Latest / Rise and Run / 252: From Track Shack to the Castle: The History of runDisney - Part 2
Transcript
- 0:46SPEAKER_07: Well, so here's the thing.
- 0:50SPEAKER_07: We have no pre-recorded introductions this week.
- 0:57SPEAKER_07: And so, my friends, I then bid you welcome to the Rise and Podcast Podcast.
- 1:08SPEAKER_07: We rehearsed this first week.
- 1:09SPEAKER_07: That's right.
- 1:09SPEAKER_07: That was take two.
- 1:12SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
- 1:12SPEAKER_07: So as you can see, we need pre-recorded intros.
- 1:17SPEAKER_07: Hey friends, welcome to uh welcome to episode 252 of the Rise and Run Podcast.
- 1:25SPEAKER_07: As always, happy that you've elected to join us wherever you happen to be this week.
- 1:32SPEAKER_07: In your car on a training run, just sitting around relaxing.
- 1:36SPEAKER_07: I'm Bob, and this week I'm here with Greg.
- 1:38SPEAKER_07: Hey, hey, hey, with Alicia.
- 1:40SPEAKER_04: Hello.
- 1:41SPEAKER_07: And with Jack.
- 1:42SPEAKER_04: Hiya.
- 1:43SPEAKER_07: John is down the shore this week.
- 1:48SPEAKER_07: For those of you, I think, you know, I think most of the U.S.
- 1:51SPEAKER_07: understands down the shore.
- 1:54SPEAKER_07: Even though the rest of the U.S.
- 1:55SPEAKER_07: that's not Jersey calls it at the beach.
- 1:59SPEAKER_07: But he's enjoying a uh holiday at I believe he's in Wildwood, New Jersey.
- 2:03SPEAKER_07: Wildwood, yep.
- 2:04SPEAKER_07: Which really is a nice place.
- 2:06SPEAKER_09: Strava told me he had a very good run today on the boardwalk and uh put up some pretty impressive paces.
- 2:11SPEAKER_09: A way to go, John.
- 2:12SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's great.
- 2:13SPEAKER_07: I didn't see that, but that's great.
- 2:15SPEAKER_07: I I've got a streak of forgetting my watch and ended up making manual entries.
- 2:20SPEAKER_07: But that's for that's for a little bit later in the episode.
- 2:23SPEAKER_07: Hey, this week's episode, we finish up our interview with uh Run Disney, I don't know, the inventor, creator, uh principal person in originating Run Disney.
- 2:35SPEAKER_07: The Run Disney history, John Hughes, helps share a lot of the Run Disney history with us.
- 2:41SPEAKER_07: Hope you enjoyed episode one.
- 2:42SPEAKER_07: If you haven't listened to it, it's in episode 251.
- 2:46SPEAKER_07: Second part of that interview is this week in our race report spotlight.
- 2:50SPEAKER_07: Julia is with us.
- 2:52SPEAKER_07: Julia did her 50th half marathon at Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania.
- 3:00SPEAKER_05: If you enjoy the Rise Run Podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family.
- 3:07SPEAKER_05: Uh, we want to share in their Run Disney journey, so please go ahead and remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise Run Podcast and Instagram at RiseRun Pod.
- 3:16SPEAKER_05: Check out our YouTube channel and visit our webpage, RiseRun Podcast.com.
- 3:21SPEAKER_05: If you have any questions, comments, race reports, or want to introduce an upcoming episode, hey, hey, hey, you know, please.
- 3:29SPEAKER_07: That's my jacket.
- 3:31SPEAKER_04: I'm sorry.
- 3:32SPEAKER_04: Well, go ahead and call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.
- 3:41SPEAKER_00: We also want to thank our patrons whose support helps use the Rise Around Podcast Rising and Running.
- 3:46SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to join the Patreon team, please check out patreon.com slash rise around podcast.
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: We have three new patrons this week we want to thank.
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: We have Jennifer, who joined the happy running level, Andrea, who also joined the happy running level, and Matt, who joined the plastic cheese level.
- 4:02SPEAKER_00: So thank you to our Patreons.
- 4:04SPEAKER_07: Welcome.
- 4:05SPEAKER_07: Thank you very much.
- 4:06SPEAKER_09: The Rise Around Podcast is sponsored by our wonderful friends over at Magic Bound Travel.
- 4:12SPEAKER_09: And you and I saw on the social media today, and this news might be enough that you want to contact Magic Bound and get a vacation booked to the Disney Parks.
- 4:26SPEAKER_09: I don't know if you all saw this, but a big partnership announced today between Disney Parks and Heinz.
- 4:36SPEAKER_09: So if you love Heinz Ketchup and uh I think what is Heinz and Kraft.
- 4:41SPEAKER_09: So, like if you love Heinz Ketchup, you love Kraft macaroni and cheese, you love Philadelphia cream cheese, apparently there the these things are now going to be available in the parks.
- 4:52SPEAKER_09: I don't know how they're going to incorporate this.
- 4:54SPEAKER_09: But if you really want to get your Heinz 57 and French fried tomato and that of Walt Disney World, you uh you visit MagicBoundtravel.com uh where they'll give you a free no obligation quote.
- 5:09SPEAKER_09: But in all seriousness, the other thing I will say about Magic Bound this week is just so you for all you folks know, Magic Bound does more than just Disney Universal Cruise line Alani.
- 5:24SPEAKER_09: They'll do other cruise lines.
- 5:26SPEAKER_09: So like if you're interested in Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, celebrity, virgin, or you know, you want to go down to like an all-inclusive in the Bahamas or something like that, or any other travel needs, they have access to all sorts of resources.
- 5:42SPEAKER_09: So for any of your vacation needs, I know we talk Disney all the time, but if you ever need help with any sort of vacation planning, again, head over to Magicboundtravel.com and their experts are going to help you plan the most magical vacation possible.
- 5:56SPEAKER_05: I just want to say, with that partnership or whatnot, you could also ask Magic Bound Travel to make a reservation at Whispering Canyons Cafe and ask for ketchup because they make a whole scene about that.
- 6:10SPEAKER_09: That's smart thinking, Jack.
- 6:11SPEAKER_09: That is extremely, extremely smart thinking.
- 6:14SPEAKER_09: I'd love where your head's at.
- 6:15SPEAKER_07: I like it, Jack.
- 6:16SPEAKER_07: And Jack, while you're on a roll, anything going on with YouTube?
- 6:19SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
- 6:20SPEAKER_05: Um, so our most recent upload was the Saratoga Springs resort and spa area.
- 6:25SPEAKER_05: It was a lot of fun.
- 6:26SPEAKER_05: I definitely got lost, but there was a lot of directories and a good time.
- 6:31SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
- 6:32SPEAKER_05: I mean, I'm supposed to do a long run anyway, so whatever.
- 6:34SPEAKER_05: Yeah, there you go.
- 6:35SPEAKER_07: It made it longer.
- 6:37SPEAKER_05: But yes, we do have an episode coming out this coming Sunday.
- 6:41SPEAKER_05: I'll try to have it come out in the morning so that way if anybody would like to do any um long runs on the treadmo or are just planning for a trip in the future, it's gonna be fun.
- 6:50SPEAKER_05: I'm not gonna say which one it is because I haven't decided which one it is yet.
- 6:54SPEAKER_05: But we do have still a few more uh hotels to run through.
- 6:57SPEAKER_05: And then after the hotel resort series are done, I have so many ideas I cannot wait to share with you guys.
- 7:03SPEAKER_05: So I hope you guys tag along.
- 7:05SPEAKER_05: Um, if you want to go ahead and uh see us at Rise Run Podcast on YouTube and hit subscribe.
- 7:11SPEAKER_07: That's great, Jack.
- 7:12SPEAKER_07: That's great.
- 7:13SPEAKER_07: I appreciate that.
- 7:14SPEAKER_07: Did a good job.
- 7:15SPEAKER_07: Thank you for that.
- 7:17SPEAKER_07: Apologies and alibi section.
- 7:18SPEAKER_07: This is an alibi, not an apology.
- 7:21SPEAKER_07: I don't always do this, but sometimes you know, there's a soft spot in my heart.
- 7:25SPEAKER_07: And our our buddy Mike posted a race report last week.
- 7:28SPEAKER_07: He actually posted it about an hour after we started recording, and he goes, I may be a little late with this one.
- 7:34SPEAKER_07: I go, well, yeah, it's a little late, but but I wanted to mention he did the back cove backyard ultra in Portland, Maine.
- 7:47SPEAKER_07: He had a little trouble, he wound up at marathon distance, he didn't wind up at ultra distance, he wound it up at 26.2, swearing he was done with distance running forever, and he looked forward to seeing us at Goofy.
- 8:05SPEAKER_07: So, Mike, you're just like the rest of us.
- 8:08SPEAKER_07: Good job.
- 8:09SPEAKER_07: And then I keep telling my buddy Greg here, who does a an amazing job with the audio production, because you have no idea how much you have no idea what raw material we give him.
- 8:23SPEAKER_07: You got a little bit of an idea with that intro.
- 8:26SPEAKER_07: But uh he wanted to apologize for what he's calling an audio boo-boo.
- 8:32SPEAKER_09: Yes, yeah.
- 8:32SPEAKER_09: I was listening to last week's episode because I always listen back to make sure that I don't make any mistakes, and all of a sudden, I realized I made a mistake.
- 8:42SPEAKER_09: And that was um, you know, something I learned very, very early on in this podcast is you know, there's some features in our editing program that uh allow me to help like normalize out the audio and help keep things more consistent um you know across the entire recording.
- 9:00SPEAKER_09: And I was so in my head about where I wanted to split up um John Hughes' interview that because of that, I completely forgot to do the and it's always like the last step before I go to export the audio and upload it to our server, and I completely forgot to do because then all of a sudden I was listening and something was really loud, and then I think I said something and it was super soft, and I'm like, son of a gun, or in the consarant, and I realized, yeah, Dagnab it, and I I made a mistake, and I immediately like went home and corrected it and re-uploaded it.
- 9:38SPEAKER_09: So for the uh the the 600 of you or so who downloaded the episode uh before I replaced the audio, I uh I deeply apologize and and I hope you accept my apology.
- 9:51SPEAKER_09: Uh make sure it doesn't happen again.
- 9:53SPEAKER_07: I was one of them, and I accept your apology.
- 9:55SPEAKER_07: Thanks.
- 9:56SPEAKER_07: I could I could tell, but I could still listen to the podcast.
- 10:00SPEAKER_07: It wasn't.
- 10:01SPEAKER_07: You do a great job, and we appreciate it.
- 10:03SPEAKER_07: Well, thank you.
- 10:04SPEAKER_07: Hey, let's take a look at the training schedule.
- 10:06SPEAKER_07: What do you say, gang?
- 10:07SPEAKER_07: Let's take a look at the training schedule.
- 10:10SPEAKER_07: Wine and dine.
- 10:12SPEAKER_07: 91 days away, 13 weeks until we get to the expo.
- 10:18SPEAKER_07: I'm I'm getting excited again.
- 10:20SPEAKER_07: I'm this is kind of a I haven't looked at whether we're in the middle, I don't know, but I miss everybody.
- 10:28SPEAKER_07: And I'm anxious to get back.
- 10:30SPEAKER_07: So I'm glad we're getting there.
- 10:32SPEAKER_07: 13 weeks away, training week number five, long run on the weekend, three miles.
- 10:39SPEAKER_07: Marathon weekend! 167 days away.
- 10:45SPEAKER_07: We are and if anybody does the math, you'll know that I'm wrong when I say they're 24 weeks away from the 5k because 167 days.
- 10:56SPEAKER_07: Well, 167 uh this is right.
- 10:57SPEAKER_07: 167 days to the 5K, 24 weeks to I'm sorry, 167 days to the expo.
- 11:06SPEAKER_07: 24 weeks to the 5k.
- 11:09SPEAKER_07: And the reason I said you know was war wrong is because seven times twenty-four is not gonna end in a seven, so a little too much math for runners right now, but anyway, we're we're getting there.
- 11:24SPEAKER_07: Okay.
- 11:25SPEAKER_07: We're in training week number four.
- 11:28SPEAKER_07: Numbers are still manageable.
- 11:30SPEAKER_07: Five and a half miles on your long run, whether you're doing the marathon, gofie, gofie.
- 11:36SPEAKER_07: Goofy or dopey.
- 11:38SPEAKER_07: You could be doing gofi, I don't know.
- 11:40SPEAKER_07: We always want to feature some of the other races.
- 11:43SPEAKER_07: Uh loopy's coming up not this weekend, but next, right?
- 11:48SPEAKER_09: That is correct.
- 11:49SPEAKER_09: Yeah, we uh it's exciting.
- 11:50SPEAKER_09: We just got our first event guide uh emailed to us here, uh day of recording, and something brand new that they uh have introduced, and I think I I need to make contact with all of our loopy runners because if there is one group of people that I think could um really bring their A game, it's the Rise and Run community.
- 12:13SPEAKER_09: Uh apparently they are offering a tent decorating contest.
- 12:20SPEAKER_07: Oh, there you go.
- 12:21SPEAKER_09: So, with the creativity that we saw during the Rise and Run cruise of the door decorating contest, if that can translate over to uh running tents, I think maybe that the Rise and Run family can pull in some prizes.
- 12:33SPEAKER_09: I I already can imagine uh Brandy's team decking out a tent of rubber chickens, um, you know, similar to what she brought last year.
- 12:42SPEAKER_09: So uh I'll be anxious to see everyone's uh creativity.
- 12:46SPEAKER_09: But again, yeah, we're uh next weekend, can't get here fast enough.
- 12:49SPEAKER_09: Really looking forward to uh spending some time uh with you know just some lovely friends, and pretty soon I'm gonna be keeping an eye on that weather forecast and you know hoping that uh we get the same weather we did last year.
- 13:02SPEAKER_07: So oh yeah, I hope so too, Greg.
- 13:04SPEAKER_07: That could be pretty cool.
- 13:05SPEAKER_07: Unfortunately, that's kind of short notice for for decorations, but I know you're you are among some very creative rise and runners there, and they set their mind to it.
- 13:18SPEAKER_07: I'm sure they can come up with something.
- 13:19SPEAKER_07: You got that right.
- 13:20SPEAKER_07: Uh let's see, Burton Hand 50 days away.
- 13:25SPEAKER_07: We are uh we're still not settled on where we're going to have our dinner buffet, but we will have something by this time next week, Greg.
- 13:35SPEAKER_09: I'm hoping so, yes.
- 13:36SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I think so.
- 13:38SPEAKER_07: Uh let's see, Jack, you mentioned to me that Space Coast is now full, the half and the full.
- 13:43SPEAKER_07: So Space Coast is sold out.
- 13:45SPEAKER_07: That's 123 days away.
- 13:47SPEAKER_07: Lots of rise and runners there.
- 13:48SPEAKER_07: And I wanted to comment the Donald weekend is is still 200 days away, 197 to be exact.
- 13:56SPEAKER_07: We have a bunch of rise and run friends who are going to be there.
- 13:59SPEAKER_07: When I registered, I formed a rise and run team.
- 14:04SPEAKER_07: Actually, technically, I actually did it later in the day.
- 14:07SPEAKER_07: And several of our friends, I think we already had 10 members on the team.
- 14:11SPEAKER_07: Well, I found out this morning that a team has been formed called Moving for Jeff Galloway.
- 14:21SPEAKER_07: And I believe Barb is the team captain, Barbara Galloway, I think is the team captain on that team.
- 14:27SPEAKER_07: And when I heard about that, I thought, you know what?
- 14:32SPEAKER_07: I not only do I not want to compete with that, I would like as many of our rise and front run friends as possible to join that team moving for Jeff Galloway.
- 14:44SPEAKER_07: So I had made a group chat for the Donna Marathon for our rise and run members.
- 14:52SPEAKER_07: And I asked our friends if they would be okay if I contacted the race administrator and asked them to move us from the rise and run team to the moving for Jeff Galloway team.
- 15:04SPEAKER_07: And of course, everyone said yes.
- 15:06SPEAKER_07: The the idea of a team is to raise funds, although you are under no obligation to raise funds if you're on a team.
- 15:14SPEAKER_07: We would just like to see the members, the numbers for the moving for Jeff Galloway team to be large.
- 15:23SPEAKER_07: And I I'll add that Rise and Run will make a contribution uh to that weekend.
- 15:30SPEAKER_07: It's a great cause.
- 15:32SPEAKER_07: So we'll prime the pump.
- 15:36SPEAKER_07: So there you go.
- 15:37SPEAKER_07: I'm gonna Moving for Jeff Galloway is the team to look forward.
- 15:39SPEAKER_07: The Donna Marathon's coming up in early first weekend in February in Jacksonville.
- 15:45SPEAKER_07: I have not been, I understand it is a tremendous event.
- 15:49SPEAKER_07: I'm looking forward to being there and seeing a lot of our friends there.
- 15:54SPEAKER_07: Well, let's see, gang.
- 15:56SPEAKER_07: How about training updates?
- 15:58SPEAKER_07: What's going on with your training as we're getting back into the race season?
- 16:03SPEAKER_05: So on uh Sunday, you guys should be proud.
- 16:07SPEAKER_05: I got up early.
- 16:09SPEAKER_07: Of course we're proud, Jack.
- 16:12SPEAKER_05: I I don't think of myself as a morning, morning person.
- 16:15SPEAKER_05: Do I like getting like I like getting up at like eight?
- 16:20SPEAKER_05: That's when I like to get up and then I go for my run at nine, but it's just too hot to do it when you're trying to do like your first double digit run of the season.
- 16:29SPEAKER_05: So um I actually got up, I think, at like 550 in the morning and got out the door by like 620 or whatever.
- 16:37SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
- 16:38SPEAKER_05: Florida has some very beautiful sunrises.
- 16:41SPEAKER_05: I mean, any place you go to is gonna have a gorgeous sunrise.
- 16:45SPEAKER_05: And um, it was like one of those mornings where I was like, it's a good run.
- 16:49SPEAKER_05: And um it didn't feel taxing, it just felt like you know, I wasn't pushing myself until like the very end because I saw that like I could average at a certain number and I was like, I'll just push a little bit more.
- 17:02SPEAKER_05: Heart rate went a little bit further than I would like to at the end, but I was almost done anyways, so you know, whatever.
- 17:09SPEAKER_05: Um but it felt good, and I don't know why it's like you know how you just can't get motivated because your races seem so far out.
- 17:20SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think that's the trouble.
- 17:22SPEAKER_05: I've been going to the gym can almost consistently, is getting out there to do the long run so or the hard part, and it's like you kind of remember like it's the start of the season, start out as great as you can because the more consistent you are, the better it'll be in the end, and the happier you're gonna be at the end.
- 17:41SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
- 17:43SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I don't know, absolutely go this weekend.
- 17:48SPEAKER_09: I had uh speed work on the schedule, and I I don't need to go into like a full post-game analysis of it, but I just I talked that you know that Sunday just was not my day.
- 17:59SPEAKER_09: Uh-huh.
- 17:59SPEAKER_09: That happened.
- 18:00SPEAKER_09: You know, and I I'm not I you know, I didn't get in my head about it or anything like that.
- 18:04SPEAKER_09: You know, I was telling coach on the customized training call this week that you know I think some of the blessings of having the coach is that when you hear the same thing from so many different runners, um, you know, it gets ingrained in your head and you learn new strategies or how to adapt those strategies.
- 18:23SPEAKER_09: So, you know, because right now in theory, I'm training for bird in hand and New York City all at the same time, right?
- 18:32SPEAKER_09: You know, I'm putting a little bit more focus right now on bird in hand.
- 18:35SPEAKER_09: So the speed of work was 800s as opposed to like mile repeats and such.
- 18:40SPEAKER_09: And some 800s I was hitting, others, you know, I was still off.
- 18:45SPEAKER_09: Um, you know, I was glad to be able to do it outdoors, but we were still coming off the the tail end of the really poor air quality from creating wildfires.
- 18:56SPEAKER_09: So obviously it was down to a level that I felt safe enough to be outside, but I think that probably had a slight residual effect in terms of why I was having a little bit of trouble.
- 19:09SPEAKER_09: So then, like, you know, I bumped it down, you know, I stopped doing 800s.
- 19:13SPEAKER_09: I was like, okay, you know, instead of doing that, I'm gonna do 400s.
- 19:16SPEAKER_09: And I did two 400s, even that, like I just still wasn't mentally in the right place for it.
- 19:21SPEAKER_09: And I'm like, you know what?
- 19:22SPEAKER_09: This is okay.
- 19:24SPEAKER_09: I have several miles of speed work under my legs right now.
- 19:27SPEAKER_09: I'll just finish up doing you know, long run pace because you know, what do we talk about in this podcast all the time?
- 19:32SPEAKER_09: Is time on your feet is so important.
- 19:35SPEAKER_09: So again, just chalk it up as a bad one, but but probably the biggest message that I wanted to pass along to the listening audience this week, and this is I I did not come up with this.
- 19:45SPEAKER_09: I I just I saw this statement or quote or or motivational advice, and it resonated with me enough that I wanted to share.
- 19:54SPEAKER_09: And I think it's especially true in the summer because I think we truly do beat ourselves up a lot because of the heat and the elements and the humidity and the dew points.
- 20:06SPEAKER_09: You know, it really does take a toll on our paces, and we can, you know, get frustrated with ourselves that oh, I'm out of shape or I'm really slowing down, and and such like that.
- 20:16SPEAKER_09: And what this piece of advice was is always remember that your current pace is someone's goal, and that stuck with me so much in terms of how others can look at me or how I look at others, and and that you know, collectively it's not all about the pace, it's just all about us wanting to be able to cross that finish line, and that's the most important thing.
- 20:44SPEAKER_09: And like I said, I just found that to be really impactful, and I wanted to share that all uh with you.
- 20:49SPEAKER_05: So and almost to kind of like piggyback off of that, Greg.
- 20:54SPEAKER_05: It's almost like you know how when you go and see somebody else running and they're like, oh crap, they're faster than me.
- 20:59SPEAKER_05: You know what I mean?
- 21:00SPEAKER_05: You gotta also remember if you're training for a marathon, the only 1% of the world has actually ever ran a marathon.
- 21:06SPEAKER_05: I I believe half marathon is what?
- 21:09SPEAKER_07: Is it half as long as a marathon, Jay?
- 21:13SPEAKER_05: Well, you know what I mean.
- 21:14SPEAKER_05: Like, how many people have finished a half marathon?
- 21:16SPEAKER_07: I don't know.
- 21:17SPEAKER_07: I don't know.
- 21:18SPEAKER_05: But like, you know, there's not many people that can say that they ever done that.
- 21:21SPEAKER_05: So it's kind of like your speed when you're training is obviously gonna be different than someone that's simply just maybe going out for two miles or whatever.
- 21:29SPEAKER_05: And if you're going out and you're doing your long run, of course, you're gonna probably be a little bit slower than the person that's only gonna be out there for two miles.
- 21:36SPEAKER_05: You don't know what someone's training for, but always sticking to your plan is always the same.
- 21:40SPEAKER_05: Oh, that's fact, that's absolutely right.
- 21:42SPEAKER_05: I I had it in my head because I was I went running even today, and I was just kind of like, oh wow, that person, they're really fit.
- 21:50SPEAKER_05: Oh gosh, they're going faster than me.
- 21:53SPEAKER_05: Oh, wait, that's because I'm not I'm at my long run pace and I'm not training for whatever they're training for.
- 21:58SPEAKER_05: And I kind of had to remind myself, stop.
- 22:00SPEAKER_07: Absolutely, that's absolutely true.
- 22:02SPEAKER_07: And we say it over and over again.
- 22:04SPEAKER_07: There's some guy who keeps saying summer trend equals fall PRs.
- 22:08SPEAKER_07: Because it's true.
- 22:10SPEAKER_07: You will slow down in the summer.
- 22:13SPEAKER_07: A day will come, late summer or early fall, where a cold front comes through your area.
- 22:20SPEAKER_07: It may not drop the temperature out, but it'll dry up the air, drop the humidity, and all of a sudden you'll feel like you're running with an oxygen mask.
- 22:28SPEAKER_07: And it's great.
- 22:30SPEAKER_07: And it's it's gonna happen, gang.
- 22:32SPEAKER_07: Be consistent in your summer training.
- 22:35SPEAKER_07: That's really the key.
- 22:37SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like Greg, I had the wildfire smoke.
- 22:40SPEAKER_00: We had it from Canada, and then we also had fires in northern Minnesota.
- 22:44SPEAKER_00: So actually, last Wednesday they said was the worst ever air quality we've ever had, which is kind of crazy.
- 22:51SPEAKER_00: But I tried to go for my long run on Saturday this last weekend, thinking that it was better.
- 22:58SPEAKER_00: And my goal was eight miles.
- 23:01SPEAKER_00: Um, and I was like, well, if I at least can get five, but I was like a mile, almost a mile and a half out, and I got the worst nausea I've had before.
- 23:12SPEAKER_00: Um, and then it went from nausea to a headache to nausea, and I was like, I need to turn around and go home.
- 23:18SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm gonna try again tomorrow for my long run, which will actually be yesterday for those of you listening.
- 23:25SPEAKER_07: Umisha, good.
- 23:29SPEAKER_00: I'm hoping it will go better.
- 23:31SPEAKER_00: Um, we're having cooler weather and it's been um windier.
- 23:36SPEAKER_00: So um it's my hope because I had that dizzy spell and then the smoke.
- 23:41SPEAKER_00: So um, but throughout all that, I was frustrated, but I also tried to remind myself that there was still winds within that.
- 23:50SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's kind of been my motto lately.
- 23:52SPEAKER_00: Like finding those little winds, and those little ones will ultimately help me to the bigger goal.
- 23:58SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's what I keep trying to remind myself.
- 24:00SPEAKER_07: That's it.
- 24:01SPEAKER_07: You talked about wind, Alicia.
- 24:03SPEAKER_07: I had uh I had steady 20 miles an hour today.
- 24:07SPEAKER_07: I hate I hate running in the wind.
- 24:09SPEAKER_07: I hate it's Florida's equivalent of running uphill.
- 24:15SPEAKER_07: Uh but I and and uh candidly, I didn't feel all that great, but I know consistency is the key, and my motivation is you, and I'm talking to all of you.
- 24:28SPEAKER_07: I know that you're out there doing it, so by golly, if I'm gonna sit here and say, hey, you need to do it, then I've got to do it.
- 24:34SPEAKER_07: And that motivates me to get out there.
- 24:36SPEAKER_07: And it's okay.
- 24:38SPEAKER_07: I trick myself into just do a mile, Bob.
- 24:41SPEAKER_07: Just do a mile.
- 24:42SPEAKER_07: And by the time I get to a mile, I've forgotten that I'm tricking myself, and I end up doing my whole distance.
- 24:47SPEAKER_07: I did get uh, of course, it it's hot here, but we've had some rain.
- 24:53SPEAKER_07: We had the winds today, we had some rain.
- 24:54SPEAKER_07: Yeah, by the time this releases, there's a tropical storm that should be hitting the Gulf Coast.
- 25:02SPEAKER_07: Well, that formed, yeah, that formed just off the coast here.
- 25:04SPEAKER_07: Really didn't, it gave us some rain that we needed desperately.
- 25:08SPEAKER_07: But I was able to get out on Sunday and finally hit double digits and feel good about it.
- 25:15SPEAKER_07: So consistency works, summer training works, slow down.
- 25:20SPEAKER_07: And sometimes I think about we're always saying look, we're always saying slow down, slow down, slow down.
- 25:25SPEAKER_07: I know there are folks out there, friends listening to us, who can run six, seven minute miles consistently over long distance.
- 25:34SPEAKER_07: Good, good.
- 25:36SPEAKER_07: I'm proud of you.
- 25:36SPEAKER_07: I'm really proud of you.
- 25:38SPEAKER_07: I'm proud that you're listening here.
- 25:39SPEAKER_07: I can't help you.
- 25:42SPEAKER_07: Okay.
- 25:43SPEAKER_07: But those of us, those of us who were uh double-digit milers, 10 10 minutes a mile, 12 minutes a mile, 14 minutes a mile, it's okay to slow down.
- 25:55SPEAKER_07: It's okay.
- 25:55SPEAKER_07: The heat will get to you.
- 25:56SPEAKER_07: So there we go.
- 25:57SPEAKER_07: So there we go.
- 25:58SPEAKER_07: That's our training.
- 26:00SPEAKER_07: That's what we got going on.
- 26:02SPEAKER_05: So because before this recording, Bob and I both admitted that our favorite show that we'll be having is the fourth season coming up in the early August, Ted Lasso.
- 26:12SPEAKER_05: We're gonna end this with a beautiful quote that even if you have a rough day, just remember be a goldfish because goldfish have 10-second memories.
- 26:21SPEAKER_05: And your next run, it's gonna be fabulous.
- 26:25SPEAKER_05: Be the chef's kiss.
- 26:27SPEAKER_07: Leave it on the course.
- 26:28SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
- 26:30SPEAKER_05: Now, you guys, I know you guys loved the interview last week, and we're not done yet.
- 26:35SPEAKER_05: So here we go.
- 26:37SPEAKER_08: Caution runners, change of topic ahead.
- 26:42SPEAKER_09: John, hearing all this backstory about the origins of you know the marathon and then Run Disney, this has just been fascinating.
- 26:49SPEAKER_09: But you know I I want to talk a little bit now about the growth of Run Disney and obviously Track Shack's you know involvement in it.
- 26:57SPEAKER_09: At what point did you realize that these races at Disney were becoming something much bigger than originally expected?
- 27:06SPEAKER_11: To be honest, it wasn't till probably around year five.
- 27:10SPEAKER_11: Um, and I say that because something um uh really amazing was happening um in uh 96, and but it was amazing, but it also almost cost us uh well, potentially almost could have been uh the end of the marathon, and that is because you might have heard of this little race in Boston, he was turning a hundred years old.
- 27:40SPEAKER_11: Now, you that's phenomenal, right?
- 27:42SPEAKER_11: That's great, but remember there weren't a lot of marathoners at the time, so the marathons were sharing their runners, and Boston decided to go ahead and um they had a huge turnout, huge turnout, 48,000, I believe they ended up letting in, which was incredible, obviously, at the time.
- 28:05SPEAKER_11: And um, but it it and other races, Chicago was growing, New York was growing.
- 28:11SPEAKER_11: Um, but in a way we almost started to cannibalize each other, um, and particularly that year, and and what here's a strange phenomena that tied into it all.
- 28:23SPEAKER_11: Disney got known to, and remember back then everything was on paper, right?
- 28:30SPEAKER_11: We weren't signing up online, right?
- 28:33SPEAKER_07: So you weren't selling out in 40 minutes, no.
- 28:35SPEAKER_11: Yeah, right.
- 28:37SPEAKER_11: So we were now other people were starting to do it, but Disney just for a number of reasons.
- 28:42SPEAKER_11: We were honestly, we were the last large event that did not go online, you know, that state paper.
- 28:49SPEAKER_11: And so we we had this challenge of people thought we sold out immediately, um, particularly after the first two years.
- 28:59SPEAKER_11: So that added to Boston coming online with the big race and others.
- 29:05SPEAKER_11: People started not to sign up because they thought it was futile.
- 29:10SPEAKER_11: And we were almost like, oh my gosh.
- 29:12SPEAKER_11: I mean, it's like, no, we're still open, you know.
- 29:14SPEAKER_11: I mean, you actually had to get a message out that you can sign up.
- 29:18SPEAKER_11: Um, luckily, it it, you know, Boston had its thing, and then, you know, that fast forward in '98, we added the half marathon, and then after that, it just we didn't look back.
- 29:32SPEAKER_10: We added the marathon you said in '98.
- 29:34SPEAKER_10: Now we had a well half marathon in '98, sorry.
- 29:38SPEAKER_10: We had all these other races coming up.
- 29:40SPEAKER_10: The mini marathon, expedition errorist, tower of terror.
- 29:45SPEAKER_10: What what are the evolutions of these races?
- 29:47SPEAKER_10: Like, did you guys bring this up or did Disney bring this up to you guys?
- 29:50SPEAKER_10: Let's add some more race weekends.
- 29:52SPEAKER_11: So we had been doing some other ones um kind of in the background while while the marathon was uh, and actually um we had we had we trackjack had put on some events and on Disney property um before any Disney events.
- 30:10SPEAKER_11: Um we actually had a race back in '79 um out at what was called the Village, which people now know as Disney Springs.
- 30:18SPEAKER_11: It had that had four iterations before we came to Disney Springs, but it used to be called the Village.
- 30:23SPEAKER_11: And we actually put a we put a um 5k on, we put an 8K on out there, a five-mile.
- 30:30SPEAKER_11: We did a 10K with a local TV station out there.
- 30:34SPEAKER_11: So we had, and believe it or not, I actually put a 5k on at Epcot.
- 30:39SPEAKER_11: I mean, unheard of.
- 30:40SPEAKER_11: I mean, that could never ever happen, but we didn't.
- 30:43SPEAKER_11: It wasn't a Disney event, it was actually our event.
- 30:45SPEAKER_11: But that things are very, very different back then.
- 30:48SPEAKER_11: So we already were familiar with property and putting on races.
- 30:52SPEAKER_11: And then Disney, uh, once we had the marathon going, they were definitely wanting to add on to their portfolio.
- 31:01SPEAKER_11: And we started with things like the mini, you know, um, and then and then there was the um race for the taste.
- 31:09SPEAKER_11: There was it was the 10K challenge and then the race for the taste, which became whining on that morphed into wining on.
- 31:14SPEAKER_11: So one thing morphed into another.
- 31:15SPEAKER_11: There was Tower of Terror, which I know a lot of people are still very sad that that no longer exists.
- 31:20SPEAKER_11: It had its own following and it was really cool.
- 31:23SPEAKER_11: So all these events started coming online, and some morphed and some just went away.
- 31:28SPEAKER_11: And in a sense, you could almost say, in some ways, Mini morphed into Princess.
- 31:36SPEAKER_11: Even though at the time.
- 31:39SPEAKER_00: Is there any of those editions that surprised you the most?
- 31:43SPEAKER_11: Yeah, I I don't know.
- 31:44SPEAKER_11: Maybe surprise.
- 31:45SPEAKER_11: I I didn't I would I wasn't necessarily sold on the Everest challenge with the uh mainly with the scavenger hunt.
- 31:56SPEAKER_11: Um, I wasn't I look, it it's fine.
- 31:59SPEAKER_11: I I just personally wasn't a fan.
- 32:01SPEAKER_11: I thought I thought that was I I just thought it was an interesting element to add to it.
- 32:07SPEAKER_11: But again, we were trying to, you know, what Disney particularly wanted to do something different, and they they were tying into somebody else that had done some things like that, even um, oh, what are those things called, but like um obstacle course.
- 32:20SPEAKER_11: And they were wanted to be like, and I just I maybe I'm just too pure a runner, but it just wasn't something I felt.
- 32:27SPEAKER_11: And I and I thought we were doing great with all the other things.
- 32:29SPEAKER_11: So I thought those two elements, and even throwing in people were getting on, you know, Expedition Everest, the ride.
- 32:35SPEAKER_11: Of course, people do that all the time.
- 32:36SPEAKER_11: They do it every Disney race now.
- 32:38SPEAKER_11: I understand they have a ride, they'll they'll jump on it.
- 32:41SPEAKER_11: But the ride was almost becoming part of it, and it just it took away to me a lot of the run part uh of it.
- 32:48SPEAKER_11: So that kind of surprised me.
- 32:50SPEAKER_11: Um outside of that, no, everything else made sense and it was just an evolution.
- 32:55SPEAKER_09: You know, you talked about race, uh, race to the taste, and you know, and that kind of morphing into Weinenden, and obviously we don't have it anymore, but you know, early on in Wine and Dine's history, that was the night race.
- 33:09SPEAKER_09: From a logistics planning perspective, in terms of yourself and and Track Shack and your team, were there any adjustments that had to be made to accommodate for an evening race as opposed to a traditional, you know, let's all wake up at the butt crack of dawn early?
- 33:24SPEAKER_11: Yeah, absolutely.
- 33:25SPEAKER_11: And uh realized too, we had two night races because uh Tower Terra was a night race.
- 33:29SPEAKER_09: Oh, that's right, that's right, correct.
- 33:31SPEAKER_11: Yeah, yeah.
- 33:32SPEAKER_11: And um, oh, it was huge.
- 33:34SPEAKER_11: Um, it was huge.
- 33:36SPEAKER_11: Um I will tell you that in some ways the team was thrilled that we we had all day to set up.
- 33:42SPEAKER_11: It was fantastic.
- 33:44SPEAKER_11: Okay.
- 33:44SPEAKER_11: We didn't have to set up throughout the night.
- 33:46SPEAKER_11: Yeah.
- 33:46SPEAKER_11: Um, you know, because we get out there, you know.
- 33:49SPEAKER_11: Well, first of all, for the large events, we're a little out there all week, naturally setting up, setting up.
- 33:54SPEAKER_11: I mean, as you know, the parking lots turn into a city.
- 33:56SPEAKER_11: It's pretty amazing, big tent city and all.
- 33:58SPEAKER_11: Um, but then the the weekend of, I mean, you're out there at 11 p.m.
- 34:02SPEAKER_11: at night until until race start.
- 34:05SPEAKER_11: So um it was kind of nice in a way to be working during the day.
- 34:10SPEAKER_11: Um but yeah, there were definitely um safety, safety and security were huge concerns at night.
- 34:17SPEAKER_11: Um, particularly when we had our wheelchair athletes, um, you know, and some of the speeds they could go.
- 34:24SPEAKER_11: Um we really we were very concerned.
- 34:28SPEAKER_11: Now, obviously, we start in the dark because we did it so early in the morning, too, but this whole race was going to be in the dark.
- 34:35SPEAKER_11: So um there were concerns with that.
- 34:39SPEAKER_11: Um there were pluses and minuses.
- 34:42SPEAKER_11: Um, one of the pluses was we did not have to worry about day guests and as many cast members when we did the night events as well.
- 34:51SPEAKER_00: So one of the events that we've all done here and a lot of our listeners do is Dopey.
- 34:58SPEAKER_00: What made you start to get to that point of a challenge?
- 35:02SPEAKER_11: Obviously, in the first five years of the marathon, half marathon, was it five years or more than that?
- 35:09SPEAKER_11: 98 to 2005, yeah.
- 35:11SPEAKER_11: However many years.
- 35:12SPEAKER_11: Um, you know, we did the we did the half marathon and the marathon on the same day until 2006.
- 35:17SPEAKER_11: Yeah, I think it was 2006.
- 35:20SPEAKER_11: Um Marathon and half marathon were done on the same day, so you couldn't do a challenge, obviously, unless you could clone yourself.
- 35:27SPEAKER_11: So um that uh you want to talk about logistical challenges.
- 35:32SPEAKER_11: Um I'd love to show people sometimes how we did it.
- 35:36SPEAKER_11: It was pretty darn cool.
- 35:37SPEAKER_11: Um, but we started the half and the marathon on separate sides of um Epcot Central Boulevard, um and um or ECD actually, Epcot Center Drive.
- 35:49SPEAKER_11: But um, and we would take them each in a different route into Epcot, and then they would come out and then they would merge, but then they would separate later.
- 36:01SPEAKER_11: Anyways, it was it was it was pretty darn cool actually, uh, how it all worked.
- 36:05SPEAKER_11: Um, I could also tell you about some couple mistakes that happened once.
- 36:10SPEAKER_11: Um let's just say that you know a couple wheelchairs did a second tour of Epcot one time, but you know um they were very they were very good about it though.
- 36:20SPEAKER_11: Nice.
- 36:21SPEAKER_11: You couldn't do the challenge, you couldn't do the half marathon marathon challenge because it was on the same day.
- 36:25SPEAKER_11: In 2008, now you could.
- 36:26SPEAKER_11: Now you had a half marathon and a marathon, and you had a challenge, right?
- 36:30SPEAKER_11: You could you could do that, um, uh, whether it was just for your own personal challenge.
- 36:36SPEAKER_11: And so we um decided, you know, it was time to we would add a 10K to the weekend.
- 36:45SPEAKER_11: And we always had the 5k, but the 5k was just that was kind of the you know, come run, walk, fun, run things.
- 36:53SPEAKER_11: And um, so but we had the 10k, we created the challenge, right?
- 36:57SPEAKER_11: And first we had the um goofy challenge, which was the half and the full that we just mentioned, and then we decided to we would could add a 10k.
- 37:07SPEAKER_11: And uh then then somebody said, Um, no, actually, we were all talking one time, and someone asked me, they said, Well, uh, and it and people, by the way, were already starting to do this 5k, 10k, half and full on their own.
- 37:21SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
- 37:21SPEAKER_11: And so I remember we because we used to do these these talks, Tom and I, particularly ahead of time, uh, course talks and you know, what to expect and all that.
- 37:29SPEAKER_11: And somebody said, Well, what if you do the 5k?
- 37:32SPEAKER_11: Because we already had the the goofy.
- 37:34SPEAKER_11: I and I said, Well, that would just be dopey.
- 37:38SPEAKER_07: Perfect.
- 37:39SPEAKER_11: And so it just, you know, that 5k, 10k, half in full became a dopey, and it became official.
- 37:46SPEAKER_11: Which by the way, our medical director was not thrilled about.
- 37:51SPEAKER_11: Um, but what was interesting and really great is you know, he really he found out, did the research.
- 37:58SPEAKER_11: Those people actually do much better throughout the course of the week than some people that just run one or two of the events that have not trained at all because they're training.
- 38:05SPEAKER_11: People realize they've got to train if they're gonna do you know all four events.
- 38:10SPEAKER_09: Wait, I I gotta back up here for a second.
- 38:13SPEAKER_09: Are you John Hughes the one that like essentially is the godfather of the dopey challenge in terms of the name?
- 38:21SPEAKER_09: Or I mean, or is Disney taking all the credit on this one?
- 38:25SPEAKER_11: Well, no, I mean, look, I no, I think we we'd all talked about it, but somebody asked that question that that time, and it was, you know, it was just fun.
- 38:34SPEAKER_11: We were like, Well, we have goofy, well, then you it'll be you'll be dopey.
- 38:38SPEAKER_11: That's it.
- 38:38SPEAKER_11: And it'd be dopey to do that.
- 38:40SPEAKER_11: So, but I don't want to say that I necessarily was the first one to ever say it.
- 38:44SPEAKER_11: I said it at the time.
- 38:45SPEAKER_11: Um, but we had all we had all talked about it, and we already knew people were doing it.
- 38:50SPEAKER_11: You're it, no, not you're it's yeah, but uh but yeah, I'll take it.
- 38:52SPEAKER_07: As far as we're concerned, you're it.
- 38:54SPEAKER_07: Take a bow.
- 38:56SPEAKER_07: We love it.
- 38:57SPEAKER_07: Great, that's fantastic.
- 38:59SPEAKER_07: You know, our our friends listening today, I know they're enjoying this.
- 39:03SPEAKER_07: They they love the races, of course, but we really love what I would call the culture of Run Disney and and what's grown up around these races.
- 39:14SPEAKER_07: And for example, the costume things that when did that start and how did that start?
- 39:21SPEAKER_07: What's up with that?
- 39:22SPEAKER_11: Day one.
- 39:23SPEAKER_11: Really?
- 39:24SPEAKER_11: Yeah, not as many, not as many, without a doubt, just like you know, without a doubt, it has, you know, um what do I like to say?
- 39:35SPEAKER_11: The character of the of the entire race has you know continued to change.
- 39:39SPEAKER_11: Uh as I said, it actually was competitive, uh but we had both, but but a very big competitive element in the beginning, and that has transitioned much more into this culture, as you say, which is it's fun, you know, no pressure, come enjoy, dress up, which Disney is about.
- 39:58SPEAKER_11: Um, and we love that culture.
- 40:00SPEAKER_11: And I think what's really great about it, and has been so great for the sport of running, is I've heard so many people, and I can't tell you how how happy this makes me, that people have said, you know, I never thought I would do a race, but I realized I I was safe at Disney.
- 40:16SPEAKER_11: I could do this at Disney, I could do a 5K, and maybe I'll go further.
- 40:21SPEAKER_11: And and I will tell you that when we see, and and I, you know, I get I truly actually get emotional a lot of times when I say this, and but this never gets old, and I mean it sincerely.
- 40:31SPEAKER_11: I've I don't care if it's a 5K or if it's a marathon that somebody's running, but particularly even the person that's never done a 5K, and they've come across that line the first time, and you know it's a life-changing experience.
- 40:47SPEAKER_11: Yeah.
- 40:48SPEAKER_11: And I mean, I've been doing this for going on 50 years, and yeah, it doesn't get old.
- 40:55SPEAKER_11: Um, that's the beauty of the sport, and that's that's the beauty of Disney, um, in that sense, that how they're able to do that.
- 41:01SPEAKER_11: And it happens, it's happened at our local events too.
- 41:03SPEAKER_11: It happens at at many races, right?
- 41:06SPEAKER_11: But I know Disney people that have run Disney feel that they are safe there and it's a it's a place that they can come and enjoy.
- 41:13SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's that's wonderful.
- 41:16SPEAKER_07: I've had many opportunities to talk with Jeff about this.
- 41:19SPEAKER_07: The thing about Disney races that I think sets them apart is that it's very clear that everyone is welcome there.
- 41:29SPEAKER_07: Just just look at the people running the races, the costumes notwithstanding.
- 41:33SPEAKER_07: Just look at the individuals.
- 41:35SPEAKER_07: People who wouldn't do it anywhere else.
- 41:38SPEAKER_11: Exactly.
- 41:39SPEAKER_07: Come and do it at Disney.
- 41:40SPEAKER_07: Was that always part of the plan, or did that just kind of happen?
- 41:46SPEAKER_11: It wasn't part of the initial plan because remember, uh, we had a small pool of runners we were pulling from initially.
- 41:53SPEAKER_11: Um, but it definitely became part of the plan as it grew.
- 41:56SPEAKER_11: And and Disney itself as a company, of course, is is always been that way.
- 42:01SPEAKER_11: Um, you know, welcoming and you know, and accepting.
- 42:04SPEAKER_11: So um, no, I think um, you know, it's it's really true.
- 42:10SPEAKER_11: And you know, I think about it, I I we ran the numbers at one time, and I don't know uh where it is now.
- 42:18SPEAKER_11: But I mean, we're I don't know how many well over million, you know, people runners in Disney.
- 42:24SPEAKER_11: Um, and that's just that's just great for Betsy and myself and our team that that we've been able to, you know, and then many and and run Disney and the Disney team.
- 42:34SPEAKER_11: Our teams work very well together, by the way.
- 42:35SPEAKER_11: It's been a great partnership over all these years.
- 42:38SPEAKER_11: And we're both just, you know, we love the fact that so many people have have found the support running through Disney.
- 42:45SPEAKER_07: I'm a little I'm sitting here and really enjoying the conversation, and you say there's been a million people come through, and I just go, Oh, yeah, well, of course it's been.
- 42:53SPEAKER_07: Wait a minute, that's a lot of people.
- 42:57SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's phenomenal.
- 42:58SPEAKER_09: Another aspect of the Run Disney experience, you know, that you know we all enjoy, um, you know, as long as we're not getting chased by your awesome team that um you know are on the bicycles and you know helping keep the balloon ladies on is you know, is the character stops.
- 43:17SPEAKER_09: You know, we we all love that entertainment that's on course.
- 43:20SPEAKER_09: Was that always an early part of the vision as well, too, or did that evolve down the line?
- 43:24SPEAKER_11: Yeah, again, it was much smaller initially.
- 43:27SPEAKER_11: I mean, it was always part of the plan.
- 43:28SPEAKER_11: I mean, again, number one entertainment company in the world, you're gonna you're gonna showcase, right?
- 43:33SPEAKER_11: I mean, that's a big part of the reason that you're there.
- 43:36SPEAKER_11: Um, but that along with the costumes and everything else, that has continued to grow throughout the years, and you wouldn't believe maybe you would, but the amount of time and effort, first of all, that goes into the entertainment itself, how that's grown, just amazing.
- 43:50SPEAKER_11: But the time and effort that goes into where we're gonna place them, how you know what they're gonna be, and you know, because logistically, you know, they we can only have it going.
- 44:00SPEAKER_11: for so long and you know um you have to have you know different characters and they're they can be there so long and so forth but um it's it's it's quite a bit uh but yes it's it's so much the plan and has been for many many years now John I'm really enjoying the conversation I'm loved I'd love to hear the stories I'm gonna ask an open-ended question what are some of your favorite race memories huh wow so I think um favorite memories well there's one that stands out well I already told you the one about almost having a head on collision with entertainment at the first race that was one that's a that's a good one that that was one um at the very start of the race the first year we were starting inside the Epcot parking lot and um so you know big fanfare and you know band and everything and and uh we had a uh dove release right okay the doves took okay okay and um it was cold it was cold that morning and I had my gloves on well one of the top wheelchair athletes just before the start is frantically signaling me over and I'm like oh my gosh so like I get over there so what's up he points to his shoulder guess what one of the doves did uh yeah it created blessing you want to touch it and I'm like I took off one of my gloves I wiped it off and I went with one glove the rest of the morning oh golly I still remember that so obviously that maybe um that was memorable um gosh oh it's been so many things over the years but um fortunately most of them are are good memories well I got to see um one of the a world record holder um Liz McCulgan she actually set three world records uh at one of our what 10k that we produced uh for years in downtown Orlando um and um what was really cool was fast forward this is a few years ago her daughter um has become an Olympian um for Scotland she's from Scotland and uh she came and uh ran and won the 10K um and that was just really cool to see you know world champion mom and then daughter come and follow in her footsteps and and uh and win the 10k but you know as many neat things like that and again I I know it sounds hokey what still gets me the most is just watching the person that's that's finished for the first time oh it doesn't sound hokey memorable thing every single time doesn't sound hokey at all it's it's I mean it gets to me and it is kind of what Run Disney's about.
- 47:03SPEAKER_09: So John is there a story that you'd like to share with us that was the most emotional moment from um race memories well one good one was um my wife's mother um her name is Alice and uh she ran the very first Disney marathon yeah and Alice didn't start running until her 50s and she found she had a little talent for it but um and she was able to our our time limit was much more stringent back then by the way and I was a little concerned um and uh um I would was helping her with her running and all and there's a uh picture of her uh coming in and I I you only see the back of my head but she was beaming and I assure you I was too and I was so thrilled as I gave her a high five and my mother-in-law um who just passed away a couple years ago is just one of the nicest ladies but to see her finish it was just incredible that's awesome yeah in terms of the the runner that you see at a Run Disney event obviously you know people from all across the country and cast members and and you know just all walks of life but there have been some celebrities that have you know participated in in these events have you had a favorite celebrity interaction with you know some of the big names who have come through Run Disney I have with the course with the celebrity runners the celebrities themselves um I've not been in as much contact with and that's just the nature of the beast that's it's the way it's designed um they've got their own team and the Disney team and so um the some somewhat insulated um so I couldn't tell you that really I I've I've had that as much of that opportunity.
- 49:15SPEAKER_11: Celebrity runners absolutely um but you're right I mean we've had you know senators and we've had um some celebs come through um and um but yeah but I've not had as much personal interaction on that end all right so so what you're saying is you don't have Joey Fatone's email address so we could conduct well I didn't want to see him oh I'll tell you a cool one I'll tell you yes there is one in particular and he is my favorite I I because I have had some interaction but um was um oh gosh and just said it and I said in my head now I've I've lost it um Frodo uh Sean Aston thank you thank you Sean great guy and got to be with him both here in Orlando and in California and just the neatest guy and we did get to hang out and yes we we text I still have his text nice oh yeah oh yeah nice and he and Betsy did yeah and he's just a super guy and we had a lot of fun with him so yeah and it because it does depend on the celebrity too some of them you know they don't want to interact as much and I get it I understand that of course yeah but but Sean no way man he's like hey let's let's let's have some fun good stuff John we're gonna have to continue this conversation once we hit the stop recording button for uh for future guests here so all right John so looking over the almost now 50 years what is your most proud accomplishment either run Disney or general or both if you'd like to share the most proud is actually that we've been able to you know help create um running in central Florida quite honestly and and and promote it and and and I think I feel like we're kind of again sometimes it sounds hokey but I feel like we're kind of the guardians of that and I mean it took a long time but we we take it serious and we you know um that what we've done in central florida which expanded into Disney and um so yeah I'm just really proud of the fact that we were able to share our love of running once again um with this community with the with the central florida community and uh to this day we want it to continue to grow and and uh to keep to bring people in.
- 51:38SPEAKER_07: Yeah and I mean not only the Central Florida community and it's worldwide.
- 51:44SPEAKER_11: What really Disney put it on a stage I mean Disney is a stage right the big one of the biggest stages in the world and and Disney helped again put running on the stage and I tell people because rock and roll and I will never let them I I say it I'm even preempting but they they were trying to say that they were the first entertainment marathon no Disney was the first entertainment marathon um and um you know rock and roll certainly had its you know time and has and helped promote it without a doubt but Disney was the first one I believe in my opinion you had your great events New York Boston Chicago they were fantastic still are and they're huge and they're growing but you know I think what we were kind of saying too Disney's the first one that people said aha I can do this.
- 52:34SPEAKER_11: Yeah you know I can I can be part of this.
- 52:37SPEAKER_07: Yep.
- 52:38SPEAKER_07: You know what our mutual friend Jeff used to call it he used to call it the single most important event or activity in promoting the health of the average person in America.
- 52:49SPEAKER_07: And he believed that and I do too it's had that big of an impact.
- 52:53SPEAKER_11: Absolutely you told us uh you know before we started recording you know that you're like director emeritus you know for uh track shack in in relation to to run Disney uh but you when you are walking through a Run Disney race weekend now what goes through your head so many memories so many memories and you know you guys have um I think we alluded to a little bit but um I never thought it would be what it is now I never thought it would be this big I never you know I know Betsy myself our team we never thought it would have the impact and because it really is you know we said millions it's really millions um if you run the numbers but to think that there's been that kind of impact over 30 plus years you know coming on to 35 I I never dreamed it would be that big or that it would have that and and that just honestly it it it it makes you proud it makes you smile and it's got a feeling I just knowing that because it's kind of this perpetual thing right because now you know it's like the flywheel these people are going to tell these people and if and so running continues.
- 54:05SPEAKER_11: Where do you think it's headed John well you know I don't have to tell you we're in an upswing right now um but I've been through a bunch.
- 54:12SPEAKER_11: I I I'm a big believer in the pendulum it it always swings.
- 54:16SPEAKER_11: Yeah I could be uh I I I'm thrilled right now and I'll tell you mainly because every generation that comes along I truly worry will this be the last generation that wants to to run in a sense of put in the time and effort to do endurance running not just run but and um and when the millennials came online I thought we were done I did I thought it was over um and Alicia if if you if you are I apologize but uh it's okay I was gonna say well what what did Alicia and I do yeah right so because you know suddenly there was this much more instant gratification thing right you don't get that with endurance running it doesn't happen and but they've come along and and again all these whatever they are ZX uh you know um I think it's Z right now maybe that's um uh but they the they've started this whole run club thing which is so interesting because we had run clubs they've always had running clubs but now the run club these these young generation are putting marathons on their bucket list this run clubs this is the new dating scene this is where they go to socialize and have fun and oh by the way there's a run this is fantastic and so we're seeing this huge upswing regional marathons I could name them to you that I know friends of mine I know of course a lot of directors felt the US that they were ready to pull the plug some did some regional marathons went away now they're back huge they're getting record numbers so I'm very enthusiastic and hoping we can figure out how to keep this upswing going it will come down but if but if it just you know it's okay as long as we keep that keep a solid base.
- 55:54SPEAKER_11: As long as it doesn't stop.
- 55:56SPEAKER_11: And I don't see that happening.
- 55:58SPEAKER_11: I don't think so it's still the most economic form of exercise it's you know I've seen it I've been through several recessions obviously and I will tell you that this is the one sport that that does not fade away in fact usually grows during a recession.
- 56:13SPEAKER_11: Yeah look what happened during COVID I mean during COVID especially yes I mean the race is lost but our numbers are people running went up you know running and walking went up surely did what advice would you give someone running their first run Disney event uh run within yourself you know run walk definitely go back to Jeff run walk within yourself um no pressure I think too many times um just in general when people try to to go off to start running they they they try too hard and they try to do too much too soon but with Disney again you you've got all these people around you definitely train doesn't mean don't train please train but but um as long as you realize you can handle the pace just go out there and enjoy it and um do it you know stay within yourself don't let anybody pressure you and don't you pressure yourself to try to do something if you're talking like you say the first time just enjoy it go with the flow and and then you can always pick up and set more goals.
- 57:18SPEAKER_07: Great advice John wonderful gosh I knew I'd enjoy talking with you and we all have we all have very much and I know our friends have enjoyed listening to this now we're gonna wrap it up and if you're game we've got a couple of rise and run lightning round questions for you we just need one or two word answers okay and keep it brief.
- 57:41SPEAKER_09: All right John to start off you know you mentioned you've done the races at Walt Disney World and helped out at Disneyland as well so what is your favorite Disney park oh I get to I get to add West Coast.
- 57:53SPEAKER_11: Sure yes absolutely or international well okay shoot because you know we helped start Paris too we were working on Paris you know we went over the West Coast and then then we went to Paris wow you know I didn't know that a K is one of my favorite let me say Animal Kingdom animal kingdom is one of my favorite um Disney World um I wouldn't can I make it a multi-answer absolutely I love a this is your rapid fire I love Animal Kingdom at Disney World um I love um Disneyland and and you know and then you have you know you'd but I I love Disneyland um itself the whole because both parks are right next to each other you can just boom walk from one to the other you can walk to downtown Disney you can walk to many of the hotels I love how everything is so close it's so easy to get to at Disneyland.
- 58:51SPEAKER_11: So I love that and and then but if you've not been Disneyland Paris is really cool um it's just really neat it's a smaller park um that's where I first did found about a ratatouille they had the little ratatouille theme going on there and and all and that was just a a blast the Ratatouille restaurant um and it's just you know it was just a lot of fun so um yeah those those are my faves all right next one is favorite attraction soaring have you have you done the new soaring across America yes favorite Disney snack you know I'm just a popcorn freak so I get the popcorn that's just that's I'm kind of maybe boring but that's that's good favorite race distance these days half marathon and and pretty much I um I've always liked half um I mean I I've done a lot of marathons they're just so just so they're hard it's the train it's the training it's the training no I that's exactly right Bob I tell people it's the training not the race itself but the training is it's a lot but so half you know you know we say about the half right half to run half to run twice the fun that's what happened I don't know if Dag Nabin I'm not sure I've heard that that's good I like it I like it John what's one race it doesn't have to be Disney what's one race everyone should have on their bucket list if you're a marathoner you should do the Jack and Jill run in Seattle um it's very slight downhill flat or downhill beautiful scenery um it was one of the most effortless effortless effortless marathons I've ever run um and beautiful um and you gotta if you love nature because it's it's all nature and you run through about a half mile long old train tunnel as well um but it's it's really cool.
- 1:00:53SPEAKER_11: I think um I love I love history and I love the DC area when it can I I think Marine Corps is another great marathon to run.
- 1:01:05SPEAKER_11: My gosh just like I said all the Disney races have their own energy so does you know Chicago is phenomenal Boston has such an amazing energy and it's a tough one obviously with all but yeah I mean I think um I would I would definitely say Jack and Joe.
- 1:01:20SPEAKER_11: As far as a shorter race um hmm uh Berlin by the way is a great marathon if you're ever going overseas I like some of our races Winter Park Red race right here in Orlando Park has just been named one of the most beautiful uh 10Ks in the country so yeah yeah I have one reason that I don't get out to Orlando for most of those races Interstate four.
- 1:01:47SPEAKER_07: Oh tell me about it I know I know it's awful John I got one last question for you one one thought provoking question we've talked about the fact millions of runners have crossed the finish lines at Walt Disney World and most of them candidly have no idea that they're participating in something that you John Hughes helped create and were absolutely instrumental in the creation of if you could stand at the finish line and say one thing to the first time run Disney runner what would that be I would say congrats you did it and then you know what I'd say see you real soon.
- 1:02:31SPEAKER_07: Ah wonderful wonderful let's drop the mic right there John that's fantastic thank you for giving us so much of your time it's been delightful I know our friends are enjoying listening to all this history a lot of them they've been out to 50 70 100 Disney runs and I bet I mean I'll speak for myself a lot of this I did not know so it's been a pleasure having you with us and we look forward to seeing you again absolutely no I've enjoyed it guys appreciate it.
- 1:03:02SPEAKER_07: Caution runners the topic is about to change right now said it last week I'll say it again it enjoyed talking with John very very much thank you John for spending the time with us and coming around and telling us those really really fun and interesting lessons about the history of Run Disney.
- 1:03:25SPEAKER_07: I look forward to seeing I hope to see John somewhere down the line either at a run in an Orlando or uh potentially he kind of talked me into going out and doing OUC this year so we'll see how that works.
- 1:03:38SPEAKER_07: No commitments no commitments Orlando friends I'm just thinking out loud.
- 1:03:42SPEAKER_09: Well I will say you know after you know experiencing that interview with John if there's one thing I've learned is that you know if Run Disney you know does heed some of the pleas that we have made over the years in terms of you know changing up the courses here or there you know maybe to honor John we could figure out a way to do an out and back at the sewage treatment plant in his honor because I mean what's more fun than uh getting to hit the uh smell a lizer twice as opposed to uh you know just once candid observation that place doesn't bother me that much it really doesn't you know what does sometimes is coming into EBCOT around the back new Mexico Mexico that's way worse oh that can be that can be awful it's short but that can be awful but actually going by the sewage treatment facility on the marathon it really doesn't bother me.
- 1:04:44SPEAKER_09: I mean I I will say this it's not the whole time so I'm right there with you Bob it's not nearly as bad as we all make it out to be it's probably just a very short stint that you get it the part that I don't understand is where they put in those scent machines I always feel like it's too late in the game like I feel like you smell the sewage first then you get like the orange scent or whatever they're trying to you know pump through there.
- 1:05:13SPEAKER_09: I think they they they need to move that up to help you know counterbalance it but you know I guess it in Run Disney we trust I thought you were gonna say first you spell the sewer plant then you spell yourself and I was like well oh my goodness oh god I didn't know they did orange scent I don't think I've ever noticed I don't know if it's an orange I I just know that they're they try to pump out some type of scent but you know I'm just thinking of the you know the typical like scents that you get to experience like during soaring or something.
- 1:05:43SPEAKER_07: Well it is Florida.
- 1:05:44SPEAKER_07: Yeah yeah but uh I haven't I know I haven't noticed them either Jack and I really think a lot of that sewage treatment plant is people get it in their heads.
- 1:05:52SPEAKER_07: Yeah I don't think it's that bad is going to be awful I don't think it's that bad.
- 1:05:56SPEAKER_07: All right my friends uh well of Sewage treatment that reminds me of uh uh fantasy football.
- 1:06:07SPEAKER_09: Bob, don't talk about the Jets like that.
- 1:06:09SPEAKER_07: Oh, you have you seen the memes about uh who's won championships in that particular stadium that since John.
- 1:06:16SPEAKER_09: Or that France won more games at MetLife Stadium than uh than the Jets have, yeah.
- 1:06:21SPEAKER_07: Yeah, yeah.
- 1:06:23SPEAKER_07: Uh let's see.
- 1:06:24SPEAKER_07: We hey look though, fantasy football.
- 1:06:26SPEAKER_07: Last year we had a lot of fun.
- 1:06:28SPEAKER_07: We had four different 10 or 12 team leagues.
- 1:06:34SPEAKER_07: I think we had 12 team leagues.
- 1:06:36SPEAKER_07: I think we had 48 people all together.
- 1:06:38SPEAKER_07: We had one league that was just for fun, no fees involved.
- 1:06:45SPEAKER_07: We had two leagues where we asked each participant to pony up$20 at the beginning of the season, and then those monies were divided amongst the winners at the end.
- 1:06:56SPEAKER_07: And we had one league that the participants paid$40 to join.
- 1:07:02SPEAKER_07: So there's a format right now, it's on our Facebook page, it's pinned to the featured section, and we've increased things just a little bit because I did get some feedback, people saying, hey, I'd like to play it a little higher.
- 1:07:17SPEAKER_07: So we're still at free.
- 1:07:19SPEAKER_07: We've got a free, we've got a$25 season and a$50 season, and that's the total obligation for the year.
- 1:07:30SPEAKER_07: It's not$50 a week or anything like that.
- 1:07:32SPEAKER_07: It's$25 or$50 for the season.
- 1:07:35SPEAKER_07: So if you are interested in doing this, the fantasy football sign-up form is on our Facebook page.
- 1:07:42SPEAKER_07: I looked before tonight's episode, we had 12 people signed up, but I know that number will go up now that we're talking about it.
- 1:07:50SPEAKER_07: And we'll run, we'll leave it open for about a month.
- 1:07:54SPEAKER_07: I say we'll leave it open until about the third week in August.
- 1:07:58SPEAKER_07: Then we need to shut it down so we can get the leagues organized and let the commissioners schedule their drafts.
- 1:08:04SPEAKER_07: Get ready for the season that kicks off on September 9th this year.
- 1:08:10SPEAKER_09: Well, obviously, you know, fantasy football is a type of competition, and here at Rise and Run, we're going to be doing another competition, and that is a trivia competition or contest.
- 1:08:21SPEAKER_09: We announced it last week on August 23rd, 8 p.m.
- 1:08:26SPEAKER_09: Eastern.
- 1:08:27SPEAKER_09: We're going to be hosting a virtual Rise and Run trivia to support the charity bibs for uh myself, Bob, and John.
- 1:08:38SPEAKER_09: Uh, we got a handful of people who are registered already.
- 1:08:41SPEAKER_09: Um, Bob, I saw that you did pin um the Google form on in the featured section of uh our Facebook page.
- 1:08:50SPEAKER_09: So uh just as a note to everyone, what we need you to do is we need you to fill out the Google form uh to register so we have your contact information in the event that you win some of our fabulous prizes that are gonna be off fabulous prizes uh during the contest.
- 1:09:09SPEAKER_09: But then you also, and there is a link to it on the Google form, there's a PayPal link, uh, ten dollars per player.
- 1:09:15SPEAKER_09: And again, that is the money that we are going to be equally dividing between uh the three of us for our respective charities and um you know the the races that we're running on behalf of those charities.
- 1:09:27SPEAKER_09: So we're really excited for a fun night of trivia.
- 1:09:29SPEAKER_09: Like I said, this was a smashing success on the Rise and Run cruise.
- 1:09:34SPEAKER_09: So let's open it up to the entire podcast community and get everyone involved.
- 1:09:38SPEAKER_09: I'll make sure that there's more questions uh so that way, you know, this isn't just a you know quick like 45-minute thing that gives us a time to all be together and such.
- 1:09:47SPEAKER_09: You know, maybe we can come up with enough enough questions that we do multiple rounds or something like that.
- 1:09:51SPEAKER_09: We'll we'll make it fun and exciting, but we're really looking forward to that.
- 1:09:54SPEAKER_09: So again, that is going to be occurring on Sunday, August 23rd at 8 p.m.
- 1:10:00SPEAKER_09: Eastern.
- 1:10:01SPEAKER_09: And be sure to uh find that Google form to sign up, and we look forward to seeing everybody.
- 1:10:06SPEAKER_07: Hey, I have looked into our 5K penguins shirts in in further news, but I haven't heard back yet.
- 1:10:14SPEAKER_07: So I hope to hear something by this time next week.
- 1:10:17SPEAKER_07: So, other announcements, my friend.
- 1:10:19SPEAKER_07: This is a Zoom Thursday, uh July 23rd, 8 p.m.
- 1:10:27SPEAKER_07: Instructions are on the Facebook group page.
- 1:10:30SPEAKER_07: Upcoming episodes next week, we have a guest returning, hasn't been with us for a little while.
- 1:10:36SPEAKER_07: Lisa Donoto Glasner is back.
- 1:10:40SPEAKER_07: She has written a book called The Run Disney Companion, Your Race Day Guide from Fantasy to Finish Line and Beyond.
- 1:10:48SPEAKER_07: I have not read it, but I have had a chance to look through it.
- 1:10:52SPEAKER_07: It looks to be very thorough, very worthwhile, and I'm sure an interesting interview.
- 1:10:59SPEAKER_07: And now please stand clear of the door.
- 1:11:05SPEAKER_07: It's time for a race report.
- 1:11:20SPEAKER_07: Stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching is the website for more information.
- 1:11:26SPEAKER_07: Tom was with us last week, talked about wrapping up one challenge, and if I'm not mistaken, said there'll be another one around the corner in the not too distant future.
- 1:11:38SPEAKER_07: Meanwhile, he's got that accelerate program, which is excellent.
- 1:11:42SPEAKER_07: He also has one-on-one coaching, which with Tom, I'm sure is terrific.
- 1:11:48SPEAKER_07: So check it out, stokes.fit slash rise and run coaching.
- 1:11:53SPEAKER_07: Friends, I'm going to do something a little bit different with the race report tonight.
- 1:11:58SPEAKER_07: Usually we go in chronological order, but we've got a friend who has agreed to join us for the spotlight.
- 1:12:05SPEAKER_07: And it so happens that her race chronologically came out last.
- 1:12:10SPEAKER_07: So rather than making everybody sit down to hear Julia tell us about the Prescott Half Marathon, I've invited her to join us right now.
- 1:12:20SPEAKER_07: And here she is on the race report spotlight.
- 1:12:22SPEAKER_07: Welcome, Julia.
- 1:12:23SPEAKER_07: It's good to see you again.
- 1:12:25SPEAKER_06: Hello, thank you for having me.
- 1:12:27SPEAKER_07: We're glad you're here.
- 1:12:29SPEAKER_07: We last heard from you following the Boston Marathon.
- 1:12:32SPEAKER_07: Normally in the world majors, when we talk to our friends, we don't get to ask that biting question that we ask of everyone on the race report spotlight, to include some Olympic champions.
- 1:12:44SPEAKER_07: How did you get started running?
- 1:12:46SPEAKER_06: So in 2016, I had a friend that had signed up for the Pittsburgh Marathon, and I was kind of bored, and I said, Well, that sounds like fun.
- 1:12:59SPEAKER_06: Maybe I'll sign up for the half.
- 1:13:01SPEAKER_06: So I signed up for the Pittsburgh half.
- 1:13:04SPEAKER_06: I had never run a mile in my life.
- 1:13:07SPEAKER_06: Um I couldn't even run a block at that point in time.
- 1:13:10SPEAKER_06: So I actually started slowly.
- 1:13:14SPEAKER_06: I took eight months to train up to that first race, and my first race was uh the Pittsburgh half in 2017, and then it sort of spiraled from there.
- 1:13:26SPEAKER_06: Um, I've done the original six majors.
- 1:13:31SPEAKER_06: I've done five school marathons.
- 1:13:35SPEAKER_06: This was my 50th half marathon.
- 1:13:37SPEAKER_06: I've done Adope six times.
- 1:13:39SPEAKER_06: Um, so it really, you know, caught the running bug after that first race, and here we are.
- 1:13:45SPEAKER_07: And you said it and I heard it, but you say 2016.
- 1:13:49SPEAKER_07: Is that when you said you started?
- 1:13:51SPEAKER_06: I started running 2016, and my first race was in May of 2017.
- 1:13:55SPEAKER_07: So the last 10 years you've knocked all of those out.
- 1:13:58SPEAKER_07: Julia, that's pretty impressive.
- 1:14:00SPEAKER_07: I imagine that Pittsburgh Yeah, uh yeah.
- 1:14:03SPEAKER_07: I imagine that Pittsburgh half was pretty hilly.
- 1:14:05SPEAKER_06: It is, it's a very hilly race, but it's such a fun race because the entire city comes out and it's just my favorite weekend in Pittsburgh.
- 1:14:14SPEAKER_06: Um, lots of friends out there.
- 1:14:16SPEAKER_06: I have my nephews do the kids run with me the day before the marathon.
- 1:14:21SPEAKER_06: So it's it's always a good time.
- 1:14:23SPEAKER_07: Nice.
- 1:14:24SPEAKER_07: All right, so you got started 10 years ago, and here we are in 2026, and you're running your 50th half marathon.
- 1:14:30SPEAKER_07: That's impressive, young lady.
- 1:14:32SPEAKER_07: And it is in Presque Isle, uh Pennsylvania, right?
- 1:14:37SPEAKER_06: Mm-hmm.
- 1:14:38SPEAKER_06: Yep.
- 1:14:38SPEAKER_06: So it's right on Lake Erie.
- 1:14:40SPEAKER_07: There's right on the lake, yeah.
- 1:14:42SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
- 1:14:42SPEAKER_07: Well, tell us about it.
- 1:14:43SPEAKER_07: How did it go?
- 1:14:44SPEAKER_06: It went great.
- 1:14:46SPEAKER_06: So this race, it's my fourth time having done the race.
- 1:14:51SPEAKER_06: And if you've ever been to Presque Isle or ever heard of the Presque Isle races, it's just about as flat as you can get, which is wonderful because it's usually about as hot as it can get for this race coming in at the end of July.
- 1:15:07SPEAKER_06: But this year we were blessed with great weather for a summer race.
- 1:15:12SPEAKER_06: It was mid to upper 60s throughout.
- 1:15:16SPEAKER_06: Uh, we've been dealing with these wildfires from Canada the couple days before it.
- 1:15:21SPEAKER_06: And luckily those had cleared out.
- 1:15:24SPEAKER_06: There was some question of will the race happen?
- 1:15:26SPEAKER_06: Won't the race happen?
- 1:15:27SPEAKER_06: But they cleared out in time.
- 1:15:29SPEAKER_06: And so we just got we got a beautiful day, and it's a pretty big race.
- 1:15:34SPEAKER_06: There are about 1,200 finishers.
- 1:15:37SPEAKER_06: Um, so it's a fairly decent size, and it's just one lap around the island, and then you come in and they um you know give you all your goodie bags, and everyone kind of hangs out for a while.
- 1:15:49SPEAKER_06: It's got a really great atmosphere.
- 1:15:51SPEAKER_07: That's nice.
- 1:15:52SPEAKER_07: So that's it.
- 1:15:52SPEAKER_07: Just one lap around the aisle and prescle.
- 1:15:55SPEAKER_07: Okay.
- 1:15:56SPEAKER_07: And that ends up being a half.
- 1:15:57SPEAKER_07: That's that's pretty good.
- 1:15:59SPEAKER_07: Now, um you talked about the air quality, and I knew the smoke was bothering a lot of the northern part of the U.S., particularly northeast.
- 1:16:06SPEAKER_07: Did you get rain beforehand that cleared out?
- 1:16:09SPEAKER_06: I did rain on the Saturday, Saturday evening, night before.
- 1:16:14SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
- 1:16:14SPEAKER_07: I saw that from watching some sporting events that were going on in the northeast that uh that they had, you know, the the rain had cleared things out for her for them.
- 1:16:26SPEAKER_07: So how'd you do?
- 1:16:27SPEAKER_07: How'd you finish?
- 1:16:29SPEAKER_06: I uh finished in my fastest time yet.
- 1:16:32SPEAKER_06: I uh finished in just over an hour and 52 minutes.
- 1:16:36SPEAKER_06: I think it was 152.06 or something like that.
- 1:16:40SPEAKER_07: It was a great time.
- 1:16:41SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I was super excited.
- 1:16:43SPEAKER_06: I felt really strong the whole time.
- 1:16:47SPEAKER_06: Um, I've been kind of coming off of an injury last fall.
- 1:16:51SPEAKER_06: So I've been doing a lot of strength training, doing a lot of stairmaster, doing a lot of cross training.
- 1:16:58SPEAKER_06: Um, so it seemed to really pay off, and I was super excited.
- 1:17:02SPEAKER_06: I felt great the whole time.
- 1:17:03SPEAKER_06: It got a little hot toward the end, but um, for all intents and purposes, it was an awesome race, and I had so much fun.
- 1:17:12SPEAKER_06: I had a couple of friends that were doing it with me.
- 1:17:15SPEAKER_06: So um we all got to go out to lunch afterwards, and it was just uh a great time and a well-run race by a group of runners that really cares about um you know the local running community, and so it was super fun.
- 1:17:29SPEAKER_07: That sounds great.
- 1:17:30SPEAKER_07: Now, obviously, that's a POT.
- 1:17:32SPEAKER_07: That's a good POT, in fact.
- 1:17:34SPEAKER_07: That's probably a that's probably an A-Corral POT.
- 1:17:37SPEAKER_06: It is, so it's it'll be A for everything, including Dopey, which is what I was going for.
- 1:17:44SPEAKER_06: It's not my overall PR, but it is my third fastest half marathon.
- 1:17:51SPEAKER_06: And the other two were set in like 40 degree weather.
- 1:17:55SPEAKER_06: So I was pretty pleased that I was able to get that fast of a time when usually the heat and humidity has uh at least a little bit of an impact on my running.
- 1:18:05SPEAKER_07: It sure does.
- 1:18:06SPEAKER_07: So third fastest out of 50 and a PR for the course, right?
- 1:18:11SPEAKER_06: Yes, by about three and a half minutes.
- 1:18:14SPEAKER_07: Oh, that's outstanding.
- 1:18:16SPEAKER_07: Great job.
- 1:18:18SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
- 1:18:19SPEAKER_07: You've mentioned going to Dopey.
- 1:18:22SPEAKER_07: What other events do you have coming up?
- 1:18:24SPEAKER_07: Anything coming up between now and then?
- 1:18:26SPEAKER_06: I have a lot coming up between now and then.
- 1:18:28SPEAKER_06: I'm off to Sydney in a little over a month to do the Sydney marathon for star number seven.
- 1:18:36SPEAKER_07: Number seven, yeah.
- 1:18:37SPEAKER_06: Yeah, then I'm doing a local half marathon in October to hopefully crack 150 in the half marathon, wine and dine, New York.
- 1:18:48SPEAKER_06: Good.
- 1:18:48SPEAKER_06: And I'm doing Valencia, and then I'm doing Dopey.
- 1:18:52SPEAKER_07: Outstanding, outstanding.
- 1:18:54SPEAKER_07: Julia, you're doing great.
- 1:18:56SPEAKER_07: We're proud of you.
- 1:18:57SPEAKER_07: Congratulations for all that.
- 1:19:00SPEAKER_07: We look forward to seeing you.
- 1:19:02SPEAKER_07: I'm you know, I'm missing everybody.
- 1:19:04SPEAKER_07: I'm looking forward to October when we all get back together.
- 1:19:07SPEAKER_07: But we're looking forward to seeing you then.
- 1:19:09SPEAKER_06: Yeah, looking forward to seeing you.
- 1:19:11SPEAKER_07: Yeah, thanks.
- 1:19:12SPEAKER_07: Thanks for taking the time to join us this evening.
- 1:19:14SPEAKER_07: We always appreciate it.
- 1:19:16SPEAKER_06: Of course, thank you for having me.
- 1:19:17SPEAKER_07: You're welcome.
- 1:19:18SPEAKER_07: We'll see you real soon.
- 1:19:19SPEAKER_07: Thanks.
- 1:19:20SPEAKER_07: All right, so let's get back to the rest of the week.
- 1:19:23SPEAKER_07: And I find it interesting that, of course, as in the northern hemisphere, it's summertime, it's hot all over in the U.S.
- 1:19:31SPEAKER_07: It's been very warm in, especially in different parts of Europe, I know.
- 1:19:37SPEAKER_07: Uh, we get more weekday runs than normal.
- 1:19:41SPEAKER_07: For instance, we've got runs Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week.
- 1:19:46SPEAKER_07: So let's start in the UK, in Red Ruth, Cornwall, where our friend Anna did a summer turkey trot.
- 1:19:59SPEAKER_07: I love Anna's race reports.
- 1:20:01SPEAKER_07: They're fun.
- 1:20:03SPEAKER_07: You can and I mean this in the most delightful way.
- 1:20:07SPEAKER_07: They're full of attitude.
- 1:20:09SPEAKER_07: For example, this particular race is four miles of meh.
- 1:20:15SPEAKER_07: It's a lovely first mile, which is downhill, her fastest mile of the year.
- 1:20:21SPEAKER_07: Then it goes into a, and I quote, beastly uphill.
- 1:20:26SPEAKER_07: And then two and a half miles of meh.
- 1:20:29SPEAKER_07: Hot and humid, dull, if she's honest, but still four m four miles done.
- 1:20:34SPEAKER_07: And a two-minute personal best on the last time she did it.
- 1:20:39SPEAKER_07: They didn't get a medal.
- 1:20:41SPEAKER_07: Just, and I quote, a bloody boot bag.
- 1:20:46SPEAKER_07: I'm not sure what a boot bag is.
- 1:20:49SPEAKER_07: Anna, you may have to tell me.
- 1:20:51SPEAKER_07: We have tried to find out.
- 1:20:53SPEAKER_07: We have found that it might be a bag that you used for your boots.
- 1:20:57SPEAKER_07: It might be a bag that you use in the boot of your vehicle.
- 1:21:02SPEAKER_07: But whatever it is, it's a bloody boot bag.
- 1:21:05SPEAKER_07: I mean, so many people were moaning about it.
- 1:21:09SPEAKER_07: She had a Kevin outfit.
- 1:21:11SPEAKER_07: Kevin from the movie Up.
- 1:21:13SPEAKER_07: A lot of love.
- 1:21:14SPEAKER_07: Helped Brighten an otherwise dull race.
- 1:21:16SPEAKER_07: Well, your report brightened an otherwise dull race report, Anna.
- 1:21:21SPEAKER_07: That's Wednesday in the UK.
- 1:21:23SPEAKER_07: Thanks for that.
- 1:21:24SPEAKER_07: Thursday in the UK in Durham, the Durham City runs.
- 1:21:28SPEAKER_07: Andy and Jamie.
- 1:21:30SPEAKER_07: Uh, this is the one with the hills.
- 1:21:32SPEAKER_07: In fact, if you were ever wondering why in ancient times cathedrals and castles were built at the top of challenging hillsides, two reasons.
- 1:21:47SPEAKER_07: One was for defense against invading marauders, and the other one was so that hundreds of year hundreds of years later there would be challenging 10Ks to run through the area.
- 1:22:01SPEAKER_07: Anyway.
- 1:22:02SPEAKER_07: And he did finish in under an hour.
- 1:22:04SPEAKER_07: Jamie did very well in this thing.
- 1:22:06SPEAKER_07: How well?
- 1:22:07SPEAKER_07: Well, you will have to check out the YouTube channel and look at Roller Coaster of Running to find out more.
- 1:22:16SPEAKER_07: Still on Thursday, Audrey ran with her mom in Lowell, Massachusetts at Bernaya's Great Lakes Road Race.
- 1:22:26SPEAKER_07: This is the 44th running of the second oldest women-only 5K in the United States.
- 1:22:33SPEAKER_07: It's a nice race.
- 1:22:35SPEAKER_07: But there was a construction pit right in front of the what was typically the start area.
- 1:22:40SPEAKER_07: That made for some logistics problems, especially some parking problems, and some changes to the course.
- 1:22:47SPEAKER_07: Still, it was nice, highlighted by the fact that Audrey pulled off a PR.
- 1:22:55SPEAKER_07: Let's go to Friday, where our friend Jason towed the line for the high lonesome 100 in Chaffee County, Colorado.
- 1:23:04SPEAKER_07: Didn't go as planned.
- 1:23:06SPEAKER_07: Jason didn't finish this one.
- 1:23:09SPEAKER_07: Jason did not finish is a whole lot better than did not start.
- 1:23:13SPEAKER_07: So we're proud of you for giving it a try, buddy.
- 1:23:17SPEAKER_07: Uh we talk about it.
- 1:23:19SPEAKER_07: No one you ch you tow the start line, no one's guaranteed that they're going to finish.
- 1:23:23SPEAKER_07: And as you especially as you get into extremely challenging events like that.
- 1:23:28SPEAKER_07: So we're proud of you for trying.
- 1:23:30SPEAKER_07: Go get them next time, Jason.
- 1:23:33SPEAKER_07: In Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Uber Run 5K.
- 1:23:38SPEAKER_07: Christie, this race was canceled due to the air quality.
- 1:23:43SPEAKER_07: I only left it on the report because I wanted to say Ypsilanti.
- 1:23:46SPEAKER_07: The race organizers, however, still booked an indoor site for packet pickup and a beer party, which apparently was a lot of fun.
- 1:23:52SPEAKER_07: Our friend Kat flew from Orlando up to Gardiner, New York for the Gardner 5K.
- 1:23:59SPEAKER_07: Happy the smoke cleared up from that area.
- 1:24:02SPEAKER_07: She missed her time goal on this one by just 40 seconds, but still made a nearly three-minute 5K PR.
- 1:24:11SPEAKER_07: Good job, Cat.
- 1:24:12SPEAKER_07: Moving to Saturday.
- 1:24:14SPEAKER_07: Rob ran the Inferno 25K in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
- 1:24:21SPEAKER_07: No report on this.
- 1:24:22SPEAKER_07: Weather was very uh iffy in Florida over the weekend.
- 1:24:25SPEAKER_07: A lot of thunderstorms.
- 1:24:27SPEAKER_07: It's possible.
- 1:24:28SPEAKER_07: It's possible that one did not go.
- 1:24:31SPEAKER_07: Ryan was in Clarksville, Arkansas for the Johnson County Peach Fest for Myler.
- 1:24:38SPEAKER_07: Legs felt heavy from the start.
- 1:24:40SPEAKER_07: Kept repeating the same things.
- 1:24:42SPEAKER_07: And this is a good mantra.
- 1:24:44SPEAKER_07: Relax, drop your shoulders, loosen your stride, and find a rhythm.
- 1:24:51SPEAKER_07: Ryan, I like that.
- 1:24:53SPEAKER_07: That's good advice.
- 1:24:54SPEAKER_07: If you can convince yourself to just get into a nice tempo.
- 1:24:57SPEAKER_07: They were rolling hills on the last mile, and that's when Ryan decided to make a move, then immediately reminded himself that he wasn't interested in throwing up again this weekend like he did last week, if you will recall from the race report.
- 1:25:11SPEAKER_07: He crossed the finish line, knowing he's still not a little something left in the tank.
- 1:25:15SPEAKER_07: Then he took a look at the results.
- 1:25:17SPEAKER_07: First place in the age group, and better than a one-minute PR.
- 1:25:24SPEAKER_07: Great job, Ryan.
- 1:25:26SPEAKER_07: In Jacksonville, Lisa ran the 12-hour Sizzler Ultra.
- 1:25:33SPEAKER_07: It was a Sizzler in that the heat index in Jacksonville reached 108 degrees.
- 1:25:39SPEAKER_07: Lisa's running didn't have blister problems until she took two laps on the course in her Crocs at mile 24.
- 1:25:48SPEAKER_07: Lisa, what were you thinking?
- 1:25:50SPEAKER_07: Anyway.
- 1:25:52SPEAKER_07: She ended up finishing 26.2 miles.
- 1:25:55SPEAKER_07: Lisa has a seizure problem on the course.
- 1:25:58SPEAKER_07: She she knows that she does, and she's able to work through it and continue to complete these runs.
- 1:26:05SPEAKER_07: Uh only two seizures this time.
- 1:26:07SPEAKER_07: That's great to know.
- 1:26:08SPEAKER_07: Very happy with the results.
- 1:26:10SPEAKER_07: Congratulations, Lisa.
- 1:26:13SPEAKER_07: There was a Christmas in July half marathon at I think this is Boosey Woods in Elk Grove, Illinois.
- 1:26:21SPEAKER_07: Tiffany will be sure to tell me if I'm wrong about that, because Tiffany ran this one.
- 1:26:27SPEAKER_07: Air quality improved over the weekend.
- 1:26:29SPEAKER_07: Heat was still there.
- 1:26:31SPEAKER_07: She took this one at a solid pace, not a race pace.
- 1:26:36SPEAKER_07: Prepared the night before, had all her gear ready, but her watch wasn't fully charged and it ran out at mile 12.
- 1:26:43SPEAKER_07: So she tried using her foam for a timer for intervals over the last mile.
- 1:26:49SPEAKER_07: Pretty cool metal on this one.
- 1:26:51SPEAKER_07: And inflatable Santa was there.
- 1:26:53SPEAKER_07: Tiffany, if it makes you feel any better, and I'm sure it won't.
- 1:26:57SPEAKER_07: I'm on a streak of having batteries run out or forgetting watches, and it still all works out.
- 1:27:05SPEAKER_07: Rich was in Hamlin, New York for the Shoreline Half Marathon.
- 1:27:11SPEAKER_07: His first official half marathon.
- 1:27:14SPEAKER_07: Congratulations, Rich.
- 1:27:16SPEAKER_07: We know what that means.
- 1:27:18SPEAKER_07: Race started and ended along the shore of Lake Ontario in Hamlin State Park.
- 1:27:23SPEAKER_07: Again, the smoke threatened the event, but it was okay at race time.
- 1:27:27SPEAKER_07: He was shooting for a proof of time time of 215 and nailed a 210, which, as we said at the beginning, was a PR because it's his first official half.
- 1:27:39SPEAKER_07: Good job, Rich.
- 1:27:41SPEAKER_07: Zach was in Pen Yon, New York.
- 1:27:45SPEAKER_07: I am not familiar with Penyon, New York, but he did the Kaoka Outlet Trail Half Marathon.
- 1:27:54SPEAKER_07: Trail race on a former railroad.
- 1:27:56SPEAKER_07: Rail trails, we have those around.
- 1:27:58SPEAKER_07: They're great to run on.
- 1:28:00SPEAKER_07: This one goes along a waterway that connects two of the finger lakes.
- 1:28:04SPEAKER_07: Finished in about two hours, 15 minutes, after he'd had to deal still with the uh air from the wildfires, had occasional heavy rain, bad leg cramp at the end, and still knocked it out in 215.
- 1:28:19SPEAKER_07: Good job, Zach.
- 1:28:20SPEAKER_07: On Sunday, Rachel, along with Vern and Jamie, ran the red, white, and blue four-miler in Fort Worth, Texas.
- 1:28:32SPEAKER_07: Out and back course along the beautiful Trinity River.
- 1:28:36SPEAKER_07: Texas Heat didn't take long to make itself known on this race, but they kept smiling, kept moving.
- 1:28:42SPEAKER_07: Miles are always better when they're shared with great friends.
- 1:28:46SPEAKER_07: Let's see.
- 1:28:47SPEAKER_07: For Jamie, age group second place finish.
- 1:28:51SPEAKER_07: For Verne, happy birthday.
- 1:28:55SPEAKER_07: And the first four-mile race for all three of them.
- 1:29:00SPEAKER_07: So still in Texas, and why we're running in Texas at this time of year, while we're running in Florida too.
- 1:29:12SPEAKER_07: Derek was in Flugerville for the Heat Wave Half Marathon, appropriately named.
- 1:29:18SPEAKER_07: Uh Derek's first half since late February had some success in the first four miles, then began feeling badly almost immediately after that.
- 1:29:28SPEAKER_07: He walked to the 10k mark, pulled himself from the course, disappointed, but lived to run another day.
- 1:29:36SPEAKER_07: So congratulations on that, Derek.
- 1:29:39SPEAKER_07: Smart decision.
- 1:29:40SPEAKER_07: And there we have it, friends.
- 1:29:41SPEAKER_07: The race report for episode 252 of the Rise and Run podcast.
- 1:29:47SPEAKER_07: Friends, and if you know if you know anybody who runs, they're our friends too.
- 1:29:55SPEAKER_07: And do they also run Gofi?
- 1:29:58SPEAKER_07: Gofi.
- 1:29:59SPEAKER_07: Okay, Gofi, yeah.
- 1:30:00SPEAKER_07: That's right.
- 1:30:01SPEAKER_07: If they run Gofi, they're really our friends.
- 1:30:04SPEAKER_07: Friends, and if you run, you know you are our friends.
- 1:30:06SPEAKER_07: Thank you for listening.
- 1:30:08SPEAKER_07: Hope you enjoyed.
- 1:30:08SPEAKER_07: Hope you enjoyed both weeks of the uh interview with John.
- 1:30:11SPEAKER_07: Again, thank you, John, for doing that for us.
- 1:30:14SPEAKER_07: We're honored to have you join us.
- 1:30:18SPEAKER_07: Training time, hot weather, consistency is the key.
- 1:30:23SPEAKER_07: Keep it up.
- 1:30:24SPEAKER_07: You'll be glad you did when race time comes around.
- 1:30:28SPEAKER_07: Look forward to talking with many of you on Thursday at the Zoom call.
- 1:30:34SPEAKER_07: Until then, happy running.
- 1:30:46SPEAKER_09: The Rise and Run podcast discusses general information about Run Disney and is in no way affiliated with Run Disney or the Walt Disney Company.
- 1:30:55SPEAKER_09: Any information or advice discussed on this podcast should not be considered medical advice.
- 1:30:59SPEAKER_09: It should always consult with your healthcare provider or event organized.