On The Runs 167 // Team Force NYC Marathon Fundraising with Jennifer Ouellette

In this episode of the On the Runs podcast, Eric and Erika welcome back Jennifer Ouellette, who shares her inspiring journey through the Boston Marathon and her role as a teammate with the Marathon Mathletes and Team Force as they're fundraising for the NYC Marathon. The conversation delves into the various fundraising initiatives for Team Force, including yoga nights, charcuterie classes, and a big raffle night. They discuss the importance of community engagement, the excitement surrounding the New York City Marathon, and the collaborative spirit of the Mathletes. Jennifer emphasizes the significance of sharing and supporting each other's efforts in fundraising, while also highlighting the personal connections that make these events meaningful. The episode wraps up with a light-hearted discussion about future plans and the joy of running together.

This episode is brought to you by My Race Tatts! Thank you for your support!

My Race Tatts Affiliate Page - 15% of your purchase goes towards our TEAM FORCE Fundraising efforts for the NYC Marathon

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Energy Boost
03:49 Jennifer's Boston Marathon Redemption
06:45 The Marathon Mathletes and Team Force
09:46 Fundraising Initiatives and Community Engagement
12:24 Yoga Nights and Charcuterie Events
15:15 Navigating Fundraising Challenges
18:17 Building Community Through Events
21:35 Creative Fundraising Ideas and Partnerships
24:19 Cocktail Night Planning and Execution
29:19 Perfect Sunday Afternoon Plans
29:41 Running the New York City Marathon
31:45 Fundraising Strategies and Raffles
31:49 Sponsorships and Partnerships
36:40 Exciting Raffle Night Details
43:18 The Impact of Cancer and Team Force
47:01 Excitement for New York and Community Involvement
48:13 Virtual Participation and Fundraising Strategies
50:38 Building a Supportive Community for Events
54:33 Introducing the Mathletes and Their Journey
56:33 Logistics and Group Dynamics for the Marathon
59:27 Creative Fundraising Ideas and Community Engagement
01:03:21 Exciting Prizes and Donations for the Raffle
01:06:21 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

My Race Tatts Affiliate Page - 15% of your purchase goes towards our TEAM FORCE Fundraising efforts for the NYC Marathon

Wrightsock Affiliate Page - 15% of your purchase goes towards our TEAM FORCE Fundraising efforts for the NYC Marathon

Eric's NYC Marathon Fundraiser - Team FORCE, a dynamic organization that supports the hereditary cancer community

Erika's Chicago Marathon Fundraiser - for American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in memory of her brother, Nick

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Transcript

Eric (00:55)
What's up everybody and welcome to episode 167 of the On the Runs podcast. What a beautiful couple days we had. The rain went away. It's back a little bit, but at least my basement is dry and I'm wicked excited to be back here on a Friday. Let's go. Before we get to everything we have in this episode, I need to say hello.

Erika (01:17)
you

Eric (01:22)
to my kick-ass rockstar of a co-host, six-star Erica, what's up?

Erika (01:29)
How can you not be pumped up on a Friday with that kind of energy coming from you? Whatever you're doing, tell me. I need some of that. Is it the Celsius? OK, OK, I'm listening.

Eric (01:40)
Yeah, it's the Celsiuses. It's also

the fact that I don't celebrate Thursday, because Thursday is not Thursday. Thursday is Friday Eve, and I get so excited for Friday on Friday Eve. But hey, you're not the only one here. And I typed a whole intro for her, and I think we're going to read it, but she's sticking around for the entire episode. So are you ready for our next guest?

Erika (01:50)
Eve. Mm-hmm.

Yes, you do.

Hell yes.

Before they're ready, let's bring her on.

Eric (02:07)
Our next guest on the pod is a pod fan favorite who is crushing her six star journey and on track for fourth star this fall in the New York City Marathon that I am running by the way this past year she got redemption on Boston and she's the leader of the marathon mathletes a group that I am really excited to be a part of this year as the mathletes are running for team force in the 2025 New York City Marathon. She's here to talk all about it.

and all about everything we're doing to fundraise and get everything out there for Team Forest, we are wicked excited to have her back. Jennifer Ouellette, welcome back to the On the Runs podcast.

Jennifer (02:46)
Wicked excited to be here. So excited. Can't wait to chat about everything that's happened and what's gonna happen. So awesome.

Erika (02:46)
you

We are so happy to have you, Jen. Yeah. I mean, I haven't seen your smiling face since you stopped by our mile 19.2 cheer station on the Boston course. And you were looking fabulous that day. Spirits were high. You were doing awesome. And I just hope that carries on to all your races this year.

Eric (02:54)
I am pumped.

Jennifer (03:13)
Thank you. I had it mapped out where it was gonna be. I it on the back of my hand. was like, all right, so I people here, people here, mile 19.2, had to make sure I put the point too so I could start looking around mile 19. was so excited. I could hear you guys before I saw you guys. So that was the best part. I knew where you guys were just by the sound of you.

Erika (03:21)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (03:23)
Yes.

Erika (03:29)
Even better.

That makes me so happy.

Eric (03:34)
And if you remember,

you ran Boston last year, you didn't have a good day. I don't even remember if you really stopped to say hi, but you weren't having a good day and you got redemption this year. You absolutely did. Tell us about it.

Jennifer (03:49)
Oh, last year 2024 was so hot. I felt sick at mile 12 and just kept trying to push through just to get to the end. So it was miserable. I tried to get the crowds to pump me up, but I was just like, just get me to the end. 26, my team, I can get there. And then this year it started off a little rocky. I forgot my watch and it was like a little bit like, oh no, like that anxiety was filling me up. And I texted my math leads and

Erika (04:03)
Hmm.

Jennifer (04:19)
Like everyone was so like had words of encouragement, like, I'll just go out there and run and have fun. And that was my plan to begin with. like just to have them say it was like, that's what I needed at like six o'clock in the morning was like, just go and have fun and just enjoy it, enjoy the crowds and enjoy Boston. So that's what I did. And Joan, who I stay with Joan Chauncey, she had like this Fitbit tracker thing and like she gave it to me. It was like barely charged.

Erika (04:30)
You

Jennifer (04:46)
And it was kind of like a comfort, like a little hug on my wrist from her, like, it'll be there with you. I no idea how to work it. But I like, press go. I saw Yuki at the start and she was in my corral. And it was just like, that was little like family, like connections where it like, like started me and like all those nervous energy just like washed away. I, Yuki's like, you just took off and we're like on a mission. And I just like got the crowds going. I was like, look.

And at mile 13, I just happened to like ask the guy next to me, I was like, do you know what our pace is? And he like looked at me, he's like, well, mine's in kilometers. And I was like, oh, well, just let me know. And he's like, he kind of like does the math for me in his head. Of course, I'm like a math lead, I should know how to do math, but I don't, because that's not really why I'm a math lead. And he's like, I think in miles we're at a 710. And I was like, oh, oh, okay, thank you. And I did not feel like

Eric (05:28)
Mathletes, yeah, you're the perfect one for that.

Jennifer (05:48)
that I was running that fast first of all, I just felt like I was just running and enjoying it. I gave friends tugs at mile eight to Regina in Aviva. And then I knew like Eddie and our family and friends, Chris and Matt and Shayna and Eddie's mom and Brianne and Mike were all there. And I was like, I just can't wait to get to mile 15. I'm so excited to see them. having the best time. And I got there. I just like, you know, chilled with them.

tried to hand out a salt tab to other runners. Salt tab, salt tab, anyone? And nobody wanted my salt tab, but I took it with me and gave it to someone that needed it eventually. And then I need to start looking for you guys. So that was like, you know what I mean?

Eric (06:31)
Look at you.

Look at that smile right there. By the way, you were walking backwards at this point. This is as you're walking away, turning around, you're like.

Jennifer (06:42)
was like,

are great to have at the finish line. Oh, it was just a fun race. Like the crowds were awesome. And just seeing everybody this year, like really got me pumped up and energized. And then like it was like, when I knew I was like a mile away from whoever I was gonna see, I was like, gotta run there. I want to see them so much faster. So it just like sprinted there, hung out for a minute and then like sprinted away. And it was, it was awesome. I had a great time. And even the recovery afterwards, I felt like I could definitely run like a marathon tomorrow.

Erika (06:45)
Hell yes.

Jennifer (07:15)
I didn't, but yeah. Forget your watch and just let the crowds carry your soul across the finish line. That was just like, I think we're gonna do that every year. Like the amount of pressure to like qualify is enough and just to be there and enjoy it and soak it in and not put that pressure again was just like, oh, it was so freeing.

Erika (07:16)
Well, that is how you do Boston, everybody. Take some notes. That is how you do Boston. Boston Dud right.

Eric (07:17)
You could've.

Erika (07:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mmm.

it. And like you said, you're putting in work for other races so you can re-qualify and just have more fun at Boston. So that's the way you should do it. Boston is the victory lap. Eric loves to say that. So make it fun. Yay. I'm so glad this was a good experience and there were no code greens along the course. Good, good. That's right. That's right.

Jennifer (07:55)
Yeah, it truly was this year. So it was so much more fun.

Eric (07:56)
Absolutely.

Jennifer (08:06)
No. And I got to see you guys the day before or two days before at like at

Eric (08:11)
Saturday yeah,

Jennifer (08:12)
Sam Adams.

Eric (08:12)
that was so fun That was that wasn't that wasn't planned, but we saw you twice right?

Jennifer (08:13)
So yeah, so I was there with my friend Cory and yeah, yeah, we saw you at Sam Adams and I didn't even know you guys were gonna be there. We were just about ready to pack up, just finished like eating our snack and heading back to the car. And like it was Cory's, Cory Gerard's first Boston like.

Erika (08:18)
Love

it.

Jennifer (08:32)
running. He's volunteered for many years and he didn't have anybody to go to the expo with. people that I was supposed to go with kind of like plans changed. I was like, I'm just going to go down and like go in, go out. And that was like my plan. And then I got a message from the day before and we made a whole day of it. And it was like, again, like celebrate Boston did all the things like the expo, the shopping, the take the picture with the unicorns, take a picture at the finish line. Like it was just

Erika (08:51)
Mmm.

Jennifer (08:59)
It was also great to see it because he hasn't experienced it to see it through someone else experience it for the first time. So like I did that with Sammy last year, Sammy for Venture. And then again, with Corey, was just those moments are like, that's why I want to do it. So yes.

Erika (09:04)
Right.

That's such a special

thing. Like the first Boston you have is just so incredible. And to soak in every moment you can, especially with all the photo ops, like he's going to be able to remember those forever now. And his first Boston. That was so great that you guys could do that together.

Eric (09:24)
Yeah.

Jennifer (09:26)
Yeah, so I'm like, if anybody needs

Eric (09:27)
And for all-

Jennifer (09:29)
a photographer for their first Boston Expo, hit me up. I love it. I'm like, go over here, over there, over there. Do you want to wait in that long line or do you want to do this over here?

Erika (09:32)
She knows.

It's perfect.

Eric (09:39)
Well, the other

thing we're gonna get to, if anyone needs someone to help fundraise, you're their girl too, because you're freaking amazing at that, and we're gonna get to that. Because you are also, should I give you the title of team captain or team leader of the Marathon Math Leads? Like, do you have that title, or is it like this group thing, a co-captain thing, or just like, you're just, hey, I know I've done this before, I'm gonna take the lead here, take initiative, because.

Erika (09:46)
Nailing it.

Eric (10:06)
Last time you were on, you talked a little bit about the marathon math leads and you got all the math leads on the same team for the New York City Marathon and I am very fortunate and lucky to be included in that group.

Jennifer (10:17)
So...

wanting to be the leader, because we lead each other. Like every Saturday when we run, it's like, whether I'm training or Jenna's training or Lindsay's training, or it's like Chris's first marathon, someone needs a long run, someone needs a progressive run. Like we're all training together. So when we get together, it is like a group, it's a family where they're supporting everyone in any aspect. So like we put it together, what do you need this weekend? Do you need like someone to run with you? Do you need a pacer? Are you doing a specific workout?

So it is like a group effort and with the fundraising, I didn't even start the force. I was saying with her venture, she's like, I got these bibs. I have an in with force charities. We can take like 10 people. So she was the one that put that all together. And it sadly, but she has a very big happy moment this year that she is.

Erika (10:56)
Mmm.

wow.

Eric (11:10)
Ha ha ha.

Jennifer (11:13)
And it's already out there on social media, so I'm not bursting anybody's bubble, but she's expecting a baby, a little baby boy Parker. So that's super exciting. We have our own little mini mathlete coming and yeah.

Eric (11:18)
Wait, what? Since when?

Erika (11:22)
You have to have a

Eric (11:24)
know this?

Erika (11:26)
onesie made or something.

Eric (11:26)
What? I'm kidding. For those who don't know, Sammy Proventure to us on the pod is Sammy Sulia. I like call Sammy Sulia, but yeah, Sammy Proventure is having a baby boy I think that's really exciting. Wait,

Jennifer (11:28)
Yeah, so...

Yes! Yes.

Erika (11:36)
you

You said his name is Parker? That's so cute.

Jennifer (11:44)
Yeah.

Yeah, so she decided to take more family time, especially through the summer and the fall to focus on that building her family and less on running and marathons. So I have done fundraising for the past couple of years for different charities. So I had ideas in the back of my mind that if I did get into another charity for a big race, I knew what I wanted to do and what made it even more special.

Erika (11:54)
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer (12:14)
was that I get to do it with everyone that I train with every week. And then it's bringing in their family and their friends to make it even more epic every single time. So we've set up like tons of different events, which are exciting. So we've been doing yoga every second Monday of the month at the backyard brewery at 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. And not only did the math leads bring me running, they've also introduced me to several awesome

Erika (12:24)
Mmm.

Jennifer (12:44)
yoga instructors that also love running. So Nikki, Allie, Mary, Tammy and Sabrina have volunteered their time to host and inspire us through yoga for an hour once a month. And so far, these past three sessions have been wonderful. I feel like I've learned a lot, not just like on like yoga itself, but like balancing core strength that I really should be stretching a lot more than once a month.

Erika (13:11)
Mmm.

Jennifer (13:14)
And

even just this past month, Mary even read us a beautiful Mary Oliver poem, Evidence, and it was just like to end that session, it was just beautiful. it was great. Been so excited to have those monthly. And then this Sunday, I'm co-hosting with my coworker, Rochelle from the backyard. She has

Erika (13:25)
Hmm.

Jennifer (13:39)
boards in Brun, ⁓ charcuterie company. And she is going to teach everyone how to make charcuterie board. And then I'm going to teach how to make four different cocktails with my friend, Jeff, who has graciously donated the supplies and these very fancy math leads glassware for us that you get to keep at the end of the event too. So very excited for that. ⁓ Yeah.

Eric (14:04)
Now that's in two days. Are there

any spots left?

Jennifer (14:09)
I can double check with Rochelle if she hasn't already finalized the supply. So we have to buy the meat and cheese so it's fresh. But if people do want to get in, they can message me or you and we can try to sneak them in. Even if someone backed out, we might be able to sneak them in. It's $60 a person. So that does pay for the meats and cheese and the board and the supplies. And then the...

Eric (14:16)
Right.

Jennifer (14:35)
other half goes towards our donation for force charities. So

Eric (14:39)
Right. Now,

let's talk about this because, on Monday of earlier this week, there was four spots left. you know, possibly those have filled up too. But let's talk about yoga night and this night, and we'll talk about more in a moment. But the yoga nights are the second Monday of every month. So the next three yoga nights are June 16th,

July 14th. Oh!

Jennifer (15:03)
Yes, that one got a little messed up because of some,

got messed up the math and it's the third week of June. So June 16th is the third week, but every other one is the second week. So, yeah.

Erika (15:15)
Hmm.

Eric (15:15)
Okay, so

June 16th, July 14th and August 11th. I will be at all three of those. I've missed the first three because believe it or not, I actually had all those Mondays already scheduled back in January for the podcast. So I'm going to be at the next couple. They're at the Backyard Brewery. There's a place upstairs that it happens at, right?

Jennifer (15:38)
Yes, so we use the function room upstairs. We set it up so all the tables and chairs are away. It's peaceful place for yoga. And we also have several companies that have donated for electrolytes for us too. So not only do you get to sip and sample while you're doing yoga, you get to take something home with you. So Bloom has graciously donated us some green probiotics.

Erika (15:39)
Cool.

Jennifer (16:06)
And then noon, some electrolytes from noon and some more electrolytes from LMNT. We've had those for a while now. So those are the salt ones from them too. And you get a variety pack from each one. So you can come in, do yoga. It's $30 donation and get some free electrolytes.

Eric (16:25)
Now something, Erica, by the way, you have those nights open because it's always open for recording and I'm purposely not scheduling anyone on those nights. But one of those two nights, I hope to bring the recorder and microphones and we could record after yoga night if it works out Jen, where we can do that. If there's a space and we can have some other mathletes on.

Erika (16:26)
That's so cool. Can we go? Can we go? Yay. OK.

The admin did well.

Eric (16:52)
We'll do like a big extended Tros or something, or maybe a full episode really pumping the tires for a big event coming in August, on August 2nd. We'll get to that. But now I want you to tell everyone you're not receiving all this money just for your fundraising. This money that's coming in through the yoga nights and other charity nights we have in raffle nights, and there's other ones we're going to get to. It's being divided up between the eight of us. Explain that and explain how you're managing all this.

Jennifer (17:22)
So as a group, I really wanted to put everything together. So I've not only been doing my own fundraising and having coworkers and family and friends donate to me, ⁓ but with these group events that we're hosting together, I've been putting that aside. My Venmo is specifically for donations. So every night I still have to do this Monday night. I'm just falling behind a little bit, but I have the math all situated, mathletes.

Erika (17:33)
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer (17:50)
Really got to build up my math rep here. And dividing it up through everybody. So everyone gets a portion of it because it's not just me advertising, everyone's advertising for it. Everyone's bringing family and friends to these events to make them great, to make them successful. And for people to keep wanting to come back to, ⁓ which has been great. So it's not just like people have been coming to one yoga. It's been...

Erika (17:51)
Hey, you're doing great.

Jennifer (18:17)
They've been coming to two yogas, three yogas, and now they want to come to the Charcuterie Board because it's a family, it's family friends and everyone's welcome. So I really wanted to make it a welcome event because the mathletes are we're very welcome to having people come on Saturdays with us. We have been getting faster, which is amazing. ⁓ And building a stronger community that I wouldn't even mind setting up like two groups. So we do like two loops and like one group is a different pace than the other group, just so it is still that welcoming.

Erika (18:46)
Mm.

Jennifer (18:46)
⁓ smiling community.

Erika (18:49)
You are so nice to always invite me to those things too. I love you for that. That is just, you will, you will, I promise, I promise. I appreciate it.

Jennifer (18:52)
I'm gonna get you there one day. ⁓

Eric (18:59)
Well,

I love that you've taken the lead on this because I've always said, fundraising to me is not fun, but this is a lot more fun. Yeah, this is a lot more fun. And I'll be honest, God, I need to thank you so much because you've taken, I call you the team captain, but really just because you have taken the lead on all of this and you're like so organized and so structured and you have a spreadsheet with everything here. I'm looking at this.

Erika (19:06)
It can be a stressful thing.

Eric (19:25)
There's over 37 line items that are going to be part of our raffle night. There's everyone's thinking of all these cool ideas, whether we started this in like what February we thought of like, let's do a ski night at McIntyre. Well, the snow melted pretty fast. So we didn't do that. There's, there's going to be a skate night. We're talking pickleball or cornhole tournaments possibly. And all these things that are happening, we'll have dates and we'll put all the dates in the show notes if they're available right now. But how do you come up with these? And what I really want to get at is actually.

Erika (19:29)
⁓

Eric (19:55)
How do you approach all these companies? Let's talk cornhole, let's talk pickleball, let's talk how do you reach out to these brands to get them to donate stuff and just give you free product for these giveaways.

Jennifer (20:07)
So I've been doing it for three years. So I did have a list to build off of every year. And I know that if I don't ask the answer is always gonna be no. So I have to go in knowing that that they are most likely gonna say no, but there's gonna be that one chance that they're gonna say yes. So that's what I'm hoping on is that they're gonna say yes or they want more information and that I can provide them more information. So I have an email template.

Erika (20:31)
Mm.

Jennifer (20:38)
And I always thank the companies that donated years before, thank them for contributing. And now I have a new charity that I'm running for. Would you be open to doing the same thing you did before, if not more? So thanking them for their kindness and generosity before, because I know sometimes over the years, they've already given to so many that like, we can't do 100, but I can give you 25. And I was like, anything will help, a dollar, anything. Even just your response.

Erika (20:50)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Jennifer (21:06)
it makes me feel better that you actually read my email. So that's always helpful. But coming up with the ideas, the yoga idea came up because I met all these great yoga instructors at a yoga retreat that Sammy invited me to. And it was like, I wanna get them involved. And they're so willing to be involved. And they came running with us and now they're part of the math leads. And we go hiking and we see each other at REI and we're like, let's plan something else.

what would you say if I hosted a yoga night at the backyard? So just thinking I was gonna do one and that was it. And they're like, what if we each did one? And I was like, yes, let's do that. And so they each had the opportunity to teach a class. And then a coworker of mine, Tammy, she just became a yoga instructor. She's like, I would love to do that. I need more yoga hours. And like she brought in Sabrina and she's like, have this another friend that also wants to do that. So it's like, it's just building that community.

And then the cocktail and charcuterie board night just was like an idea I had from bartending. Like I would love to host something and like be able to teach other people something that I really like to enjoy. And my coworker, Rochelle, was telling me about like how she does like charcuterie boards and she has her own company and she builds them and teaches people. And I was like, do you want to co-host something together? Because I have this idea that it could be really cool.

She was like, 100%, let's do it. And shark roovers are so big right now. It's like a adult lunchable. Like who doesn't love that? That was my favorite thing. If going on a field trip, I was like, mom, can I please get a lunchable like for this field trip? And now it's like, I get to have them every day if I wanted. And Jeff Apry, he is our vendor through the backyard. He's become a really close friend, him and his wife, Amy. They're not just like regulars that come in.

Erika (22:40)
best.

You

Jennifer (23:01)
We talk about life and their kids and their family and what's going on. He has been so graciously generous over the past couple of years doing grand prizes for my raffles in the past that he was so excited that it was a big group thing. He's like, let's make this bigger and better. What can I do? And I really feel like I'm pulling a lot out of him this year, like donating glassware and shakers and the liquor for this event that I'm so grateful for that.

And I never want to abuse any sort of relationship that I've built because I want it to be very transparent. Like it's not for me. I'm donating everything to a charity and I just want to make it so that like people want to come. Cause who, if you just donate $10, you're just donating $10. But to get something out of it that you're learning something else, I feel like that's really cool too. So not only like you get to learn yoga, even if you're passionate about yoga, you get a new instructor, you get a new vibe, you get.

Erika (23:34)
Mm.

Jennifer (24:00)
new inspiration and then like learning charcuterie and cocktailing. It's a big thing right now. Like show off to your friends this summer. Like shake it up, mix it up, make something fun. So that's going to be a really fun class on Sunday. I'm super excited, a little nervous to speak in front of everybody and I hope I don't break anything, but very excited.

Erika (24:08)
you

Eric (24:18)
Now

Erika (24:19)
got

the speaking part down I think you'll be fine just knock on wood no broken any things.

Jennifer (24:22)
Yeah,

I don't juggle the glasses or anything. So hopefully no one's thinking I'm going to flare anything.

Eric (24:25)
Now hey-

Erika (24:27)
You're good. You're good.

Eric (24:31)
I don't know, that might be fun to see if you try get it on video. Now we

Erika (24:34)
you

Eric (24:35)
almost had a code Brown and as we all know code Brown is any crap moment. So we're planning this security night, right? And the cocktail mocktails and everything and you're getting ready. And then a couple of days ago, you're like, ⁓ crap. It might not happen. We might've had a little code Brown moment, but we happen to know someone who's a goalie on a field hockey team. And there's somebody in the know that kind of

saved everything. Tell us about this little story.

Erika (25:02)
What happened?

Jennifer (25:05)
there was just some miscommunication on how the liquor was coming into the backyard. And so because the backyard has a liquor license, because they're a functioning restaurant with a liquor license, the law in New Hampshire is like, you can't bring an outside liquor into a licensed facility. So no, no, I already knew that I had like known that but Jeff is our vendor. So he was bringing it in and donating it. was like,

Erika (25:16)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Jennifer (25:32)
crossing a line, but not in a way. And we just had to kind of talk it through and know the law. So Mark, who has been our field hockey goalie for, I want to say, I've been playing with them for like almost five years and he is our liquor commissioner in New Hampshire. And I have his number. So I called him up on his personal line. I was like, I apologize to be doing this in the middle of the day, but I just need to clarify.

Eric (25:55)
Good to know.

Erika (25:55)
you

Jennifer (25:59)
and make sure this is something that we can do. I don't want to put the backyard into any situations that's gonna prevent them and their business and like hurt them in any way. I work there. I don't want them to lose their liquor license. I don't wanna lose my job. I love working there. I think they're a great family restaurant and I wanna support them, cause they support me so much. So we just made sure that the law was clear, which was made in like 1938. ⁓

Erika (26:26)
my

gosh. ⁓

Jennifer (26:27)
So not super clear, but Mark was able

to walk it through with me and talk to Joya and Marcus and Christina and make sure that this was 100 % okay. We are doing a fundraising event. It is a donation. So Jeff and Joya in the backyard had to discuss everything on how it was gonna happen and it's gonna happen and it's gonna be great. And now we just know the law a little more clearly than we did on Monday.

but it's all good. I was very stressed and I was like, I'm going to have to give all this money back. I don't know what I'm going to do. I've never had to return it before. So it's all clear. We're good to go. Rochelle and I are going to prep on Saturday and get everything all measured out. Cause that is a big thing too. Since Rochelle and I are our certified bartenders, we are going to pour all the liquor into measured cups and you are going to mix. So it's going to be a little more chemistry verse like

you doing a free pour yourself and giving yourself three shots of vodka. I'm going to give you the right amount and you're going to mix it in your shaker and then you're going to sip it. And we got lots of free samples too from other vendors like Athletic Brewing. I have some samples of their beers and a couple special ones for you there. Bloom Nutrition again, not only did they donate their probiotics and collagen, they also donated

Erika (27:30)
Hahaha!

Jennifer (27:52)
⁓ their sparkling bloom seltzer. So we're gonna have some samples of that. ⁓ And then we'll have the ⁓ electrolyte tablets as well. And then the element tea, they come in packets, I believe it's six to eight. I haven't really counted, I've just been drinking them. They're all delicious. There's some great flavors. So to make our margarita, we're gonna take those and you're gonna mix your own flavored margarita with those. And so you're gonna create your own flavor palette.

Erika (27:56)
I love those. ⁓

Jennifer (28:22)
With that for your margarita for Sunday. So it's going to be super fun, little salty, but I feel like everyone needs a little extra salt ⁓ in their life. So it's going to be a great time and lots of different samples. And then we're going to have a little raffle to a surprise raffle that someone will walk away with a great price.

Erika (28:40)
that sounds like an amazing night. You guys are going to have such a blast. I mean, even if the liquor didn't work out, you got some pretty good mocktails there, too.

Jennifer (28:48)
Yes, I did have a backup plan to make strictly mocktails. And if anybody is signing up late and you are just a mocktail drinker or even coming to the event, all the drinks that I'm going to make are mocktail friendly. So ⁓ you can have mocktails. I'm a mocktail drinker. So we will walk through on how to make it mocktail and classy and fun and feel like you're still refreshing this summer and a cocktail. So everyone leaves the light buzz, not a heavy buzz, a nice light buzz.

Erika (28:50)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Perfect.

Jennifer (29:19)
and can

enjoy some meats and cheeses that Rachelle has picked out and designed for us. Yeah. Perfect Sunday afternoon. And if you're a little hungry, come for lunch before at the backyard or stay for dinner at the backyard because it's two to four. So that perfect time spot lunch before or dinner after. And the patio, if it's not raining, will be open.

Erika (29:22)
You can't go wrong, that's perfect.

Nailed it.

Jennifer (29:39)
Erica, you've run New York, right?

Erika (29:41)
Yes, I have. I've done it twice actually and it is a vibe. It is so fun.

Jennifer (29:43)
Okay.

I'm so excited. I'm a little nervous on the logistics part of it and where to stay. And that's been a hot topic with the mathletes on where to stay. Do you have any recommendations?

Erika (29:54)
Mm-hmm.

Sure. So both times I have stayed very close to Bryant Park. I believe that's the park where they have the buses because I was coming down with my boyfriend and he's not a runner and Bryant Park is probably like... So where we were staying, it was maybe like a 0.1 mile walk from there. So that's your morning. Like basically leave the hotel, get on a bus.

Jennifer (30:04)
Okay.

Yeah, perfect.

Erika (30:23)
they'd drive you to Staten Island. And then post race, I think it was about a mile walk, which I didn't have a problem with just because it allowed me to shake out my muscles so I didn't like stiffen up right away. So it was like a nice relaxing walk back from the finish line. So everything was very walkable. didn't, don't think, yeah, I don't think we had to take any, any subways at all, but I really liked that area. ⁓ I can look into it and find out.

Jennifer (30:29)
Okay.

Bryant Park, okay.

Erika (30:53)
I know one of them was like the Hilton Garden Inn, no, Courtyard Marriott, maybe it was a Courtyard Marriott, but it was like the Times Square one, which isn't actually in Times Square, it's just kind of on the outskirts, but it was still only like a .2 mile walk to where the buses were. And then the other one was like right across the street. I think that one might've been a Hilton, but still real nice places to stay. And yeah, I can totally look into that for you.

Jennifer (30:58)
You like Hilton's?

That's my goal is to get us in a good hotel for New York, something close that we can all afford or group afford to, like if we need to double up in some rooms.

Erika (31:23)
⁓ Definitely.

Yes.

I think that that will probably be a good idea if you need to ⁓ get multiple rooms with multiple people, because they do jack up the prices for that weekend, of course. ⁓ But if you're splitting a room with a few people, it's not going to be too bad.

Eric (31:45)
got my sister's couch if I, if, if, you

Erika (31:47)
Yeah.

Eric (31:49)
All right. Well, that's all exciting. We got more exciting things. One, the podcast has our first like sponsor ever. All right. How that, that deserves one of these. We have to think, we talked about this the other day, but it is now official. We have to think.

Erika (31:59)
That gets

Eric (32:08)
Don from My Race Tats. We all know Don from the beginning of the year and his beautiful My Race Tats tattoos, the glitter ones too. He also has some other cool fun things. Don is donating for our big raffle night, two starter pack kits and two $50 gift cards. Now that's really cool, but let's talk about something else that is even cooler. Not only did he donate to My New York City fundraising individually, thank you Don, Don is going to be...

Erika (32:15)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (32:36)
one of our presenting sponsors from now into the New York City Marathon for the Tros, the intro and the outro, right? And what is he doing? When we had him on, a lot of you guys all took the code on the runs and you got like a discount, right? I think it was 10%. Maybe it was 15, right? So now we change that up a little bit, okay? We are now an affiliate for MyRaceTats and everyone who uses our affiliate link that you will find in the show notes. And if you buy...

my race tats off that affiliate link. 15 % of that sale is going towards Team Force.

Erika (33:13)
Amazing.

Jennifer (33:15)
you

Eric (33:16)
How

cool is that? So, hey, this is how I've approached this fundraising thing. I've brainstormed. like, okay, I don't use my personal page for this stuff ever. I might have to start doing it. And then I thought, okay, a couple of these brands are asking to be sponsors. They want to donate product. And I'm like, well, I kind of want money for doing this, right? Do you blame me? Not a lot of money, but a little cover of cost. Instead, I spun it to say, hey,

Why don't you donate towards our fundraising efforts for Chicago, for New York, for Team Force? And Don's like, absolutely. So he's not the only company that has said they'll do this, but he is the only company so far that has committed to doing it. So thank you, Don. Thank you, My Race Tats. Erica, I think you got some My Race Tats. Tell me about them. Did you get them? What ones did you get?

Erika (34:06)
So I had to pick and choose. I got a couple of stickers and they say, I am ultra because hello, I am ultra. So I'm very excited to pop those all over my water bottles and such. And then I got the ones that say forward is a pace because that is a personal mantra of mine that I have adopted from our good friend, Bex Gentry. ⁓ it's true. Forward is a pace. No matter how fast you're going, just keep going forward and you will get there.

So I'm going to be taking those into my race season this summer and fall. And yeah, but I will definitely be back. They have so many good choices from my race stats. Like, how do you actually choose? It's hard to make a decision.

Eric (34:49)
Right.

And then after the big fundraising, the big raffle night, we are going to do an on air giveaway where we're going to give a lucky listener some My Race Tats. We're working on that right now, but we're going to activate that partnership after the raffle night. Because some of these brands had options just to be part of it up until the raffle night. Some of them had the option to donate more and help out more and be this

Erika (34:56)
I love that. Yeah.

Nice.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (35:13)
this partner with the podcast until the New York City Marathon and Don took that. So we're going to even have some things with my race tests after, and we might've just struggled through that. I don't know, do we call it an ad read? But our hope is whenever a brand comes on, all our ad reads are live and true. We'll talk about the products that we've had. We have a few other products to talk about. Jen, you sent me a spreadsheet. It's not the first time sending it to me. So thank you for doing it again, because I keep asking. This thing...

Erika (35:26)
you

Jenna's on top of things,

man. Give her more credit. All right. Yay, Jenna.

Jennifer (35:45)
that one from Jenna. So please thank Jenna. She was saving it for me. So,

Eric (35:47)
⁓

Jennifer (35:49)
Jennifer, just thank you for having that on point.

Eric (35:49)
Jenna is also the amazing team captain and her basement is filled with her. I have like Patrick donated his book. His book is in Jenna's basement. My race tats are being sent to Jenna's basement. I'm like, please do not send these to me. Yes, she's amazing. We have brands here like Flip Belt, which I love. It's the only product I bought at the Boston Run show a couple of years ago. We have Float New Hampshire,

Jennifer (36:01)
Jenna Mason is just our housing everything.

Eric (36:14)
limited electrolytes, noon, planet fitness? We have this startup company called Dad's Wine Rack. It's amazing. You should check it out. We have art companies, Shady Hill Farms, so many, the zoo, Tuckaway Tavern, Palace Theater. We have so many cool companies, Skyzone, like Chunky's, Skydive, Pepperell New Hand, wanna go skydiving? You guys wanna go skydiving?

Erika (36:37)
⁓

Jennifer (36:40)
year and my mom and him went skydiving together. Yeah.

Erika (36:43)
Peace.

Eric (36:44)
I've read maybe not even 10 of these 40. There's more. I promise you there's more. Because my race tats isn't on this list yet. There's two other brands that have said yes so far. We just haven't gotten it that I've reached out to. We're just trying to like get them to sponsor the podcast just like my race tats. So We have more brands we're working on. I have Erica working on her cousin right now to help us out. That's a pretty cool brand.

Erika (36:48)
Holy crap.

Eric (37:08)
Hey, this is awesome. Let's talk about the raffle night, August 2nd at the Backyard Brewery. Tell us about this night.

Jennifer (37:17)
So this will be my fourth annual raffle night. It's going to be bear batter. So many exciting things happening. We have a silent auction this year as well for some vacations that Jenna and Kelly Friedis, another friend of theirs, gave me the information. They sent sponsorship stuff. So super excited to have more information on that. We have Firefly Recovery, which is a startup

recovery band, you put it around your leg and it sends vibrations through. I just found mine because I'm in the middle of a move and I'm really excited to start using it, especially after the Mount Washington race or even right before it. But they not only donated a starter pack for the raffle, they donated a starter pack for each of the mathletes running the New York City Marathon, which was amazing.

Eric (38:15)
I just got mine two days ago, I'm so excited.

Jennifer (38:16)
⁓ so we each have one to

try to post on social media about so everyone knows what it is and everyone wants to win it at the raffle. So that is an exciting prize. I'm really like want to start using. ⁓ I just didn't want to start before I moved and somehow lost the piece. So it's still in the box. I just found it. It's on my dresser actually right over there. ⁓

So very excited to use that one. Jenna Mason I know has tried it and she is like, my God, this is awesome. So Firefly Recovery, if you haven't heard about them, book on their website, amazing product for runners and any

Eric (38:53)
They're on Shark Tank, by the way.

Erika (38:56)
Okay.

Jennifer (38:57)
I want to give a huge shout out to Matt from

for donating our awesome running hats with our Marathon Mathlete logo that Jenna and Kelly from a good pair marketing designed for us. So you'll see us running in these, wearing them around town. They're going to be the logo that they created will also be on all our signage for our events and the glasses that Jeff is donating as well for the charcuterie and cocktail making class too.

So lots of sponsorships, not only from far away, but from close to home too are awesome. So big shout outs to all the local brands that have sponsored and are still waiting to hear back from us, but also to across the nation. So not only do I reach out to people like within a 20 mile radius, I reach out to anybody I see that I feel like

would be willing to or open to or a product that I really love. Like I like Elementee. So I reached out to them and be like, would you be willing to donate a sample? And to just get a response is the biggest thing that yes, let me look into that for you is the nicest response we can get. And then some companies have also offered promo codes. So at the raffle, because they don't have an expiration date, I will have a table of just promo codes people can take.

and they can use them for different brands too. that like chicken legs, running shorts, they couldn't give us a free pair of running shorts, but they were able to give us a 20 % off promo code. So those will be available as well for people that come to the Raffle. So different promo codes from different companies too.

Erika (40:32)
Mmm.

That's super cool. You guys have such a great array of stuff. Like, how do you even choose? I am personally blown away by the fact that you have a silent auction for vacations. Like, what? Can you give an example of one of the vacations that you have on for raffle?

Jennifer (41:02)
I don't have the packet in front of me, but it is like a seven day vacation, all different resorts. And you just have to pay for your airfare ⁓ for it. So the fine details will be along with it. So that will be something definitely to read. Cause I do feel like there are blackout dates for it, but there are many locations and we'll have them all laid out and it's basically a silent auction. Someone starts it off with like,

Erika (41:07)
So that is legit. Wow.

Dang.

Jennifer (41:30)
$25, $50, like a hundred. then at the end of the night, it's a two hour event. So who's ever the highest bidder at the end of the night, that's who's gonna win that specific mutation.

Erika (41:40)
Man, you can just see the amount of work that you guys put into this and it's going to be such a smash. ⁓ You can see how much work Jen and Jenna and the rest of the minus Eric, have put into this. And honestly, it's going to be a complete success. I'm so happy for you guys.

Eric (41:44)
All her, her and Jenna and the rest of the team. Don't give me credit.

Jennifer (41:59)
I'm happy to do it. I know that like the amount of effort that I'm putting in, I can't reach as many people as everyone can as a team. So I may be putting in like 100 % effort on today, but then someone else on the team, Chelsea is copying my post and putting it out to her group of friends. So I may only reach like three of her friends, but she's putting out to thousands of her friends.

Erika (42:08)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. ⁓

Jennifer (42:23)
And then

those thousands of people are going to tell another five people and then it like builds and builds and builds. So if I was doing it by myself, I'm only reaching the network that I can reach. And let me tell you, my network of people are the people that I'm already finding. So they're already bought in. They already know who I am. It's spreading it out like worldwide and we're getting people like to coming from our events that I don't know. And it's great just to see them, especially repeat. I don't want to call them offenders, but repeat.

Erika (42:49)
Mmm.

Jennifer (42:50)
people that come back to yoga and then like want to come to another event and then we'll see them again in August for the big raffle. And it's just awesome. So it is a lot of time and energy, but it's for great cause and that's what matters in the long run. It's not just so that I can run the New York City Marathon is so that we can run the New York City Marathon and we are donating to a great cause of forced charities to hopefully one day end cancer because cancer not only affects like

Erika (43:03)
Absolutely.

Jennifer (43:18)
one person that has cancer affects their entire family. And I know that deep down because my mom has cancer and it was a huge thing. She's in remission right now. ⁓ So it was a huge thing during 2020 and I couldn't see her for an entire year because she was in captivity, captivity, isolation.

Erika (43:19)
Mm-hmm. Mm.

Eric (43:28)
Currently? Right now?

That's awesome. Good. Great.

Erika (43:37)
you

It feels like captivity.

Jennifer (43:47)
He's like in the

Erika (43:47)
COVID was weird.

Jennifer (43:48)
zoo. So it was really hard and not only does my mom have cancer, I know people's parents with cancer. I know friends my own age that have cancer. So it affects everybody in different ways. someone else's mom might have cancer and you will feel something totally different than how I felt when my mom had cancer.

Erika (44:01)
Mm.

Jennifer (44:17)
Just being able to fight that and like end something would be amazing. Or even more research to help create different ways to treat it so you're not in so much pain. Or making them feel more comforted or anything just to like help in any way. So or test it sooner rather than later to save a life.

Erika (44:23)
Mmm.

Eric (44:34)
Right.

And we hope to have some people on from Team Force later on this summer to talk more about that. Let's remind everybody Team Force is a national nonprofit devoted to improving the lives of individuals and families facing hereditary cancer. So they're pretty amazing. I, know, when I knew this was right, Erica, you'll, you'll, you'll know this. I don't know if Jen will,

But it was when I announced this and I got a DM from Christina Cogluto. my God. I hope I'm saying that right. But Christina sent me the DM. I was like, yes, Team Force. Yes, 100%. And she's put me in touch with a few people who work at Team Force.

I'm so happy. It was Team Force when I looked up who they were, and we're going to get more into that in another episode, but this is awesome what we're doing. I love, I did not know that Sammy set this up. Like that was so exciting to hear. That's how this happened. And it makes me feel more

Jennifer (45:28)
Yeah.

Eric (45:31)
sad now that she's not running. I'm bummed.

Jennifer (45:35)
So it was through

her mom. Her mom knows somebody with Team Force. And then Sammy asked us on one run, would anybody want to run with Team Force for the New York City Marathon? And we all were like, yes. And I think at the time, it was myself and Sammy who'd done a major marathon and Jenna Friedis hadn't run Chicago yet. And then once her and John ran Chicago, they were like,

Eric (45:46)
I remember this.

Jennifer (46:03)
all in to run another major marathon. And then, like at this point now, it's like, we're getting to that point, like, it's gonna be real, you're gonna run a major marathon, and it's gonna be the crowds that carry you and just even going to a marathon. Like Jenna Mason went from like a four hour marathon down to a 327. And she's just like, I'm two minutes away from qualifying for Boston. Let's go.

Like, let's go, getting to Boston next year or the year after. And I was like, yeah, you are. Let's go all out, sprint it out. So it's become a thing that we're not just like training to train. It's like we're training and there's goals to it, but it's also like, we want to run it together because we've worked so hard to get there too and to experience and to experience those crowds. I just heard are like, epic, like Boston, London, Chicago.

Erika (46:37)
Wow. Yup.

Jennifer (47:01)
I've heard New York is like 10 times deeper in overcrowded people, so I'm excited.

Erika (47:08)
You will not be disappointed.

Eric (47:10)
Yeah, I'm so excited to be part of the math leads too. And you got me thinking there when you talked about Jenna and you're like, let's go Erica, the soundboard. I need to add Tom Brady saying, let's fucking go. I need, I need one of those. I need one of those. Now, hey, Erica, sadly cannot make the raffle night because she's going to go run another ultra marathon.

Erika (47:24)
I approve that, I approve it.

Jennifer (47:25)
Yeah.

Erika (47:35)
I signed up before I knew about this you guys

Jennifer (47:35)
Let's go!

Eric (47:37)
But how can, hey,

maybe they can change the day of the race. Cause then I could make it too. But for somebody like Erica who can't make this raffle night and maybe someone can't make a yoga night. Maybe this is a worldwide podcast. We have listeners in New Zealand. Like how could they help out? How could they also feel involved maybe where they're not just giving money to our foundation, but maybe they could.

put their name in a pot to win something or anything. Do we have anything for those people who can't make one of these events?

Jennifer (48:13)
So I actually had the discussion at yoga to do virtual yoga for the next couple of sessions. I have to confirm with the instructors that they feel comfortable with that and just be able to have a platform. Cause right now I feel like my only platform that could do a long enough time. Cause zoom you only get like 45 minutes and then it just shuts off on you. Kelly and Jenna do have a business platform as well.

we would just have to get everyone's contact information. And then if it was like through a Facebook group chat, I just add everyone through the Facebook group chat that want to do virtual, I just making sure that like the Wi Fi the backyard is working. So that would be like something that we can talk about. And I'm we might not be able to get it set up for June, but July and August, that could be definitely something if I get it set up for June, and the instructors are

100 % in on it and they feel comfortable being able to instruct. Then we could do a practice one in June and then continue it for July and August. The raffle. Last year people asked me that and it was just me running the raffle and that was a lot. So my mom, the past years she's been at the table and she's selling the tickets and my aunt's helping measure them. And so I'm going around and I'm you know, shaking hands kissing babies getting everyone to buy more raffle tickets.

Erika (49:34)
Yeah.

Jennifer (49:34)
So to do a virtual, and mind you,

I did bring babies with me to tables. I stole my friend's babies. Now steal them, I don't steal babies. ⁓ But I brought them. like, look at this baby, he wants you to buy raffle tickets. Thank you, Jessica, for letting me borrow Finn for the raffle last year. ⁓ So, Parker will definitely help me sell raffle tickets. He's gonna sell, we're gonna moot him, moot him up.

Eric (49:40)
Hey, Parker should be here by then.

Parker should be here by then.

Yeah, we're gonna, Sammy, we're gonna bring Parker around.

Erika (49:55)
You can't say no to a

cute baby, come on.

Jennifer (50:02)
people that were like, look at that face. I'm like, yeah. And then he had a little raffle, like string on.

Eric (50:08)
Love it.

Jennifer (50:09)
Yes. So it was hard to do virtual last year. And it was also, I'm not willing to go deliver all these raffle prizes around. So that was a thing. ⁓ But with more hands on deck, it could definitely be an option or we could pick specific prizes and do those virtual. So that can be a discussion within the math leads what we feel like we're capable of doing at this event. I know doing it solo.

Eric (50:18)
Sure.

Right. I like that.

Jennifer (50:38)
I was not capable of doing all of that by myself, with more, with eight more hands, 16 hands in there, it is definitely possible to, cause we know we have like the silent auction, we have some grand prizes and we have some other awesome local prizes. So I feel like some local prizes of someone that lives in New Zealand might not match what they're looking for. But if it's a brand that we can transport across countries or the nation,

Eric (50:44)
Right?

Jennifer (51:07)
that would be something that we would have to look into too.

Eric (51:11)
Well, I was thinking we talked about it off the air, but we mentioned like possibly like win a hundred bucks, maybe win $200. Maybe that could be a cool virtual one too. I'm just trying to get Erica to throw a bunch of money in, or maybe I love your idea of like one or two prizes. Like this startup company we talked about called dad's wine rack. Like maybe we could have an extra wine rack for virtual only. Yeah. This startup company is going to really hit the, take off.

Erika (51:25)
I'm

Jennifer (51:32)
My dad can build you a wine rack.

Yeah,

Eric (51:41)
Buy the stocks now!

Jennifer (51:41)
I just don't know if we can ship wine across. I would have to really talk about like what I'm shipping.

Eric (51:47)
So let's talk about the mathletes actually. Let's talk about the other six, because there's eight in total. So you got yourself and myself here. There are six others. And let's start with the twins. And Erica, you're going to love this. They're twins and they started the company A Good Pair, which is awesome because they're a pair, but it's P-E-A-R and their logo is a pair like the fruit, which is better than a fruit phone.

Erika (51:47)
you

Mm-hmm.

Makes sense.

Super cute.

I like it.

Jennifer (52:13)
Yeah.

Yes. Jenna and Kelly, I've known them for years. We played field hockey together. I'm pretty sure I may have coached them when they were really little because of our age gap, but honestly, they make me feel young. I feel like I'm always the same age. And when I question like, how old are we? We're all like the same age. ⁓ So we've been playing field hockey for a long time together. And that's how I've known them. We always played summer league together.

We do pick up Winter League. They followed me on social media and was like, you're running. really want to run a marathon. And so they were doing the Manchester City Marathon. I was like, let's go. Yes, let's do it. And Jenna Mason was also running the Manchester City Marathon. So I've also known Jenna Mason from field hockey and she is the same age as Jenna and Kelly's older sister, Kara. So they also went to high school together and played field hockey together. So field hockey.

Big bonding, Liquor Commissioner Mark, big bonding with field hockey. So I was just like, well, would you want to come to Manchester and just start running? I have another friend, Sammy Preventer, that we met running Mill and I are running on this Saturday. Would you want to run with us? So we all met at the park and we ran and I got lost and I made them run way too many hills and they...

Erika (53:13)
Yeah, there you go.

Eric (53:25)
Semi-syll-ia!

Erika (53:35)
Yeah.

Jennifer (53:36)
They still wanted to run after that after running when I told them we're going to run 10 miles and we ran 14 up Wellington Hill. That if you know it, you know it and you never want to run it. But that's how we started our little group together. It was more Jenna, Jenna, myself and Sammy for a long time. And then Jenna Friedis kept convincing Kelly like, come on, come on, you want to run and.

Then I really think it was when Kelly went to cheer and support Jenna at the Chicago Marathon that she was hooked. She was like, yep, I want to be a part of that. And that's how we got her to come and start training. And she's in Portsmouth, so she's a little bit further away, but I'm hoping that the summer weather will be able to get out her way and get her on the road with us and get her connected with a couple other people out that way. I two friends, Chris, that live out there that

Erika (54:26)
Hmm.

Jennifer (54:33)
trying to get them all into running and they can all run together. And then Jenna, Jenna and Kelly introduced us to John, Harry John, and he's a firefighter in Manchester. He was running for a charity for Chicago. They all went to high school together. And so I met him in Chicago and now he's a math elite and he's run with us a couple of times. The first time I met John,

We're running at the beach and I was like, how you feeling? He's like, I don't know. I probably shouldn't be in that cold beats in the car on the way. I was like, you're gonna be in great. Come on down. So he does great work. He puts in a lot of time without us. Unfortunately, we don't hit the road a lot altogether, but he is definitely a strong runner and I'm excited to see him in New York, hit the road up there too. So his family has all come to yoga and he's

Erika (55:01)
Thanks.

Mm.

Jennifer (55:25)
invited all the firefighters and all his local friends and I had a big group on Monday that came in and was like, John, we're here for John. I was like, yeah, you are, come on in. So very good group of people.

Erika (55:34)
Do you

do you guys have a game plan for the marathon itself? Like, are you are you guys going to be running on your own or are you going to at least try to get like a group picture in the beginning or what?

Eric (55:47)
Erica, it's

a race. We're going to win. We're gonna do whatever we can to win. We're gonna all link arms. We're gonna sprint to be in the start. Right, we're gonna link arms and block the road.

Jennifer (55:51)
Yeah. We're in it to win it, Erica.

Erika (55:52)
Are you going to win together?

So block the entire road, okay? All right, I get it.

Jennifer (56:00)
You

Yep. We have discussed all running together. We're talking logistics, actually, I think on Monday about hotels, what people have already looked into for plans and how long they want to stay for. And I would love to run as a group, but I also feel like a major marathon is a big deal. And if you want to run it, to run it, that is your priority. And I don't ever want to hold anyone back.

Erika (56:11)
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer (56:33)
⁓ from that, and I also feel if you want to go at your own pace and enjoy it, enjoy it. Like that's your moment. You've worked for that. And if you want to run it all together, let's run it all together. If I would definitely love to do a picture, do a group dinner and meet up at the end or the beginning. I have heard New York's logistics are a little intense. So, I don't want to ever lose anybody either. I get lost in races and ⁓ so.

Erika (56:48)
Mm-hmm.

That's true.

Jennifer (57:02)
Yeah.

Eric (57:02)
Well, I am so

excited to be a part of this team. I, my plan, I don't know what my plan is. Like my sister's running too, but my plan is to hang out with you guys and get the group photo, do the expo, do a lot of fun things. I hope we all do plan to go out for dinner, like the night, the night after we finished the marathon. I can't wait. I'm so excited. Guys, I'm so excited for like this, this night. Now I feel like I'm going to be more involved. I'm going to be at yoga nights.

There's, there's, let me just read you this list. None of these are a hundred percent confirmed. I just want to read you like some of the things everyone thought of in this group chat. Make a beer. we have roller skating, boxing, situal awareness courses that just like the same one you did, Erica, golf tournaments, hole in one, longest drive, best ball, pie in the face contest. Can we still do that? That would be amazing. ⁓ guess the baby weight.

Erika (57:48)
Mm-hmm.

you

Eric (57:58)
Uh, we had a car wash, but they, it's a bikini car wash idea too. Like that can now Jen's like, no, no, no, What? No, no, all of us together. run with them athletes, a 5k for fun, a skiing night, like sponsor a mile. Guess my fastest mile. So many cool, cool things that you guys came up $200, 200 squares. Yeah. And he thinks it's a great idea too, as you just heard him.

Jennifer (58:03)
No, no, no, Eric, you only wanted a bikini for that one.

Erika (58:04)
She's like, uh-uh.

Hahaha

Jennifer (58:28)
first like brainstorming like night when we were all talking, I just took down every single idea. I called a bunch of places already knew I had, I didn't know I had the backyard. did have to ask them permission to allow us all my crazy ideas, yoga, cocktails, and charcuterie board making class and and the raffle just to keep having things. I used to host the raffle in March. So I had to confirm if I could still do it in August or if that day was like set in stone.

Erika (58:49)
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer (58:56)
So it's also been a lot of coordinating time and around people's schedules to know like Monday nights is the best night or and also coordinating our talks all together. And then Reaper cornhole, my mom plays cornhole with them and they've been so wonderful. I really do hope we get to have an event with them. I know I'm getting that burnout stage of like, ⁓ I got, I've been moving and training and new job and fundraising. So.

I would love if other people want to take on something else from our group to 100 % support them and give them that information too. ⁓ And if anyone has like another idea, like let's do this, let's do this. I'm all 100 % ready to support, but I feel like my event coming to an end, I'm going to hand off the torch if someone else wants to put another event on the.

Erika (59:36)
Yep.

See, Eric, there you go. You get to do your own event. You get to coordinate some stuff. Take

some weight off of Jen's shoulders.

Eric (59:58)
I'll

I'll do it if you do it with me, Jen, because you're freaking amazing. You're a pro. Even if you're not running the race, I'm going to grab you and be like, I need you to help me fundraise and put on these events. You're freaking amazing. You're the best.

Thank you so much for all that you have done so far. All that is to come. I can't wait for yoga because I was actually talking to some of you today. I did yoga two to three days a week before COVID and I haven't done it since. So I just need more yoga in my life and I need more of the amathletes in my life and run more miles with you and get faster like you because you guys are freaking speedy fast. This has been so much fun just chatting with you first off and then talking about these fun fundraising events.

Guys, August 2nd, let's remind them right now, August 2nd, what time, Jennifer, at the Backyard Brewery in Londonderry?

Erika (1:00:44)
Save the date.

Jennifer (1:00:49)
It is 6 to 8 backyard brewery. It's going to be awesome event. Come for dinner. Reserve your table. Come sit at the back bar. We're going to have all the raffle items upstairs and so it's going to be a little different than the years past for those that have come. So have your dinner. Enjoy your times with family and friends. Go upstairs. Put your tickets in the raffle baskets at 8 o'clock. I'm going to ring my bell because I have a bell ring my bell. Announce everybody to go upstairs. Stand in that little room with us.

Erika (1:01:13)
Mm-hmm.

Jennifer (1:01:18)
and the winners will be announced. And I hope that everybody wins the prize. ⁓ I hope that people win multiple prizes. My neighbor last year, Adam, he won five. So if you can beat Adam. I, ⁓ Brian Ernst, he has also won several. I believe he may have won four or five as well. So we got to out beat Brian and Adam this year. Who can win four or five and take home some big prizes. So we have a Yeti Cooler donated

Erika (1:01:29)
Whoa! That's some luck.

There you go.

Jennifer (1:01:47)
by our fellow mathlete that we have not met, Eric, from Austin, Texas, MJ. So she's running with ⁓ Jenna in Austin and they got us a Yeti cooler. So that is one of our big prizes that is coming to the August 2nd. So if you want a Yeti cooler.

Eric (1:02:07)
We should actually shout out a pod fam, Alyssa Pinozzi, who works at Revved. She has donated, we're gonna call it one of our grand prizes, a thousand dollar valued prize for an entire studio ride.

Erika (1:02:23)
⁓ my god.

Jennifer (1:02:23)
Yeah.

Eric (1:02:24)
Yes, she has also offered, we got to figure out the logistics, but we might have a charity ride at her studio where you guys can show up and ride the bikes. And with us, we got to work out the details on that. think that might be, we're working out the details because that's in Boston. So it's like, what's the right time, the right day, the right time of day to go? Do we think we can get a lot of people from New Hampshire? We're going to see, we're going to email her back and see like, okay, if the studio can hold 50, but we can only really get

Are we able to fill the ⁓ 30 somehow? Like we're working on those things. I have stepped up to the plate late, but I am now reaching out to many brands like her and like my race tats. And even like I reached out to Relay Goods. I'm going to drop their name. I reached out to Relay Goods. I hope they put something out there. And Erica has a family member who works at UFOs. So I'm working on Erica to work on her UFOs contact and not be...

pretty sweet as Jen there has the UFOs. And yeah, I'm wicked excited to try out Firefly Recovery. I really am. So this has been amazing. These brands have really stepped up. For those of you who can't make the raffle night, we will think of something to have you and keep you involved. A virtual gift maybe or a virtual like just prize like money. Everybody likes money. We could just do like, hey.

Erika (1:03:23)
We're big fans of UFOs over here.

Eric (1:03:48)
win $100, buy a ticket for $5. I don't know. We'll work on those and we are also going to have squares, which I thought you could only do squares around football, but apparently that's not true. Jen's gonna help me out and me and Chelsea and Jen, we're gonna have a square, like 200 squares and some big prizes.

Jennifer (1:04:11)
Yeah, 200 squares.

We're to sell them for $10. We might have more mathletes involved in it, but confirmed me and Chelsea. We're going to sell 200 squares, $10 squares to win $200. So we'll send out more details on that either late June, early July. So look forward around July 4th and I'll probably pick our winners either at the raffle.

or right around that same time in August. So give us a month or so to get to sell 200 squares, which is a huge challenge for us. So I think we can handle 200 squares. I think we have 200 people that are willing to donate $10 to win $200. And it goes to a great cause for forced charities.

Eric (1:04:58)
Yeah. So you guys rock. You guys all rock. I want to thank the entire pod fam who has always helped and supported us, whether it's through Patreon or liking and sharing and subscribing and supporting all our guests we've had on the podcast like Jennifer before. So guys, thank you so much. Look in the show notes for all the links in the future for my New York City fundraising, for Erica's Chicago fundraising, for Team Force, for the raffle night, everything we're going to have.

Go check out, click the affiliate link for My Race Tats. Get yourself some My Race Tats because 15 % of all their sales, when you click that link, are gonna go towards Team Force. And look for more of those in the coming weeks as more brands, we hope, step up as we've asked them to be part of this. And instead of just giving a discount or giving us a little bit of money, let's make it worth everyone's while. You buy their product, they'll give you a portion of their sale.

I think that's a really fun way to fundraise money. this was awesome. Jen, I can't let you go without asking my final question because you haven't been on the podcast since last year. And last year I would ask you for a code brown commandment, but I've changed my question up. You know now that On The Runs is going to host an epic pasta dinner at the end of the year with all our 2025 guests.

Now it's virtual, it's imaginary, whatever, we can really do this. But you get to bring a plus one. You can bring anyone in the world, alive or dead, who are you going to bring as your plus one to our on the runs pasta dinner?

Jennifer (1:06:37)
⁓ alive or dead? So I've been told that I look like Sandra Bullock when she was in Speed, so I would love to meet her in person so she could go and then if she's like having a movie about like her life maybe to play her when she was like in her first.

Eric (1:06:54)
That'd be great.

Is she originally from Vermont?

Jennifer (1:07:00)
I think like she's a North East, no, she's a North Easterner. Yes, she's, I think she's from like Northeast area. But yeah, I've been told like bartending that I look like her. So I think it'd be really cool. I also dressed up like her and my grandma, like Betty White from the proposal. And we did the dance to the windows, to the walls. Yes, I taught my grandma that dance. So yes, so that'd be really cool. ⁓

Eric (1:07:02)
Yeah!

Yeah.

Erika (1:07:08)
How did I not know that?

to the wall.

That's so fun.

Eric (1:07:27)
So she's originally

actually from Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC. I think maybe she vacations in Vermont a lot or something. yeah, I remember both those speed movies. They were great. So I think that's cool. It'll be amazing to have her there. She's so cool. yeah, we'll make it happen. We'll make it happen. I love that you picked her. That's pretty cool. And you would do a kick-ass job playing her in a movie.

Jennifer (1:07:31)
virgin.

If you can get that to happen, that'd be awesome.

Erika (1:07:46)
We'll pull some strings.

Jennifer (1:07:49)
And if.

I feel like I'm a little short, but I would have to wear like taller shoes. I feel like she's a tall lady. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓

Eric (1:08:01)
She does look tall, but you know, it's the movies. You can make movie magic happen. This was a lot

of fun. Erica, thanks for entertaining me here on a fundraising episode. Episode 167.

Erika (1:08:11)
It was really, really

Jennifer (1:08:12)
Erica, thank you.

Erika (1:08:13)
cool to hear what you guys have going on. You guys are set up very well to hit your goals, and I hope you do so sooner rather than later, just so you have no stress and you guys can relax and focus on your training and just have a blast with the rest of the athletes.

Eric (1:08:29)
Yeah, and Erica is gonna do the pie in the face ⁓ option. She chose that. So we're gonna have a couple pies, maybe three or four. Yeah, absolutely. we could totally, we'll do something fun like that, ⁓ donate for pie in the face. And I will let you throw pie in my face if I get to throw one in yours.

Erika (1:08:39)
better get a cut of this for my charity. OK, you guys, if I'm getting a pie in the face, that's that's my thing.

Jennifer (1:08:46)
yeah.

Erika (1:08:49)
up with

Jennifer (1:08:50)
Thank you.

the pie

in the face is. Like people put money into a pot and who's ever pot wins they get pie in the face. So we can do that at the raffle.

Eric (1:09:03)
I like that. already know who's going to get the pie in the face, but I support it. ⁓ I support it.

Jennifer (1:09:06)
You. The one last

thing I have to say, I know everyone doesn't always have the funds to donate to charity or they're already donating to another charity. The biggest thing people can do to support us is sharing, sharing our link, sharing with friends and family. And yes, every dollar counts, but one extra share to somebody that might not be affiliated with us or know us.

Eric (1:09:23)
Yes.

Erika (1:09:24)
Absolutely.

Jennifer (1:09:36)
is just an extra addition to supporting too. So invite a friend, share that link on their social media is a great support and great help to our cause too.

Eric (1:09:48)
And let's add this too, if you have a cool product or something like Patrick, when he learned I was doing this, he donated his book and he actually threw in two $50 gift cards for Barnes and Noble as well. If you want to, if you have a cool product or if you're a carpenter and you make your own wine racks and you want to donate that, we'll happily accept. If you're just like, hey, I can't make it, but you know what? I'm going to go and buy a Millennium running gift card and you guys can throw it in a basket. We'll happily accept that too.

This is, this is, you know, a team effort from everybody. If you can't make the night, we'll find a way to make you feel involved, especially through the podcast. We're going to hopefully record live from one of the yoga nights. And I hope to have that be one of the yoga nights before the raffle night. And then we'll do something fun to activate this in August after, because one, one interesting thing, Erica is we have to make our fundraising goals by September 1st.

Erika (1:10:42)
Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Eric (1:10:48)
Two months before the marathon. We don't have until like two weeks after. We have to make our goals two months before.

Erika (1:10:56)
Wow, yeah, that's a time limit. That is a little bit of a time crunch, but you guys have it. You guys will get there. You're doing the work. It'll happen.

Jennifer (1:10:57)
Yeah.

Eric (1:11:05)
I'll tell you this, you know what it allows though? It

allows two months of no stress.

Jennifer (1:11:11)
That's what I'm thinking. Yeah.

Erika (1:11:11)
Exactly. See, they

want you to focus on your training after that point. They're like, you've you've been stressing about this for six months already. Time to get on the running part.

Eric (1:11:22)
Yep.

Well, this was a lot of fun. Jen, thanks for coming back on the pod. Thanks for doing this with me. Thank you for all you've done. You're a kick-ass rock star of a fundraiser. And we'll be talking more now that Boston Weeks is over. Things have calmed down a little bit on the podcast. We're going, let's not forget, Erica is running Chicago in honor of her brother for the American Suicide Foundation of Suicide Prevention, right? I got it right.

Jennifer (1:11:23)
Exactly.

Erika (1:11:50)
Close it up.

Jennifer (1:11:50)
Yes.

Eric (1:11:51)
Like, let's not forget, yeah, let's not forget.

Jennifer (1:11:51)
That is a great cause. Great cause too. Yes.

Erika (1:11:53)
Yes.

Eric (1:11:56)
And yes, she has already surpassed her goal within like six hours of announcing it. So.

Jennifer (1:12:00)
Yeah

Erika (1:12:04)
Thank you. Thank you.

Eric (1:12:05)
but she's still fundraising and you can still donate

to her too. So the boys have just run in my room. That means it is time to go. Jennifer, thank you. Erica, thank you. take us home.

Erika (1:12:12)
We're calling it a night.

Thank you guys so much for listening. Just make sure you check out the Team Force fundraising pages. You know we love you.

Eric (1:12:24)
Don't fear the code brown!

Erika (1:12:26)
Don't forget to stretch and do yoga.

Jennifer (1:12:30)
Yes!