October 25, 2024 • 10 mins
Just hours out from the 2024 MCM, runner Michael Wardian previews his 175th marathon, but first with son Pierce.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was thinking of you earlier this week.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I was driving to the Capital's game and they were
setting everything up for the Marine Corps Marathon, and I
thought to myself, here's something I'm not doing.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
But I bet Wardian is.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
That's one hundred percent true. It'll be my one hundred
and seventy fifth marathon.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
So I've I've got a little.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Experience with marathons, and I think it's I don't know,
my twenty second Marine Corps or something. It was my
first Marine Corps way back in nineteen ninety six. And
this year I'm getting to run it with our son Pierre,
so it'll be his first marathon.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
So yeah, super excited about that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Wait, hold on, go back for a second.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
This is your When you say it's your one hundred
and seventy fifth marathon, are you not including like ultra marathon,
like if you went out and ran like thirty or
did you take like, for example, I know that the
most recent thing you did was you ran the Appalachian Trail.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Do you just add up all the yeah, right, do
you just add up all the miles and go, well,
that counts as like eight marathons.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh no, that's excluding the ultra marathons. So I've done
one hundred and thirty seven ultra marathons.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I just found these.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Like crazy websites that had like all my stats on it,
so that's the only reason I know all this.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So you've done, you've done one hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
On this weekend for the Marine Corps Marathon will be
your one hundred and seventy fifth like actual marathon.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, actual, well, actual marathon that they have a result for.
Because I also like do charity pacing, so I pace
like autistic athletes and visually impaired athletes and paralympians and
stuff like that, and sometimes they don't count those results.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I do, so by the way, I would count those
almost twice.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So I'm making up push to try to get them
to count the pacers because I think that they should.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So because I want to say, in the past we
have talked to you about, and it may have been
for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Were you a pacer last year at the Marine Corps Marathon?
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
No, last year I finished second in the fifty K
So I've a sou yeah, which is like thirty one
miles or so a little.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Further not a marathon.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Sorry, don't come in that category. Correct.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So the the so let me go back to the
Appalachian Trail and then I want to get to the
Marine Corps marathon. Obviously the uh, the we we had
talked to you while you were running the Appalachian Trail.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
You had, like I think you had gone to work
for a day.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
What ended up like when the when the floods or
the hurricanes came through, did you did you Were you
able to finish everything or did everything start getting screwy?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Uh? I was able to both.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I guess I was able to finish, but it did
get a bit crazy. So I I had when the
Hurricane Helen came in, I had about one hundred and
ten miles to go, uh, and I had to shelter
off trail.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
So my buddy Bob actually invited.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Us to stay in Asheville, and we already booked a
hotel in Franklin, North Carolina. So we just ended up
staying in Franklin. And that turned out to be really
fortuitous because as you guys have probably seen, like Asheville
got hit even worse than some of the other places
and the country.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
They're still they're still trying to come to grips.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, it's horrible.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So yeah, we've been trying to you know, get the
word out about that and make sure that people are
you know, everyone's seeing the damage. And yeah, it was
it was terrific, But I was. I was actually a
little bit sheltered in Franklin, Like we lost cell and
internet and you know, there were down trees and that
(04:01):
kind of stuff, But it didn't get the same kind
of impact that ASHDA on some of the other communities
like Hot Springs and Damascus Head. But I was.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
I literally was able to get back on the trail.
I think it took about two days.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I got off on Thursday, I got back on on Saturday,
and then it was pretty much just down trees, climbing
up and over blowdowns for forty.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Or fifty miles.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
And then once I got into Georgia, the destruction was
a little bit less, but it just made for really hard.
I wasn't able to all the forest roads were closed
and a lot of the parks were closed, so I
basically was only able to resupply every like.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Forty to fifty miles I got.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I just like leave the truck and be like, I'll
see you in I don't know, fifteen to twenty hours
or something. O.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
They all right, so now let's focus on the Marine
Corps Marathon for a second. Now, like you said last year,
last year you finished second in the fifty k, but
you're running it.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Is this the first marathon?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, you said, how did your kids first marathon? Right?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, it's Pierce's first marathon. So he's been training all
year and yeah, he's he's ready. We did an eighteen
mile run two weeks ago and he was dropping me
at the end, so I'm hoping I can keep up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I was just going to ask, do you how old
is Piers? By the way, he's eighteenth eighteen. I was
I was going to ask, like do you just look
at him and go like, hey, listen for the first
two miles, like it'll be fun, we'll run together. But
I'm not like after that, I'm running Like I don't like,
you're you're fine, but I'm running.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Uh No, I'm planning to stay with him the whole time.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Man, I'm so excited to like share the experience with him,
and yeah, just get to like the first two miles
that would be like spout run like the where the
Italian Store is. So yeah, I don't want to drop
him by there, but I think he was actually tell
talking to somebody. He said he might try to drop
me at the finish line. So I'm gonna I'm going
(06:00):
to try to stay as close to him as I
can the whole time.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, it's funny you mentioned the Italian Store because
I believe no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Oh, here's something you can relate exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You've run one hundred and seventy five marathons. I bet
I've had one hundred and seventy five sandwiches from the
Italian Store. So we're very similar. The hey, let me
let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.
So like I like when my kids were too, I
put their feet in skates and I knew that they
were going to skate. Did you did you push Pierce
to get into running or does he just see dad
doing it?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Was like, I'm all in, Oh, well.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
It's funny you say that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
When Pierce was like ten months old, we set the
Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a job stroller.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
So I literally did push him in to run, But no, man,
he's totally founded on his own.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
He's done a lot of other sports and this, this
one seems to resonate with him. He's you know, he's
good at it and I think he gets a lot
out of it. So it's going to be cool to
this experience with him. Yeah, he's seen us run, you know,
he's seen me run all over the world, and he's
done races in all all different continents, but this will
(07:09):
be the first time that he gets to, you know,
do it for himself.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Right, And I was thinking, you know, like it like obviously,
you've literally run across the continent or the across the country. Uh,
you just did the Appalachia tro I mean you've run,
you've raced horses, like, you've done all of that. But
I would imagine getting to run your hometown marathon with
your kid.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's pretty that's pretty cool. Like that's pretty exciting.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Oh man, Yeah, this is gonna top all that stuff. Yeah,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Like I'm so excited about it and emotional, like I
think it's it's gonna be really one of those things
that you never forget. I mean I forgot the first
time I did it, and I know it'll be the
same when I get to see him, you know, line
up and then and then get around the course, see
(07:57):
all the places I've seen, you know, twenty plus times
each year, I get to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
And it'll be cool.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Like I think, you know, like the community here really
gets into the event and you know, just being able
to be a part of that, and the Marines do
such a good job, Like I'm excited for him to
get that experience.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Hey, last two things and then I'll let you jump
bard in number one. Have you guys looked beyond this weekend?
Like like has he said, you know, like, hey, I
want this to be my first marathon. It was your
first marathon, you know, it's your one hundred and seventy fifth,
it's hometown and stuff Like does he talk about like
after this one, what's the next one?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Or is it just let's get through one and we'll
see what happens.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I think it's the latter. I think she just wants
to get through this one and see what happens.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I think I.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Think before we did the eighteen milers, he wanted to
beat my time and qualify for Boston.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
And then we did the eighteen miles and he was like,
you know what I think. I'm I'm gonna see how
it goes there.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You go, no good for him? Did the last thing?
And I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I don't want to gloss over the Marine Corps marathon
at all. But like we mentioned all the all the
all the crazy stuff that you've done, do you do
you have something else? And whether you can tell me
or not, I have no idea, but do you do
you know what your next thing is gonna be?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Man, I have a laundry list of things, but uh,
I think the next big thing, well, next weekend I'm
gonna be pacing on autistic athlete at the New York
City Marathon for a charity called Culture City. And then
after that I'm gonna try to set the fifty k
American record for fifty plus age group. But the next
(09:39):
like huge projects will be like rowing across the Atlantic Ocean,
so that'll be in in a.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Couple of years.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I gotta get the skills so I don't end up
like floating around in the middle of the ocean calling
you guys trying to figure out which way is which.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
That'd be awesome, though, that'd be awesome.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, that would be cool. Dude, I'm gonna get the
tall lank so I can work and we can talk. Man,
We can get we can get updates. You can. You
can see where I am on the map.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
All right, dude, Well listen, good luck this week. Good luck.
This is such a cakewalk for you.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
But I hope it's I hope it's a great I
hope it's a great experience with with peers.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I hope you guys have fun.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Thanks a lot, man, I really appreciate it, Thanks for
thanks for all supporting us, and look forward to seeing
everyone out there.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You got it. Thank you, Wardy, and we'll talk to
you soon.
I was thinking of you earlier this week.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I was driving to the Capital's game and they were
setting everything up for the Marine Corps Marathon, and I
thought to myself, here's something I'm not doing.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
But I bet Wardian is.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
That's one hundred percent true. It'll be my one hundred
and seventy fifth marathon.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
So I've I've got a little.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Experience with marathons, and I think it's I don't know,
my twenty second Marine Corps or something. It was my
first Marine Corps way back in nineteen ninety six. And
this year I'm getting to run it with our son Pierre,
so it'll be his first marathon.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
So yeah, super excited about that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Wait, hold on, go back for a second.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
This is your When you say it's your one hundred
and seventy fifth marathon, are you not including like ultra marathon,
like if you went out and ran like thirty or
did you take like, for example, I know that the
most recent thing you did was you ran the Appalachian Trail.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Do you just add up all the yeah, right, do
you just add up all the miles and go, well,
that counts as like eight marathons.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Oh no, that's excluding the ultra marathons. So I've done
one hundred and thirty seven ultra marathons.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
I just found these.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Like crazy websites that had like all my stats on it,
so that's the only reason I know all this.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
So you've done, you've done one hundred.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
On this weekend for the Marine Corps Marathon will be
your one hundred and seventy fifth like actual marathon.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, actual, well, actual marathon that they have a result for.
Because I also like do charity pacing, so I pace
like autistic athletes and visually impaired athletes and paralympians and
stuff like that, and sometimes they don't count those results.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I do, so by the way, I would count those
almost twice.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So I'm making up push to try to get them
to count the pacers because I think that they should.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
So because I want to say, in the past we
have talked to you about, and it may have been
for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Were you a pacer last year at the Marine Corps Marathon?
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
No, last year I finished second in the fifty K
So I've a sou yeah, which is like thirty one
miles or so a little.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Further not a marathon.
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Sorry, don't come in that category. Correct.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So the the so let me go back to the
Appalachian Trail and then I want to get to the
Marine Corps marathon. Obviously the uh, the we we had
talked to you while you were running the Appalachian Trail.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
You had, like I think you had gone to work
for a day.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
What ended up like when the when the floods or
the hurricanes came through, did you did you Were you
able to finish everything or did everything start getting screwy?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Uh? I was able to both.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
I guess I was able to finish, but it did
get a bit crazy. So I I had when the
Hurricane Helen came in, I had about one hundred and
ten miles to go, uh, and I had to shelter
off trail.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
So my buddy Bob actually invited.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Us to stay in Asheville, and we already booked a
hotel in Franklin, North Carolina. So we just ended up
staying in Franklin. And that turned out to be really
fortuitous because as you guys have probably seen, like Asheville
got hit even worse than some of the other places
and the country.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
They're still they're still trying to come to grips.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Yeah, it's horrible.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
So yeah, we've been trying to you know, get the
word out about that and make sure that people are
you know, everyone's seeing the damage. And yeah, it was
it was terrific, But I was. I was actually a
little bit sheltered in Franklin, Like we lost cell and
internet and you know, there were down trees and that
(04:01):
kind of stuff, But it didn't get the same kind
of impact that ASHDA on some of the other communities
like Hot Springs and Damascus Head. But I was.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
I literally was able to get back on the trail.
I think it took about two days.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I got off on Thursday, I got back on on Saturday,
and then it was pretty much just down trees, climbing
up and over blowdowns for forty.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Or fifty miles.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
And then once I got into Georgia, the destruction was
a little bit less, but it just made for really hard.
I wasn't able to all the forest roads were closed
and a lot of the parks were closed, so I
basically was only able to resupply every like.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Forty to fifty miles I got.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
I just like leave the truck and be like, I'll
see you in I don't know, fifteen to twenty hours
or something. O.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
They all right, so now let's focus on the Marine
Corps Marathon for a second. Now, like you said last year,
last year you finished second in the fifty k, but
you're running it.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Is this the first marathon?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, you said, how did your kids first marathon? Right?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, it's Pierce's first marathon. So he's been training all
year and yeah, he's he's ready. We did an eighteen
mile run two weeks ago and he was dropping me
at the end, so I'm hoping I can keep up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I was just going to ask, do you how old
is Piers? By the way, he's eighteenth eighteen. I was
I was going to ask, like do you just look
at him and go like, hey, listen for the first
two miles, like it'll be fun, we'll run together. But
I'm not like after that, I'm running Like I don't like,
you're you're fine, but I'm running.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Uh No, I'm planning to stay with him the whole time.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Man, I'm so excited to like share the experience with him,
and yeah, just get to like the first two miles
that would be like spout run like the where the
Italian Store is. So yeah, I don't want to drop
him by there, but I think he was actually tell
talking to somebody. He said he might try to drop
me at the finish line. So I'm gonna I'm going
(06:00):
to try to stay as close to him as I
can the whole time.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
You know, it's funny you mentioned the Italian Store because
I believe no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Oh, here's something you can relate exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You've run one hundred and seventy five marathons. I bet
I've had one hundred and seventy five sandwiches from the
Italian Store. So we're very similar. The hey, let me
let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.
So like I like when my kids were too, I
put their feet in skates and I knew that they
were going to skate. Did you did you push Pierce
to get into running or does he just see dad
doing it?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Was like, I'm all in, Oh, well.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
It's funny you say that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
When Pierce was like ten months old, we set the
Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a job stroller.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
So I literally did push him in to run, But no, man,
he's totally founded on his own.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
He's done a lot of other sports and this, this
one seems to resonate with him. He's you know, he's
good at it and I think he gets a lot
out of it. So it's going to be cool to
this experience with him. Yeah, he's seen us run, you know,
he's seen me run all over the world, and he's
done races in all all different continents, but this will
(07:09):
be the first time that he gets to, you know,
do it for himself.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Right, And I was thinking, you know, like it like obviously,
you've literally run across the continent or the across the country. Uh,
you just did the Appalachia tro I mean you've run,
you've raced horses, like, you've done all of that. But
I would imagine getting to run your hometown marathon with
your kid.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's pretty that's pretty cool. Like that's pretty exciting.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Oh man, Yeah, this is gonna top all that stuff. Yeah,
one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Like I'm so excited about it and emotional, like I
think it's it's gonna be really one of those things
that you never forget. I mean I forgot the first
time I did it, and I know it'll be the
same when I get to see him, you know, line
up and then and then get around the course, see
(07:57):
all the places I've seen, you know, twenty plus times
each year, I get to do it.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
And it'll be cool.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Like I think, you know, like the community here really
gets into the event and you know, just being able
to be a part of that, and the Marines do
such a good job, Like I'm excited for him to
get that experience.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Hey, last two things and then I'll let you jump
bard in number one. Have you guys looked beyond this weekend?
Like like has he said, you know, like, hey, I
want this to be my first marathon. It was your
first marathon, you know, it's your one hundred and seventy fifth,
it's hometown and stuff Like does he talk about like
after this one, what's the next one?
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Or is it just let's get through one and we'll
see what happens.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I think it's the latter. I think she just wants
to get through this one and see what happens.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
I think I.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Think before we did the eighteen milers, he wanted to
beat my time and qualify for Boston.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
And then we did the eighteen miles and he was like,
you know what I think. I'm I'm gonna see how
it goes there.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
You go, no good for him? Did the last thing?
And I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I don't want to gloss over the Marine Corps marathon
at all. But like we mentioned all the all the
all the crazy stuff that you've done, do you do
you have something else? And whether you can tell me
or not, I have no idea, but do you do
you know what your next thing is gonna be?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Man, I have a laundry list of things, but uh,
I think the next big thing, well, next weekend I'm
gonna be pacing on autistic athlete at the New York
City Marathon for a charity called Culture City. And then
after that I'm gonna try to set the fifty k
American record for fifty plus age group. But the next
(09:39):
like huge projects will be like rowing across the Atlantic Ocean,
so that'll be in in a.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Couple of years.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
I gotta get the skills so I don't end up
like floating around in the middle of the ocean calling
you guys trying to figure out which way is which.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
That'd be awesome, though, that'd be awesome.
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, that would be cool. Dude, I'm gonna get the
tall lank so I can work and we can talk. Man,
We can get we can get updates. You can. You
can see where I am on the map.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
All right, dude, Well listen, good luck this week. Good luck.
This is such a cakewalk for you.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
But I hope it's I hope it's a great I
hope it's a great experience with with peers.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I hope you guys have fun.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Thanks a lot, man, I really appreciate it, Thanks for
thanks for all supporting us, and look forward to seeing
everyone out there.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
You got it. Thank you, Wardy, and we'll talk to
you soon.
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