Monday Night Media Best of 2025 | Part 1

Welcome to the Best of Monday Night Media 2025! On This Bonus episode you'll hear some fun clips from the On The Runs Podcast, The Allie G Show and the Re-Crap.

This bonus episode explores the highlights of the first half of 2025, focusing on running experiences, training insights, and the emotional journey of completing marathons. It delves into the transformation of running from a punishment to a source of joy, the importance of community and friendships in running, and memorable stories that showcase the challenges and triumphs faced by runners. Additionally, it touches on crisis management in race organization and the unique experiences of the New York City Marathon, culminating in a discussion about the journey from a music background to engaging with the running community as 'Hydration Guy.' In this engaging conversation, Eric shares his journey of becoming the 'Hydration Guy,' a role he embraced to support the running community by providing hydration at local events. He discusses the impact of his charitable efforts, raising thousands for various organizations, and how he integrated himself into the running community through participation and volunteering. The conversation also touches on high-pressure moments in racing, including his experiences at the New York City Marathon, and the importance of music in his running routine. The episode concludes with light-hearted interactions with friends, showcasing the camaraderie within the running community.

Chapters

01:14 - Becs and Ash - OTR 137

05:52 - Neil Korf - TAGS Track 1

11:14 - Susie Chan - OTR 141

15:27 - Syd - TAGS Track 2

20:26 - Darris and Star Blackford - OTR 143

25:45 - Mariana Ferandez - TAGS Track 6

34:41 - Alex Hermanson " Herm Runs" - OTR 150

41:42 - Jaye Duncan - Re-Crap Sample 2

50:45 - Patrick Leber -TAGS Track 10

57:23 - Mike Scott -| OTR 158

59:45 - Chad "The Hydration Guy" - TAGS Track 12

01:09:32 - Becca Pizzi - OTR 160

01:14:45 - Kelly Roberts Stalker Story - Re-Crap Sample 3

01:18:23 - Mike Beeman - TAGS Track 17

01:25:47 - Wyatt Moss - OTR 166

01:32:32 - Hanna Knuuttunen - TAGS Track 18

01:44:36 - Phone Calls - OTR 169

Strava Group
Linktree - Find everything here
Instagram - Follow us on the gram
YouTube - Subscribe to our channel
Patreon - Support us
Threads
Email us at OnTheRunsPod@gmail.com

Don't Fear The Code Brown and Don't Forget To Stretch!

Transcript

Eric (00:55)
What's up everybody and welcome to a bonus episode. I hope you all having a wonderful holiday right now, but this is the best of 2025 part one. We're going back to the first half of the year, doing it a little differently than the last couple of years. Last couple of years, I put a lot of work into these and I got a clip of everything. This time I just picked a few here and there. We have 17 amazing clips from not just on the runs, but the Allie G show and the re-crap.

that highlight the first half of the year. It was a great year 2025. I hope you guys are having a wonderful holiday so far, enjoying the off season of podcasting kind of, and we still got some fun things. I know you heard from the re-crap theory of Justin. They're going to be back next week too. I think Six Star might be there. We jumped on another podcast that you're going to get to hear next week and the Christmas special is coming up soon. So enjoy this best of episode.

I miss you guys, I can't wait to podcast, but know, Erica deserves her time off and we're gonna give her her time off. And she's out there getting some good content of her races, so I'm proud of her. You guys are awesome, have a kick-ass day and week. Talk to you soon.

No, we all thought we had such a nice day of organization and like getting our feet on the ground ready. like when we said we went for run that morning, Asherine and I did nearly eight miles and we didn't chill. Like we were talking, but like we can also run pretty fast when we talk. We went hard. Becs, we were doing 630s, I'll just tell you. Because I remember

Shereen being like, we're doing 630s and Bex is like, this might be the only time we feel this way. So we're going to keep going this way. And I'm like, okay, let's go. Remember that? Like, we might not feel this way again. So let's just take it right now. so yeah, it was not your normal shakeout run. It was not, cause we thought we had a whole day off or like a real easy short run the next day. then bam, David Kelly pops that bubble and cranks the anxiety button.

So were there regrets for those 630 miles? No, because I mean, here's, we know, I mean, what's one, one day early to get started at like a solid pace. Yeah, you guys had trained your ass off. Yeah, you guys were ready. So that that extra little pace increase was brilliant. I feel like it was like, ⁓ yeah, I wouldn't have done anything different.

So tell us about Antarctica then. What was that experience like? think it kind of felt like everyone... the tinkle pot. Don't... There are no details on the tinkle pot. This starts our Code Brown stories. Let's go. have. So, I mean, I think... I don't remember what race it was. You might, Ash. But we talked about Erika and Erik whilst we were running because we said, like, oh my God, they are going to have a field day.

with all of our stories. ⁓ my god, you're making us so happy right now. So Antarctica was our longest loops, ⁓ four 10k loops. As we said, all the other ones were real short. ⁓ So this was, little did we know at the time, we thought all of them were going to be like four loops, six loops, maybe eight, but no, that went. ⁓

And so we're running in the middle of Antarctica. I mean, it's the white desert. It is beautiful and empty and just magical. Second lap in, I'm like, I have to go. Not too magical anymore. it was painful. I think, Ash, I think you said the same, Hillary, and we were all like, we had this pain in our stomachs. And we were like, okay, is it time of month? Like what's happening? It was just a weird like, okay.

And then you're like, okay, well, I'm on the bottom of the earth. I've traveled a long way. There's probably a lot going on. And we get up to the top aid station and I said to the guys, I was like, is there a bathroom anywhere? You know, my true British way of like, oh, hello, can I, I need to use the bathroom. And this guy, honestly, it was a table with frozen water and frozen gummy bears essentially on it. And he steps to the side and just gestures to this box with, it's a trail.

ultra running version with a toilet lid on it and was like, here's the tinkle pot. Literally was like, I don't need to tinkle.

this because ⁓ Tarek posted a picture of it. This is what we had and I am not as brave as Tarek perhaps but I wasn't gonna get my bare naked ass out on day one and go number two in front of everyone like right there and then. ⁓ So I kept running and screamed to the medics at some point like where's the private toilet?

They really didn't want us to go in like the staff area. They're clearly trying to keep that clean. ⁓ But Hillary and I found it and we ran. That was the fastest loop. You gotta do what you gotta do. Which is actually like amazing that you sometimes you just you can't run. There is no option. It is like I'm dead stop in my tracks. We got there Ash. We got there. The next ⁓ yeah we yeah there was. We definitely got to that point. We'll wait. We'll wait for those stories.

you know, when I first got the Peloton, I was excited that I could get this sort of cardio workout on the bike without having to run that, you know, first of all, you know, on the joints, it's just easier. Uh, and, and I was just thrilled to have the ability to really push myself without it. And when I started doing the running on Peloton, I realized that I could change my mindset about running and utilize this and incorporate it into my training without that feeling of dread. then.

And we'll get into this, sure, in a couple of minutes, but it went from something that I was actively avoiding to something that I was actively looking to put into my training routine. ⁓ I owe a lot of that to the ⁓ Peloton world, the instructors, and how they really brought running in, or presented running in a way where it was...

something easy to approach and to change a mindset into a positive mindset. ⁓ And just really it was almost like I was trying something new because everything was different about it than what I had previously assumed was running. ⁓ No, totally. And I'll backtrack a second because you said a lot of interesting things. I think that running for me in high school and in the early days was always a punishment.

So I think that's why, you know what I mean? When you play high school sports, and again, I would think that you had this experience. We went to the same high school. ⁓ But like in lacrosse, if we did something wrong, was like, go run around the track. And in soccer, if like we didn't reach a goal before the opposing team got to the high school for the game, it was like, go run laps. It was always a punishment. I never did, similar to you, I never did track and field. So it was...

that was really my only view of it. It was either a punishment or I was like running up and down the field in the game because I played very, very running heavy sports. So I can definitely sympathize with that. And I think a lot of people can too. It definitely couldn't have positives. There was nothing positive associated with running at that time. There was nothing about that cathartic experience or being out in nature or sense of accomplishment. you're absolutely right.

Yeah, it's it's funny because I my favorite route is going around the high school now and we have and going around the pond because I don't know if it's just that it feels so familiar or it's just that like now it's not a punishment. So I kind of like going that route because it's like, I can do this and nobody's yelling at me. Yeah, you have to take ownership these days. ⁓ Yeah. But yeah, we have.

we had so many like beautiful opportunities and places to run back then. And I never took advantage of it because it was always a punishment. I never wanted to do the pacer test. I never wanted to do the mile. I never wanted to do any of those things that like had to be done. And now that we have the freedom to kind of do it in our own way, and to your point with Peloton, it's like, you can do literally whatever you want. You can just run, you can pick music focus classes, you can pick a certain instructor, you can do

anything you want and it's customizable to you and what's going to work for you that day. So I think that definitely played a factor for me and it seemed like that totally played a factor for you. it's actually if you think about it, even when you go back to that period of time where you're really running more and more because you sports that you weren't ⁓ at that time, I didn't have any music I was listening to or anything like that. if anything, it's just you know, the coach yelling or

or it's just a horrible environment to really try to say, this is something I'm going to embrace versus now. So all those little factors that I wasn't even thinking about before. ⁓ you know, when I go back to, it wasn't like that with boxing for me, because like I mentioned earlier, even though the running part was something like, I got to do three miles, you know, and then get into it. It was still...

My gym, the PAL program had the ability to use a water reservation. So it was actually really, it was really nice to be able to go through the woods and you saw wildlife, you go by the water. So there was something about that that was really, it was actually enjoyable to be in those surroundings and getting to know your team and ⁓ have that experience.

Yeah, the high school situation is definitely different. I don't have anything like that. And I'll be honest, they didn't really give us a lot of time to change for gym. So I was usually running around the track like with my jeans underneath my sweatpants, which in hindsight is so disgusting. Gym clothes. And I would like walk to class right after. But you only had like three minutes and then you would get in trouble. So I was like, I'm just going to put my sweats over my jeans and see what happens. I get it.

remember, yeah, the worst was when you had first grade gym. You get there, you're all showered, ready for school. And it's like, go to that disgusting locker and put on those clothes that have been sitting there for a week. If you're lucky, mine were there for months. Because I never wore them. Because I never came to a gym. Anyway.

Inside that book are a ton of running stories that we would love to hear. Yes, I have lots. I mean, yes, I have lots of running stories. That's probably about a quarter of what's happened to me. Some of the runs I've done, I had to of filter out, decide which ones were the big hitters. But yeah, I've got stories for days about Well, I feel like maybe we could get everybody to read your book, which is great. Please do. And then maybe we can get an exclusive, like if there was some other race that you couldn't include in the book.

I can tell you about one night because I really wish I had put it in there actually because it's one of the most weirdest experience I had running and it didn't make the book and I don't know why I just in the end it's like oh yeah that happened didn't it. yeah if you want to share a story that didn't make the book I think that would be beneficial too. So I've run in some sort of peculiar places as well I've run in a few jungles

less fun than the desert. not going to lie. Can I just tell you, can't believe you ran. I am so afraid of bugs in general that you could not pay me enough to go to a jungle. Don't. So two things. I've now got two things that didn't make the book. I don't like bugs either. I've run through a few jungles. Horrendous. Horrendous. And the heebie-jeebies just thinking about

Horrendous. Every time I fell over, which was very frequently, this is a race I did called Jungle Ultra. And I ran from the Andes down to the Amazon basin through the Amazon rainforest, self-sufficient. Everything got wet by day one. I bugs in my food. I was just eating the bugs. just, you know, just like I had nothing else to eat. So just had to eat. I remember looking around at some sweets I had and they just had the holes in where the bugs had gone in thinking, I'm just going to eat this.

fell over. was just instantly covered in ants that were biting me. It was horrible. Anyway, that is in the book. It was one of the hardest things I did. I don't like spiders. I have a real issue with spiders. In a different jungle in a race in Costa Rica, which I've done a few times now, it was a multi-stage race, of course, and it was maybe the third day.

And they said, be careful down tarantula alley. Like they were just doing a race briefing and they just threw that in there like a little throw away. don't, just be careful around tarantula alley. then a mile nine. I'm like, ⁓ can we just rewind? What is tarantula alley? ⁓ It basically we had to run through about half mile of tarantula nest. It was the fastest mile. It was the fastest half mile I've done in my life. I was like, I was five minute mining through that thing. was like, get me out. ⁓ yeah. I believe you. I was this is horrific.

Did you make it through unscathed? did. just, I decided, cause I'm so scared. If I'd saw one, probably, I get, I paralyze with fear. So I was just looking ahead and I was just praying to God I didn't fall over. I've done that race three times. I know that bit just, I paired up with somebody the last two times. I was like, I'm just waiting, I'm going to wait for somebody to be with me and like cling onto them. I would draft behind them, like just try and be like, my God, just.

go just go. Horrible. Horrible. goodness. So that's one thing I like to make it in and another one and again this is animal flavoured. I tripped over an alligator once. Whoa! didn't see it. Didn't see it. Didn't see it there. it was obviously, it was clearly there because it was quite big and I was absolutely out of it. I was running in Florida in Keys 100. Have you heard of that race? It's Yes. ⁓ my god that was just in Florida. You tripped over an alligator? I think it was an alligator. was...

I'm going to say this, it was about five foot, whatever it was, it was a massive lizard. was a massive lizard. And it was just by the side of the road. And it was just fine. It was just chilling. And I was just, I was about 65 miles in. So I was a little bit, a little bit like, like, and then I was with my husband because I make him run a lot of races with me and he was running ahead. And then I just fell over it. And he was like, I was like, Oh my God, why didn't you tell me? And he was like, it's a

It's a five-foot lizard. How could you not see it? Could he just run around it, carried on?

That weekend was so much fun. I was definitely so nervous. And looking back now, it's funny because I was 10 times more nervous for the marathon. And the half marathon feels like such an easier feat now than what just happened last weekend. fun, doesn't it? Yeah, literally. Just for fun, let's run 13 miles. ⁓ But that whole experience with going to the expo and just the energy around it was just new for me. I wasn't really exposed to the running community.

at that point and like how big these things are. Like, I don't know what I thought it was, but it definitely wasn't all that. And like the expo was so much fun. And then we went to the Jonas Brothers concert that night and like all that stuff. But I'll never forget that morning because you obviously started like way before me. And so I'm like waiting for my Uber to come and me and KL this time, like Kate, like, we didn't really like we knew each other. Like we were hanging out, but like we weren't like

close or anything. really threw you into the fire. Sorry. And so like Chris is still sleeping. It's early. I'm like waiting for my Uber. I'm like sitting in the lobby. Okay, comes down and I don't know if she remembers this but I was like, I couldn't even speak. I was like such a nervous wreck. I'm like, I can't believe I'm about to do this. Plus I was like nervous about getting to the start line because like I was by myself and I didn't know where I was going really. And I just remember her coming down and being like, good luck. And I was like,

Maybe I shouldn't go like this is like terrible. don't know if I could do it. And then I ended up getting in the Uber and like all of Brooklyn was closed. The guy was like yelling at me. He's like, where am I supposed to go? And I'm like, that's for you to find out. don't know why. I'm paying you. luckily I ended up being there. Like I got there early enough, but the bathroom lines were so long that I basically got there, waited in line for the bathroom and then my corral opened.

So like, I didn't have to do a lot of waiting around, which was probably best for me in that moment. But then Alex texts me right when I'm about to take off and she's like, oh, I just finished. And I'm like, haven't even started yet. And that really killed me. But the, it was freezing by the way. was like, yeah, was like 11 degrees. Of course we say two different things. This happens all the time to me and Sud.

pretty much every time we come to a silver lining. It was freezing. When I started, it was 11 degrees. Yeah, you started earlier than me. So you're probably right. At that time, it was probably 11 degrees. See, silver lining. We found it. Always. And like so cold that... The middle ground, I should say. Yeah, middle ground. So cold that like the water, when I was getting to the water stations, like the top of the water was literally freezing over. That's how cold it was.

You remember too, when you would run through the water station, it was frozen on the ground. Yeah. had to be careful, like just moving. So I don't even know why I feel like, like I, I remember that race obviously, but like I blocked a lot of it, my memory and it feels so old. But it, it wasn't terrible. And I feel like in the moment it felt really, really, really hard. Now that I've done the marathon and I, I felt what that felt like I would take that any day.

⁓ but it was such a cool experience and just like the crowds, even for the United half are like so good. And I had like friends that were there and like seeing you guys also, and like Chris was there and the whole experience was just, was just fun. I mean, again, in the moment, some of it, was like, why did Alex ask me to do this? It's crazy. ⁓ but I remember crossing the finish line.

And I'm like not an emotional person at all. Like nothing really makes me emotional, like period, even sad stuff. I've seen Cid cry like maybe twice now. Yeah. All related to running probably too. And like, I didn't think that I would get something emotional from something like that, especially cause like, especially for like accomplishments and good stuff. Like I'm like, I'm proud of myself, but I never really had that emotion. I crossed the finish line and I was like fighting back the tears. I was like, I can't believe I just did that. Like.

I would never have guessed years ago that I could do something like that. And it was just like such a cool feeling. And one thing I think is really fun about running, ⁓ because I don't think a lot of it is fun to be honest with you, but what I think is really cool about it is like, there's so many things that we do and people achieve and like sports, like you rely on other factors a lot, like your teammates or equipment or whatever.

I feel like running is unique because like it's really when you boil down to it just yourself and like your physical body and your mental self as well trying to get across the finish line and like it's just you and working towards this goal for the most part. And so I think that really like caught up to me in the moment and I was like, my God, I can't believe I just did that.

Tell them about the chips and the metals. Those are your two best stories. 2014 was definitely a 20 pounder. You know, we're getting ready. Our bibs are being prepared and they're down in South Carolina by a company that did the printing. And I'm getting nervous because they're not there. We're getting ready to have them shipped to us. And I just happened to call the company and just made the comment.

Okay, chips are, you you've got our address, you're ready to ship those. And the bibs, you're ready to send those. Everything went okay with getting the chips on. And everything went okay putting the chips on the bibs, right? And the guy says on the other end of the line, what chips? We had sent the chips to them and they never found them and unpacked them and therefore never put them on. ⁓ no. And couldn't find them. And couldn't find them. ⁓

basically found them at the last minute. shipped everything back to us. We installed them in 48 hours. So you had to We were in the Expo Hall. And this was during, if you'll remember, the bell curve in the early and mid teen years when every race was sold out. It was standing room only. so we were in the Expo Hall the Friday morning that the Expo opened.

finishing up. mean, we it was friends. was family. was strangers. It was like you all hands on deck. my gosh. I don't have time to worry about that because I'm more concerned that our chips are our metals aren't There was a strike in the typhoon. There was a typhoon and a port strike out on the West Coast and our and males are gone from China at the time. And basically

We're told they're not coming. We're not going to get them. They're locked in some container and they can't... You know, we're looking at... We have three pallets of metals and we're behind ships of Nike gear and Samsung, know, stereos and TVs and all that. Star and some other teammates behind my back, basically, trapped down, got them out of customs, got them shipped.

They found a guy who drove across the country in an unmarked white van. Alan Lamb. Alan Lamb. Thank God for Alan Lamb. He made it across the country. We're talking like an unimaginable amount of time he got here. He shows up at the back entrance to our our start finish area. The race has started. The chip or the medals pull up. This guy.

screeches to a halt. Well, the FBI, remember this is a year after Boston. my God. ⁓ my God. FBI swarmed this guy's unmarked white van. He doesn't know what's going on. The dog sniffing dogs. The dogs are like jumping into the van. The van is a mess. The metals have just been strewn everywhere. I swear, I can't believe he didn't flip over this van in like Kansas or something. We missed.

The first 30 minutes of finishers didn't get a medal, but they got them because we made announcements to please go to the information tent. You know, we knew who they were. The first 30 wasn't a huge number. First 30 minutes of the half marathon. But yeah, so we had we had a total of 10 things went wrong that year of just. Just weird, crazy things, but we got through it.

So Alan Lamb had left at like two o'clock in the morning Pacific time from the port of Long Beach and took the whole route from California to Arizona to I can't remember it now and I'm not great with geography. We were certain and we were tracking him like Moorad tracking Santa. We were sure he was going to be there in time for the race, but what we forgot about

was Indiana does not do daylight savings time. So we actually had the time zones wrong and it scooched us by an hour. nevertheless. But they saved me. They didn't tell me. They knew I had just given up on it. I was just prepared. I think we told you once they were in Arizona. I think he was on the road and they were out of California. And we said, Daris.

There's an unmarked white van somewhere in Arizona. The medals are in it. We actually ended up winning a crisis communication award from our local communications organization. Get out of here. Yeah, because we were prepared on how we prepared and how we addressed it. And we basically fessed up the people right away said, look, this, you know, this this is this might not happen. We accepted that this was a situation. But to the point of being prepared long term, we immediately

switch to a company up in Massachusetts that makes our medals. And it Ashworth? Ashworth Awards. will never, ever import them. Having the lack of control of something like that is never going to happen. Oh my goodness. least on my one.

You can read it, not even in my notes. It's my favorite story to tell, but I'll let you tell it. Where I served myself a piece of whole pie. I will let you tell the story. In my overconfidence of, Allie had 12, I had 16, and our coach, he had really suggested, he was like, you should really run with Allie. She'd be a great running partner. was like, I already love running with Allie. So for me, it was like a no brainer. I was like, I know she's faster, but like,

I enjoy running with her. What is it like going to be running this amount of time? Cause all we've done our shakeout runs. was like, Oh, and then you feel pressure. I'm like, do I have to, like, do we have to talk the whole time? Can I listen to music? So I tell Allie this friendship is for show. She actually doesn't like me. Well, I was worried. was like, and then I'm not going to slow her down in my cockiness. was like, well, you have 12.

And I have 16. were sitting right here, literally sitting right here. like, you do your 12. can do our 12 together and then you can stop and I'll do the last four by myself. You don't need to come. And I think I said it like, you were literally, I like, don't need to come to the last four because I have 16 and you have 12. Yeah. Yeah. And then lo and behold, that run happens and yours truly is dying.

I actually wanted to punch myself in the face when you said that because it was so awkward. She's like, well, I was like, well, we're never being friends again. And we're 12 miles in and I'm like, don't leave me. I'm dying. I can't finish this. And she's like, she was obviously like happy go long happy. She's like, sure, I can do four more. And here I was like, just like crawling on the floor.

I was so humbled that day. was so funny. I don't know if that was the day of the run that like we finished and I was like wobbling home. We stopped to get a drink. Yeah. And then you didn't warn me that you were like, I'm going to fall over. I was just like, I'm not doing great. She like literally picked me up for those the 16 miles, but for those like cool as a cucumber, she was still right. She was like, I'm fine. She kept going. I was like, no, not okay. I was dying also.

But it is one of my favorite stories. What a turning point in our friendship, for real. You can stay home for the last year. Yeah, just like, actually, you don't need to go home. Okay. Okay. won't. And the way that I needed Allie. So yeah, but that I needed you to. It was a good experience because I think it allows, I don't know, these long runs are no cakewalk, right? You have to, it depends on whether it depends on how tired you are. It depends on your nutrition. it's

good or not. And you meet each other where you are. And sometimes one of you is on the struggle bus. I clearly was that day. But there is such a support system of getting through like a necessary evil of training for this, that had I been by myself, I would have bowed out. I just, you know, and I, and I did, I did for some runs that I was doing solo, but there's something about

Whether it's accountability or company, whatever, it's just, so nice. And the time goes by faster. And I've always said that running in so many ways is a love language. I experienced it, ⁓ even with my own brother, I have this incredible memory of running with him right before his wedding day. And he's not much of a talker, so we don't like chit chat too much, but there's some

vulnerability that happens when you're out there pounding the pavement that you remember he looked over and he was just like, Hey, what song do you think I should dance to with my meet you for like the fact that he was asking for music wrecks, like something that I don't think he would have ever asked me in casual conversation, but we were at that point running, we were both sweating, it was really hot. And he just, and we chatted and we went through different selections and like, what about this one? And similarly, even though we knew each other somewhat, but not a lot.

there's something that happens where your walls come down and all of a sudden it's like, Hey, I'm going through this or you start revealing something or sharing something of your past that becomes like, you can't do that at a bar sometimes, or you can't do that. It just becomes a really open forum with no judgment. And it carries you through for, we did it again, 18 miles, 20 miles.

Yeah, it's just a really beautiful thing that can happen when you share the road and like that kind of very trying and intense experience. No, it's so true. And I feel like you helped me so much in that way. like, silently, like it just kind of happened because I never really ran with anyone because as you know, everyone's like, whatever different paces. And like, I totally understand that it can stop. I'm not too fast. Ferry, if you're listening.

I very little I would slow her down. I would pull her back so she would have an easy run which I'm okay with I think we know No, but everyone is so afraid to run with me But I feel like you were like one of the only people that a took a chance on running with me and like actually staying together step by step ⁓ But also like you let me put my walls down and like I don't know I just think you build strong bonds when you have the opportunity to

It's so vulnerable. it's so open and raw in so many ways that there's no, I think any kind of obstacle or guardrail that you set up for yourself, they come down, they have to, because you're in it together. Because my mascara is dripping from my face and you're like, here's my sleeve. I was like, need to take this off. Well, yeah, and I don't know, like,

bathroom stops or nutrition of your stomachs making noises like the or the blister on your feet or we we had this one run that was so hot it was I could not stop sweating I was running around the park and was so human that was we need to stop by my apartment and like my shoes were like squish squish squish squish squish because I I said to you I was like are you is that your feet? Yeah my shoes are making noises it was just so sweaty and we stopped here did a wardrobe change like changed up went back out there

And the best part is that as opposed to when I ran with my mother in those long runs, like, I felt like the pace, like she was not that great of a pace or she would keep pulling ahead. You're great at meeting people where they are, or at least where I was and kept my stride. We, I never felt like you were pushing me too much. And so I really thank you for that because in a way I felt like it was a proper training run and.

The best part about that is even like, even when we go to race day, like there's never been this competitive, like there's so much mutual respect and admiration for how we both do what we do that this like fierce or like intimidation factor has never, like I'm in awe of you, but it's never been like, well, have to like, that's what it is. were recording a podcast and I'm like, I don't even know can even look at you right now. That's where she gets it. it's so true. And I feel like,

I know you very well now and you know me very well. It's like, we don't really have that competitive against each other. Like I don't have that with anybody else either. So I think it just naturally kind of worked itself out. It's a true respect for how the kind of runner that you are and that, and it really shows not just in being able to train together, but another one of my favorite memories is we now have three or four different races where.

the women's half was the first one I saw Allie she crossed the finish line and she was waiting. And so she was the one that like put the medal around my my neck and I that was such a difficult race for so many reasons that it felt like the warmest hug to be able to meet one of my dearest friends like at the finish line and we've recreated that like at the mini 10k like she was there and like

Now it's like, want Allie to meet me at the finish. Like that's the person I want to see. And we did it again in the New York City Marathon. time. I was told you, can't get rid of me. I found her like after I crossed the finish line. was like, I got the time that I wanted. She got a time she wanted. Like we were both so excited. And it was like, but I have to have her. Like I got the medal in my hand. I was like, I will not put this on. And I gave it to Allie and she put it around my neck. And like, that's been the tradition that we've built.

You know, that could be where the term, Erica and I use, spare no details, was born. And I would like you, we love running stories and we love to hear like the first race or the first marathon experience. I would like you, I would love to hear you tell me in spare no details about that New York City marathon one year after being inspired from everyone running. Tell us about that race. How did race day go? ⁓ it was everything I could have ever imagined and nothing at all what I was expecting.

⁓ you know, the New York City marathon is a marathon in itself. The day, because you have to get up at like four in the morning, hop on a boss to Staten Island. Then you're in the starting village for like, I don't know, four or five hours. And then you start going and you're immediately running up a bridge. It's the just hardest bridge of the day. Nobody tells you that too. Mile 16 one's bad, but Faradon might be worse.

And then, you know, during training, I think for the New York City Marathon, did one 18-mile. I followed the hit three hours rule and stopped. Never do more than three hours. And so that last 10K, let's actually call it the last 10 miles actually.

really were a lot harder than you could have ever imagined. And I think the number one thing that you'll trick yourself into, especially for your first marathon, is that you've done the work and race day is going to be easy. A lot of people will tell you you've done the work to 26.2 mile party. And there's a lot of truth to that. But also, you have to work one more time to get to that finish line. The work is not over, over. You really are going to have to grind a bit to get through that marathon.

And I really, kind of, you know, let myself go and I was like, it's 26.2 miles. The crowds will carry me through. They do until you, you know, get a wrench thrown in your way. Like you cramp, like you've never cramped before, or you have a GI issue or you lose a gel. Like it's your last gel of the race and you lose it and you're like, no, how am going to fuel for the rest of this thing? So all of those things happened to me during that first race and

I just remember I did blackout when like Bronx probably like miles like 14 to 20. I was just like, I'm gone. I don't know what's happening. It was really hard. It was really slow. It was very painful. And then I get to Central Park and I run into my parents again. And I don't know on my okay. So mile 19, I see I don't know if you know Mike Cofuzzi. Yeah. So Mike

and Drew Whitcomb were waiting for me and they picked up my spirits. I needed them so much and they're like, you got this dude, you look so strong meanwhile. They're waiting for you? Yeah, that's cool. they're the best. They're the greatest guys in the world. They, from a very early point in my content creating career, just reached out and were like, hey, we support you and ever since haven't looked back. I love that. Big Kufuzi fan.

Yeah, I love Mike to death. And so he was waiting for me and he was like, you look so strong. I like look at my feet and I'm like shuffling. I'm chafing out of my armpits, which had never happened to me before. And I heard so much Mike, he's like, yeah, but you're almost there. I was like, no, I'm not. I know how much further we have left in this thing and I am nowhere near it. tell runners, you're almost there. Unless you literally see the finish line. And so.

struggled again for another five miles or so and then see them again right outside of Central Park and they were there. They were following you. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I was the last guy on their radar there. They were like, we're going to go watch Connor Mantz and Des Lyndon and then her. Like they probably took showers and ate a whole meal. And so they came back out and they ran with me for a bit, like a whole mile drew ran with me.

And that was right up Fifth Ave, which is the most painful part of the day. That's harder than any bridge actually. It's all uphill, it hurts and you're at the end and you just don't realize how big Central Park is. And for some reason you're like, just get to Central Park and then you're there. Central Park is freaking huge. And Fifth Ave, you just keep going up these tiered streets. So you're like, okay, I can see the top. And then you get to the top and you're like, oh, there's another one. And then another one. And then I make the...

right hand turn to go back into Central Park and I see Ben Johnson who's calling out for me and I'm like, Ben, what's up? And he's like, gotta keep going, you're so close. And I was like, like, I think I stopped and I was like, ⁓ how long ago did you finish? He's like, let's just say I went home, showered, ate a meal, called my family.

And I came back out here an hour ago. was like, man, okay. And yeah, then the rest of race, I cried a couple of times for sure, running through Central Park because that's where it became very, very real. And then I remember almost dying because you go back into Central Park and there's a curb you have to jump up onto.

which is just the most cruel thing in the world. You're already 26.1 miles into the race and you have to jump up onto a curb. It's like in an Ironman, they make you go up a ramp at the finish. Exactly. It's so brutal. So then I get across the finish line and I just break down. I am the most emotional guy in the world. That was the coolest thing ever. But at the same time, that was the first time that an idea hatched in my head that I was like, I can go further. My body can physically go further.

And so I was like, okay, well now I'm kind of curious about ultras. ⁓ And that's when I ran my first 50K right after that, the Frosty Looper for the first time. just to we have friends who do that every year. It's my favorite race in the world. I'm going to do Loopy this year. Are you doing Loopy? Yeah, I'm going to come I'm thinking about it. I might do the 12 hour. That's what I'm going to sign up for as the 12. Cooper River Park, have you ever been? ⁓

someone who did it a few years ago. So it's a really nice course. I like that it's paved. It's all paved. It becomes very, very annoying to do that loop for so long, but it's my favorite race of the year. I call it my baseline test. So the first year I was able to get 34 miles. This year I got 40. What am I going to do at Frosty Looper 2025? I don't know. We'll see. Maybe we get 42 miles or something like that. Awesome.

Oh, news. Sample two of the recrap has a special guest coming in. Officially first guest. guest. And we've stolen her from On the Runs episode 76. Coming in we have Jay Duncan. How are you Jay? Good. Can you guys hear me okay? Yes. Oh, awesome.

Thanks for joining. know this was kind of last minute. ⁓ Yes, and I just went for a run. So if you see me like constantly trying to fix my hair, it's ⁓ you look beautiful. You look fantastic. Thank you so much.

I was telling Eric earlier, I said, Jay was in my DM saying she wanted to come on as a guest. I was like, after our first sample, I already had people in my DMs. So it's great that this worked out. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, so we... It's great to be back. Yeah, right? I know. We touched on the last episode that we were kind of going to bring people back and just kind of catch up and see what you've been up to.

What you were on October 3rd, 2023. So yeah, that's been a while. Yeah. Like almost a year and half. Yeah. Right. And I totally creeped your Instagram today just to get a little timeline. And I'm like, you have been through a lot in that last year and a half. Yeah, it's it's been a year. That's for sure. A year and a half. Yeah, it's been. Yeah. So so I the last thing that I so I from the episode, right?

Yeah, so first from the first episode. So you when you actually posted on your Instagram about the episode, I think maybe one or two posts later, you were like, I got the email, I'm in I'm running for Dana Farber. So you had just recently found out so yeah, we can go start there. So all three of us actually ran the 2024 Boston Marathon for all three all three different. ⁓ Well, should have worn our coats. Yeah, right.

So, so yeah, you want to start with, um, guess maybe the Boston Marathon and that journey and, um, tell us about that and like how much money you raised and all that and the training and how that went. The raising the money was harder than the training to some degree at least. So I wound up, I think I raised a little over 15,000, which is just

mind boggling to me, but it was great. People were so generous. I strangers donating. had people that donated every single time I did a raffle or a fundraiser. had people donating. I still don't really have the words to just how amazing to see people's generosity was.

I trained for and ran the Boston Marathon. And while I was training, I started to notice that like my reconstruction was just off. So the side that I had radiation on was like sitting almost in my collarbone. It was like really shriveled, which is normal, but mine was pretty extreme. ⁓

So the week before Boston, I actually found out that I had to have another surgery two days, four days after Boston. So that kind of, that kind of like wrecked the marathon for me a little bit because it was just like hanging over my head. Couldn't stop thinking about it. I was kind of paranoid that continuing to run was going to make it worse.

I'll save all the gory details, but my implant was starting to come through. My scar was starting to open. ⁓ It was like pressing and pulling on it. It was pretty mild at the time, but basically my doctor said you can ignore it and hope that nothing happens. And there was a good, like a strong possibility that nothing was going to happen. ⁓ But if it did happen, then I had really no...

No other reconstruction would have been available. we tried, we tried shrinking the implant, like just putting a smaller one in and we really thought that that had done the trick. ⁓ he was able to take a lot of the radiated skin off and it closed up really easily. And then about a month later, I was just like, you know, sitting at work, hanging out, doing my thing and like something didn't feel right on my chest.

felt really, really hot. So I went into the bathroom like a weirdo. was pulling my dress up in the bathroom. It's so infected. I didn't even have to look for more than a second. It was so red. So I'm trying to convince myself that it's not, right? It's like no big deal. It's nothing. And then every two seconds I'd be like looking, looking down, looking in my dress.

So I went on antibiotics and it mostly cleared it up, but when I saw my doctor, he is basically like, this is not a workable solution. Again, you could kind of just hang tight and see if nothing happens, but like each side of my incision had just the tiniest little pinprick of a hole that you can kind of see was starting to pull a little bit. And again, maybe it would have been fine, but...

I didn't want to take that chance. So a month after Boston, I wound up having my lap muscle pulled to my front. So now my back is my front. Yeah, that I was like your scar looks like you got bit by a shark. It does. And it's honestly, the scar is still pretty gnarly. I was hoping that it would kind of fade by now, but it's, it's still really big and it's still really purple. But so you went from here.

Just a little timeline. You found out a week prior to running in Boston that you were going to have to have a surgery four days after. So obviously, you your mindset for Boston, were probably, mean, I can't, I mean, I say I can't imagine, but I went through a similar thing the year prior with my back. And my PT was like, you can run, but you know, I don't know if it's going to hurt, you know, make it worse or whatnot. So it kind of, kind of almost mentally like ruins your experience.

Because you're probably thinking the whole time, like, my gosh, is this going to come out of my chest? Like, what's happening? Exactly. Exactly what I was thinking was anytime anything felt even slightly off, and it's a marathon, so like your body hurts the whole freaking time, every time something felt even slightly off or I felt a little bit tired, I'm like peeking down my shirt. Do I have an implant in there? Isn't it just like floating around?

So yeah, it was kind of a bummer. It kind of like took the oomph away from the marathon for me. But you still finished. I did. A very respectable time. as the three of us know, it was a perfect day for weather, not for running. for running. Not for running. Yeah, would loved... a Florida girl. I don't mind running in the heat. I mean, a marathon when it was like 80 degrees and sunny, that was too Yeah, no, that was not...

That was not enjoyable. did get a really nice tan. right. So then four days later, you go in and you have the first surgery. We're thinking, okay, this is going to be good. We're going to be all set. And then go to that one day at work and you're like, my gosh, something's wrong. So then you have, what do you call it? The lap flap? Lap flap, yeah. then now we're here. are you like, we're good now. Everything's good. It's still really tight.

Like my back is tight all the time. If you spend a lot of time around me, you'll see me rubbing the side here. It's still kind of puffy. I don't know. It's not the same, obviously. ⁓ But it's fully healed and I haven't had any issues with it other than the tightness. I think that's hopefully just going to go away with time. if not, if that's the worst thing I have to deal with, then so be it, right?

So we haven't had any surgery since then. We're good. Nothing. Nothing. Awesome.

where you like worked my dream job as a kid, working in a record, little record shack. What, how did that come to be? What was that like? Cause I still think about doing that. Like sometimes I'm like, that'd be cool to do that part time. And then I'm like, wait, I have no time. Um, you tell me about that. Sure. So this is a, I think this is a fascinating story and this is what attracted me to want to talk to you. Honestly, this issue right here, because when I heard you on the runs, I on the runs, I thought to myself,

you have the coolest job as an adult. And I have said since I was a young kid, I had the coolest job as a kid. I really did. I challenge anybody to tell me they had a better job. So I was very, very lucky. And my mother worked at a place called Record Shack. She was the office manager. Record Shack, back in the day, the business was different. Your dad could probably confirm this. Record Shack was a distributor. There was a middleman that

bought all the records and tapes from the manufacturers and then we distributed them in greater Cleveland to all the record stores. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, just all in this region. And there were hundreds and hundreds of record stores back then. I know it's hard to believe, but it was a fascinating industry.

Again, people aren't going to believe this, but when I was 12 years old, I would come home from school and ride my bike to Record Shack where my mom was. I first started just cleaning the bathrooms. That's all I started doing because that's what they needed. But then they realized, I was still pretty young, they realized I was pretty good with numbers. I'm a numbers geek even to this day I am. ⁓

And so I landed in the shipping department. I was still a teenager. I was getting paid under the table. I was working with people that were 10 years older than me in their 20s and 30s. And some of these are still my great friends to this day. Thank God for Facebook because I was able to connect with them and shout out to them, to Al and Scott and Tracy, my good friends. And Diane, I still get to see Diane probably

once every couple weeks. it's so cool to see these people. And I was just a young punk. I I loved working with older people, but boy did they pick on me. I mean, you know, I was into Kiss and they thought Kiss was a joke. And I get it now that I'm an adult. It's not a joke, but you know, I get why they picked on me and stuff. ⁓ But I got to work in the shipping department.

And in the shipping department, if you look at the spine of albums and tapes, you actually see codes. Back in the day, all those codes meant something. And so I had to memorize what all those codes meant and break the albums down into $5.98, $6.98, $7.98 with price. And then we had special prices for things. And then we'd take these bins of albums that the record stores were buying and we'd ship them off to them. But I was in the breakdown department, so I had to...

align all these list prices of the different albums and they weren't on the spine so you had to memorize all these numbers and there's a ton of them. ⁓ So that's what I did and I was the luckiest kid in the world. I went to concerts for free all the time, all the posters and promo material, bands would come to Cleveland and stop in because we were, I could be wrong about this because I wasn't studying business at the time but

I think we were the only distributor in this area, in the many state area. so it was just a ball. I mean, I just, I was living the dream. Like I said, going to concerts, going to parties after the concerts. And my mom was so cool about it. And, you know, I just, I was the luckiest kid in the world. Posters to my friends, they all had them in their bedrooms, all covered in my bedroom.

Some of the places that my friends worked, like the bowling alley, they'd had posters up on the wall all the way down the whole bowling alley because of all the promo posters I was able to get. So we had a ball. I mean, we because I include myself with all these other folks that we just love music. you know, Cleveland, it's a fun fact. Your dad, hopefully he knows this. you know, the reason Cleveland is well known as the rock and roll capital of the world is at the time back in the late 70s, early 80s.

We were, we had the highest per capita spend on albums and tapes than anywhere in the United States. So the amount of record sales in greater Cleveland area was unbelievable compared to the rest of the country. Now New York city is huge, right? And so, I mean, they were up there too, but Cleveland is a pretty small market. so anyways, it was just a ball. just, and I got into so much trouble. I just was this young, stupid,

⁓ male, know, 18, 16, 18 year old. And so I remember one time, Allie, that, Erica from On the Runs is gonna think of me different when she hears this. ⁓ I remember one time we were given promo material for the Beatles ⁓ and they were nice little black and white pictures. And so I thought it'd be kind of cute to maybe sign a few of them and put them in the shipping material. Well, no, bad idea. ⁓ my God.

I can't believe, I thank God my mom worked there because I probably shouldn't have the job anymore. Oh my God. Wait, did anybody actually get those? Did any stores get them? Yeah, they called and they called the sales department. The sales department came back and said, who the hell signing the Beatles pictures? And they're like, wait, this isn't Paul McCartney. Who is this?

So I hope nobody out there, none of your listeners have any signed Beatles memorabilia that they're wondering about in black and white photos. If they were signed by me. That'd be amazing. I low key would love a Beatles album signed by you, Patrick. That's so funny. Oh my God. So that just shows you, you know, what do they say about a typical male teenager? You you don't think. And so I do stupid stuff like that, but we had so much fun, Allie. And I had the coolest job.

And I'm just toying with this idea, like, can I run a marathon? Can I run a marathon? Can I run a marathon? Okay. And so... Planting the seed. Yeah. And so my daughter was born in June and one November, that November, I woke up, I remember being like, I'm going to go see if I can run a marathon. so you just like went out and did your own. I filled a Ziploc bag with gummy bears and I brought 20 ounces of water and I ran my first marathon. Wow.

I'm all for the gummy bears, but I need about 200 ounces of water. Oh, I was so dead. Like I was a prune finishing the, like the last mile was basically uphill. Uh, we lived at the top of a hill, every direction downhill. you leave every direction uphill, when you finish. I was dead. I remember I sat down on the couch cause it was COVID. was like a, it was like a Wednesday or Thursday morning. I still had to work. I was doing remote PT.

Uh-huh. And I remember I sat down on the couch. I like moved my legs as I started a virtual session with somebody and I got the worst possible cramps I could ever ever imagine. My legs and my body, you know, like you see people get hit with the tasers. that was my body. They lock up, right? Yeah. I remember the guy. I I still actually work with this guy that is, was watching me basically have a seizure ⁓ on, on camera. And he's like, are you all right? I'm like, it's a cramp.

And he's like, okay, as long as you're talking, got video of this. No video of this. I wish. he just had a witness. Yeah. No. Yeah. Katie was the witness too. Yeah. She was like, what is wrong with you? And it was at that point, actually, I didn't even tell Katie I did it. She's like, how far did you run today? And I was like, oh, 26.2 miles. Oh, I love it. Yeah. So that was my first marathon. That's that will forever be.

Well, I'm glad you took the shot because as Michael Scott said, you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take. So you took the shot. You got to feel what it was like. And I hope there was a second marathon after this. Yeah. At that point, know, Blake was like, you might want to tell me you're going to do that next time.

But no, guess perfect segue to Hydration Guy. me how did it start? Set the scene. You moved to New York City. is the vibe? Yeah. I actually, so I moved when we moved to New York City in 2010 and it took a few years to like.

to find my people, find my place. And I eventually did through fitness. found, well really my wife found a group ⁓ called ⁓ Rise, the Rise NYC is an outdoor, free outdoor fitness club. ⁓ And they had a kind of a sister group called Tamersi. ⁓

that is there, the acronym for the most informal running club ever. Yes, yeah. So, to Mercy has, they've been around a while. I mean, I think actually they formed, like the person who originally formed them, I believe it was in Boston, but they kind of like became a pretty big run club, you know, 2014, 2015, 2016, thereabouts. So,

Point being, kind of got involved in the running and fitness community, like around that time. And then it just kind of kept going from there. And over the years, you just kind of move around, shift around, and eventually tried out some different running groups and stuff. one thing led to another. And in 2022, 2022, yes.

In 2022, was running a hydration, running the hydration station. It was a paid position for a local marathon training program that had me out there twice a week, basically just hauling all the hydration to wherever they were training and working with a partner.

And just getting the group of, I don't know, 100 or so ⁓ people who were part of the program hydrated. So that was a lot of fun. And ⁓ come 2023, I wanted to do that for everyone. I wanted to find a way to do that for everyone. I'm like, well, why don't I just start small and ⁓ just go out with a cooler of water, get some Gatorade, and see if this has legs.

And I'm like, all right, well, so like, I'll call myself the hydration guy. oh, I got to have a logo. came up with that? Yes, I did. did. Yeah. I love it. I was like, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be the hydration guy. I work in the digital space. I work for a digital agency as my full-time job. And I am very much not a creative person at all. I'm a...

back end web developer. But I work with some creative people. So I asked one of the designers that I work with if she would draw me a logo, like create hydration guy. And she nailed it on the first attempt.

Made the, she made hydro here. Is this the original that we're seeing? Yeah, this is it. Yeah, exactly. That's, that's the, that's the original. I got them on the t-shirts too. So cool. Hydro. And, um, um, so I took that kind of ran with it and just started small, you know, bought a, bought a table, bought a couple of coolers. I have a car, so I was able to kind of transport, um, stuff, you know, wherever I wanted. And I set up my first table, um, on

on Kent Avenue by the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Very popular running spot. wanted Is that where the Brooklyn Mile is? It's pretty close. Brooklyn Mile is on Kent Avenue. So I'm a little further like I set up a not on the route itself, but kind of more by the Navy Yard closer to that by the shipping containers. I'm just like, I'll just give this a whirl and see how it goes.

And yeah, even like that first time out, like people were like stopping by and like, what's going on here? You know, and I'm like, okay, like had a lot of fun with that. ⁓ And I should probably say too, like I, I, you know, decided to do this, like this was going to be free. It was going to be free for all. Like it's just water. It's just Gatorade. I'm not out to make a profit. I'm not out to...

you know, make a second career out of this or anything like that. This is just something like, you know, I have a passion for ⁓ volunteering, giving back to the community in certain ways. ⁓ You know, I was already very heavily involved in the running community, you know, know a lot of different run clubs and, ⁓ you know, run, you know, people, I'm a runner myself. So, you know, I'd like to think I have a little bit of a pulse on like what it is that, you know, runners are looking for.

And dude, just drawing from my own experience of doing my marathon training, it's like, man, I wish I could have had some water here, something, some hydration here. Cause you run out of that water bottle pretty quick. I know. Or if you're like me, you don't carry one and then you're like ⁓ either stopping on the West Side Highway. ⁓

I've braved the water fountains a few times. ⁓ now that I know a lot about them, it quite honestly grosses me out. Tell me more. What are you talking about? I don't know. You really want to talk about it. Okay. Maybe we talk about it. We can sidebar about it. Okay. No, but it's usually just me stopping on the West Side Highway. ⁓ And then I see the people that are like the bottle hires, which is awesome. yeah.

I would forget instantly where I put it. That's just the kind of runner I am. It's like once I start, it's game over. ⁓ So I respect that you're coming at hydration guy with like a runner's perspective and what you would need in that moment. Yeah. ⁓ So anyways, like I said, all free. And then I decided like, well, I'll take, how about if I do optional donations I'll take and I'll just give those donations to a charitable organization of the week that I choose.

And it changes every week. generally it's like in the fitness space or the outdoor space, something like that. actually the very first one I ever chose to do was Girls on the Run. I was like, oh, I need a good charitable organization that's a running organization. It's like, well, I know of Girls on the Run, literally run is in their title.

in their name. So that's what I did. And I always expected, I'm like, maybe I'll get like 25 bucks a week, maybe 40 bucks a week, something like that. Somebody comes by, gives me a dollar. I always had a QR code for my personal Venmo. then I will just, anything that comes through there, then I...

give it to the organization. I did at the beginning, did like kind of split the donations like 50-50 because I was like, you know, basically recouping my startup costs. Of course. Like for that. Yeah. And then, but then what happened, I never expected to happen. Like it just took off and all of a sudden I was getting a hundred bucks, 200 bucks a week and then like 300 bucks. I'm like, what is happening here? So I recouped my costs so quick.

that then every week it was like, now this is only costing me like, you know, let's say 20 bucks a week for, you know, for ice and some Gatorade concentrate, like whatever that is. And then the rest goes to whatever the organization of the week was. And so cool. Yeah. And it ended up just like being so awesome, so fulfilling. I think that first year, of course, I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I was something like, it was something like five, I think it was something like $5,000.

that I raised and like, I think it was like 4,500 of that went to different organizations. That's amazing. So cool, so much fun. I mean, that's not the ⁓ driving purpose for why I did it, but it kind of ended up being this like, hey, this bonus for that I'm able to help out some of these other organizations.

I think what I really love about it is just being able to meet everybody and see their journey. I just admire you so much for all the great work that you do in our community. I think it's so awesome. ⁓ Kind of a cool full circle moment when Hydration Guy kind of blew up and you were able to donate to Girls on the Run and now look where you are now with them. think that's- I know, right? That's so awesome. I mean, that must feel really good, right? It does. It really does. You're connected in a different way. Absolutely.

The I have is, I called a local living legend here, right? How did you integrate yourself within this running community? You were running as a very young kid in high school, and then you went to college and played sports in college. come back home, mean, rule number one is show up, but really, you kind of really got integrated in this community, and everybody knows who you are, and you're very involved. You're involved in more than one organization, Run Clubs, I'm sure, Galore. How did you get yourself

involved deep in the trenches here of the running community? I think I just like to say yes to everything. So, anyone who's been invited to anything, like ⁓ I'll go from like having absolutely no plans, nothing to do to like throwing out the first pitch at Family Park. And literally like, yeah, so there's like so many stories. So I threw up, the Boston Marathon called and they said, hi, we work for the Red Sox. Like, no, the Red Sox called and they said, would you like to throw out the first pitch on Patriots Day? I'm like,

Yeah, but the problem is I'm running the Boston Marathon, so maybe I can run it. And they said, okay, well, what are you doing the day before? I'm like, no plans. So there I am with 35,000 people, and they announced me, like, Becca's Not a big deal. No, and I thought I was gonna faint. was like, and so I also got a, I got a Glowby with David Ortiz. He got the male version, I got the female version. So I told, he shook my, he patted me on.

the back as I'm like signing a consent form. And he's like, are you the girl that you're back? You run all the time. I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you. And I was like shaking. I was so nervous. All I could see is like Rolex. That was like a million dollars. was like, picture, you know, and he's so big and chiseled. And I was like, he's like, congratulations. I want to shake your hand. And I said, you should run the Boston Marathon for your foundation. You'll raise like so much money. He was laughing for like seven minutes. Like he couldn't catch his breath. He's like, have you ever seen me run to first base?

True. He's the reason he's a designated hitter, Yeah, so he was so fun and funny. I got to meet Tom Brady. Tom Brady. So... Not a big deal. No, I mean, it's like, can't, my life, I can't believe this is my real life. When Tom Brady, when I met him, it was my second 777. So I did the first 777, crossed the finish line, broke history, was the first American female Not a big deal.

Yeah, so I just like and then I thought I was done with that race. It is a very stressful seven days. Quite the history with that race. We should talk about that later. So that happened. then and then Tom Brady's company, TB12, Alex called me and he said, we would love to train you to do this again. And I said, well, what do you know about running? And they said, no, but we nothing but not a whole lot. But we know everything there is to know about the human body. So we'll pay your race entropy if you want to.

do it again. And they came to the finish line and they cheered for me and Tom Brady was so awesome. was so he was like, I was like, I will make you proud. But then having all of TB 12s help you cannot come in second place. Not not even like, not much pressure. Again, with the pressure. Yeah. Okay. All right. This is a good it's fine. Everything's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be okay. So I just I just raced my I put a plan together with friends like my training and I just stuck to my and I didn't worry about

anybody else. Like I was experienced, I knew about, I had run in extreme conditions, I knew, and my motto kinda was get comfortable, being uncomfortable, and you'll make it. And that's exactly what it was. I was running at all hours of the day and running in as many races as I could and keeping 100 mile weeks, running 100 mile weeks and doing all sorts of things just to make sure that I, and then I crossed the finish line and I won. So was really awesome. But wow, I gotta stop putting myself in these high pressure.

I was just gonna say, you like these high pressure moments? Like, do you typically, do you ever, well I'm sure you run for fun a lot, but really I was gonna go back to the Wyoming story at Jackson Hole. When you had a pacer, is it often that you will have someone pacing you versus you pacing someone else? And so he's, your pacer's talking to you like, okay, we gotta pick it up at this point. And you're like, I'm gonna try, I'm doing the best I can.

Are you in those situations a lot? And then the pressure situations of like having to win, how do you deal with that and how does that work out? No, so that's exactly it. I have a whole lot of trust in my training partners. I run with them seven days a week. You know, we're always together and I think they know me better than anybody. So oftentimes I like to run my own race when I feel good, go. have going into every single race, I have two goals, like an A goal that

that is a little bit out of my reach and then a B goal in case the A goal doesn't go so well then I have something to work towards. And that's kind of how I love my life. know, and I do a ton of coaching. I coach all three seasons at Belmont High School, indoor and outdoor and cross-country track, you know. And I always, like to say like, what went well today? And they tell me with my daughter and I'm like, what do need to work on? And then she'll be like, I got a bad start. I'm a sprinter. And that's...

I do the same for me. I'm like after every single race, I'm like, what went well and what do need to work on? And I'm still learning. I've run 120 marathons, I'm still learning.

And then while we were sitting down, we had a sighting. Erica elbowed me and she goes, it's Mike Seaman. And I was like, ⁓ my God. And I was like, do want me to go get him? And she's like, no, no, no, no, we'll find them after. Like, you can't leave in the middle of their panel. Like, that's very rude. You can't do that. But my ADD kicked in and I was just kind of like, I'm trying to pay attention, but I'm also like, something will move out of the corner of my eye. Like a dog, like, what's that? What's that?

And then I see a guy in a puffy coat and I go, ⁓ that's literally Mike Seaman. And so we had a mission right after this thing. mean, well, we had a different mission. first mission after one mission number one, one I thought I was going to get a restraining order from. Why don't you tell everybody about mission number one? Yeah. So the Kelly Roberts was basically the emcee for all of like, I think she's did she speak first thing in the morning?

Yes. Was she part of the first? we missed it. So we got into the expo a little bit late because the plugging went longer than normal. so whatever. changed and ate donuts and we did all that stuff. Yeah, we took our time. We fiddle fucked around. That's what we did. We sure did. Against Amy's advice. And then so we missed that. But I wanted to meet Kelly Roberts. She was on my list. So she was basically the MC for the sustainability panel. So

I was watching her like a hawk because I was like, this is our shot. So the sustainability panel ⁓ let out and I was like, guys, she went behind the stage and I was like, let's just go over here. And there was a line where the people that were speaking, they would stand at the front and people could wait in line to see them. But I was like, we don't need to see Tina or Herm or what was his name again? Doty? Michael. Michael. And I'm like, yeah, we're good with them. So we like I went behind like around the line and these two are like, what are you doing? Where are going?

And I was like, just follow me. So I'm like, Erica, you have to come with me. You're literally on the runs. I was like, she's not going to know who I am. So we like went around the side and I'm literally staring at her waiting for her to notice me. And I turn around. Yeah, I was like, Kelly, Kelly. And she like, I think that she purposely turned her back to me because she was like, my God, another stalker. And then I was like looking at these two and they're like, think we might get in trouble over here. And I was like, got to stay. This is our shot. And then so.

She like turns around and I'm like, hey, Kelly. And she looks at me and she's like, hi. And I was like, we're from On the Run's podcast. We just had you on and we just wanted to meet you in person. I was like, my god, here we go. Verbal diarrhea, verbal diarrhea. And then she looks at me and I'm like, this is six star Erica. Erica, she's a podcast person. And she's like, I'm going a date to get coffee. So if you guys want to talk, you have to follow me. And we were like, on it. So we literally walked from one side of the expo all the way across.

Following Kelly Roberts like a bunch of stalkers with her friend. So awkward. It very awkward She looks like god. These people are so awkward. Why are you here? What are you doing? And then I was like, I'm like no big deal We're just friggin entourage ing all the way to the coffee station But we like we talked to her the whole time and she was very kind

So I appreciate her time. awesome. I stand by that. And Melissa was awesome, too. She was super nice. It was nice to meet a new person and meet a pod fan member. And then we forced her into taking a picture with us. And then she was holding on to something. And she goes, what am I grabbing? Am I grabbing her ass? And it was Lindsay's backpack. She's like, you? And I took a picture. Can you a picture? I to know what I'm touching right now.

this year, know, flash forward to this year when I was at the QCC gathering, the QCC is the quarter century club. When they gave me that award for 1000 miles raced on the course, even though I've got 1257. know I the math. was like, wait, he's got a little more. Just started it this year and only eight people had run that done that. And so they gave us these pla I didn't know what it was. I had no idea what they were talking about. None.

And that is why did they like warn you or did they just say, Hey, can you come to this little gathering? Our gathering is for the QCC photo. Like there's about, there's 119 people that are around 25 or more. And it's on the Boston public library steps. So there's a photo and everybody's gathering and everybody's talking. So, you know, I'm not, even though I'm fifth on the list, I don't get up front and, um, you know, I'm not boisterous.

quiet, I stay over to the side and I was talking to somebody and he said, they just called your name for something. And I says, really? And so I went up there and I saw it. It's a tile. It's an actual tile. And it says, um, you know, for running and I cried because it just brought back all the memories of, you know, a thousand, a thousand miles racing on that course. And I knew I had over a thousand. I, did know that, but the whole gesture, it's their way of saying, this is our hall of fame.

because they can't call it a Hall of Fame. So I said, that's pretty nice. That's awesome. Two things on that too. You know, it's funny. It's nice that it was a surprise for you to get like a little tile. think that's so cool and it's so special. So I'm glad you got to celebrate that. But it's funny when I was walking on Boylston, I was coming out of the expo, one of my friends was like, what's going on here? Like we were right next to the steps where they did this whole thing. We look up, we see the banner and she's like, what's going on here? We should stop.

half of our group was ahead, half of our group was behind. So like none of us ended up stopping. And then when I saw you post about it, I'm like, oh man, we should have stopped. We could have seen the whole ceremony and the picture, but that is awesome and a huge accomplishment that you should be so proud of. And I know I can tell you're very proud of it. So that's great. It was probably the nicest thing. You know, you can't even describe it in words. Like it was extremely emotional. then from there I went over to Runa.

and did some ⁓ videoing for them and did this long, long interview. I don't know what they did with it, but it was, it was on Newberry street and everybody thought that I was some like, you know, former winner of the marathon because they're taking pictures, they're doing a photo shoot there, you know, and they were just, it was, it was really nice, but it was hot too. And, was hot the days before I'm like, please don't give us this weather on Monday. needed.

We had good weather. I'll take it. I'll take it. So that was, that was fun. So I finally get back to the bus, went back up, got a good night's sleep. And the next day I went down to Boston and Rob Dalbo, the guy of pursuit of performance is a big, huge Instagram guy. don't know if you know who he is. He does a lot of work in New York. I like the Bronx burners and bunch of runners in the community, which is awesome. That's what he does for a living. mean, he's huge. I had no idea who he was. None.

You've never heard of him? Never heard of him. Wow. He chases me down. He gets my number and he says, I really want to interview you. And he says, I've been chasing you for a year. He says, I finally found you. And so we are in the, we're in Quincy market and we do this long interview and then he brings me to lunch with his cameraman. And I just thought he was some guy. I had no idea who it was. so then he says, can we do a, like you walk by me, you walk by me and

pretend you don't know me, I'm gonna ask you what you're doing in Boston. And so we did that interview and that's when I realized how big he was, because the interview just blew up. it was huge. And I had that earpiece and it was just, it was a genuine ⁓ interview. And it's been played on all, like People Magazine had it, Runners World had it, Merrimack College found it.

because I mentioned Merrimack College. So Merrimack College caught wind of me. no, I don't have any, not, I love Merrimack College. I spent four greatest years of my life there. played sports there, I coached there. ⁓ So I never cared about being in the alumni magazine, but they found me and boy, they chased me down quick. And I says, we've to do, we've got to put you in our alumni magazine. And I said, well,

I'm still second place all the time for Merrimack College Boston Marathons because Dave's number one. like Dave has like spoken at like three graduations. He's in the hall of fame, know, you're to be the next one. Dave, Dave deserves it. And anybody seeking attention, that's not just if they just make a mention of me, it's great. know, I, you know, people magazine blew that blew me away. Like that was, it was a great article.

It was, did a great job with it. And I did like Warner's world saying that I stole the show on TikTok. That made me smile. You know, I'm ⁓ not a big cell phone guy, but I do throw together some mean TikToks, know? You really do. Your TikToks are incredible. ⁓ Eric told me that you just recently got a smartphone. So when my friend sent me your TikToks, I'm like, wait, I thought Mike just got a smartphone.

I had it in 2021. Okay, see. It first time I had a phone. It's perfect time. had Facebook, I had Instagram, but I ran it through other people's devices. I just didn't care. I just didn't care to have a phone. Then my children were growing 28 and 24, and so I wanted to communicate with them better. So I bought a smart phone and FaceTimed them. And they were like,

What is this? Who is this? Like, what? didn't know you were doing this. It was a surprise to them. It's incredible. Then I started on TikTok and, ⁓ put to bed some content, you know, running stuff and funny stuff. I just noticed that, you know, the running, the younger running generation became, ⁓ experts on running after running their first marathon. knew everything about a marathon. And I says, okay. And they weren't.

They weren't bad. They just weren't real friendly. They was very all about them. Like, is what I do. So you should do the same thing. That's not true. they weren't as relatable. When you have somebody that's very fast and they're going, ⁓ come with me as I run a marathon. My one, six 20, my two, six 20. I finished. I hit my PR.

I made a TikTok and I says, if you want to be successful on TikTok, you know how people come in and they say, you gotta do this, you gotta do this. I said, ⁓ three words, real, relatable, and you gotta be nice and you gotta smile.

bear no details on the New York City story here. And I wanna know, I remember like reading your story one time and seeing like all the story replies. You're showing how everyone came up and everyone responded and everyone reached out. And I wanna know everything from how did you manage that? How did you get connected with MasterCard? And then not only you went to New York City, you got your bib, then you went to New Jersey, I think, or Maryland, you ran a marathon there. Then you go back to New York City and not only that.

You run in a suit, you get to start the race with Alexi Pappas. Like spare no details. Tell us about New York City, man. Tell us this whole story and the journey you had. Well, so I flew up there and like I had my flight booked, but I didn't have the marathon entry. And it wasn't until I flew up that anyone knew that I was going to be running. I got a message on Instagram saying, Hey, we have a bib for you. We'll meet you.

at the expo and get with you and everything. So that kind of suspense, I guess, led a lot of people to be like, you what's going on? I couldn't say anything. silence, right? You're like, exactly. I couldn't say anything because I wanted to make sure that, you know, everything was figured out that I wasn't going to upset anyone by running this marathon or whatever it was. And so anyways, we get up there. It's at the expo. I'm working the expo all day with Ketone, which was fun. They actually ended up sponsoring the seven continent series.

But this was like one of the seeds of like one of reasons why they chose me for that series. We'll get into that in just a second. Yes. I was working the expo all day on Friday for the New York City Marathon. Saturday, I was running in Maryland. So I had to hop in a rental car, drive down. Funny story about that is that I left at like 8 p.m. and I was like sleeping for an hour and half or 30 minutes, wherever it was at a time on the way down there. Not safe at all. And I get down there at 6 a.m. and I'm like, all right, like.

two, three hours of sleep, we're gonna run this marathon in Maryland. I put on my ⁓ onesie that I brought up there, because that was the costume for the weekend, and got there and run. And it was cool, because at that point people knew who I was, so then they were like, ⁓ dude, you're that guy who runs those marathons rarely. And I was like, over there like, absolutely dead. Like, do have a pillow? Yeah, exactly. So that was a really cool race.

Anyways, we get back to the car and I'm like, I have no time. I have to head back up or turn the rental car. So I drive, get caught in traffic or whatever, and finally get back and stay at my buddy's place, wake up the next morning. And so the timeline here, it's Sunday morning of the New York City Marathon. And like five days, six days earlier, I had no idea whether or not I'd be able to run or continue the challenge. So it was kind of wild, like all this happening all at once.

But they didn't tell me about that Alexia and I would be running together with the first 25 runners of the race, which is just wild out of 55,000 people. Wow. To start with the first 25 is absurd. They didn't tell me that until I was working the expo. So then I was kind of in like a haze, like, holy cow. You know, I've been working all day and then they give me this race pin like this is happening. But showing up to the start line that morning, I was like, we're finally here. Like the same thing happened when I went to Philly.

where you go throughout the whole year and there's not really a question because if I have to reschedule one of these marathons, I'll be able to do it just because I can find another weekend to throw a double together and run a small marathon in upstate New York. But to finally be there in New York and then same thing for Philly, it's a special feeling. For New York especially, I was wearing my dad's tuxedo from my mom and dad's wedding. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that was the tux. So then running with Alexi that morning,

was just crazy running with an Olympic athlete and the first 25 runners of the race running on the Verrazano Bridge, my first New York City marathon. All of it together was just crazy. And then I was actually posting videos as I was running. I recorded that video of me on the Verrazano Bridge, press post, and I was exhausted. Alexi actually had to put her elbow into the side of my leg because my IT bands were so tight from running the marathon the day before and sitting in the car.

And then as well, having run 43 marathons so far in the year as like a new runner. was my first, October was my first year of running. like that was a year into my mile every day streak. All of that together, it was just kind of unreal. But it was also like one of the most painful marathons that I ran because of everything like, you know, no sleep the night before, running the marathon, driving 10 hours over the course of that 24 hours before the marathon in New York.

So it was so cool, but at the same time, in the moment, I was like, I just want this to be over. And looking back on it, I just watched the clips, I'm like, wow, that was actually probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. Up until Antarctica, which, that's insane. Yeah. It absolutely was. We'll get there in a moment here. But like this New York thing was amazing because just the pictures of you and her, it looked like it was just the two of you, to be honest.

And I know when you go over the bridge, it's kind of quiet, but then you finally start seeing the crowd and the fans and how is that like the reception everyone had and got so many of them had to have known like that was you doing this from the last couple of weeks. Yeah, people started to recognize me then. Everyone knew who Alexi was. So she was running through the street, hyping everyone up. She's done this a couple of years in a row. And so then that was really cool to see.

just the positive reaction, even though there's no other runners out there, how excited everyone was to see Alexi and I run through there. And those photos were incredible. That one photo where I'm doing my signature pose with the arms, where we're just in the middle of the street, that was just so cool. Everyone thought that we were just married because she was wearing a fairy tutu dress of sorts. You'd be beautiful couple, man.

The two of that's how it's done. The two of you. We'll clip that, tag her. Hey, Alexi. I don't know what her situation is, but hey. I don't even know what yours is, I remember though, I told you last summer, stay away from girls. You're young, stay away, Yep. Just incredible, incredible moment.

That leads me to my next question because you told me you're a music girlie. So we obviously have to talk about it. So I guess it's only fitting to ask if you run with music. Oh, of course. Of course. Okay. What's like the first thing you're playing in your headphones? It really depends on the day. So I do have just my general running playlist that I kind of add any song that pumps me up. And you know, at this point it's like 300 songs.

So that's, know, if I just need something quick, like I just throw that on shuffle. But I do a lot of different things. if there's, and some people might think this is crazy cause it's not always, you know, like music with like the great beat or whatever. But if there is a new, if an album comes out of an artist that I love, like I'll be like, I'm going to go on a run and listen to this album for the first time. You know, when cowboy Carter came out, that's what I did. I like the popular one. Yeah.

So good. So good. I'm seeing her in May. I'm so excited. you going to MetLife? Mm-hmm. Me too. my God. Wait, I don't know what day I'm going. have to... I'm doing the Thursday. ⁓ my God. I love it. See you there. In the Bay Hive. my God. No, could not afford I wish. Yeah. I am not in the Bay Hive for anybody listening. Yeah. No, no,

It was already so expensive just to get my foot in the door. literally. I'm like probably the last for on the stadium. Yeah, don't even care. I'm probably sitting right next to you. But so I do that, you know, sometimes I'll listen to new music or ⁓ sometimes I there's like a vibe I'm feeling, you know, I'll find like a pop punk workout playlist. so

If it's if I'm just going out for a quick like two miles, three miles, I often will kind of just throw on my running playlist that has a bunch of my favorite songs that, you know, are good to run to. ⁓ But on my longer runs, that's when I'm a little more thoughtful about what I'm playing, whether I'm like making kind of a curated playlist with certain artists, you know, if I'm seeing an artist in concert, I might.

make a playlist of all of their music and there are songs that pump me up. Yeah. I went and I saw Jojo the other week and so I'm like, make it, but this is also when Eternal Sunshine Deluxe came out. I'm like, all right, I'm doing a half Jojo, half Eternal Sunshine ⁓ playlist. What's your favorite song on Eternal Sunshine Deluxe? ⁓ I know. I think you agree because you reposted it, but Twilight Zone. Yeah. The first time I heard it, I...

I was actually on my way to DC. I was like going on a little road trip with my mom and I played it and she's like, what is this? And I was like, wait, are you commenting on my music? This is unheard of. It must be really good. And, but the first time I heard it, I'm like, this is the one. Like I just listened to it. this is the one. Me too. Twilight Zone is, it's so good. Chef's Kiss.

No, so okay, so that's your those your long runs and like you're just like casual run. What about your race playlist? Do you like spend time curating that? yes, I my race playlists are what I spend the most time doing when I'm just out on a casual run. I can be my casual. just mean like a training run. I can be a little more the music can be on shuffle. You know, I don't need things in certain orders, whatever, but

my the half marathons I've done. Yes, I have like a set playlist with the songs in the exact order that I want. And so I did do a few things. And another reason why I love the United half was because my playlist was just like, perfect for me. ⁓ So one thing I do that I've done for all of my half marathons is I've asked all the people who have been, you know, really supportive of me during my running journey. both my brothers, my husband, ⁓

My friend Jenna, who I did the nine plus one with my friend, Kristen, who she just kind of started her running journey. So we talk about it all together. I, and, my friends, Rose and Lauren who have come and watched me like at every race. And I always ask them to give me a song that they want to be like their song. That's on my running playlist. So that whenever I hear it, when that song comes on, I can kind of be like, okay, you know, this is Erica giving me a little boost. I can't walk, you right now I got to keep it up because.

because Eric's songs playing that type of thing. So that's one thing I do. And that always gives me like, you know, eight songs to add in. But so my United Half playlist, I loved it. I set it up so that I kind of had like different genres of music for different parts of the race. that way, and that was kind of a way for me to mentally figure out if I'm staying on track with

my pace. And again, not that I'm like trying to hit a certain pace or, you know, finish at a certain time, but just like knowing what my my normal speed type is to keep up with it. So I started in we started in Prospect Park. So the first three miles through Prospect Park, I was kind of doing like this lo-fi EDM kind of thing. And that's not usually what I listen to. But it's actually because my other brother Alex

His song that he gave me was he loves like run through like the forest and stuff and he's very tranquil and it's kind of like low EDM but like the beats good but it's very you can like get in your head. So I'm like kind of starting off slow. I'm like, you know, I don't want to go out too fast but want to feel good. Want to just like really zone in. So that music was good for me. And then through Brooklyn heading towards the Brooklyn Bridge. That's when I kind of picked it up and was doing a little more funky EDM stuff.

you know, a little bit, you know, more energetic. Cause now I'm like, all right, I'm a 5k in I'm ready to pick it up and really get going. Brooklyn bridge. did. Some people might hate. think you might like, I think I've heard you kind of appreciate this, but I did a little, a Broadway section. yeah. Broadway Brooklyn bridge was what I called that little section. was only three songs, but it was like enough to just like get me over the bridge. What songs do you remember?

Oh, of course I do. course I do. So the first one was the two of them were from Wicked, the movie. The first one was Defying Gravity. It's so good. So that was actually my friend Kristen, the one who just started running and we chat about lot. That was her song for me. And we were such Broadway girlies who are an island.

that's our thing. And we would always like sing for good together in high school. know, that's so cute. So during my first marathon, my first half marathon to Brooklyn, she gave me Defying Gravity, like the Broadway version. And so now she's like Defying Gravity, the movie version. that, and then I did Dancing Through Life from the movie because it just gets me so pumped. pumped. One of my favorite songs in the whole score. Oh my God. So I'll say.

I did tear up over at the United half on the Brooklyn bridge because in a good way, like in an, my God, like I can't believe I'm doing this because it was kind of right as we get to the peak of the bridge, know, so I'm starting to go downhill. You're like entering into Manhattan. I'm having this thought like, oh my God, like I live here. Like I get to do this. Like I'm running over the Brooklyn bridge and it's just amazing. And it was also right when

at the part of the song where they get to the AUSA's ballroom and the music's like, it's the best part. It's best part of this song. Yeah, it's like the equivalent of like an EDM beat drop, like Broadway. It is so good. So good. So that was literally happening like right as I'm starting the downhill. was just like, my God, I this is amazing. Tears were a long time. Yes. Yes. And then it ended with

no way from Six, which is just like a super buzz. Six is so fun. So fun. love Six. so fun. was something I didn't think I would love, but I ended up really, really liking it lot. Same. Same. went because I won lottery tickets. I like, might as well go. It ended up being like one of my favorites of the year. Yeah, it was so good. I was literally right in the front row because I won the lottery. And I felt so awkward the whole time because I was making eye contact with all of them while they were doing their thing.

And I was like, please get me out of here. And then when I left, was like, I have to see this again. And then I won the lottery again. I was like, Oh my God. Not in front row. Thank God. Yeah. I love it. All right. So after that, was on your, what was, what's after that? Okay. I I don't know how you follow that. I know it was, that was a good three songs. was a really good three songs. So then it was the FDR, um, which as you know, it's just, there's no spectators for the most part. It's hard.

It's the grind really. So this was when I put like my, music that really pumps me up, which is my like female rap hip hop with a little bit of Lady Gaga's mayhem mixed in. that was like, yes, yes. But it was a lot of Dochi. It was a lot of Lisa, some Doja Cat, some Beyonce. Love it. Yeah.

the mayhem mixed in. Lady Gaga kind of like was just like the random artist that I kind of like just through like sprinkled it and throughout the entire playlist. fits though. She fits. absolutely. I mean, and also Dochi is incredible. my god, so good. So good. So good. I had nosebleeds. I had Nissan Altima. I Alter Ego. Alter Ego is incredible. Yes. Incredible. I love it.

So yes, that was like my rap hip hop, but the ladies those I'm a ladies girl. And then going into Times Square, then it became kind of like my 2000s, 2010s pop. And I chose that actually, because one, there's a lot of like, fun songs from that time period and everything. But my friend Rose, the song that she gave was, me everything.

by Neo and Pitbull. That's right. Like the one that's like, me everything tonight. one. Yeah. Was that it? And I chose and it was perfect because it's Betty yet go to Times Square, take a picture with you and go to song. So it's like, all right, this is my Times Square section. Like I have to have this song during Times Square. So, so I had that and then it's ending in Central Park. And that's when I did like my final songs that I really loved, which is

Lady Gaga's Edge of Glory. Because I'm like, I'm at the edge of the park. This is when I'm running down Central Park South. I'm like, if I'm on time, I'll be listening to ⁓ Edge of Glory as I'm on the edge of the park. And then Bye, by Ariana Grande. Eternal Sunshine because I'm saying goodbye to this half marathon. And then I love to finish on Yah-Yah from Cowboy Carter. I love Yah-Yah. So great. So that's one of my favorite songs. Perfectly curated playlist.

Yes. Although I will say one thing and I, when I told this to Mike, he was kind of like, are you, are you sure? I don't want you to be like putting yourself down. was like, no, I think this is funny. After Yaya, my song, cause I was like, in case, you know, I need more music in case I'm slow, something happens. ⁓ the next song in the next genre after that became kind of like rock and it started with, ⁓ my own worst enemy by lit. He's like, I don't want you to like be mad at yourself. I'm like, no, I.

I find it hilarious. And I didn't finish to Yaya. So I did finish to my own worst enemy, but it was like such a funny song. It was such a great race. Yeah. It worked out well. Oh my God. love that.

But hey, I was thinking we could do one more thing since we're doing trends and everyone's doing the trend with the burn CDs. it, yeah. I was thinking we could call some friends. I would love to call some And tell them good night. Okay, let's do that. So I showed you, I sent you a couple and it's just like, hey, I want to say good night, right? So let's do the first one here. All All right? And I hope this works on your end as it does for mine. It worked last time for Tara. could hear That's right, because we did it on our Patreons. And if you guys want to join our Patreon page, you can see that episode we put on our Patreon page.

And others, yeah, she was plugged. All right, let's call some people. first? You gotta let me know. Let's call Hannah. sure, sure. Here we go.

Let me just try again. She's just hanging up on you. shit, he's trying to call.

⁓ she can't talk. She's at Beyonce.

So if I tried to call Allie G she's at Beyonce too. All right, at we know and at least she was nice enough to say hey Quit it. I'm busy All right, let's call. All right. Let's try the bearded. We are Now it's working. Yeah Here we go Eric, hey, what's up, Hello. What's up? Yeah, can you hear me? Hello. How you doing? What's up beard?

We're just calling to say hey, see what you're up to. It's kind of getting late. We just thought we'd call and say, know, we hope you're doing good and you know, we're getting ready to call tonight. So we just want to say good night. ⁓ good night. Yeah, hope you're well, Yeah, I'm all right. Rest up for a good run tomorrow or something. Get some good rest tonight. Sweet dreams type thing. Yeah, no, I'm actually not running tomorrow morning. Just resting. sleep in. Get some good rest.

I'll sleep until 730. Is that sleeping in for you? definition of sleeping in. That's amazing. Yeah. Awesome, man. Well, hey. Maybe 8 o'clock. Oh, God. Just stay in bed. Wake up, stay in bed. That's always good. But hey, yeah, have a great night, man. We just want to say good night. OK. Awesome. Take it easy, buddy. Thanks for the call. I appreciate it. Later, dude. Love you. Bye. Love you. Bye. Who should we try next? That was such a funny trend.

How about we try Moe? sure.

feel like we should tell them we're on the air.

If he answers, say hi Maurice.

What's up, brother? What's up, Hey, Mo! It's Erica. Happy Thursday. Happy Thursday. I like to call it Friday Eve. That's what a lot of people call it. How are you, Happy Friday Eve. How's it going? Good. Good. We're just hanging out. We're getting ready for bed. We're just finishing up the podcast. We just want to call and say good Yeah, send you some sweet dreams.

Okay, I like that. Yeah, we miss you. Hope to see you at a race soon. I miss you guys. So what do you have coming up? You're not doing Mount Washington this year, are you? No, no, that's on Lindsay. Lindsay, messed up. Are you? I got in with the lottery. Yeah, baby. Yeah. So I'll be there. ⁓ I'm doing a bunch of local stuff.

Getting ready for the big one, which is Anka Dhanav. yes. Well, you know I'll be there.

I know 24 hour. How come this isn't your first 24 hour? Not my first 24 hour overall, but it's my first 24 ADU and I am still scared shitless.

But so when you've done hamster wheel 30, right? I don't know why it's 80 you that just makes me nervous.

Well, you start at night, which is to me is a big challenge. it really is. I have to remind myself that like the next day is going to be so much better. ⁓ but it's, you're going to love it because it's, it's only it's 2.4 miles instead of four. You don't really need to carry a pack. You know, you did the 12 hours. So I, for some reason, I thought you did the 24. Nope, just the 12s, but I graduated this year and at least

I don't want to say just, you know what I mean now that you're, now that you're stepping up to the 24th. know I'll be in good company though. So I'll have that to look forward to. Alex is going to be, he's probably going to kick some ass, a buckle. I believe, Oh, I would love to see the Alex and Chris Cappellini showdown. He's a, he's, he's hungry. He's been studying the previous winter. All that stuff. He's fired up. I love it. Yeah.

He's fired up, but there's a guy there that, there's a guy that's going to be there that just did 148 at Pineland farms, ⁓ which is pretty intense and 30 hours. did 148 miles. So he'll be at anchor down. there's going to be some tough competition. I'll wave to them as they pass by me. just need the buckle. I just need the buckle. went 90.

80 85 and now is the year for let's go buddy. I'll be there to support you. Yep. will I will you know every lap support. We're gonna get it together. Yeah, well, you know, it's gonna be a the start to that getting 100 Good night's rest some good recovery So we hope you have a great night. There's no rest. There's no resting during the race There's gonna be a pizza party at midnight and del's lemonade

I mean, I mean tonight, I just want to wish you a good night. Sweet dreams, you know, sleep like a baby. All the training, you need good recovery. Of course we do. Get yourself some Firefly or something, some compression boots, you know, don't forget to stretch. I switched my strength training gym and I've been doing a lot of runner specific ⁓ prep.

single leg stuff, less heavy lifting and more like athletic focused for my running goals. So I'm pretty, I'm pretty excited. Nice. Well, Hey man, we just wanted to say we love you. You know, we're wrapping things up on the pod. want to say we love you and sweet dreams. Have a good night. We just want to say good night. found you. found your sweatshirt. I'm sorry. It's like out of season. I will wear a sweatshirt all year long. So just bring it with you to ADU and I will, I will wear it with pride. I will.

Make her do a lap in it. And Eric, when are we going to talk about the next step since I left you hanging for like three months? We'll talk after the 4th of July because we take our little break. So I will have more time to chat. You can give me a call anytime. Give me a call anytime. Yeah. Well, it gives me some time to get prepared on my end. So I'm not just like coming at you with nothing. Nice.

All right, give me a call when you're ready. Thank you for being patient. Love you, buddy. Bye, Mo. We love you. Have a good night. Sweet dreams. Love you back, sweet dreams. All right, let's try one more. She actually, I don't think has my phone number because you gave it to me. I hope you don't mind. It's Jasser. She's up super early all the time. She's a teacher, too. Let's try Jess Lindemann.

Let's see if she picks up a random call that has been forwarded to voicemail straight to voicemail Jess am I blocked did you block me? She didn't have her number. ⁓ my god Jess. on do not disturb man. ⁓ You know what that's probably it. That's probably it But awesome. That was kind of fun. I love catching up with We'll try one more. Let's try Candice.

Yo. Yo, what's up?

Candice, are you there? Can you hear me? I am here. How are you? Yes, sir. I am good. I'm driving back from my daughter's softball game. She's in the car with me here. Oh, nice. Is that Madison? Yeah, she went to get something. This is Lila, my youngest. Okay. All right.

My oldest is a teacher. She's not playing softball. Well, hi, Candace. We're doing a little podcast thing and we just wanted to call and say hello and hope you're having a great night. Hi, Lila too. We really just wanted to call and say good night. It's late. We thought people were getting ready for bed. We want to just say good night to everybody and sweet dreams.

This is like amazing because that's what Lila and I were just saying. We're going to go home. We both went, my God, it's almost nine o'clock and the two of us are going home, cleaning our faces, brushing teeth. We are literally going to bed. That's what doing. We deserve it. That sounds amazing. And honestly, that's probably what I'm going to be up to right after I finish up with Eric and stuff. So you guys have the right idea. You guys are like the legit best. This is so great that you guys are...

people right now. You guys are awesome. Well, you're in there picking up, is one of our favorites, Candace. So we had to call and say hello and good night at the same time. ⁓ Yeah. Well, you guys know I love you and Lila is a big supporter. She's been around this ride the whole time and heard all the podcast episodes. So she's. I love it. Well, hey, both of you. she just said I have Stooley on my wall. Yes.

That's amazing. Take a picture and tag Stooley in the wild. Well, you guys remember the Stooley photo I sent you on the back pop? That was flawless. That's right. I have a benefit and I am stickered. I love it. I love it. love it. Nice. Well, hey, we're wrapping up. hope you have a great night, both of you. Sweet dreams. Don't let the bedbugs bite. Talk to you later.

All right, guys. Good night. We love you. All right. I got time for one more. Who should we call? Who's going to be awake? Do you have a friend in mind of ours? Oh, what about what about our buddy Jared? What's what's he up to these days? These nights? OK, OK. You want to try Jared? Patrick. Let's try Jared. And we could razz him about the video he made about us.

We didn't even talk about that. Ooh, I have Jared. Ooh, okay. Sweet, let's call Jared here.

We'll keep this one short though. Eric, what's up? What's up, dog? How are you? Good. What do I have the pleasure? Oh, well, you know, it's 10 of 9 here on the East Coast. I'm here too. It's Erica. We're just- Hello. We're just wrapping things up, and we thought we'd call some of our favorite people and just say good night, you know? We hope you have a good night. Sweet dreams. It's Friday Eve. Big weekend coming up. Long runs coming up, so get some rest and recovery. We just thought we'd call, say good night.

I appreciate that. Yeah. I'm just sitting here, you know, watching a movie, The Fountain of Youth here on Apple TV showing with Bruce Wayne. So now he's trying to get some sleep tonight. I got the Mohican ⁓ marathon this Saturday. So just trying to rest up. That's the right idea. Good luck. and lots of sleep and rest and relaxation so you could kick some ass on Saturday. That's right. Awesome. Awesome. Love you guys too. Appreciate the call.

All right, man. you. Yes, buddy. love you. Good night. Later, dude. Good night. Sweet dreams. Don't let the bed bugs bite. All right. Bye. That was fun. You can we do this more often? We do more of this stuff on like extended outros. What do you guys think in this? But hey, I got to run because I got to go pick up Adeline. This was fun. Erica was nice catching up with you. We didn't even get to the AMA. One question I have for you from the AMA.

I need a yes or no answer. Ready? Is Nickelback good or bad?

No comment. No, they're not bad. Yes. They're fucking awesome. I guess it really wasn't a yes or no question. It was a good or bad question. don't mind. you're amazing. Don't forget to support the brands that support us. Go check out the affiliate links in the show notes. My raced hats and right socks. Check out Firefly right here. Also, I'm wearing right now my feet. Erica, don't forget to call your contact info. Thank you very much. Have a great night. Have a great weekend, everybody. Happy.

Hey, Erica, take us home. We missed you guys so much. Thank you for listening. You know we love you. Don't fear the code brown. And don't forget to stretch.

you

know that you're toxic