114: Running to Victory: The Impact of Group Runs and Galloway Training

Ever wondered how you can make the most of a running group? Or perhaps you're unsure about the importance of pacing during races. This week's episode of the Rise and Run Podcast is filled with answers, presented from the perspective of Mark Lane-Holbert, a seasoned participant and fervent advocate of the Jeff Galloway training groups. We explore Mark's personal experiences as well as his unique insights into these groups, and the supportive running community they foster. Hear his take on the crucial role of pace groups, especially when you're training for something as intense as the Disney marathon!

We all know that long-distance running can be taxing, but it's not without its rewards. Join us as we discuss how setting goals and tracking mileage can help you push your limits and achieve your running ambitions. We'll also be sharing our thoughts on pacers in the Galloway training program and how they can help you maintain your tempo during races.

Thanksgiving Weekend had us running in races all over the country! From the oldest marathon in Florida—the Space Coast Marathon and Half Marathon—to the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trots, our Rise and Run family has been hitting the pavement, setting personal records, and sharing their triumphs as well as trials. Tune in to hear about their run-ins with cool and humid weather, the camaraderie they experienced, and the quaint Cocoa Village where the race flagged off. So, lace up, listen in, and prepare to be inspired.

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Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:04

3am again. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Welcome to the Rise and Run Podcast. Join our group of Run Disney Friends. As we talk about running at Walt Disney World and beyond. We'll discuss recent runs, training, upcoming races and surprise topics suggested by you, our listeners. Well, the alarm's gone off, so let's go.

Speaker 3: 0:37

Hey, rise and Runners. This is Kay from Maryland. I am here at Disney Springs at our meetup, staring at the wonderful air balloon. I hope that's what it's really called. I'm telling you all, if you're out there and you're running and you're training, enjoy and take in all of the scenery. Happy running.

Speaker 1: 0:56

That's our buddy Kay. Thank you, kay. Thanks for that nice introduction. Yeah, I don't know what the official name of that hot air balloon is, but you're close enough I'm sure of that. Characters in flight, right? Oh, it could be, I don't know really I'm not sure.

Speaker 4: 1:14

I think you're right.

Speaker 1: 1:15

But we all know what it is. But, friends, welcome. Welcome to Episode 114 of the Rise and Run Podcast. We are so glad that you're with us. I'm Bob. I am here today with Lexi. Hello With John hey, how you doing. With Alicia. Hello With Greg hey, hey, hey. And with Jack, hiya, good to see you. My friends, aw shucks, as always, I'm excited.

Speaker 1: 1:50

It's a Tuesday night, best night of the week. Of course, if you're listening, it's not Tuesday night, but you all by now know we record on Tuesdays and we're happy to be here with you. It's just so much fun. This evening we're going to talk a bit about running with groups, specifically the Jeff Galloway training groups that are available throughout the country. Our friend, mark Lane Holbert, who was with us a couple of weeks ago talking about his podcast, spend some time to talk about the Galloway training groups and also to talk a bit about Galloway Pacers that are available at all the Disney runs and some other major runs throughout the country. Hang with us for that. You're going to enjoy it. No race report spotlight. Tonight, however, we have at last count, 41 Turkey trots to talk about and I don't know I didn't count them 37 or 38 of our friends that were over in Cocoa Beach for the Space Coast Marathon and Half Marathon. So we'll get to that in the race report.

Speaker 2: 3:04

You know we'll have to set a timer, bob, to see what takes longer this week's race report because of the Turkey trots or when we do the roll call for marathon weekend. Yeah, we should put out a Vegas line for that and see what everyone thinks and put some bets on it.

Speaker 6: 3:20

We should have people guess.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Yeah, hey guys, you have reminded me of something, and that is to remind our friends who are listening that we do that. We do love to call out the names of everyone who's going to be racing at Disney World in the roll call. In this case it'll be the week before the event. So if your name is not on that file, please go take a look at it. You go to our Facebook group Rise and Run podcast on Facebook and at the top in the featured section, scroll over to the right and you'll find a race report there. Now you can enter your own name into the report or you can put a comment in there and I will be more than happy to enter it for you. But we don't want to leave you out. You don't want to be left out of the roll call. It's a rise and run tradition. It's lots of fun. We want to be calling out your name.

Speaker 2: 4:18

On. That being said to, now that I think about it, december is going to be a crazy recording month for us because of the holidays and getting ready for the big race weekend. So everything that Bob just said also applies to Disneyland Half Marathon weekend as well. So if you're running out in Anaheim, make sure you get your name in for that as well too.

Speaker 1: 4:40

Very good, greg, thank you. Thank you for reminding me about that. Friends, of course, as always, if you enjoyed the podcast, please share it. Let your friends know about it, turn them on to the Rise and Run family. We'd love to have them join us. We've already talked about the Facebook page. We're on Instagram, of course, at Rise and Run Pod, and we have a new YouTube channel. It's been up for a couple of weeks now. Jack's doing a heck of a job with that.

Speaker 1: 5:07

No, she's going to tell you what's new in just a minute. Don't forget to visit our webpage, riseandrunpodcastcom. And, as always, if you've got a question, you've got a comment, you've got a race report, you want to introduce an upcoming episode, you want to ask a question, whatever you'd like to do that we can record and play back, give us a call. 727-266-2344 is the number you can leave us a recorded message. The Rise and Run podcast is sponsored by our friends at Magic Bound Travel. Hey, friends, magic Bound Travel place to go for all your run Disney vacation needs. They also deal with the cruise lines I think they're dealing with Royal Caribbean now, I don't think I know they are and they can also help you out with your universal vacation. So get in touch with our friends. Magicboundtravelcom is the website. Check them out. Jack, let's talk that YouTube channel for a moment. What do we got coming up, my friend?

Speaker 5: 6:19

Yeah Well, like you said, marathon Weekend is only a month away and we did grab some footage of what it's like at the Expo for this year during wine and dine, so that would be a great episode to have for anybody who hasn't been to a Disney World Expo. I would love to say Disneyland, but we have no clue what's going to happen with that we don't know where or difference is going to be.

Speaker 5: 6:43

But in terms of any of the other race weekends this year for Disney World, this is going to be a great informational tool for you to understand what it's like at a Disney Expo, what to expect and so much more. So go ahead and give it a check out.

Speaker 1: 6:57

Thanks, jack, appreciate it. Hey, let's do as we always do Take a look at the training schedules. Numbers are getting serious, my friends. We are on week 23, training week 23 for Marathon Weekend, which now, let's see, I just said it was Tuesday, so now I'm going to pretend it's Thursday. It's time travel, I'm in my Mandalorian, it's good. So I'm back to it being Thursday, which is what you're listening, perhaps, friends. Thursday we are now. You know, we're now five weeks away from the 5K at Marathon Weekend.

Speaker 2: 7:34

That's insane 34 days until the Expo, 34 days I'm very confused because I thought last week was week one in the end of June and for some reason now it's almost December.

Speaker 6: 7:47

But what has happened with time.

Speaker 5: 7:49

I thought last week was lion's eye. You look back, it was almost a month ago. Can you believe that?

Speaker 1: 7:54

Well, it's been. Yeah Gosh, it does go by fast.

Speaker 6: 7:59

Especially the holidays Like you blink and then it's over.

Speaker 1: 8:03

Yeah, we'll talk about it just a little more in a second. But that training schedule which looked so massive, which we are 23 weeks into now, when you first looked at it you thought, oh my goodness, this is going to last forever. We are coming towards the end. You probably, in the last week or two, did your long training weekend where you had that long run of 20 plus miles and if you're doing one of the challenges, you had other runs involved with them. Your long weekend run this time for Marathon Weekend, is six miles. Remember when six miles sounded like a lot? You know, Bob, I was going to say the exact same thing, but you took it from me.

Speaker 1: 8:49

So there you go. Think about that, my friends, especially if this is your first time through. How long ago was it you went? Oh, six miles. Oh, my goodness. Now you're going. Oh, six miles, Thank goodness.

Speaker 7: 8:59

So, yeah, all right.

Speaker 1: 9:01

Disneyland is a week after that. Disneyland is just six weeks away. Kids Six weeks away. The numbers there if you're running the half or one of the challenges, your long run is 11 miles. You're in week 12 of the schedule. You're in week six now of the princess schedule. It's 12 weeks away and your long run is six and a half miles.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Hey, I mentioned it a moment ago, we're coming off a long training weekend. Depending on what you elected to do or perhaps what program you're involved in the long training week and as published in the Run Disney Training Guide, jeff's Guide was actually last weekend it ended with a 23 mile run. Now I know many of you decided to move that around so it wouldn't interfere with Thanksgiving weekend and I understand that. So my general question to you is how did it go? And I know you can't answer, but I've seen some comments on Facebook. Looks like a lot of you got it done and that's fantastic. It looks like some of you had some trouble. That's understandable.

Speaker 1: 10:18

I did mine. You talk about being off schedule because of races that I had scheduled. I actually did my 23 mile run Tuesday. I'm coming up on two weeks ago. I had a little trouble. I didn't get all 23. I got most of it and I was able to walk right around almost to the 22 mile mark. I should have finished it, dag gummit, but I did not.

Speaker 1: 10:50

However, we're getting there. I keep going back to this idea of, each time I go out and I hope this is working for you too Each time you go out, you're going to struggle. There's no such thing as an easy marathon. There's no such thing as an easy 20 mile run. But we keep pushing that distance where we really start to feel it further and further out. I know personally, I push it out each time that I do it. I've adopted I talked about it last week, I did it in this last half marathon I start out with the end in mind. I start out at a pace and intervals where I think I know I'm going to have trouble at the end. So I need to conserve this energy right now, so I'll have it when I need it at the end.

Speaker 2: 11:47

Obviously, I'm not training for one of the massive challenges like goofy, dopey or Dumbo or anything like that right now, but the thing that I'm always impressed by in our amazing community is very similar to what you just said, bob.

Speaker 2: 12:04

I remember weeks ago seeing post after post after post of 17 miles this is the most I've ever done and now you've added six more onto that to think that not that 17 miles is an afterthought, but it goes to show the incredible progress that you are making as an athlete. And speaking of mantra, is the one that I like to share to my friends that I'm chatting with right now, and the mantra that I would love to remind our community about is incredible, and I can't remember the episode number, but it's when we had our friend Leah on the podcast and she floored us all with the statement about how your body is built to do incredible things, and I remember how impactful those words were and I know if I'm on a run, regardless of distance, I always remind myself of that and that helps me whether I'm just doing a normal Tuesday Thursday training run or I have a long run.

Speaker 5: 13:12

With all that being said, with our long runs, just a reminder this is probably going to be one of your last chances that if you're going to get shoes that you had bought during all the deals this past weekend, this is the time to break it in, because the closer you get to the race, you really don't want to wear obviously wear a new shoe on race day. So if you're going to get new shoes, now is the time. That way, you have about a month out to really get those training runs in with it. One of the things I learned from my training run last week was that my shoes are just done. My feet hurt. That's me start, if you can start tracking the mileage of which your shoes are taking, because shoes can only last so long and if you keep using and abusing them, it's only going to be I don't know how else to say it it's going to hurt in the long run.

Speaker 1: 14:05

That's right. That's right. I keep track of the miles on my shoes. I do, and I know from my experience different people will get different amounts of mileage. Here, around 350, I'm going to say, is probably average. I'm a bigger guy. I tend to get a little less than that. What I find somewhat amusing and she's really good at it my best barometer for when I need a new pair of shoes is Becky. I'll come in and I'll say something like golly, my hip's hurting. It's never hurt me before or something. I'll mention something and the first thing she'll say to me is how many miles on your shoes. And by golly, more often than not she's right.

Speaker 8: 14:45

That's a great point, bob. I had that happen recently where I wasn't really paying attention to the mileage on my shoes. I do have it on one of my applications, but I wasn't paying attention and I went, hmm, something doesn't feel quite right. And then I looked at it, and I looked at the bottom of my shoes, which can also show you where and. I went I need new shoes, and so I got them and I feel a lot better.

Speaker 1: 15:09

Yeah, that's good. I'm glad you do.

Speaker 4: 15:11

So apps like Strava and Garmin you can put in your shoes. So after each run you can say, oh, I wore the my Brooks, I brought my, I wore my new balance, so it will track them for you. So then and and I know it's Strava at the end of your run said oh, you ran in, you know the Brooks, you have 87 miles on it. So you know, exactly after that run, you had 87 miles on that pair of sneakers.

Speaker 1: 15:36

And the other thing is, when you're done your run, change out of them, don't keep walking around in them.

Speaker 4: 15:41

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 15:42

Yeah, and and to Jack's point, yeah, it's a good time to get new ones if you need them. Modern run shoes don't need a long breaking period, but you definitely want to run in them some to make sure there's no hotspots. You're not going to rub any blisters or anything like that. Yeah, so that's a that's good advice also.

Speaker 5: 16:01

It's a good indicator to decide what kind of distance you want to use it for. I don't recommend going if you're doing goo for your dopey. I don't recommend wearing the same shoe for both races. I do feel like you should have one shoe for one race and one shoe for the other, and now obviously you can go every other day where every other race and do it that way. But that's just my opinion. I don't know what you guys think.

Speaker 1: 16:21

I think it's, I think it's very wise, Jack, I wouldn't. I wouldn't wear the same pair for the half and then the full.

Speaker 6: 16:26

I feel like, with any race distance, that you do is, I usually take at least two pairs, and if I'm doing multiple races I'll wear one then or the other, then I'll go back to the one and I'll go back to the other. But you also have to know we're going to Florida and it rains a lot, so you want at least one backup.

Speaker 1: 16:45

Well, yeah, that's wise, no matter where you're going. Yeah, have at least one backup in case it gets wet. Good point, good point? Um, well, great. Look, we're a couple of weeks away from that last simulation weekend where you're going four days in a row. If you're doing dopey, you're doing four days in a row. Whatever you're doing, you're simulating that last event. Between now and then, we've got a guest coming up next week who knows a thing or two about training and about running, and Mr Galloway and his lovely wife Barbara will be with us next week to talk about running. So we'll, we'll hit them up with some of these questions before we head into that last long training weekend. Hey guys, greg is there? There's some Disney news you said we might want to talk about, isn't there?

Speaker 2: 17:41

Oh, yes, yeah, probably about three hours before recording, news finally broke that, at least in my eyes, are national nightmares over folks. The walls of Epcot, the future world crater, will be no more this coming Tuesday, and I am so excited, hallelujah.

Speaker 4: 18:07

Now.

Speaker 2: 18:08

I will say this with a caveat, though Apparently, the new communicor hall thing, you know, because remember how we had to tear down a building to rebuild the building that thing won't be done, probably. And granted, who knows, it could be Marathon weekend could pass and it could still not be done. But you know, I think, because I was looking at some aerial photos and essentially they have construction walls within construction walls. So I think that's why you know, signaling that this thing's not going to be open. But I'm just so excited that for probably the first time in what four to five years, I can walk from spaceship earth to world showcase and go in a straight line.

Speaker 5: 18:56

It's so nice.

Speaker 1: 18:59

Just about forever, jack. Yeah, I think we're gonna figure tear down these walls right?

Speaker 6: 19:04

Yeah, did y'all see the post that they have a new statue of Walt? Yes, that's coming in Epcot and you can go take a picture next to him.

Speaker 2: 19:14

Now here's the thing, lexi, I'm very, very concerned about that because obviously the partner statue you know they have that thing, you know elevated and lots of nice plants around it. But if this past week with our good friend at it's a small world in Disneyland, you know based on that little stunt that happened. I'm kind of terrified to see what people are going to do to this new statue in in what are they called dreamers point or something like that.

Speaker 4: 19:47

So dreamers point yeah.

Speaker 6: 19:49

So it's going to be its own character. Meet and greet.

Speaker 2: 19:52

There you go, but now I will say, though, the thing I'm kind of excited about, though, is I know we we chatted about this very briefly a couple of weeks ago. I am keeping my fingers crossed that maybe we can get I'm not holding my breath, though we could get an end to some of these races for marathon weekend and moving forward where we actually get to run through this new area. But you know I missed the whole you know end of the race, where you know you would come down, you know what's now, you know connections and creations and everything like that, and then you know you would, you know you would be able to see, you know you go under spaceship birth and then you, you know, hang a, hang a right at the bubblegum bathrooms and make your way out there. I would love to have a race course end that way, but again, I know they like the set courses that they've had recently. But, but fingers crossed that something happens there.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Yeah, we'll wait and see, but I, I am like everyone. I am so excited, as you said, greg, to see those dag gum green walls at least some of them, at least most of them coming down. That's a big deal.

Speaker 4: 21:02

Plus we have the new nighttime show. Oh, that's right, yep Luminous. The new nighttime show is beginning at Epcot December 5th, so we have a new show to see.

Speaker 2: 21:15

Can I give a hot take real quick? Okay, yeah. Now I want to preface this hot take by saying that this does not mean I love the barges, but I really liked harmonious and I'm kind of sad it's gone. Okay, fair enough. I thought the music in that was absolutely phenomenal. Now, Greg, I'm a purist. I have said on this podcast before that you can put illuminations forever on my tombstone. I love.

Speaker 2: 21:50

I love that show to death. But I really, really enjoyed harmonious sans barges. So I'm I'm hoping that this new show can kind of bridge the gap between. You know the all original music that illuminations was mixed in with the. You know the cultural influence, disney music, that was harmonious and hopefully they can make a wonderful musical baby and a great show out of that. But we'll we'll have to wait and see.

Speaker 1: 22:23

Yeah, exactly, friends. Let's visit with our guests for the week. Friends, if you were with us a few weeks ago, we did a podcast. We listened to segment featuring the podcast, the running anthropologist, and our friend Mark joined us. At the time we said, hey, mark's going to be back here in a couple of weeks. Well, it's a couple of weeks and here he is, wearing a different hat this time. He had his podcaster hat on last time, his podcaster and blogger hat on today. I mean looking here and I know you can't see it, but yeah, yeah, yeah, mark has his Jeff Galloway program director hat on. Did I say that properly, mark?

Speaker 7: 23:06

Yeah, that's right. Program director. Area director. Yeah, I'm here in the Tampa Bay region.

Speaker 1: 23:12

Tampa Bay area. Mark does that for Jeff. Mark is also, in fact, I saw him just 48 hours ago or so. He's also a Galloway pacer. You gotta be swift to stay with Mark, though. Mark pacing those. Where were you paced the marathon? What you pacing the marathon this year, mark?

Speaker 7: 23:33

Back in January you would have found me at Disney. I was doing the 350 group and we had a lot of fun, and then that's the basecoaster. I was doing the half.

Speaker 1: 23:44

I'm sorry, Mark, I thought you had the four.

Speaker 7: 23:46

No, no, no problem, I did the 145 half and it was great. It was a really fun group and we finished. I gotta say we finished pretty nicely, within a few seconds of the goal. I think that the marathon folks struggled a bit more because of the humidity to keep their pace.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Right, right, we're gonna talk more about Space Coast weekend later when we get to the race report. But yeah, it was good to see, there's good to see so many people there and it was fun. I made an observation, though that I'm certainly slow enough that I'm still on the South course when the marathoners come by and even come back in the other direction, and I remember looking over there, thinking I'm having more fun than they are, because just the looks on their faces. But, mark, let's get into what we were hoping to talk about this evening, and that's the Jeff Galloway training groups or the Jeff Galloway programs. How about telling us a little bit about the groups in general, if you could please?

Speaker 7: 24:53

Sure, of course, yeah, and it's funny. It's a good transition to talk about pacing, because that's really what we support one another to do. It's a great community and people are all super positive and pace doesn't really matter, but in a sense it does, because you wanna find folks you can run with that are also doing run, walk and that can be really challenging.

Speaker 7: 25:18

To be honest, if you just stroll into any running club and say I wanna do whatever your training pace is walk, run, 12 minute miles, 14 minute miles, 16 minute miles and people will look at you funny. So we're sort of an odd lot in that we take all sorts and all paces and it's also encouraged to go slow Because we know the slower we go, the better the training is and the faster we can get by the end of the season or injury free. We can get to that marathon. We can accomplish our goal. And so I think that's the main thing that distinguishes us Galloway folks is that we stick together and we find a good pace group together.

Speaker 1: 26:06

Yeah, very much keeping with the whole theme of Jeff's message.

Speaker 7: 26:11

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 26:12

Yeah, arriving at the finish line upright, with a smile on our face.

Speaker 7: 26:17

Which I'm a big believer in.

Speaker 1: 26:20

Yeah, absolutely me too, my friend. Hey, how long have you been doing this? How'd you get started?

Speaker 7: 26:27

So I've been in the program director role just a few years now. I started basically the end of the pandemic when we had been asked to, or we kind of filtered away the in-person groups for a bit and we wanted to build back better. And my wife had been part of our Galloway group here in Tampa Bay for many, many years for almost a decade and so I was familiar with it. I had ran with them and I knew they needed some help in the organization and a bit of training department and I was super happy to be able to step in just to basically allow us to keep going and it's been really quite a beautiful thing. So many people got excited about running during the pandemic and were happy to be back, and so we've grown quite a bit in the last few years, which has been wonderful to see.

Speaker 1: 27:25

Specifically, how did you get involved and how did you get your start as a program director?

Speaker 7: 27:31

You know the way that it's sort of a relational thing like most of running and like most of Galloway is where I had been training with the Galloway method to get back into marathons and had not done so for quite a while and it allowed me to get back into marathon training and I was very vocal about my joy with that and got to know Chris Twiggs and coach Jeff through running.

Speaker 7: 28:03

And then all of a sudden they said, well, we need someone in Tampa Bay and you have to go through this training, part of which is kind of a book studying stuff and part of it's again more relational, to try to make sure you understand the core principles and can support, can get behind Jeff's movement and then after that it kind of falls into place.

Speaker 7: 28:30

One of the big things for me was again having that connection to all the current Galloway runners and folks who had been doing it for a long time and they kind of put their confidence in me and I likewise tried to live up to that responsibility and knowing how important it was to them. Since then I also have a nice connection to our biggest local running group called Run Tampa. So Chris and I and others have been kind of working together to develop a model where we can get those running club members from the bigger group to do Galloway running and to join Galloway, because it's really a benefit for a lot of those runners that didn't have access to run walk run methods. So that's been my big thing over the past year or so. Oh, interesting, mark, you know what?

Speaker 1: 29:24

Let me go back just a bit. We started out. We talked about some really impressive numbers that you were pacing. What's your history as a runner? Were you a runner in school or yeah, I did grow up running.

Speaker 7: 29:37

My mom was actually a running coach as well, and so I ran through high school and college and when I finished college I ran my first marathon.

Speaker 7: 29:45

It was a little over 25 years ago and I kind of got hooked. There was a time in my life and my early career, kind of in my 30s, where I didn't have a lot of experience in running. I was in the 30s where I didn't have the time to devote to marathon training, but I was still coaching and working with high school runners and I really missed it. I missed the running community and having my own running practice every day, and so, in a way, galloway has been the means by which I found back into running and kind of allowed me to get back into it slowly, and I have been gifted with some good running genes, some good running heritage, so I try to use that to help others as best I can. I'm well beyond my marathon PR or PB days, but I try to use whatever I have left to help others through what I've learned and a little bit of pacing here and there. So that's kind of where I'm at now.

Speaker 1: 30:55

That's fantastic. You serve a great role, really pretty good.

Speaker 6: 30:58

So, mark, let's go back to the training groups for Galloway. What are they and what's the goal of the groups? Give us a little bit of history on it. Sure, yeah.

Speaker 7: 31:14

I'd love to. I'll go to a couple of Jeff quotes in that Jeff's method. Our training groups have like a 98% success rate and allowing through and getting folks to their goal to finish a half or a full marathon. And they do so through laughing and struggling and kind of being bolstered and supported by others. And I, you know, for me personally and I think for most Galloway runners, it's one of those things where you form lifelong friendships and you really get a chance to, you know, understand and develop purpose and running with one another and motivation to keep going and to show up every week because you know others are counting on you, and a few things that I would just kind of note.

Speaker 7: 32:09

You know, depending on your goals, it's one of those things where the long run is often the most difficult. So all Galloway groups have that long run in common, almost always on the weekend, and then typically they'll have one other meeting kind of midweek for a training session, whether that be a hill work or a speed work or that sort of thing, and then another day that's kind of on your own, and some, some groups also do both midweek runs on their own or less formal. You know they kind of meet up with a few friends in their neighborhood, which works really well if you're kind of more geographically spread out and you know in terms of how fast you need to be, no requirement at all. You know we have people from just about only walking, mostly walking to folks that you know are out there trying to break a three hour marathon, like Jeff's son did this past year. Oh, yeah, right.

Speaker 7: 33:11

And people you know trying to qualify for Boston, and all of them can kind of find a home and it's an egalitarian setup in that way and the group leader, more than anything, is just kind of a person to get folks organized into PACE groups and help to make sure they're safely supported and know where to show up and what to do if they run into problems while they're out on course or running in the dark, get lost, you know, so that they have a number to call that sort of thing.

Speaker 1: 33:47

Does that happen more? Do people get lost out there?

Speaker 7: 33:50

They do especially, I would say especially newcomers, who aren't with and that's why you're always with, you know, a partner or an experienced runner. But people do get lost on our course in Temple Terrace. There we run around golf course.

Speaker 1: 34:06

Oh, wow.

Speaker 7: 34:07

It's in the dark oftentimes during the, you know, especially when you need to be running in the dark because it's so hot in Florida. But yeah, it's a great way to find a new running route and to find a new running friend. I would also say you know people don't attend every week. You know people have real lives and it's not this thing where you're getting paid to run. You know it's a hobby. We recognize a very important hobby, but there's great mental benefit to being a part of that group and to doing that. You know, upping that one mile every week together so that you feel like, oh, it's not just me that's struggling, but all of us are moving at one mile in the training plan and it's really kind of a cool experience to go through a training season together.

Speaker 2: 34:58

Mark, I want to go back to something you said a couple of minutes ago about the idea of you know, everyone has somebody, regardless of ability and pace, and I want to talk about that from the Galloway perspective, but just also a general perspective as well too, because I knew, in the last town that I used to live in, my local running store would put on a group run, you know, twice a week and you know you always see on Facebook, you know, taking a photo of everyone that showed up out in front of the store, and I never joined it.

Speaker 2: 35:31

It's always apprehensive to do so because, number one, the odds of people in that group doing the Galloway method were probably not extremely high. And then, two, even if they were, paces can range all across the board. So, number one, what would you say to someone who is like me, or was like me? In that instance that was apprehensive to at least show up in the first place. And then, two, as it relates to you know, the Galloway run groups talk about that process a little bit more in terms of making sure that someone is always there to support you, even though the paces might be a little different here or there.

Speaker 7: 36:18

Sure, yeah. So with regards to your first question, I think that's a common issue that you know. Maybe you live in a city or a town that just doesn't. You know you can't drive far enough to get to a Galloway group, so you have a local running club and more often than not you know that person or the people running may have heard of Runwalk Run but they don't have, you know, designated paces groups. You know.

Speaker 7: 36:46

Unfortunately, quite often that means you are the change agent. You know that gets people excited about it because you know you tell them hey, I just accomplished training for a marathon last year and you can too, if you. You know this is the plan that I use and that sort of thing, but it's a little bit of an uphill battle to get in there. But the one thing that I would say is that being with a community for a run a week or a run every few weeks for part of your long run is worth it. Even if it's just kind of a tangent, tangent dental, where people are running around you or you're, you're a little faster or a little slower than someone, you get to know someone and they will eventually want to run with you and perhaps start taking walk breaks. And that was the case with some of my training mates who are, you know, a little bit more macho and approach and who, you know, saw the benefit of taking walk breaks with me over time in those long runs, especially in training for a half or a full marathon. And I don't know anything, any magic tricks, other than you know to be brave and to share, to be an evangelist. You know a run, walk, run, evangelist and pop in there. There are definitely research based, you know, facts showing like, hey, you're running community once, once a week or once every few weeks. You have great mental and health benefits to that and you feel, you know, more motivated and safer and more a part of something, even if, like I said, you can't find someone running the exact pace you want to.

Speaker 7: 38:26

And more often than not and this is kind of bridging into the, the Galloway groups is never an exact match.

Speaker 7: 38:35

You know you have a pace group leader who says, okay, today we're doing a 3030s and this group's doing, you know, whatever it might be 12 minute miles, this group's doing more 13 to 14 minute miles, or this person and we're going to catch up with each other, or every mile we're going to turn around and walk back to you guys so that at least you have a pair you're working with and ideally you have a 3030s group, a 6030s group and maybe a 9030s group and then some walkers.

Speaker 7: 39:11

If you know, if people show up to primarily walk and at any given time we do have a few people walking and we're really good at communicating by text and Facebook group so that people know, okay, when I show up, julie is going to be also walking because she, you know, she's getting over an injury or she's just starting her season and we're going to walk together and if you know, if they know, you know kind of tamper expectations. So if I show up and I normally do 6030s, but unfortunately people are only doing 4530s that day, then I'm just going to run with them because I'll move down to. You know, I'm not going to try to move up and, you know, really push my pace to in a train run. I'll move down and maybe I'll run a little faster than them and walk back to them. You know, during the walk break, and that seems to work pretty well, aside from the feeling like you're, you know, you're always part of the group, even if you're going a little faster.

Speaker 4: 40:12

So, mark, your running group, training group, what do you call it? Structured right, so like, if I go in there I want to run, say I want to train for a half marathon, I want to train for a full marathon. Is it sort of start and end time to these programs, like a like? I know some of the local running groups here say, okay, we're starting, you know, mid to late summer we're going to have a marathon training and our goal race is, say, new York City. Is that something you guys do?

Speaker 7: 40:43

Definitely, definitely. And you know, the fact that we are so close to Disney, as others among you can relate, means that most of our people are training for, you know, the marathon weekend or the princess weekend or wine and dine and or both, typically both. So they are, they're getting that training plan that that Jeff has put together and sometimes will adjust it or amend it If someone else has a different goal race. But we do try to get everyone on long runs together that are kind of incrementally going up. Doesn't always work, but you know, what does always work is that the people that are running further can run back in a loop, you know, and drop off the person that has to do less miles. So it does.

Speaker 7: 41:31

It does always work out, and especially if you have at least one other person doing that longer distance that week with you, which is the optimal. You know, I got a 20 miler. I want to have somebody with me. The other thing that we've done over the past year is to have people split it, so someone will run 10 miles with you and then another person that's doing 30, 30s will do another 10. And then, if they're, you know, if they can't get them in together, which is there's great team spirit to get that person to the finish line on the on the long training run.

Speaker 6: 42:09

Okay, so all of this sounds great. I am one of the, I guess, horror stories where I went to a run group and I was alone because everyone else was running, which great for them, but nobody else did the run walk method and I ended up doing the whole five mile run by myself, which is fine because I do rent by myself all the time.

Speaker 1: 42:34

I get it, but I bet it was the last time you showed up at that group. It was.

Speaker 6: 42:38

I did not go back but you know, say like, I feel like I have a little bit of apprehension towards going to a run group. You know, is there a way to find where in my city there there's a group or someone that I can like message on Facebook or like get some semblance of information before I like show up and nobody's running 15, 30s or whatever?

Speaker 7: 43:06

Absolutely. Yeah, if you have me, one of the lucky ones who are in, you know, whatever it is 50 plus Galloway cities around the US then you can just find them on the training groups page. So you go to the Jeff Galloway dot com and there's a tab in the upper part that says training groups and you can read a little bit more. There's an FAQ there about you know how the walk breaks work and how do I sign up. But what I always recommend to people that contact me is just to, if you're nearby enough, just to show up once or twice. The program director will have you sign a waiver. Just let them know you're coming and just see if it's a good fit for you and hopefully it is and you like the people that are there they're, in my experience, are, all you know, sell to the earth good people who love to have you, and then you know. Then you can sign up for the training group for the season If you so choose.

Speaker 7: 44:06

There are different options in terms of, you know, half season or a full year and some different places, parts of the country.

Speaker 7: 44:15

There are also options if you do not have a local club to do, and you've talked about this on the podcast before to do some private coaching or personalized coaching with coach twigs and that also kind of gives you that sense of community a little bit, because they have weekly gatherings and they also meet up at the Disney races and have a little community there. So that's the second best you know maybe. And of course then I would always recommend even though, like you said, you might find a running club that's not so amenable I'd always recommend trying to hook up with people locally. You know posting in chats, you know who's doing run, walk, run, who's getting ready for Disney, and you will find someone. You know. It just takes a little bit more work sometimes and then all the people at the end of the season who are in the running club will look at you and say, man, I wish I would have trained like she did and I could have finished that marathon. You know, and it's really a fantastic thing to share with others.

Speaker 2: 45:19

Mark, I remember a really, really long time ago when I first got into run and walk run. I remember, you know, researching as much as I could about the Galloway method and Jeff's programs and everything like that, and the one thing that I remember stumbling upon was the, you know, the local training groups, and I saw that there was one, maybe about 20 minutes from my house, but when I found it it was geared specifically towards a group that was training for either the Philadelphia half marathon or the Philadelphia marathon. So is that how the program still operates today? Is it very race goal specific, or are there programs across the country now where it's just, you know, and every week thing we're getting together, regardless of your training, for that region's, you know, major race?

Speaker 7: 46:14

Yeah, that's a great question. We do have program director meetups where people share from different parts of the country and it can be that some groups are very focused on working towards a particular race. That being the case, they will still have their weekly runs, you know, most of the year, except for maybe you know they'll take a few months off in the winter and Pittsburgh, and we will take a few months off in the summer in Florida. But you will find that people still meet to run from that group, just not as organized. There's kind of an end of the season that's very well organized and then it's more informal during that off time. But I think you're correct in that most clubs kind of have this idea that, okay, we're working towards a goal race together and other people who join. If they're not doing the goal race, they can join us for whatever distance they feel comfortable or as part of their plan, and typically the program director will then help you customize or adjust a plan based on your goals.

Speaker 5: 47:22

So, mark, with all that being said, let's kind of switch gears and go towards what it's like on race day. Now I know you guys go to the Expo and everything, especially at Disney. What do you tell somebody who's interested in joining a pace group? How do you meet them on race day? Do you meet them outside the corrals? Do you meet them inside the corrals? Is there a meetup spot or what is a race like? In general, as a pacer, Thank you for asking that.

Speaker 7: 47:51

It's really fun being at the Super Bowl right Of our running over at. Galway running yeah it is.

Speaker 7: 48:02

So it's really exciting time and part of that is tempered by the fact that probably a lot of those folks know their pace and their goal range from the Magic Mile calculator, which you can find also in Jeff's app or on his website, on his training website, and you can kind of look at okay, this is how my training has went, this is my fastest mile, so this should be my approximate goal and someone will help you with that.

Speaker 7: 48:29

If you have questions at the Expo, one of the pacers or Chris Triggs or Jeff, will be happy to talk to you about that. But once you have that in place, then you kind of go to the Expo kind of in search of finding your potential pacer or one of a couple of them and say, oh, this is my corral, I'm in the right corral, hopefully for my pace group. You know, sometimes you're not, unfortunately, but ideally you're in the right corral. Maybe you have to move a corral back to be more realistic with your pace group. But once you show up the morning of, those pacers are pretty easy to find. They'll be holding the time goal and the you know the walk run ratio on a little flag that they hold standing up and they'll be spread out throughout the corral, kind of the faster in the front and then medium and slower in the back of the corral. And those corrals are listed both on the run Disney page and at the Galloway Pacer table so you can see which corrals they're in and what pace they're running.

Speaker 5: 49:38

So, with that being said, you got me curious. So you said you have a 98% success rate, correct?

Speaker 7: 49:45

Yeah, yeah, that's. That is what Jeff shares with us in terms of the surveys and information that he's gotten from folks who have signed up for Galloway training.

Speaker 5: 49:57

So on. On race day, when you cross the finish line, how close are you to that goal time? Is it like a second off or right on point, or do you ever find that you've paced? Sometimes that may be a little bit too fast. What do you do in those cases as well?

Speaker 7: 50:14

Oh sure. And by the way, just to be clear, the 98% success rate is for folks in the training program finishing their goal race through the training program.

Speaker 7: 50:24

But with Pacers I would bet it's close. You know it's getting close to the 90s, but I don't. You know they probably haven't kept a lot of track of that, but most Pacers will finish within 30 seconds of their goal, under the goal, ideally, so that you finish a little bit early and that gives folks who are trying to, you know, break that whatever, that two hour, that 330 or that five hour goal that opportunity to do so and they will pace consistently as possible through the course. That the main issue is that at the beginning, as we all know, races Disney or any other big race will be packed, so they move slower at the beginning and they kind of have to make up that time gradually, not all at once, but gradually throughout the course, and kind of do a little calculation, you know, as you go, as to what you have left and what the pace is required to do that. So when you line up you'll ask the pace.

Speaker 7: 51:25

Or well, you know your goal is 10 minute miles, what? How fast is the running going to be and how fast is the walking going to be? It's going to. It's going to be a little different for each person. I have a very fast walk, for example and others in my group might not. So they might say, okay, you know, I'm walking slower and I'm going to catch up to Mark, you know, when we start running again. But typically we say like maybe 30 seconds faster for the run. In my pace groups it can be more like a minute difference if it's a little further back. So that will depend on the pace.

Speaker 1: 52:03

All right, let me hold up just a second. And, Mark, you did explain this, but I want to make it clear to our friends who are listening you serve two roles. You are a program director for Galloway training groups. Those are the groups you're talking about that meet weekly or a couple times a week. That's where you get the and you said this that's where you get the 98% success rate of people in the Galloway groups succeed in their runs. You're also a pacer for Galloway runs. That's a little bit different. So I just wanted to make sure that and again, I'm just repeating what you said, I know, but I wanted to wrap it up and make sure folks understood that.

Speaker 7: 52:42

Yeah, you got it, that's right.

Speaker 4: 52:44

So another pace group question here I can meet you at the booth, maybe before the race. Are we going to say are we going to run like 12 minute miles straight across the board? Are we going to say we're going to run maybe negative, like if we're doing a full marathon we're going to run the you know a negative on the second half? What do you guys usually do with that?

Speaker 7: 53:09

That is a really good question because you know a lot of people you'll read they do try to negative split.

Speaker 7: 53:15

They say let me go a little slower, be conservative and then in the second half, see what I have left. Now that is a great race strategy. In general, however, the Pacers, since we are, we're kind of like a moving you know, like how they have that line when you watch the pros on TV keeping up with them. We're kind of like a moving marker so that, even if you're not in our pace group, you can see us moving consistently and know where you're at with regard to when we started. So where our goal is just to be as consistent, like eight minute miles or 10 minute miles the entire way. Now, that being said, as I mentioned, if we're running a minute behind due to the first mile being congested, then maybe we'll do that calculation in the next few minutes. We'll do that calculation and say, okay, we need to run 10 seconds faster per mile than our pace in order to make up for that time. So that's the that's. I would say that's the one exception to that consistent minute mile idea.

Speaker 5: 54:18

And so again, talking about race day, how do you find out what ratio each pacer is doing for whatever said race that you guys are pacing for is out a week or two before? Or do you find out at race day what those paces are, because I know each each one is going to be different for their run. Walk won't run, so how do you plan for something like that?

Speaker 7: 54:46

Yeah, no, that's a great question. So they do have. If you were to look at the pace groups from last year, they will have for Disney races. They'll have the same times in pace groups. However, the pacer will be different. So you could look back at the you know the run Disney chat and see, okay, these were the pace groups. It's like every 15 minutes, for example, and this is the paces that they did and the run walk ratio and those will pretty much follow the Jeff's training plan from the run Disney website for those ratios.

Speaker 7: 55:19

Now you can also see the individual pacers within about two weeks. Usually Chris, chris twigs will post them and, like I said for Galway, the success rate is really high In terms of reaching that goal exactly. In some other races, unfortunately, you may find you know you go to a random big city marathon. Maybe they will not have as successful of pacer rates because they're kind of ad hoc. You know people volunteer to do so and they don't necessarily know them that well or the relationships aren't as solid as with some of the Galway pacers. But I did just want to also mention that an experienced pacer typically is running at like a half an hour or more slower than what they could, so that they can, you know, they can help people, they can talk, they can. If they have to get off course for some reason, they can catch up. So it's a very comfortable, fun pace for them and they can be that social, that social oil that waxes the group and really encourages everybody. So that's another, another factor in pacing.

Speaker 1: 56:37

Coach twigs is really good about posting once he knows the numbers, Once he knows the corral, which is typically the last thing he knows. But he'll send that out into our Facebook group and other Facebook groups.

Speaker 5: 56:50

Beyond the race. Now I'm really curious what if someone has been running for a really long time and they're like you know what, I think it'd be fun to be a Galloway Pacer? How does that even happen? Do you get contact? Do you contact you guys and let you know, or how does that process go? How do you choose the people that are gonna be the Pacers for the races?

Speaker 7: 57:13

Yeah, like LinkedIn, where the headhunters just see yeah, they're like a talent, we're gonna take them.

Speaker 1: 57:18

That's right, that's right, Jeffed in that's it.

Speaker 7: 57:23

Yeah, I know, usually it's kind of a gradual thing where you've run quite a few marathons and your local program director knows you're consistent, or you have a relationship with Chris Twiggs and he knows that you are able to do that pace and quite often once you get into pacing you don't get out very quickly because they need you.

Speaker 7: 57:46

You're like okay, this guy can run consistent 12 minute miles, let's take him to whatever Jacksonville and to Disney and to Flying Pig are all the ones where Galloway Pacers are and they will post opportunities for the slots that are needed and you just kind of volunteer based upon your budget and your own schedule, because you don't get paid for it. So it's more like a labor of love and you're willing and able to travel is another thing.

Speaker 1: 58:16

Mark, great stuff, really appreciate it. Now I wanna come back to the Galloway training groups, the groups that meet locally, one more time and ask this mighty important question Is there a cost involved with this?

Speaker 7: 58:31

Yes, yes, there is.

Speaker 7: 58:34

And to be, quite honest, it's a very modest cost and they haven't raised their prices forever and you do get from that. There are quite a few benefits involved. Besides just having a training group. You kind of get that connection to Jeff and to outreach. You get a shirt and you get the kind of the basic running club stuff, but you also have access to the app and to the website areas and to discounts on Jeff's retreats and a bunch of other benefits. There's an e-book just things that are not so you wouldn't expect from a local running club.

Speaker 7: 59:21

That gives you some of that national connection and if you're traveling you can always transfer your membership if you move. But if you're traveling you are encouraged to run with that local club, that local Galloway club. Wherever you go, whenever you're there for a weekend long run, the local Galloway director will welcome you with open arms. I've had that like when I go to DC or New York. They're super happy to have you and you're like a rock star. You get to tell them all about your corner of the Galloway universe. So that's really fun too.

Speaker 1: 59:57

Hey, before I let you go, anything new with the podcast the Running Anthropologist.

Speaker 7: 1:00:03

You know I am working on this. Really nice. I got to pace a runner with a vision impairment, a blind runner, from New York at the New York Marathon and I interviewed him and another gentleman before, during and after and I'm trying to edit all that stuff out and try to get some post marathon impressions from them. So that's what's coming next for us and once every month or two I'll put together a little documentary like that and that's what's coming out next.

Speaker 1: 1:00:36

Well, let us know when that's up, I will. That sounds very interesting. I'd like to hear it. Mark Lane-Hulbert, program director. Galloway Pacer, podcaster, thanks for spending the time. It's been entertaining, helpful, educational. We really appreciate it, mark. We're going to look forward to seeing you. We'll see you in January, right.

Speaker 7: 1:00:57

You will and you can do it. We'll see you real soon.

Speaker 1: 1:01:00

Appreciate Mark sharing his time with us. That was fun. I wanted to just restate wwwJeffGallowaycom. Look across the top there If you're interested in joining one of these training groups and they are available in 31 states throughout the country. Now Florida has the most cities, but they're in 31 states. They're actually Jeff Galloway running groups, these training groups in five other countries. I didn't list them all. I saw Canada, England, Italy, Australia, so I'm just missing one off the top of my head. But it's fascinating. And I wanted to make one more comment. Many of our friends who are listening here know that Mark's in the Tampa area and I'm in the Tampa area. You may want to know why I'm not in that group. Mark's, actually, if I were to drive right now at 10 o'clock at night, it would take me 45 minutes to get where he is. In a normal day, trying to fight rush hour to head over there, that's just not gonna happen. So these are terrific. So if you're interested, look into them. John, we haven't done this for a while. Do we have any new reviews?

Speaker 4: 1:02:24

Yes, we do. From Pink Wine Cupcake, a warm and inviting podcast for all runners. I've spent the past three months binging this podcast. The guests they have on are interesting and informative and it's the perfect companion for a long run. The host asks insightful questions of the guests and have great advice for runners of all abilities. The best part, of course, is your delightful recap of run Disney events. Listening to this podcast had made me a better runner and give me the ultimate goal of PRing in fun for all future races. Keep up the amazing work.

Speaker 1: 1:02:58

Yeah, pring in fun. Gotta love that. Thank you Pink Wine, or should you think Pink Wine is right, or should I just say thank you Cupcake, which would be?

Speaker 4: 1:03:08

I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:03:09

But thank you so much. Thanks everyone who takes the time to write a review for us. We genuinely appreciate it. We appreciate your feedback. We appreciate learning what you like and if there's something you don't like, why, we wanna hear about that too. You can always hit the hotline for us, 727-266-2344, and let us know. But Pink Wine Cupcake, thanks a bunch. And speaking of our friends and folks supporting the podcast, we do, as you most of you know, have a Patreon group, patreoncom slash rise and run podcast. We would like to mention the following new Patreons All right.

Speaker 8: 1:03:55

So we have a few new Patreon members that we would like to thank. We have Ileana from Eleanor, west Virginia, jill from Lionel Lakes, minnesota, and Joy from Canada. Thank you for being Patreon members, and if you would also like to be a Patreon member, you can go to patreoncom slash, rise and run podcast and find us on there and help us out.

Speaker 1: 1:04:20

Thanks, alicia. New Patreons I owe you stickers. I'm going to get them out, I promise, but I'm caught up, like most folks are, with things going on between races, training and the holidays. But no excuses, I owe them to you, I got to get them out. Upcoming episodes my friends, as mentioned just a moment ago, next week we're looking forward to have Jeff and Barbara Galloway with us, episode 115. In episode 116, our friends Devin and Kristen are back to talk all things nutrition. Always fun to talk with both of them and we'll learn a great deal. Great time to do it going into these long runs. Okay, my friends, it's time for the race report.

Speaker 1: 1:05:16

All right, my friends, a brief explanation, if you will indulge me. As you're about to hear, Thanksgiving and the porky trots are the busiest race day of the year in the United States. We've got 40 plus races to go through here before we get into the weekend. I promise, as usual, I did my due diligence and tried to get every race report that you filed. If I missed one, my apologies. I will tell you I was working as late as 6 pm Eastern time on Tuesday to catch up. If you put it in after that, I'm not going to get. We are not going to get to it. So with that kind of alibi and apology, let's get started. Let's start with the Trax Formax Turkey Trot 5K in Florence, alabama, a nice area in the northern part of the state. Jennifer was there. Jennifer does very well in most of her races. This is no exception. First inter-age group, fourth female overall. Florence is a kind of a mid-sized town in Alabama and Jennifer was excited to see nearly 700 runners out there supporting this one. In Jacksonville, florida, a much larger place, the Community First Thanksgiving Day Classic 5K Melissa First time ever for Melissa to do a run on Thanksgiving. Melissa says she wished that she realized, at least in Jacksonville, that folks dressed up for these Turkey Trots, went all out. She felt kind of underdressed for this one, but she knows what to do next year. She was surprised how big this 5K was 2,000 finishers for the race in Jacksonville.

Speaker 1: 1:07:17

In Greenville, south Carolina. The Trees Update 8K Turkey Run. Our buddy, jh I think JH is Jennifer, if I've got that wrong I apologize. Jh, she ran this. Her dad also ran it. He absolutely killed it. Jh had some knee pain, had to stop running after a mile. Walk the other four. That's fine, nothing wrong with that. Glad you were able to do it, just couldn't run. But she's proud of the medal because it was tough. It was hard during this one Not being able to run like you want to. We know the feeling. It makes crossing that finish line a little bittersweet. But be proud of it. We're proud of you for hanging in there. Now she wants to try to figure out how to fix this runner's knee before Princess Weekend. Hopefully that's plenty of time for you.

Speaker 1: 1:08:12

In Tampa, florida, the Tampa YMCA Turkey Gobble. I don't have the distance here. Brenna did that one. Wesley Chapel, florida, the Wiregrass Turkey Trot Couple folks. Bridget ran the miles, drank the beers. That's a good slogan Run the miles, drink the beers. Good job, bridget.

Speaker 1: 1:08:33

Jessica, I think, did this one. Jessica did a Turkey Trot, her first Turkey Trot, already thinking about getting a sparkle skirt for next year's. I say I think, because in Jessica's post she just said that she did a Turkey Trot and what I did is I enlarged the picture as much as I could to try and find the medal, and I'm pretty sure it was the medal from the Turkey Trot and Wesley Chapel. So, jessica, we got to you. Hopefully we put you in the right place, the Coles Point Turkey Trot 5K with a beer mile. Now, if you tried to get into that one and you had trouble, let me explain. That's because Brian and his family made this event for themselves. It was the inaugural event. There were only four participants there During the race. The way it worked you ran 2.2 miles, you drank a beer, you ran the rest of the 5K a little less than a mile and, by the way, brian finished first overall.

Speaker 2: 1:09:39

Now here's what I need to know, since this was a inaugural event with a 5K plus a beer mile, are we doing PR bells for this?

Speaker 1: 1:09:48

Let me see. Let me see, it is a 5K. Brian didn't mention a PR for a 5K so I'm gonna say, no, it's an event PR. But yeah, we can't do that because then every inaugural event would be an event PR. But I, you know, I saw it. I thought this is too cool not to mention, so I added it to the race report. In Tequesta, florida, the run for the pies four-myler. Jennifer and Steven were there, ran with their friend Michelle, beautiful morning, pretty course right along the water there in Tequesta, which I think is just a little bit south of Coco over on the East Coast, got some cool medals, got a pie Choice of Apple or Pumpkin. We'll hear more from Jen later in the race report.

Speaker 1: 1:10:40

At the Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day half marathon in Atlanta, nick was there, nick with his well, his daughter, riley, suggested to Nick that he wear his rise and run bib boards. Very smart suggestion that Riley sounds like a bright kid. Nick, I'll tell ya. Nick did a little heart-based race, heart rate-based pacing, for this one Said the first 10K flew by and then the Atlanta Hills caught up with him. About a half mile from the finish line he saw another friend and she had a beer in hand, handed it to him Best beer he's tasted in a long time. Perfect way to end this final race of the Triple Pete series of runs. We will see Nick at Disney World pretty soon In Warren, ohio. I believe it's in Ohio the Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot.

Speaker 1: 1:11:39

Megan her first run since wine and dying the half marathon Having problems with her heel and still bothering her. Her goal was just to finish. That's a very wise goal. Megan Donned her Thanksgiving tutu and her rise and run podcast hat and gave it her best. That podcast hat, by the way, is worth a good 10 seconds per mile for you, not as fast as previous years, but she finished and she'll take it In Tallahassee, tallahassee, florida, the Gulf Winds Track Club Turkey Trot Larry. Larry was there. He showed us a picture of his pink Turkey medal.

Speaker 4: 1:12:18

Okay, in Montgomery County, maryland, the MCRRC Turkey Burnoff five mile 10 mile K ran that it was 35 degrees but the sun was out and it was really beautiful run weather. She was doing a two minute 30 intervals and what we hear, we talk about and finally happened to her. Someone was running near her and she kept passing her. She stopped me to ask what intervals was I doing. They adjusted their watch to set to hers. She saw a major difference in how she was feeling after it and she did it and I couldn't help but smile.

Speaker 2: 1:12:54

That's awesome.

Speaker 4: 1:12:54

In Bethel Park the Bethel Park Turkey Trot's next. Our friend Taylor ran that. But little interesting story here. She thought she registered for the Bethel Park Turkey Trot in PA. She registered for the one in Bethel Park, connecticut, and her sister overslept for the race that morning anyway.

Speaker 2: 1:13:15

What a story that's. I mean, it's absolutely. I remember seeing this and getting so excited is, my in-laws live right near Bethel Township in Pennsylvania and I, number one, never knew a race. So the next time my in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving, I know I can hop over there, do a quick Turkey Trot and then make it back to the house. It'll be awesome, as long as it's the one in PA you're doing Doc.

Speaker 1: 1:13:37

Yeah, yeah, knowing my luck, I'll sign up for the one in Connecticut yeah, it's interesting and it's unusual, but it's not as bad as and I believe this to be true because I've heard it a number of times people planning to take a trip to Panama City, florida, and winding up in Panama City, panama, they booked the wrong tickets, wow. So there you go. There you go, taylor. It could have been worse.

Speaker 4: 1:14:03

Tyler did the Irving Turkey Trot. Eight-mylar took a break from marathon training to set a PR In E-R-E-P-A Turkey Trot. Michelle for the first 5K was right where she wanted it to be, but then she got into her potty breaks and you can read that discussion on Facebook for yourself. Okay, in Indianapolis, indiana drumstick dash, tiffany ran that with her son Harrison and completed the full gobbler. It's a 4.3 mile race and had a blast with the crowd support and many photo stops. Harrison said the best part, besides helping unhoused folks have a holiday meal, was seeing the two goats who walked the entire course with their humans. Okay, is that a goat PR? Greg?

Speaker 1: 1:14:51

Yeah, I don't know if the goats PR'd or not.

Speaker 2: 1:14:53

Oh man, I hope they did. That's amazing. In Ovido, florida, we have the Rucksack Race 5K. Our favorite costumed runners, john and Margaret, were there. John was a pilgrim, margaret was a turkey, but the Rucksack Race was held in conjunction with the Florida Turkey Trot 5K. They've been running in support with the Comradery Foundation that provides support to the military and their families and help heal those invisible wounds. It's a great cause and it sounds like John and Margaret love to support this race. But we have more from Margaret later on in the race report. Also at the Rucksack we had Abby. She convinced her family to run a 5K, so congratulations there, abby's husband and her best friends. It was their first one ever, so we know what that means. Abby jogged with her dad and she just enjoyed being there together with family, but just like Margaret. We'll hear from Abby later on in the race report.

Speaker 2: 1:16:10

Next up is the Coffee Pot Turkey Trot 5K in St Pete. Tiffany was there. She said they had absolutely perfect weather and beautiful scenery and this race actually sold out. They had over 3,300 participants, which is really, really awesome. Next we have the Somerville Massachusetts Gobble, gobble, gobble Four Mile. Now the thing is, if it's a four mile race. Shouldn't there be four gobbles instead of three?

Speaker 2: 1:16:37

You would think you would think, but Lauren ran this with her sister and her boyfriend. This was her first four miler, so PR for Lauren, but her sister also PR this race by almost 10 minutes, so congratulations to Lauren's sister as well. Next, our friend Amy ran the 128th annual YMCA Turkey Trot 8K, which is apparently the oldest consecutively run foot race in the world, and this was in Buffalo, New York.

Speaker 2: 1:17:17

14,000 runners at this race, which is awesome, Point-to-point race it was a blustery day with wind gusts between 30 to 35 miles per hour, but she still managed a seven minute PR. Where'd it go, amy? In Thinesville, wisconsin, we have the Junior Women's Club of Menkwan, thinesville 2023 Turkey Trot. Noelle was there. This was her husband's first 5K. He finished in 2306, so that is a PR, since it was his first race. And Noelle ran the 4K so that's a PR, since it was his first race and Noelle herself finished in 3427, so congratulations.

Speaker 1: 1:18:08

This next one. Who did this next one?

Speaker 4: 1:18:11

I did. I did the Ashton Felter 8K Classic in Glen Ridge, new Jersey, on Thanksgiving. That was a great time. You know they've been doing this for probably 20 plus years. I've just started the last couple of years doing it. It's a really good time. They get a lot of people out there not as much as 14,000 like Amy's race did, but they get about 1,300 runners out there and we had a good time. I didn't go into it with much expectation, but I did better than I thought I was going to do. I mean, I guess, because when you're don't charge your headphones the night before and you run without headphones, maybe you're faster. Or it was the Ryzen Run or it was the.

Speaker 4: 1:18:54

Ryzen Run Bimboards. I don't know which one it was.

Speaker 2: 1:18:57

Man. We need to start doing scientific studies about these bibboards and the hats.

Speaker 1: 1:19:02

Yes yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:19:04

It's the bibboards. It's the bibboards Moving right along. In Long Grove, illinois, the Turkey Trot 8-Miler Mark was there, ran that one. In Dana Point, california, turkey Trot 5K Ruth ran with her two sons. All finished sub 30. That's a great 5K, ruth Love seeing families run together. That's neat.

Speaker 1: 1:19:26

Fort Smith, arkansas, the Mercy Turkey Run Joe was there. Only of the Amigos, only Johnny placed this time. Too much competition Joe's getting and yeah, fair, unfair. He's getting to a point where the age groups are getting big and it makes it tough If you're at one end and them young whippersnappers, 70 and 71 year olds, are tough to beat. Over 550 people for this race in Fort Smith. Now the folks who place in their age group get pies as a reward, but Joe and a couple of his friends started handing out pies to their finisher friends. The tradition continues.

Speaker 1: 1:20:17

The Pete Keys Turkey Trot 5-Miler I don't have a location on this one. Steve ran it 36 and overcast, still had a great run. Over 800 registered runners showed up for this event, which Steve used as a catered 45-minute speedrun Help keep motivated. Couldn't get any of them to come out for his dopey sim through the weekend, though. Imagine that Steve, those slackers I'll tell you See, he's been working now on trying to finish at least one race a month through the rest of the year. I think he's just about got that wired.

Speaker 8: 1:20:55

In Hastings, minnesota, the Gobblegate 8K. Melissa did this one. She said it was a beautiful morning running along the Mississippi River in Hastings, minnesota. She managed a PR because she's never done an 8K race before. So congratulations, melissa. Kathy was also at that race. In Orlando, the Seniors' first Turkey Trot 5K. Jason did this. He said he had fun trotting around downtown Orlando. Michael did this as well and he was also at Spacecoast. We'll hear from him later. In Carmel, indiana, jeff did the Bolt for the Heart 5K. This is a Thanksgiving tradition Thighs before pies.

Speaker 1: 1:21:36

He said Thighs before pies there's another quotable quote notable quotable.

Speaker 8: 1:21:44

I love that, jeff. In St Paul, minnesota, the Turkey Trot 6K Candice did this one, said they were nice medals and had some nice finisher photos. The Franklin Turkey Trot 5K Riley did this one. It was lifetime race, number 97 at the local Turkey Trot. It went with the goal of beating their time from last year and they were able to meet their goal by beating 2022 by two minutes. Congratulations. In Shelton, connecticut, sue ran the Commodore Hall Thanksgiving Day Road Race. This was town number 146, and besides the race shirts, they got a Wiffleball because they were invented in this town.

Speaker 2: 1:22:29

That is so neat.

Speaker 8: 1:22:31

That is really cool.

Speaker 2: 1:22:32

That is so cool.

Speaker 4: 1:22:35

Wiffleball.

Speaker 1: 1:22:36

I didn't know that I was going to pretend that I did, but I didn't.

Speaker 4: 1:22:41

In Sanford, florida, claudia did the Turkey Day 5K. In Dayton Ohio, the Dayton Ohio Turkey Trot Jessica did that. Her family does the Dayton Turkey Trot in Ohio every year. This is the first year in a while that I got back to the half marathon. I'm so excited and proud to share that. I have a new PR today of three hours 15 minutes and 30 seconds Congratulations. In Fishers, indiana, the Wishbone 5K Kali did that. I always do the one where I can walk to the start line from home and not worry about parking. That's a big positive. That's a smart move. It's called the Wishbone 5K and I really tickled that. The metal is a wishbone. I got to say Dallas guys. The Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot 8-Miler Tracy did that. It's blessed with a great race weather of four degrees in sunshine, decided to do the event and that just approaches a training run. We're very well. A finished time of one hour 34 minutes and one second is a new PR. It's training time for Dopey.

Speaker 2: 1:23:58

John, even though the Eagles and Giants still have to play each other twice. I'm glad, though, that you, bob and I can all share a collective groan for Dallas, looking forward to two more games this season with you.

Speaker 4: 1:24:14

Hey, that's two more wins for you. Tommy DeVito might put one out on you. There you go, okay, in Newport News, virginia, fast before the feast 5K. Hannah did that. Oh wow, this is up the road by me. In Rochelle Park, new Jersey, the B Grankville 5K. Michelle and Ariana did that. It's their first in-person 5K, so that's probably a PR for in-person race.

Speaker 2: 1:24:44

Then we have the Lansing Turkey Trot 5K. We had Emily and her family of four who ran this race. This year we made a new family PR and they shaved four minutes off of their time Congratulations.

Speaker 4: 1:25:01

So is that four PR bells, Greg?

Speaker 2: 1:25:03

You know. So to me it sounds like a collective family effort.

Speaker 1: 1:25:08

Yes.

Speaker 2: 1:25:09

In Seymour, indiana, we have the Girls Inc Turkey Trot 8K. Janie and her husband first race report and their first 8K, so we know what that means. They looked incredible in their turkey onesies Nothing more appropriate to wear on a Thanksgiving Day race and they had a ton of fun participating in this Turkey Trot. Then our friend Sierra ran the local Turkey Trot 5K in a location that we're not 100% sure where it is, but she turned her family into running 5Ks on Thanksgiving after she dragged her sister to a local Turkey Trot, with the highlight of her parents saying that they were going to join us next year. So that's very, very exciting that you're looking to get the whole family involved there. To round out all of the Thanksgiving Day races, we have Tara, who did the B-Town Turkey Trot first family Turkey Trot and again it goes to show how much costuming goes into these races they all sported roasted turkey head hats. So brilliant job in the costuming. And that, folks, is all of our Turkey Trots 2023.

Speaker 1: 1:26:35

It is, and I don't know where B-Town is. I tried my best. It could be Boston, bakersfield, I have no idea, but it was B-Town, all right. We had one event on Friday, the Black Friday 10K, in Herndon Virginia, sharing with her son first 10K for her 10-year-old son, nate, who won his age group First 10K PR. Way to go, nate. Now, this was a loop race. Most of it was gravel roads but there was about a third of a mile it was a rocky trail. It was tripped on this. So Sharon and her son took that section kind of easy while dad and big sister and grandma came out to cheer on this Black Friday event.

Speaker 4: 1:27:27

Hey. So Bob, I see on Thursday we have some 5Ks, friday we have some 10Ks. What do we got coming next on Saturday?

Speaker 1: 1:27:35

Any halves. Yeah, it is a familiar theme John Five on Thursday, 10 on Friday, half on Saturday, full on Sunday. I bet we got some of those and I bet we're going to do that again in about five weeks. Now. Yeah, yep, yep, okay. But let's take a look.

Speaker 1: 1:27:50

On Saturday, starting Baltimore, maryland, the NCR Trail half Marathon. Ethan and Kelly were there. In North Augusta, south Carolina, dylan did the Palmetto Peach half Marathon. Palmetto Peach this thing runs between Georgia and South Carolina. Get it. We got the Palmetto for South Carolina, the Peach for Georgia. Pretty cool, dylan ran 70-30 intervals with a friend from a local running club. Definitely think it's the reason she's feeling okay today. This was a hilly course. After all those hills, she wanted to take it slow but ended up running it in under two and a half hours, which was only about 11 minutes slower than her PR a few weeks prior at Wine and Dine. Good move, dylan. Good move to take it easy. Stick with those intervals and knock that thing out in a very respectable time. In Tempe, arizona, the leftovers run 5K. How appropriate for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Molly was there did this one again with her 60-90 run-walk intervals. Schomburg, illinois, the Schomburg Turkey Trot Half Marathon, kelly, after chasing a 2-hour 30-minute half for the last 15 months, finally broke it, coming into 225 and setting a new PR. Kelly congratulations. Mark Mark was also at the Schomburg Illinois half In Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, the Fa La La 5K Jennifer.

Speaker 1: 1:29:32

Jennifer's first race report. Thanks for the report, jennifer. Really cold in Bloomsburg on that Saturday 25 degrees and breezy when the race started. She had a great time, said. The on-course support wasn't all that good. Nobody was there, probably too cold to stand out and do the race support type stuff. Snacks afterwards were pretty decent Bagels, bananas, granola bars not too bad Metals only for the top three in each age group. That's a little bit different. However, jennifer beat her previous best 5K time by four minutes and established a new PR. Rounding out Saturday, Kayla was in Largo, florida, by golly I know where that is running the Gobbler 10K.

Speaker 1: 1:30:24

Let's move on to Sunday. We had an event over on Cocoa Beach we've been talking about for a while, but let's start in Seattle Washington for the Seattle Marathon. Josh and Kimberly did that super icy in Seattle on this Sunday after Thanksgiving. Icy and foggy and apparently really hilly portions of this race were on a very popular trail which made it crowded and kind of hard to move. It was a tough one, but this is marathon number nine and can't wait to head to Dopey and do Lucky Marathon number 10.

Speaker 1: 1:31:10

Now, josh in this race is nothing if not consistent. Last year he finished third to the last and this year nailed it third to the last again. Josh, you finished, buddy. That's what really counts, the way to go. She posted a picture here, a picture taken out over the water that looked like the lens was cloudy or something, and she said there's nothing wrong with the picture, that's just how foggy it really was. Lauren was there. Lauren ran the half marathon, lives in the same climate. She's nervous about running on ice and hit a few bad areas that were actually iced up on the road, not meant to do cold weather races. Lauren's decided Still found it to be an interesting course tunnels, underpasses, and, of course, she finished In terms of number of runners.

Speaker 1: 1:32:04

The big one this weekend was the Space Coast Marathon and Half Marathon, officially listed as being in Cocoa Beach, florida. This is Florida's oldest marathon, 52nd running of it this year. Really, yeah, this is a lovely event. This is my fourth time going. It's just a nice place. I mean, cocoa Beach is a nice place to stay.

Speaker 1: 1:32:33

The race starts across a couple rivers inland, in a little area called Cocoa Village, which, while I'm not fond of describing places this way, I can only describe as quaint. A lot of local shops, a lot of local places to eat, a nice park type area right on the water where they hold the expo outside. It's fun. It attracts a lot of our friends, as you're going to hear in just a minute. A lot of the Rise and Run family was there. A lot of the customized training folks are there. Our coach, chris Twiggs, was there with us. We talked earlier with Mark Mark Lane-Hulbert. He was there.

Speaker 1: 1:33:19

Let's go down the list. Oh, before I get into the runners, I want to give props to Craig, who was injured but came out to cheer anyway. Thanks for doing that, craig. Let's start with the most popular course, which is the Half Marathon on the South Course. This race starts in Cocoa Village. If you're running the marathon, you start by going north for six plus miles, turning around, coming back right past the start point, which I got to tell you. I've done that marathon once. It is a mental hurdle to get past that sign that says okay, if you want to finish with a half marathon, just turn this way and to say, nope, I'm heading on, I'm going south doing the other half and finishing that one.

Speaker 1: 1:34:12

When we went to bed Saturday night it looked like we were. The weather wasn't looking so good. It looked like rain, maybe a threat of thunderstorms. Turned out to be okay. The weather was cool for Florida, but as usual it was humid. Now we had a cloud cover that helped us quite a bit.

Speaker 1: 1:34:30

So let's take a look here at who was there. I saw a bunch of these folks, but I'm going to do my best, because you know what happens if I start singling people out I miss somebody. So I'm just going to go down the list that we have here. Amy was there. I was there. I did 20, 30 intervals for all 13 miles. That's not much, but I will tell you that is the longest interval running continuously I've done in I believe three years Up to now, when I've had long runs, I've broken them up by walking a mile, running a mile, something. I was able to go all 13. So that's another step in the right direction.

Speaker 1: 1:35:14

I finished with a friend, valerie, on the course. I also finished one beer, one tequila, one fireball, one piece of bacon and a chunk of sausage. Our friend Chris, who was with us last week, and Danny, both from the Rundopi group, were there. Dawn was there. Judy Judy finished what she is calling her last half marathon not done running, but 10 Ks and shorter now. For Judy We'll see, and I had a chance to talk with Judy after and I think she's sincere about that.

Speaker 1: 1:35:44

Radanya was there, her first space coast but, as she says, certainly not her last. A lot of folks have that feeling about it For Radanya, half marathon PR by 11 minutes. Jared was there. Jennifer Jennifer ran on her 52nd birthday. Julie ran the south half with her A-linker. Kristen was there. Lara Lara's there for her fourth year. Went out a little too fast, especially the first couple of miles. Took a drink at mile four which she thought was juice but was rum. All right, if that's your story and you're sticking to it, okay, all right. All right, we're buying it. Let the little stomach upset. Happy that she finished, which she did, grateful to a friend, dwayne, who stayed with her, kept her company, kept her moving. As many others say, she's looking forward to coming back.

Speaker 1: 1:36:48

Lisa was there, as was Michael. I rode the bus back with Michael. Michelle was there had a blast at space coast. Nicole was there, nicky, pam and Rachel Tabitha. Tabitha switched from the north course to the south course and set a 14 minute half marathon PR and wrapping up the south course, valerie was there. Valerie's the one who caught me. I don't remember about nine miles, eight, nine miles was definitely on the way back. She comes by me. She says I'm listening to you right now in my headset. Would you mind if I just finished? I said of course I love it. It was awesome. So we finished with those 20, 30s and helped each other out and got it done. So that was great.

Speaker 4: 1:37:43

So Valerie got a personal podcast on the way back Something like that On the north course.

Speaker 1: 1:37:51

Abby Abby did it, enjoyed the course. The north course is pretty. One of the neat things and I think some folks are gonna mention it here one of the neat things about the north course is that the direction you're running in it's easier to see the sun rise and it can be kind of pretty. Now it was cloudy, wasn't a perfect sunrise, but it was pretty decent. She enjoyed the course, ran it with a friend and then headed over to Mickey's very merry Christmas party that night. Lucy commented that the course was very pretty. It was. And here you go Lucy's commenting seeing the space coast as the sun comes up. Good way to start the day. She'll be coming back.

Speaker 1: 1:38:29

Mary and Karen did the north course. Mary wrote was right in the post. Mary said she had a little bit of trouble, fell off her desired pace but by golly Mary and Karen both finished that north course Half marathon strong. Now let's get to the marathon, the marathon. Carrie is sending us her first race report and she is happy to report that she set a 44 minute PR in the marathon. She's always been one of these people who takes the entire time, which in this case I don't know if they give you six and a half or seven hours to finish the marathon. Didn't need it this time. 44 minute PR.

Speaker 2: 1:39:13

That's incredible.

Speaker 1: 1:39:14

Yeah, now we were just talking with Mark about local Galloway groups. Carrie joined a local Galloway group to train for Goofy. She credits them with helping her set this PR Huge improvement in her runtime, so excited. Next stop for Carrie, goofy and then Disneyland. Our buddy, dean, was there.

Speaker 1: 1:39:36

Dean ran the marathon. I saw Dean afterward at the local brewery. How did his hair look, bob? I'm trying to think of the line from the song where Wolfs of London. I think his hair was perfect or something like that. Anyway, ellie did it.

Speaker 1: 1:39:56

Ellie did this one as a catered training run, nailed her target pace overall and, as Ellie says, still walking around on Sunday night. Ellie did a great job, esther. Last year Space Coast was her first marathon, struggled but finished. Today. She was determined to do better for this one. She did not as good as she wanted to, but she did better and that's a success in her book. That's a success in our book too, jennifer. Jennifer ran her first marathon and I'm almost positive it was Jennifer's birthday, happy birthday Marathon. Aside from some blisters, she really came through strong, looked great. Afterwards I was watching the ball game the Eagles game, the first half anyway with Jennifer and her husband, steven at the brewery, so that was fun. Glad to see them all there. Jessica ran this one. Kate says this was her goal marathon for the season. Training was going great. She was feeling confident about breaking four hours. Then, less than two weeks ago, she strange her Achilles tendon.

Speaker 2: 1:41:12

Oh no.

Speaker 1: 1:41:13

Yeah. So she got a great suggestion for ultrasound therapy from a friend. The therapy was a bit painful but it helped, made the Achilles feel better. But she still had that gap in her training. She had that time where about as far as she could go was five miles. However, that's the bad news. The good news is she ran this marathon. She finished. She ran a six minute negative split, which is impressive unto itself. Kept her pace is pretty even for miles two to 23. And then 23 to 26 were the fastest miles of the race Crushed her sub four hour goal.

Speaker 1: 1:41:58

That's a 46 minute PR and anybody finishing a marathon under four hours has my deep respect. Kate, way to go. This bell is for you. Beep, beep, beep. Margaret.

Speaker 1: 1:42:14

We talked about Margaret earlier. This was Margaret's second marathon in four weeks. Plus she did wine and dine. Plus you've heard her mentioned in other parts of the race report. In less than a month Margaret did a little bit over 84 miles just in races. Okay, now on my dopey training plan I'm at about 84 for the month, but that's with everything. This was just in races in the last month. Out of this world experience. You see what Margaret did there Space Coast. Out of this world experience. Yeah, a lot of ups and downs felt great, pushed through when she needed to. Again, when you're doing this course, if you do the North course and you're doing the full and you come back on the South course, if you're keeping a good pace, you're gonna find a whole lot of folks coming who are finishing the half as they're coming by you and in fact I'm almost positive that Margaret was doing well enough that I was still on the course when she was finishing. I'm pretty sure I saw her there.

Speaker 4: 1:43:18

So what did she wear? What was your costume? Because you know she has something good.

Speaker 1: 1:43:22

Yeah, it was space related. She did, she always does. I would be very curious how large Margaret's closets are in her home, because she doesn't wear I don't think she wears the same outfit to any two races. I don't know what she does with them when she's done. Anyway, let's see. What do we got here? Margaret thought about bailing at the turn. I think everybody, almost everybody, I think a lot of people who come through on that event look at that sign and say, but, quoting here, she says "'That is not the race I came for". So she pushed through, saw some friends on the backside and finished the marathon.

Speaker 1: 1:44:03

Mike Mike is Tabitha's husband. Mike finished his first marathon. Pr Bell for you. Mike, monika, without the chaos crew.

Speaker 1: 1:44:16

Monika mentioned the humidity. I'll tell you, as a Florida boy, I recognized that the humidity was up after about a mile, mile and a half, and she made a comment that I noticed. Now Monika did the marathon. Her comment is the half marathoners seem to be having a lot of fun. They seem to be having a lot more fun. I recall some of the fast marathoners finished their half, got past me and I saw them coming the other way and I looked at the look on their faces and I actually turned to somebody I was running nearby and said we're having more fun than they are. They were having it tough, but they did a great job. So let's see. Monika finished, came in at just a touch over four hours. It's her second or third fastest marathon, depending on if you count actual marathon distances, race results, whatever, whatever. Monika PRed in a number of fireball shots she took and still finished in just a little over four hours.

Speaker 1: 1:45:20

Ray. Ray is the last race report we got. Ray. You can thank Alicia for this one. She found it for me at the last minute, said Ray, put a race report in, she did the marathon and she set a one and a half hour PR. Yeah, we had to work that one in. I'm glad you found that Alicia. Ryan was there. Ryan was pacing the marathon and I'm pretty sure Ryan was pacing the group that Jen ran in, jennifer. So my friends were there. That's it. The race report is complete Way to go. Thank you all for your help on this one. I appreciate it. I'm sitting here right now thinking I'm surprised I made it through as I did. I would not have made it without you. All right.

Speaker 2: 1:46:11

We're always happy to help, Bob, you know that.

Speaker 1: 1:46:13

Thanks, friends, and if you run, you know you are our friend. It is a Zoom Thursday. I will have that information on the Facebook page. Hope to see you there. Plenty to talk about. We know a couple of you did runs over this last weekend so maybe you can talk about that. Also. It's about time to post the info on a marathon weekend meetup. It will be, as has become our tradition now, the Saturday of race weekend at three o'clock at the food truck area at Disney Springs. That seems to work out really well for you. We look forward to seeing you there. All right, my friends? That wraps up episode 114. Thank you so much for joining us. We've enjoyed bringing this episode to you.

Speaker 1: 1:47:10

Look, marathon weekend's almost upon us. The training has been going well, I hope. Stick with it. The training's the hard part. How many times have we said it? The training's the hard part. The marathon is about three, four 500 miles long, with a 26 mile victory lap at the end. You can do it. We look forward to seeing you and until we meet again, happy running the Rise and.

Speaker 2: 1:47:43

Run podcast discusses general information about Run Disney and is in no way affiliated with Run Disney or the Walt Disney Company. Any information or advice discussed on this podcast should not be considered medical advice and should always consult with your healthcare provider or event organizer. Music.