Peach Podcast
Two guys and an occasional guest breaking open topics on: Purpose, Energy, Attitude, Commitment and Health through shared experiences.
Peach Podcast
From Rare Cancer To Community: Meet Jonathan Pascual...The Power Of Service
What would you do if time felt short? We sit down with endurance athlete and clinician Jonathan Pascual to explore how a rare cancer diagnosis reshaped his relationship with pain, purpose, and community. From the start, Jonathan’s story defies the usual arc: he built a free backyard ultra that drew 600 people and raised nearly $90,000 for paraganglioma research, precisely because removing barriers created a bigger impact. His pre-race challenge—love harder, serve others, embrace discomfort—turns a run into a mission.
Jonathan opens up about living with metastases across his spine, skull, ribs, and pelvis, and why movement is medicine when practiced with care. He breaks down how attention, breath, and low-intensity training can push pain into the background without glorifying suffering. Then he brings us to Kona. Halfway through the Ironman swim, the math said he was done. Venous compression made horizontal breathing brutal. Cameras and kayaks followed the last swimmer. He chose to continue anyway—stroke by stroke, flipping to breathe—reaching shore with minutes to spare and crying for the chance to go on.
Threaded through his story is Stoic wisdom—memento mori as a daily compass—and a layered identity that doesn’t crumble when sport is stripped away. We talk about building a community-first event, protecting its soul while scaling, and the fundraising model that keeps donations where they matter. Most of all, Jonathan leaves us with a playbook anyone can use: start with courage, ask for help, and make the first step so easy you’ll do it tomorrow, and the next day.
If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help more people find it. Your one small action today might be the ripple someone else needs.
Check out JP’s Backyard Ultra: https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Napa/JPsBackyardUltraHike
Want to get more info or become part of the mission:
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Welcome back to Feather Podcast with Doug and Daryl. This week we are fucked up, man. We are jacked up. We are ready to go. We have an extraordinary and special guest for you. So buckle up, hang on, because you guys are going to get some massive life lessons. And those life lessons all started on a early Saturday. Was it a Saturday morning, Daryl? When that uh Saturday morning. Okay, so an early Saturday morning, Daryl and Eric were camping, getting ready to run a backyard ultra put on by this incredible man, uh Jonathan, and he calls his uh his event JP's Backyard Ultra. You're gonna hear Jonathan later on. You're gonna hear his story, you're gonna hear his challenges, his triumphs, his continued struggles, all the suffering he's going through. So just hang on, hang on. The reason we have Jonathan on today is because something happened at that backyard ultra. What happened that weekend? Where were you and what was going on?
SPEAKER_00:Eric and I were planning on running this concept of this called backyard, and we've talked about that. It's kind of that unique format. So we've looked at a couple of these and we actually planned one in Sacramento and it just didn't quite work out. There was a few odd logistics of it and everything else. And Eric, who's awesome, says, I'll find something. So of course he searches and searches, and I get this text from him. And I literally, he says, You got to watch this video. And it was a video of uh Jonathan at the time, it was about JP's Backyard Ultra and a little bit of the backstory on it. And you know, one of the interesting things, it was like one, it was free. It was like, hey, sign up and come here. We'd love donations. It's kind of interesting. It was a Napa and talking about his story, and it was raising money um for this amazing cause and talked about Jonathan and his story of being this really uh amazing person and athlete um that was diagnosed with uh a RAM form of cancer and kind of gave the story and come here and do this. And Eric says, I'm in. I said, I'm in, right? By the way, I totally forgot that I had a bicycle race the next stage, but I told Eric that's a different story. I said, Eric, we're in, right? So Eric went down there, he did a little trial running, he ran the ran the loop in Napa. And after he texted me, he goes, Girl, this will not be easy, right? He's like, just to be clear, this is this is a real deal. So I popped down there on the Saturday morning. Eric was camping the night before. I get in there like it's six in the morning, it's dark. And the intent was is we were gonna try and run uh for the 10 hours. That was uh you know, they were doing it two 10 lamps, and they started to do the re uh the uh race instructions, and uh that's the first time I met Jonathan JP, and he kind of gave a little bit of this. And he says, Hey, I'm gonna impart some wisdom on you. He started talking about his story and everything else, and he literally left us. And I'll just hit a couple things, and I'll just tell you at the end of that 12 minutes, I don't know, JP, there was probably, I think you said, I think your last email, almost 600 people there. So people just kept flooding in and flooding in, and they're standing around and he's giving the speech. And no joke, I I mean, I'm not kidding you. I was crying, right? I mean, I'm about ready to run for 10 hours and I got tears in my eyes, and probably 30% of the people did too, because that's how much it touched me. And I just wrote down a couple of things and I sent it to you too. The number one, he talked about and pre uh, you know, embracing discomfort. And he says, and that's where the growth, that's where the growth lives. And Doug, man, that literally just hit me right here because that's a lot about what we talk about, right? A lot of the things you and I've done is we put ourselves out there in kind of uncomfortable situations, right? And giving it a try, right? And you you don't know where you're going there. And there's a lot of talk about, you know, helping people, right? Force for good. There was one thing you said, and I'm gonna introduce um uh Jonathan to kind of talk about it, but he talked about, and I'll never forget this what would you do different if you know you didn't have much time? And uh, I told you you would love harder and would you serve other people? And I was just like, and man, I tell you what, I could have ran through a wall or uh for the next 10 hours and to that date, and I and I recorded it and it's been online a lot, and we we got to know Jonathan a little bit more and everything else. That was one of the most impactful days, and we we hung around there for we we we made, we made, I'll be clear, we made nine laps, we didn't make 10, we didn't make that last the last one. Uh, but we stayed around till the end. We watched the people come in, the awards ceremony through the day, and it was an amazing event. Yeah, but I took so much more out of that. So I am thrilled, Jonathan. I really want you to tell your story. Thank you. I'm so blessed to have met you and your organization. And uh we'll turn it over to you for some introductions.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, Jonathan, to tell us about yourself, like uh, and also give us a little backstory on who was Jonathan before your diagnosis. And and I guess maybe we should start off with your diagnosis, and then we can kind of go back and forth so people can kind of just grab on real quick on why why this story is so important.
SPEAKER_04:Well, thank you, Daryl and Dog, for uh having me as a guest here, and uh thank you for recounting that story, Daryl, of GP's backward ultra. I'm Jonathan Pasquale, I'm 51, and uh I'm married to Monette, and we have a son, Iona. He's 23. Uh he's doing great. And um I, as a background, have worked in lung transplant as a nurse practitioner in UCSF for 25 years. Uh, I've been an athlete since my first triathlon was 1999. And then uh I've done countless races, you know, marathons, triathlons, and then eventually ultra marathons. And in the 2018s, I think uh I started doing both, you know, 100 milers and full distance Ironmans, and that became my personal double. Um, as far as my diagnosis, it's almost four years now that I was diagnosed with this very rare cancer called paraganglioma, and it's a mediastinal, it's right here by my heart, compressing on the big vessels, uh, the vena cava. And two to six people out of one million will have this diagnosis. I have gone through radiation, radiation type of therapy called PRRT. I've gone through back surgery because of the cancer has spread through my bones, and you know, it's hard for me to breathe because it spread through my lungs and lymph nodes. However, I asked myself, you know, my wife, I have to give her credit. They said, you can beat this. And being a clinician, I said, This is a terminal diagnosis. How how can I beat this? I I won't beat this. However, I thought about what she said. No, you can beat this. And that's when I realized that what are you going to do about it, Jonathan? How can you beat this? And it's really in the living that I'm doing, in the day-to-day living that I'm doing, that I am winning daily battles. And that that was the spark for me to start training again, even just like walking around the house and hiking. And that eventually became, you know, a little bit of a jog. And within that two-year period, you know, I I reached my pinnacle race of my athletic career, which is the Iron Man World Championships in Kona in October of uh 2024. And that was the hardest race I've ever done just because of all my symptoms. And uh and here we are. Yeah. Oh, and and and then of course, you know, um, the other thing, of course, is that how do I get back? Not not just to myself, to my family, my friends, but to my community. And the way that I did that was through JP's Backyard Ultra.
SPEAKER_02:And is that why you uh Daryl, I heard Daryl mention that you didn't charge for that event.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, that is correct. For uh all the time that I've hosted it, the idea that I have is that you know I put in the money to fund the event. Right. And, you know, some people will help me uh ask for uh donations that can be used for prizes and things that can be raffled off. And the idea is that whatever I raise, it goes to the beneficiary, which this year was uh the field para alliance, the nonprofit that specializes in the rare cancer that I have. I just realized that a lot of uh fundraising now, you know, even the big ones, right? The big cancer. Right, right. A lot of that money that they raise, even though they're in the millions of dollars, well, they had to pay the city, the police, the caterers, and the toilets, so on and so forth. It gets diffused, and whatever is left uh goes to uh the nonprofit. So I thought, you know what, I don't want that. I'm a small guy, it's just me and a couple of other of my friends just doing this, making it our job. Right. And uh whatever we raise really goes to uh the organization. And I'm really, really blown away with with this year's results, wherein we had over 600 people come to the event, both runners and hikers, and we raise nearly$90,000.
SPEAKER_02:What$90,000?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I was shooting for 15,000, but you know, and then Doug, I I think I think Jonathan is being very, very modest. Um, by far, and I said this on the podcast, I don't think I've been to a better well-run event that I've ever been to. There was corporate sponsors from Lululemon, like the the the the best, the best of the best around like nutrition and everything else. And and they did this. And by the way, the people that were there, the people I saw at seven in the morning were the same people that were closing and doing work, shutting things down at six o'clock that night. They were there all day long. By the way, I didn't get to do it because I was running, but they had one of the most amazing like lunch feasts, right? Um, that like as people like would come and they do four or five laps, and then their family would come and it was all this amazing food. And I would just look over there, like, oh, I want to go do that, but I've got to go run. Um, and it was absolutely, and you could just tell from the people there, it was an absolute labor of love, and they put their heart and soul into it. And um, you know, it was free, but like Doug, what would you rather do? Go give your money to some race organizer for something and spay a couple hundred dollars or go, go, go participate in this. I mean, it was just an absolute, just a no-brainer. And uh, like you said, Jonathan, I kept asking Eric, how many people are gonna be here? I don't know, maybe a hundred, two hundred. And like you said, there were 600 people. So it just really showed what an amazing cause. And the people that you had supporting you, they were amazing.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, so much, so much people, so much love from my friends and the volunteers who contributed to the event. You know, I I cannot thank them enough.
SPEAKER_02:So, Jonathan, tell me a little bit about uh, you know, so you're in pain. Is the pain constant? Like what's your what's the day in a life like with Jonathan today?
SPEAKER_04:I would say I have chronic pain now, and that's mostly because of uh the bone metastases, and I have tumors in my skull throughout my spine, my neck, my thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, my pelvis, my sternum, my ribs. Um I I think what bothers me most is is my back. Just because um the vertebral bodies uh of the spine in my lower back, right, they've cracked, you know. And um in 2022, uh I I actually had cement put into one of those vertebrae. And several months ago, I I knew uh it broke again, uh just because of uh, I mean, you can feel the the bone crushing. And and you know, it's it's just one of those things that uh I think I've learned to live with. And as far as um the benefit of being a clinician, I know that there are different pathways how pain is perceived by us. Oh, I like this. So that means that if you use different modalities to take care of the pain, it will prevent me from uh reaching for what is easy. What is easy is to just take pain meds. And I have nothing against pain meds, right? I prescribe them, right? Right um as part of my job. But uh I know that movement for me is medicine. Like today, even though I feel like this is the worst uh I feel as far as the pain and shortness of breath and dizziness and almost passing out in this nearly four years. Once I start moving and go into the rhythm of what my mind and body knows, then I get that familiarity, the rhythm of movement. Then my brain gets engaged on look at the trail, make sure you don't fall, then make sure that you control your breathing, watch your heart rate. Yes, you have a gadget that tells you about your heart rate, but it's the body and the brain is so advanced that it trumps the technology. I can tell when the heart rate is way too high before I pass out because if it gets out of control, I won't have enough blood flow to my brain. So, what does that tell you in relation to the brain, uh to the pain? The pain actually goes to the background because I have all these other things that you need to worry about. I mean that's a great, great strategy, man. Oh my god. I don't I don't want to like stumble and fall on the trail, right? And then I'll be bleeding because I'm now on uh blood thinners. So I have to be very careful and other things like massage, linaments, and if I need to, I I take Tylenol and ibuprofen, but if it's really bad, I have prescriptions from two years ago, which I I haven't fully utilized, like the narcotics, like the heavy stuff. Yeah, right. But uh uh that's that's uh very rare that I use that. But if if need be, I have something to to depend on. So that's how I deal with pain. Like, are you doing movement every day? Uh yes, I try to. Uh as an athlete for over two decades, I think my baseline exercise as far as the number of hours per week is eight to ten hours. And lately, within the last several months, uh it's really come down, meaning much less. And I'm trying to get back to the eight-hour mark. And the last two to three weeks, I've I've really made excellent progress, I would say, as far as uh the number of hours. I I cannot focus on intensity anymore because uh intense will be injurious to me. Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, hey Jonathan, if you wouldn't mind, can you share the story that you talked about in your speech about the swim uh at uh at Kona? Yes. That that that that that really got me, and then I've got a couple follow-ups. If you could explain that.
SPEAKER_04:As a background, the tumor in my chest is compressing the superior vena cava and the internal jugular veins and has actually occluded uh other uh veins in in my neck and in my shoulders. And essentially those uh the purpose of those veins is to drain blood from my face, my neck, my head, my upper arms, and my upper chest. So being upright allows for the drainage of blood from my head, let's just say. When I'm lying down, you know, going to sleep, I can't do that. I will wake up with my face so swollen. And actually, that's one of the uh uh signs that I saw in uh 2022 when I got diagnosed. I I was leaning up, my body was you know getting lean, but then I looked like I gained so much weight. So in the swim in Kona, which is a 2.4 miles or 3.8 kilometers, where there's current, there's waves, I knew it was going to take me near the cutoff of two hours and 20 minutes. So the longer that I am in a horizontal position, the more the blood pulls in my head, and over time it turns purple. My tongue swells up, my neck swells up, and I get so short of breath. And Daryl and Doug, I I can tell you by the halfway mark at 1.2 miles, I flipped on my back the many times that I did it just to catch my breath. And I looked at my watch, and it was an hour and a half that has elapsed. And I said, Jonathan, this is impossible. Mathematically, you cannot do this, you will not make the cutoff because it will be three hours by the time that you reach. However, I thought to myself, just keep going, focus on your stroke. And I've swam in Kona many times. I knew that the return leg has some current that can actually assist me going back. And this is the point in the race where in the last guy, me, is being followed by a paddle border, there's a boat, and all these other people, and I'm on camera, and there are drones, I'm being followed because Iron Man featured me in their uh uh uh documentary. So I'm being filmed. I can tell you I said, I do not want to tell the story that I failed and that I gave up. I imagine myself in my hotel room, you know. Really bummed out, not meeting the cutoff swim. And I said, keep going. And I knew that I needed to commit. And commitment meant to me, they will have to fish me out of the ocean if I'm starting to sick. Uh, because I knew I I will be safe because they were there, right? Right, right. So it's okay. So I kept going, and every stroke, every breath was the most difficult that I've ever done as far as swimming in my life. And more than I don't even recount how many times I had to flip over just to catch my breath. And finally, when I felt the sand and I was still in the water, I said, I did it. I I felt like uh I've never been to a boxing match, but I felt like so beat up. And and uh I heard the uh announcer say, I I think like I had like two minutes before you know the cutoff, and I I was able to run up the stairs and and meet that cutoff. And and you know, I I cried, I I was bawling, and that was the only time in the entire day that I got emotional because I knew that I had the chance to finish what I started. Wow, I I I was convinced now I can finish this thing because I finished the most difficult part for me, which was the swim.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And I when you found it's amazing, amazing and when you do and when he articulated this in this thing, you know, you expect someone to say, I was crying because of the pain. I think your words was I was crying because I had the opportunity to continue. Yes, absolutely. Think think about that, Doug. He was crying because he had the opportunity to suffer more, to suffer more, but but and I I think when I when you said that to me, that encompass encompasses where you're at, which is very amazing. I wanted just the thing I kind of want to ask you is how do you go from hey, you're in this, you got this terminal illness and everything else, where somehow you flip this into your the living testament. You're you're living your your testament today. I'm just curious, like have you always had that in you, or has this been something that's been this like awakening or discovery? Because very few people in life would be crying, saying, I want to thank I'm crying because I'm for the opportunity to go forward. So I'd like to understand that. And that that was it to finish. That is one of the most brilliant stories and heartwarming stories I've heard.
SPEAKER_04:I think each one of us will have to go through life and go through some kind of tumult, difficulty, failures, injustices, and just something that will break you down, either your own fault, somebody else's, or something that's way beyond your control. Right. This puts you in a place where you just had to be able to sit back and think about it. And a lot of the things that I've said in that speech, I think I learned. You know, I I read books uh and uh on the philosophy of stoicism in 2007 when I had a brain tumor, and I knew then that life can be so impermanent. I had a four-year-old son, a young wife, and the most difficult part was that I knew I was going to lose them and that I was going to leave them behind. And because of that, that process that helped me think about how do I conduct my life? How do I examine my life such that day to day I I know that I am making it worth it? So no, no, no, how do you do that? I think one of the ways is that this idea of memento mori, remember you are mortal. So I think about death every day, not in a morbid sense of way, but in a sense of how do I live fully by being able to give to others. And um I I think that really starts from home. You know, I'm I'm a man, I've made many mistakes that are hurtful um to family and friends and so on and so forth. However, that gave me the chance to prove to myself and to others that how do I move on from this? So you have to ask yourself, uh, how can I give back to others? I I think this is the the reason why to me it's it's not just about me.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_04:It's about my my community, my family, you know, and and and that really starts from home. And I have to give credit to my wife, my son, my mother, my stepdad who who really uh helped me through this. And and that circle just got bigger and bigger after my diagnosis because I started sharing, right? Right. And my friends, and then my triathlon cycling running community, my work. And it got bigger and bigger.
SPEAKER_02:Hey Jonathan, there's you know, in your story, even the one that the swim and when you were describing the swim at Kona for the Iron Man, I mean that's the big show right there. And and you got halfway there and you realized mathematically this is not working. What I didn't hear you say is I'm giving up. What I did hear you naturally do is just kind of say, okay, how how am I gonna do this? And you could you committed and you said, I'm just gonna keep swimming. It's gonna be what it's gonna be, but I'm gonna do, I'm just gonna commit to the process and get it done. And and Daryl and I are huge into committing into the process. But what I would like to ask you, Jonathan, is that you know, there's probably a lot of people are gonna listen to this who may be in not exactly your same shoes because you have a very, very, very rare cancer, but who are going through some type of cancer or some type of illness or just some kind of type of life tragedy or or trauma? Has there ever been a time you felt like giving up? And I think there's a lot of people out there who who are who are giving up and and actually feel like they're just waiting for permission to give up from themselves. Have you ever felt like that? And what do you do in those moments? How do you come back from that?
SPEAKER_04:I've been in that place, right? I wanted to give up. However, I do take time to think about what I'm going through. And I begin with this this value that I believe came from my father, which is his legacy to me, is that of courage. You know, you just have to have faith, you just have to believe in yourself that um you can try. And the most important thing is starting. Let me outline it this way when you're going through something so difficult, start with courage. Be able to ask for help if you need to. And I think uh second, my bias is towards action.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:Just just just pick something that people are going through. You know, let's let's say a lot of your listeners are athletes and say, you know, you get injured, you're hampered by something, and you feel like, oh, I'm a runner, and I feel like something that's so important for me has been taken away. Right? Right. Then you think about, well, what else as a runner can I do? You know, I've been injured many times in my athletic career where I can't run. Well, I'm gonna swim or I'm gonna lift weights. Yeah, wait, yeah, I can't use my right leg because I just you know was just in Stanford trauma, and uh, you know, I can't really pedal. Well, I can ride my bicycle in the garage and pedal with one leg. Crazy things like that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So I love it. I I I think the the the second part like again is the the the bias towards action. Right. You just have to commit to moving, and it could be as simple as the days when I was so much in pain when I had to get up and just walk around the living room, and that progresses to walking outside the house. Or it could be something where in the last several weeks I was in so much pain that I was in a cocoon, feeling really down, don't want to be involved in anything, not even responding to emails or phone calls or messages. And I said, Jonathan, what are you gonna do about it? I started moving, and and from there I started responding and reaching out again. You have to believe that it is so easy to help people who know how to help themselves. So I believed that. And once I started reaching out to hey, uh, I I'm ready to get out of my cocoon, maybe we can go for a walk. My friends just like answered right away, just like that.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_04:And and then that got me moving again within the last several weeks.
SPEAKER_02:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. Um, I do want to articulate one thing. Being at that event, not currently knowing one of the things you said is there, and we talk about this all the time. Um, hey, um, when you're tired and you want to give up, run to that tree. Um, you know, run for 10 seconds. When I first started cycling, Doug and them were teaching me how to climb hills and they would have me count to 10 on the hill, count to 10, count to 10, count to 10. And so you kind of like run to the bush, run to the tree. But then what you said really got me. If you're seeing someone that struggles, reach out and help them. It wasn't just about me, you know, and on that run, and I've done a couple, I've done two backyard ultras or on different things in the ultra community. I can't tell you how many people we got to mile, uh, got to hour like five or six, and uh it gets down to a fewer people. Some of the elite athletes would pass me and give me encouragement. Yeah, you know what I mean? I mean, like literally, yeah, like like you know, they happen to be maybe I was in the front for a minute, they would combine, hey, you're doing good. I saw you last lap. Great job. You know what I mean? I'm like, me? What are you talking about? Me, you know, you know, and then I would see people, and then it just becomes contagious, you know. Yes, yes. And uh, that's one of the things I really enjoyed. It wasn't just about me counting to a tree, and that and you know what, I do that all the time, and you gotta you gotta do you gotta self-motivate yourself, but that community, and one of your main messages was helping other people. So talk about how that's a big part of your journey and uh and what you're about.
SPEAKER_04:I think uh I I'm now in the stage in my life where I'm in my you know closing years, right? Right. And um sorry to sound so sad. I do think this is one of the things that what what I feel like I need to do. You know, I I was off of work and lung transplant, but to me, I needed that purpose, I needed that meaning. I I needed to be part of my team still and and help save people's lives. And I went back to work, and and that's great. And uh I was actually given other responsibilities that were enormous. So having checked that box, I said I'm defined not just by my work life layer. I am father, I am husband, I am a teammate. Now I am battling cancer. So my life is defined in many different layers, such that if you take away the label athlete, which you know I'm losing, right? Um, or the former self, it's not like I lost my identity. I have so many other layers to my life that I can be what I'm supposed to do in my marriage uh as a father, and um now having this ability to actually connect to people, I think I've been given that opportunity. I talk to high school kids, I talk to triathlon clubs, um like you said, being invited in podcasts like this, it's it's the sharing of this insights. Right. Um, that that gives me purpose still.
SPEAKER_02:Very that that's you know, there's there's healing in giving, I believe. Um, and yeah, I think you have found that source and and you're leaning into it because I see you all over the place giving, giving, showing up, still running, still doing things. I and when I called you to talk to Darrell, when I called him the first time, he says, uh, yeah, you can call, but I'm on my exercise bike. Like, I'm just like, okay, well, I can call you afterwards. He's like, no, go ahead and just call. And uh it's you know, so I I love you started off this podcast, Jonathan, by saying that movement is medicine. That that's a credo we live by as well. Yeah. And um, but it's so true. It is so true. And uh it was so I was so delighted when I called and you said you were on the bike, and you know, to say, yeah, this guy, like he you're not just you don't just say it, you're living it. You're living it. Let me ask you something though. Um a couple things. There's a couple ways I want to go because I I I I respect and I love family, and and you've and you've mentioned your wife and your kids a couple of times. And so so let me ask that first. Is how how do you see this impacting your home unit, your your your family unit? And if you could say something to them here on this podcast, what would you say?
SPEAKER_04:I think uh that this is uh uh something so difficult for uh family and friends who are uh taking care of somebody who is sick. Um it could be a chronic illness or a mental health problem, depression or cancer. And uh those family members actually go through that journey, and and they people handle things very differently. You know, some people say, Oh, I will be there for you, and then once the actual work comes, it disappears, right? Right, that they are unable to handle the burden. For me, I think a big part of my job as a father and and uh husband is to prepare them. And I actually have been very fortunate that over the last three and a half years I can educate them of the actual process of what's going through my body uh as as it deteriorates, how the chemotherapy that I take every three weeks for seven days every three weeks affects me, and how eventually I will continue to decline as I have sharply declined this year. And then there will be a process wherein I'm so sick that they will be uh there for me. However, I would have to say I have tried to I have endeavored to make things as normal as possible.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_04:Why I think I just want them to be there for me when I really need them. Um I don't want people to feel burnt out just because they're taking care of somebody who's so sick, you know. And I'm not that. I mean, look at me, you know, you will never think that I'm I'm even sick.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you know, just before we started this podcast, uh uh with Jonathan and I and Daryl were on here, kind of just chatting before we pressed record. And I was telling Jonathan, I'm like, man, he's looking at him, I would never know this guy was sick and how much pain he was in every day. And that if I had a truckload of sandbags, I'd probably look over at him and say, Hey, buddy, come on over here and help me unload these bags and not even knowing. And then find then realize that he's the kind of guy that would probably come over and help and do what he can. And then maybe later I would find out and just like, oh my gosh, what did I do? You know, like um, but yeah, by looking at you, man, it's uh like you said, it's a blessing to to be able to look healthy, but sometimes it's a curse because people don't know what's going on, and it's yeah, it could be a blessing and a curse at the same time. I could see that for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Hey Doug, I think it was um, and by the way, I saw the same thing when he was giving his speech. I'm like, like, is he just gonna like fly over and just do an Iron Man in Kona, right? When he's giving his speech. I mean, he's just you know, yeah. And then it was about a lap. I he ran a couple laps, and I think it was lap uh, I think six or seven, and you ran, and there was a handful of us, and somebody said, How are you doing? I think it was somebody you knew, and you were honest. You're like, Yeah, you know, I'm okay, you know, and you were and it was like real. It's like real. This is hard. By the way, that uh 3.2 mile uh loop, um, that's not flat, Doug, right? And uh and uh and uh it's got some cool stuff. And I was like, Why are we here? And Jonathan mentioned this was his training route, this is one of his big training grounds. So he's like it's not just like, oh, hey, let's go do this. You're gonna go run where I've sweat, cried, blood, and tears, and everything else there. So it was uh it was really good seeing that. One of your themes, and it was on the shirt that you had, and uh it's also part of my company. Um, by the way, I work for a a high-tech company, and one of our third core values is force for good. And that's a big that's kind of what your shirt says. Talk about force for good and um and what that means, and what that means as far as your kind of fundraising and overall your approach.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, be a force for good can be so broad, let's just say from the very beginning, and people can interpret this in so many ways. Like, what does he mean? And when I talk to different groups, that meaning can actually change. Am I talking to young people who are in a cross-country team? Or am I talking to the American Cancer Society who are people and and and family members who are going through the difficult times? However, I I just went to Skyline yesterday in this place called Sosko Peak. Um, and there's a bench there, and um my friend. Did uh a fundraiser, and um they're going to put a plaque on that bench with a quotation from me and with my name, and and that's why we're going to happen in December. Wow. Um, it's about five miles from where we started at JPEC's Backyard Ultra to hike up to that peak. And you have this beautiful 360-degree view off of the base, saying Mountain, Mount Diablo, Mount St. Lena, the Sonoma Mountains. But going back to your question, what is be a force for good? I I think I I went up there and I said, you know, celebrate this moment. And when you are ready, help others to elevate themselves to their own exalted heights. Be a force for good. So I think that's what I've been doing when I say be a force for good is that it can start from within. Whatever you're going through, your heart is your heart. My heart is my heart. My cancer and my pain is no bigger or lesser than what you're going through. Being a force for good to yourself starts with kindness, kindness to yourself, to be forgiving of yourself. However, I believe that the greatest power of kindness is being able to extend it to others. That's its greatest power. And I think once you start helping yourself, then you can go ahead and help somebody else who is next to you, just like what you told me, Daryl, in your backyard ultra. You know, you're just saying, hey, buddy, let's go. We can do this, we can do this together, and we can go far.
SPEAKER_00:Or it's crazy. Um I I love it. It's um uh the current thought is that you're you're starting to plan for next year. Um, there and um talk a little bit about that. And by the way, uh, we got five members of Team Peach. We're either gonna run it or help you. We're either gonna run or we're gonna support you in somehow, some way. So we're I'm gonna serve food.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna serve food.
SPEAKER_00:Uh hey, uh JP's legit on the mic. I'm telling you. Doug also does a lot of uh announcing and stuff like this, but you might need to pry that because JP's pretty awesome with their microphone. Talk about what you're thinking about for next year.
SPEAKER_04:So I've been in this position where and I have the dual role of being race director and lead for fundraising. So it's two jobs essentially. Big ones, and what I've described before um, race directing and and funding it is is always a challenge for me. And to me, it's worth it. You know, uh, like I said, my model is I put in my money that's going to be doubled, tripled, and you know, six times. Yeah. That's crazy. The 15,000 that I that I wanted to raise. But uh I think that to me is a challenge, and hopefully I will be able to find people who can contribute not directly to the field power alliance this time around, but maybe um help me fund the event. That's that's one part of it. The second is there are other people who have uh reached out to me who will help me with the race directing part, and uh I will help uh and and and I will uh seek their help and because they're they are used to holding races on their own. Like uh specifically, this is inside trail racing. So it's a name that all of us here in the Bay Area are familiar with because they they hold uh many, many running events, trail trail running events, and and hopefully they will be able to help me um with with the uh race uh strategy and logistics. And then, of course, there's the uh fundraising part, and you wouldn't believe it, Daryl and Dogg is it's just like a couple of us guys just sending emails, making phone calls to you know big companies and uh small businesses, and then you know what? If you can give something, you can give something if you don't. I learned like year one. If I have no response, that's a response, I move on. You just keep doing the work because you know somebody will say yes, and then uh if it's uh my barber said, Hey, I'm gonna give you a gift certificate, like love it, you know. Yeah, that's a big hub. And then and that that can be part of the the the awards when when we uh do the raffle drawing, or or my bike fitter, Pedro from San Francisco, and he he does tremendous jobs fitting and and all the different um wine companies and um winemakers, wineries in Napa, and and that's a huge help. They have been very supportive in the in the fundraising part. So if we can continue that model wherein, you know, it's my vision and the mission is to help uh raise funds for people with cancer, rare cancers like mine, and and the clinicians and researchers involved with it. And whether you like it or not, it my my actual image and my name is on it. So we need to protect that. And and even if this is like the last year that I do it, I said, you know what? I gave it my all, and I've been helped by so many. And what a journey, man, what a journey. We did something so tremendous. Can you believe it?
SPEAKER_02:No, and you know what? Even if it's your last time, uh Jonathan, the this the stories I hear, how it's impacted Daryl and Eric, and they continue to share like the ripples effect from that pebble in the water, they're gonna keep going. Even if you don't have another JP's backyard, that the JP's backyard, the heart of it will live on for a long time, brother. So just be sure of that. But I'm I know next year is gonna be something tells me next year is gonna be a special year. Um, you know, it's gonna be a lot of work, but it sounds like you may have uh opportunities to uh uh enlist more help and more support and get the word out even more. So I know Team Peach would love to get behind you and make some phone calls for donations or whatever we gotta do. I'll put I'll put Daryl in charge of that. But um no, we all will, we all will, man. I'm I'm good on the phones. I can I can handle some, I can handle a lot of no's, baby. Handle a lot of no's. Um but I'm better at getting a lot of yeses, so let's just go to work and get it done.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, that's incredible.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Hey, but Jonathan, uh looking uh, you know, looking back, uh here's kind of a like a legacy life reflection question. So, you know, take a minute, think about it. But looking back on your life, what are you most proud of? And what do you hope your legacy will be?
SPEAKER_04:I think I've been asked this question uh so many times, and I gravitate to the the same things that I've I've thought about, and I I don't really deviate from it. When I was um younger, uh I was probably 24 when I moved from Hawaii to UCSF, and I was still you know learning the profession. I I think that young person taught me to break barriers, you know, um live in discomfort, and uh and that's just not in elevating my my career. Later on, I realized when I was still younger in my 20s, I said, um, you know what, you will look back in your life and you will not have regrets that um you did something good, that you you you helped others, and you know, people lived, and and I was part of that team, you know, and there are certain stories out there that uh my patients remember just because uh we connected and their families, and and I remember there's so many people, and and to me that's really meaningful. Yeah that uh I was part of that, that I did that, and then I said this before that uh Alfred Nobel um received this uh uh news that it was his own obituary, but it was actually a mistake. It was his brother who who died. But somebody wrote an obituary about him. Oh my goodness. And and and and then you know, I I think that's one of the story goes with that and that was the impetus for him to reflect upon his life. You know, this is the guy who invented the dynamite. The dynamite killed a lot of people. Yeah however, is this part of his legacy that you know he wanted to do good by creating the Nobel Prize? Well, I'm not I'm no millionaire, I'm I'm nobody, you know, I'm just a guy. You know, I'm just trying to tell my story here, and and I think my response, uh dog, is that uh I don't have that kind of legacy to live, but I I do think that the people who I will leave behind would have the stories of the time that we had together because we had that epic, epic race or epic training day, more than any of the races that we did, and we were together, and there and there are those stories where in you know what I made you feel inspired is is the word that I hear a lot from people. Or and and I hear things like you know what, uh because of you, I I I did this, or because of you, you you made me think. And finally, because of the time that we spent together, this is how you made me feel. Right. That that's it. It's a very nebulous legacy, it's a feeling.
SPEAKER_02:That's beautiful, and it's yeah, I'm inspired. I'm inspired. I can see why people say you've inspired me. I mean, I'm sitting here and I'm just I'm bursting with inspiration, man. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Hey Doug, uh, as we kind of wrap up, I'll I'll tell one last story. Um uh I was coming down maybe uh lap two or three, I forget which one. It was uh it was um and I was coming down the the long back stretch there, and I was running uh a little bit ahead of Eric. Very few times I ever run ahead of Eric, so I remember it, right? And uh there was a guy with uh you know a stick with the little stick, and I've been thinking about getting one of those, I think the Insta360s, and so we had to stick up and he was running and you know, I'm on the downhill and it's pretty that long street. And I go, Oh, yeah, hey, how do you like that? He says, Good. I said, I've been looking at that, and he says, Yeah, he goes, I said, Yeah, my 10-year-old, I'm gonna, I guarantee my 10-year-old is gonna want that. And he goes, Oh, I have a I have a six and eight-year-old and we love it. And so we're just chatting about kids and about insert things. And I was like, Man, and I said, This is great. And he says, Yeah, my kids are gonna meet me. Um, they're they're hoping to uh uh they want me to get to my uh to lap five, right? And he goes, last year I goes, my second year I did lap three. And I was like, Oh, that's really cool. And so we're talking, and uh and I said, Yeah, the speech was really great. He goes, Yeah, yeah. He goes, This is it's tough for me. His wife passed away uh two years ago from cancer. And here he is here, you know. I'm I I'm just running and I think I'm running this thing. And this guy is his second year there. He's running, he lost his wife, he's got his two kids there, they're meeting him for lot five, right? And he and he he literally looked at me and he says, as long as I have this race, I will be here. You know, and I made a one-minute conversation with the guy, right? Running down and felt connected. And when I think of what force for good is and being at that thing, my force for good is I know I'm a better person for being around people like um Jonathan JP and the people there. Right. And uh a lot of it is just how I pay it forward, like you said. How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better employer? How you know, you know, employ everything else. How can I be a better person? And then how do I serve other people? Right. And so I just want to let you know not only what your journey and what you're going through, but also the people around you are are really amazing and it's absolutely a force for good.
SPEAKER_02:As we, as Darrell says, we'll wrap up. But uh I always like to try to impact people. We always try to like to impact people. Maybe it's first-time listeners, maybe it's somebody struggling. What would you say to the person on the couch who knows they should be exercising, that movement is medicine? Um, and they're struggling and they've been contemplating this whole exercise thing for far too long. Their blood pressure's not good, cholesterol's high, they're overweight. What would you say to that person? How would you help inspire, move them, or motivate them to get up and go?
SPEAKER_04:So you're having a really difficult time and it seems like uh it's impossible to take that first step or even sign up for that race or just just to move. But really the first step is the first step. All you really have to do is just trick to make it as easy as possible. Make that step easy so that you can take the other step that could be a jog, then eventually you can go to a half mile, or you can get onto the pedal bike and just move your legs and trick your brain and say, you know what, I can do this for 10 minutes, because the brain will tell you and say, stop it, I can't do this anymore. However, if you tell your brain that I can do something easy, that means I can do it tomorrow. And if you did it tomorrow, then that means you can do it tomorrow, yes, and again and again, and again. A lot of times we have been fooled by uh things that we see in social media, in YouTube, and commercial stuff. That it has to be so hard. You'll get there. Hard is is really easy to get to. You can like run the mile as soon as you can, as fast as you can, and then you'll be injured, and then you're done for for months because like I'm not ever doing that again.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_04:However, if you made it so easy, like what I'm doing now, right? I'm piecing you know, on our bike, very easy. Then I'll hop on my treadmill for 30 minutes, super easy. Then I'll lift weights for 30 minutes, super easy. At this stage in my life, I can still like bang out two hours in my garage, you know. That on the surface, it looks easy for me because I have to, otherwise, I'll pass out, right? Lose consciousness and hit my head, and like I'm done. Yeah, I don't want that because I want tomorrow. I just want tomorrow. I'm just trying to kick the can down the road. Yeah, that's all I'm doing.
SPEAKER_02:You're kicking it, brother. You're kicking it. That was great. I love that, I love that. You know, that it's so you're so right. It's man, it's all brain work, right? But our brain is designed for survival, it's once the path of least resistance. But when we trick it to do, hey, I can do, I'm just gonna walk 10 steps. Yeah, you're like, oh, I can walk 10 steps. Well, go walk them then, and then tomorrow do them again. And next thing you know, next thing you know, half mile, then mile, and then like maybe I can run it, but it is tricking the brain. That's brilliant and very wise, very wise. Thank you, Jonathan. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, that's gonna I'm gonna try and fake it. No, I'm gonna try and fake it till I make it too. Um, Jonathan, I'm running my first road marathon tomorrow. Uh Sunday. Sunday. Uh Sunday. CIM. CIM. I'm running.
SPEAKER_04:Wonderful.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I've been uh I've been in pretty good shape on the trail running, and uh Doug and Eric are like, um, Daryl, there's never gonna be a better time to do your first road marathon, so I'll send up and so hard. I know okay. Thanks, Jonathan. Right, you know, um but uh you know Jonathan, I'm gonna be like, hey, where's the aid station where I can go eat and talk to the people for 20 minutes?
SPEAKER_02:You get a little little one ounce cup of uh electrolytes.
SPEAKER_00:Keep on going. So no, I mean I'm I'm excited. Uh I'm I'm thrilled to have you back on. And um truly, truly, um Team Peach is all behind you. Uh what we're doing. Looking forward to staying connected with you, following up with you, and uh seeing however we can support you in whatever way that's possible. So thank you so much, both of you, Daryl and Doug.
SPEAKER_04:Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02:You're welcome, brother. You have our contact information. Um, and so reach out, you know, when the time comes to get things together, reach out because right, if you don't ask, the answer is always no. So when you need some extra support, ask, brother, ask, all right.
SPEAKER_04:We'll do, we'll do. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02:All right, okay. Well, hey, thanks for getting on with us today, Jonathan. Absolutely incredible interview. Appreciate you very much for taking time out of your day. You probably have to go jump on a bike or a treadmill now, so I'll let you go. But uh gonna sign out like we always do and say God blessed and peace out.