S5EP002: Run Like The Winded: How One Dad Turned A Text Thread Into A 25-Runner Movement

A two-hour family dance party and a throwaway text thread shouldn’t lead to a 25-runner movement—but that’s exactly what happened. We sit down with Austin Zertuche, a Sacramento County dad who transformed casual “let’s run” messages into the St. Mel Striders, an official school-parent running club that trains busy adults from 5Ks to half marathons while raising funds for their Catholic school community.

Austin takes us from his early childhood roots and work-heavy high school years to discovering running through Fleet Feet programs, where accountability and structure turned effort into joy. He shares the simple blueprint that made the Striders stick: clear rules of positivity and respect, two training tracks with volunteer coaches, a 10-week plan anchored by the long run, and relentless encouragement through shared screenshots and honest check-ins. The result? Stronger times, real friendships, and the kind of momentum that carries people through Sacramento heat and over finish lines.

We also dig into the leadership behind volunteer fitness communities: planning kickoff calls, writing useful emails, answering questions on hydration, fueling, and mobility, and wearing all the hats—coach, organizer, treasurer, hype crew. Austin’s insights are practical and human, grounded in the belief that consistency is contagious when people feel safe to show up at their own pace. The most moving thread might be the family effect: kids biking alongside long runs, little ones copying stretches on the living room floor, and children cheering as parents chase goals they can see and touch.

By the end, we’re looking ahead to bigger goals like CIM and first marathons, with a shared confidence that ordinary actions—done with purpose, energy, attitude, commitment, and health—can change lives. If you’ve been waiting to start, borrow this playbook, invite a friend, and let community carry you forward. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review to help others find us.

For anyone entering the 4th Quarter of life (50-60 & Beyond!) check out: https://thefourthquarterpodcast.buzzsprout.com

Transcript

Welcome Back And New Projects

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hey, hey, hey, welcome to the Peach Podcast. Just a couple of dudes and an occasional guest breaking open topics from everyday life on purpose. Energy, attitude, commitment, and health. So if you're ready, listen in as we live to learn from our losses, to gain from our gratitude, and if we laugh as we level up, always remember if you ever feel stuck, all you got to do is get stuck. Way too long. I am excited to reconnect with you. Daryl, what what's what's the situation here, man? We're recording like every other two weeks or something like this.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Pretty much every every two weeks. Uh by the way, we've been in Maui, I've been in London, uh, Bangalore, and Houston. So give us a little grace. We're on our give you some grace on this one.

Family Weekend Stories And Dancing

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, yeah. It's but we're back. We're back. We had a we have an awesome guest. Uh someone you're bringing along, you invited to be here. And uh the little I've gotten to know about him, I'm excited for him to share how he thinks and and how he and why he does the things he does he does. He's gonna add a lot of value to people who are listening in today. But before we dive into our guest and get caught up with each other, you know, Daryl, I've been really appreciative and grateful for the content and the guests that we get to provide here on Peach Podcast. Myself, I am a little older. I'll be hitting 60 this year, and uh have partnered with another co-host on another podcast that I want to kind of just promote real quick right here. It's called the Fourth Quarter Podcast. And it's specifically geared to people who are 60 and beyond who are living in their fourth quarter and maybe have a fitness background, or maybe they don't. Either way, um, Ted and I are collaborating and coaching people live on air on the fourth quarter podcast, as well as bringing experts um with people who work with other people in their fourth quarter of life and motivational people who are doing awesome things in the fourth quarter of their life. And so I just wanted to just do a little quick little plug here for the people who are 16 beyond, who are struggling to get back into fitness or who want to just start and don't even know about fitness, check out the fourth quarter podcast. I think you're really gonna love it and enjoy what you hear there. I will drop a link in the show notes so that you can find the podcast easily. And that's enough about that. Daryl, what's been going on, brother? What's been going on? Where you been? What have you been doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Uh, not too much. Uh it's been a couple weeks. It was awesome being up at uh uh my father-in-law chief's house on Saturday. Uh uh Sunday, was it Sunday? Yeah, we had the holiday weekend. And uh we went up there, brought uh Ava and her friend, and uh we had Max and Yvonne and uh your two grandkids and Doug, what did we do? We uh we we uh had a little dinner, and then somebody said, literally, let's have one of the four-year-olds show us how to dance, right? Right, and so tell us what happened after that.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Oh well, the four-year-old showed us how to dance. She was she started out a little shy, and then your daughter, Ava, and uh her friend Kylie, it's Kylie, right? They got involved and they started dancing, and then your wife got involved and she started dancing. Then Papa Doug, myself, I'm getting in there and I'm dancing. And the chief, who's 84 years old, he goes and says, Alexa, play uh Can't Touch This by MC Hammer, and then he starts dancing. So if you can imagine an 84-year-old who's dancing to Can't Touch This and making people cheer and scream and yell, uh it was it was quite the party, Daryl.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

It was two hours of people just yelling into the Alexa to play random songs and literally dancing. And at one point, we've got Austin. I'll introduce him here in a second. Somebody said the Star Spangled Banner, and we all stood up and did this. We sang the Star Spangled Banner with our so for two hours that's what we did, and then we came home. So it was uh it was a fun time.

Meet Austin: Roots And Career

SPEAKER_01 4:25

It was a fun time. And hearts, our tummies were full, and our hearts were full that that night. That was a great night. Okay, my trusty co-host. Tell us about our guest.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Um, so first of all, super happy to uh welcome uh Austin Sertucci. Um uh Austin is uh a father at uh the school where our um our children go, uh a Catholic uh school. Um thrilled Ava's been in there. We uh no idea, no idea that we were going to uh this school, but uh COVID hit and life changed, and we went in there as a first grader and uh Ava's in fifth grade. We've been there. It's a great community. Um I've got to know Austin uh a little bit. I'll tell you a little bit uh story later of how we first introduced himself. But Austin is a husband, he's father of three. You just look at him and he's fit. Fit guy. Uh looks like he's done CrossFit, weightlifting, other things. Also, like all of us, um, he's super busy. He's a corporate executive, busy parent. Just have to adapt to life, right? And uh also those three kids, I'm sure, have a lot of after-school activities. Um, but when I met uh Austin, he had just come up and started a kind of a running group uh for parents. And it was kind of an informal thing, but it's really led into a much more structured and uh an actual community of running at the for parents at the school. And uh we've got a lot of people he's gonna talk about it. He's got people competing in a 510 half marathon at uh Shamrock and raising some money. So just a really cool guy, and uh I really want to have him in here and tell a story. So, Austin, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Hey, thanks a lot, Daryl. Really, really happy to be here and good to uh be with you, Doug, too. Um, I was uh kind of floored when I got the text message that you wanted me to come on board. I'm like, what do you want to talk to me about? But um no, this is super fun, and I'm super honored. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Daryl knows you, you're you're part of the family, the the Saint Mel family group and all that stuff, and but I don't know you that well. I've seen you around and I've heard a lot about you. So, and the listeners, there's gonna be a lot of listeners. Uh, hopefully there'll be a lot of Saint Mel families listening to see who Austin is to get the the dirt on you. No, I'm just kidding. But uh, but the people who listen globally, you know, I want you to tell us a little bit about yourself as like from my perspective. Like I want to get to know you a little bit. How'd you grow up? Where'd you grow up and and what brought you to today?

Discovering Running And First Races

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Yeah, so I'm pretty local to the Sacramento area. I actually grew up in North Highlands uh and went to St. Lawrence Catholic School. Went there from kindergarten to eighth grade. My wife is a year younger than me. She also went to St. Lawrence. Um so we came from the same neighborhood. And uh her her siblings went there and I know them really well. So um it was it's pretty cool. We never paid any attention to each other until we were in college, but yeah, we went to the same school. Wow, that's uh I went to Jesuit high school. Uh I was lucky enough to get financial aid and scholarships, and then I worked my way through there. So um that was a great experience, but then still remain local and went and graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in criminal justice with the original intention of joining the FBI. When I graduated and talked to the FBI, they said we don't take any criminal justice majors. Like, wow, well, the life-changing moment right there. Um, and uh as it so happens, my my uh fiance, my wife, who was my fiance at the time, she was working for USAA as an auto claims adjuster. And I was like, you know what? I have bills to pay as soon as I graduate. Just get me in the door somewhere that gives me a paycheck. And um ended up getting an interview with Traveler's Insurance, and um I got invited to join their underwriting professional development program. And then that led into a career of insurance. Um, but all the while, um, you know, trying to keep up with fitness. Um, when I was um going to school, I worked for Macy's downtown plaza and I worked in their loss prevention department. And um, you know, you would go catch shoplifters, right? So sometimes you'd like stop the shoplifters coming out the door and you show them their badge, your badge, and like, you know, Macy's loss prevention, need to talk to you about what's in your possession, and they go off running. Well, I kind of learned that I was fast because I was the one who was booking it after these, you know, kids or adults who were like running for their lives, and they were like, oh no, Tucci can handle it. And so I was like, huh. Running, huh? So um from there, I I, you know, I I start actually started to like, oh, okay, let's let's just you know try this thing out uh because I was always just kind of more of a gym rat. Um, but then uh kind of fell into uh running uh after after that. So uh yeah, so work in insurance. Uh I'm an I'm an assistant vice president for our general liability and umbrella lines of coverage uh where I work right now. Uh but then also I have been a coach for my daughter's soccer team for the last three years, a te ball coach. Uh just recently I'm wrapping up basketball season for my daughter. And uh I've I've decided that I'm gonna go drop down from the U10 level and go back to the U6s and coach my my youngest daughter and her first foray into soccer. So I'm really excited about that. Yeah, so we're very busy after school. Uh, everyone has an activity. You know, uh we're transitioning into softball right now. In fact, we had a game last night for basketball, and then we went right over to the batting cages. Very busy at the Zik Turchi household. Uh, all the kids, they have their priorities are set. We just work around their schedule.

The Text Thread That Sparked Training

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Oh man, oh gosh, I remember those days when my wife and I had to, we had four kids and they were close, pretty close in age. One of them was a little further along, but I don't know. I look back today, even as I'm listening to you, and it's like, and they all play different sports. One was when swimming, one was in wrestling, one was in soccer, the other one we didn't know where she was, but we were it was just I look back and I'm like, how in the heck were we in four places at because sometimes it was like at once, and somehow you manage. It's crazy what the human mind and the the physical uh capabilities you can get when that kind of pressure's there for you to be there, man. You call out on community and you ask neighbors and coaches to help out, pick up, drop off. It's just it's crazy. So thank god you it's your turn. I'm done. I'm I'm an empty nester now, and so uh, but so I can sit back and just smile as you go ahead and go through the motions. But good job, man. Good job. Were you let me ask you a question? Were you athletic in high school and uh and college? No.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

So when I went to Jesuit, I had a carpool for the first two years, and basically it was like if you weren't there for pickup, you're not going home. So there was no after school activities. Yeah, and then when you know, sophomore year, junior year, I finally became working age, my parents said no more. We pay for your tuition, you can pay for everything else. So clothes, toiletries, anything that is outside of the normal like basics of living, you're gonna pay for it on your own. Wow. So uh all weekends were working, so there's no time for any sports. I just I just worked. So as soon as I got my um, you know, work permit at 15 and a half, I was I worked at a hardware store and I was working at a restaurant and um you know that kind of thing throughout all of high school. So never really did that. Uh but as a younger kid, yeah, I mean, baseball. Um I did five years of taekwondo, earned a black belt, you know, I kind of think so. Okay. Um, but yeah, never got to do an organized sport in high school.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Very interesting. So let me ask you a question, and I'm gonna go off, take the off ramp for a quick second here and try to hit the the emotion part. But looking back now, do you see uh what your parents did? Because as a kid, you might had been frustrated or resentful or like, come on, you know, or why do I have to work? And my friends aren't working, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And as a kid, in that moment, many young adults or or teens might feel a little resentful towards their parents. And but as they grow up, they see the value and like, man, I they taught me a lot. Because it just you do looking back now, you can see the work ethic you have, you know where it came from, and uh, you know, you had to survive. And so, what what what goes on in your head when I'm asking you this question? Are you looking back?

Race Day Goals And Group Momentum

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Yeah, uh not resentful at all, you know. So during that time, my mom was going back to school for speech pathology and audiology. She never received her bachelor's, right? Right. So she went back to school at 40, and I was 10 at the time. And so she ended up graduating with her bachelor's, but then she went into a master's program, and she was working, you know, small jobs, but then also going to school and and doing everything she could to get her master's um to get a a more a better paying job. I mean, we like I said, I lived in North Highlands, and that's not like the greatest of socioeconomic areas of of Northern California, right? Right. And so I was I felt very lucky that I was going to Jesuit. I mean, it was either that or go to Highlands High School and like, uh, no thanks. Right. You know, so I was already the poor kid at Jesuit. I knew I I knew where I stood, you know. Okay. So um I felt I was already out of place there. I mean, we got kids with new cars and going to parties and stuff, and I was like, well, I will drive my 1992 Toyota Paseo and head off to work.

unknown 14:11

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Oh, that's cool. You were cut, it sounds like you were pretty comfortable with yourself and where you were at, and you just showed up and did what you had to do. Is that does that sound about right?

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Yeah, and I I mean I had a lot of motivation to get after life and and do well in school, get into college, do what I could there, and find a good paying job. That's what I that's all I really wanted, you know. And I told my wife, I told my wife at least once a week that like I feel like right now I I live, I live, I feel like I'm living in a music video. You know, I I look you know, I'm like, this is like I feel like I'm it's this is this is Biggie Smells Juicy. You know, it was all a dream.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

That's Doug, um, I I I gotta back up a little. Uh and I never knew this about Austin. Uh so uh Austin and I are uh neighbors growing up. I went to Foothill High School, and uh Highlands is only about two miles from Foothill. Yeah, and uh Foothill High School uh did not have a um uh football stadium, right? So we used to have to go over to Highlands to play, right? Uh that was where we played our football games. And as somebody at Foothill, I was scared to go to Highlands to go play our football games because Highlands could be a little rough, you know what I mean? Oh so we kind of didn't grow up that far apart from each other, but when we would go play Jesuit or Rio, we'd be going playing the rich kids, right? That's what we felt like when we were from our from our area. It's like, oh, we're playing, oh, we're going to Jesuit, or we're going to go play Rio Americano. So I I kind of feel feel you, man. Uh uh, yeah, it's a different world from uh where we grew up.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

So we're gonna had that motivation to keep on going, and um, that's that's what's really fueled a lot of things in life.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Yeah, that's awesome. So I'm gonna get back on the on-ramp of of the general topic of this particular episode is we want to get into your run running and how you build community, establish community, and all that. But so when if you weren't at, you know, if you didn't have time in high school and college, it was work, work, work. When did running come into your life?

From Chat To Striders: Formalizing A Club

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Yeah, so um my wife, she was pre-med uh and then didn't get into med school. And it's because she had to work during college. She worked 40 hours a week at Starbucks and got like the low grade of a 3.9 GPA at UC Santa Barbara, which is like not good enough for a domestic med school at the time. That's crazy. And so moved back home, you know, and um we were living uh in this apartment in in the Sacramento Arden area, and she wanted to work, you know, in the medical industry and just kind of like just get her feet wet with something and figure out what the next move was, right? Right. She ended up getting this job at a chiropractic place called elite spinal care and sports care. And these guys are the most amazing chiropractors. They work on the Sacramento Kings, they work on like whenever there's figure skaters coming into town, they'll tune them up. They work on elite runners and and and you know, you know, high endurance athletes. They're amazing. So she's working there at the front office, and she was doing the medical assisting with another coworker, and both of them have never ran a race. And they're like, We work at a place where everyone here is like, yeah, where's your next marathon? Or where did your next triathlon? And they're like, Yeah, we so um they decided to sign up for a shamrocking race. I believe this was in 2010. Okay, and so um I was like, wow, that's pretty cool. And so my wife convinced me to join her. Uh, and so we went into the fleet feet training, right? Yep, once, you know, by uh by uh the river in Howe Avenue, and then go run a speed run on like Tuesday or Wednesdays, and then meet on Saturday morning for a long run. That's where I was like, well, I love this, this is awesome. I signed up for the run walk to begin with. Like, I don't know, I don't think I can do it, you know, and then like immediately just left that group. I was like, no, I will I'm gonna join the runners over there. I'll be I'll see you later. Janelle, you can stay with the run walk. So that's when it started. Okay, and uh ran my first half marathon there, and then immediately signed up for the urban cow following that. Oh then immediately signed up for another half marathon after that. And so um that was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Wow, wow, and so you ran for then you guys were newly married, no kids for a while, and you just you were running a little bit.

Coaching Structure And Positive Culture

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Yeah, yeah. We we took advantage of that time. We we even joined a CrossFit gym uh before we had kids. Uh, and um, you know, it was it was great, you know, like just seeing like like how much how much can we squat, you know? Um right, right. You know, that kind of thing. Um, so very challenging workouts. We had a lot of fun during that, but then but then we got pregnant. And life happens, you know, life completely changed. Our first kid, Addy, was born in June, and I remember stepping out of that that gym in May, knowing I would never come back, you know, because I was like, okay, from from that month of May was like go time. I am painting a baby's room, I am assembling cribs, I am, you know, all that stuff. Yeah. You know, uh definitely physical activity took a real big back burner for that first year. Wow because we were just you know new parents. We had no idea, yeah, no idea what was coming for us.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

I don't think anybody ever does. No, no, you don't. So fast forward to May last year, uh, we were at intermission or maybe even before, I think it was maybe before uh the Mary Poppins play at the school. Yeah, Austin comes up to me either at the gym or right outside, and he says, Hey, I'm Austin. And by the way, as you know, your sister Josephine, I'm known as Josephine's husband. I don't think no, know many people there because Josephine, her shadow is much bigger at the school than mine. And uh and he says, Hey, I hear you run. We've got a text group. Would you want to join us? And it was like, um, cool. So I gave my phone number, got on a little texting.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

You just we looked at your phone, you're like, When's the race? It was this thing, yeah. I'm in.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Yeah, and so uh I joined and I'll let Austin uh give the title of the text group because that's the best part of this whole story.

SPEAKER_03 20:29

But the our our our group chat is called Run Like the Winded.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Like the Winded, yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

I love that. But it's because of Joe. You know, I was sitting, I think I was sitting next to her for at lunch at a at a school field trip when our kids are at Sutter Sport for like the whole day and spending the night. And for some reason we're sitting together. We just got to chatting about and then running came up, and she's like, Oh, you want to talk about running? You should talk to my husband. And I was like, Oh, I was like, I all I know is he's really tall. So I thought I could find him, right? But what happened was uh I saw that a friend of mine who's Susannah Cornejo, we we were super good friends for the years, and she wanted to run a half marathon before she turned 40. And I was like, Whoa, that's cool, like good for you, you know. Like it got me thinking, like, I haven't run a race in like over 10 years, you know? Yeah, like maybe like now. I have my youngest is like at the time, she was turning three, you know. I'm like, and maybe it's time that we can like do this again, you know. So that's when I started to put the wheels in motion. Like, who can we get? Who would like to run? You know, who else wants to suffer windows? That's when that's when Daryl came on board.

Logistics, Long Runs, And Busy Parents

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Nice. And uh it was, I think I don't know, five, six, seven people um on the tech thread. I knew I knew Austin, I knew Tony, I knew Katie. I didn't know some of the other ones, and I'm really bad because I would just saw their numbers come up. So I didn't know who they were, but I know they were a number of Like uh 408 and all this, and Josephine's like, Why don't you ask who they are? It's like, I will just um, you know, there. We had a really fun summer, a lot of text messages, everything else. Um, and we signed up for a 10 miler at the end. I'm not quite sure. We had seven, eight people that joined us.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

And um, you know, Doug, you get on these things, you're like, uh, we'll do this text right, we'll see how it works. Right. Everybody was committed, everybody was running, different paces, different things, encouragement. It just started off. And when Austin said it's hey, just wait, great way to encourage people. Yeah, but then it grew. It grew. And uh we showed up at this race, and there were seven or eight of us. We hadn't really met as a group, all of us together, except for the day of the race. We meet at the day of the race, we had this awesome time, and like everybody crushed it. Um, I'll let Austin talk about Austin had some very specific goals that he had, a couple other people, everybody did great. And you get to the end of it, and you're like, oh, cool, this is it. But then all of a sudden it wasn't it. But first of all, Austin, I want you to share real quick, you set some pretty ambitious goals, uh, time goals and everything. Talk about that and how you achieved it.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

Yeah. So I wanted to go like somehow get under nine minutes a mile, but hopefully getting under 850. Wow. You know, keep in mind that like the last marathon, half marathon I that I ran, I was going for like 740s, you know, and like, yeah, yeah. But I mean, like, and then I I look at my cousin and he's like, um, yeah, I run 630 marathons, you know, you know, but but for me, I'm like, okay, this is gonna be a freaking challenge, you know. Right, right. You know, so I put this big goal in front of myself, but what what really helped was that group text because everyone would post their long run of the week. And you didn't want to be the guy you didn't post, right? Because they're gonna, you know, like they'll get at you friendly, of course, but just like, hey, you're gonna show up. Where are you at? You know, um, and so it and when it was cool, and then when you do like a great run, and then like you get those comp like you're on fire, this is great, like it gets that that you know, that confidence building up, and um, and then you start seeing other people in the group like really achieving some great stuff too, and you can't help but be super proud of everyone who's showing up running in the middle of summer, 104 degrees in Sacramento heat, you know, and putting down some great times. And I think during the race, Daryl, that like me, you and Tony running like that pushed all three of us, you know, to to go. Because it's it it it it was it was so much fun. It was a blast. Yeah, and and the warming up together, and then like getting that group together and that that like final high five, and like we're gonna do this. It just fired you up. You know, you already have adrenaline going on race day, but this was like a different kind, like a like oh, this feels really good. This is cool.

Community Impact Beyond The Runners

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Yeah, and it was uh it was uh really fun. Uh Austin's uh Austin uh Doug, oh my gosh, we you would be totally jealous. He's got this this like perfect efficient form. And I think I already told you this, Doug. I was like, all right, I'm gonna follow him for a mile, and I followed him for two, and I followed him for three. And I I I slowly see him and Tony drifting off, and I was so happy uh there. And we we had a great time. But we got in. Austin, I think, was the first to finish, and then there's a few of us come in, and then we we were looking down and we're like, Oh, we got another 10-15 minutes before the ladies come in. All of a sudden, I think we see the first lady come. We're like, she was already there, and we were she was like 10 minutes ahead of when we expected her to be there, and they just came in one after the other. So we get there, we take a group shot. You had your uh wife, the kids, and we had this, and we took this really. We all kind of left, and actually, I actually no, I shouldn't say that. We went out to uh breakfast after that, right? And then we got to the end of it, and then you're kind of like, you know, that like, okay, what what's next? You're kind of this, and about a week or two later, or something, Austin came up with a great idea and decided, hey, we're not gonna let this kind of die. And he kind of took it to the next level. So, Austin, talk about what you kind of your idea and what you launched and where we're at.

Why Community Matters To A Solo Runner

SPEAKER_03 26:04

So I felt so good after that race. I felt that we created this really great community. We were still texting in that group chat even after the race. It's so like we found some friends and we found people that like we have some commonalities and we pushed each other and like and we went through it together. And so, like now, now we're buds, you know, and I just didn't really want that to end. Um, but what I really wanted to do was expand it um in a in a more official capacity, and I felt there was an opportunity to create a a bigger community with the sin within the St. Mel parent group. Yeah, you know, there we we do a lot of things for our kids. We're on the sidelines a lot, and we do a lot of volunteer hours and we do a lot of committees and stuff like that. But what if we had a group where it's us working together? And would it be nice if it's also working on our physical fitness and doing something that's really great for us? Right. You know, that's where the Striders was born. And so I was able to speak with the principal of the school to say, like, hey, can this be like an official Saint Mel thing? Because if it's not official, then it's just like, all right, we'll just do off the side. But if it's official, we can use the logo. We can say it's the St. Mel Striders, and oh, and by the way, we can make this a fundraiser for the school. Uh-huh. Whatever proceeds we do, we can we can get back to the school. Um, and so it was a go. You know, we got to we got to put the word out there. Uh, and I'm I was hoping for 20 participants, and we have 25 this year. Wow. So I'm really happy with that number. It's tough to get people to join to something like this, but I think 25 is a great start. Um that's an amazing start, bro.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Come on.

Big Goals Ahead: CIM And First Marathon

SPEAKER_03 27:52

That's amazing. It feels pretty good. And so, yeah, and so we we took the framework of run like the winded, right? And then we added uh a group chat on group me, uh, the messaging app. Yep, yep. And we have we broke it into like the 5K's and 10ks, who's led by Coach Tony and Coach Katie. Nice, and then we have uh the half marathoners who are a little bit more veteran runners and they're led by Coach Austin, or you know, just I I just poke a stick every once in a while to remind people go run your long run. Right, right. But it's the same thing. It's like there are some rules around striders. One is this is a positive community. That's number one. We respect each other and we encourage each other. Two, not everyone's a fast runner. Uh some people might be slower, some people might be faster, but you're gonna be respectful and we're gonna encourage each other along the way and celebrate milestones and successes, right? Right. And then the other part is post your runs, be proud of it. And I guarantee people are gonna be complimentary and give you the kudos when you do. Yeah, you know, because it takes some guts sometimes to be like, ah, it's kind of vulnerable to post your screenshot of your run to 25 strangers sometimes. Right, you know, yeah, you know, but getting that positive reinforcement from the community, I think really helps people continue, right? Because 10 weeks of training, that's what we have set it for set up for. That's a long time for some people, you know. Yeah, uh, that's a lot of consistent effort.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Wow. Yeah, and the nice part, Doug, um, is uh we'll give a couple of examples. Is uh he actually hosted um uh a Zoom call, brought people off they wanted to, talked a little bit about the event, talked about the structure, talked about the app. By the way, uh Austin's kind of uh short-sighted, he's extremely organized. He sent out instructions, emails, links. I mean, like you just like you know, running running club by numbers. He's got every last little thing. You want to talk about nutrition, he'll talk about nutrition. You want to talk about training, talk about training. You want to talk about long runs and everything else. Um, and so I think for some of the people, it's been really educational. Even for me, I've, you know, some good, good things on hydration, everything else. And the number one thing, which I really like is you've given people a structure, but you we kind of, I would say the number one thing, Austin, we kind of hold ourselves accountable for the long run because that's the one that you're always going, oh man, I gotta do that one on the weekend. And everybody, it starts Friday, because some people start their year long runs on Friday, and then a few on Saturday, and then a few on Sunday, and on Monday. But pretty much everybody's posting Friday through through through Monday and is so freaking encouraging, right? Um, it is awesome.

Lessons In Leading A Volunteer Club

SPEAKER_03 30:30

Yeah. And you know, right now the half marathoners are at the stage where we're at the 11 mile mark. That's a long run, man. So, and you guys know, but it's it's it's to fit that into schedule, and you're like, all right, well, you know, we have uh we have baseball that's at nine, and then we have a you know, a birthday party that starts at two. Well, I think I can get that two-hour block right here, and I'm just gonna go for it, you know, and and busy parents, like that's like if you were able to do that and just get it in there, that's a major win, you know, and so we we want to encourage that. We have a structure in place, but you know, it it's we have to be understand that things are fluid and they don't always go as planned. And and um we we want to make sure that people don't have that um pressure of like, oh, you didn't get on Saturday, well, then uh you know that's not great. Right. So right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Um, Doug, I want to hit you because I know you're a longtime educator uh around schools and Catholic. Not only is there the group, people outside of the group at the St. Mel's is talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Yeah right.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

You know, um, you know, when I see uh the principal, she's like, How's the running group? Or I'll talk to someone who's like, Maybe I'll join next time. So it's not just the 25 people, Austin. I think the it's it's making an uh impact well beyond just those 25.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

That's really cool to know. I mean, uh the I hope that we we gain more traction and set this up again for next year and we'll we'll get even more people. Um but I I think it's been a pretty good success, and I'm really happy with with the folks on it. So it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

You know, Austin, when if I if I was getting sitting down, getting to know you, uh I get really curious about why people make certain decisions or why they think a certain way. And and earlier on in the interview, you said something about who else can we get to do this with us? And uh for me, myself, as a man, a lot of times I'm on an island. Like I'm the I'm the kind of guy who's not gonna stop at the gas station and ask for directions. I'm gonna figure it out. Or if I want to know how to train, like when I trained for CIM, I ran uh Marathon, um, I did hire a uh fleet feet coach, and my coach was telling me, Oh, you need to slow down here, it looks like you're going too hard, and blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, she doesn't know what she's talking about. I I know what I'm doing, I'm gonna do this. And I really didn't get involved in in bringing others along. And and even today, like I sometimes I feel like I'm on I'm on an island in my mind. I'm just gonna go do it. But I loved when you said, who else can we get? Because what I have noticed about myself is when I am part of a group, or if I'm just running in an event and you're around that energy, I love that. And there's so much energy and and the the frequency level is so much higher, and it I get so much joy from it. And so I am part of a few groups and I thrive in that. But what what what happens with you? What what makes you default? It sounds like you default to who else can we get involved in this kind of attitude, or am I just making that up?

Kids Watching Parents Compete

SPEAKER_03 33:21

Um this is out of the box for me. It really is. I I love to run by myself, I I love to work out in my garage with my airpods in and being alone. That is my sanctuary by myself, and the long runs by myself is like a mental reset because all you're doing is breathing and being in nature. Right. You know, it's it's like I it's akin to church, if you will.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:53

Um, but what got me thinking about the community was I needed a little bit of motivation in front of me to get back to doing a 10-mile race. I'll run three to five any day of the week, but then you're going past the 10k mark and you're like, ah, I really don't want to do this. But having that accountability within a group is is is really helpful. And then, you know, when my my friend Susanna said that she was running, and it's like I all of a sudden I got I was just like sparking joy. I was like talking to her. I'm like, how would your run go? Would do you have a good stretch routine? Or you know, all this I and I just start get started getting fired up, and so I kind of realized that like I like talking to people about this. I probably would like doing it, you know, with a community too. Right. Um, so that's what really kind of did it. But for you know, for geez, going on 16 years, I really was just training by myself. Okay.

Closing Gratitude And Shoutouts

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Well, Doug, I was thinking about some of the things you and I have done. We do some physical things, but some of the harder things are the non-physical things where you got to put yourself out there, Doug. You know what I mean? And uh, like you and I, um just Austin, you know, we had been running a couple times and talk Doug talked about starting a podcast and then he challenged me to join him. Like we both went, oh my god, all right, we'll try. You know, it's like sometimes just saying yes to things that are uncomfortable is some of the best things you do. You know, I can't believe uh just a simple text thread with the funny little has turned into uh St. Mill Striders that not only is gonna be at Shamrock, Doug, but is gonna be participating in CIM next year with Austin.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Nice. Oh, so you guys are going, you guys are going with the big dogs, okay. Going for it. Yeah, it's awesome. That's a fun run. That's a fun run. It'll be my first one. Your first marathon or first CIM?

SPEAKER_03 35:49

First CIM, first marathon.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Wow. Oh, you're you're gonna have a blast. You have the mindset for it, and and you're already surrounded uh around some awesome people, and it is just I see I didn't do it that way. I did, I was on an island and uh and I was training by myself and doing it, and then I moved out to the hills. And man, I was trying to run my the pace my coach was telling me when she thought I was on a flat on flats, but I'm in elevation and hills and a lot of injury and stuff. I we got it done, but it kind of racked me up for a little while. But it's all it is what it is, so I'm excited. I saw Daryl compete in it last year, he did phenomenal, phenomenal. And my son did it last year. And oh my gosh, I couldn't, but that kid just he's amazing, he's amazing. But he he had a great time. And uh I followed along on the bicycle last year and just was there for support and cheering, so it was fun. And I look forward to seeing you do it too, Austin, because I'll probably be out there next year just cheering people on.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

I can't wait. And that yeah, uh, I was I was half tempted to join Daryl uh for the 2025, but I was not there yet. But I'm I'm really looking forward to the to to this year. Um already signed up, already committed, and um, yeah, it's it I I it's gonna be a blast. And I it's it's something that I I really want to add to the accomplishment list.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

Yeah you you said this this is kind of new building this community and getting other people involved. What are you learning from that and uh how is it impacting the community from your perspective?

SPEAKER_03 37:20

Oh gosh, that's a great question. So uh I've learned that the preparation for for creating these types of communities is is really key. You you get a ton of questions back once you like establish something, like okay, you're gonna be the leader of this group, then all of a sudden you are fielding a lot of different questions, and a lot of sometimes you just don't have the answers, right? Right. And so trying to be as prepared as possible for that is is really key. And and and Daryl, you were so nice to say that I was well prepared. I mean, I was just like, I hope I have everything, I hope I have everything set, you know, because there's just so much that goes into preparing for a race, you know, not just like getting out there and running, but like how how are you hydrating, how are you fueling, how are you stretching, how are you mobilizing? And you know, people have a lot of good questions about that. So learn that being prepared is is just absolutely key. You know, you you take on more roles, I think, than just coach too when you are are doing something like this. You're a community organizer, you're the treasurer, you know, you're you're a spokesperson, you're the social media guy. Like you start to do wear a lot of different hats.

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

Um, and and it's um it's it's fun though. I mean, I really it really is, but it's it's cool. And I think it's all gonna be worth it when we can be there on race day, and I can give them that final pump up message before they go off. And then I can't wait to see all my runners cross that finish line so I can give hugs and high fives and you know, just give them all the kudos that they deserve. So it's it that's that's that's really gonna be something.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

You have an awesome heart, Austin. You have an awesome heart and and just the way you see things, your perspective, and man, God bless you, and thank you for sharing with us here on on this show.

SPEAKER_00 39:09

Just one more thing, Austin, and uh Josephine and I talked about this, and so we talked to Doug. Our kids seeing their parents being active, being athletic, being healthy, that's really like a massive benefit. Ava's always talking about are you guys going for a run? Um, are you meeting the team? They're out there supporting us. Talk about what that means to you, and I think that's one of the big differences. There we're we spend so much of our lives, Austin, going and seeing our kids at St. Mel's doing activities. Now they're able to see us participating. Talk about that for a second.

SPEAKER_03 39:45

So this is really special. When I was first running for the 10 miler, my son Addy would join me on his bike and I would run beside him. That was one of our really big like father-son moments of doing something like in a physical activity, you know, thing together. I never coached one of his sports, you know. I started doing I like I like saw other people coaching like soccer and and other things. I was like, oh, I that'd be really fun. And so I started doing it for my daughter, but I never got I never did it for him. And so this was something we're like, okay, now we can share this together. Um, and that was really, really special. And then seeing them on the sidelines, cheering and talking about, oh, dad's gonna do this, or wow, that's a long distance dad, and like, oh man, that just like makes you want to go even harder and or you know, achieve something for them. You know, gosh, I I I'll I'll think about them during a run, and I'm like tearing up out there, you know. Um, so it's really special. And now it's really fun because the three-year-old who's my little Spitfire, you know, she comes over to us while we're I thumb stretching or mobilizing, and then she's doing her version of that too, and saying, like, you gotta do it like me, daddy. Like, all right, yeah, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 41:02

That's odd.

SPEAKER_03 41:03

So it's it's it's so much fun. And I I love that they're seeing this and that um it's just kind of being a part of their lives, and hopefully it will be for the rest of their lives, too.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Wow, that is so cool. You know, uh the name of this podcast is Peach Podcast, and Peach is an acronym for purpose, energy, attitude, commitment, and health. And I gotta tell you, Daryl, this this episode right here, it just embodies everything Austin. Austin embodies every bit of that acronym. And everything you everything you said, Austin, was on point. And thank you. Thank you for saying yes and showing up and just sharing who you are and what you do. Uh, it's not nothing magical, mystical, or you know, crazy. It's you just it's everyday things done with intention and love and care, and bam. It's uh it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing, brother. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 41:58

They're welcome. Thank you very much, and I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. So thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

All right, all right. We're gonna sign off. You have any last comments, Daryl?

SPEAKER_00 42:07

No, except for uh Josephine uh text me and said she's got three miles to do. I said, Oh, are you doing a fast three miles? And she said, That's relative. So she's smart.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

All right, Austin, you want to just say hi to your your wife and kids?

SPEAKER_03 42:23

Yeah, so I'm gonna say hi to my beautiful wife Janelle and to my son Addy, daughter Cora, and my littlest daughter, Vivia. I love you.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Right on, right. All righty, guys, and I'm gonna sign off like I always do and say God bless and peace out. Peace out.