowing vegetables sounds like a
fulfilling lifestyle.
How has your connection withnature and farming influenced
your running and overallwell-being?

Speaker 4 (15:35):
Okay, let me start by .
I'll start by first saying thatI grew up gardening.
I grew up in a very small atthe time of very small town,
town of Warrenville, So that'sby Naperville, And when I grew
up there it was a population ofabout 1500.
So pretty small.

(15:55):
Everyone knew everybody.
My mom's family, the roots ofour family on my mom's side kind
of start there, since they cameto the country.
My great grandfather was thefirst fire chief of Warrenville,
So it's like that kind ofconnection.
But, anyways, my dad was agardener.
My dad was born on a farm andhe always loved it, So he kind

(16:19):
of always.
I don't know if he pushed me,but it seemed like something I
always enjoyed helping him with.
So I started that way And I'vekind of carried it forward
through my life forever.
And then probably early on whenour kids were little and you
didn't have any money, we didgardening to can and do all
those things.

(16:39):
So I had that connection Andthen I just have kept it up and
it was just a great hobby And Ireally enjoyed sharing it with
people.
So I used to bring in literallybushels of groceries to AT&T
when I was working there.
People would come and theywould get them, you know.
And then I started makingpickles and everyone wanted to

(17:00):
damn pickles, So that became acrazy thing.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Is that how you got your trail nickname?

Speaker 4 (17:07):
That is how I got my trail nickname, so that was
given to me by Carol Bingleyfrom the Coyotes.
Because you were bringing somany pickles.
I would bring pickles to theruns.
I would bring fresh pickles tothe runs, and then the whole CSA
thing came out.
Of God you know, people wouldsay to me you should just sell
these things.

(17:27):
What is wrong with you?
So then the one year I startedit, it was basically seven
people from Rockford I woulddeliver to.
So I would go up there and runon Wednesday nights and bring
them vegetables.
They would do their pickup Andthen we'd do a run.
They would do Wednesday nightruns And we would do a run and I
come home.
So that's how the CSA started.

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Okay, and what does that stand for?

Speaker 4 (17:52):
Community supported agriculture.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (17:55):
Yes, So, and if you know what it is, it's basically
a subscription.
So I do for mine.
I do 15 weeks.
People subscribe for 15 weeks,They pay upfront and then they
get a bag of vegetables everyweek for 15 weeks.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
And they just get whatever's in, what's growing,
whatever's in season.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
Yes, So kind of evolves throughout the year.
So it works out pretty good So,but I've always been a hands in
the dirt guy.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
So you would say that their connection with farming
and ultra running kind of goestogether Hands in the dirt, feet
in the dirt.

Speaker 4 (18:30):
Feet in the dirt.
The other thing was nutrition.
So I know you guys talk aboutnutrition a lot, but good food,
clean food A lot of people talkabout that And that's basically
what I grow.
And so for the runningcommunity that's how this
started with the CSA was theywanted good, clean food, So I

(18:52):
was giving them kale and allsorts of stuff, everything, And
so that's how the connectionbetween running and the growing
and the CSA that all kind ofcame together as like one big
thing supporting each other.
That's pretty cool, yeah, neatYeah.
Yeah, it's been a greatexperience.
I'm pretty.

(19:14):
It's one thing people know mefor is vegetables.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
So I'm gonna jump away from the questions.
I did read this, jesus, andwhen I say this, i'm holding up
the morning run to acontinuation of Run.
Inspired Ramblings by DanStompman Horse.
You wrote a book.
It's published, you'republished.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
Oh, wow, okay, I didn't know that.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
It's on Amazon.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yep, oh, wow, and so, and here's what sad is, and
here's the sad part is I read itWe had something happen in our
group and we had a loss and Ilost my notes.
So I mean, so I had somefavorites and I'm like, I don't
know, I'm gonna blame Scottbecause they were in the living
room and I'm gonna say he threwthem away.
Okay, But I had yeah, I had myfavorites all written down and I

(20:01):
had it on top of this.
And it's not there.
So I went and grabbed it andwent where's my notes?
So, but I had favorites pickedout.

Speaker 4 (20:09):
You did.
Yeah, oh, that's nice.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
I liked your face.
Oh, that's nice.
Thanks a lot, scott.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
No no, i mean it's.
I did it for one reason I didit.
So here's how that evolved.
See if I can find one of myfavorites and read it.
So when I would run, i used torun on Tuesdays and Thursday
mornings from my house in AshtonAnd I did an eight mile run

(20:35):
twice a week, tried to always doit under an hour.
I was always like an hour, thatwas my deal, and it was on the
road.
The only hill was over thetollway and back.
So it's like, yeah, whoa, outand back.
So what I would do is on theruns you know how you do things

(20:56):
to keep your mind off of thepain or whatever you're going on
The mundane clatter of yourfeet, Oh yeah.
You know you do mind games right.
You either do math, which I cando for a while, but then it
falls apart But I would come upwith phrases And I would repeat
them constantly in my head.
So I would put them all Andliterally as soon as I got back

(21:18):
in the house I would have tojump on my computer Hopefully I
didn't have to go to thebathroom And I would write it
all down.
Oh wow, and that's how I didthe poems.
So I would do two a week And Idid them for like a long time.
There's like 50 some of them.
So that's how that evolved.
And then I said, ok, i'm goingto die someday.

(21:39):
Wouldn't it be nice if thegrandkids could pull this out
and laugh about it?
So let me put them in a book.
I'll put it on Amazon, and thenthey could get one if they ever
wanted one.
That's cool.
So that's why I did it.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That was the whole reason.
So here's one, the first mile,first mile.
Wait can.

Speaker 4 (21:59):
I read it.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
Well, maybe because I don't have my glasses.

Speaker 2 (22:01):
Oh boy.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
First mile a bite as I deal with no light.
A wind from the north chillsstraight to the core.
A train in the distance signalsthe start.
The sun peeking up, cloudsscatter about.
I glide through the run.
The pace is my master, prayingto God, can I be a bit faster?
I finish the mile and head forthe next.
The sun now awake, i'm feelingquite blessed.

(22:25):
I thank God again for lettingme run And I pray once again
there's more years to come.
The morning run, i like that.

Speaker 4 (22:34):
Thanks, jen, i do appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
I like it And it's how I think.
a lot of us think that whenwe're on a run or we should pray
once again, there's more yearsto come.
I like it.
So he's got a lot of these inhere.
He's wanted to take a glance atthis.

Speaker 4 (22:51):
Yeah, I put one together.
Of course, I save them all.
I put one together when Jimpassed And I read that It just
kind of came to me when I wassitting there thinking about
them and I was like geez, i needto capture this.
So I wrote it down and kept it.

Speaker 1 (23:10):
Well, I didn't know your traveling with pickles
until I read your book.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
I was like pickles His name's Pickles.
I can't unsee this.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
Yeah, there's a.
I don't know if there's apitcher in there.
There's a pitcher of Carol.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
I think there's a pitcher with you and the pickles
Yes.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
Yes, I know there's one from the literacy where I
have the pickles and I'm holdingthem out like this.

Speaker 1 (23:30):
What a great thing to bring to a run Pickles and
sodium.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Nature's salt pill.
Yep, exactly, so I'd like tohear something about your hiking
experiences.
You've done some epic hikingexperiences, and so are you able
to incorporate your hikingexperiences into your training
for running.

Speaker 4 (23:50):
Yeah, it's more like my yes.
Yes, i would say that likethat's what I'm doing now.
Right, i'm trying to.

Speaker 1 (24:00):
Or train.
Put your running into to getready for your hike.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
Running for hiking is more the way it's going now.
Okay, and plus, i think, withmy wife Sandy.
You know, with Sandy startingto walk more over the last
couple of years now, she'sreally appreciative that I'm
walking with her, so that'simportant because that motivates
her and she really appreciatesthat I'm with her.

(24:23):
So that's a big thing too, andI like doing that and seeing her
be able to do that too, andit's good that we can walk
together.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
We're also proud of her.
She has been doing so awesome.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
Literally.
Quite not that long ago we wenton a trip to Chicago and she
had to be in a wheelchairbecause her arthritis was so bad
, oh my gosh.
So for her to be doing thethings she's doing now is so
unbelievable And she's.
I'm so happy for her.
It's really a blessing thatshe's able to do that, because

(24:58):
you know we want to do moretrips and more things because
we're of that retirement age.
You know I don't know what I'mgoing to retire.
I know I'm not going to retirefor at least a few more years,
but my job itself is not taxing,so why not keep doing it?
It's the other stuff that'sdriving me nuts.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Well, you talk about like.
So when we he's talking aboutlike Oh yeah, i liked to grow
vegetables, you know a garden,because my my, you know my
family same, you know I camefrom a family, my grandfather
was, was a farmer, and then mygrandmother actually garden, and
so my mother garden, and soit's just in my nature that
that's what I do, because that'swhat we did, you know.
But, um, and then I did notquite a dance, i didn't pull a

(25:39):
dance stumping horse, i didn'tpull a pickles by expanding to
your size.
But you know, i'm like, hey,why not, let's not have 20,
let's have 25 tomato plants thisyear?
And then I wonder why I'm soexhausted, right?

Speaker 2 (25:51):
now, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
You know, i'm like Oh the you know.
Oh, let's have a drought Causeum.
my watering system is not ideal, so I'm hauling buckets.

Speaker 4 (25:59):
Oh, no, yeah, yeah.
So um I have a lot of hose.
That's a very peculiar face, iwas like.
I won't.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
So I, you, you went from like yeah, i like to garden
, to I've seen a drone pictureof your.
Let me quote, unquote garden,that is not a garden, That is a
bridge of gardening, like that'smassive.

Speaker 4 (26:27):
Yeah, my garden in town was 30 by 60.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
And this that you have now is six plots, 30 by 100
.
How do you weed that?

Speaker 4 (26:39):
Oh, with awesome equipment that I restore over
the winter.
That's my other hobby is I loveto take old crap and make it
useful again, and so I haveseveral pieces of old crap that
is very useful.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
So old walk behind tractors, things like that yeah,
yeah, i have some pretty coolstuff.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
My steel little cultivator broke today.
So it's in the garage and Itold the husband I am not
weeding that garden by hand,That needs to get fixed.
So he's like all I got was shitLike.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
I grow everything I've learned over the years, You
know I'm pretty familiar withhow stuff grows.
So I'm like, okay, this has gotto be a four foot space row So
I can get my tiller or myequipment down that and I don't
have to do much hand weeding.
Now I will say, though, so lastyear I took off from doing the
CSA.
Alls I did was garlic.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
And I didn't even get to pickles because the
cucumbers just it was a badseason for them last year.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
It was a bad season for gardening last year.

Speaker 2 (27:39):
For a lot of things, yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
We'll get rain is going to do the same.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
Yeah, i know, i'm irrigating every day.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Well, farmers don't have that.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
No, I know Guy next to me does Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, the thighs knows Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:55):
So, anyways, i took off last year because I didn't
really want to do the CSAbecause, there's a certain level
of stress with it.
Yeah, like I'm always verystressed out And if you talk to
Sandy she'll tell you Jesus, iused to worried.
It works out every year.
But I really freak out thefirst few weeks because I'm not
sure what's going to be ready.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
And I'm sure probably all your customers like it's
fine, it's fine, it all worksout in the end, i'm sure.
Like you don't get any in thisweek, you'll get probably too
much next week.

Speaker 4 (28:29):
That's what kind of happens usually.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Yeah, the season I'm carrying like 25 pounds in each
arm into the building, rememberthat one week I was kind of like
it's kind of skimping here madeup for it.
So I mean.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
Take it all at once.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
If you know gardening at all as a customer, you would
know that it's just going toall pan out.

Speaker 4 (28:48):
Yeah, it does.
Yeah, So, yeah, it's a lot ofstuff.
There's a lot of stuff there,And you know there's the saying,
you know you go from zero to 11, you know there's the same Yep.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
So yeah, this is 11.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
You went to 100.
Yeah, it's probably the best Ifthere was a.
you know you drink the Kool-Aidfor Ultras.
you did it for gardening.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
Yes, yes, totally did .

Speaker 1 (29:12):
So, going back to your hiking adventures, can you
tell me about your mostmemorable hike?
What's your biggest?
like your most?
like whoa, that was so cool.

Speaker 4 (29:21):
So I've gone to Isle Royale several times.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
Is that the one you just went with Keith last year?

Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah, keith came with us last year, my son, Those
stories were hilarious hearingYeah.
He, I think he had awesome timeAnd there was a group of six or
eight of us.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Preach it brother.

Speaker 4 (29:39):
Reaching from the choir.
My grandson says that all thetime.
That's cute.
Preach it, brother.
I'm sitting in the front row,yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
Preach it, brother.
Don't worry, I'm sitting in thefront row.

Speaker 4 (29:50):
If there's one thing that Cole, my grandson, learned
from Keith was that particularphrase.
So but so I've been to IsleRoyale started the very first
year I went there.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
And where is this located?

Speaker 4 (30:04):
So it's in Lake Superior.
It's kind of off the coast.
It's considered Michigan butit's closer to the Minnesota
side And it's.
you can see Thunder Bay, canada, when you're on the island up
on the high peak.
So, you can see Thunder Bay.
So it's way up there.
It's roughly 60 miles long AndI think it's 11 miles wide,

(30:27):
something like that.
It's the biggest island in thebiggest lake, in the biggest
freshwater lake in the world.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
Go bang huh.

Speaker 4 (30:34):
And when you're on the island.
There's the biggest lake on thebiggest island, on the biggest
lake.
I showed it to Keith.
We recorded it.
I told him the story.
He's like man, that's justawesome.
I can hear him saying it tooYeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, all

(30:55):
the way.
I had to slow him down LikeKeith.
Stop, look Right, Enjoy this.
You don't know if you're gonnaever come back here.
We're not in a race, Keith, Yeahthis is not a race and it
wasn't, but anyways, that tripis memorable.
but the most memorable trip wasfrom a backpacking, hiking
standpoint was we went to filmat Scout Ranch when my boys were

(31:20):
in Boy Scouts.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Where's that?

Speaker 4 (31:22):
That is, in Simera, new Mexico.
So it's the southernmostportion of the Rockies.
Okay.
Okay.
so we went there and we trekkedfor 11 days.
There was, i think we had, fiveor six boys went and then there
was four adults, so it was like11 of us, 10 of 11.

(31:43):
And we were there for 11 dayson the trail.
We got replenished halfwaythrough the trip And the biggest
thing that we did there was westarted.
Base Camp was 8,000 feet.
Oh, wow, and that's where westarted.
So when you first get there, youget off the train.
We took a train from Napervilleto there.
That was a nightmare.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
From all the way in Naperville Illinois.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
Naperville, illinois, to Simera, new Mexico on the.
NAMM track Oh, wow, and ofcourse it's With all your
equipment.
Yeah, the equipment gets thrownin the baggage and you're in a
seat and you're gonna, and it'sovernight.
you leave late in the afternoonand you get there the next day
about noon And it's full of BoyScouts.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
And they're all wound up and God only knows what
they've been eating, and it'slike I bet that smells so good.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
I'm just gonna say No one sleeps.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
No one's.
You can't get any sleep.
They're running up and down theaisles.
It's just ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
I'm gonna hard.
No, i was like this soundsamazing.

Speaker 4 (32:46):
No, But anyways, we got there and the biggest thing
that we did there was we climbedMount Baldy, which is 13,000
feet.
Okay.
So we did that, oh nice, and myfriend, mike, who was the scout
master I was the assistant, mikehad been there before with his
older son and he's like, okay,guys, we're gonna the base camp.

(33:10):
We were at 10,000 feet at thisone camp and that's at the base
of Mount Baldy And we werestaying there and the next day
we were gonna day hike Baldy.
So we were gonna get up realearly and head up.
And he's like we have two ways.
We can go the front, which is alot of switchback, it's a lot
longer hike, or we can go up theback.

(33:31):
Now the back is a little bitdifferent.
Yeah, there's hardly anyswitchbacks.

Speaker 2 (33:38):
Right, so it goes straight up.

Speaker 4 (33:39):
It was pretty much straight up And the other thing
about it was it was all loosegravel rock about that big, you
know, like four inch rock, justmarbley kind of trying to walk.
You take a step and you'reslipping back, oh my goodness
And it was just.
The trail was basically justthat was packed, loosely packed.

(34:01):
So, anyways, we went up the.
Thing.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
I'm sure you guys took the back route.
We took the back route.

Speaker 4 (34:09):
Of course we did And we went up there, we made it up
there And it was the mostawesome is I got some pictures
of my two sons and me up thereAnd that's neat.
It's.
Some of the views were greatAnd you can see the Rockies,
like go into the north.
You're pretty much at the endof it And it was really awesome
trip, and then that was the daywe were going to get a shower.

(34:31):
So we'd already been on a trailfor quite a while.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Pretty ripe, huh.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Six days.
Yeah, everyone smelled prettygood And so we needed to get
down and there's a place thereIt's a camp called Baldi town
And you get you can get a dollar, you can get your dollar bills
stamped for climbing.
So it has Mount Baldi, 13,000feet, And they stamp it on a
dollar for you.

(34:55):
So I have my dollar at home.
I have the picture of all thecrew.
But we were rushing down and wewent down the front.
So, we're just and I'm like 40years old, 41 out of shape, And
I did this And never felt reallybad until we were coming down

(35:18):
at about 11,000 feet, which iswhat Baldi town was at.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
That downhill will get you.

Speaker 4 (35:23):
I got the altitude sickness.
Oh, really, yeah, I startedgetting real nauseous and just
feeling like this.
I felt like 28 miles and a 50Kwhere you're just like your
body's depleting And if youweren't smart or didn't know
about salt tabs or anything likethat, like I never did in the

(35:43):
beginning, my body, with just mystomach, would go sour And I
would just I'd have to walk forquite a while to get things back
in order, and that's the way itwas.
But we got there, we made it intime, we were able to get a
shower, we used all the waterAnd the crew that came down
behind us couldn't get a shower.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Oh no, Got to be quicker than that, Yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (36:07):
yeah, We had a very competitive group of boys.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah, oh yeah, that can make it a little bit fun.

Speaker 4 (36:13):
Oh yeah, it was always fun.
Mike and I got to the pointwhere when we were hiking with
these guys, we would just letthem go.
We'd say, you know where to go,you guys know, get there, get
the best campsite.
So that's how we always workedit When we went to Isle Royale,
then the next time next year,which was the first time.
that's exactly how we worked it.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
Yeah, we would hike our pace and we'd let those 15
and 16-year-old boys they'recarrying like 45 pounds and they
don't even feel it And they'rehiking like crazy We'd say go
get the site, get the best one.
And they would Nice Save us agood spot for our tent.
That's the way to do it, so myrunning has led into my hiking,

(36:59):
and my hiking has led into myrunning.
It's a relationship, Yeah it is,and I think it's more of a
hiking one now than it was arunning one.
When I start to run now, thingsjust really start to hurt bad.
So I'm like, ok, dan, you're alittle bit older, you need to
just maybe just walk really fast.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
But you're still moving.
That's what's really.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
So I know this is a runner's podcast, but it's a
moving podcast.
It's a moving podcast.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Right, there you go.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
Well, I'm a senior member.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
But you have running accomplishments though.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
Yeah, I've done a lot of them.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
Yeah, and we're going to lead into another question
that's going to talk aboutrunning And that's I'm going to
tell you congratulations.
This is going to be your thirdyear as race director for the
Grismill Grind 10K, which islocated in Franklin, well
outside of Franklin Grove,illinois, at the Franklin Creek
State Park.
Can you tell us more about thatrace And what inspired you to

(37:54):
take on that role?
Why there?
What?

Speaker 4 (37:57):
OK, so the Grismill Grind.
First of all, the name comesfrom a friend of mine, Matt
Kirby.
He is a running friend from theNitro Group.
We talked off and on when weused to run together back in the
day.
He loves Franklin Creek.
He said, yeah, we should have arun here.
We should have a run here.

(38:17):
We should do that, We shouldhave a run here.
He was big into coffee.
We should call it the Grismogrind and then we should serve
really good coffee at the end.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Hey, why isn't there been coffee?
You're missing out yeah, sothis year there net better
should be some coffee.
Now that it's on the podcastPeople are gonna expect it
that's kind of where the thename and the idea.
I know who to get it hold up.
We can get special made coffeeand they'll put the name logo on
it.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
Oh, there you go.
That would be awesome.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
Oh, i've got a person , all right, yes, on it.
Yep.
Okay, Yeah we're gonna get somegrismo coffee.
They offered to put make acoffee for Ranges the corn and I
was like But this would be.

Speaker 4 (39:03):
This is you know even as a name, that's really
relatable.

Speaker 1 (39:06):
Yeah, yeah, let's relate coffee.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
Oh, there you go, mm-hmm Nice.
Yeah, okay, i'll reach out tohim so, oh, that kind of got to
thought.
And then that was my trainingground, franklin Creek, because
I live about 10 minutes fromthere, mm-hmm, so I would run
there a lot and over time I wasgoing to rock cut, but then it
started Time-wise I couldn't getthere all the time.

(39:30):
So then I started running atFranklin Creek more and I would
say, when it got into about 2014or so, that was mostly my place
to run.
And I ran into a guy who's onthe board for Franklin Creek,
who's also a runner, was alsoinvolved with the Reagan run
right here in town, and He keptsaying yeah, you should do a run

(39:53):
, you should do a run.
Everyone always says you shoulddo a run, mm-hmm, do a run.
So then when I became a memberof the board, it then became
possible to kind of push thatagenda and get it started and so
, yeah, the grismill grind wasborn three years ago and And
it's basically All the funds andeverything goes to the Franklin

(40:16):
Creek Conservation Association,which is considered a friends
of the park group, so it's notDNR or whatever, but the money
that we Take in gets used to doEducation programs at the park,
like for students and thingslike that It gets used for

(40:36):
helping to fund the procurementof more land, because they keep
trying to grow the park.
We just added an additional 80acres here this fall, so in fact
we would like to get a trailestablished through there before
it becomes DNR property,because when it becomes DNR
property they won't do anyinfrastructure.

(40:57):
So if we Design and develop atrail like a loop through that
section at least, then we'llhave a trail that we can then
use for other things that Welike to run out there and extend
mileage.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
You mean like potentially a bigger race
someday.

Speaker 4 (41:13):
Yeah, well, we did a 50k there, right.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, but that was a like a fat ass.
It was a fat ass, but maybeofficial someday, like yeah,
yeah, i think that place wouldbe a terrible place to do a 50k
and I say that with a smile likeTerribly fun, terribly hard and
challenging.
I think it needs to happen.

Speaker 4 (41:32):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
I will volunteer.

Speaker 4 (41:34):
Well, that was the idea behind the f-series.

Speaker 1 (41:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
So the f-series was.
I didn't miss out on that, iknow so upset that was an idea
to see if people would beinterested in doing that kind of
stuff.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
I mean you had a good turnout.

Speaker 4 (41:49):
Yeah, there was.
I still have 17 people in therunning to get their plaques.
They just gotta make it to theGrismill grind.
You gotta make it to theGrismill grind and they'll get
their f-series plaque.
They're all made nice.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
Yep, i better make sure I make it to that grind.

Speaker 4 (42:04):
Yes, you better.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
Oh, it'll be after Leadville, though, won't it?
Oh yeah, I can walk you couldwalk it and get it.
Yeah, you walk a race 21.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
I'll.
I'll start putting some postsup about that, so anyways, yeah,
third year, grismill grind andI know, jen, you've been
involved, you've been helping meon it and A lot of the trail
runners have helped with trailclearing and stuff like that,
and that's actually a bigproject on going right now
because of all the wind damagethat we suffered here in the

(42:40):
spring.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Trees went down.

Speaker 4 (42:42):
Yeah, there's a group right now of guys that are
going out on Fridays and workingwith the DNR.
They've got one section.
They worked on this last weekand there'll be there again this
weekend.
So very good.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
One of the girls said well, we can go out, and I said
oh no, i can't.
I said that requires a largechainsaw.
I can't do what they need.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
I'm like, yeah, we need to get out there.
I'm hoping I've been very busythat I haven't been able to get
out there.
But I need to get out there andhave a couple days and get some
more people to come out And wecan have another chainsaw day
and get through the section.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
There's been a lot of tree death.
I noticed in all the parks.

Speaker 2 (43:19):
Oh yeah, it's so bad?

Speaker 1 (43:21):
I don't know.
I'm sure there's some kind offungus a lot of them are ash
trees.
Yeah yeah, ashboards gettingthem.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
And they've been dead for a while.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
And if I mean if you've been in Loudoun Miller,
any of you know which is in ourarea by Oregon.
It looks like pickup sticks inthere.
It's just the carnage you knowfrom the windstorms.

Speaker 4 (43:41):
Yeah, it's.
It's sad, yeah, the section ofFranklin Creek on the north end
Where the pine tree forest is.
Oh yeah that looks like pickupsticks up there.
I think, it's all cleared now.
The the equine folks wentthrough there and cleared that
all out in spring.
So they've got that mostlycleared Yeah that's my favorite
part.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
It was my favorite part too, and it got just right.
Yes, yes So.

Speaker 4 (44:06):
I did put the Grislyle grind on an ultra sign
up.
I saw that.
So before this we've been onwebscorer, so anybody that there
hasn't been a lot of peoplesigned up yet.
But I'm not too worried becauseit typically happens this way.
Those people that have signedup already will just get
migrated over the ultra sign-upside.
They're pretty good support.

(44:28):
The person I've been talking tothere just said give me there,
just export them and give it tome and I'll import it for you
and get it all set up, oh nice.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
You can put somebody in on ultra sign up.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
Yeah it's very easy.

Speaker 4 (44:41):
Yeah, cuz.
I added somebody.

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Because they had a free entry or something.
Yeah, we'll just put your nameand oh no, i sent them a free
something.
Yeah, it's really easy.

Speaker 4 (44:50):
Yeah, we have.
So I I moved there because itseems like Mostly trail people
use ultra, sign up, no matter,and then reading their stuff,
they're like you know, 60% ofour runs aren't ultras, because
I always figured they had to bean ultra to go there.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
But they said no, it doesn't have to be, it's just
known for that, really.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Yeah, but it's the go-to for any trail races.
Yeah, for the most part.
Yeah, that's what?

Speaker 1 (45:14):
so it's there now and majority of us already have
count there.

Speaker 4 (45:18):
Yep right.
So now you'll see your historythere.
If you do the grind, you'll see.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
Being your stats now.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
I'll say it'll show up in my stats.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
Yes, Yes that'll make people want to or not want to,
but I don't want that in my stat.
Or do I want it in my?

Speaker 4 (45:32):
stat Yeah well, as you know, it's a hard 10k.
Yeah.
so, even though it's just a 10k, it's a it's challenging.
It's challenging, Yes it'llpush you, it never ends.
It never ends.
The hills never end, they neverYeah.
So I'm hoping we see somepeople that we haven't seen yet
come out.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Mm-hmm.
Well, you'll see me, i haven'tdone that race yet.
No, you haven't have you know,I have not always had something
else going on that day.

Speaker 4 (45:58):
I think um Josh Sun said he was coming he sent me a
message, Oh nice signed up yet,but he said he was interested.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
So Hopefully he signs up and you tell him, if he gets
good weather I'll pay his entryfee or something for nine.
You make that weather workoutfor us at nine.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
He is you're in.
He's given us nine weather.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
He's turning the volume up is what he's doing.
He's like oh, I thought it'sgonna be cool.
Oh, wait, wait, It's gonna be90.
Whoa.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Oh, that is good.
nine weather Yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:28):
So I said, oh good, can't wait to run Satan's
playground.

Speaker 4 (46:32):
Yeah, i said 90 and humid.
I remember the one year I didthat it rained Like terrible
rain.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
Mm-hmm, oh my god, yeah, nathan was telling me
about that.

Speaker 4 (46:42):
I've done it several times But I've never got a
spanker.
No, i never.
I'll tell you the first time Idid it, so I was like doing
pretty good torture, torture.
I was a pretty decent runner atthat time, and it was probably
like 2015 or 16.
It's like I could do this, butevery time he came to the top of
that hill there'd be all theseyeti sitting there drinking big.

(47:05):
Yep, right in front of you and Icome up and I'd be like you
know what?
I just think I want to drinkbeer.
So I don't remember how manyloose I did It was in the 20s
somewhere and I just said I'mdone with this.

Speaker 2 (47:18):
That's, that's the hard part with that race.

Speaker 4 (47:20):
Yeah, it's the mind game, yeah it's the.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
There'll be some spectators sitting there.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Damn running group With their flip flops on.
Yeah, we talked about.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Under the shade because it's nice and cool at
the top too.
Yes, the rest of the course?
Yeah, the rest of the course ishorrible, but where the start,
finish is.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
So we talk about get a good running group, because
they'll help motivate you untilYeah.
Until certain, oh, i think youeven said for Pottawatomie.
Oh yeah, When you're coming infor your loops and you're like I
got to go back out and you'relooking at your entire group in
a big circle seeing kumbaya withcheers and like, yeah, cheers.
And you're like, oh, yeah, goget your next loop.

(47:57):
See you in about three hours.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
Totally.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
And you hear that beer crack and you're like and
they're around the campfirelaughing it up and I'm like,
yeah, it's like, yeah, i'm like,yeah, it's like, yeah, it's
like yeah, it's like, yeah, it'slike, yeah, it's like yeah.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
It's like yeah, it's like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,whatever.
So, runners interested in thisarea, listeners who are in this
area, if you want to come to toour little town, you, come on

(48:32):
over, but if they're interestedin participating in your 10 K
trail race, Chris McGrein.
what are some unique featuresor highlights of the course that
they should look forward to, oranything other little tidbits
My hand, thanks to you.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
I can think of a good one off top of my head.

Speaker 4 (48:41):
So there's some, some key places, right Yeah, there's
the wall.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Is that what we call it?

Speaker 4 (48:47):
I always call it the wall because it kind of feels
like a wall when you hit it.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
That's where we're hitting a little mountain climb.

Speaker 4 (48:53):
Yup, yup.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
Is that the gravel one?

Speaker 4 (48:55):
Yeah, when?
no, it's the one when you comeout of that ravine.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Okay, go by the glory Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
And that's usually a hand and feet kind of a motion
going up that, thing, you know.
Cause it's, the footing is notgreat, especially when it's
snowy, snowy and oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
So funny story about this real quick is when you're
taking people on tours.
I remember I did a lot offrozen tow tours and I said I'm
done, Like I lost track how manytimes I did that And somebody
was going up and then they wouldslide back down.

Speaker 4 (49:22):
Slide back down.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
They'd go up, and then they'd slide back And I'm
at the top trying not to laughOh yeah, and I'm like hands and
knees.
hands and knees No, i've got it.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Back down they go.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
No, you do not.

Speaker 4 (49:36):
Yeah, that's a doozy.
So that's one nice feature.
The other feature, obviously,is you go through the creek four
times.

Speaker 2 (49:42):
Four times Four water crossings.

Speaker 4 (49:44):
Yes, one you go through twice out and back, but
then the other ones are uniqueones.

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, yes, And that one you go through twice is
pretty shallow.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Yes.
The fourth one is can be deepAnd I went there this spring and
little mountain, or whateveryou call it, the wall actually
had water flowing through there,yep.
And I was like, if there'swater flowing through here, this
fourth creek crossing is goingto scare me.
Yeah.
And I got there and I looked, Istarted to go and I bet you it
would have been I stoppedbecause I knew it was going to
be up to my waist, probably.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
Oh really.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Yeah, it was so bad And I was like I turned around.
Well, you got to be carefulthere, because you can get
yourself in a hole pretty quick.

Speaker 4 (50:20):
Yeah, there is the Tony hole, uh-huh, as we all
call it.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
So I try and tell people about the Tony hole, but
you want to tell people whathappens to the Tony hole.

Speaker 4 (50:28):
Okay, so you want to know how I got named that.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
Yeah, first let me just explain to our listeners.
this is how sick you can be.
You're a very nice man.
Everyone's like Dan's so sweet,but you are kind of like a
little Keith on some things.
So, Keith, Iran likes to dolike little evil things to us
and dance stuff, and I was likeI want to be like Keith, like
that.
So Dan's like I'm going to doso.
this course is a 10 cake courseAnd it's the Christmas grind

(50:54):
done in September, Yes, But alsoDan's like hey, but I want you
to run it in the winter too.
So I've got a challenge for youguys.
I'm going to call it the frozentoe challenge.
You run that same exact coursein the winter, but you only get
a sticker if you run the coldcourse.
Well, it's under 32 degrees.
You have to go through fourCree crossings under 32 degrees.

(51:15):
You got to prove that you wereout there in the cold.
So, people, we had one personget frostbite because walking
and she got frostbite on herpoor toe.
but yeah.
So it's cold and some of us arelike idiots And we're like how
cold, can we go?

Speaker 4 (51:31):
Oh yeah, I've done it several times.
Yeah, i've done it, at least 15below.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
I don't know what my lowest is.
I'd have to look at my things.
I know I've gone pretty low.
The worst actually was when thesnow was deep and I was
trudging to the snow first And Iwas like that was really a lot
harder, that's hard.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
Yeah, frozen toe has been in existence before the
snow grind.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Let to, but that leads to what we were going to
say is the Tony hole, the Tonyhole.
He was doing the frozen toechallenge.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
No, no, just got with you.
We were doing the 10 mile fatass.
Oh thanksgiving.
You know how we have that onthe.
Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
That's the first time I met you.

Speaker 4 (52:14):
Yep.
So we were doing the fat assand Tony was there and he
couldn't stay the full time, sohe kind of cut out and headed
back And he didn't realize.
When you come down that trail,you know the court, the course,
the route.
There it looks like you need togo straight, but you really

(52:35):
need to turn.
Well, actually, three or fouryears ago the trail did go right
there and kind of skirted alongthe edge, but now the
shoreline's been eroded.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
OK.

Speaker 4 (52:44):
So the trail is gone.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
OK.

Speaker 4 (52:46):
That's why there's the earlier turn to the right.

Speaker 1 (52:49):
It does make it look like you turn right there.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
So it looks like there's a fork there and you can
go straight or turn Yeah.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
So Tony went straight .

Speaker 2 (52:57):
Oh no.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
Not realizing, he jumped off the bank and there
literally is a hole there.
It's about six feet Now he wentup to his armpits and he's a
tall man, he's like six three,six two, so he went up to his
armpits in November, in November, oh my goodness.
He was freezing.
He let me know that.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Thankfully this is towards the end.
There's like maybe half mile.
You could cut it.
He probably could cut it.
Yeah, you can cut there.

Speaker 4 (53:27):
You cut that seven times out at the end Yeah, yeah
You could go straight up to theparking lot.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
Right.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
Which I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
I would hope you did.
I wouldn't take that onePrairie section and then just
cut.
You know.
Right Yeah.
So that's the Tony hole.
The Tony hole, i mean, i tellhim like that's the Tony hole
And they're like what happenedthere?
He cut the, he went the wrongway.

Speaker 4 (53:48):
Well, but Yeah, that's a deep hole.
It is.
And you can see where you cross.
If you just go to the left alittle bit more, you can see
where it's.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
It just drops off.
Yeah, it's all of a sudden.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
You can't see the bottom There's been people in
the summer who just walked thatway And they're like it doesn't
that bad.
And you see him just.

Speaker 4 (54:05):
I think Melissa Erdmeyer's son was swimming in
it last year or the year before.

Speaker 2 (54:08):
Oh, yeah, yeah, Okay.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
Yeah, That's a fun course.
I mean the 10 K course is funAnd it's very challenging.
I did a lot of it.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
The 10 mile course is challenging.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
I like that one.
Yeah, i did that this spring.

Speaker 2 (54:22):
Because all the fun happens at the end of that one.

Speaker 4 (54:24):
Yes, Because you're constantly climbing again.
Right, it's all those hills,yeah.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
First time I did it.
I'm my to custom name out.
A few times I'm like why are weclimbing here?
Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, i didthat with Andrea first time.

Speaker 4 (54:38):
Yeah, there's a couple other parts I could add
in there to make it even moreinteresting and get it really
close to 11 miles.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
See, yeah Close.
Now People think you're reallynice, but there's a little
there's a few little horses.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
So I have a course you got to make it good.

Speaker 4 (54:52):
See, i have this.
When I was a kid thing, we hada wooded area behind my house
And, like Dan Dissel, i racedmotocross And I had my own track
behind my house.
So I was always into makingcourses, No, and doing stuff
like that.
And how can we make it harderAnd so running and running on

(55:13):
the trails is a naturalextension of like playing in the
dirt, like I used to with themotorcycles.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
So, yep, i get that.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
Yep A lot of fun times.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
So, as an experienced , seasoned runner you've been
running for a long time Whatadvice do you have to give to
someone new to ultra running ortrail running?

Speaker 4 (55:33):
Don't get all caught up with the pace.
It's my advice.
It's more important to beconsistent And just keep doing
it, which will make it betterfor you to carry on.
You know, you just got to keepgoing And don't over train.

(55:53):
I think a lot of people do overtrain, i under train, there's
no mistake there.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
But What do they say?
it's better to be under thanover.
Yeah, so you're injured, right?

Speaker 4 (56:08):
I think once you've done something like once you
know you can go some distancepersonally, me, i find that okay
.
I know I can do 50 miles, so Iknow I've done it.
I can go slow and do it.
It's the mental part of it thatI have a better accomplishment
with than the physical part atthis point.

(56:30):
So, now it's more of a just behealthy, be strong enough to do
it, to keep moving, to be ableto keep moving, keep going, keep
, just keep going.
And that's kind of what my goalis right now is to keep moving
and keep strong enough to keep.
you know, so I could go and do30 miles and not even really
have to train for it, just kindof be able to do that.

(56:51):
And I kind of proved that tomyself at pot this year.
I did 30 miles and well, i did20 miles.
Then that damn heat got me.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
And I had to go take a nap.
But I finished the 30 miles inthat day So I was like, okay,
that's good, i'm good.

Speaker 1 (57:09):
I'm happy.

Speaker 4 (57:10):
I had planned on doing 100, but I realized when I
did the skunk cape that it wasprobably not a wise decision to
try to do 100.
Let's just cut the distance andjust do what we can accomplish,
and I don't have anything toreally prove.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
So you've done it before.

Speaker 4 (57:30):
I've done it before.
Yeah.
I mean I wish that I would havestarted doing some of the
longer distance a couple ofyears earlier, like around 2015,
.
16, i was in much betterphysical shape.
My runs were really pretty goodThey were.
I was always a middle packperson.
I was never a leader, but I hadpretty what I thought were

(57:53):
really good runs and strong runs, and I probably could have
amped up the distance back then,but I just didn't have the time
.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
Right.

Speaker 4 (58:00):
And so it was the thing that brisco and I talked
about.
We were sitting in my pool, himand Vivian and Sandy and I were
swimming in our pool and Jim'slike you know what, we need to
do 100 miles.
He says to me he's like we needto do 100 miles, we should do
100 miles.

(58:20):
I'm like, are you freaking nuts?
Let's do 50 miles first.
No, yeah, okay, we'll do 50miles first and then we could do
100.
, but we need to do 100 miles.
He was always on that always onthat with me.
He's the one that pushed me todo the 100 miles And I know I
did it in a way that is not youknow.
I mean I took a break.

(58:41):
I took breaks, but I had to.
I was not that accomplished tobe able to do that, but I got
the distance in and I'm happywith it.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
Is that where the famous pictures comes from, with
Jim behind you?

Speaker 4 (58:52):
Yes, That was the last loop.
We were coming up that lasthill before the finish.

Speaker 2 (58:55):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (58:56):
And I of course I didn't know he did that And I
was actually feeling really good.
It looks like I'm like.
I look like I'm like I was notdead.
I was like probably my fastestloop.
Of course the barn was there.
I could see the barn right.

Speaker 2 (59:11):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
You're going for it And doing that hunt, because we
did two loops, then four andfour, that's how.
I did it, i broke it up, thatway to do it.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Okay, yep.

Speaker 4 (59:21):
And so was two ultras and a 20 mile chaser.
you know, that's kind of theway it was, And so I felt pretty
good and I was not bad fordoing it.
But yeah, that's the picture.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Everybody loves that picture.
Everybody loves that picture.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
Yeah, it's just, it captures it Yeah.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Yeah, everything It captures, it Sure does.

Speaker 4 (59:42):
It's totally Jim, There's no doubt about that When
him and I would run and we rana lot of stuff together- for a
lot of years before you know.
then in the latter years hestarted running a lot with Bob
because I was busy all the timetoo.
He would always be like, Hey,we need to go, we need to go.
And I really feel bad now thatI didn't go out more with him,

(01:00:03):
because now I can't.
But um, yeah, we did a lot ofstuff We.
we ran all the driftless racesup in Wisconsin in the driftless
area.
Yeah, those were hard.
that 50k up there They ran outof water.
at the last age station We gotthere There was no water.

(01:00:23):
We still had like four miles togo and it was hot.
That's brutal and you know inthat area of Wisconsin It's
hilly is that it is hilly, man,it's like this silly kind of
stuff.
You know, and I remember wecome over the hill and You can
see the finish line.
You can even hear the music atthe finish line.

(01:00:46):
But you still had like threemiles to go and you're weaving
around, weaving around it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
Oh, that's torture.
That is torture, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:00:55):
Yeah, but we did some good races together, him and I.
We had some good times, so Ihave this.
So one of the things I do on myfarm is I grow hops Mm-hmm.
To make beer, right.
So I have a friend in town thatmakes the beer, so he comes and
harvests the hops and then hemakes the beer.
Okay so Jim and I always talkedabout a bottle of beer called

(01:01:20):
Genius, and a bottle becauseJim's big thing was the three
stooge's which these pins.
Okay, so we did that one yearand then I Thought, you know,
it'd be nice to make a bottle ofbeer for Jim this year.
So now we have the brisco.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
The brisco beer.
Oh, that's cool great for inhis honor.

Speaker 4 (01:01:42):
Me so.
I had the things made up andI'm gonna bear in the picture.
I.
I get a case of beer for myfriend.
I think I've drank two of them,so I have 20, some bottles.
I'm gonna bring these to thebeer mile, oh.
Oh so anybody that would like toenjoy one.
Hopefully, hopefully.
I need to save a couple for BobMcCrory Cuz.

(01:02:04):
He was really close to Jim andI told him I've got a couple set
aside for him, but then therest of them From anybody in the
Yeti crew there, whoever's atthe beer mile.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
Don't give it to the ones running it, cuz all they do
is throw it up.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
Yeah.
Yeah, there you go for whatever.
So yeah, there's.
You know, like I said I was, ireally miss him, my friend.

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
Yeah, for our listeners who probably not you
know, not from stereo He was.
He was a big person in ourultra community that we lost and
a big personality.
Oh Yeah, so much personality.
the trails just are not gonnabe the same.

Speaker 4 (01:02:45):
No Well, I miss his his texts, the randomized texts
that I would go, Oh yeah.
That were just usually so offthe wall and hilarious, i've
gotten a couple of those.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
I actually had a few, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03:02):
The last one I have is just like the week before, is
Yeah, i'm reading this book.
This was when he got out of theout of the hospital and he was
reading this book baby's firstrecession And it looks like a
child's book.

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
It says baby's first recession, says I'm reading this
, so I could always count onthat, so I know something to
make you go from.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:03:31):
So that's, that's me, i guess.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
yeah, yeah, the more questions for I got one more to
wrap it up, okay, all right.
How has running and beinginvolved in the running
community impacted your life?
You have been a part of allthese running groups.
How do you?
think it has impacted your lifebeing in this ultra community.

Speaker 4 (01:03:48):
Oh, it's definitely been a positive impact.
For sure, i Think it has had apositive impact on my health
overall because, like I said,before I started running it, you
know I Had already been in it.
I teach out for quite a whileand I noticed.
You know, you get in your 40sand it's hard to keep weight off
.
Katches up to you fast catchesup to you, you know.

(01:04:11):
Mm-hmm and then so the wholerunning thing and then just the
personalities that I've beenable to meet and the friends
that I've been able to cultivateover the years, i mean that's
been really special, and I meanI don't see everybody every day
or talk to everybody every day,but when at least I go somewhere

(01:04:33):
There's people that I know andthat appreciate the things I do
and I appreciate the things theydo, and it's great.
Mm-hmm.
So I really it's You never.
I don't know of any othercommunity quite like it.
I try and explain it to peoplewho aren't, and I'm just like
yeah, well, sandy never got itOkay for the longest time right,

(01:04:57):
and it really wasn't until thekite art She didn't get to
coyote group.
That was kind of she neverreally could get into those guys
because she wasn't reallyrunning much and And or she
wasn't.
but then I think the Yeti grouphas really helped her get out
of her shell and so She gets itnow she understands kind of how

(01:05:24):
that is so positive on your mind.
Mm-hmm and I mean she's to thepoint now.
You know with with walking, youknow she walks.
I know with Matthias's wife,mm-hmm Stephanie, a lot with
Grace from here, they.
They're gonna be walkingtomorrow and She feels bad if
she doesn't go walking.

(01:05:45):
I love it.
She said the other day She goes.
I haven't walked in like a weekand a half because You know
we've been really busy and soshe hasn't been able to get
there And she hasn't been ableto get to her bar class, which
is the other thing that shelikes to go do so.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
Yeah, the the positive impact on Sandy has
been amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:06:03):
Yeah, it is it is, it is, and she just loves
everybody too.
She just thinks it's great.
Yeah and she is so appreciativeof What you guys all did for
her when she did the Yeti.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
Oh, that's awesome.

Speaker 4 (01:06:16):
I mean she's yeah, she was crying.
She basically was crying onthat.
That was Sandy's not an overlyemotional person, but she has
gotten more emotional as she'saged, i think we do that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:29):
She gave me a damn it , dang it or something like yeah
, yeah, yeah but it's funny tosee her around you.
Oh, mm-hmm, oh, really.

Speaker 4 (01:06:40):
Oh yeah, because Sandy's, I would you know she's
gonna hear this, she's gonnalisten to this.
For sure She was wordscarefully right, love you hun
and I'm not gonna say anythingbad, but she has come out of her
like I don't want to say shell,but she's more open with this

(01:07:01):
group.
Literally never.
I mean never.
We've been married 40, 44 years, yeah, okay, so we've been
married a lot of years and Shenever took a shot.
She doesn't drink.
She ever took a shot ever.
I mean the biggest thing sheever had were such a good

(01:07:23):
influence.
Strawberry, daiquiri, you knowwhen we would go to like
Rosita's, you know, or somethinglike that.
So Sandy's never been that way,ever, ever, and even me pretty
much never really.
But she comes in here, she goesover to a alehouse, you guys

(01:07:43):
are giving her a shot, and she'sjust like oh, that's good, i
love it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:48):
It's hilarious.

Speaker 4 (01:07:51):
It's super hilarious, yeah right so now Her brother,
she, she has Sadie, has sevenbrothers, oh my.
So she is the only girl and sheraised a bunch of them.
And So, anyways, her onebrother, joe, who we're fairly
close with.
He's always all about the, theparty, he's always about the

(01:08:15):
party.
So now she's like, hey, joey,you got any Zambuca?
He looks at her.
What?

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
is going on.

Speaker 1 (01:08:23):
What are?

Speaker 4 (01:08:23):
you talking about?
How do you even know about thisstuff?
It's Tim Dang Yeti's.
She's like oh, i had some ofthat What.

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
That's hilarious.

Speaker 4 (01:08:32):
So she has um, i love it because she works so hard
for everything and works veryhard for the grandkids and takes
care of a lot of stuff and Sheneeds to let her hair down.
Yeah and enjoy a little bitHave a little fun, yeah, yeah so
for me The Yeti group and therunning group and the people

(01:08:57):
have been a blessing For both ofus because it's allowed her to
have a more Fun activity thingto go let loose a little bit.
Yeah, let it loose and not worryso much about Detaching is
important, you know everybody.
You know she's always got to bethere and she's in a hands-on.

(01:09:18):
You probably know that.
You've seen her.
I know Grace knows that becauseGrace mentioned it from the
Hennepin When Sandy was there.
She's got away.
See knows what to do.

Speaker 2 (01:09:29):
She's gonna organize Yeah.
Have at it, girl, just get outof the way.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
No, she's that way So , but anyways yep, very nice.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
I like it, although, like you know, we're not all
about shots.

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
No, don't take that the wrong way.

Speaker 4 (01:09:43):
No, what I?
what I, what I mean by that isthat it's allowed her to
Experience some things that sheprobably would have never, ever.

Speaker 1 (01:09:52):
Yeah, but we do know how to have fun We run and we
have fun, we have good fun.
Yeah, yeah, we're a great group, we're a great family.
I feel like this whole entireYeti group is just a big family.
That just I know.
I feel really comfortable withthat and I know that we'll be
there too, like if something'sgoing on.

Speaker 4 (01:10:10):
They're just, they're just there.
Well, look at With with Jim'spassing.
Yeah there was a lot of peoplethere.
Yeah, it was really awesome andit wasn't a convenient thing.
People had to take work off todo that.
Yeah right.
So that just shows how muchpeople care and think about
other people, mm-hmm, so thatthat's really important.

Speaker 1 (01:10:28):
So if you're new to running You you know one of the
big things that we keep sayingand this just goes back to it is
join a group.
If you're in this area, joinour group.
If you're not in this area,find a group.
They don't have a group.
Create a group.
You know It.
Just having a group to run withis, it's huge.
So it is.
All right.
Well, i think that's a wrap,anything else?

(01:10:50):
I'm doing sign up for Grismill.

Speaker 4 (01:10:53):
Yeah, sign up for Grismill, please.
Yes, um, this will be the thirdyear and we hope we have a good
turnout and We've had goodturnouts.
Yeah, and I'm hoping, with thechange Moving it, that one week
earlier, that will get some morepeople from some of the
surrounding groups.
Mm-hmm, so that'll be good.
And Yeah, do the Grismill forsure.

(01:11:14):
I don't think you'll regret it,maybe at the time.

Speaker 1 (01:11:19):
Maybe during, but you'll love it afterwards.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
A lot of trail races are like that.
It's a lot of pride.

Speaker 1 (01:11:24):
Yes, to have after you're done, to be like yes, i
did that So that's a good way toput it Yep, yep, all right
until next time.
Bye.

Speaker 4 (01:11:31):
Bye.

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
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