228 | LIVE from Ted's Shoe and Sport with Denise and Kristen

We are thrilled to bring you part 1 of our LIVE show from Ted's Shoe and Sport in Keene, New Hampshire. 

This mini episode features Denise and Kristen who are community leaders and organizers in Keene, New Hampshire, focusing on youth sports, community engagement, and the inspiring story of Clarence DeMar, a legendary marathon runner from Keene. They dive into the Kids DeMar program they created that inspires the youth in the area to run and stay active all summer in an incitive that allows them to run in the final 1.2 miles of the Clarence DeMar Marathon every fall.

Key Topics

• Community involvement in youth sports
• The story and legacy of Clarence DeMar
• Local initiatives to promote movement among children
• The history and significance of the Keene marathon
• How community events foster belonging and health

Links

Ted's Shoe and Sport

Clarence DeMar Marathon

Kid's DeMar

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Live Show
00:36 Spotlight on Local Guests
01:31 Community Engagement and Youth Programs
01:46 Introduction to Community Engagement
04:39 The Kids to Marr Race Initiative
06:32 Promoting Health and Activity in Youth
10:14 Fundraising and Community Support
13:08 Sneaker Distribution and Impact
16:20 Incentives for Active Participation
18:48 Community Partnerships and Resources
21:45 Celebrating Local Events and Volunteers
24:44 Conclusion and Future Aspirations

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

Transcript

Eric (00:05)
What's up everybody and happy Friday Eve. Man, am I excited for the weekend? I'm also excited for tonight. I'll be running in the happy hour hustle with a lot of you from Millennium running. Can't wait to do that. I'm going to try to make every happy hour hustle this summer. It's worth the babysitter cost me. It really is to hang out and run with you guys and have a few cold ones after. I can't wait and I can't wait for you to hear today's episode. This is part one.

from our live show last week at Ted's Shoe and Sport in Keene, New Hampshire. Ted is awesome.

Shout out to Jess, by the way. Jess is the manager of Ted Shoe and Jess came to our live recording last year at Marathon Sports, and she's like, hey, will you come to my store and do this? We're like, absolutely. And part one has two incredible guests, new to the pod fam. We have Denise and Kristen.

These were handpicked by Ted and Jess themselves. They're very involved in the Keane community, have a lot to do with the kids in the Keane community. There's this whole program you're going to hear about that I kind of wish or hope other communities all around the country are going to take a part of, or maybe they'll hear this and be like, we should do that, where they get these kids to run a marathon and no, not in one shot. Spread out throughout the whole summer. It was wicked awesome. So enjoy part one.

Next week we're back with another amazing episode. Our guest is from Down Under. And then part two from Ted's will drop a week from today. Next week on Thursday

with a pod fam favorite and a new friend you're gonna get to know this summer as well.

He's really awesome, especially if you're looking to get your back cracked. So enjoy episode one, or

one, from Ted's Shoe and Sport in Keane, New Hampshire, and have a wicked awesome weekend, guys.

speaker-0 (01:47)
What's up everybody and welcome to a very special edition of the On the Runs podcast. We are coming to you from Ted's Shoe and Sport in Keene, New Hampshire. We're gonna hopefully have a lot of people on from this area this year, this summer, anytime between now and the very popular Clarence Del Mar marathon.

speaker-2 (02:06)
I told you I would do it.

speaker-0 (02:08)
Do it on purpose so you can correct me, but I'm listening. We have our first two guests here. They're incredible. We got, I got a little info because I was in the meetings, Erica. You were not.

speaker-2 (02:17)
was working at the time. Now I have some spare time.

speaker-0 (02:21)
We have Denise and Kristen from, I think you're both local from Keene, right Denise? How long have you lived in the Keene area?

speaker-1 (02:26)
Absolutely.

I can't tell you my age, but it's been all that time.

speaker-2 (02:32)
Born

and raised.

speaker-0 (02:33)
Born

and raised in... and Kristen, you're from the Keene area too? 53. Wait, what? Wait, what? There's no way. No way.

speaker-3 (02:37)
53 years.

speaker-1 (02:38)
Yeah

speaker-3 (02:42)
Yeah, I went away for college a little bit and came back.

speaker-0 (02:45)
Wow, so born and raised as well. ⁓ Let's do a little elevator pitch bio. Let's get a little bio. We're not gonna get to the juice of the recording yet, but give us a little bit of your elevator pitch bio. When someone runs into you in an elevator and it breaks down and you're sitting there for who knows how long, what are you gonna tell them about

speaker-2 (03:04)
just want to get to know you.

speaker-1 (03:06)
⁓ So I am a local real estate agent with Better Homes and Gardens the Masiello group Highly involved in my community member of the Kenan City Rotary Club past president I'm on the board of the local ⁓ Greater Manana collaborative, which is the local Chamber of Commerce and I just love this community

speaker-3 (03:26)
Goodness, I direct the New Hampshire Dance Institute, which is a nonprofit arts and education dance program. bring dance into schools and as part of their school day. So it's not extracurricular or co-curricular. It is a curricular piece of their day. And we're serving about 5,000 children in New Hampshire. That is has become my

love, I didn't know that I was going to be able to do that in my life. And it happened and I love my job. I never go to work. And yeah, yeah, they're out there. I also am a member of the Elm City Rotary Club, which has involved me in directing the kids, Demar. And I am an adjunct professor at Keene State and choreograph local musical theater projects.

speaker-0 (04:00)
is looking for one of those.

You're also a mom of three girls. ⁓ Are they all in dance?

speaker-3 (04:21)
I am.

At one point, yes. My oldest is a CrossFit coach. Middle is a, that's Mackenzie. Jaina is living in Boston. She's ran Boston. She's a big time runner. Not a big deal. Boston qualified at the Demar. Not a big love it. Big deal. She's a musician. She's strings player. youngest is a freshman in college at Coastal Carolina University. She's a rugby player. Yeah. Oh gosh, they're amazing.

speaker-2 (04:39)
twice.

so far.

speaker-3 (04:54)
I'm really proud of them.

speaker-2 (04:55)
love to hear about your jobs, especially Kristen with you. You came in here dancing. So you could tell how much you absolutely love your job, love teaching it to the kids, getting them involved. So let's hear a little bit about the Kids to Marr Race or series that you guys

speaker-3 (05:10)
Yeah,

yeah. And we've got some of our runners.

speaker-2 (05:13)
Which is so cool. Hi guys. Welcome to the show. We're so happy to have you.

speaker-3 (05:17)
They're just awesome. The kids, Demar. Well, first of all, I I always start when I'm talking about this with children. Do you know who Clarence Demar is?

speaker-0 (05:28)
Did you my shoe notes?

speaker-2 (05:29)
We might have to give Eric a little bit of an elevator pitch.

speaker-3 (05:33)
I'm

quizzing you. And it's really interesting. Even moving around Boston and talking to runners last weekend, a lot of people have no idea who Clarence Damar is. And do you now know?

speaker-0 (05:47)
learned today, but I put on the show notes, stupid question Eric needs to know. I thought everyone here would look at me if I asked and be like, how do you not know?

speaker-3 (05:51)
Yeah, this is big deal.

speaker-2 (05:57)
Tell me you're not from Keen.

speaker-3 (05:58)
Without telling you who's Clarence Damar. Well, he holds the record for winning the Boston Marathon seven times. And he is the 1924 bronze Olympic winner in the marathon at Paris Olympics. And he's from Keene. hometown hero. Hometown hero and humble. ⁓ I didn't know him personally.

speaker-0 (06:21)
So we want to know something funny. We were Googling him on the car ride here. chance Erica got service. And she tells me all this and I go, we gotta get him on the pod.

speaker-2 (06:32)
We're quite a few years too late. He was born in 1888 and he died in 1958, I believe it was.

speaker-0 (06:40)
Just miss

speaker-3 (06:41)
Just missed it. Just barely squeaked back. But I think the thing that's really interesting about Clarence DeMarr was that he was an everybody runner. When you look back and study up on him, he was somebody that just went out for a run and encouraged running. I think if he were to be here with us today, you know, that question, like if you had a chance to have dinner with anybody,

in the world. Dinner party. know, alive or dead. mean, certainly there are some family members that I'd love to connect with, but Clarence DeMar, just to tell him, look at this legacy. Look at what you're inspiring all the time. It's so exciting. I'd love to hear what his take on that would be and what he would ⁓ say maybe we're missing or what he's excited about. Yeah.

speaker-0 (07:35)
We did that as our pasta dinner guest question last year. Like who would you take? No, but they should have and the rule was no family.

speaker-2 (07:40)
Did somebody pick Clarence?

speaker-3 (07:45)
yeah.

speaker-2 (07:45)
It's like a given, we wanted to broaden the horizon a little bit.

speaker-0 (07:49)
Eventually

everyone just started saying I would take my mom or my dad and we're like no we're looking for you know who did the guys from Columbus take? Darius and Star

speaker-2 (07:57)
One of them did Fidipities, who was like the first one, like back in ancient Greece too. Exactly, right? Yeah. And then Star did a famous woman ultra runner who ran Badwater 135 front and back. Like she did the double like at one time. like picking some interesting people who you normally like, you just want to pick their brain. What knowledge can you share with us?

speaker-3 (08:03)
And then died.

It would be Clarence DeMarte. The other person I'm really interested in, just for an aside, everybody knows the Rosie Ruiz story. yes, yes. But do you know who won?

speaker-2 (08:31)
see, exactly,

speaker-3 (08:33)
Jacqueline Guerreau who actually won that year. That's the person I would love to talk to her. Like how did you manage that whole story? Kids I'll tell you about it later.

speaker-2 (08:43)
Yeah.

speaker-1 (08:44)
question.

speaker-0 (08:45)
I don't know if many people know from the Keen area but Mike Beeman who just ran his 49th straight boss marathon Mike was running behind Rosie ⁓

speaker-3 (08:54)
Well,

after she got off the T.

speaker-2 (08:57)
Yeah.

speaker-0 (08:57)
She shares that story. She's not around either for us to ask, but I'm sure she got tired of talking about it after a while.

speaker-2 (09:05)
I mean, yeah, it makes sense.

speaker-1 (09:07)
So Clarence DeMarr's daughter came and ran the half marathon. years ago. a years ago. Which was pretty awesome.

speaker-0 (09:13)
And I was going to ask if you're both locals, you've been here for a long time, we're not going to talk about age, even though one of you dropped the number. Do you remember the first Clarence Del Mar marathon and like when it started in honor of him? Because this was in the seventies.

speaker-3 (09:19)
I love my birthday.

I was tiny. Oh gosh. But I know that the course was different. 30.

speaker-1 (09:35)
This was our 40.

speaker-2 (09:38)
I think it started in 78. I'm correct. My Googling in the car.

speaker-1 (09:41)
45th year.

Yeah. ⁓

speaker-3 (09:46)
I was six.

speaker-2 (09:48)
How many

times has the course changed in the history of the race? that's not, that's not.

speaker-1 (09:52)
I think.

speaker-3 (09:52)
Just twice. I

right? Ted's nodding. Thank you, Ted.

speaker-0 (09:58)
Let's talk

a little bit about the kids and let's talk a little bit about movement and I think I'm going to start with Denise. Let's go back to 2010. You were president of the Rotary Club and you started a few initiatives in the local community for running sports and with kids, right?

speaker-1 (10:14)
Yeah, so back in that time, the Cheshire Medical had a program that was Healthy Monadnock. And in conjunction with that Healthy Monadnock program, I basically was trying to think, OK, how can we involve that? How can we make our kids healthier? What I'd really like to do is put United Way and all of these nonprofits out of business that are helping our youth because they're just so healthy and they're doing wonderful things.

my 30,000 foot view. ⁓ So with that said, brought together a little group of people in the Rotary Club and said, hey, what can we do to get kids active and moving every day so that they're healthier? through that, Ted Schuen Sport said, hey, what if we gave sneakers? And I'm like, my god, that would be amazing. And then we picked second graders because that's just the right.

⁓ age and for, you know, being able to start moving, continue on with that program and keep going. And then we've just kind of developed over time ⁓ using local folks in the community. So Beth Corwin, who was with Simon School, ⁓ brought us to Peter Siegel, who helped us write the song lyrics for the Follow Me dance that we do.

speaker-0 (11:40)
Okay.

speaker-1 (11:41)
Kristen Leach with NHDI. you Erica to dance later? Yes.

speaker-2 (11:46)
I feel like the kids would do a better job. I will try. will try. ⁓

speaker-0 (11:47)
content

speaker-3 (11:48)
Cut.

speaker-1 (11:50)
Have

everybody do it so the adults and the kids will do that with us.

speaker-2 (11:55)
you're saying

there's a chance.

speaker-3 (11:56)
Okay,

good. Absolutely.

speaker-1 (11:58)
And ⁓ we did a video, so that we did a video with kids, for kids, doing this dance, promoting movement every day. And now we deliver sneakers so that we can promote movement and the kids tomorrow.

speaker-2 (12:14)
fun. So tell us how do you get these sneakers into the kids hands? Like at me as an outsider, would you need donations or just just tell us a little bit about how that works because I think that's absolutely amazing getting getting shoes to kids to help them be more active.

speaker-1 (12:30)
We certainly do. So we do. fundraise for the kids tomorrow. We fundraise for the sneakers. We get about 700 sneakers a year for every second grader in Cheshire County, 27 schools. And yeah, you know, we're lucky to have a partner in New Balance and our sneakers are between 10 and $15.

per sneaker but that adds up and yes we do now here's

speaker-0 (13:05)
Here's a stupid question, but these are brand new sneakers, right? Because we have had people on the podcast who do something where they collect shoes that are bought online and someone might try them on and then they say, no, they're not for me, so they get returned. And from what I heard, and we'll have an episode later about retail and running, but sometimes these shoes cannot be resold. So they're like within 90 % brand new and they get donated. But these are brand new shoes, right? Hot off the press, if that's what you want to call it.

speaker-1 (13:08)
They are brand new.

speaker-0 (13:35)
and Ted's gets these shoes delivered and you help deliver these shoes to second graders. How many pairs of shoes do you think you've delivered since you started this?

speaker-1 (13:43)
are over 7,500 pairs of sneakers since 2011.

speaker-2 (13:49)
That's incredible. That's lot of That's a lot of running. That's a lot of just movement in general. A lot of good.

speaker-0 (13:50)
I call that post-boss.

And most of those kids have also run the Clarence Run Del Mar program. Why don't we talk a little bit about that, Kristen? How did you start this program?

speaker-3 (14:07)
Well, what's really interesting, I need to give credit where it's due, Rudy Fadrizi was the one who began the Kids Demar. And it's just a beautiful message to the children in our community to tell them, and we say this when we go to deliver sneakers, we want you to know that you matter to us. We see you and we think that you're amazing. And we know that your physical health, moving your body, is related to your mental health.

and that doing that together with friends is going to grow you into a strong human being. And then we say, but we don't wanna just come here and say, hey kids, move every day, peace out, see ya. We wanna give you tools to do that. And the sneakers are certainly, that's a very big part of it. The Kids Demar is, it's really, it's like a fun game. Yeah? Do agree? They're all nodding. Yes. They get a tracker that is,

Looks like a game. It looks like almost like a Candyland game. And they are challenged to run a marathon. Over the course of time.

speaker-0 (15:13)
Okay, because a marathon for a second grader might be a little brutal.

speaker-3 (15:17)
I don't know, you give him enough candy.

speaker-2 (15:20)
mean, that's how altruism

speaker-3 (15:22)
Yeah,

because the bag of Twizzlers I hear you can't get open.

speaker-0 (15:25)
no, I can get it open.

speaker-3 (15:27)
Just

not with the zipper. Yeah, heard about that. Yeah, we asked them to do it over a course of time. So they're just about to get their registration forms and get their trackers to start logging their miles. OK. Their job is to log in 25 miles between receiving their tracker and race day. And then on race day, this is just the really cool, exciting part of it.

They start 1.2 miles out from the finish line on the course. So they run the same course that the Fastie McFaster-sons are running, and they cross the same finish line. They have shirts with runners' bibs on them. When they cross the finish line, they get a medal because they set a goal for themselves and they reached it.

speaker-2 (16:20)
I love everything about that.

speaker-3 (16:22)
It's really unique. At about that same time that those last families are crossing, there's a lot of families. Some children are racing by the time. So this is for kids in grades one through six. So there are definitely fifth and sixth graders that are racing it, and they are fast. ⁓ We have a very generous donation of a golf cart so that I'm on the back of the golf cart and we say three, two, one, run.

and my golf cart takes off and I say, and get me. That's great. the kids run after I've got great video of the children just running after the golf cart.

speaker-0 (16:58)
You

have donuts on a stick hanging from the back.

speaker-3 (17:00)
Exactly. But you have some serious fifth and sixth graders ⁓ that are training to race that. It's really exciting stuff. And a lot of families that are coming along with the children and ⁓ sometimes walking, sometimes dancing across the finish line. But about the time the last families are coming through our half marathon.

speaker-2 (17:02)
work like that with carrots anymore.

speaker-3 (17:26)
finisher is just about to come around the corner. imagine all of these children and their kids tomorrow t-shirts and maybe they're sweaty and out of breath getting cowbells and coming down to that finish line and it is deafening. They just make it all the noise and it's a couple.

speaker-0 (17:43)
You're wearing the kids kids t-shirt right now Do you mind standing right here in front of Denise and look right at that camera and show off that t-shirt? So those yeah, come on over all three. Yeah, come on over Turn around show off that t-shirt Follow me, which I we got to what it means yet, but

speaker-2 (17:57)
Even on the back.

speaker-3 (18:02)
⁓ The me, M-E, is the move every day part. Move your bodies every single day.

speaker-0 (18:09)
Awesome job by the way. Thank you

speaker-2 (18:13)
Thank

you.

speaker-1 (18:14)
So Kristen, don't they get different color shirts depending on? Yeah.

speaker-3 (18:18)
Well,

one year, I was explaining that. One year I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great that all of the children in first grade have red shirts and all of the kids in second grade. So we did have a year of this just flood of color. That is a really difficult thing to do. There's about 1200 children that are registering. Wow. It's a big deal. So out of love and respect for our fellow Rotarians, we will have one color. This year's blue. Oh, yay.

speaker-0 (18:37)
This is a big deal.

speaker-2 (18:48)
OTR blue.

speaker-0 (18:49)
They approve of the color. Kind of like her sandal.

speaker-3 (18:51)
⁓ probably this blue. Okay, that works. It's good. It's good. It's a Boston blue.

speaker-0 (18:58)
Let's talk about the start process. Like ⁓ for someone maybe local in the community or maybe for someone listening who's not local but wants to start a similar program. What's the start process of this? When do you go to the schools? Do the kids get a flyer to take home to mom and dad? How do you get the work?

speaker-2 (19:15)
sign up process for the kids or does anybody in the school system get a chance?

speaker-3 (19:20)
Well, I just maybe brought this. This is the registration form. How about that? ⁓ This is the tracker. And what's really cool about it, like we talk about the children going out for a walk, walk their dog, coloring in their spaces.

speaker-0 (19:25)
and look, that's your, ⁓

speaker-2 (19:36)
them

examples of things they can do to build up that mileage.

speaker-3 (19:38)
And

we celebrate all of the different ways they might move their bodies. Maybe they hike Monadnock. Maybe they ride their bike. As long as they're moving their bodies without motor, they have their own muscle power. So maybe they ride their bike, they stop for ice cream, they ride at home, they get a little bit further. Maybe they go for a swim.

speaker-0 (19:58)
Count kayaking.

speaker-1 (20:00)
Yes.

speaker-3 (20:01)
We count kayaking.

speaker-0 (20:03)
River.

speaker-2 (20:05)
River. Gotta make them work for it.

speaker-3 (20:07)
Yeah, you're engaging your core. Absolutely. Yeah, I do too. These registration forms go out to every single child in Cheshire County and a few schools beyond. What is the number one thing that makes us healthy is a sense of belonging. So what we're saying to these children, all these families have to do is fill out this registration form and get it back to school.

speaker-0 (20:12)
to kayak.

speaker-1 (20:37)
because it's free.

speaker-3 (20:38)
Because it's absolutely free.

speaker-2 (20:40)
initiative in itself.

speaker-0 (20:42)
Even though the shoes cost $15, they're free for the kids, right? Second grade, okay, only second

speaker-3 (20:46)
For the second graders.

Only second graders. This is open for grades one through six. But just that sense of belonging. Wear that shirt. The shirt is a reminder. The medal is a reminder. The tracker is a reminder that people care about me. People want me to move my body. They've told me that it is going to help me feel good. I'm going to go do it. And then they do feel good. And then they wear their shirts and then they

our happy children.

speaker-2 (21:18)
It is a good reminder and some incentives. like, check out what I did. Yeah.

speaker-3 (21:23)
So, we would love, think Denise, we've always talked about other organizations taking this on, either the sneaker project or a kids marathon process that it's such a great thing for a community, for sure. we would love to help.

speaker-1 (21:42)
We've got it packaged and it's like ready to

speaker-3 (21:44)
Ready

to go!

speaker-2 (21:45)
wow.

speaker-0 (21:45)
You could almost kind of like just say there's a I went to Timberland that's four towns So you got sand down Danville? Atkinson and Plastow So you could almost essentially not sell us to them But you got the start-up kit already if they want to do this you can show them how and they don't have to figure the rest out Yep, and then you could have I don't there's no marathon in sand down, but you know, there's a five There's a smaller race and they could do something. Yeah, because there's the old town five-miler from what I heard by the way, I don't

Backcheck me maybe later. First, the toughest five-miler in New England.

speaker-3 (22:17)
because it's hilly? Yeah.

speaker-2 (22:18)
⁓ I

will look it up. I have no idea. I have not run that

speaker-0 (22:22)
So let's talk a little bit about springtime summertime. They're doing this Are they on their own or are you hiring KJ to train them and coach them? Is there any like a weekly or monthly get-together check-in process? Yeah, how are you checking in with them to make sure you know, they're on track or at least they're understanding Do you get together with the kids do any kid programs?

speaker-3 (22:43)
Yeah, they're mostly on their own. In fact, we have two family members out there that are visiting with these children. The families, and this is the beauty of it, the families really have to engage. They have to really get into it. Maybe the children are initially saying, hey, I need another mile on my tracker. Can we go out for a walk together?

speaker-2 (23:03)
could see how in the beginning, ⁓ when you first get it, the kids are like, yes, let's go. And then as the months roll on, it might be a little more difficult. So you're going to need to get the parents on your side to just.

speaker-3 (23:12)
We use some social media to do some different events where, hey, meet us at wherever and let's get a mile in. Ted has a great night at Swamp Bats where we have Ted's night and the children show up and we run on the track at Keene High School and then the finish line arches up and the children run to home base and we celebrate the fact that they're in.

speaker-2 (23:20)
run club for the kids?

speaker-3 (23:40)
in their training and getting their miles in. That's excellent. But once they get back to school, a lot of our PE teachers in the area ⁓ definitely buy in. OK. And that's helpful. Absolutely.

speaker-1 (23:52)
The other thing that we do is when we're giving out the sneakers, we do give out passes to, we've got great community partners. So, in family Y, that's your children's museum, MoCo, which is a dance program and, teen ice, so ice skating. And of course the Swamp Bats. some of these are family passes, but it allows the kids to go to these various organizations for free.

and get a little movement into the day.

speaker-0 (24:23)
Denise, are you still involved in the Elm Street Rotary Club?

speaker-1 (24:27)
Elm City Rotary.

speaker-0 (24:28)
Elm

City. I do that all. you. She understands me. So a lot of that led through that being a Rotary Club member. You you were the president one day. You're still involved. So you've been involved for at least 17 years.

speaker-3 (24:31)
You're too great.

speaker-1 (24:44)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. and we were just sorting the rest of our sneakers this morning. So, yeah, we had a little bit, we had some shoes that were out there and it's like, my gosh, they haven't come in yet. this morning we were back repackaging and making sure that we're ready for the next school.

speaker-0 (25:03)
Both you are members of the Rotary Club, right? Yes. Yeah, and Ted too, I think. That's awesome. Well, I think it's time we allow for some questions. And if anyone has a question, I'm going to ask you because we learned from this last time. People 50 feet away were asking questions and yelling it and no one listen. Come up and talk. Erica has a microphone that she can hand out. Just a little bit. is a cable. If anyone has questions, come on over and ask.

speaker-3 (25:07)
Yes.

speaker-2 (25:20)
We're going to make you come up and talk to him,

speaker-3 (25:30)
Hello, I'm Chad and I live here in Keene and I've run the Demar half a couple of times. Hope to someday run the full. Just sign up. Absolutely. Just sign up and force yourself to do it. It's so interesting how this race attracts so many people from so many places. It's really kind of a hidden gem, I think, for New England running and particularly for Keene, New Hampshire. If you could just kind of talk about this is a

bigger draw than just a regional draw. And it's a BQ race, know, there's a lot of interest in it. downhill. Yeah, just a point of local pride, but a big draw from across the country. Yeah, I have run the full and the half several times. It's a beautiful course. It is exceptionally well organized. There are at least two or three volunteers for every runner.

Like it is nuts. The community comes out for this in such a big way. There was one year it was exceptionally hot. was really like dangerously hot. And I was running the half that year with a friend. You remember that? Yeah, was stupid hot.

speaker-0 (26:41)
Was that your friend? The one you were running with?

speaker-3 (26:45)
No, no, but it was it was Tracy and it was her first half marathon and she said, I didn't know any different. You know, I just knew that running a half marathon was hard. I was like, this was harder. But what was crazy is you're running down Elm Street at mile 10 or 11 almost. And there are people coming out with ice and cold washcloths.

speaker-2 (26:57)
That's a doozy.

speaker-3 (27:12)
And you came around the corner and there, Mr. Zelsky is up on his ladder with his hose making an arc so that you could run underneath it. It just, you just felt loved the whole time. And it's a really unique space to be in. Yeah. I highly recommend it. Big time 50 state business. Our race director, Alan Stroshine, brilliant. If you're a 50 stater,

he will go back and find out what number state this is. So if this is your 13th, he'll put 13 on your bib. Oh, cool. It's really cool.

speaker-0 (27:47)
That's

cool. So yeah, cuz I only think there's really three marathons in this state that I can think of. Big one. There's four. got cheap and you got Manchester, the Millennium ones. You have this one and then you have the one in Bristol.

speaker-2 (28:02)
Is that the Seacoast? there's one on the Seacoast too. Didn't your sister did the half last year? I think that's a marathon too. It's like the Loco marathon, I think. ⁓

speaker-0 (28:06)
I didn't know it was a real marathon.

So there

might be five, which is not a lot. I mean, it might be a lot for this state. I'm not sure, but this is the one. So my goal is to be there this year. I want to run and now I'm hoping to just, I actually want to start volunteering to some of these. And I want to start working a lot of them too. But this one we've heard about a lot because KJ, you remember she was on episode 62. We started hearing about this marathon around then. I know that's crazy thing, 62. We're now at 220 something. So.

We've heard about this. know so many people who've run it. You've run it. Sammy's run it. Remember when Sammy was running and she was chasing after you, KJ? So we've heard about this and just, seems to be a very, I don't want to say scenic, like it's the most scenic marathon, but it-

speaker-2 (28:56)
It's perfect time of year you're getting a

speaker-3 (28:59)
end of September. It's great.

speaker-0 (29:01)
It was kind of like the perfect spot for a marathon.

speaker-3 (29:04)
Yeah, and you're coming out down out of Gilson's net downhill there and then into keen proper and the crowds are really cheering you on.

speaker-0 (29:12)
There's

to tell, and I guess this is on the spot question, you can find the answer later, maybe in the fall, but the economic impact that weekend has on this town.

speaker-1 (29:23)
it's amazing. The restaurants, the hotels. I think Ted's probably does okay from a running perspective. Beasties Next Door does our merchandise. And it's pretty spectacular. Yeah. Little merch going.

speaker-3 (29:38)
But also our pasta dinner. The night before, Alan brings in amazing speakers. We've had Frank Shorter, we've had Dave McGilvery. ⁓

speaker-0 (29:50)
Yeah,

It seems like a big weekend. There's a couple in Keene, think. Do they still do the big pumpkin fest? Yeah. Right. And so you got that. This is one of those big Keene weekends. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I would be proud of it, too. I think you should be. So you should be very proud just from what we hear all the time from lot of locals in the area. So that's incredible. The kids left. I was actually tried to time the question for them.

speaker-3 (29:59)
We're really proud of it.

day.

speaker-0 (30:14)
It is dinner. But I thought, you know, maybe we'd get a couple fun kids questions from them. But I'll just say this was awesome. I think as we're planning this and we're like, let's add a little more and Ted's like, I know two people, they're fantastic. You have to have them on part of the y'all part of the Rotary Club. Your involvement with kids. You have a t-shirt on that says, follow me. And I'll say last question. I don't think we actually said while we're recording, what follow me stands for? Do you want to talk a little bit about that meaning?

speaker-1 (30:44)
So it's for the kids. So all the kids have the follow me person on the back of their shirts. And it's for the kids, inspiring other kids to follow them. And the emmy is And the emmy's move every day.

speaker-0 (31:00)
every day. love that. That's just what we need. A little movement. it's... Every day. Even on recovery day. Just get outside. Get out there. Especially in this area. Yeah. Lots of good trails. Lots of good running road. Do you have good rail trails? That's everything. Well, I got to come out here and get a tour of the area because I'm only used to coming here and getting yelled at by all the hockey fans. Oh. Because I've refereed college and high school hockey for quite a while and every time...

speaker-1 (31:07)
Nature's beautiful, right?

speaker-3 (31:15)
Cup of tea?

speaker-2 (31:16)
Sweet deal.

speaker-0 (31:28)
We've actually done quite a few playoff games here and.

speaker-3 (31:31)
That's cool. Yeah, come out for some running.

speaker-0 (31:33)
and not get yelled at.

speaker-1 (31:35)
This was awesome. out at the finish line if nothing else because that is inspiring.

speaker-3 (31:39)
Yeah, it gets beautiful. One of the things that we love about our finish line is the dead last finisher is not what we call that. Alan calls it the closer.

No, we wait for that person to come through and it's teary. The stories are amazing. I think two years ago, there was a gentleman who'd lost his father to heart disease and he, in the process of training for the marathon, lost like 200 pounds. my gosh. And he's telling us this story and it's inspiring and beautiful. then...

that finish line and the music and the pump stays until he crops. It's, yeah, yeah. It's an Ironman. Have you ever experienced an Ironman at the end? Yes.

speaker-0 (32:24)
I'm getting Iron Man vibe.

speaker-1 (32:29)
We had Iron Man come one year. We actually had Iron Man from Disney. Was it Marvel? Marvel. ⁓ Iron Man come as a character for the kids. my god, it was amazing. Sorry.

speaker-3 (32:36)
Yeah.

speaker-0 (32:42)
Diver and Iron Man.

speaker-3 (32:45)
But you've

done too much.

speaker-0 (32:46)
I've done a few ironies, that final hour, like even if you can't walk, you must make the finish line for the final hour.

speaker-1 (32:54)
Cheerleaders

from Keene State stick around so it's they run is they run in with the race director. It's beautiful

speaker-2 (33:00)
I ⁓ am just so impressed that everybody just turns out for many events, but the marathon in itself that you guys have, like you said, more volunteers than you do actual racers. That's so hard to find, especially like bigger, bigger places. Like you guys are just so close knit and...

speaker-3 (33:12)
It's great.

speaker-1 (33:19)
And they're volunteers. They're like, the that they go.

speaker-3 (33:21)
⁓ Yeah, do it for a Right,

like Tammy's one. Tammy's here. She comes out every year. If she's not on the course, she's helping out.

and the other crazy thing that we haven't talked about at all is that likewise with the tracker for the children, there's something called Super Seniors. And these are all people over the age of 70. Really? And they do the same thing. They log 25 miles and they run the final 1.2 run walk. My mom did it in a walker. I love that. And it's beautiful. I think what's crazy amazing about this community is that we say,

We care about you. care about your bodies moving and staying healthy and develop developing a community where you can be part of that no matter what. ages. Yeah. All ages. Exactly.

speaker-2 (34:10)
So important.

speaker-0 (34:13)
It's incredible. Well you two are incredible. It's just so much fun to learn. knew nothing until the drive so it's like the typical... That's not true. No, no, but it's the typical... I like to do a lot of the time is I do a lot of research but I don't tell her everything because I like for her mind to be processing all and then she really listens.

speaker-2 (34:31)
This may be the one though, I've run Clarence DeMarr a few years back so I knew just a smidge more about at least the history than he did.

speaker-0 (34:38)
Why

didn't you even know who Clarence was until a few hours ago?

speaker-2 (34:41)
And you kept

calling him Delmar.

speaker-0 (34:47)
It's pronounce it correctly for me That's it. All right, you heard it from Erica first hand there Guys, this is awesome. Thank you so much You in sport for having us here to talk to the two of you both I I really hope like you're a big runner. Yeah, you and I are gonna see each other in a couple days Let's let's see and have you guys on for a full episode get your full story because you've run many have some foals.

speaker-2 (34:49)
Clarence Damar.

speaker-3 (34:56)
Thank you to

Sunday, yeah, let's go.

speaker-0 (35:13)
I'm sure you've run many too, Denise.

speaker-1 (35:15)
Gosh, no, I'm an organizer, not a runner.

speaker-2 (35:17)
That's equally as important.

keyword

speaker-0 (35:23)
But

you know there's so much behind the scenes people don't know that could be great and then I'm sure you have some great running stories good and or bad.

speaker-2 (35:32)
I know you have some good even just pacing and crewing stories

speaker-3 (35:35)
Yeah, we've already talked about it.

speaker-0 (35:38)
Well,

this will be fun. This will be fun. But guys, thank you so much for checking this out. Thank you for letting, giving us the opportunity, Ted, to have this show at your store and hope to do more in the future, guys. Denise and Kristen on the On the Runs podcast. Erica, that was wicked awesome.

speaker-2 (35:54)
Thank you ladies. That was amazing.

speaker-0 (36:45)
⁓ I forgot to hit record. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

speaker-2 (36:49)
It wouldn't be the first time.