250: Our 10 Best American Road Races on our Semiquincentennial Episode

We hit a milestone and decided to do something worthy of it: build our own ranked list of the best road races in America. From the New York City Marathon’s five-borough roar to Boston’s history-soaked mystique, Chicago’s electric crowds, and the Marine Corps Marathon’s landmark-heavy patriotism, we talk through the races that feel bigger than a finish time and why they earn a spot on a true bucket list. 

We also keep it real for the runDisney community. Springtime Surprise registration moved faster than many expected, so we share what sold out when, what that might mean for the season ahead, and why charity bibs can be a smart Plan B. Then we dig into why runDisney itself belongs near the top of a “great American races” conversation, plus how we’d rank the current race weekends if you’re choosing your first one. 

And because July 4th means Peachtree, we spotlight the Peachtree Road Race with firsthand stories about the expo challenges, the party-on-the-streets vibe, the sneaky tough hill miles, and the iconic finisher shirt that makes Atlanta runners come back year after year. We also pause to remember Jeff Galloway, share a powerful origin story from his past visit, and reflect on how his encouragement continues to shape runners everywhere. 

If you like running culture, race travel ideas, training honesty, and a little friendly debate, press play. Subscribe, share this with a runner who needs a new goal race, and leave a review if the show helps you keep moving, what’s your pick for the best road race in America?

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Johns Fundraising Link For The Special Forces Foundation 

Transcript

Welcome To Episode 250

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Hello, everyone. This is Rob from Glen Rock, New Jersey, calling today from Flushing Queens, New York, home of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, The Worst Team Money Can Buy Part 2. And today the New York Roadrunners Citizens Queens 10K. And you're listening to the Rise and Run podcast. Happy running, everybody, and let's go Mets.

SPEAKER_15 1:07

That's our friend Rob from a race he did a few weeks ago. We're going to hear about another race that Rob did this last weekend with our buddy John. But uh thanks for the intro and thanks, Rob, for helping welcome everyone to episode 250. That's right, the semi-quincentennial episode of the Rise and Run Podcast. I'm Bob and I'm here this week with Jack.

SPEAKER_13 1:33

Hiya.

SPEAKER_15 1:33

With John. Hey, how you doing? With Alicia.

SPEAKER_13 1:37

Hello.

SPEAKER_15 1:38

And with Greg. It's a salute to all podcasts, but mostly. Mostly. Mm-hmm. All right. Well, it's good to see you all, my friends. Uh, hope you had a great holiday weekend. This week, being the 250th uh episode of Rise and Run, nearly coinciding perfectly with the 250th birthday of our country. We are going to talk about what, in our opinions, are America's best road races. We've got a big race report. We'll get to that in its usual time. But our spotlight is on the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, that traditional event, which I got a feeling is going to hit somewhere on our list of best races in America. But we'll uh no spoilers, we'll have to wait and see. Many of you were there, but we asked Brooke, Matt, and his daughters to tell us all about the race.

SPEAKER_09 2:37

If you enjoy the Rise and Run Podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family. We want to share in their Run Disney journey. Please remember to follow us on Facebook, Rise and Run Podcast, on Instagram at Rise and Run Pod, check out our YouTube channel, and visit our webpage at Rise and RunPodcast.com. If you have a question, comment, race report, or want to introduce an upcoming episode, call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.

SPEAKER_12 3:07

We would also like to take this time to thank our Patreons who help support and keep the Rise and Run Podcast rising and running. If you would like to join our Patreon team, please be sure to go check out Patreon.com

YouTube Runs And Trip Planning

SPEAKER_12 3:21

slash rise and run podcast. And I know we say it each and every week, but Patreons, thank you so much for your continued support. You do not know how much it means to us.

SPEAKER_13 3:30

And I know we're going to be talking about it in a short bit, but it was springtime surprise registration day on Tuesday. So if you guys, oh yeah, oh yeah, act surprised. Um, but if you guys were able to get in, you're like, okay, one thing done, awesome now. You know what? I should probably book my room, maybe book a few tickets. This is a good time to do it because you're gonna get probably the best rates right now that you can for that race weekend. The earlier you do it, the better. So go ahead and check out Magic Bound Travel at magicboundtravel.com to help you with your guys' vacation. It's exciting.

SPEAKER_15 4:10

Great advice, Jack. And while we've got you, what's new with YouTube?

SPEAKER_13 4:16

Yes, we had two new episodes drop, you guys. Uh one of my favorite ones. I know. I would, you know, I was really, really excited about the one that I put up on Sunday because it's probably one of my favorite places to run. And it's the Port Orleans um French Quarter and Riverside uh locations. I really, really love it. It's got so much shade. And if you really wanted to, you could just have a beignet when you're done. That sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_15 4:44

You know, you're along the river there, right? Yeah, it wasn't. Yeah, it's nice. It is, yeah.

SPEAKER_12 4:48

Jack, I didn't get a chance to watch the video yet. Uh, at any point, do you race the Disney Springs boat?

SPEAKER_13 4:55

No, it wasn't operating when I was running because it doesn't start till 10.

SPEAKER_12 4:58

Oh, dude. Okay.

SPEAKER_13 5:00

Yeah, yeah. It was a bummer, but I saw it on the walk back, and that's what counts. But um also we did have the All-Star Resorts um drop this past Tuesday. So if you are wanting to check out that, honestly, I know that's where a lot of us stay, is the All-Star Resorts and Pop Sentry Resort. I will be doing Pop Sentry soon. I won't tell you when, because it's a surprise. But you know, uh, but yeah, there's gonna be a lot of resorts to check out so far on the channel. If you guys are looking for a nice treadmill run or you're trying to plan for your next vacation where you would like to run,

Training Schedules And Race Countdown

SPEAKER_13 5:35

those are great options to look at.

SPEAKER_15 5:36

Well, thanks, Jack. Sounds good. Okay, well, let's take a look, as we always do, at the training schedule. Wine and die now, 105 days away from expo day. Next time we meet, friends, we'll be in double digits. It's 15 weeks. We are in training week three. And the long run, if you're doing the law the half or one of the challenges, your long run is three miles. Marathon weekend, just a little less than half a year away now. Golly, these things come up so fast. 20, uh 26 weeks, 26 weeks away from 5k day. We're in training week two. And uh, regardless whether you're doing the challenges or the marathon, your long run this week on the beginner's training schedules is four miles. We'll talk about springtime surprise in just a moment. A note here on Space Coast, a lot of our friends like to run Space Coast, it's 137 days away. Uh, one of our friends notified us on Facebook, and I looked this up before we started recording. They're down to about 350 spots left for the half marathon. The marathon is full and about 350 left for the half. So if you're interested in joining us, and we always have a good group of rise and run friends and customized training friends there. So we hope to see you there. And loopers coming up. You guys are just a little over three weeks away, Greg.

SPEAKER_12 7:03

It's exciting. Yeah, we just started sending out emails about hey, who's gonna bring the tents, who's gonna bring the coolers, who's gonna bring the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Jack, you know, all those, you know, really, really important things. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. You know, I'm hoping maybe for the second year in a row, Aaron, you know, calls in uh you know a favor for us and gives us the same weather forecast that we had last year uh because I think that'd be a lot of fun. But again, it just there's so many, you know, the fact that we have so many teams plus so many individual runners too as well. You know, I know we have a couple of friends doing solo 12 hours. Um, I know Heather is coming up, she's rolling 12 hours by herself, which is impressive. And then I know Michael from Will Run 4 and um our friend uh she was on last week, our friend Ileana, her husband, yeah, uh Steven are doing the hundred miler. Wow. So we have all sorts of friends doing all sorts of challenges. Um, August 1st can't get here soon enough. Really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_15 8:05

Gosh, sounds like a great event. I'm sure you're gonna have a wonderful time, and I'm sure you're gonna tell us all about it when it's over. It sounds great. Uh well, hey, while we're in talking about all this, how about training

Heat Mistakes And Smart Adjustments

SPEAKER_15 8:18

updates, gang? Anything new? Anything going on that we'd like to highlight?

SPEAKER_13 8:21

So the the one-hour predicted long run didn't go as planned. Um, I was gonna start it early at like 9 a.m., which is not really all that early considering heat. And then I get myself all ready. I'm like, okay, at this point I'll get out by 10, no problem. Great. And then I had a thought go in my head because I'm still trying to plan our honeymoon. I know it's we had the wedding like in January, but since the move, it's been hard. So I had a thought process. And if I don't go through with my thought process, I'm just gonna think about it nonstop during the run. Just like being like, oh, I should have done it before I left. And what took one set, what I thought would take one minute ended up taking about 30 minutes. Um, so I didn't get out till like 11, I think.

SPEAKER_16 9:05

Golly.

SPEAKER_13 9:06

And it was so hot. I think it was in the high 80s or early 90s, and that was so stupid. Um so mad at myself, Bob, because I I stopped the run with eight minutes to spare and just walked the rest back. I was over eating so bad. My heart, like my legs and body were fine, they weren't tired. It was just like I look like my heart rate was at 188.

SPEAKER_15 9:30

Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 9:32

That's not good. So yeah, I walked back and it was not a proud moment.

SPEAKER_12 9:37

Jack, I have a question. What was the was the temperature in the low 90s or in the early 90s? Because if it was in the early 90s, then you were probably wearing like parachute pants and you know, watching TGIF and you know and stuff like that. Yeah, I'm I'm curious.

SPEAKER_13 9:53

Yeah, yeah, let's just assume it was the early 90s. Let's make it fun. I like it.

SPEAKER_09 9:58

I like it. Parachute pants are more of an 80s. It was Z Cavaricis.

SPEAKER_13 10:04

Right. I was more of an overall girl, anyways.

SPEAKER_15 10:08

So Jack, I'm glad you did that. I'm glad you slowed down and walked. That was a smart thing to do. That that heart rate, that's just your your system's trying to cool itself, the the blood cursing through, trying to cool your body off. So I'm glad you did that.

SPEAKER_10 10:23

Yeah, I did something kind of similar to Jack and wasn't the smartest. I I slept in, which was good um the other day for my run. But by the time I got out, it was like nine o'clock, and I was like, it's getting hot. I need to get out the door as fast as I can. And I forgot my water and it was in the 90s. And so um, I know we've been talking about a lot that make sure you have hydration um and be careful in the heat, but it definitely definitely felt that heat.

SPEAKER_13 10:52

Did you drive to your location to go run?

SPEAKER_10 10:55

No, I didn't hour back in front of my house. Oh, okay. Yeah, but when I got back, I was I was definitely sweating a lot. Um, and my heart rate was up there. So um take that extra couple minutes, take your water with you, um, and try and get out before it's hot outside.

SPEAKER_09 11:13

I've been trying to get my uh two runs in a week and a long run on the weekend, uh, plus the uh my my strength training Thursday, it was hot as bejesus up here. Like, I mean, it was so I actually earn so I didn't run Thursday, so I decided let me just do a walk. So I did a walk on Thursday, earned my toasty badge on Garmin, which means oh really yeah, recorded recorded activity when it's a hundred degrees or more. Oh wow, yeah. So I wasn't running it a hundred degrees.

SPEAKER_10 11:48

So I'm like Tony get one of those.

SPEAKER_09 11:54

So I so it was great. I come back, I'm I'm still sweating like a pig afterwards. I go in the house, open the refrigerator. Oh, the refrigerator lights out. I go to go, oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 12:05

No.

SPEAKER_09 12:06

Oh no, no power, no power in the house. That's better than a broken refrigerator. Yes, better than a broken refrigerator. Well, I don't know about that one.

SPEAKER_06 12:14

I don't know about that yet.

SPEAKER_09 12:16

So I'm like, okay, let me close this because I don't know what kind of food is going to get spoiled. So I call up our power company, we make the report that we're out of power. I get a text message back, ETA 2 a.m. This is at 5 30. Then I get a text message later at 7 o'clock at ETA 3 a.m. Then I get an ETA at 10 a.m. I'm like, oh my god. So now it's like 102.

unknown 12:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 12:47

So now it's 102 at the house. You know, outside, inside it's it was still cool from the AC that we had going. But then but trying to sleep that night was a little rough. But then all of a sudden at like 1 30, you hear the the light go on with the uh my my clock radio. I still have a clock radio, yes, because I I need a clock radio to look at the time. It's weird. And I'm like, oh, thank God. Put the AC back on quick. Let's get this room cooled down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 13:19

Training for me this week went pretty well. I I've been I stuck to my guns um in what I said last week in terms of that I wasn't going outside until this heat wave passed, and it finally uh finally did this past Monday. So all three of my runs were on the treadmill last week, and I had speed work. And the one thing that I was really intrigued by is uh I wasn't here for when you guys talked to Coach Twiggs, but you know, you're talking about heat training and on the treadmill, and the part that I found interesting was that he talked about the concept of always trust the treadmill as opposed to trusting your watch, because I I've had wild, wild results in terms of being able to figure out like what is the most accurate because in an I like to throw another factor in there in terms of my foot pod. So at least that's all that is measuring cadence in an indoor run. So I was this intrigued to see how that was gonna line up with my speed training because I had eight eight hundreds this past weekend, and I will say my foot pod watch combo was actually a little bit faster than what the treadmill was saying, and the fact it was only off by a couple of seconds actually gave me a lot of confidence that if I need to do future treadmill runs this summer, that I know that as long as I'm wearing that, I'm getting fairly accurate data. But I I was very happy, I I hit all of my um all of my 800 uh times and actually a bunch of them under a couple of seconds, so I don't know if that means I'm ready for a new magic mile or whatnot, but um I'm I'm real happy with how things are going, and but now my legs are barking at me because I went from speed work Sunday, leg day lifting Monday, and then I went out for my run here day of recording, and because I finally was able to get back outside, and I live at the bottom of a very steep hill, so I was like, based on the route I wanted to go, I need to get up that sucker, and boy, sitting here recording, my legs are paying for it right now. So I gotta uh I gotta take care of maybe I need to get in the squeezy boots or something like that. But yeah, that's good. So far, so good.

SPEAKER_13 15:32

Greg, that's when you say it hurts so good.

SPEAKER_15 15:36

Hurts so good, I reckon. You know what uh you know what our buddy Coach Twiggs would tell you, do your leg day and the run on the same day. Yes. Yeah. So you give yourself a day of rest to come back from that. But but I'm still proud of you. You're doing well. Uh I don't have anything exciting really. I am I am doing fine in terms of consistency and staying with the three days a week. What I am falling behind in is my long runs. I'm keeping up with the long runs that I talk about here on this schedule of the four or five miles, but I haven't done anything longer than six miles. Oh, golly. It's in a while. It's been a while, and I really should be doing more. I've got to get back to that. I think the last time I did more than six was springtime surprise, I think. Uh the heat stuff, but you just go with it. We do we talked about earlier, you slow down. I have been doing hill training in to try to get ready for uh bird in hand. Now, hill training in Florida means I have to drive somewhere. And I have to drive somewhere where they have a bridge, basically. I've been going to there's a park not far from here. They've got a nice bridge, it probably goes up 25-30 feet, and so it's been good training. And uh my wife Becky likes it because afterward I'm a half a mile from a Chick-fil-A. So I go there and bring breakfast home. Now, this week I'm going to go to a steeper and longer hill, which is about three or four miles away, and that's close to a Panera bread. So we're going to change breakfast items. But I I I don't know that I can say I've been enjoying the hill training, but I have been enjoying the change of pace.

SPEAKER_12 17:26

I thought you're saying you rejoined the Chick-fil-A.

SPEAKER_15 17:29

Oh, that indeed, yeah. That's that goes without saying.

SPEAKER_09 17:32

So you know he's not doing his long runs on Sunday.

SPEAKER_15 17:35

That's true. That's very true. Not my hill training, not doing the hill training on Sunday, right? Right. So there you go, friends. Hope your training's going well. We know it's hot, but as we just said, and we've been saying it all along. Be smart. We know you can do it. Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

Jeff Galloway Story And Tribute

SPEAKER_15 17:54

Friends, I'm declaring next Sunday, July 12th, a rise and run holiday. It is Jeff Galloway's birthday. Jeff would have been 81 on Sunday. You know, when we lost him in February, I knew we all lost a great friend. But candidly, I had no idea just how much I would miss him personally. And I really do. It's it's been a tough couple of months. Uh to celebrate his life, we we want to take a couple of minutes and go back about a year to episode 200. Was one of the many times Jeff joined us here at Rise and Run. And on this particular visit we asked, uh, Jeff Galloway, how did you get started running?

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Well, I was forced to. I um my father was in the Navy uh through my seventh grade year, and when I entered the eighth grade year, he got out of active duty service. We went to a new school where he taught. The new school required boys to go out for strenuous athletics after school. I had never had that happen because I had gone to 13 previous schools. I had no I had no skills uh in anything really, because I was bouncing around so much. And um I floundered around in in a whole lot of ways at this new school. In terms of athletics, I tried football in the fall, which was a total disaster. Uh, I mean, I was a very overweight kid, and uh and so it was a good choice that I go out for the football team, but I didn't have any skills, and it was just really a bad experience for me. But in the meantime, I fell in with a group of kids who were cross-country runners because they were funny, and uh we played jokes on one another and uh gave our editorial comments about what was going on in school throughout the day, and uh they uh dragged me out kicking and screaming during the winter to go out for winter cross-country. Um, I was under the impression that I could jog out to the woods and hide out in the woods and not have to do the workouts because some of the kids were actually doing that. Jeff, where was this?

SPEAKER_15 20:30

Pardon the interruption, where was this?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

It was in Atlanta. Okay, thank you. Um, at Westminster Schools in Atlanta, and um I got caught by one of the older kids, and uh he said, Galloway, you're gonna run with us from now on, and I was really shaking in my converse all-stars.

SPEAKER_15 20:52

Oh, yes, Chuck Taylor.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Um, so I get out there on that next day, and I didn't make half a mile, but I was totally exhausted, and I had hit my wall. I I had no vision of how I could possibly go any further than that, and it hurt bad. So I walked back, and I was expecting, as what happened in football, that the other kids who were on the cross-country team would come back and make fun of me. Uh, but that didn't happen, it was just the opposite. They patted me on the back. Uh, some of the older kids came up and said, We're so glad that you're with us, you're part of the team now. It's a totally different philosophy and and one that I deeply appreciated, but everything hurt so bad. I was willing to try to find some other sport to do. But within 15 to 20 minutes after finishing that run, I suddenly got all those brain benefits that we do. And running. I had a good attitude. I had energy. I went home and just aced my homework assignments, which I hadn't been able to do. Um, and and I said, you know, maybe there's something going on here. And those types of benefits have continued now for more than 66 years.

SPEAKER_15 22:24

Jeff, I'm thinking that that kid who said, Galloway, you're running with me, changed all of our lives.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Isn't that something? His name is Andy High School. He's still alive, he's still busy running. Um, just a great guy. And uh he was a he was the our our leading runner that uh for for three years at the school. Andy, on behalf of a whole bunch of us, thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_15 22:53

We appreciate it. Oh man, it's it's it's wonderful and emotional to hear that voice again. I I love the fact we still have him with us in some small way. And I really love the lesson in that story. You got an overweight kid who hit the wall at a half-mile run, and he goes on to become a U.S. Olympian because of a friend who had confidence in him.

SPEAKER_12 23:18

Thank you for you know bringing up this, you know, just quick remembrance uh of Jeff, you know, on his birthday and and such. And you know, I I will say, you know, it's been interesting navigating, you know, the these last couple of months, you know, without him, in the sense that at least for me, I I think I'm I'm still in this space where it's it's kind of odd and confusing and sad when you have to mention him in the past tense, you say it, and then all of a sudden you're like, yeah, like he's gone. So that's tough. But I will say though, I am still floored that you know, all these months, you know, we're we're approaching, you know, almost now, you know, six months without him. And the fact that he still, whether it's here on this podcast, whether it's on other Run Disney podcasts, within the customized training group, or just the running world in general, that you continue to hear his name, his method, the accomplishments that that he's made, really does you know continue to go to show how much of a lasting impact he has made on the sport. And while it's sad to mention him in the past tense, it does give me solace to know that his legacy is going to remain for a lifetime, which which really you know helps turn that frown upside down in the sense, I mean, and and especially for me, I know we're gonna talk about later in the episode, but like the fact that they had that memorial for him at Peachtree Expo this past weekend, and that thing was covered with messages, and it it really just warms my heart. And again, even though you mentioned him in the past tense, he's presently in our hearts and and in our minds, and and that's and that's something we really all do have to hold on to.

SPEAKER_15 25:17

We do. It's it's something that concerns me, it's something that I've given a great deal of thought to is that yes, we all know Jeff. Our friends who are listening, most of them know Jeff, and and and many of them had a chance to talk with him. But we got to remember that we are always getting new people in the Run Disney community, they're coming every day. And we're gonna get to a point where we find people joining the community who don't know who Jeff was. So we're not gonna let we're not gonna let his memory fade. We're gonna continue to talk about him. He left us a legacy of a legacy of love, enthusiasm, and encouragement, and he brought it to us all. You know, I I I had a chance to talk to Jeff, I don't know, about once a month, or whether it was in person or through email or through one of our podcasts, and he would always tell me that he loved the Rise and Run community because of the spirit that he saw in all of you and all of you who are listening. And that's the spirit we're going to keep alive.

SPEAKER_17 26:39

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

Springtime Surprise Sellouts And Strategy

SPEAKER_15 26:45

Well, this morning, Tuesday morning, we registered for the last race of the season. That's right. We are still over 100 days away from the first race of the season, but we are now registered for all the races of the 26-27 season. Registered for springtime surprise. Uh, friends, what are your comments on registration this morning? How many of you got actively involved, and what did you think?

SPEAKER_10 27:15

Did John get like number two or two minutes?

SPEAKER_09 27:19

No, no, John did not register. Like so the last we'll talk about this a little later. I for the last couple of race seasons, I registered when I got home from work.

SPEAKER_15 27:30

Oh, for this for this weekend.

SPEAKER_09 27:32

Yeah, for this weekend. Yeah, because I mean, for the last God knows how many years it was the races were available. The springtime did not sell out. So yeah, you're right. Does anybody want to go over the times, Greg?

SPEAKER_12 27:45

Sure. Yeah, I can go over them real quick here. So our sellouts kind of surprising, but at the same time, not the the first thing to go was the challenge, and that went in 58 minutes. Then 12 minutes later, the 10K sold out. And I think that, and Grandpa, you and I can talk about this a little bit further. It was probably around that time, you know, probably that hour, hour 10 minute mark. That's when you shut down the zoom. Yeah. Because everyone was like, hey, I have a window open. Does anybody need help registering? And nobody did. So that's when I had the thought process in my head of, oh, maybe the trend is going to continue. And like I had confidence that the 5k would sell out, but I thought at this point, okay, 10 miler is going to hold on for the rest of the day. If not, into tomorrow and a few days afterwards. And then shortly after we shut that down, the 10 miler sold out in 90 minutes. And then uh the 5k finally went in 103. So at least the the 5k probably for the whole 26-27 race season, that has now been the trend. That the 5k now is always the last to go because of that expanded field. Now, again, none of us know how that expanded field is going to play out in terms of logistics. We'll learn about that after Wine and Dine this October.

SPEAKER_15 29:19

Yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_12 29:20

But um, yeah, but it's really interesting. And John, uh, thank you for adding uh this data. Um I'm looking at it right now, comparing to last year. So last year, the only things to sell out day of was the 5k and the 10k. The challenge lasted a little more than a day, and then the 10 miler was 53 days. Yeah. So even though this was a much more relaxed and crap not hitting the fan type of registration day, it's the fastest sellout in springtime history, and it goes to show that the demand is still there for Run Disney and in particular this race weekend.

SPEAKER_09 30:08

Yeah. That's like I said, I was only doing the 10 milers for springtime. So I said, oh, I got time. Like it it never sells out. I mean, I don't want to take time off from work just to sit there and do it. And I'm like, you know, and if I didn't, if I hey, this was Star Wars weekend, totally different story. But yeah, I'm like, okay, I'll I'll get in when I get home from work and sign up like I did like two years ago. I signed up like a month after, I think it was. It was like, okay. But now it's like, okay, no big deal. Well, I guess not. So my mind was made up. But I have some maybe your thoughts on this. Do you think it sold out quicker because there is less spots available now that people that were perfect were able to get in earlier and take up their their spots already on the race, like for the challenge and for the uh 10 miler?

SPEAKER_15 30:59

It's so hard to know. It really is. Is it possible? Certainly that's possible, but it's so hard to know that clearly, though, something that Greg said, oh gosh, a couple races ago, this is benefiting the charities.

SPEAKER_16 31:13

Right.

SPEAKER_15 31:13

Because Greg and I both registered through a charity. And when I went to look to see what charities were available, which actually I went on Monday to look for that, there were some, clearly, because I got one, but there were not a lot. And I have not looked since to see what the charity uh over.

SPEAKER_12 31:32

Yeah, I was I was checking out Matt's uh post right before we we started uh recording. I I would say that there's there's a decent amount, and you know, as long as those you know um color-coded bubbles that he has uh you know are are still accurate, and he does a great job of using his tools to make sure that it has up-to-date information. So I wouldn't so if you're still looking for something, hope is not lost by any means whatsoever. But I mean, I'm probably if you're looking for a challenge bib, that's probably going to be a little bit more difficult than some other races, but you do have options out there. But Bob, I'm right there with you. I think it was over the weekend I was just like, you know, thinking about registration coming up, and I was like, you know what? I don't know if I feel like dealing with the stress of registration day. And the the way that I I thought processed my thoughts with it is that I hadn't been going the charity route in a while because I knew I wanted that to be my backup plan for the New York City Marathon if I didn't get through the lottery. Now, long story short, I was offered a charity bib, but because I'm in the process still currently of trying to get my guide application to support Rachel during the race, I unfortunately had to turn down the charity bib that I was offered. So I was like, you know what? Since that unfortunately just did not work out, it's time to be charitable again. And so I'm really, really excited to be running on behalf of Give Kids the World again, doing just the 10K, because as we talked about when we talked about the themes, Alice in Wonderland doesn't really excite me all that much. And I would say with like 85% certainty that that 10 miler course is gonna be the exact same 10 miler course as it has the last couple of race weekends. So I figured I'm gonna keep some money in my pocket and just do the 10K. But I'm really excited to be fundraising again and I'm gonna come up with some uh creative ideas to uh to raise those funds.

SPEAKER_09 33:38

Yeah, I I think another thing that probably helped the sellouts happen is there was a lot of people missed out on Wine and Dine, missed out on Marathon, missed out on Princess. So this is their last shot to get it. So I think that also, you know, I want to do a run Disney race this season. This is my last shot. So that might have you know help this out. But I still think I don't know why they stopped doing it. They maybe to get some of this back, go back and do those virtual runs again. I don't know what you know, why they stopped. You know, it's you know, it would help. I mean, it's I don't want to call it easy money, but the people that might want to do this instead of spending a whole week down at Disney. You know, some people like the like I want this medal. Well, I could do it virtually, you know, I don't have to be there. That might bring us back down to a more manageable registration weekend.

SPEAKER_13 34:35

When did they stop the whole virtual races? Because I actually don't remember.

SPEAKER_15 34:40

Oh golly. The two race seasons ago? They yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_10 34:44

They did so.

SPEAKER_15 34:45

I think they ran them basically when we came out of COVID. I think they ran them for a year approximately, and that was it.

SPEAKER_09 34:53

I think more little I think a little bit more than a year.

SPEAKER_10 34:55

Yeah, it was a couple years after. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 34:59

So I think I know the uh I think the what do you call it was definitely a virtual the the the the 90s theme, I call it, right? That was a virtual year. Yeah, and I don't know if the year after was, but then that was that was it. That was the end of the virtuals, yeah.

SPEAKER_15 35:16

The the virtuals that go along with the real races, yeah. I know the so I know some friends are receiving their summer virtual uh medal packs now, but that's a different thing.

SPEAKER_12 35:25

Hey John, I I want to go back to the the question that you posed to us about the perfects and how that related to registration today. To me, I don't think that made a huge impact by any means whatsoever, because in theory, we have the data to back it up. There are people who like Alicia are perfect two-course challengers, all the races sold out one in dine day of. Obviously, we know we have the the perfect marathonners and the you know, the perfect dope ears and and such. I guess there I there must be a perfect for the glass slipper challenge and stuff like that. So the fact that there is perfect status that is out there on the races that are still selling out day of, again, maybe a little bit of an impact, but not much. But the the one thing that I did want to bring up, and and I found this interesting learn learning this today, Bob, on our Zoom chat that we had during registration with everybody is that if you are in that boat of being or or having a perfect status, apparently it is very easy. You have to dig through a couple of menus to upgrade your race. So uh, you know, not picking on him here, but I'm just this is the example that we had. Our buddy Troy, uh, as you know him from Holler Hype from Spring Hill, Florida, uh, that he is a perfect 10-mile participant. So he got the early email, but was interested in doing the challenge. Someone was able to walk him through without having to go into the waiting queue, he was just able to go into his profile and update his registration. But I think he had to pay the difference or the the the price difference between the two races, plus I think uh I think he said it was like a $45.

SPEAKER_09 37:17

It was $45, I heard, yes.

SPEAKER_12 37:19

Yeah. Uh so the fact that if you are in that boat of having that perfect status, and that's something that you want to do, know that for future reference in case you know you're perfect for one type of race, but you want to upgrade within something within the same weekend.

SPEAKER_09 37:34

But but he had to go through the Q system again.

SPEAKER_12 37:36

No, he did not, he just had to just log into like his like manage profile, uh Run Disney profile, and was able to update it through there. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_15 37:45

Well, here's something I want to share with friends, and Greg, you've talked about it a couple times, and the Zoom meeting to go along with registration has become a regular thing now amongst Ryzen Runners. If nothing else, we have fun talking with one another and relieving some of the stress, but we had maybe at a peak, we had maybe 40 people on the call. But we had friends who were saying, Hey, I've got a two-minute link if somebody wants to call me, I've got a five-minute link if somebody wants to call me. And really, within about 45 minutes, nobody was calling. That people had all been able to be successful and get registered. Now, some people were helped, I know they were, but it went very, very well. So that seems to be a good thing for us. And it's a little late now, but for next year, let's look into that and we'll remind you of that the next time registration comes around, which will be for wine and dine, which I think we register for in what three weeks or something. It'll come by fast, friends.

SPEAKER_09 38:52

We do have actually two more registrations before the next wine and dine comes by. We have the 2026 Run Disney Virtual Spooktacular, which I guess took place of the Disneyland race. Uh that's coming up August 11th. And then the 12Ks of Christmas starts that's October 6th, so there's two more left.

SPEAKER_15 39:16

So okay. I don't know that we'll do. We haven't in the past, we haven't done Zooms for uh virtual runs. Now, if if our friends want us to do it, we can do it. But we'll see how that goes. Well we'll make a note of it and we'll play it by ear.

SPEAKER_17 39:32

Caution runners, change of topic ahead.

Ranking America’s Premier Road Races

SPEAKER_15 39:38

All right. In honor of our nation's semi-quincentennial and our podcast 250th episode, same thing, guys. 250, same thing. Let's talk about what we consider the premier road race events in America.

SPEAKER_12 39:59

Yeah, so this is a fun little exercise that I thought we could do here on the podcast. And you know, and in full disclosure, I borrowed this idea from our buddies AJ and Erica over at One More Run because when they had us on last year to talk about like the top things that you need to do in preparation for a Run Disney race, I really enjoyed the format of that and was cool to hear all of our different thoughts and how they ranked and then scored and such.

SPEAKER_15 40:26

By the way, Greg, since you bring them up, I want to congratulate them. They just passed their first anniversary over there.

SPEAKER_12 40:32

Yes, they did. Congratulations, guys. Very, very exciting. And you guys are pumping out amazing content. So keep up the great work. So I took that mathematical formula that I believe AJ used, and what I asked my co-host here and and myself as well, is give me your top 10 list of the great American races. Now I did leave it open-ended for everybody, and I said it's either races that you have run, races that you want to run, or a race that in your mind is quintessential Americana. So we have a nice little mix of all of that. So what you know, again, so if you ranked it really high, it got more points. If it was number 10 or number nine, it got less points. I tabulated everything. I have a whole list of where everyone ranked everything. So we're gonna go through this top 10 list, and as we go through it, I'm gonna have my co-host here explain why they selected that particular race. So, gang, are you ready to reveal the top 10 races in America according to the Rise and Run podcast? I have a hard time sitting still, Greg. All right, here we go. All right, so in the number 10 spot, this earned 11 points, and we had two hosts put this on their list. Bob, you rank this race as your fifth uh race, and John, you had it at number six, and that is the Flying Pig Race Weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio. Bob, why did this make the middle of your list?

SPEAKER_15 42:16

Well, this is a great event. I've been to it two years in a row, and I run the half marathon both times. One of the best supported race courses that I've ever been on. And two years ago, when we went, I thought they had a really nice expo, but our friend Emmy kept telling me, Oh no, wait till next year when we get back to the convention center, and you'll see. And she was right. When we went this year, the expo was terrific. It was fantastic. So it attracts a lot of rise and run runners. Uh the weather is typically okay, it can get get a little bit nasty. It's early, it's first weekend in May, I believe. Uh, but it's a fun one. I get to run with Alan. That's always fun. That that bumps it up a couple spots on my list. And uh we'll be back again in 2027 for the flying pig half. Yes, there's a big hill in the middle of it, but it's manageable. You can do it. Come on, visit us in Cincinnati in May. Oh, by the way, the the registration code is Alan 10.

SPEAKER_09 43:30

Oh, I was gonna use uh FPM 27 Rise Run. It works. Alan 10's a lot easier.

SPEAKER_12 43:38

It is. All right, John, you haven't run this race. No, but why why did you why did it crack your top 10?

SPEAKER_09 43:45

I've heard about this race for a long time. And you know, hearing Bob talk about it, uh Dooley p talk about it, Alan talk about it. That you guys gotta come out and try this race, you know, because it's Jack's home state. You've got to do it. Right. So I figured this might be a a race I would like to do. And I keep hearing about how wonderful this race is. And maybe now that I'm not going to springtime, maybe I'll sign up for Flying Pig instead. Okay.

SPEAKER_12 44:13

All right. Good to know. Appreciate your reasoning there. All right. Let's move to the number nine spot. This also scored 11 points, but got the tiebreaker because someone ranked it uh higher than Flying Pig and actually was listed by both the same gentlemen. Bob, you had this in your number eight spot. John, you had it at number three. It's a race that we will be talking a bunch about a little bit later on in the episode. And that is the Peach Tree Road Race that just occurred down in Atlanta, Georgia. John, you had this at number three. Why so high?

SPEAKER_09 44:54

So I was all into the uh I'm not going to say the word, the 250th anniversary of the of the country's theme. And this race is run on July 4th. Uh I keep hearing about this as another race, like which we talked about beginning. It was it started out small. This is almost major world major quality registration. 60,000 people.

SPEAKER_12 45:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 45:26

For a 10K. Yeah, I think in the world, Greg, I think. Yeah. 60,000 people for a 10K on the 4th of July. You know, how can you Americana?

SPEAKER_12 45:35

How can you not beat it? Bob, you've done Peachtree before, but it's been many years, right?

SPEAKER_15 45:40

I did. 1990. And again, you're going to hear a lot about Peachtree here in the race report spotlight, so I won't repeat that. It is a it is a wonderful race. When I put my list together, I try to think of if I was talking to someone outside the Run Disney World, if you would, if I was just talking to a runner and said, What are the 10 best races in America? You have to include Peachtree on that list. Through the streets of Atlanta. Yeah, it's hot. Everybody knows it. And again, I don't want to talk too much more because we're going to talk a lot about it here in the spotlight. But I think Peachtree really has to be on the list here.

SPEAKER_12 46:19

All right, we're going to move to number eight. Uh, this scored 12 points. John, you had it ranked number four, and I had it ranked number sixth, and that is the bird in hand half marathon. John, why uh why did bird in hand make the list for you?

SPEAKER_09 46:41

That's another Americana race, I would say. Uh running through the like running through the country, running through the cornfields, running through a time that was less I mean, it's like going back in time that was less uh busy for you for you, you know, out there in Pennsylvania, out in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Dutch. It's a it's a nice race, quiet, relaxing, you know, running through the cornfields on the countryside. I think that's a great race to get to see the for us city people, that's a whole different vibe for us.

SPEAKER_12 47:15

Yeah, John, I'm right there with you in terms of the maricana, but you not necessarily in the sense of, you know, or star spangled, red, white, and blue, you know, all that all that jazz. You know, to me, it it's that yesteryear feel. But I think for me, it's more about the uniqueness, you know, the idea, you know, like you said, in uh Amish country, no power lines, the Amish community comes out in droves for this, not only in terms of volunteering, but participating, a lot of them barefoot, which still blows my mind, especially on that gravel hill that we have like around like mile 11. Oh, yeah. So, you know, you gotta talk about, you know, I I know we joke about it all the time, but that post-race celebration, that picnic, is you know, that I think helps, you know, ascends my rankings. And then the final thing I'll I'll say about it that I think what makes it unique and a sense of you know, a little bit of Americana is the the medal. The fact that it is not a metal medal, it is a legitimate horseshoe. And you know, as someone who has run this race now, coming up on my sixth time, you know, coming up this September, it's kind of like a snowflake. Not one medal is the same because every year, you know, you don't know what size horseshoe you're gonna get. You know, so I I just I find that really unique, and and that's why it was uh that's why I cracked my top 10.

SPEAKER_15 48:40

Just a quick note. I I built a list, I came up with 18. I sent you 10. I've got Burden Hand at 13 on my list. So it's definitely a great race. Love it. All the things you said are true, plus it's uh rise and run favor. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_12 48:57

All right, we're gonna move to the seventh spot. Uh, this scored 13 points, and we're finally gonna get the ladies involved here. Uh, Alicia, you had this race ranked sixth, and Jack, you had it at number three, and that is the Honolulu Marathon. Jack, why did they make number three for you?

SPEAKER_13 49:20

So y'all know I don't like marathons, but we're gonna say that to put, I will do a marathon if the course that I'm running through is probably one of the most scenic, stunning courses that I can get out there. And uh I've always wanted to visit Honolulu, and I really do feel like when you run a marathon, you get to see a lot of places that you may not have gotten to see on your trip because you're doing so many things or you're staying in one place. So I feel like you get to see so much in one space, and it's tropical and beautiful, and I can only imagine how cool it would be to run that race, and it is still one of the ones I really, really, really, really want to run.

SPEAKER_10 50:03

I put this one on my list. I I have had the honor of going to Honolulu or Oahu and running a 10K there. And so just to have the privilege to run a marathon um on the island, I think would be amazing because that 10K was absolutely gorgeous. Um, and so one of these days I would like to get out there and do Honolulu Marathon. I think that it would just be a really awesome experience. And I've heard just so many great things about the community coming out um and supporting on that one as well.

SPEAKER_15 50:36

This one made my list at 17. I've actually done this one. Yeah, I did it at night, I did it in 1988. It was my first marathon.

SPEAKER_13 50:42

No, I mean like it's 17th place.

SPEAKER_15 50:45

Yeah. Yeah, I I took this pretty seriously. I got a bunch of them down here.

SPEAKER_12 50:50

I think what makes Honolulu special, uh it it's definitely in my honorable mentions. I mean, from a Run Disney training perspective, I know we talk about all the time, they're great, it's not easy to get to, but this is probably one of the best catered training runs that you could ever pick because there is no time limit. Yeah. Uh, you know, so that's really helpful for people. And then the other fact that you know that I I I wish I could have cracked into my top 10, though, is the idea that you know, as long as it's not monsooning like it did last year, they put on one hell of a fireworks show for the start. I mean, it's almost to use one of my podcast phrases, run Disney adjacent. Uh, so that that that makes it unique. But uh that's new.

SPEAKER_15 51:36

That's I don't know when they started it, but well, they weren't doing it in 19, what did I say, 88? They weren't doing it then.

SPEAKER_12 51:42

Honolulu comes in at number seven. At number six, uh, we had another tie here uh at 13 points, but again, this gets the tiebreaker because Alicia had this one really high. She had this ranked as her second place race. And Bob, you had it at number seven, but Alicia, can you please explain to me why grandma's marathon, right in your backyard, made the number two slot on your list?

SPEAKER_10 52:12

So, like you said, it is um pretty close to me. And it is probably my number one that I would like to do that I haven't done um of all races across America. Um so that's why it was so high on my list. But for our listeners, if you haven't ever been to Minnesota, I'm not just saying this because I live here, but we have a beautiful, beautiful state. And then to go up into the Duluth area is amazing to get to see the Lake Superior. Um, I know we just talked a couple weeks ago um with one of our friends that got to run this. So um I think that it's just one of those ones that because it's so close to me, it's so high on my list. But I also think that anytime I can encourage people to come to our state and visit, um, it's a it's a great place to be.

SPEAKER_15 53:05

Yeah, I've never done it, of course. And but I mean, again, I'll come back to my perspective of how I tried to build this list. Look, we got three world majors in this country, okay? But then after that, we've got a tier of races that uh we've already mentioned two of them, flying pig and grandmas. I'm sure we're going to mention the other one. I won't give any spoilers because I don't know what the list is. But I have always read, always heard that this is one of the country's great marathon races, great destination races. So I had to put it on my list and I had it fairly high. I had it at number seven.

SPEAKER_12 53:38

Now the this is where the points really start to bump up here. We're in uh the fifth spot. Uh this race earned 23 points. Bob, you had it at third. Jack, you had it at fifth. Alicia, this was your ninth. And for myself, came in fourth place. Bob, you just mentioned it. One of the three world majors that can be found here in the good old USA. The Chicago Marathon. Jack, I know you've run this one, so why um why did it make your list?

SPEAKER_13 54:12

I honestly, it was just it was such an amazing experience. I mean, it was I had mostly done only Disney marathons. And two weeks prior, I had ran the Berlin Marathon. And it was just so cool to be able to do another marathon outside of Disney because I've just done Disney so much that I kind of forget, oh yeah, there's more to do out there. And when I went and ran it, I was like, wow, the crowd is like something else, man. Um, same with Berlin, but still, you know, it states, you know, we're gonna talk about the US. So I'm gonna, but it was just the crowd was something else. It was just like, I don't know. It was flat, so it's didn't feel like I had any to do any hill training for it. And just like being in a city I've never been before was also something very special, too, because I mean getting to explore it beforehand and um I don't know. I was lucky. I put in for the lottery once and I got it the first time. I did try again, I think the year after and I didn't get back in, but I would like to continue trying it. It's still one of my top races, I think I've ever done.

SPEAKER_10 55:18

I have all of the US um world majors on my list, and I don't know if they're gonna make the ultimate list, but um, I think they have to be in there somewhere, in my opinion. Um, and they wouldn't be world majors if they weren't a great race. So for that reason, I had to put it somewhere on there.

SPEAKER_15 55:38

I'm with you, Alicia. If you're gonna make a bona fide list of the best races in America, you gotta include the three world majors.

SPEAKER_12 55:43

And I I third that opinion as well. The uh the only reason why I think it got that spot for me is that there's you know lots of great American cities. I I love Chicago, but obviously there's some other ones that I I think I like a little bit better. But the reason why it also ranked pretty high is that once you're done running the Chicago Marathon, you can get some awesome deep dish pizza.

SPEAKER_15 56:07

I did that.

SPEAKER_12 56:08

And I did that.

SPEAKER_15 56:10

Not a bad reason.

SPEAKER_12 56:11

Exactly. It is not a bad reason, and I'm just gonna lay it out there now. And you know, feel free to send all the hate mail that you want, but there is only one deep dish out there, and that's Luminati's. And if you dare come at me with that Giordano's, I'm gonna have fighting words for you. So there we go.

SPEAKER_15 56:26

So the we have at uh at the fresh market, and uh at fresh market's a national chain, they sell Luminati's pizza.

SPEAKER_12 56:35

It's frozen, it's the frozen, yep.

SPEAKER_15 56:37

Pretty darn good, guys. Pretty darn good.

SPEAKER_12 56:40

I got two words for you, and that is butter crust.

SPEAKER_06 56:45

End of story.

SPEAKER_12 56:47

All right, so Chicago, our first world major, comes in at number five. Going to number four, squeaked out uh Chicago by one point, scored 24 points. Bob, you had this at number six. Uh, I had this at number five. Alicia had it at number eight, but John, this was your number one race, so we're gonna go to you first here. The Marine Corps Marathon.

unknown 57:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_13 57:17

I was the only one that didn't vote for that. My bad.

SPEAKER_09 57:21

Like I said, I'm I'm doing this on the weekend of the 4th of July, getting these videos here. So I'm thinking of all being all patriotic, you know. Come on, more patriotic than the Marine Corps Marathon. I mean, it sounds like a great race. I have not done this one. It's one that's on my bucket list. I mean, especially, you know, I mean, it sounds a little challenging with all the gauntlets and stuff like that, but it's one of these races that, you know, it's the Marine Corps, you know.

SPEAKER_12 57:51

No, no, I I get it. I mean, in terms of, you know, I got to spectate this one last year with uh with Michael over at Will Run for um, you know, watching Tom and and uh you know a bunch of Rise and Run friends just you know crush this course. But I mean, you know, it's there's not many races where you can see so many national highlights, you know, in one concentrated area. Um, I mean, you don't run in front of all of them directly, but I mean the fact that you know you're passing by the Washington Monument, the White House, you know, Congress, the the Jefferson Memorial and everything, you know, it just there's there's so many wonderful, you know, sites and I mean it draws a crowd. It I'm I know last year was special because it was the uh 50th anniversary running, but I mean people come out in droves for this one. So, you know, for John, similar to you, just because of the monuments themselves, um, you know, that's why it made the list for me.

SPEAKER_10 58:50

I agree. Yeah, I think that this isn't a race that I probably will do, but when I'm thinking of the top races of America and what it means to be an American, especially around the 4th of July, like I think that that race has to be on the list, um, in my opinion. Maybe not for Jack.

SPEAKER_13 59:10

Honestly, I totally forgot about it. And uh, I think about a third of my races had ultras in it, which come I didn't even think that it wouldn't be, you know, it it's yeah. You're gonna there's an ultra there, right?

SPEAKER_09 59:23

So there's yeah, there is there's a 50k.

SPEAKER_13 59:26

Oh, I should try it.

SPEAKER_09 59:28

She signed up, she's signed up already now.

SPEAKER_12 59:30

Yeah, oh yeah, because that's right. They didn't do it last year because of the 50th anniversary. But yeah, Jack, yeah, that there is a 50k, so that that gives you an option for you. There you go.

SPEAKER_13 59:39

Maybe next year.

SPEAKER_15 59:41

This race makes my list. It finishes out. Remember, I said you got the big three, and then the next the next tier. This finishes out the next tier for me. I knew it would be on there.

SPEAKER_12 59:50

Now, uh in the third place spot, again, the difference was only a point. This uh this race earned 25 points. Uh Alicia, you had this ranked as number five. I had it as number two. And Bob, I'll start with you because you had it at number one, our second world major, the Boston Marathon.

SPEAKER_15 1:00:11

Oldest marathon in the country. This is the quintessential great American race. The Boston Marathon to me is at the top of the is at the top of the list. Uh I don't ever I'm never going to run it. I'll never raise the money I need to, I'll never qualify. But it's amongst elite athletes, it's the one they all want to win. Uh it's just it's I'm stammering. It is to me a clear number one for American races.

SPEAKER_10 1:00:46

So, like you, Bob, I'm not going to get to run this um with the times or the amount of money that I need to raise. I am fortunate enough to actually have a Boston Marathon Medal because they did a virtual option during COVID and I ran it. Um and I like to tell people that I have a Boston medal, and they're like, You got to run Boston. I'm like, I'm not that fast.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:10

Um, but you're you ran Boston and Minnesota.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:13

Right, exactly. Um, but I think it's just one of those things that anytime you're talking about a marathon, that's that's the number one thing I hear. Have you done Boston? Are you gonna do Boston? And so it had to make my list.

SPEAKER_12 1:01:28

Yeah, I I think for me, why why Boston ranks so high is I mean, it's such an illustrious race that I mean, I I think there's a very good reason why the unicorn is on the metal because it you know it is such a thing to achieve. Again, whether you're doing that based on time or you're doing it on the fundraising route as well, too. I just think that there's a lot of history that is associated with it that I think it makes it ranked up there in terms of, you know, like you said, Bob, you know, the oldest rate or marathon in the country. I am blanking on the the woman's name. You know, she was getting pulled off the course. I I cannot think of her name. Please somebody help me with this.

SPEAKER_15 1:02:06

Catherine Switzer.

SPEAKER_12 1:02:07

Yes. I mean, that not only is that an iconic moment in running, but it's an iconic moment in sport. And the fact that that happened at Boston, I think, you know, gives it that sense of Americana. And then, you know, just other phrases that are synonymous in running come from this race. Heartbreak Hill, a you know, right on the Hereford, left on the Boylston. You know, there's just all these things, and I think that's just what for me just gets it ranked up there so high. We're coming up, we got our final two here in the number two spot, earning 36 points. Bob, you had it at fourth, John seventh, Jack second, Alicia third, and I also had it third. Now we're gonna dig deeper into this a little in a couple of minutes here. But this is a conglomerate because we wouldn't be a Run Disney podcast without it. We're just lumping all of Run Disney together here. So Run Disney makes our number two spot. I have a feeling that a majority of us are probably thinking Marathon weekend, but obviously all the weekends are special, and we're gonna break this down but further a bit further. But Jack, what is it about Run Disney that is so Americana for you?

SPEAKER_13 1:03:27

I mean, Run Disney was a place where it started my true half marathon, you know, path. And um, for me, it's just it's the community, it's the people you're with, the people you spend time with. It's a place where we all go and enjoy, and then we all are just so happy to be there, so excited to talk in the corrals. There's just the community, and I think that's a big part of it in the race.

SPEAKER_10 1:03:52

Chef's kiss, you know. I mean, we talk about a lot, but Run Disney has truly changed my entire life. I from the start until now, like every piece of it, the puzzle just keeps expanding in the best way possible. Um, and I mean, we wouldn't exist without Run Disney, right? And we wouldn't know each other, and so it's just a blessing for all of us.

SPEAKER_15 1:04:19

What would I do on Tuesday nights if we had no Run Disney? I know, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:04:24

Yeah. I mean, like Run Disney, I kind of see as a great American race as another reason where a lot of people that thought they could never run a race started at Run Disney and actually said, Wow, I can actually do this.

SPEAKER_15 1:04:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_12 1:04:41

John, you you took the words right out of my mouth. You know, to me, I think you hear the phrase, my first half marathon or my first marathon was at Disney. And the fact that that's like the gateway for them, I think, you know, makes it that special, that unique, and that worthy of the number two spot here on the list. But you know, I mentioned it, you know, leading up to the saying that Run Disney took the second spot. What I also had my co-host do here is rank the current race weekends that we have in uh preferential order in terms. So, you know, if you are you know a brand new listener to this podcast and you are learning about Run Disney, because we do get the question all the time like, what's your favorite race weekend, or what should be my first um weekend? Now you have some data to uh to back that up. So I'll just run through this list really, really quick here. So, in terms of the aggregate scoring, in fourth place is princess.

SPEAKER_13 1:05:41

What?

SPEAKER_12 1:05:42

In third place was and it was close, but in third place was Springtime Surprise. Then in second place was Wine and Dine, and then in first place, this was actually a clean sweep across the board with the five of Us and that was Marathon Weekend. So does anybody have a comment real quick in terms of why Marathon Weekend is the creme de la creme?

SPEAKER_15 1:06:08

Once again, I wouldn't necessarily say it's my favorite race weekend. That's a tough recall. But to me, if we're looking at the list of great American races, then Marathon Weekend at Disney, and particularly the marathon at Disney, is the race that I think is the most emblematic of great American races. It started it all. I mean, at Disney. That's right. Run through all the parks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:06:36

Yeah. I mean, that's that's the race. I mean, and I I picked it as number one also because it's my first marathon. I mean, I ran a marathon. I ran a I ran a marathon. I mean, something I would never have thought I would have done God knows how many years ago. And now I'm going on number six, hopefully.

SPEAKER_10 1:06:54

Disney has that atmosphere that we all know and love, and it it gives us the courage to do things that we didn't think were possible, right? And bringing it back to quintessential races of America, people like Deslinden and Brittany Charbonneau wouldn't be coming and doing these races if they weren't as popular as they are. And that's a great point. Um, and so I think that seeing these elite runners that we know and love coming and doing these races, there's a reason for that.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:29

And I told Greg, as my honorable mention, Star Wars would have been number two for me in this race.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:35

That would have been without a question. I never ran it, but I would love to.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:38

It would, I it's it's the marathon was that much more to me.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:42

Yeah. Aww.

SPEAKER_12 1:07:44

All right, excellent. Well, you know, speaking of honorable mentions, uh, we're gonna quick run through those before we get to our number one. But actually, I I do want to list off all of the races. So they're not honorable mentions, but these did make our list because Jack, you brought it up because you know, obviously you're the ultra runner here of the group, and I know you you brought in a lot of those. So again, I just wanted to quickly run through this list. You know, we don't have to make any comments, but what uh didn't crack any of our lists, we had the Bay to Breakers, which is a 12k out in San Francisco, the seven-mile bridge run. I think John, you had this on your list, the Rocky Run. Uh, you put that on there. Now, here's a bunch from Jack. Uh Jack, you listed the uh Bryce Canyon Ultra and Half Marathon, the Grand Teton Half Marathon, the Antelope Canyon Ultra, and the Great Lakes uh Endurance Run. One that I was actually shocked didn't even make our honorable mentions list, uh the Space Coast Marathon. Uh and then uh a couple that I had on there that didn't crack anything. Um, the Crescent City Classic, which is a 10K in New Orleans, and then I also put down the Broad Street run, uh, the 10 miler in Philly, and then I also, in the same respect of Jack, in terms of your ultras and beautiful places, I put the Sedona half marathon on there just because again, that's just a sight that I need to see with my own two eyes in the future, and um, and that's definitely uh a piece of Americana there. But let's let's quick go through these honorable mentions real quick. Uh, Alicia, this was number four on your list, the Twin Cities Marathon. Again, uh home girl keeping it in her backyard. Uh Jack, this was up really high for you in your fourth spot. Uh, the Western States 100. The we're gonna go back to Washington, DC. Uh, John, you had this as fifth, and Alicia, you had it as 10th. The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile.

SPEAKER_15 1:09:47

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_12 1:09:48

So, so you know, similar to Marine Corps, you know, getting those historical sites and everything like that, but obviously, uh, you know, I think that the marathon, you know, just has a little bit more of a draw. And then our top honorable mention, uh, Bob, you had it as ninth. John, you had it as eighth, and I had it at seven. Uh, the big surmarathon out in California. Oh, yeah. So there, so there's the honorable mentions uh for us, but let's get to number one. It scored a whopping 43 points. Bob, you had it at number two, John at number two, Jack, you had it at number six, and Alicia and I had it at number one. So Alicia, I'll start with you. We're going to the Big Apple, the New York City Marathon.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:37

When I'm thinking of the America World majors, I that to me is like the number one that is going to be on my list, but also that I would love to run. I think that getting to run through all of the areas of New York and the boroughs and all of the things, um, getting to see all the sites and smell all the things would be just kind of a fun experience and hope to one day maybe be able to do it. I'm not gonna give up my wine and dine spot. I know a lot of times it falls on on that same weekend. So if there happens to be another time that it doesn't, we'll see.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:15

I was gonna say Alicia. Maybe they'll just keep it at the same date it is now, just for you.

SPEAKER_10 1:11:20

Yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_12 1:11:22

All right, John. The this race is just right across the river from you. So uh why is it ranked so high for you?

SPEAKER_09 1:11:28

I mean, it's New York City. I mean, like I know I joke and Bob was John's from New York. No, John's from Jersey, but you know, it's the New York City marathon. It's like growing up in Jersey, that's all you heard about. The New York City marathon, the New York City marathon's uh running, watching it on TV every year was was something you always thought about. It's like it's like apple pie for us, you know. You know, uh running through the five boroughs, you know what I mean, you know, some of these sites, the the running over the Farrazano, uh the Queensborough Bridge, Central Park, you know, that's all these New York City icon all these new cities landmarks you're you're gonna run by. And you know, kind of funny. Uh this was another race that expanded where the first three or four years, it was just laps in Central Park till they decided to make it the five-borough New York City marathon. So it got that big.

SPEAKER_12 1:12:23

Yeah, John, I I I agree with everything you're saying. I mean, in terms of you know, you mentioned you know the landmarks, but you know, just you know, the ideas of you know, there are certain things that are you know synonymous with this race. The cannon blasts to start, the plane of New York, New York, you know, hearing Sinatra, you know, as you're as you're starting the race, the fact that you start on a bridge, I mean, that makes it really unique. And the fact that as you're going over that bridge, you're seeing the Statue of Liberty. Like that's you know, the there's not much you know more Americana than that. Uh, but I think why it also ranks up there so high for me, and and you know, again, as long as this guide application works out for me, and being able to experience this is in terms of a world major and in terms of elite racing in this country, I think this is the one that's most accessible to people. Because I mean, sure, Boston ranks up there pretty, you know, based on our list. Boston ranks up really, really high. But you know, as we all mentioned, the odds of us being able to run Boston are slim. I mean, great, in terms of lotteries and stuff like that, you know, the chances are getting more and more slim for New York, but at least it is more achievable. You know, the the time frames are more uh are more lenient than Boston. And and I think too, it just I think what also pushes it over the edge for me is the support. You know, John, like as you mentioned, this is a day that is marked on New Yorkers' calendars every single year. The you know, the the amount of FOMO that I have gone since we have started Rise and Run and watching videos of of people spectating this race, not only from the time that you get over the Verizano in Brooklyn to the time that you get to Central Park. And then the one that that that gets me even more is the the excitement of those videos that you see of people crossing that finish line super late at night. It's dark out. Like, I mean, our buddy Martinez Evans was featured, you know, in one of these videos, I think just last year. I mean, it goes to show that even after the elites are done and after a majority of the field is done, that there are people still at that finish line hooting and hollering, bringing these people over the finish line, you don't really see that anywhere else in the country. And that's why it was number one for me.

SPEAKER_13 1:14:55

And I will say, if it wasn't for my two other ultras that I had listed above New York, New York would have been uh if it was just marathons or or or halves or so on and so forth, it would have definitely been higher on my list. I've never been to New York and I don't like doing marathons, but this is one of those times that I would be like, yes, I need to do this one. I can only imagine how beautiful and scenic it is. And I think I've tried to put in for like at least two other times, and I never got in through the lottery. So I I would like to try it again next year, but it's definitely one of those kinds of things like, yeah, it's a marathon, but it's the marathon. I gotta do it.

SPEAKER_09 1:15:40

Talking about, like you said, Boston being unobtainable and the lottery, but the one good thing, if you're local or local enough to New York City, you could do the nine plus one. You do nine of the New York City Roadrunner races, and you volunteer one race. You get guaranteed you gotta pay for the entry, but you get guaranteed entry into next season's race. Yeah, I think that's nice.

SPEAKER_15 1:16:02

A lot of our friends do that. Great, great, great list. I appreciate you putting it together. I took it seriously. I actually came up with a list of 18. Uh, one through nine on my list, made one through nine, not in the same order. Uh, you mentioned Beta Breaker's never done it, but it's it's was number 10 for me. Number 11 for me, the Donna Marathon. Donna weekend in Jacksonville.

SPEAKER_10 1:16:23

Oh, yeah. That was number 11 on mine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_15 1:16:26

Yeah. Yeah. Uh you mentioned Space Coast, that's 12. Burdenham 13. Gasparilla. Gasparilla is a local, but it's a great event. That's 14 for me. Uh Broad Street Run was 15. The Detroit Free Press Marathon Weekend up in Detroit, the one that runs through the tunnel and goes to Canada. I think that's a spectacular race. Although I guess not entirely American, but I think it's is pretty great. And they mentioned Honolulu. And the last one I had on my list is the indie mini marathon in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500 week. So just a couple others I want to throw out without embellishment.

SPEAKER_13 1:17:00

And I just want to put out uh my first place, and it's an ultra, so I wasn't expecting any of the ultras really to be on the list because I mean, I know you guys don't run them, and you probably may not know as many as I do, because I'm just want to research all of them. But Lake Sonoma um is one of my favorites. And the ultras that I did choose on this list, with the exception of uh Western States, they all had options to be able to run shorter distances. So you don't have to run an ultra at these locations like Bryce Canyon or um Lake Sonoma. They actually have like marathons, some have half marathons, but Lake Sonoma had a marathon and an ultra, and it's still one of my favorite races I have ever done. I could not smiling, I could not stop smiling the entire race, and I itching to go back.

SPEAKER_10 1:17:51

Jack, I feel like that's an oxymoron. Jack researching races. Oh well, we don't think that's true. I just want to give one more um that was not on my top 10, but um a big race that I know a lot of our friends are doing um for the women out there, the every women's marathon. Yes. That's a great one too. So yep.

SPEAKER_12 1:18:16

All right, gang. Well, hopefully y'all had uh as much fun uh you know chatting about these races as uh I did thinking about them and tabulating them. So um, you know, when the country is ready to celebrate um you know their 500th anniversary, we'll have to see how this uh list change uh changes. But um, you know, we definitely want to hear from you. You know, maybe when we have the the Facebook uh post on this, you know, in the comments, you know, list out what you don't have to do your top 10 or maybe your top five, your top three, but but you know, we'd love to hear from you and see how your list compare to ours. But uh hey gang, thanks so much for uh participating in this uh very patriotic celebration of running.

SPEAKER_17 1:18:54

Caution runners, the topic is about to change right now.

Quick Announcements Before Race Reports

SPEAKER_15 1:19:00

That was fun. Hey, a couple announcements before we proceed. Oh, I gotta make an announcement on this. On my Instagram page, I put a watercolor picture after I finished a run, and I said, Oh, Becky ran out this morning and did this watercolor of me in front of the flag. I thought everybody would realize that was a joke. That was AI, and I clicked the button that said it was AI generated, but my darling wife, as talented as she is, cannot rip out a beautiful watercolor painting in three minutes. So that's what that was. And if you if you thought that she really did it, I apologize for confusing you. Our next Zoom is this Thursday, July the 9th. We can talk about uh oh, I don't care. We can talk about whatever you want. Talk about what races you got registered for this coming season, what your plans are, and when we'll see you next at Disney World. And now please stand clear of the door. It's time for a race report. For mantenganse alejado de la sueur. The race report, sponsored by our friend Thomas Stokes, Stoked Metabolic Training, Stokes. For more information. Hey, Tom's challenge, his challenge, his summertime challenge that rant six weeks is ending, I believe, this week. So I need to get with my friend and try and get him back on here to tell us how that went. All right, the race report for this holiday weekend. Friends, we have approximately 130 reports this week. John, it's like uh it's almost like Thanksgiving. Yes. Only hotter.

SPEAKER_09 1:20:56

And less, well, maybe less food.

SPEAKER_15 1:20:59

I don't know. Uh look, that's awesome. We love, we love the response for the race reports. I love reading them all. Keep them coming. We love to recognize every one of your accomplishments. We know how important that is, but a race report this size means two things. First of all, with so many, it is possible that I would miss some. I try very hard not to. I start looking, I really start looking on Friday, because occasionally, like this week, we have some Friday events. Uh, then I look hard all weekend and I really I usually make one last scan about four or five on Tuesday afternoon. It's still possible. Sometimes the Facebook algorithm does strange things. I'll come back and I'll look tomorrow and there'll be a report that's been in there for three days and I just didn't see it. So if that happens, please forgive me. I'll try to make it up to you if I missed it. It also means we need to keep your reports short. Even though you gave us wonderful reports, I've got to keep them short or we'll never get through it. And speaking of never get through it, we'll never get through it if I don't shut up and start with Friday in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Troy was there for the eighth annual red, white, and blue 5K at Barefoot Landings. I better get red, white, and blue right because I'm going to be saying it a lot, I think. Now Troy's coming back off injury, not cleared to run yet. So he's walking, he walked a new PR. He walked a 1338 mile, kept a 1343 pace overall walking this 5K. Troy, that's great. That's outstanding. I I'm I'm proud of you. I know it takes a lot of concentration, a lot of practice to walk at speeds under well, even under 15, but getting down below 14 is really impressive. Megan was in Knoxville, Tennessee for the Fireball Classic 5K, while Emily and Jen were at the Wildwood Crest Patriotic 5K beach run in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. And what I'm thinking about, this reminds me, we've had a race, I think it was last week at Cape May Point. And I talked about the Cape May point five miler. And it sounds like it was a 0.5 mile race. It wasn't. You know, John, you know there's a place called Cape May Point, right? Just like there's a place called Wildwood Crest. There is. There's there's Cape May and Cape May Point, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. So yeah, there was not a 0.5 miler in Cape May last week. There is, however, a 5K beach run at Wildwood Crest. Again, Emily and Jen were there. Evening run. They ran on the packed sand of the beach. Their favorite spectator on the course was a child who was offering to throw buckets of water on the runners as they went by. So let's move to Saturday, the 4th of July. And we will start. Well, let's start with this recorded race report that we

Peachtree Road Race Expo And Course

SPEAKER_15 1:23:56

got.

SPEAKER_14 1:23:56

Good morning, Rise and Runners. Happy Independence Day from Atlanta. This is Andrew. This is Micah. And we're about to run the world's largest 10K with the Peach Tree Road Race. Happy fourth.

SPEAKER_15 1:24:09

Hmm. So it seems there was some kind of an event in Atlanta over the holidays. We know Andrew and Micah were there. What you don't know is that uh, gosh, 39 other Ryzen Runners were there. And we are happy to have a couple of them with us to talk about the wonderful Peach Tree Road race. Welcome, Brooke.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:33

Hello.

SPEAKER_15 1:24:34

And welcome, Matt, with his daughters Peyton and Kessler.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:38

Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_15 1:24:39

So glad to see you. Thanks for taking your time this evening to join us and tell us about this fantastic race. Now, it's an it's an American tradition, 4th of July. It's been going on since John, when did you say 1990?

SPEAKER_09 1:24:55

July 4th, 1970. 150 runners lined up for this race.

SPEAKER_15 1:25:01

I missed, I wasn't one of them, so I missed it. Yeah, I should have known it was in 1990 because I think I did it in 1990.

SPEAKER_16 1:25:08

But you do know who won that one, right?

SPEAKER_15 1:25:10

We do. Yep.

SPEAKER_16 1:25:12

Okay, we do.

SPEAKER_15 1:25:12

Ms. Mr. Galloway ran that one, won that one. He was part of the organization that got it started, and uh he was the winner of the original race. I remember when I in 19, I think it was 90, I did it. The winner was an American for the first time in many years, and we knew that because we were still like two corrals away from starting because it was so big. But listen, I don't want to talk about that. I want to hear about this race. I want to hear your opinion about Brooke. Let's start with you. And we usually start with the expos. So great expo for the Atlanta Peachtree race, right?

SPEAKER_07 1:25:51

Um, I didn't have that great of an experience. Um and I don't know what it was. I've seen like rumors online as to why it was in the Lennox Mall parking lot instead of downtown. Um, but regardless, it was in the Lennox Mall parking lot like it was last year. Also didn't have a great experience last year. Um but we my husband and I got there Friday morning. We probably pulled into the mall at like 10 o'clock. And by the time we parked and walked to the parking lot, it was maybe like 10 15.

SPEAKER_15 1:26:25

Not so bad.

SPEAKER_07 1:26:26

Not horrible, but the line to get in was like wrapped around the parking lot. It was very long. Um, we we probably waited like 20 or 30 minutes to get in in the in the heat of Georgia. It was very hot over the weekend. Um sun beating down on you. They were passing out water to people waiting in line, so that's nice. Um but yeah, the waiting to get in just like wasn't enjoyable. Um, but once we were in, it was like pretty seamless. You know, it was air conditioned, which was nice. So when you got in there, there was like a blast of air conditioning, which was good. Um, but we essentially went in, got our bibs, and kind of left just because there were so many people, and I was kind of just done with the people. So I was like, get our bibs. I we did get some merch and then we left. Um, and then just kind of went home from there.

SPEAKER_15 1:27:18

So now, Matt, how was you you you and your daughters, how was your experience?

SPEAKER_16 1:27:22

Honestly, pretty similar. I mean, I will say Lake Brooks said in years past it's been down at the Georgia Wool Congress Center, which is a great setup for it. Lots of parking in and out, lots of room for people. Um, my understanding from talking to some of the the track club folks is that uh this one had to do with this other soccer thing that apparently is also going down.

SPEAKER_15 1:27:38

Yeah, that's what I heard also, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:27:40

That's what I heard too. But I didn't know how true it was because I heard I read read somewhere online again, take that with a grain of salt, that it was like last year was like a test run. But I don't know why you would willingly do a test run a year the year before as well, when you didn't have to. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_16 1:27:56

We're hoping it'll be back downtown again next year. I mean, the truth is the volume. Right. We had the best of the difficult situation. Um, we also had a lot of bad storms moved in through Friday, so they had to kind of shut down the expo for a while. It was I mean it didn't go ideally, but it it certainly didn't take away from the experience of the weekend, I think, overall for people.

SPEAKER_15 1:28:16

Good. Well, you so it sounds like you all got there a little bit early. You weren't there in you weren't there in the morning and not the afternoon. Because I do understand that the thunderstorms forced evacuation of the tents in the afternoon and made for some crazy long made a rough rough situation even worse.

SPEAKER_16 1:28:36

Well, I was just gonna say they also do the the Peachtree Junior, which is uh one-mile fun run several kids' races, but a lot of times when they would have the expo downtown was at Piedmont Park where the race ends. And with it being up at Linux, they actually tried to do it on Petri so the kids could use the start line and all that. Problem is that made traffic that much worse in a very bad traffic part in North Atlanta. So it we and that happening, we were all going, it was it was just one more thing. But like I said, I mean they're if they're going to do it there again, I'm sure they will learn from this, and hopefully they aren't going to do it there again.

SPEAKER_15 1:29:07

Yeah, that's what I understood too. Now, when you said why'd they do it last year to practice? I'm thinking somebody from the Army must have been involved in that practice being miserable. Yeah, we we were good at that.

SPEAKER_09 1:29:18

As we said before, Jeff was the first winner of this race back in 1970. Uh, was there any kind of tribute or anything going on for Jeff at this event?

SPEAKER_07 1:29:28

They had um like boards for people to sign and write messages to him. And also, um, I know I think her name was Betty. She like ran the peach tree up until she was like 99 years old and she passed away too. So they had two boards for people to sign and write tribute to them. Um, right when you walked in, it was like where you picked up your bibs.

SPEAKER_16 1:29:49

Yeah, Betty, also one of the uh heroes slash mascots slash inspirations around the Atlanta track club meeting community. She started running when she's in her 60s and ran up and passed, you know, up we were running with her at Beastry in 99. She's the fact she's the world record holder in the 95 to 99 5k age range. Anybody want to take a shot at that, go for it.

SPEAKER_15 1:30:09

But uh that's well, that's something to that's something to shoot for, it really is.

SPEAKER_09 1:30:14

And uh shooting for 95 is a big big challenge.

SPEAKER_15 1:30:19

Some of us are closer than others, but uh I think that's wonderful and admirable, and I'm of course I'm sorry it has a sad end that she passed away. But if she's still out there running at 95 and she she passed away at 99, I think we can say she lived a long and healthy life.

SPEAKER_16 1:30:33

And uh it was nice they did signs for both of them there at the expo where people could sign put memories and and of course they were both completely covered up. It was it was cool to see.

SPEAKER_08 1:30:43

Yeah, by the time we got there, you had to be eight feet tall to sign it, or you couldn't face so getting on someone's shoulders.

SPEAKER_15 1:30:52

They should have had a step stool or something. Yeah, that's Bob would have been okay. Well, I don't know. I'm not eight feet tall. I might have been able to reach, we'll see. Uh well, we won't see, but yeah. Um all right, so got done, got the expo. Now, a lot of our friends do know something about the Atlanta Peachtree Road race, or at least they've heard things. However, I'd like you to describe it for us. Tell us about the race, about what it was like being out there with 59,995 of your closest friends and how it went on the course.

SPEAKER_16 1:31:28

Well, I I would just say the Beach tree is the reason I started running 11 years ago. I wanted I wanted one of these Beach Tree Road Race t-shirts. It's kind of a rite of passage in Atlanta, and thought, you know what? And I never liked ran at all before I I hated running. Now I still don't really love running, but I like me running, so that's close enough. And now I have 11 of these Beachree Road Race t-shirts of various qualities in the streets. That's cool, yeah. Yeah. Um, but so when I get there, I mean it's like Christmas morning from the time about the time it hit the corral to the time it hit Biedmont Park, I can't stop smiling. And this year was was no exception, especially since I had both of my lovely daughters with me uh getting to do it, which made it very, very much more special. But just in general, I mean the the vibe is is fantastic. And one of the great things I will say about Beastree is it's like everybody's in on the joke, how absurd it is that we're all running a 10K on the 4th of July in Atlanta. Um, so while yeah, there are some world-class athletes, everybody's in it for everybody. And that way it's kind of like a Disney vibe, but sometimes even a little more silly.

SPEAKER_15 1:32:30

Uh Peyton and Kessler, had you done it before? Was this your first time?

SPEAKER_08 1:32:34

This was my third. This is my first.

SPEAKER_15 1:32:37

Okay. So you were familiar, you knew what to expect.

SPEAKER_08 1:32:41

Yes, I've I've learned a lot over the four years I've done it. Um, I learned very quickly just not tripping earbuds. It truly is a party for six straight miles. Okay. And if you honestly, if you really focus on the running part, you're gonna miss out on the fun that is Peace Tree Road Race.

SPEAKER_15 1:32:56

Again, and I don't want to talk about me because it's bit was uh what would I say it was 36 years ago I did it? It's changed a little bit. It's changed. It was uh a little bit more of a serious run back then, and and I think I like it. It sounds a whole like it's a whole lot better now. Um Brooke, tell us about the course. What's the course like there in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_07 1:33:17

It feels really easy for the first three miles and then you have to go uphill for three miles. But I mean, like they all said, it's it's there's never a dull moment on the course, whether it's the people running or the people handing out beer and jello shots and donuts and all the things on the side of the road. Um I mean, it's it's just a blast. And I've I've learned I've run it five times, and I've learned that if you go in trying to like PR or do anything, you're gonna be miserable because again, the last three miles miles are uphill and that's just not fun for any race. Um, so if you just go in and have fun and not really worry about your time too much, um, it's truly more enjoyable. Um, and I because the first year I ran it was in 2019 when it was the 50th anniversary. So they had like they like doubled the prize money for it. So I think that like the prize money for the race was like $50,000. So there were some pretty serious runners in there. And so my husband and I ran that together and we both tried to like run it fast. And by the third mile, we were like, we're not doing it.

SPEAKER_15 1:34:22

What are we doing?

SPEAKER_07 1:34:23

Um, so we've learned our lesson and we just kind of go with the flow of things. Um, and I thankfully I did I was trying to get a POT during this, which I know sounds crazy, but I was supposed to run a race two weeks ago and then ended up getting food poisoning, and that was supposed to be my P.O.T.

SPEAKER_16 1:34:42

I remember that, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:43

Yeah. So I before I knew what the weather was, I was just I was like, we're just gonna go in. I had a goal of like under 70 to just get it try to get a POT and I came in at 67. So I'm proud of that. Um, and I still was able to have fun and like not feel like I was miserable the whole time, um, which is a good feeling.

SPEAKER_15 1:35:06

So what what was it like with the crowds on the course? Were you able to move or was it tough?

SPEAKER_07 1:35:12

Parts are some parts are better than others. I mean, the first mile I would say for me was pretty crowded, and then it kind of spaced out a little bit. And then once you get to like mile four, and or maybe it was mile five, once you hit midtown, like 17th Street, it's just people all all over, like on the sidewalks, on the road. It's just it's crazy. Um, so yeah, it's it's not horrible, but it's not great.

SPEAKER_16 1:35:36

Unfortunately, Peace, I mean, they shut down the entire Peachtree Street and Street, so it's it's it's pretty wide. I mean, and they they do a pretty good job of runners staying, you know, hard runners staying to the left, and the rest of the parties usually from the middle over, you know. So it it gets crowded in spots, certainly, though.

SPEAKER_15 1:35:52

Okay. Now, Matt, you mentioned the shirt, and the shirt is iconic to the Peachtree Road Race. You don't get it until you finish, right? You must finish to get the shirt. Yep. And I mean, they're always spectacular and well loved by everyone that wears them. How was this year's shirt?

SPEAKER_07 1:36:11

Notice how none of us are wearing the shirt to show it off.

SPEAKER_15 1:36:14

Well, number one, I did notice that. Yeah. And because I don't have sunglasses on, I thank you for not doing that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_16 1:36:23

Any anyone for whom uh the peach tree maybe in your Facebook algorithm has probably already heard about it. Uh it was uh, you know, it it's like anyone organization like that. I some there it's they're not a marketing organization, and and sometimes things don't maybe get the uh the attention or judgment that they would in you know when you when you put it out to 60,000 people who just ran six miles in the sun for it, they're gonna be a little harsher on uh on their prize there. And so I'll say this one wasn't real popular, had had a couple of flaws. I will say the material was better this year than it has been for the last five years because Adidas is a big sponsor of Track Club and they provide the shirts, so that was nice. But uh, and I and I actually went out and ran in mine today. Good. So I can say I got to wear it at least one more time, but uh probably not one that's that's gonna get out of the closet too awful much.

SPEAKER_07 1:37:13

Um we can wear it in the morning when I have to run in the dark, like when it gets started outside.

SPEAKER_16 1:37:20

Make you more visible, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:37:21

And I'll say the design on the shirt like isn't horrible, it's just I think the color is what is getting everybody. And I mean it's a little bit of both, but I mean it at the end of the day, it's a t-shirt that we like it's a free race t-shirt, right? That you paid for, but it's a big deal. It is, but people also vote on the shirt. So if you didn't like the design, but then you didn't vote for what design you wanted, then like you can't really have a leg to stand on and complain about the design if you didn't vote for a different one.

SPEAKER_09 1:37:54

So I'm looking at the shirt right now. Is that a crocodile on it?

SPEAKER_16 1:37:58

No, it's supposed to be the Constitution. Yeah, Constitution, crocodile, yeah. Yeah. I mean the design itself is a kind of was kind of a cool idea. Um, it it it struggled in execution a couple spots, and we don't get to vote on the color of the shirt.

SPEAKER_07 1:38:13

I should have right.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:14

No, and I think the design is cute, but the design that we voted for that they put on the website was navy and green, and the ones they put on the shirt was purple and green on a bright yellow shirt, and that did not.

SPEAKER_16 1:38:26

Yeah, nobody would have voted for that.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:27

It looks like a it looks like a Marty Gross shirt. It does.

SPEAKER_16 1:38:30

Oh wow.

unknown 1:38:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:38:35

We voted, but we didn't vote for that.

SPEAKER_09 1:38:38

Yeah, it kind of looks like a soccer shirt to me now, like with the with the with the Adidas and the stripes on it.

SPEAKER_07 1:38:44

Maybe maybe because the World Cup they had merch at the expo that looked like a soccer jersey too. Um it had like Northside Hospital Peachtree Road Race on it with the year on the back, um, which looked like a soccer jersey. And I'm assuming that's kind of what they were going for.

SPEAKER_16 1:38:59

There always is good good merch for this. You know, it's not quite run Disney race, but I mean between the track club merch and Adidas, there's a lot of merch at the expo for these. But again, it's one of those like, look, I'm I'm proud I got another Peachtree shirt. You know, I live for it. I'm uh this license, this one I may not get to wear a whole lot in in public, but I'm I'm still proud I got it, and I'll be back next year for whatever next year's looks like.

SPEAKER_15 1:39:21

I'd wear it. Yeah, you should be proud of it.

SPEAKER_09 1:39:24

Okay, guys. So uh I know you you guys are all Run Disney, uh, or maybe you're not doing Run Disney this year with the registration woes. What's next for you guys?

SPEAKER_07 1:39:33

Yeah, I'll be doing the half at Marathon Weekend with uh my husband and my sister-in-law.

SPEAKER_16 1:39:38

I'm in for all of Wine and Dine. Um, and uh my uh son, not pictured here, because he was marching over the corner parade, so he wasn't doing picture this year. He has before. Uh, and I are doing uh the half in January. Kessler and I actually just finished her first half at Princess a couple of years. Oh, congratulations. Oh, great. Our brother's following in her footsteps too.

SPEAKER_15 1:39:58

Peyton, you gonna be out there?

SPEAKER_08 1:40:00

No.

SPEAKER_15 1:40:02

Okay, that's all right too.

SPEAKER_08 1:40:05

Because I'm going to college and I can't skip school anymore to go refine stuff.

SPEAKER_15 1:40:09

So I gotta go to school. Hey guys, thanks for joining us. Uh bottom line, you had a good time, right? I had a great time. Can't wait to do it again next year. Wonderful, wonderful. All right, thanks a lot. We'll hope to see you soon.

SPEAKER_07 1:40:24

Thank you. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_15 1:40:27

All right, let's continue with the Peachtree Road race. We had a bunch of friends there, as I mentioned. We had 41 runners. Now, many of you mentioned the mess at the expo that we heard Brooke and we heard uh Matt and his daughters telling us about. Apparently, it got a lot worse in the afternoon. Our friends AJ and Erica from the One More Run podcast were there. This is their second year running it. You can catch their recap. They did a bonus one more. I said, yeah, one more run. They did a bonus one more run uh episode that they released Monday morning. And they volunteered at the expo. They had a lot more trouble than our friends who were here earlier did. So catch AJ and Erica on their podcast. Let's see, Allison and her husband was there. Allison PR's the 10K by 10 minutes. She thinks that walking back to the Marta was worse than the actual race. I remember that walk from the Marta from Piedmont Park to the uh Marta stop. It's all uphill. Amanda ran with Shay, felt strong despite the heat. A lot of our friends said it was hot, but it stayed cloudy, so it wasn't too bad. Great way to celebrate the holiday. We heard from Andrew and his son at the top of this. Now Andrew's son finished in just under 50 minutes, which is a 10k PR for him. Andrew started strong, then slowed down a little in the hills. He still finished with an 1120 pace. That's good. Anthony was there. It's an annual tradition for him. Hot, humid, and amazing. Let's see. Bonnie, uh, Carrie, Christina were all at the race. David was there with baby George. George participating in the Peachtree Junior Dash on Friday. George's very first race. That's a PR. Definitely won't be his last. David was running Peachtree for the second time. He got his B-goal on the heat, but the best part of the day was hanging out after the race with so many Run Disney and Galloway friends. Dibby was there. She had a chaotic time at the expo, but the race was great. She's already signed up for next year. Dorothy was there, as was Fred and Heather. Jackie, Jamie, Jessica Irving, and Jessica Luden. Joanne and Kenzie were all there. Kim ran with a friend. Ken ran with the goal of PRing in Popsicles Eaten. Got a little upset. Surprised when turns out the popsicle stands weren't out this year. Oh yeah. Chrissy was there with her order. Haley. The run felt like playing a game of Mario Kart, dodging all the things thrown in the streets. It was like attending a frat party with beer, jello shots, and hot dogs, or maybe part of a parade, as there were so many people cheering them on. Lisa was there. It's the first time she had to walk at a race. She kept it under balloon lady pace. She thinks that's a walking PR. Marissa says it was her first. Peach Tree will not be her last. Marty was there, as was Mary Beth. Melody. Melody made a really excellent but kind of long-ish post. Says she's already signed up to come back and do it all over again at Peachtree next year. Let's see, Michael, Nick, Pam, Sharon, Stacy, and Stephanie were there. Tracy was there for the first time, even took the advice of another friend. She when she was running, they popped into their hotel, which was right along the course, for a bathroom break with a real air-conditioned bathroom, even though they were only about three-tenths of a mile from the finish line.

SPEAKER_09 1:44:09

How would you want to get out of your house? Back out of your hotel room, air conditioned, relaxed.

SPEAKER_15 1:44:14

Well, you only got three. If you only got three tenths to go, John. I know. And and you don't get your shirt, remember? That's true. That's true. Don't get your shirt if you don't finish it. Well, there one of America's great road races, the Atlanta Peachtree 10K. Glad we had so many rise rise

July Fourth Race Reports Marathon

SPEAKER_15 1:44:30

and runners there. Glad y'all had a wonderful time. All right, let's continue on the 4th of July. Claremont, Florida, the Advent Health Freedom 5K. Debbie was there, as was Erica. Good to have Erica back in the uh race report. She'd been out for a while. She walked most of this one in the heat, but she did finish. Fifth year running it, and uh fifth year of her running it and her hubby walking it. Now Troy comes back. Remember, Troy walked a PR earlier in the week, in fact, on Friday, comes back on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, walking the Independence Day 5K, 1312 this time. So there's a new walking PR. It was a race in Glen Rock, New Jersey, the Glen Rock 911 Tribute Run 5K. John, why don't you tell us about it?

SPEAKER_09 1:45:23

It's a 9-11 tribute race that helps raise money for the 9-11 uh memorial for the people that they got lost in 9-11. Uh I ran it with Rob, which we'll talk about later.

unknown 1:45:35

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_09 1:45:35

But ran it with Rob, his son Christopher, and his friend Peter. It was a really good race, really fun race. It's kind of weird. The start has to align with the train passing. So if they have to wait till the train at a certain time or because you're crossing over live tracks. Interesting stuff.

SPEAKER_15 1:45:52

Gotcha, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 1:45:53

It was pretty cool and uh had a great time uh running with Rob. It was kind of good for me. My fastest 5k since 20 2024, which I think was a positive.

SPEAKER_15 1:46:05

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_09 1:46:06

Yeah. Afterwards, it's really fun because the kind of Glen Rock has a parade. So we walked from the finish line over to uh I think it's Rock Road and watched the Fourth of July parade come down. And then afterwards, we went over to the Glen Rock Inn and had uh had a buffet of hamburgers and hot dogs, and you can grab uh grab a beer, a drink, whatever you want. Great time. I mean his friend Peter did this too. It's Peter's first 5k ever. He goes, This is a good race, this is a good sized race. I don't think I'd do anything more. He's already looking at 10K. So by next year, he'll be at Bird in hand with us.

SPEAKER_15 1:46:47

So let's see, Peter first, that's a five, that's a PR for Peter. And then Rob's son, Christopher, it's his first time racing eight years, and an age group PR for Christopher.

SPEAKER_09 1:46:58

Yeah, yeah, he did good too. And Rob ran it, of course.

SPEAKER_15 1:47:02

So all right, continuing on Saturday in Billmore, New York, the four on the fourth. And in fact, now we are about to run through a bunch of four on the fourths. The four on the fourth that Regina did, it was a redemption for last week's DNF. The four on the fourth in Enwell, New York, Steve ran it. Hannah ran Iggy's four on the fourth, the freedom run in Ocala, Florida. It was her first official four-mile race. So now she's got a four-mile PR. There was a four on the fourth in Charlotte, North Carolina. Denise did that one. Ring the PR bell. First four-miler. In Elhurst, Illinois, they had a four on the fourth. Tiffany wearing bib number four on the four on the fourth. By the way, Tiffany says it was hot. It was hot everywhere. Nobody, well, I take that back. I think we've got one coming up, but it was hot almost everywhere. Tiffany, uh, Tiffany kept a steady pace, beater goal time. In York, Maine, Rob did the four on the fourth, four miler, a little warm. Strong community support for this one. Great course. 37 minute, 37-minute finish. Rob was pleased with that, as he should be. Good job. In Lake Nona, Florida, they did say it with me, gang, a four on the fourth. Four on the fourth. Yeah. And you know how many runners we had there from Rise and Run?

SPEAKER_05 1:48:27

Four.

SPEAKER_15 1:48:28

Four. Mary Joe did her first four-miler. That's a PR. Great atmosphere. Nice course. She'll be back next year. Mary ran this one in a Flamingo Uncle Sam inflatable. I can only imagine how hot that was.

SPEAKER_12 1:48:43

That's very specific.

SPEAKER_15 1:48:44

Yep. Carolyn, great swag on this one. Flat course. So much red, white, and blue. She loved it. Heather rolled through this one. Good race. Lots of cold watermelon at the finish. And when she picked up her AWD first place award, they said to her, Oh, yeah, you also got best costume. She was dressed as Betsy.

SPEAKER_10 1:49:03

It was amazing.

SPEAKER_15 1:49:05

Yeah. In Bridget, Maine, they did a Bridgeton for on the fourth kids' race. Jessica's six-year-old daughter, Ellie, that did this one. She ran the half mile event and PR'd in four and a half minutes, which is faster than I run my magic half mile. So good job, Ellie. Congratulations. John and Jody, our race announcer, our Disney race talent friends, were there. By the way, John's birthday is July 2nd. Jody's is July 4th, so they were celebrating birthdays. We had 17 Ryzen runners there, and we've got reports from most of them. There were two waves for this race. One started at 6 30, the other no, one started at 6 15. The other started at 7:30. This is the one where it poured rain last year. It did rain on the second wave, but it wasn't that bad. So let's see. Abby did it with did this with her boyfriend. It was her boyfriend's first race with her. He ran away. Loved the event and the party after. They have a nice party afterward. Allie did this, just moved here, says it already feels like home. Happy. I was happy to see Allie after the race. I did it. Uh I am a perfect peer runner. And they gave us a pin. I think I was very surprised. But when I picked up my bib, there was an envelope attached to it. And thank you for supporting the race and all that. I think that's what it was for. I believe. Because I also did form a team for this thing, although we didn't raise any money, but a lot of people did join. My only comment on this one is I went as Sam Eagle, and even though the Sam Eagle costume is merely a ball cap adorned with Sam's headpiece and a cape, it was hot. My goodness. Yeah, apparently I didn't see that. Apparently, one of our friends took a screenshot from the television. Uh I missed that. But yeah, you know, see a big blue guy go by. You know, people kept calling me Cookie Monster, which upset me greatly.

SPEAKER_06 1:51:34

Really?

SPEAKER_15 1:51:35

Yeah. Yeah, I got that a lot.

SPEAKER_12 1:51:39

I I it is I could understand that.

SPEAKER_15 1:51:41

It is partly. And every time I've worn Sam at Disney World, I've worn long blue pants, which I think makes it look a little more like Sam. I thought about doing it, but oh golly, I'm glad I didn't. I wore red shorts, and then I've got my red, white, and blue American shirt that I wear. So anyway, anyway, let's move on. Uh, Carrie was there with her daughter. Now you could run earlier, you could run later, you could run them both. They called that the two by four challenge. Carrie did that. Christina walked the second wave. Still finished five minutes faster than her gold time. Duncan and Duncan's daughter Emiline did the second wave. They walked a bunch. Duncan Duncan's undergoing chemo. Still, she stuck it out and finished. Proud of you, Duncan. Halla ran the first wave and walked the second. I saw Jen and Ryan there. They were doing wave two. Laura Ann tried wave one for the first time and she PR'd. Congratulations, Laura Ann. That's a big deal. There's a little bit of a strict cutoff time on wave one. It's one hour for the four miles. So Laura's been running wave two, so she had the guts to do one wave one and nailed it. Uh Margaret and John were both there, of course, rounding costume. But even Margaret made a concession to the heat. She did the two by four and didn't wear a wig. Did she have a costume change between races? I don't know. I don't know. I think not because I saw her between races, and I don't know that she had time. I'm just honestly not positive. I think she may have after the race, John. Um, I know John ran as Captain America. Let's see, Lynn was there. I already mentioned Ryan ran in wave two. Sarah and Laura, Laura did wave two. It was Laura's birthday. Uh Trina and Jeff and their son Frank. Frank thought it was a 5K and said, Man, this feels like four miles. And Trina says that's because it is four miles. And Will did this one. Looks like he ran them both and finished both in under 34 minutes. So great event in St. Petersburg. Uh good Lord Will, and I'll be back there for year number six next year. Greg, not far from you, up in Washington's crossing, Pennsylvania, the revolutionary run 10K Kelly did it. Happy that neighbors had sprinklers and hoses available to cool the runners off. An honor to celebrate America's 250th birthday at the exact spot that Washington crossed the Delaware, turning the tide of the Revolutionary War. In Chelmsford, Massachusetts, there was the John Carson 2 Miler. Sophie with her mom, sister, and nephew Chester. Lots of spectators, lots of energy for this event. Chester's first two milers, so 4th of July, 5K in Babcock Ranch in Southwest Florida. David did it hot and humid. Oh yeah. But so well organized, totally enjoyable. David got an award for being the senior grandmaster's champion. That's usually, I think, 50 and over, I think, senior grandmasters. I won that one time, and when I was getting the award, I said, yes, I'm your senior grandfather. So uh in Louisville, Kentucky, the Independence Day 5K, Sarah did it. Nice fast course, well organized, a fun medal, and plenty of cool treats afterwards. Scott was with his daughter Teresa in Andover. I assume it's Andover Mass. I don't have it written down. The North Andover 4th of July 5K. Thankful for all the sprinklers that were out. Not a PR, but a nice morning run. Nice medals, nice shirt. Vicky did the Freedom 4 Miler in Glen Ellen, Illinois. Oh, I'm sorry. This race was canceled due to emergency circumstances, but Vicky made the best of it with a 12-mile training run, listening to Rise and Run and the Hamilton soundtrack. Let's go to Melbourne, Florida, where Monica and the Chaos crew ran the Firecracker 5K. Valerie was there too. Fun race with Florida Hills. First time doing a 4th of July race. May do that one again. Jennifer's out in Houston for the Houston Fourth Fest 9K, her first 9K. H Group third place finish for Jen. Nice job. Jen's friend also placed for her distance, and her daughter did in hers. In I believe this is Saw V Island, Oregon, Kathy ran the foot traffic flat marathon. Greenwood, Arkansas. Joe ran the Freedom Fest 5K. Second place in the 80 to 84-year-old age group. Amigos Johnny finished age group one, Gary Age Group 2 in their groups. I love that they have 80 to 84-year-old age groups in what I assume is not a huge race in Greenwood, Arkansas.

SPEAKER_09 1:56:50

I was talking up talking to Joe. At first he said, oh, there was a timing error. You were not second anymore. You're now third. But then they came back and I guess they reviewed the tape. But Joe came in at second. So great job, Joe.

SPEAKER_15 1:57:04

Video assistant referee?

SPEAKER_09 1:57:05

Yep, far system.

SPEAKER_15 1:57:07

V A R okay. Yep. Yeah. Well, good job, Joe. I'm proud of Joe. I genuinely am. All kidding aside. Be out there uh Joe had his 80th birthday the last fall, and he is still out there doing it. Keep moving, Joe. You're setting an example for all of us. In Reston Virginia, they ran the Firecracker 5K salute for the troops. Taylor and Brian did it. Emmy ran the Kids Dash in this one. That's Taylor and Brian's daughter Emmy. Even recovering from the relay across America, which we'll talk about at the very end here, Taylor and Brian ran their second best 5K time in the last five years. Fairport, New York had a firecracker four-miler. Mona was there, said they started dry, finished in the pour and rain, a fun, hilly run before the parade. Mona wanted to dedicate this run to the memory of Lauren. Hunksville, Alabama had the Freedom 5K. Judy and her fiance ran it. Thankfully it was overcast, so it didn't feel unbearably hot. This was Judy's fiance's third 5K ever, and he PR'd. Laurie was in North Kenton, Ohio for the YMCA 5 Miler. She slowed down a bit in the heat. Plenty of neighbors had hoses or sprinklers running to keep them cool. She got home and jumped in the pool. Smart move, Lori. Megan's in Knoxville, Tennessee for the KTC Fireball Classic 5K. Despite the thunder and lightning in the area, race was great fun. Five minutes faster than she ran it last year. Good job, Megan. Jimmy was at the 17.76 Murray run in Madisonville, Tennessee. Second time doing this. There's a 7.4 mile distance in the race. That's what he did. Got a seven-minute PR. In Gainesville, Florida, Debbie and Jessica ran the Jack Gamble Melon Run three-miler. Hot and hilly, but they put on their sparkle skirts and finished. Little magic in those, I suspect. Mary was in Greensboro, North Carolina for the Freedom Run. She ran in a hot dog costume. Those of us who ran in costume lost a couple pounds in sweat this weekend, I promise. Up in Buffalo, West Virginia. The Buffalo 4th of July 5K. Ileana plus her husband Steven and her two children. 28-minute 5K is a new PR for Ileana. Steven ran with the children. Carter finished with a nine-minute PR. And Riley pushed hard all the way to the finish line. Way to go, gang. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_12 1:59:59

I'm impressed. I ran with Carter and Riley during Jack's wedding. And the fact that Carter got a nine-minute PR based on how the kids handled the heat and the humidity in Castaway. Very proud of you, kids.

SPEAKER_13 2:00:13

Wow. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_15 2:00:15

Good stuff. Let's go out to Anaheim for the uh Anaheim, California for the Firecracker 10K. Richard was there. Decent weather on a hilly course, mostly downhill for the first half. Good news. Bad news, mostly uphill for the second. Good way to start the 4th of July weekend. Up in Milford, Connecticut, which is actually Milford, Connecticut, the Roadrunners Independence Day 5K. Nancy was there. Again, neighborhood support, lots of sprinklers, extra water everywhere. Not a PR, but she did introduce a friend to the run-walk-run method. Nancy, Jeff would be proud of you. Sarah was in Whitefish, Montana for the Firecracker 406, a 4.06 mile celebration run. It was a sweltering 58 degrees at race start. Sarah. A lot of us are reading that and going, that's not funny. But I'm glad you did it. That's cool. Wonderful views, mostly flat, well-supported course. Her first 4.06 mile run, so wants to thank Coach Alicia for that PR. Our friend Shelby Allison did Little Rock's Firecracker 5K. She skipped it last year, but knocked seven minutes off of her time from two years ago. Still on the fourth in Westminster, South Carolina, the Chickasaw Point Firecracker 5K. Lauren ran from the top of a mountain down to the turnaround point at the bottom of a boat ramp, and then really earned her medal on the way back up to the finish line. Andrews in Brentwood, Pennsylvania for the Firecracker 5K. Happy to be back out there this year. Backed off a bit because of the heat, but still hit his second best time in this race in five attempts. And finishing up Saturday, the Eagle Chase fire on the river half marathon in Sauk City, Wisconsin. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Jay did it. Jay and his dad ran the 10K. Another great long report from Jay. He used this as one more chance to better his proof of time for Chicago. After choosing the correct fork in the road with less than a mile to go, he crushed his goal and said a new half marathon PR by 15 minutes. Now, Dad, who is my age, 72, missed the age group podium for the first time in a long time. But that's because the age group was 60 plus. And gang, that's not fair. That's not. Just we were talking about Joe having 80-year-old age groups, 60 plus.

Overseas Runs Relay And Farewell

SPEAKER_15 2:03:00

Forget about it. So good job, gang. And that's it. That's Saturday. Now, Sunday, fortunately, everybody's was tired from running uh Saturday. In fact, all three of our Sunday races are outside the United States. Let's start in Saltash, Cornwall, the UK, where Anna did the magnificent seven, seven miler, a very hilly course with seven magnificent hills, one of which was ridiculous. Uh, she took it easy on this training run out late the night before, celebrating the uh 276th feast week in a small fishing village near her home. The 270 that's we just celebrated America's 250th birthday. This small town was celebrating their 276th feast week. Pretty cool. In San Jose, Costa Rica, the Chepa Cora. Irene ran this 10K. It went by the heart of the city through lots of hills. It was hot. She set a PR. And in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK, the great North 10K. This is getting bigger and busier every year. Andy and Jamie ran it. Andy says, tricky course, a few steep uphills. The event seems to find a way to keep him humble. If you want to learn more, the roller coaster of running video is up. Now Jamie knocked this one out in 48 minutes. And as an aside, that was Sunday, Sunday night. England played Mexico.

SPEAKER_12 2:04:46

Mexico, yep.

SPEAKER_15 2:04:47

At Stadio Azteca. Game ended at 11 o'clock here on the east coast of the U.S. I sent Andy a text message. Oh yeah, he was up.

SPEAKER_12 2:04:56

Oh yeah, he was definitely up.

SPEAKER_09 2:04:57

He was so jacked yet he did his run after the race, after the uh the soccer match.

SPEAKER_15 2:05:02

Pretty exciting. Hey, one more thing. Uh we referenced the relay for America. This is uh the flags carried nonstop from California to DC and finished on July 4th. Taylor, who we talked about earlier, got to participate in this for a stretch in Loudoun County, Virginia. She got to carry the flag past the Orange Theory Gym where she coaches. Proud of you, Taylor, great job. And that's it, friends. That's the race report for the, and I'll do it one more time, semi-quincentennial episode of the Rise and Run podcast. All right, my friends. And if you run, you know you are our friend. If you're still here, congratulations. Thanks for sticking with us. We appreciate it. We hope you had fun with this one. Hey, tell us what races we missed on the best races in America. We look forward to hearing from you. Stick with your training. Numbers are still low, temperatures are high. Stick with it. Consistency is going to be the key. It's going to be important. Look forward to seeing you soon, but until then, happy running.

SPEAKER_11 2:06:18

The Rising Run podcast discusses general information about Running Disney.