Rena Beinikis says she went ‘zero to 100 real quick’ when it comes to her running journey.

Due to several non-running related injuries, the Philly native spent much of 2023 unable to walk, and was still walking with a limp while watching her friend complete the New York City Marathon that fall and deciding she wanted to do the same one day. She still hadn’t fully recovered when she was offered a charity bib for the 2024 race, but at that point figured it was ‘meant to be.’

And so Rena dove right into marathon training, joining Nike’s Project Moonshot and trying out different run clubs near where she lived at the time, from Reckless Run Crew to No Bad Days Run Club. That zero to 100 mentality also encompassed Rena’s racing journey, as she’s spent the last two years signing up for ‘any and everything’ and diving deeper into the sport than she ever imagined. She says the community is the biggest factor of that, though she adds that running has also made her ‘a better person,’ whether it be the structure it brings or the habits it promotes.

We spoke with Rena to discuss the ‘nobody gets left behind’ mantra of the NYC running community, how her goals have shifted to focus more on training than results, her bucket list races and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To get started, can you give a background of yourself, where you’re from, what brought you to New York City if you’re not from here originally and the initial origins of how you got into running?

Yeah, totally. So I was born and raised just outside of Philadelphia, so not super far from New York, and then I moved to New York in 2019. So it’s been about seven years, which is kind of crazy to think about. I currently live in Forest Hills. I bounced around—I lived in the Bronx for a little bit, I lived in Greenpoint for a little bit—but currently Forest Hills.

I honestly went pretty zero to 100 real quick with running. I suffered from some pretty bad injuries in 2023. They weren’t running-related, I just got really badly hurt. I fractured multiple bones in my left foot multiple times during 2023. So I ended up spending nine out of 12 months that year on a mobility scooter, completely non-weight-bearing. Like, could not walk. It was really a nightmare of a year. It was really difficult.

And then come November of 2023, one of my best friends actually ran the New York City Marathon, and so I got to hang out with her family and cheer her on. And at this point, I barely could walk. I was limping around the city with her family to cheer her on, but really loving the experience…. And I really did feel like, ‘All right, I’m getting back into walking, but I would love to be able to also run a marathon one day.’

And then a few months later, I ended up with a charity bib to the 2024 New York City Marathon. It kind of fell in my lap. And I think when I got asked if I wanted it, I still walked with a pretty bad limp. But I was like, ‘I think it was meant to be’. I took the bib, I started training. I did not do well. It was a really tough course and tough day, and I think I might have bit off more than I could chew at that point. But I loved the experience nonetheless, and it was actually that same best friend who cheered me on all day and reminded me, ‘One year ago you could barely walk, so it doesn’t really matter how well you did or didn’t do,’ because at the end of the day I finished and I achieved that goal.

But then kind of since then, I got the bug and I’m pretty hooked. And now I’m just continuously signing up for really any and everything. I want to do the six Majors—seven, eight, nine, however many Majors it becomes. And that’s how I got into running in the first place.

It seems like in 2025 you went zero to 100 in terms of signing up for all these races…. In 2024, leading up to the marathon, was it mostly just training and focusing on that race? Did you mostly train on your own, or what did running look like for you leading up to the marathon?

Yeah, so that initial year I did get accepted to run with Nike Project Moonshot, which I would attribute a lot of my love for the running and running community to being a part of that program…. Especially because with Moonshot, you had people from all different run clubs across the city who were coming together with Nike for those few runs a week, which was awesome, because I just felt like I got to meet a lot of people really early on in my running career.

And then, like you said, it did change in 2025. In 2025, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon, also with a charity, which I trained a lot better for. And then I also did 9+1 in 2025, so I ran a lot of New York Road Runners races. And I just started discovering the other races that you can get into around the city. I did the Bandit Grand Prix. I did the 5k on the Beach. I think I did Brooklyn Mile. I just did really anything I could do.

I had a lot of fun with it, because I learned that—especially because, I know everything’s subjective, but I did feel like I came into the running community as a bit of a slower runner, mostly based on injury in the past. But I got really hooked on that feeling of competitiveness. And I wasn’t competing with anyone around me, but just competing with myself and getting excited every time I could sign up for these different races. And maybe some days are a PR, some days aren’t a PR. But just getting that rush of competitiveness from inside, and knowing that I’m signing up for these races so that I can go out there and give it my all and be proud of whatever outcome I come to.

In terms of signing up for more and more races, especially the ones that aren’t New York Road Runners…. Was that an intentional switch for you, or was it just as you learned more about these you started signing up for them?

Yeah, I don’t think it was very intentional. I think I just started to dive into the running community and seeing what opportunities were out there. Like I said, I have a lot of fun racing, and ultimately I figure any race could be built into a marathon training block. If I’m racing a 5k, then I’ll maybe skip a tempo workout in that week and kind of just rearrange my training each week based on anything random I might have signed up for. I just really got hooked on that adrenaline that signing up for all the races brings.

You mentioned Nike Project Moonshot in 2024 as the main group you were involved in. Any other groups and crews in general that have played a part in your running journey?

Absolutely, yeah. So Nike Moonshot was kind of my first introduction into the community aspect. And then when I was training for that 2024 marathon, I was living in Greenpoint at the time, and so I took some time to look into what run clubs existed in that area. And Reckless Run Crew was one of the first ones I ever attended. And I actually distinctly remember my first run I did with them, they were running what to me was way too fast, and I was absolutely bewildered at what I had gotten myself into. But I ended up finding a Citi Bike dock and hopping on the Citi Bike for maybe a mile of the run, and staying with the crew, and then eventually parked the Citi Bike, got back on my two feet and finished the run with them.

And I remember that kind of being special, because even though maybe I couldn’t keep up on my own, I still wasn’t left behind. I think it was Lorra’s idea for me to grab that bike and take a minute to kind of recoup before finishing the run with them. And so that showed me that in the community, it’s very important that nobody gets left behind. Since then, Reckless Run Crew is the number one club that I continue to go to week after week. They were a really big part of the start of my running journey. And it’s been exciting to see how on that first run with them I couldn’t keep up and I had to get on a bike, and now sometimes I’m able to lead the pack, or also sometimes I sweep with them and make sure that nobody else gets left behind. So it’s been nice to come full circle and also give back to the community, as opposed to [just] existing in it.

And then I also run with a few other groups. I really like running with No Bad Days Run Club, also in Brooklyn. That was another one where the first time I ran with them, I lost them completely. I was left in the dust, but that was okay. And at this point I run with them often, and again, I don’t get left in the dust anymore. But that’s another run club where they’re really good people, really good vibes. Everyone there is very welcoming, and makes sure to talk to new people and make friends.

I have recently been running with Tracksmith too. I came on with Tracksmith as a pacer. I started with them doing the Brooklyn Half Marathon training program, pacing their long runs, and now also pacing long runs with them this summer for the marathon training program. And that’s similar to how I feel about Reckless. It’s been really nice to be more than just a community member, and someone who’s actually giving back.

What were your initial goals when it came to running marathons, whether it be 2024 New York, and then how that evolved into your goals for 2025 Chicago?.... People have varying experiences about what their goals look like as they get more into running, so I’m curious what that’s looked like for you over the last couple years?

Yeah, totally. I think for 2024, I was so green to it all that I didn’t really know what to expect. So I will admit that I didn’t really have a time goal because I knew I was a little in over my head. I didn’t know what it was going to be like out there. But what was nice is it taught me what it’s like to run a marathon.

And so for Chicago, I ultimately didn’t go in with a very strict time goal. I did have some A goals I felt like were a stretch, but ultimately what I cared the most about was shaving time off that 2024 marathon. And I ultimately did. I ended up shaving like 39 minutes off. So that was the biggest goal for me, was just to cross the finish line again and do it faster.

Then for this year, for the 2026 New York City Marathon, I actually try not to say goals too much because I get a little bit nervous…. But I think right now my number one goal would be to go under five hours. Even if that’s just 4:59:59, I just want to do a sub-five-hour marathon.

But I do think also, in terms of how training for those goals have changed me, I think this year I’m really focusing a lot more on volume. And aside from getting my long runs done every week trying to make sure that some of those shorter weekly runs are longer, and that I’m safely creeping that weekly mileage up week over week so that I can feel like the time on feet and the fatigued legs are something that I’m used to. So that ultimately when I’m at maybe four hours and 30 minutes and there’s still a bit of race left, I’m not panicking because I’m tired. So yeah, definitely I have time goals, but in training, instead of training for that time goal, I’m training for a volume goal instead.

Do you think about long-term goals at all, or is it really taking it year by year and focusing on what’s directly in front of you?

My goals are just kind of year over year. I think that when I started running, I maybe didn’t anticipate it becoming such a big part of my life. And obviously, I’m beyond thankful. I think that running has really changed my life for the better, I think I’m a healthier person, and all of that. So I’m glad that running has taken such a large part of my life, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that. And so I think at least for now, it’ll continue to be a year-by-year goal. I already know that I’ll be running Berlin in 2027, which is another really exciting big goal to work toward.

But outside of that, even bigger picture, eventually I would like to have run all the Majors, and I have a few other bucket list races outside of the Majors that I want to accomplish. But I also have to think about the age that I’m at right now, there are a lot of other things to consider. I’m considering things like going back to school, and eventually there’s the thought of starting a family and things like that. So when I think about some of these bigger goals, it does eventually become more of just over time. I’m not looking to be one of the people who bangs out all the Majors in a really short period of time. I’m more interested in just taking the opportunities as they arise and as they fit into my schedule. And there might be a chance that after doing New York this year and Berlin next year, I take some time off from at least the big races, the marathons, and maybe just focus on casual running for a little bit again.

I guess at the base of the question, it really is year by year for me. The opportunities change every year, and besides having big goals that I want to accomplish—more like bucket list before I die, rather than even within the next decade—it’s very much just year over year, and hoping to always be a little bit better.

What are those other bucket list races outside the Majors?

Yeah, so I really want to run the Hawaii Marathon. I think that that just looks beautiful, and also seems like a great excuse to go to Hawaii, where I’ve never been. My interest has been piqued by Big Sur, looks like another beautiful race.

And then there’s a lot of excitement around some of those bigger ultras and trail running races. I know that the Leadville 100 just wrapped up, and then you have UTMB, the Mont Blanc one in France. Those are very big races that I don’t know that I’ll ever be in a place for, but it’s been really fun watching the people who are racing those races, and thinking in the back of my head, ‘Could I ever be there? Could I be partaking in a 100-mile race maybe one day?’....

One more that I do want to do—I ran, but did not finish the LA Marathon this year.… It was absolutely stunning out there, stunning course. And so that is on my bucket list as a redo, because I plan on finishing that race one day.

You mentioned how you didn’t expect running to take up as much of a part of your life as it has over the last couple years. Maybe it’s repeating stuff you mentioned earlier, but what do you think has caused it to become such a big part of your life?

I think that it’s kind of a collaboration of all the things that it has brought to my life. I think that the community is one of the biggest driving factors for me. I’ve been in New York for just over seven years, and despite some of the friendships that I had already existing coming into living here, I hadn’t really made a lot of friends. And that was okay. That wasn’t something that bothered me. But I have now found that since I’ve taken up running and been so involved in the community, I’ve made so many more friends in the past two and a half years of running than I did in the other five years that I lived in New York. So definitely the community is a really big driver.

But I also think that just chasing the thrill, chasing the adrenaline. I’m not really an adrenaline junkie. I’m not someone who’s ever looking to skydive, and I’m not rushing to the next best roller coaster in an amusement park. But I do really enjoy chasing that adrenaline of competing against myself and getting my own best personal times…. Just chasing that feeling is really special.

And then the third thing that I’ve also touched on is I do think that running in general has just made me a better person. I’m a healthier person. I have healthier habits. And I lean away from some of the unhealthy habits I used to have. I used to be a very big partier and a big drinker. And I still do those things, but it exists in a lot more moderation, because I’m always thinking about, ‘Maybe I don’t want to be hungover during this run,’ or whatever it might be.

I think even just having the drive and the big goals to chase after has also helped me become a structured person, right? Because you have to kind of plan training programs pretty far out, even if it’s only a week or two. You’re planning your runs, you’re planning your schedule. You’re making sure that you stay on top of everything else that exists in life. Still doing your work, still socializing, still calling mom and dad. I just think that in general, it’s made me a better person. It’s made me more well-rounded, focused. It’s helped me blossom into an adult, as I’ve grown up and I’ve matured a little bit.

You’ve done a lot of different races within New York City. Are there ones that stand out as underrated or your favorites?

This is definitely not an underrated race, but the Bandit Grand Prix is one of my favorite races I’ve ever done. And that’s even coming from someone where I’ve now raced it twice, and my pace is still a lot slower than a lot of the people entering into that race, and so I’ve never made it to the second round of races. But I have so much fun with it every time. I plan to probably run it every year, even if I never make it to that B race. Definitely one of the ones that I highly recommend. I think that everyone should sign up for it at least once. The energy at that race is absolutely insane, and I think that Bandit does a really good job putting the event on….

Ray’s to Ray’s, I do think that that’s a really special annual event. Especially, like I said, Reckless is very near and dear to my heart. I’ve only run Ray’s to Ray’s once. I’ve volunteered at it twice. And I think for as long as I’m running, I’ll alternate one year volunteer, one year run. So that means next year I’m hoping to run it. I still don’t know that underrated is the word, I know that it sold out pretty quickly. But definitely it’s up there in terms of unique experience, a cool race, and just hosted by really good people.

What makes the New York City running community special to you, or what’s your favorite part of the New York City running community?

I guess I haven’t really been involved in any other city’s running community, but some of the things that are special are, like I had said before, the kind of feeling and mantra of nobody gets left behind. Ultimately, we’ve all been a beginner at some point, and while maybe some people do just have a natural inclination to be faster as a beginner, not everyone will. And so I think just the inclusivity, knowing that when somebody new comes to your event and comes to your run club, it’s a great opportunity to introduce yourself and make sure that they feel welcome and make sure that they don’t feel left behind.

Because ultimately, knowing that myself or anyone can help somebody experience all the same benefits that running has brought to my life—I would love to see that be brought to other people’s lives. And so I just think that the community is very strong in the nobody-left-behind aspect.

What’s one thing that you wish you knew as a beginner runner, or what would you tell other beginner runners?

I guess the biggest thing is, especially for somebody who does feel like their starting pace is slower, I think that slowing down is really important. I actually got the chance to run with somebody at a Reckless event recently, and it was her first time ever running more than a mile. And I was acting as the sweep, making sure that nobody got left behind. We were together, and we were doing run-walk intervals. And every time she would be ready to run, she was sprinting. And I kept being like, ‘It’s okay to slow down.’ I think that when you’re new to running, and especially because running has become such a big thing, it’s really easy to see that a lot of people are really fast. And it’s not to say that any of us can’t make it to those paces, but that’s not a starting point….

Run-walk intervals are perfectly acceptable. Anybody who’s maybe training for their first marathon and it’s feeling overwhelming, that maybe it’s hard to get to 10 miles of continuous running or 13 miles of continuous running—lots of people PR using run-walk intervals. So just, as beginners, slow down. If it’s your first training block, run-walk intervals are okay. Training blocks are never going to go perfectly, and that’s also okay. And just showing up and being your best is really the only advice that you can ever live by in running.

Any topics that we haven’t touched on that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

One closing thought I do have to say is, for anybody who maybe has an injury, or is teetering on injury, or is worried that their load might be on the edge…. The best thing that I can encourage people to utilize, especially if it’s a resource that’s accessible and available, is seeing a physical therapist whenever possible.

Like I said, I kind of got into running off of what was a pretty severe injury, and I was obviously in physical therapy for quite some time, having to learn literally how to walk again. But since then, I have returned back to the same company for physical therapy, and I just think it’s a really important resource. And I recognize that that’s coming from a slight place of privilege, because it might not always be affordable, and not everyone has great healthcare. But if it’s accessible to people, I really highly recommend utilizing it.

It’s really good to just get a good grasp on why things might be hurting that you don’t understand, and addressing it from a strength standpoint of how can we strengthen the ligaments, the muscles that are around what’s hurting, so that this pain doesn’t keep bothering you during your training. So yeah, I definitely cannot recommend seeing a physical therapist enough, if available.

Jackie Reiss had already started diving deeper into running in 2022, completing her first marathon in New York and signing up for London the following spring.

But after her husband Matt was diagnosed with ALS just prior to that London trip, the sport began taking on an even greater purpose for her.

Jackie estimates that she’s raised over $40,000 for a variety of different ALS charities over the last three years, finishing all six of the original World Marathon Majors in the process. In the meantime she also joined a local run club at her husband’s suggestion, something that at first served as a way to meet new people but has since transformed her ‘way of thinking about running,’ from different gear and fueling strategies to how she approaches training.

And after breaking four hours in the Chicago Marathon last fall—something she never believed could be attainable for her—she now can’t help but think of what else might be possible, whether that’s sub-3:40 or even a Boston qualifier.

We spoke with Jackie to discuss failing the mile test in high school, spectating the Boston Marathon while in college, how she’s used running as an outlet after her husband’s diagnosis and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you give an intro of yourself, where you’re from, what brought you to New York City and then how you initially got into running?

Yeah, I grew up partly in Connecticut and partly in the Boston suburbs. I was in Boston through college and stayed there after college to work at the Boston Globe, and then got offered basically my dream job at the New York Times, and that’s what brought me to New York. My husband was also a journalist at the Boston Globe at the time, so he was able to find a job in the tri-state area at Hearst. And then he also happened to win a Pulitzer right in the middle of us moving from Boston to New York, so he then started teaching at Columbia. So we were really happy to come to New York and start to put down some really strong journalism roots here.

My start with running—it’s actually kind of funny. I was not athletic as a kid at all. I was in a bunch of different bands, marching band, jazz band. But I was so not into sports that I failed the mile that they give you, back in junior or senior year of high school. I had to write an essay in order to pass that test. So that’s how much physical activity was not part of my life. Even in marching band, I played the bass guitar, so I was in the front and I didn’t actually march.

It wasn’t until college when I had a friend who was basically my boss at my work-study, she was only a few years older than me, and she had really embraced running as a way to get healthier. And I was so inspired by seeing her journey that I decided to try a Couch to 5K and ran a 5k my senior year of college, and just really got hooked on it that way....

And then I had a friend who is still one of my marathon buddies today, and she had run a couple marathons, and she got me to sign up for the Cambridge Half Marathon in 2019. I finished it in the 2:30s or 2:40s, and it was definitely very painful. But at the end, what I thought was really cool is my pace was slow, but I could have kept going. So that to me signaled that maybe it’s time to start thinking about the actual marathon. And then I entered the lottery for the New York City Marathon for 2020, got in on my first try, which was really amazing, beginner’s luck. And unfortunately, we all know how that happened, it got canceled. So I elected to run in 2022.

Getting into running initially…. What were your motivations to keep going day after day? Were there any doubts, or times where you wanted to quit, and what kept you going during those times?

That’s a really good question, and it’s funny because I actually never have had that desire to quit fully. I’ve always loved cardio…. I felt like it was kind of my me time. It was my time to really think about stories that I was writing or editing, or ideas for bigger projects at work, thinking through any problems that were surfacing in my personal life. And back in the day, I would never bring my phone. So it would just be me, and I had an Apple Watch that had music, so I would just listen to music and not have the pinging of my phone or anything. And it was a really zen way to spend half an hour to an hour just by myself.

I don’t think of myself as a naturally physically fit person, so of course the physical exertion part was always hard. But for me, especially when I first started running, I didn’t really care what my pace was. I was just happy to get out there. It wasn’t until recently that I really started even thinking about pace, working hard to achieve certain times. I always felt, ‘Okay, maybe I can go a little bit faster next time.’ But I never thought of a sub-four or a BQ. I never thought that that would be an attainable goal of mine.

So just having that way of staying centered—because why do any of us run, right? One of my friends says basically all runners are batshit crazy, because why else are we running? We have so much going on in our brains that we need to just get out there and really work ourselves to exhaustion to kind of quiet all the voices in our heads.

A lot of people are one-and-done with the marathon, so what motivated you to at least sign up for that second one after that?

I did think that it might be a one-and-done situation for me. Training was really hard. My first marathon, we had just moved to New York the fall prior, so basically moved and then I started training. And when I was first here, my husband was still healthy, and we were kind of at the height of our careers, he had just won the Pulitzer. So we were trying to really take advantage of everything New York had to offer….

I was kind of thinking, ‘All right, maybe I’ll do another marathon out in the distance, I’ll think about it, but I’m not really committed.’ And then literally a few weeks later, my friend applied to the London Marathon through a charity, and she’s like, ‘They still have spots.’ My husband and I really wanted to go out and explore Europe a little bit more, so we signed up, and then that got me started on chasing the six Majors. So we ended up having some really cool travels. I went from basically not even sure if I was going to do two, to finishing all six in a few years.

Of all six races, which have been your favorite courses, favorite experience, favorite crowd support, or just any individual ones that stand out throughout that journey?

I can start with one that stood out for a negative reason. So my husband was diagnosed with ALS, I think it was 2023. He had started showing symptoms actually during my first New York Marathon. I remember because his ankle had been bugging him, and he came to the New York Marathon, rooted me on, saw me like four or five different times, and at the end of the day he kind of admitted, ‘My ankle was really stiff out there. I just couldn’t get it to work, and I’m not sure what’s going on.’ And then he ended up going through a bunch of tests and eventually got his diagnosis for ALS, and his diagnosis came a week before we were going to leave for London for the marathon.

So obviously during that whole training cycle, we were a little bit nervous. We weren’t sure what to expect. We kind of knew whatever the diagnosis was going to be, it was going to be bad, with ALS being the worst diagnosis that we could have received. So when he got the diagnosis, my first thought was, ‘Okay, well, we need to cancel London obviously, right?’ And his counterpoint was, ‘I know I got this crazy diagnosis, but overall I’m still really healthy, other than a bit of a limp. So let’s go travel. Let’s go to London. Let’s see as much of Europe as we can. Run your race, and if we can keep going to some of these Major Marathons and taking these places off the bucket list, let’s do it.’

So London was my slowest marathon. I finished it in like six hours. It was a tough, tough race because of all of the thoughts that I was having, still kind of coming to terms with the diagnosis, grappling with all that. And we weren’t telling anyone at that point. So we had some friends in London as well that we were hanging out with, and not being able to tell anyone, not let them know what was going on with us, was a little bit like torture….

And then the best race, I would say probably the Chicago Marathon. It’s hard because all the Majors are so fun and special and unique in their own way. Chicago Marathon is so perfect because I ran it the first time in the part of my running career where I was actually starting to take paces seriously, and showing myself if I start doing track workouts and start putting in speed workouts in my long runs—seeing that pay off, and pay off in huge ways, was really fantastic. And then Chicago is flat, it comes during a part of the fall where the weather is great, the logistics are super easy…. And then also I was able to run with my friends, and we ran literally the exact same time, we started and finished it together. So that to me just showed the magic of actually investing in this hobby and seeing it pay off.

But again, every course is so unique. New York—it’s New York. You’re a celebrity the entire time you run. Boston, that’s where I’m from. My dad lives in Framingham, which is along the course. So it’s so cool to run through these towns that I used to live in and used to cover when I was out in Boston. And the Boston spectators are unique in their own way. They don’t know who you are, but they will lose their minds cheering for you. The drunk college kids are so happy to have the day off, and then of course everyone is just honoring the marathon after the bombing. Tokyo was really cool in that it was an extremely different culture, and having to get used to different rules. And then Berlin, again, another flat, fast course. You just put your head down and get it done.

You went to college in Boston and lived in Boston for a while. Did you ever go and spectate the marathon during those years?

Yeah, when I was in college, we would do kegs and eggs in South Campus where the route runs through, I went to BU. And it’s funny because I remember one year we held up a sign that said, ‘You run, I drink,’ and that was kind of my mentality over running. I was like, ‘Oh, this is something that I’ll never do. A marathon is way too crazy, way too scary.’ And then being able to run it 10 or so years later was really cool and special.

And then also we were there during the bombing, so being able to honor the city in that way was also a really cool experience.

You’ve raised a ton of money for ALS through your marathons over the years. Can you talk through when that started, and how that’s been so important to you?

Yeah, so after my husband’s diagnosis, that’s when I started to get really serious about my running. I joined a run group, made a bunch of friends. It was a great way to get out there and socialize and do all this stuff at a time when my home life was getting so busy. And at the same time, we were interacting with all these different organizations that were helping us through the diagnosis process, through the actual symptoms, the onset, as the disease progresses.

And so when I first started raising money for charities for marathons, like I said, we didn’t really want to tell anyone that we were going through this. I think the Boston Marathon was the first one that I ran for an ALS charity, which was the ALS Association, and they were super sweet in that they understood that I didn’t want to share my story. Which, looking back at it now, I can’t believe they let me do that, because the story is what matters to so many people in terms of raising money. But what was really cool is, even though not everyone knew what we were going through at home, just seeing that people were so generous really blew my mind…. And then eventually we did end up telling a lot of people, as it progressed it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t normal and healthy. So when I started sharing my story, then we really saw donations pick up….

All in, we are estimating that we’ve raised over $40,000 for these different ALS charities, which again, it’s super mind-blowing. I’ve had some really generous friends along the way, a lot of friends who have helped with corporate matches, and people that we’ve met through work, through my run club. And just again, the fact that people are willing to be so generous with their money is just mind-blowing to me.

Back on your individual running journey—how have your goals evolved over the last several years since you first got into it? And along with that, how has your mental approach evolved, and even the physical training itself throughout the years?

After my husband’s diagnosis, I was feeling kind of lost. And I could see that there was a run group that met just a block away from my apartment every Monday. And so my husband really encouraged me to go and meet new people, give it a try. And at first, I wasn’t quite sure if it was for me. It seemed like a lot of small talk. I was a slower runner, 11-minute miles were hard for me. And to be able to chat while I was running was actually really tough. But what was really cool is that other people were going through the same thing, and I didn’t realize how easy it was to see the miles fly by while you were chatting with people….

So I really bonded with a lot of people in the run club, and now I consider a lot of them my best friends. And once I had been in the club for about a year or so, we would share a lot of tips and tricks. I had only ever run in New Balance Rebels, from the first iteration to the latest iteration. That’s the only shoe I ever wore. And then all of a sudden found out about all these different shoes, and different gels. And so it really just broadened my horizon, broadened my way of thinking about running.

And then I hated running fast because I felt like death every time I did it. And one of my run club friends mentioned…I think his quote was, ‘In order to get fast, you have to run fast.’ And that was a really big light-bulb moment…. So I ended up going to some of the interval nights that the run club puts together. I mean, some nights it would be me and two other guys. It was not a popular night for our run club by any means. But I really just stayed consistent with it. We kind of had fun looking on Reddit and on the internet for fun different interval workouts. And then eventually I ended up organizing every Tuesday night going to McCarren, to the track in Brooklyn, and that has become a regular programming part of my run club.

And I started using Runna at that point too, I think it was this time last summer. And that was the first time that I really followed a structured training plan, other than just kind of googling around and trying whatever I felt like. And, I mean, say what you will about AI and these kinds of algorithmic coaches, but it’s what really got me into seeing the structure and how following a structured plan for speed will pay off. So in 2024, I ran Chicago in like 4:34 or 4:35, and then last year I ran it in 3:55, and felt like I left time on the table. So seeing that huge jump was really kind of insane to me.

And also just the fact that I was able to run a sub-four. That to me is something that I just had always discounted as, ‘Oh, that’s not a goal that I could ever achieve.’ So when I was able to do it—and not just do it, but do it with a good buffer and do it feeling good at the end—that to me signaled, ‘Okay, so maybe the sky is the limit. If you put in enough, what’s next? Can I run a 3:39? Can I run a BQ? Can I run a BQ with buffer and actually run Boston with a qualifying time?’ These are all questions that I don’t know the answer to yet, but I’m hoping to really explore it more.

And then after Chicago, Emily reached out, my coworker from the Times. We had always chatted a lot about running at different work events. And she was so positive and so excited and proud of me, and said, ‘I’m so excited seeing your time. I would love to coach you. I’ve never coached before, I just got my certification, but let’s chat about it.’ And working with Emily has been one of the best parts of running for the past year or so. She is just such an inspiration to watch her as an athlete, and then also to have her as a coach. She’s the best part of equal parts friend, equal parts therapist, equal parts running enthusiast…. Seeing her responses and tailoring it to my ability and to what I’m going through at the time, that has been a really inspiring way to approach running in the past year as well. I call her my running concierge, and I tell her she’s stuck with me. I can’t ever run a race without her going forward.

Anything else you want to touch on in terms of short, medium and long-term running goals?

So one of my big goals is to just keep improving my New York Road Runners Best Pace. It’s such a dumb goal, but as I’ve gotten faster and have gotten to run with some of the faster people in my run club and gotten to be really good friends with them, it’s something dumb like six seconds separates us, and that’s enough between Wave 2 and Wave 3 of the New York City Marathon. So that’s a goal. I just want to try and get as close to my friends’ paces as possible, and just improve my speed in the meantime.

It’s kind of scary to say out loud, but yeah, what would happen if I get a Boston qualifier? And back when I was thinking about this, I was kind of thinking, ‘Oh, even if I just qualify with no buffer, that would still be cool to say I had a BQ, but it’s still kind of unsatisfying.’ And then with this lottery that Boston [announced], that’s something that makes it even more enticing just to kind of try. Even if it’s like a second under the qualifying standard, I think that would be so cool.

And then my next race is Chicago, and I haven’t talked to Emily about what my goal should be based on my training. But that 3:3x, even if it’s 3:39:59, that’s something that I would love to see at some point. But even if not—Tokyo was my last marathon, and I did not hit the goal that I wanted, but I did go sub-four. And I would say that one thing that I really pride myself on is even when I don’t reach a time goal, I’m still really proud of the work that I put in, or I find something to be proud of. And for Tokyo, what I was really proud of was that for the last three or four miles, I was really able to pick it up. I was just kind of slogging through molasses, and then the last few miles I was able to reach deep down and just really rev it up.

What are life lessons that you get from running, or ways that running has helped in other areas of your life?

Yeah, I mean as my life has changed drastically in the last couple of years, as a caretaker of someone with ALS, my home life is very much focused on chores and caretaking. And what running has brought me, and specifically running with my local run club, is being able both to get my exercise in and reap all the physical and emotional benefits of that, and then also have the emotional support, having the connections, having the friendships.

Instead of going out to drink on a Saturday night, staying out till two or three or four in the morning, then having a hangover and feeling like death the next day, it’s like, ‘Okay, I got a run in. I feel good. I just was able to spend three hours with some of my best friends and forge some really great connections.’ And that’s something when I’m short on time that’s really, really important.

What’s your favorite part of the New York City running community, or what makes the New York City running community special to you?

I think what’s so cool about New York—I know people say New Yorkers aren’t nice but they’re kind, and I feel like the running community really reflects that. Everyone here is so welcoming, and it’s something that I also try to bring to our local running community, to be welcoming and inclusive. And what’s really cool is that you can talk to someone in a run club whose background is completely different from yours, or maybe they’re 20 years older or 20 years younger….

I wouldn’t have had exposure to these kinds of people if it wasn’t for the running community. And everyone is just so willing to help each other out and give tips and tidbits to help you race your best race possible. It’s really special, and I’m really lucky to have found it.

Pamela Hunt has always been most interested in the mental side of running.

It’s something she started exploring at 10 years old when she first got into the sport, and is a theme that became especially important after returning to running in her 40s following a decades-long break. While the muscle memory of her competitive background through high school and college remained, she says she had to learn how to run in a body that was 20 years older, including an increased focus on a more ‘holistic’ approach to performance.

Part of that means prioritizing the supportive framework like strength, pre-run routines and strides, all things Pamela constantly emphasizes within her own coaching practice. But just as essential is the mindset piece and ‘finally [getting to] a point where you really see the meaning and the purpose in running’—especially as she’s been forced to pull back her own training more recently.

We spoke with Pamela to discuss how signing up for races with her kids got her back into running, the ‘culture shock’ she experienced after returning to the sport, her most undervalued aspects of training and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Intro:

I grew up in Rhode Island, followed my older brother onto the cross country team when I was in fourth grade, so like 10 years old, and I loved it then. From there, I just started running national meets and traveling the country, and so that took me through to high school—All-American in cross country and track—and then on to Boston University, scholarship there and ran with that team. I am in the arts, so that was a huge conflict. My days with classes were 8am to 9pm, and so it was tough training with the team. College ended up being more of a time for the beginning of my career in the creative field than it was with the running.

I had a really bad car accident at the end of my junior year in college, and that took me out of running for 20, 25 years. So I did other sports. And what was interesting about that is I started out when I was young in all different sports, we played everything. And then it was running, running, running for so many years. And then I went back to a lot of different sports—a lot of tennis, yoga, skiing—and loved it.

And it wasn’t until I had my children, my two sons—we went to run at my first coach’s memorial race back in Rhode Island. I just put my boys, who were I think six and eight at the time, into the little kids races, and they did really well. And so I put my eight-year-old in the USATF Junior Olympics—I did them growing up, they were great, they took me all over the country. Put him in that race, it ended up being in Van Cortlandt. He’d probably run a mile in his life, and so he did the Van Cortlandt Park [course], which was like two and a quarter miles, and finished off—he looked like I was just trying to kill him, because I don’t know if you’ve run in the hills [there].

But that got me running. I started running some races with them again, and there was no pressure. And I realized how much I loved it. It had left my life for good for so long, and then I found myself in my mid-to-late 40s kind of falling in love with running again. So I went from a college runner to a Masters runner, and missed everything in between. And then kind of had to get used to my body again and not feel like I was going out and running in a 20-year-old body anymore. So there have been a lot of different journeys through running.

What I can say is you look back at the coaches that I’ve had, and the people I’ve met, and the experiences, and it has truly shaped me. And that’s where I have the appreciation for running. And so for me, where I am now and what I’ve done in running, I think I appreciate more the philosophy and the well-being that running brings people. I think you’re always going to be competitive. There’s always that performance factor. But it by no means at this point in my life drives why I run and how I run. So I really like that. I like that you’re finally at a point where you really see the meaning and the purpose in running.

And right now I’ve kind of pulled back, and it’s tough right now not to run, but I’ve also been able to bring in the strength and the yoga and all the other things that I do. And so I always see it now as more of an umbrella of well-being, and then running fits within that. Running has become more of a holistic approach now for me.

You got back into it in your 40s and got pretty competitive over the past five, 10 years—was that immediate when you first got back into it, where you found that competitiveness you had before, or was it a gradual progression to get to that point?

I think it was just finding people, finding a crew, finding a coach. I look at it this way: I loved cross country the most out of all the running. And every fall—even when I wasn’t running—when I smelled the leaves, it was this connection back to running. And when I started running again, it felt the same. That’s why I had to get used to being in a much older body, because the muscle memory was there, right?.... So it was a fun, fairly fluid return to running, and it just took a couple years to get in my groove, and then I kind of was doing what I had set out to do. I had to stop running abruptly before, and it kind of feels like coming back and making up for lost time in a way.

And it was different. I mean, it was kind of a culture shock. I left running and you were in cotton race T-shirts and Nike running shorts. And then I’m at my first race, seeing women in Tom Ford sunglasses and Lululemon. I’m like, ‘What the hell happened to running?’ But also me being in fashion, I can appreciate all that. And being in New York, it’s different. But it’s still the same for me. It was going out on the long runs, using that time to think. I was in Manhattan for the longest time, so the bridle paths were where I loved to run, and it’s a great community. You go out there, even if you’re not meeting others, you’re always seeing people you know. I love that about Manhattan and about running in New York City.

And now in Brooklyn, it’s different. I’m in Fort Greene, so I don’t have that hideaway of Central Park. I do run Prospect Park sometimes, and I run the trails there. But I can go over to Brooklyn Bridge, I can run Lower Manhattan, I can run along the Navy Yard to McCarren, go down to Red Hook. So I’m running more roads now during training. It’s just a different experience, which I love.

If you want to talk through your more recent running journey in terms of pulling back a little bit, and the challenges that you’ve faced as a Masters runner in more recent years?

Yeah, that’s a great question. And I didn’t feel it in my 40s and even my early 50s, but I feel it now. I’m 58 now. And I don’t think you can tell people or even warn people, because where you are is where you feel you are, and you can’t imagine. And I think everyone’s different too, because I know a lot of women who are doing great right now running and feeling really strong. For me, I think it’s not as much age. I think there are a few too many stressors in my life right now, so you have to pull back. And if you don’t pull back, then your body ultimately will make you pull back.

So I just found I was going out with North Brooklyn Runners, I was going out with the local competitive [group] on Saturdays. And we’re doing 10-mile tempos, and I wasn’t recovering. It was taking me like four days to recover. So there was something going on there. I was feeling off on the runs, and then it got to the point when every run was feeling really tired. So I realized this is not the time. Running and training is a stressor. So if you have stressors with work, or family or other things, there’s somewhere you have to pull back. And I find that more now as a Masters runner. So before, you were younger, 20s, 30s, you kind of ran yourself into the ground, and then a few days you bounce back, right? I’m finding that’s not happening anymore. You don’t bounce back that way. So for me, I have to be a little bit more intentional, and smarter.

And when I coach too, it’s the same way. It’s like, okay, you’re not running six days a week anymore. You’re running four or five days a week, and those days that you have the workouts, they’re tough workouts. But then the rest is real, real recovery, and that’s hard for most runners. Especially if you feel good that day, then you think, ‘Okay, I’ll run on feel,’ but you do have to be disciplined and really pull back on those days. And so that’s what I’ve been doing. I pull back. I’m doing a lot more yoga right now. I’m doing the strength, and then I’ll do Pilates, I’ll do the plyos. So it’s just mixing it up and changing it around. It’s really reading your body and knowing what your body really needs at the time….

It’s always hard to pull back, but then you find the appreciation in this period, and you realize that it’s a period where you can come back. It’s not the be-all and end-all, and you can come back and be stronger, and finding that time whenever that time is. So that’s where I’m at right now. It’s been a big lesson for me. It’s one thing to have an injury that’s a very definitive injury, and you’re like, ‘Okay, I’ll be back in six weeks.’ It’s another if you have this fatigue that’s kind of hampering you, and you’re just not sure when your body is going to recover. But it will. So it’s just taking care of yourself.

New York City has a pretty extensive Masters running community. To what extent has that helped you in your journey—whether it be when you were getting back into it and getting more competitive, but also in more recent times, facing obstacles in that realm as well?

Yeah, I mean, that’s what’s fun about it. You can jump into any race, and you know there’s competition. And that’s exciting. And I think for the most part, we are all really supportive of each other. The general feeling is we’re all helping each other out, and we’re doing a great thing for the sport. And how lucky are we to be here in New York City and have that competition? I mean, I grew up with competition. I’ve always longed for the competition. So that always felt comfortable to me.

Now, it is a mental game sometimes, because when you see other people thriving and moving forward, and you’re not, and you’re pretty stagnant, you have to work through that mentally. And again, it’s just part of the sport, right? So you do that, and you see what they’re doing, and you have like one eye on them, but then you know you have to put the blinders up and be like, ‘Just take care of yourself. We all have our own goals, and we’re at different places in our lives.’ I always say this in a race: it’s just on that day, whoever shows up on the race and who’s the better runner on that day a lot of times. It’s where you are in your training, and how you show up on that day. And that’s the exciting thing about competition.

It seems like you take a pretty holistic approach to coaching, whether it be wellness, mindset, nutrition. So if you want to talk through how you got into [coaching], what motivated that, and your general coaching philosophy as well?

I had some really great coaches, and even when I was younger, I was just really into the mental side of running. We did a lot of biofeedback. I was like 10 years old, and I was doing that. And there’s just a curiosity. I think it’s the approach to running. It’s not just the mechanical, the technical. It’s the philosophical, and then it’s the mental. It’s the mindset part that I get really excited about.

So when I started Orithyia, I had just started running again as an adult, so 2014 to 2016. And that’s product based, it’s a women’s athletic and running brand. And then as I got more comfortable with running and in the community, I just was like, ‘Okay, so what’s the next part of this? You have the product, but how can you add to the dialogue? How can you serve?’ You always want to think of it as not just product, but service.

At first a couple people said, ‘You know, you should look into coaching.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ I didn’t see myself in coaching. And then I worked with Brian Rosetti. He’s a coach, he’s actually the founder of VDOT. He was Jack Daniels’ protégé, and so he kind of took all of Jack’s teachings and his philosophy and then basically made it digital. And so Brian coached me for a while, and I remember I was in my late 40s and I had come off of a really good season, and then had an injury. And he was like, ‘Listen, you’re at a point now, you don’t need to train harder, you need to train smarter.’ And I really took that with me….

I would say a lot had to do with training with Brian, and really respecting the way he coached. He’s intuitive. I remember we were doing strides one day after a workout, and I was muscling my way through the stride, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, you might want to just try to maybe hang back a little bit and then move into the stride.’ And it was like magic. It was like, ‘Oh my god, yeah, I don’t have to push through the stride at all.’ And the way that my legs opened up and the way they turned over, it was like night and day. So I thought, ‘You know what? Let me give this a try.’

And I decided I really wanted to work with women, and I really wanted to work with women—all different levels, but really women who either have been running for a while and wanted to get to the next level, and what I could offer them. Maybe they were just doing a run plan online before, or with a team, and then what would personal coaching look like, and how could that move the needle for them? And then women who might be intimidated just to start, and so how could we get them moving and then running, and move from there?

So that’s really where I’m at. And my philosophy has always been really about movement and learning your body. Even when I coach, it’s not about telling women what to run. It’s really trying to help them understand their bodies, how to understand how they can make choices for themselves when they’re out on those workouts. That it’s not about just following that plan, because I’m not out there with them. I don’t know how they slept the night before. I don’t know the stress on their plate. So how can they really truly understand their body? That they use my coaching as the guide, and they’re really going ahead and advocating for themselves and making those decisions out there on the roads. So that’s where I take a lot of pleasure. It’s more of a partnership.

On that holistic aspect, are there a few things that stand out that you think are most undervalued that you see yourself constantly trying to emphasize, whether it be with your athletes or just in general?

A lot of it’s the preparation, right? So it’s the pre-run routine. It’s just taking those five minutes to really get your body and your muscles warmed up a bit, so you’re not shocking your body when you first get out there. You feel it a little bit also when you get older….

So those are the things: the pre-run routine, post-run, a little bit of the stretching that we do. I really emphasize strides…. Strides and these plyos, they’re just such a big bang for your buck. I try to make my strength routines 20 minutes or less, so we get them done. If not, we don’t get them done, and those are the first things to go, right? Because we want to run. The running’s the easy part. And we think it’s the most important. But in the end, all this supporting stuff is so important. The mobility work, the plyos, the strides, even some of the hill work, the pre- and post-run routines, and run drills, I get on my athletes for those.

You were competitive, then took a bunch of time off, then came back to running later. Did you notice any differences in how women’s running or women’s sports were approached when you came back? And how do you hope that continues to advance, change or evolve in the future?

Yeah, I think even in college, we weren’t talking about women’s running the way we are now…. By no means were we talking about how to support women, young women, young athletes, during that time. I mean, I don’t remember it. And if anything, it was all about losing weight, and there was a lot of unhealthiness to the sport in college for me. And I’ve spoken to a lot of other friends too—same in college.

So coming back to it later in life, it was just a whole shift in the culture, first of all. Running wasn’t so cool when I was really competitive in high school and college. You were kind of an outlier there. I don’t know what to call it, but it just wasn’t cool. People did it because of the love of the sport. Even in 2014, we weren’t even there yet. It was really COVID that turned things around with the running, and then after that, it’s just been game on. So it’s hard to compare it.

I saw it before, more coed. When you’re younger, it’s coed. Yeah, you’re a girl, but you’re a girl racing with the boys, and that was very cool, and beating the boys. So coming back now, there’s a big difference. I have mixed feelings about it, honestly. I feel that there’s an amazing opportunity for women to have this chance to perform and to have their own races, and to not have an intimidation, and to have this place where they feel safe that they can go in and run, and not feel insecurities or not feel like they have to be a certain way—that they can show up and be themselves and explore running and not feel pressure. And then the other part also for me is the coed, and I think there’s an amazing camaraderie with men and women running together. I’ve always had it. I have a lot of male runner friends. They’ve always been really great as far as being supportive, and I enjoy working out with them.

So for me, I just hope that running can always keep—I’m gonna go back to holistic—that holistic feeling of running where we have so many choices, right? We have so many clubs here in New York City, that we don’t have to get in these factions. I always love when I hear people say, ‘Oh yeah, I ran with this club and then I ran with this club.’ I’m a big believer in fluidity, and just for the love of the run, and for the love of community, and not getting too obsessive about what club you’re in, or which team you’re racing for. I think instead of becoming a catalyst for community, I think it can be divisive.

Any favorite running memories, moments, races that stand out that you’d like to touch on?

Probably the one that stands out the most is I was a sophomore in high school and it was the state meet. And I had been a little bit injured, so I went into that race with really no expectations. I actually went out the night before with my boyfriend, and thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just go there for the team. The team will do really well’.... But I don’t know, I went out, I did the 3000 meters, and it was the first time I ever was in flow state. I was running on the track, and I just remember everything was slow motion…. When the bell lap rang, that was it. It’s that feeling where you’re just on autopilot, and you never forget it. And that was the first time I got All-American for track or cross country.

And then a few years ago at the Fifth Avenue Mile—I love the mile, I’ve always wanted to focus on it. I had done the Brooklyn Mile first, and it was a really hot day, and I bombed—what I consider bombed—the Brooklyn Mile. And so three weeks later I went to the Fifth Avenue Mile, and again, not so big expectations. But I went into it, and it was the same thing. I went into flow. It was maybe [2022], and it was my best Masters mile. I think it was like 5:21, somewhere around there. And again, feeling that way, you don’t even have to think about it. I wouldn’t say you don’t feel pain, but in a way you don’t, because your mind and your body click, and you just go. So I would say those two are the best.

I love doing the trails at Rockefeller State Park, that’s always a lot of fun. And again, probably growing up and doing cross country. You smell the leaves. There’s something about being in the woods. There’s something about the roots, and everything, and you have to be so present with cross country. So I think that’ll always hold a special place. And I hope I can get to a point when I’m going to be doing some cross country again and some longer trail runs and races too.

Any topics that we didn’t touch on that you’d like to touch on, or any closing thoughts?

For me, it’s really what I follow, and then what I think with my coaching philosophy, is training smarter, not harder. And so my whole philosophy around that holistic running comes from that, and it’s directly from Brian Rosetti, and then putting my spin on it and being there for women. I like creating that community of women runners and being able to share our insights, share our experiences and where we are with training, and having that support.

The running community, especially here in New York, has really been a privilege to be with, and it’s been able to be everywhere from the New York Flyers to NBR and to other places in between. So it’s been great.

Joshua Meredith called it ‘a kismet thing.’

While registering for last year’s New York City Marathon, he scrolled past a listing for a dormant Deloitte Run Club. Having worked at Deloitte since 2023 but never hearing about any run club, he explored further, eventually connecting with Olivia Steigbigel—who happened to be starting a separate Microsoft Teams run group at the firm around the same time.

And just like that, the new Deloitte Run Club was born.

Joshua says it’s been ‘fascinating to see how much you can do in a short amount of time,’ with the club quickly growing to over 200 members registered on New York Road Runners and even expanding to other cities across the country. Meanwhile, Olivia adds that what she’s most proud of is the consistency of the community, and—having previously been intimidated by the idea of run clubs—creating a space inclusive to all runners whether they’re signing up for ‘their first race or their 100th race.’

We spoke with Joshua and Olivia to discuss their ‘dichotomy of purposes’ as co-captains, the rise of the club’s competitive team in the NYRR points series, the benefits of a workplace run club and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you start off with intros of yourselves, where you’re from, what brought you to NYC and how you got into running?

Olivia: I grew up in Connecticut, and then moved to the New York City area five years ago. I’ve lived in Brooklyn the whole time. My whole family is from either New York City or the surrounding area, so I always knew I’d end up in the city.

My origin story, as it relates to running, I did not run at all. I was a competitive gymnast growing up, and I did CrossFit competitively as a teen, did a lot of CrossFit competitions. And running was always my least favorite part, and I avoided it as best as I possibly could. My family would do 5ks, and I always finished last. I just was like, ‘Running is not for me. I’m not built to be a runner.’ My parents are really fast, my brother’s really fast, and it just wasn’t for me. Come my first year in New York, I watched the marathon and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s so cool, the energy around it is amazing. I’m never gonna run a marathon, but awesome for these people for doing it.’ A lot of people watch it and are like, ‘I’m gonna run it,’ and I kind of was like, ‘Uh, no thanks.’

And then one of my friends texted me, and she was like, ‘Hey, I just saw this run. It’s in Yosemite. It’s a half marathon. Let’s do it, it’ll be fun.’ And mind you, I’ve never run more than three miles, and at this point I’d never even run three miles straight through. I always stopped and walked. I was pretty hesitant on it, and then I was like, ‘You know what, why not? Let’s give it a go.’ And then that same year, I was like, ‘Well, if I’m training for that, I might as well see if I can get into the Brooklyn Half Marathon.’ I got into the Brooklyn Half, and I ran that as well. And then I absolutely fell in love with it more than I ever thought I would. I feel like I actually learned how to properly run, properly train, and I just fell in love with the running community. I love being in competition with only myself, I thought that was really cool. And then from there, I was like, ‘All right, well, I guess I am going to run the marathon.’ And then I 9+1’d, and I did the marathon two years ago, last year, and then hopefully, if training goes according to plan, I’ll be running it again this year. So I’ve kind of fallen in love with the New York City Marathon.

Joshua: I’m a born and bred New Yorker, family’s from the Bronx, born in New York City, lived on Long Island my entire life. Then after college moved around a bunch, but now I live in suburban New Jersey.

My story actually doesn’t start with running. It starts with inline skating. I was getting close to my 40th birthday, and I’d always been an inline skater, and I said, ‘I want to skate an inline marathon,’ and there’s one in Sarasota, Florida. And about six months before that was going to happen, I had been facing some pretty heavy health troubles, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna start training for this. Maybe it’ll help with my health stuff. Maybe this will all work out.’ And I found out quickly that you can’t really skate five days a week, and there are really no places where I live in New Jersey to actually do that. So I started looking at training plans, and training plans said go run, just build your aerobic base. I was like, ‘I don’t know anything about running. I’m terrible at this. What am I doing?’ So I got an inexpensive pair of running shoes, and would literally run one mile at a time. One mile, then the next day 1.25 miles, then 1.5 miles, and all that. And then finally, the marathon day came, I skated the marathon. And in the end, I was like, ‘I kind of enjoyed this. It was kind of fun. I think I’m gonna run a 10k.’ So I ran a 10k, and I had a great time, a local one in New Jersey. And I said, ‘Let’s register for a half marathon. Let’s see what we can do here.’ So I registered for Jersey City, I ran Jersey City, then I ran Brooklyn, and then all of a sudden I was like, ‘I really enjoy this. I should keep doing this.’

And now I’m running two races a month, and I’m getting ready for [the Chicago Marathon], where I’m a pacer for a friend of mine, and I’m getting ready for the New York City Marathon, where hopefully I’ll get close to a Boston [Qualifying] time, and it has taken over a bunch of elements of my life. And I think the challenge of trying to train for these distance races and slowly and slowly getting faster, sometimes by running slower, has been really, really fascinating. So that’s kind of my story, all within the last three years. I didn’t run a mile before the last three years.

If you want to start with just the origin story for Deloitte Run Club and how that initially came to be?

Joshua: So two things were happening at once. There had been a Deloitte Run Club that had been established in 2022 with New York Road Runners. I got into the New York City Marathon really late for 2025, I got in in August through United Airline’s program. And I clicked on the clubs because I had been running mostly with the guys and girls from Nice Jewish Runners. I scrolled down, and I saw Deloitte Run Club, and I was like, ‘The place where I’ve worked for all these years has a run club? Okay, I’m just gonna click that, and see what happens.’ So I clicked on it, and then I emailed the Road Runners, I was like, ‘Who is in charge?’ Our firm is over 100,000 people here in the United States, so it’s gigantic. And I emailed them, they gave me a name. I went on our internal portal, I was like, ‘This person left the firm years ago. Is there any activity?’ And they were like, ‘No, nothing.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, so this is one of those corporate things that had sort of been created and then never used.’ And I went back and I started using the NYRR results to see if they had ever placed or done anything, and only in a handful of races throughout the last four years had they actually had enough runners to even place.

So someone hooked me up with Olivia and a couple other people who were starting a very large New York City Microsoft Teams group [for running], and they had like 500 people. I emailed New York Road Runners, I was like, ‘Please just put me in charge. Just put my name on the website, give me access to the portal, give me all the information.’ And they were like, ‘Absolutely, you guys haven’t done anything, so we’ll do anything.’ And once I connected with Olivia and the crew, we were able to turn 40 members in a New York Road Runners portal—of which I would say only 20 were actually still active at Deloitte, and many hadn’t run in many years—and now we’re at 215, and we have 35 in the marathon. So we’ve gone from literally zero, to our women’s team has a real shot to get top five next year in Group C. They’re like a real contender. It’s actually been fascinating to see how much you can do in a short amount of time. And Olivia can talk about how the Teams group, that now has 900 in it, how that came to be.

Olivia: Yeah, so for context, I do a lot of well-being work with the firm, that’s always been my second passion outside of my actual job, and I had been running a lot. And every time I brought up running to the people at work, someone was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m a runner, we should go on a run together.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we should.’ We spend so much time with these people, and what a great way to be able to spend time, network in a way that’s also moving our bodies, being healthy, doing something that we enjoy. So after enough of those conversations, I was like, ‘Wait, we all should go on a run together.’ Then I thought, if my small circle at work, I’m getting this kind of reception, I wonder what the whole New York City office—especially New York is such a running community, and it’s such a running office. And I just knew that there are people out here for this.

And then two guys, Mark and Mark, we call them the Marks, came to me with a very similar idea, and I was like, ‘All right, now we know there are definitely people out here who want to do this. The Marks are into it. I want to do it. Let’s figure this out.’ So we just created a Teams channel and we sent out an invite to the entire New York City office that basically was like, ‘Hey, we’re starting this. It’s going to be very casual. We’re going to go on group runs. We’re going to share tips, tricks, training. This is for anyone. This is if you’ve never run a mile, and this is if you run ultra-marathons. This group is for everyone.’ And we had almost 600 members within 24 hours. So it really just blew up, and that again kind of confirmed for me my initial thoughts that people crave community, and people really want to be able to be active, especially in a work setting. We do spend so much time with people, and we travel a lot for work, and it just became a very natural next step I think.

So was that going on the same time that Joshua saw this run club?

Olivia: Yeah, they started around almost the exact same time. I think Joshua reached out to us maybe a week after I had met with the Marks.

Joshua: It was definitely like a kismet thing.

Since then, what has the growth been like, both within the New York City office and expansion of it to other offices as well?

Olivia: In New York, I think the best thing about it is actually the consistency that we’ve been experiencing. We have a really great core group of members who come out to our monthly runs, they come to our information sessions, they come to any trainings that we do, and they also are just very pivotal members in our running community. On Teams they share tips, tricks, ideas. So we’ve really been able to kind of build a community around all this. People can expect to see these people at runs…. So I think that’s kind of a great showcase of the growth.

Then outside of that, in terms of our New York Road Runners growth, we have our New York Road Runners club, and we’re allocated into Group C. There are Groups A, B and C, majority of groups are in C. There are some very fast clubs in A and B, and that’s only 12 in each, and then there are hundreds in C…. Our women’s team regularly places top 10 in Group C for New York Road Runners races at our point races, which is amazing, because we have actually a real shot to get out of Group C, which would be incredible and be among some of the fastest clubs. So I think that also really showcases our growth, of we’ve been able to provide a platform to some incredibly competitive runners who just wanted a space and a team to come compete for and have that camaraderie, and we’re doing it. And same with our men’s team. Our men’s team is very fast. Men’s running in New York City is incredibly competitive, and they’re still putting up incredible times. Our core group is really quite stellar, so I feel like we’ve seen just tremendous growth in the creation of the competitive team.

Joshua: From an expansion perspective, one of the things we’ve been able to do really quickly is because we have some size, despite our relative youth, we’ve been able to get things [internally], like we have a really cool logo package, and we have some communications and some templates that we can use. So we’ve used that to branch out a little bit….

We launched the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia team, better known as the DMV. We went down there earlier this summer and got them started…. We’re launching Boston on September 2, we added a group from the Mechanicsburg, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area, where we have a very large presence…. And we are in discussions to launch in some other major cities, including Dallas, Atlanta, Denver and the Phoenix area, coming hopefully later this year. So the logoage, the communications, the templates, all of those things to get you started.

And then I don’t think we can have this conversation without talking a little bit about our New Balance relationship. We were recommended to them by Bronx Burners Run Club, which a lot of us run with weekly and try to support. And they suggested New Balance, and we run with New Balance…. We just got kitted up by them, and that’s been a really big push forward.

Can you give an overview of things you guys do in addition to just runs and having a New York Road Runners team that you want to highlight?

Olivia: We also provide educational opportunities—again, we want it to span every runner, going from people who have never run to our incredibly competitive marathoners. We wanted it to be education that is useful for everyone. So we had an event with a well-known run coach in the New York City area, Kelly Chiusano, she came in and gave an informational session to our group in terms of how to properly train, fuel, what does it mean to build a running plan, and just her whole message of running should be fun and this is how to ensure running stays fun. We’ve also had different trainers come in from different local gyms in the area and provide similar educational opportunities to our group. And then for the marathon, we’re doing an information panel…. So we really try to provide a lot of different education to the group.

And then outside of that, in a little bit less of a formalized fashion, in our Teams channels we have different threads for shoe recommendations, training recommendations, ‘I want to do my first triathlon, what does that look like, where do I start?’ And it just is a forum for people within the community to help educate others. So we do try and provide networking opportunities, education opportunities, and then just kind of informal mentorship.

Joshua: And we’re trying to add in some service as well, giving back to the local running community…. We did what’s called Deloitte Impact Day. We had a group go up to the Bronx and work on the track at the Joseph Yancey Track. We’re doing some stuff for Bronx Burners to help them out with a couple of small things. And I think that kind of service element is really important too, because we should give back to the community that we’re a part of, and that’s always been I think a big part of Deloitte. And as long as Olivia and I are here, I know it’ll be a big part of the run club.

A lot of people, [running] is kind of separate from their work experience…. Anything else either of you want to touch on in terms of the benefits of having that combined experience if people want to have that option, and just the benefits that it adds to your running and also what it can add to your work experience?

Olivia: I mean, I can speak on a personal note, I think I’ve met so many people from outside of my area at the firm. The way that our firm works, you’re a little bit siloed in terms of the people that you work with, like you oftentimes don’t meet people outside of your offering. And so this has been a really great opportunity on the working front to really network outside of my traditional day-to-day people that I work with and meet a lot of really awesome people at the firm. I think it’s given me a bigger picture of what Deloitte even looks like because I’m meeting all these people I wouldn’t have necessarily met outside of this.

And then in terms of what it adds to my running, it honestly adds a really nice layer of people checking up on me and making sure I’m sticking to my training plan…. Being able to run with people who understand a similar job that you do, and that accountability aspect, and that encouragement, and that mentorship that I’ve gained has been really, really positive. Again, that’s all kind of speaking from myself, but I would hope that other people in the club are taking away something similar.

Joshua: For myself, I think it’s two threads. The first thing is I’m a suburban dad of two, right? Most of my runs come before sunup, or late in the day, just before kid time. And I’d say 98 percent of all of my runs are alone. I have to run them by myself. And that’s a big part of the sport.

The times that I get to run with our team, getting to run with sometimes people who are 15, 20 years younger than me, it’s actually really great. They push me. Iron sharpens iron. I need to run with fast runners every once in a while to get my times up. I also just appreciate the community aspect of it. We went on a run as a group the other day, we were talking the entire time, we were able to chat. And you just catch up with people, and you’ll see how their work’s doing or see how their running’s doing. I think that’s a huge element of this.

And then I think the second thing for me with this is that it’s this amazing thing you get to organize. You get to see just week over week, like, ‘Hey, where do all these people come from? How do we access different parts of the firm, and different parts of our business?’ It’s just a fascinating part of there are all these things that you don’t even think about when you don’t have this kind of thing. And just the organization of it has been really enthusing for me, and has really driven me to be like, ‘Hey, what else can we do for people? Could we get people into races?’ We sponsored our first race, we actually paid for the bibs at a Corporate Classic in Morristown, New Jersey this year. We helped organize a triathlon team earlier this summer, and all that stuff you just can see that benefit…. You can see them come out to a Road Runners race, and they have support, they have a team. To give you an example, we have a runner who’s up at the front of [corral] A, he runs in a Deloitte Run Club bib now, a singlet, and I know that he feels pride in it. And that says something about the place you work and the people you work with I think too.

Maybe it started mostly for people who are already active runners, and then this is a community for those people at work. Have you also noticed it inspire new people to start running?

Joshua: I definitely think we have new runners. Of that 35 [running the New York City Marathon], there’s got to be at least a dozen [first-time marathoners]. There are also a bunch of people in that 35 that probably haven’t run a marathon in years, and are trying to work their way back in. We see a lot of that. People who are like, ‘Hey, I don’t really run,’ or, ‘I run a 10:30 pace or 12:30 pace,’ or whatever. And I’m like, ‘Come to run club.’ That’s what it’s for, right? That’s for you to come. I don’t care what pace you run at. Yeah, we’ve got guys who run in the fives, that’s part of a run club. We’ve also got people who this is their first time out, right? They’re running in the whatever number, and I think that’s part of the cultural thing, like it should be for all.

Joshua, you mentioned in your running journey you were involved with a couple other clubs, whether it be NJR, Bronx Burners. If you want to touch on any clubs you’ve been involved with, lessons you took away from that and how you try to apply it to building this club as well?

Joshua: I’ve run with the guys from NJR before, and Ezra and Clint and Arielle and that whole team, they’ve done an amazing job at building inclusivity. It’s for everyone. It’s for all paces across the board. They are dominating both men’s and women’s Group C. You can look at the standings, they are fast. They have hundreds of runners now in some of these races, their team has grown exponentially over the course of three to four years. The lessons I took from them were those group runs on Friday that they run on the East Side, they’ve got the guys in the fives [per mile], they’ve got people who are way past 12. That level of just, ‘Hey, this is for all,’ that’s a message I really took. You could see that at Bronx Burners practices too. You’re seeing all different kinds of levels, and I think that’s pushed me a little bit.

Because if you’re a person like myself who’s trying to run this impossible sub-three marathon time, your brain is in one area, and it helps you open up your brain to other ideas and other types of runners—people coming back from injury, or women who just had children and are trying to get back into it after years of maybe not being into it, or people who have a disability. And I think that message gets spread, and if you’re hyper-focused like I am right now on making this time, I think it is a good refresher of what the sport really is.

For Olivia, I’m curious, was any run club a consideration before you started this? And if you want to talk through the benefits of running with a group in general that you’ve seen over the past year since starting Deloitte Run Club?

Olivia: Honestly, I wasn’t really looking for a run club. I’m not a super fast runner, and I think I was kind of always intimidated by the idea of run clubs a little bit, like I’m gonna go, everyone’s gonna be so fast, and I’m either gonna be just in zone five trying to keep up with people, not enjoying myself, or I’ll just be left behind. So I’d always had this vision of what a run club was, which I think was my own bias speaking, of I just didn’t know if there was a space for me in run clubs. But again, the more that I talked to people, especially at Deloitte, and actually had these conversations, I was like, ‘Wait, there are so many people who run around my time’....

And then in terms of what it’s given me, being able to have a consistent group, I think just that constant level of encouragement. I always tell Joshua this, but he is one of my number one encouragers, always being like, ‘No, you can run that faster, you are completely prepared, you got this.’ And so I feel like having that constant has been really helpful.

Any moments or memories with the club that you haven’t mentioned so far that stand out?

Joshua: I think the first time we got our shipment from New Balance, and I saw the run club on a singlet, I was just like, ‘Well, that’s super cool, right?’ And then I think Team Championships not only was just a team event, but then you get the results later in the day, and our women absolutely crushed it. And we’re supporting that. They want to go fast and they want to be competitive. We’re not pushing them, they want to push themselves, and we’re all to support that. I think that’s a big thing for me. It’s like, you guys want to really go for it? Like, go for it, let’s do it.

What’s interesting is Olivia and I have almost a dichotomy of purposes sometimes, right? Olivia is like we’re inclusive, we got to get group runs. I’m like, ‘Hey, you guys really want to go? Let’s go fast.’ And I think having that balance has been really good for us.

Any topics that I didn’t specifically ask about that you’d like to touch on, or any closing thoughts?

Olivia: I feel like my one closing remark is run clubs are really cool, and I’m really glad that we’re creating a space that feels inclusive for all runners. And I just hope that it continues to grow and we continue to inspire people to either sign up for their first race or their 100th race.

Joshua: And I think for me, my final comment is, because this is my side of the house, is the run club community, the organizers, and just the conversations I end up having with some folks—from small clubs to large clubs, from clubs in Manhattan to the outer boroughs, or even the suburbs. Those kinds of conversations about organization, about how they run their run club, their competitiveness levels, and even their connections—their connections to Road Runners, or to other races, or to places like New Balance, all of that stuff is super, super helpful.

And so it’s almost like a thank you to the local run club army. Those people have been really helpful for us. A big shout out to all of them, because I don’t know that we’d necessarily be where we are without the infrastructure that they’ve all created.

Guillermo Romani says his mission entering 2026 was to kick his passion for running filmmaking into high gear, capturing as many moments and events within the New York City running scene as possible.

It’s safe to say he’s followed through on that goal.

From top-level professional meets like the Millrose Games to overnight, unsanctioned ultras and nearly every type of race in between, Guillermo’s been there with his camera to document them. It all started with shooting some YouTube videos for a friend’s journey to a sub-three marathon, and as he met more and more people in the running community he fell in love with all the stories the sport has to offer.

Naturally, all that time Guillermo spends filming can come into conflict with his own running, as he learns how to best decide which races to cover vs. participate in himself—a balance that has so far skewed toward the former. However, the full-time architect is ensuring to carve out enough time to train for his two marathons this fall, including pacer duties to help his dad fulfill his lifelong dream of completing the New York City Marathon.

We spoke with Guillermo to discuss the brand lottery he entered ‘on a whim’ that got him into marathons, how his running journey has progressed since, which types of events he enjoys filming the most and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you start with an intro of yourself, where you’re from and how you got into running initially?

I was born and raised in New Jersey. I played soccer growing up but never really ran, and stayed local for college at NJIT, studying architecture. Graduating college in 2019, I kind of didn’t really know what I wanted to do as far as anything else aside from architecture. I felt like architecture is something that I obviously do on a daily basis, but it’s not something that I really would say I’m passionate about. So I started to delve a little bit more into the filmmaking, which started just out of curiosity, just exploring all the creative sides of architecture and the design world. And then stumbling upon Casey Neistat—who’s one of the biggest YouTubers in history, I would say my biggest inspiration, both as a filmmaker and as a runner, just the overall embodiment of what I aspire to be. So just consuming his videos, his content, the way he edits, the way he shoots, that really catapulted me into really trying to explore that world.

And then COVID hit, and I sort of just fell into one life situation after another. So I kind of set filmmaking on the back burner. And kind of what leads me into finding running—during that time, I gained a lot of weight…. I wasn’t really doing exercise. I wasn’t really doing anything. And then a very tragic life event hit, and one day I looked in the mirror and I didn’t like the way I looked, and I was just like, ‘Something’s got to change.’ And I just went out for a quick mile run, and that snowballed and snowballed and snowballed—two miles, three miles, starting to run my first 5k, which was at one time unfathomable for me.

Then one day there was this brand doing a New York City Marathon lottery. This was summer 2023. It was like three months before the marathon. I kind of just signed up on a whim, and I didn’t really expect much of it. And then I found out that I got in, and I kind of didn’t know what to do, because I had never run anything more than a 5k until then. And I was just like, “All right, you know what? It’s baptism by fire. I’m gonna do it.’ My friends supported me in that moment, and I was just like, “I’m gonna do it.’ And at that point I wasn’t really in the best of shape for that marathon, but I ran it. I think I did it in six and a half hours. And completing that—I remember during the run, so many times just wanting to give up, but knowing that this is something I want to and need to do. That’s where my love for running and just the whole people aspect of running—just how that race I ran with my own story, everybody runs with their own story. And since then, over the next three years since that, just running with a lot of purpose and passion for the sport.

That next year in 2024, you became far faster than you were before. So if you want to just talk through that process of cutting off that much time and how that got you more and more into it from there?

Yeah, so after that, I realized that running is something I definitely want to pursue more seriously, obviously as something that helps out mentally too, but also physically. So within that time frame of end of 2023 to end of 2024, I dropped down like 50 pounds, got really in shape, started going to the gym like four times a week, running almost every day. Just trying to get my cardio up, get my mileage up, and just really work out and run with a purpose. And during that time, also just really trying to hone in on do I want to run marathons, or do I want to do more shorter races.

Throughout that year I just basically locked in…and then signed up for the Berlin Marathon in October ‘24, via charity, Haymakers for Hope—which is a great charity by the way—and then the New York City Marathon a few weeks after. So that really gave me a lot of purpose throughout that entire year. Just trying to get ready for those races, really cut down on my time, going for a sub-four at each race, and thankfully completing that sub-four in each race. I think Berlin was a 3:47, and then New York was 3:40.

And after the 2024 New York Marathon, that’s when the journey into filmmaking started to come back, especially in the running sphere. But as far as my running journey itself, from 2024 onward, it’s just been doing smaller races, like 5ks, 10ks for [New York] Road Runners, and then doing some OSR races. I moved back into New York City in June of 2025, so then I really locked in on just doing some local races in the area. And currently, I’m training for the 2026 New York City Marathon and the Philadelphia Marathon, and shooting for 3:15.

I saw you’re running the 2026 New York City Marathon with your dad, if you want to talk through what motivated that?

So part of the reason why I also wanted to continue running when I first started is because my dad had told me he was big into cross country, track and field in high school in Peru, where my family’s from originally. He went to states and all that, competed regionally in the country. He also picked up running [again] after COVID, and his story is crazy. He had to get double knee surgery that he had prolonged for a couple years. And they had told him basically, ‘You’re a 60-year-old guy, you’ve got to pull it on the running, especially long distance and all that. We recommend getting into walking and other types of exercises.’ But he’s a stubborn man, so he just started running again. Started running a mile, two miles, three miles…. And he told me, one of his main goals in life, one of his big, bucket-list items, he says, ‘Before I die, I want to run the New York City Marathon.’ He’s never run it. He came into this country in 1983 when he was 18 years old, he would go every year, he lived in Queens but he would come to Manhattan every year to watch the marathon. And he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s always been my dream.’ And obviously he wanted to start a family with my mom, so that took time away, and life happens. But he’s semi-retired now, so he’s like, ‘That’s one of my big goals in life, and I want to do it.’

And so this year he and I qualified through 9+1. So after double knee surgery, after 60-plus years of life, he’s going to do it this year for the first time ever, and I want to do it with him. He wants to do a sub-five hour marathon, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I got you. We’re going to run it together, you and me.’ Philly’s gonna be a personal goal for me, like 3:15. But I think I’m more so looking forward to the New York City Marathon right now. I think for me, of all the races I’ve run, it’ll definitely be the most special, doing that with him.

You mentioned before, it seemed like 2025 was when you really got into the filmmaking of running specifically. Can you talk through the origins for how you got back into filmmaking in general, and what motivated you to really get into it starting in 2025?

Yeah, so up until the end of 2024, any filmmaking that I had done was really friends and family, and then throughout college doing some music videos. I liked the process, but I wasn’t so sure if I was really passionate about the content itself, if music videos or anything like that was something that I really wanted to do. But then, after the New York City Marathon heading into 2025, Toan Nguyen—he runs with Old Man Run Club, he’s a good friend of mine. I told him I have a camera, I’ve done filmmaking and all that, and I’m looking to get back into it. And he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to shoot some YouTube videos?’.... He was getting ready for the 2025 Houston Marathon in January, so we just shot a couple videos.

At the time, as far as shooting running and all that, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I was just feeling it out. But I felt like I quickly caught on, and we told a great three-video story from his training sessions, what his goal was and then the actual race itself. It started with him, and that gave me a lot of confidence, and I found out that running—aside from I’ve been doing this sport, I really like the storytelling aspect of it, just telling his story and sort of what goes on behind the scenes and what his purpose is, what his dreams are in the sport, and what else he’s dealing with in life that affects it, both for the good and bad. And that led me to just be curious, ‘Okay, if me and Toan shot this series of races and videos, what other stories are there to tell?’ So I kind of took the rest of 2025 to just figure it out. Me and him shot a couple more videos, and then he was like, ‘Hey, there’s this race going on here, and they’re looking for somebody to shoot. Do you want to go shoot?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ And there’ll be a couple instances of that. I wasn’t really doing anything for money at the time. I was just trying to get some experience, trying to get stuff in the portfolio.

And the more and more I did it, the more and more I fell in love with it. And the more and more characters, race directors, people, runners, young and old, that I met and that I talked to, I was like, ‘Damn, everybody is a character. There are so many stories to tell,’ whether it’s a race, like why the race is happening—for example, OSR30 with Joe and Orchard Street Runners, why that started, the whole purpose of not just starting Orchard Street Runners, but starting these types of races, with the Bread Route and what that means to him. And to me, this became addicting. And some of these I do get paid to do, and I’m really lucky and blessed to be able to do that for money. But I really do a lot of these for the love of the game, and I just love capturing a lot of these stories and a lot of these moments that you normally wouldn’t really see on Instagram or on YouTube or anywhere really on the internet, unless someone dedicates time and energy to capture these moments….

So also now I’m realizing that another purpose of what I’m doing here is maybe bringing more awareness to some races with the footage that’s being captured and shared and reshared. And some of the races that I’m making actual full-length videos for, I’d like to think that if someone is curious about it and they see the videos, they’re like, ‘Oh, next year or next time I’ll join the race and I’ll race it, or come out and spectate it.’ It just brings more awareness to what these communities and these clubs are trying to do.

And then 2026, my mission at the start of the year was just kicking everything into high gear. Just hitting up as many people as possible, races, [race] directors, working on previous relationships, and just trying to be as prevalent as possible throughout the city, and trying to capture as many moments as possible.

As you’re covering these events, are there any specific races or events that you try to lean into? It sounds like you kind of just try to do as much as possible, but are there times where you have to pick and choose between what event you’re going to cover if things are going on in the same day?

There have been instances where there’s either a race or two races on the same day, or on the same weekend, where I just have to focus on one. And so far, I kind of just wanted to shoot everything: ultras, track meets, 5ks. But lately, I’ve been leaning more toward the concept. For example, the $1 Ultra, OSR30, the Ray’s to Ray’s concept, the Warriors Ultra Run. That is more so what I’m attracted to right now, as far as capturing videos and photos.

So if it’s just something that I want to go to, it’s what is going to be more stimulating to me, and what do I feel I can get the best images, shots from, and tell a better story. For example, the Supermarket races, these three series of races, I just saw the Instagram reposted, and I was like, ‘That looks pretty cool. I think that that’s cool, and I want to shoot that.’

Has there been any balance that you’ve had to make in terms of wanting to participate in any of these events vs. covering it? Are there times when you have to balance one or the other in terms of your individual running vs. your coverage of running?

So the latest instance of that was the Bandit Grand Prix, where I had signed up to run, but then I was also going to shoot the event. And it was very stressful because I had to mentally lock in and prep and warm up for the race itself, but also throughout the day be on my feet and focus on what shots I was gonna get. So it is stressful. I think earlier in the year, I was like, ‘Yeah, if there’s a race that I’m running and I’d also shoot, that’s fine. I can do both.’ I think I’m leaning now more toward there are going to be races that I’m going to shoot, there are going to be races that I’m going to run.

And I think for now, I’m just strictly focusing on running 9+1 for the 2027 New York City Marathon. I’m going to be running those races. And then any cool concept races like Ray’s to Ray’s, those kinds of races—as much as I would like to compete, I would much rather capture them. Because I already have a video idea for them in my head, so I want to go shoot, get the shots, make that video. If there’s a race that I don’t feel inspired enough to make content or make a video, I’ll just run.

Do you think about long-term aspirations when it comes to your filmmaking, or is it sort of just taking it month by month, year by year, just enjoying the process as you go with it?

It’s a mix. I’m still enjoying the process. I think the difference between last year and this year is that I made it a mission this year to really post a lot more, post what I’m shooting and where I am, and be more prevalent on social media. So with that comes people reaching out for work, to shoot. And aside from that, there’s also the passion project, the stuff I’ve been wanting to shoot with athletes and run clubs and all that. So there is an internal dilemma right now in my mind. I am a full-time architect, but I’m also doing this on the side, weekends, after work. It’s at the point where I’m going to either have to settle down on the filmmaking a little bit, or settle down on the architecture. I’m nearing that crossroad.

I love filmmaking, and especially filmmaking the sport of running, so much that it could lean toward I pursue that much more seriously. But I think time will tell, and I think these next few months will be telling, with several projects lined up. Ultimately, I never intended it to be this way, but it’s just something that happened. And I’m happy right now. I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I love doing both right now, but I know there will be a time where I have to make a decision….

Definitely trying to do more project-based goals, do more longform stuff, more cinematic productions based on events themselves. But with that obviously would come a need for more time. So that’s all in the future.

Any topics that I didn’t specifically ask about that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

I’m glad I found running. I genuinely believe that running saved my life in a way, because I was in a really dark spot in 2023, both mentally and physically, and I feel like running really got me out of it. And then filmmaking really just took me to a whole other level, both purpose-wise, mentally, emotionally.

And to be able to combine those two things, both running and filmmaking, both literally on some days running and shooting the race, and just in general, just what goes on through my mind on a daily basis, I’m really happy. I’m really happy that I was able to find that in my life. And now I get to share through my videos and my running goals and journey and all that—it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool.

Angie Calle recalls a moment while training for her first New York City Marathon in 2023, when she thought of the inspiration she gets from her mom and started to cry.

“I just know that she didn’t have the same opportunities as me,” Angie says. “I think what mostly inspires me from my mom is how much happiness she can get from seeing other people happy.”

It’s a mindset Angie brings forth within her own community involvement as well.

Whether it be as a captain of World’s Fair Run Crew or founder of Tour de Queens, she’s become increasingly involved in organizing events for the running and movement community—in part thanks to her mom, whose food truck caters many of those events. And after coming back from an injury that took her out for most of the last year, Angie says she’s excited to finally return to that role of helping bring the community together in the coming months.

We spoke with Angie to discuss lessons she took away from her first marathon, watching her brother get into running in his 30s, her goals for this year’s New York City Marathon and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

On getting involved with the New York City running community:

The way I got into the New York City community was through World’s Fair Run Crew. I started running with them back in 2020. Before that, I ran in high school, I ran in college, and then I stopped. And then during the pandemic is when I wanted to start running again, because I had gained a lot of weight, and I was like, ‘I just feel really bad.’ So, I found World’s Fair Run Crew through social media, through a friend, and we went. And that’s when I started meeting people, I started running with people outside of Wednesdays [with World’s Fair Run Crew], and that’s when I started getting involved in the community….

There was this runner, Jaeki Cho, he would run with us every Wednesday, and he had just started a series called Righteous Eats. He was a food influencer, and he’s doing other things with Netflix and stuff. But he was doing Righteous Eats, which was a series highlighting the small businesses in New York City. And he was telling me about it, and I think I just mentioned, ‘Oh my mom has a food stand,’ and he’s like, ‘How about next week we do an episode on your mom’s food stand?’ And he was the one that initiated and he’s the one that planned it all out, and that was really the initiation of me organizing an event. He was like, ‘You need to talk more about your mom’s business, that this is great, and you can do a lot of things with it.’ So he did an episode of my mom’s business, and then for the future planning of World’s Fair Run Crew, they hire my mom, who has all the permits, all the licenses and everything, to cater to their events.

Then from there, I was running with a lot of run crews. From I would say 2023, 2024 and half of 2025, so almost two and a half years, I was running with a different run crew almost every day. And that’s how I met a lot of people. And my intention was never to meet people and then start organizing events. It kind of just happened. The Instagram that I have is new because the other one got hacked, but I would post the runs that I would go to, and there was a following of, ‘Oh, what run event is there? What’s the next event that’s happening? It’s probably on Angie’s page.’ So that’s when I noticed that people are paying attention to what I’m doing.

But I also cycle, and I had been a commuter on my bike back when I was in college, back in 2017, 2016. I would post it on my Instagram, and just show where I’m going. And as I started getting to know more people running, and the people that were getting to know me saw that I was cycling, I would get responses on my Instagram about people telling me that they’re scared to ride their bike. They’re like, ‘I’m scared to get crashed into, you’re so brave.’ And riding your bike in New York City is such a dangerous sport…. So the reason I mention that is because that’s how I got into organizing events. I said, ‘Well, there are so many runners that have reached out to me about their fears of cycling on the street alone,’ so I hosted an event called Tour de Queens, and that’s the community that I have. The first event was a tour of Queens to a few of the run clubs and their homes. We started at the Unisphere—that’s the home of World’s Fair Run Crew, where I’m one of the captains—and then we went to Run Hustle Run, WEPA, we went to Ridgewood [Runners], we went to Queens Distance, Off the Track Astoria. We went to GOATS, we went to Paso, and then we went to Monarchs, and I think we came back, and that was it at that point. About 40 people showed up to that first event, and it was a really fun time. People loved it. And I continued it, not every month, but ever so often.

And I didn’t stop there. I also did run events. I called it a Run & Grub, where people were running in the Corona area, and then at the end we would stop and eat at my mom’s food truck. I got to collaborate with Nike for two of those events, and was able to get a budget. So people ate for free after the event, which was great because I didn’t want people to think that I’m just pulling them for money. I wanted something that I could give back to the community, and I was able to do that. And there were gifts, there were raffles, and it was a great time. There were a lot of photographers, a lot of videographers for those events, and that’s how Tour de Queens was born, and then how it continues.

You ran in high school and college, then took a break and got back into it during the pandemic. But eventually, your first New York Road Runners race was the 2023 New York City Marathon. What was that experience like?

Being able to run the New York City Marathon back in 2023 was honestly thanks to the community. I was not someone that knew about 9+1. I had no idea what it felt to run more than 10 miles. Because before that, even in college and in high school, I had not run a half marathon without stopping ever…. That was such a life-changing experience because after you run a marathon, you just feel like everything is doable. Everything else is like, ‘Yeah, I’ve run 26 miles.’ You don’t really see anything else as impossible. It’s like, ‘All right, what am I gonna do next?’

So that was something beautiful for me because I had a community. World’s Fair Run Crew gave race kits to people, they gave their race shoes to people. And I felt so supported, not only physically with materials, but emotionally. I knew at Mile 13.4, World’s Fair Run Crew was going to be there cheering for me, and that was such an emotional and unforgettable moment.

Actually, today I was helping my mom with something, and I saw on her phone November 5, 2023, and it’s a selfie that she took—we went to eat after I finished, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is such a nice photo, I’m gonna post this before I do the marathon this time,’ because this [year] is gonna be my second New York City Marathon. Last year I was actually training for it, and I got injured…. By the end of August last year, I was out, something gave out in my hip, I had a stress fracture. But it was something where you just gotta learn that things don’t stop there. Coming back from an injury, you learn that it’s good to take time off…. Injuries can be permanent or they can be temporary, it’s the way you approach them.

On your Instagram, you’ve talked a bit about the impact your family’s had on you—the inspiration from your mom, but also the inspiration that you get from seeing your brother get into running as well. So if you want to talk through both of those aspects?

The inspiration I get from my mom is that she’s always been someone that just works…. I’m getting emotional. I think I’m getting emotional because when you asked me that—when I was training for my first marathon, you need to run the 20 miles, and after that, you feel like you’re ready. For 2023, when I ran my 20 miles, I did it alone because I wasn’t training with anyone, and I didn’t know about programs before, or at least I was not well-informed to go. But when I ran those 20 miles, I thought of my mom, and I started to cry because I just know that she didn’t have the same opportunities as me…. It’s just something so beautiful that a person can be so happy for you, never having experienced that happiness. I think what mostly inspires me from my mom is how much happiness she can get from seeing other people happy, even though she hasn’t experienced it herself.

And then for my brother, I think he’s an example that it’s never too late to start. I mean, he started running when he was in his 30s, and not a lot of people do that, or ever will do that. They don’t give running a chance, or they don’t ever get the motivation or confidence to go out there and start at ground zero, right? It’s such an intimidating thing to be a beginner in anything. So I think that inspires me to be okay with being a beginner in something.

What makes the broader New York City running community so special to you, but also the Queens running community specifically?

The New York City running community is so diverse. I feel like there are run crews that you see the people that make up that run crew, and you can tell what neighborhood they’re from, or how their neighborhood is. Run crews that come to mind: World’s Fair, WEPA, Hustle. Hustle has a lot of Dominicans, a lot of Puerto Ricans, and it’s representing the neighborhood over there. World’s Fair is in Flushing-Corona. What will you find in World’s Fair every week? Latinos and Asians. We’re right next to Chinatown, we’re also right next to Roosevelt, which is a lot of Latin Americans. I think it’s a representation of the neighborhood, the demographic of the run club. So it’s like showing the culture of their home in one way.

I feel like Queens running communities are very united, because we do the Queens Running Collective, or we do the Queens Shakeout, and it’s run clubs coming together from Queens to do something together. Not to say that other boroughs are not doing it, I just don’t see them maybe doing it too often like we do it.

You’re training for the New York City Marathon this year…. Can you talk through goals you have in terms of running in the short term for the marathon, or also just differences between how you’re trying to train for the New York City Marathon now versus the first time you did it a couple years ago?

It’s such a different journey. Back in 2023, I knew different people, and now I feel like I know so many more, but also I’m close to different people. So it’s a different experience in terms of who I train with. Right now, I’m currently training with Project Moonshot, but I’m also going to other runs if anything else pops up, so I’m going around and trying different run events.

I would say that with my injury from last year, I really don’t have a goal [this year] in terms of time, but I know I’m going to PR with any time that I get…. My goal is to go out there and feel—I had a meditation with Project Moonshot, and Coach Kristina guided us through a breathing. And at the end of the session, I felt so relaxed…and she said, ‘Imagine this feeling at the start line.’ And that question stuck with me, because I was like, ‘I can’t imagine feeling this relaxed at a start line,’ but imagine if I could. That’s just something that I feel would be a goal, and that would be a huge accomplishment, to be at a start line and to be relaxed.

And I plan to stop at every cheer station that I can, to say hi to people, to celebrate, because it’s a big party, and it’s a celebration of what your body can do. Last year during that time I was in crutches. I don’t really care about time. I just want to jump and run and celebrate that I’m even out there. That’s where my mind is. And like I said, I know it’s going to be a PR from 2023 anyway, because I have a lot more training, and I just know it’s gonna be better.

Any life lessons that you’ve gotten from running, or just ways that in general running has helped in other areas of your life?

It’s definitely therapeutic for me to be able to go out and leave the stresses or the to-do list somewhere home, just stepping outside of my responsibilities and allowing my body to be like, ‘Let’s just relax right now.’ And sometimes I carry my responsibilities to my runs, but even when I do, it helps me organize my thoughts and think about what I’m gonna do next if I feel stuck. So it can help me be relaxed by not thinking of something or by helping me think through something, both ways.

And life lessons, I think Southbound [400] was the challenge where I learned I don’t know the limit of my body during a race. I was up at 4 a.m., I was running by five, and I finished running at 1 a.m….. I would never have thought I could do that. And it was a huge eye-opener for me about what my body can do.

Any topics that we didn’t touch on that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

I think about ways of how to get the community to come together, so I guess what the future holds for me is I’m planning Tour de Queens events in Queens and maybe cycling events from Queens to Brooklyn. And those are the things that I’m looking forward to, because I haven’t done them in a while. I was injured, but now that I’m not, that’s my to-do list, my next thing.

Jeff Benjamin admits that to most people in the running community outside of Staten Island, the borough is known simply as the start of the New York City Marathon—before everyone immediately leaves across the Verrazzano.

But he wants to ensure they all realize that the Staten Island running scene has a lot more to it than just that.

Part of emphasizing that entails sharing the history of the sport in his borough, from former Olympians to longtime coaches. It connects well with Jeff’s background as a social studies teacher, in addition to his passion for highlighting the sport’s rich history as a journalist for nearly 40 years. He’s done his fair share of pushing the community forward himself as well, whether it be as president of the Staten Island Athletic Club or as co-founder of the Staten Island Running Association.

It all traces back to his running origins in high school, learning from New York City legend Art Hall how to make the sport not just something he participated in, but a lifestyle.

We spoke with Jeff to discuss the importance of patience in running, lessons that stand out from covering the top athletes in the world, the Staten Island Running Association’s annual gala during New York City Marathon week and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you start off with an intro of yourself, where you’re from and how you got into running initially?

Sure. Well, I’m Jeff Benjamin. I live in Staten Island, New York. Moved to Staten Island in 1972, when I was about seven years old. Played sports in the street, like all kids did in that era, and went to Susan Wagner High School.

I was introduced to running by a social studies teacher who was running laps during a lunch break around the track, and a few weeks later, I joined my high school track team. But then I gravitated toward a club on Staten Island, which was called the North Shore Track Club. Its coach is a local, not only Staten Island but New York City legend, the late Art Hall, who was an African-American distance runner in that time period where they were far and few between…. The idea of African-American men and women running distance at a high competitive level was very rare in the United States. Ted Corbitt was a long-time legendary guy in New York City, and one of the founders of what is today the New York Road Runners Club. Art was one of Ted’s proteges. And Art finished top five in the early New York City Marathons when it was still run in Central Park. From ‘70 to ‘75, the marathon was four laps of Central Park, 26.2 [miles]. Art finished top five in two of them, and I believe in the ‘74 version on a hot day, he actually beat an unknown runner by the name of Bill Rodgers, who later on would become Bill Rodgers, the four-time champion, world-class [runner].

And so I fell in with Art, and my senior year I returned back to my Susan Wagner High School team, where we actually won the New York City Cross Country Championships, and I was the number five guy on the team. And what that means is that whenever we have a reunion or a get-together, I don’t pay for dinner. Everybody covers me, because you’re only as good as your weakest link, and cross country top five score, so I was the fifth person. Stayed local for college, ran for the College of Staten Island, and immersed myself in the sport through Art and others throughout the years. Got a job working for the New York City Board of Education. Mostly my career was at New Dorp High School here on Staten Island, social studies, usually American history. I got into the writing gig around 1988-89, just wanted to try it. And Fred Lebow, the great leader of the New York Road Runners at the time, got me my first credential, and I covered a meet called the New York Games. Fred had involved the Road Runners Club not just in road racing but in a bunch of other things as well, and he created a world-class track meet at Columbia University, which was on NBC, for about four years in a row. He had Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and great milers like Steve Scott, Jim Spivey, Saïd Aouita of Morocco. He basically brought all those runners who were competing at the world-class level in Europe mostly over here to the United States, to run here in New York to try to promote the sport. And that’s always been a struggle for us for whatever reason.

But that’s how I got in, and I’ve been very lucky. I was never an Olympic caliber athlete, but I got to hang around and meet and befriend many of these people and train with some of them, although I wouldn’t call it training on their part. And when I got a little committed about my running, my coach was Tom Fleming, a two-time winner of the New York City Marathon, who ran 2:12 in Boston. And Tom coached me for seven or eight years. Always his philosophy was getting you ready on the day, and that meant that it was like a seven-month, eight-month plan….

The one thing I have learned from all of these great athletes, the one advice I believe is you got to commit yourself and you got to give it time and give yourself patience…. It really is a process, and you have to have enormous, enormous amounts of patience.

What kept you motivated to keep running individually past college?

I have to trace it back to Art Hall again, because running with Art as a teenage kid, like 16, 17 years old…. Art didn’t really show us the magic workout, because there’s no such thing as the magic workout. I hope I’m not breaking anybody’s heart with this right now, but that’s the true reality. Art showed us a lifestyle, how to live with it, how to make it part of your m.o. So I guess for myself and a few others of us—and my friend Tony, 45 years later, still runs as well—it was put into our DNA, so to speak. So when we did get out of college, we still wanted to run….

And one philosophy I was taught as well is that the greatest feeling in the world is getting on the starting line, knowing that you put in all the work. It’s okay to be nervous, but you have no fear because you already put in all the work, and that kind of confidence you have really goes a long way. I coached high school for a while—and you’ll see that at any level—but at the high school level, if that’s that high school kid who’s missing that Sunday morning run that they’re supposed to do by themselves, or there’s a three-day weekend, coach tells you to run those days and you don’t, you go to the line, you’re not going to have that kind of confidence.

Within your journalism background, just involvement in the sport, you focus a lot on the history of the sport. I know that’s part of your professional experience as well, you’re a history teacher, history major. What fascinates you so much about running history or history in general, and why has that been such a big part of what you try to bring to light?

Yeah, the one thing runners have to realize is that people came before us. Josh Kerr last week set the world record in the mile for 60,000 people in London running 3:42—an article I [wrote] for runblogrun.com, I reached out to many of the world’s legendary milers, some as old as 70, and I said to them, ‘If you had the same setup that Josh Kerr has today in 2026, the shoes, the nutrition, all these other things, what would you run?’ And it’s interesting because a few did not reply or got back to me and said, ‘Out of respect, I really don’t want to answer that question. I’m proud of the time that I did,’ which I totally get. Others jumped right in. One person told me they would run 3:40 without hesitation. Others said they would run 3:42, 3:43. And that kind of talk gets people involved. Because if you learn about Herb Elliott from Australia, who was undefeated in a pretty short career, about three or four years at the world class level, undefeated in 1500-meter and mile races that he ran and destroyed the world record in his time running on a dirt track, 3:54, around 1959, 1960, and you ask, ‘Gee, what would he have done today?’....

The other thing too is that many of these champions came from tough situations. You don’t just go on a track and win. Just like if you’re Jalen Brunson with the Knicks, you don’t just play the ball game. Preparation, going through hardships and struggles, injury. So if somebody’s battling an injury right now, and yeah, it’s really frustrating and it really stinks, but you’re not alone. Some of these people have gone through massive injuries, massive sickness in their career, but kept the faith and stayed consistent with their psychological belief. And when they came back, they came back very carefully, and they really excelled. It’s very inspiring, and I think that’s the big thing: inspiration. I think all runners like to hear an inspiring story before a major run or a major race they’re going to do, and I try to espouse that with people. Sebastian Coe always tells everybody: become students of the sport. If you become students of the sport, you will learn that no matter what you go through running, you’re not alone. Hardships you have, others have had hardships as well. And you can learn from them, you can empathize with them, and you see how they react to it, and you can carry that through a lot of miles.

Through covering the sport and just your general involvement, you’ve been around a lot of high-level athletes and people who have reached the apex in running. Are there commonalities or lessons that you’ve learned just from being around them, interviewing them, etc. that stand out over the years?

Nobody trains the same, but every one of them has a 100 percent no-doubt, committed attitude toward whatever their coach is telling them to do. You never hear from any of these athletes, ‘Why are we doing this?’ You just don’t hear it. And some coaches will explain everything beforehand, of course. Others will just say, ‘Just do it.’

It’s like a basketball situation years ago—in the ‘90s, the Knicks hired Pat Riley as the coach. And Pat Riley had five NBA rings, and those Knicks players didn’t. And I’d like to think that when Pat Riley got into that room with these guys, and they were hungry and stuff, he showed them the rings and said, ‘I’ll show you the way, but you got to listen to what I got to do.’ And he almost got them there.

And I think that belief that I’ve seen with all the runners in their program, their process, their coaching, is totally 100 percent with no doubt. Doubt is always the greatest enemy of anybody, no matter what you’re looking to try to be in life. So to get rid of those doubts and have the total faith, that’s something you don’t have to worry about when you’re running.

Through again covering the sport for many years, decades, are there any favorite memories or moments that stand out?

I covered the Fifth Avenue Mile back in 1990, and at that time, one of the world’s greatest milers was Saïd Aouita of Morocco, who ran 3:46 for the mile and was the world record holder at 5k. He was the first man under 13 minutes for 5k, and a sub-3:30 1500-meter man. And when I met him, he’s Moroccan, but he spoke French, and he had a translator there. It was a cool interview, and everything’s going along. And then I started talking to the translator that I live in Staten Island, I said, ‘There’s a Moroccan who lives here, who runs very well.’ And I mentioned the name, and immediately Saïd’s eyes lit up and started speaking to me in English. So that was kind of funny….

All these athletes are very receptive, and I’m very thankful for that. So it would be great, with our sport, that they get even more publicity out there. Because they really are unbelievable people with what they do to themselves, physically, psychologically, to try to be the best they can be.

On that note…running’s been booming recreationally within the past three to five years—do you have thoughts on what are the best ways to translate that toward actual interest in the sport at the professional level that maybe isn’t being executed well enough or just isn’t being done enough right now?

I feel like if you ran the 1981 New York City Marathon, if you were a seven-hour marathoner and crossed the line, you would eventually know that Alberto Salazar set the world record that day, or world best. You ran the New York or Boston Marathons in the ‘70s, you knew Bill Rodgers won the race that you were in. There was a connection between the elite athletes and the people who just run to try to get the best out of themselves of all ability…. I think anybody who ran last year’s 2025 New York City Marathon, I would guess that maybe 80 percent of these people don’t even know who won the race. And the goal would be for the powers that be to try to get that connection back.

There was an interesting thing that happened—in 2017, TrackTown USA, which is based in Eugene, Oregon, put on a series of track meets with the national class runners of the United States—and they were world class—throughout different parks. And they had it at Randall’s Island. The person who runs Randall’s Island is Louis Vazquez…and TrackTown, with them, came up with an idea for this evening track meet. It was in July. I think it was a weeknight. Let’s do a 5k run before the meet. Let’s have the 5k start and finish on the track. Start at 6 o’clock, you figure it’ll go an hour. The meet could start at 7:30, and when the people entered the race, their race number became their ticket to go into the meet. So, needless to say, that night the place was packed. And what’s so interesting is that we had so many runners there, a large percentage of them had never been to a track meet before. And when the 1500 meters was taking place, the announcer did a spectacular job of explaining to the audience what the distance was, how it converts to the mile. Traditionally the 1500 is like 17 seconds faster than the mile, give or take a little bit. And so when people ran that night, the crowd understood. So I think it’s a combination of education and promotion, promotion, promotion. That goes back to Phil Knight of Nike and Fred Lebow with New York Road Runners. You got to just constantly put it out there, so to speak….

Like I said, I think the more that runners in general are around these unbelievably gifted physical specimens, as I like to say, I think it’s a great combination. I think it’s very inspiring for people. Because that mentality—if you are somebody who’s like, ‘I got to break the four-hour marathon,’ that kind of mentality, that drive that you have to do it with your training, is very similar to the world-class person who’s like, ‘I got to get down to two hours for the marathon.’ But yeah, marketing, marketing, marketing is huge.

You’ve been involved in the Staten Island running community and Staten Island running scene for a very long time. What makes the Staten Island running scene special to you individually, and just what would you say about that to other New Yorkers who maybe aren’t as familiar with the Staten Island running scene as the communities in other boroughs?

Yeah, well, the Staten Island running scene for most people outside the borough is, ‘Oh, that’s where the New York City Marathon starts. I go to Fort Wadsworth, I go on the line, and I leave Staten Island.’ That is true. But we have a rich running community here.

We’ve had some legendary people live here. Staten Island is the birthplace of Abel Kiviat, who in 1912 set the world record for 1,500 meters three times over 12 days, leading up to the 1912 Olympics. And his roommate going to the Olympic Games in Stockholm was Jim Thorpe. Abel would get a silver medal and a gold medal on a relay team, and we all got to know Abel because he died in 1991 at the age of 99—he was the world’s oldest living Olympic medalist. Staten Island guy.

We just had a man pass away, a legendary runner, coach, Bill Welsh, who passed away about three years ago. And from the 1940s right through his passing, he was running and training. National class road runner, ran for Millrose Athletic Association, coached New Dorp High School, and coached Charlie Marsala to a sub-four minute mile in 1987. And coached Bill Jankunis, Staten Island guy, who won the Olympic Trials in the high jump in 1976 to make the United States Olympic team. So as always, like you said, getting the history out there and stuff…. The 2016 Olympian Robby Andrews from New Jersey, his father Bob and his mom were born here, grew up on Staten Island. There are a lot of connections here with the sport. Like I said, we are known for the start of the New York City Marathon, but we have a lot more to offer on a lot of other levels.

Any underrated races on Staten Island that you’d like to touch on, and also underrated running spots on Staten Island?

What’s interesting is that Staten Island, we still have woods and trails. If you just drive through the borough on the Staten Island Expressway, you will see suburbia. You’ll see a lot of development going on, house, house, house. But we have an area called the Greenbelt, and the Greenbelt is thousands of acres of marked cinder trails throughout it, little dirt paths as well….

Staten Island is known for its hills. I think the toughest hill in the borough is a hill called Hillside Avenue. It’s in Stapleton…. For many years there was a race here called the Stapleton Steeplechase five-mile road race, and they also had a 10-mile road race where you did the course twice. And at the first mile you ran up Hillside Avenue, and you still had like four miles to go. Thousands of runners would come for this thing. And in 1978, I think it was, the Olympian Jeff Galloway came, and won the race. Later on, he said, ‘It was one of the hardest courses ever. I call that hill the wall.’ And most know Galloway with his training programs and all that stuff, who sadly passed away this past year.

We have a race called the Michael Ollis Run, which is the largest race now in the streets here. It’s the first week of June. Michael Ollis was a NATO soldier who was killed in Afghanistan, taking a grenade, shielding himself, and saving the lives of Polish colonels and generals in Afghanistan. That race draws about 1,000 runners.

The traditional one is the Lou Marli Run on Thanksgiving morning. It is the same rule that has gone on since the beginning. There is no entry fee. You just take a card, sign up and awards are given to the top three in the age groups. There are three different three-mile races, and then I think three different one-mile races and half-mile races based on ages and gender. And Mr. Marli passed away in 1997—his estate still covers all the awards for it. The only thing they ask, and it’s just a request, if people can bring canned food that they can bring to the soup kitchens. And they usually get a lot of that as well.

The running community is pretty vibrant, pretty strong. The clubs we have here are the Richmond Rockets and the Staten Island Athletic Club, they’re the two main ones. Also, every Saturday morning at 9 o‘clock in the morning, it is free, open to anybody, is the Staten Island Athletic Club three-mile run for fun. Show up, sign a waiver, go. Runners, joggers, walkers, racers show up. There could be five people there one day, there could be 150 people there one day. It’s always hit or miss. That goes on every single Saturday on Staten Island, unless there’s another road race on Staten Island that day, they cancel it.

Recently we honored somebody at the Staten Island Athletic Club Fun Run, Judge Michael Brennan, retired Staten Island Supreme Court judge. He took over the running scene as a race director in 1975 as the [running] boom was going on. The people before him were like, ‘Hey, I didn’t ask for this, there are way too many people here. We don’t want to do this.’ And so they gave it to Brennan, and Brennan took the reins and helped organize and put on races. We have an annual Memorial Day run now as well, and Brennan created all of these races, led the movement. And as president of the Staten Island Athletic Club for six years, he was at pretty much every single fun run, officiating that run, rain, hail, sleet or snow for six years. Real dedication.

You’ve been involved in the Staten Island running community in various capacities, you were the president of the Staten Island Athletic Club for several years as well. Now you’re more involved in the Staten Island Running Association—can you give an overview of your involvement there and the mission of what you guys do?

Sure. The Staten Island Running Association was created by Michael Schnall and myself back in 2018. We’re a nonprofit, we have a board of directors, the whole deal. Our mission is to try to promote the sport, but also help people, mostly youth, with something related to it. So for example, during COVID, in honor of Art Hall, we donated 20 laptops to students in need in their houses who did not have them. We have donated shoes to kids. We sponsor Staten Island High School Championships. We are the only borough that has a high school borough championship with public and Catholic and private all against each other. Those championships in cross country, indoor, outdoor track have been around since 1957. Brooklyn tries to do it. The Bronx tries to do it. Nobody could do it. But we do it. So we cover that. We put on the annual Memorial Day run, the past five years.

But the big thing that we do—we have an annual dinner, Staten Island annual gala, marathon week. The Wednesday before the New York City Marathon, and this year it’s October 28, we invite people to come on down. And thanks to beyond generous sponsors, not just on Staten Island but worldwide, we are able to bring in Bob Beamon, the legendary jumper, Dave Wottle, the Olympic champion at 800 meters from 1972. Some of you old-timers might remember he wore the golf cap when he won his dramatic race. Bill Rodgers, four-time winner New York, Boston. Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Steve Jones, Geoff Smith and current athletes Allie Wilson and Ajeé Wilson—no relation, but they’re both 800-meter Olympians. And they come to our gala. We give out awards to people in our community, named for Art Hall, named for Vic Navarra, the longtime start coordinator for the New York City Marathon. Other awards named for a lot of people as well.

And the biggest thing that we do is we have 150 kids, college and under, they come for free. We have sponsors pay for their seats, the kids show up. When Eamonn Coghlan, the great mile indoor runner, world record holder, comes to the dinner, they don’t know who he is. But we show video, we do a presentation, and after those video presentations, then the kids want their autograph. Then they want a selfie. Then they want something signed. We call it the Beatlemania effect. Bob Beamon’s legendary jump of 29 feet, two-and-a-half inches, we measure it with a tape measure across the room, and we show a slow motion video of the jump. And you see the look on these kids’ faces, and even some adults, like, ‘Oh my god.’ And that’s the kind of effect we have, trying to link up people and especially those kids with that stuff. We show a quick thing of Bill Rodgers winning one of his Boston Marathons, coming from way back and dramatically winning, and it’s inspirational.

And we have it the week of the New York City Marathon as well with the hope that besides our legendary guests that come, others might come. And if there are any current runners or legendary runners who are in New York that week anyway, because some of them are represented by shoe companies, we’d love to have them. And this past year, we were amazed because we had 350 people. We sold out two weeks before. We had people come from South Carolina, Iowa, California. And one guy, James Rhodes, journalist like myself, he flew in from England because he couldn’t believe it. He was like, ‘You’re really going to have these people here?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’

So this year we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the five-borough race created in 1976. We have a whole load of announcements coming soon, a whole load of surprises. And we’re definitely having Bill Rodgers, who was the winner of that first five-borough race. So we have some really cool things going on.

Les Boadu’s current running goals all revolve around building community in his home borough: Queens.

Part of that is helping new runners navigate their early journeys in the sport, similar to his own running origins. After he ran his first half in 2015 on no training and with no idea what to expect, Les says it was exploring New York City run crews that introduced him to races across the country—and later convinced him to become a pacer with Adidas Runners and captain for Team WEPA.

Through his work with Team WEPA, Les has also helped organize the Queens Running Collective, which formed in 2020 with the mission of connecting all the run crews across Queens. It’s an initiative that’s especially important for the city’s largest borough, and also one that feeds into another of Les’s goals: growing awareness for local racing options in people’s own backyard.

We spoke with Les to discuss what makes Queens special to him, how he got involved with Adidas Runners and Team WEPA, helping introduce running to the youth and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you give an intro of where you’re from and what brought you to New York City if you’re not from the city originally?

My name is Les. Right now, you are speaking to me from The World’s Borough, Queens. Queens is home. Queens has been home for the last I want to say 20 years. I was born in Virginia, moved to New York City when I was two years old. My parents were mostly in the Bronx and Yonkers. Went to school in Yonkers, migrated to Queens for undergrad in 2007, and Queens has been home since. So everything I do is for the borough of Queens right now.

What makes Queen special to you?

I’m a Johnnie. I’m a St. John’s alumni. Queens to me exemplifies diversity, and I think for me that’s very important. I have a background in education, I love traveling, I love learning about all cultures. Queens has over 138 languages, probably more than that. And what makes Queens unique is the people, and the food, and the culture. There are parts of Queens that I’ve been to that have always made me feel like home…. I’m West African, I’m from Ghana. So I can meet people from Ghana in Queens. I can meet people from all over the world in Queens. And that’s what makes Queens special.

It’s literally the melting pot of diversity, that’s why we say The World’s Borough. I think right now, if you Google the most diverse place, it’s top five easily, if not number one.

I listened to a couple podcasts where you get into the origin story of that friend who convinced you to sign up for a half marathon, and that’s how you got into running. But if you want to quickly go through that story?

That story lives forever. I’ll shout out his name. It’s actually my old roommate from college, his name is Hakiem Simmons.

Funny enough, my mother worked for Goodwill…so my mom used to volunteer at the New York City Marathon. And what her company would do is when people throw their clothes, Goodwill will pack those throwaway clothes, put them in boxes and donate them to different centers all around New York City. So my mom, I want to say 2012, 2013, she volunteered year after year, and Goodwill would give her a bib to run the New York City Marathon. But those were like my late teenage years, my early 20s. She would say, ‘You want to run it? You want to run it?’ And I would say no…. That wasn’t my lifestyle at that moment. By the time I actually got into running, which was late 2015, she had already parted ways with that company, and then I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, the opportunity.’

It wasn’t until my friend, who was Hakiem Simmons, convinced me to sign up for my first half marathon in 2015, which was the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half—and I was convinced that it was one of these Eventbrite color parties that you go, you run, and you throw paint and nonsense, and there’s music. But no, it was actually a half in Brooklyn.

What hooked you after, where you wanted to keep [running]?

After that first experience, I realized that I need to train for this. Leading up to the half, I did not train at all. I was too focused on how I looked, what shoes to wear. After that half, in the fall of 2015, I simply started finding urban running crews in New York City. And when I started going to these urban run crews, they would tell me about different races. So I made it a point in 2016 to do more races…. Somebody was like, ‘Yo, you got to go do this race in Philly…. You get these big old medals. It’s called the Stallion Challenge.’ And I was like, ‘Wait, what? There are other things besides the New York City Marathon?’....

I ran around the country in 2016, I did races in D.C., Virginia, all over. And those were all mainly half marathons…. I think just people—meeting people and then just vibing led me to want to continue to run.

It wasn’t until the pandemic that you joined Team WEPA and became a captain there. What were those early crews [you ran with] before that?

After running the New York City Marathon in 2017, I started to meet people in the urban scene. And in 2017, I was approached by a friend who told me, ‘Bro, Adidas is getting ready to launch a run crew, club, something, and I noticed you wear a lot of Adidas.’ So in 2018, Adidas Runners did a beta.

Nike Run Club was New York City. Everybody ran with Nike Run Club. I myself, when I started running, went and ran with Nike Run Club. But 2018, Adidas Runners arrived in New York City, and they were looking for crew runners, kind of like pacers. And I was approached to be a pacer. So before switching and joining my friends over at WEPA, I did Adidas Runners for about three years.

Can you talk through your introduction to Team WEPA? What convinced you to become a captain there, and why is that group so special to you?

So Team WEPA’s connection was funny. The founder’s name is Gerardo Rodriguez. I’ve known him since I’ve started running basically. We’d seen each other, we said hello every race I ran past, he shows a lot of love. When the pandemic hit, everything was on pause. My pacing duties at Adidas were on pause. I was essentially stuck in Queens. I had wanted to start my own run crew after the pandemic, and Gee from WEPA was the first person I called. Because I knew when you hear Queens, WEPA was the crew that ran Queens. And I respect checking in. I love checking in. If I go to your borough, if I go to Lower East Side, Tribeca, wherever, I’m the person that does my background research. If there’s a crew that exists, I want to check in before I do anything.

So I called Gee, and the universe just clicked. Gee was like, ‘Bro, I just lost one of my captains, I’m by myself, and I could use a lot of help. I know you want to start your own thing, which is fine, I support it. But if you want to build and connect, we can build and connect and do this together.’ So I thought about it, and I was like—I’ve known him for a few years, he already has a lot going on with WEPA, and we both just happen to be in the field of education. We had a lot in common…. And he’s always shown me love. So it was a no-brainer.

What’s it been like seeing the Queens running scene grow over the years…. And how have the different crews and clubs worked together to some extent?

I love that question. So when I came, one of the reasons I also joined WEPA when Gee approached me—Gee felt that although the urban running scene is phenomenal, he felt in Queens that we were all separated. Queens is the largest borough. He felt that the running crews were phenomenal, but what was missing was there weren’t too many collaborations around 2020, 2021. So in 2020, Gee founded the Queens Running Collective. But then he was like, ‘Listen, Les, I want you to run it, and the reason I want you to run it is because’—we’re two opposites in the sense where I’m more social and extroverted, and he’s a mixture of introverted and extroverted. So when I came on, my mission was to find a way to bring all the Queens crews together.

In 2020, 2021, there was a lot of social injustice, a lot of voting rights, the country was just in a wild place. A lot of hate…. So the Queens Run Collective started roughly around 2021, 2022, and we did things like run to vote, voter registration, the importance of doing the primary elections. We did things like Black Lives Matter. We did things like Asian Lives Matter…. We used the sport of running to just spread love and positivity. Now connecting all the Queens run crews—we had local run crews down the block doing the same thing, and we just didn’t know that they were doing the same thing, because the borough is that large. So all the run crews eventually were like, ‘Oh my god, you guys run this path on Wednesdays, we do the same path on Thursdays.’

The Queens Running Collective today—for Global Running Day, we came together, 15-plus crews…. At the end of the run, each crew went up and shared their mission and vision, they shared where they run in the borough, and they shared what they offer, and any upcoming events. And then they also shared their why. And I felt that was phenomenal, because it let others know that, ‘I don’t have to always go run with WEPA on this day. There are 15-plus other crews that I can go and explore.’ And I think sometimes run crews forget that we are better when we connect and build. And Global Running Day, although it was just that one day, it was 400-plus runners out there from all backgrounds, all walks of life, all paces, all races. All love was spread through miles.

What are your short and medium-term running goals? Or even long term, how do you think about goals when it comes to running?

As a West African from Ghana, my next big goal—I haven’t run a marathon in the continent of Africa. I know Cape Town is one of the new [World Marathon Major] cities. It doesn’t have to be Cape Town, just a marathon in Africa. Ghana actually has a marathon called the Accra Marathon. Long term, I’m still working on running the New York City Marathon every year. That goal is still going….

But short-term goal, it’s just building community. I’ve been doing this for 11 years now. I literally started in 2015, 2016, building community, allowing others to help others, like better us, better world. So for me, right now is helping WEPA grow, helping new runners learn how to navigate the journey, how to run some of these races, how to pay for some of these races and how to get opportunities to keep going. Just leading by example and hoping the next runner helps the next runner. And also getting the youth to love the sport. If I had running, if I ran in high school, I’d be a different person right now.

As running has exploded since the pandemic and within the last couple years in particular, I’m curious how that’s impacted your role as a captain for Team WEPA and your goal of growing community in this very changing running space?

And then how has that influenced you in terms of trying to get more kids involved in the sport, and trying to translate this recreational running boom that seems to be super popular for adults more toward the youth in New York City?

I’ll start with the youth, so I’ll start backwards. So I’m a teacher, right now I teach fifth graders. For me, it’s doing the little things. Starting a run crew at work, getting the kids involved. At WEPA, we have a leader that does something called WEPA Kids. Sometimes they call me to show up to do workouts with them or just different drills, and we show love to them. The youth for me is very important, because they have access to so much that we didn’t have access to. And I think now there are so many training apps, they have AI—for me, it’s using the tools to properly navigate the sport in the right way. So if you’re going to use the internet to build your training plan, making sure that works and is unique and is tailored to you, and explaining to them that coaches and all that still matter.

But also doing it for fun. My biggest thing is always, comparison is the thief of joy. You join a running scene, the first thing someone says is you haven’t BQ’d yet. When you finish a race, the first thing somebody says is, ‘What is your time?’.... Early on, I was more so forced in the competitive aspect of it, like every race has to be a PR, oh my god, you didn’t beat your last time. Now I’m okay with the fun part of it as well. And I love the people that do the competitive. It’s no disrespect to them. Go for it, if that’s what your goal is. But I also want to send some love to the people that are doing it for health, or they’re doing it for people that have family conditions that aren’t able to run. I think that’s the beauty of it.

In terms of running and navigating the running space now as a captain of WEPA: knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Our borough has so many local races that are phenomenal that people just overlook. We love Central Park. We love Prospect Park. Queens has parks also. Queens has so many local race orgs. They are the least expensive. And a lot of them, if you refer a friend, you get $5 off. For us, by us is the goal in Queens right now, for all the Queens run crews. We put on a race in July called 9 For 9…. We have our friends and other run crews putting on races.

So the goal for us right now is to build our own races, our own 5ks, our own 10ks, and keeping things in our borough. You don’t always have to leave your borough or your neighborhood to get a medal. There are beautiful medals in Queens. There are beautiful PRs made in Queens. There are beautiful records broken in Queens. And that’s the goal. And I think trying to teach runners—the London Marathon had over a million lottery signups. Queens races, you wake up, you can sign up for them. If it’s meant to be for you to get in London, I’m not discouraging them. I’m just saying, keep it in our backyard…. Sometimes people get put in a box that all they could do is run in Central Park, all they could do is run in Prospect Park. I feel like race orgs need to do more races in people’s backyards. New York City has nine million people here now. The gridlock to getting to Central Park is not always easy.

But I think the most important thing is, you gotta have some fun in this sport, man. Because it’ll humble you, it’ll do all the things. So you gotta have some fun with it for sure.

Taeya Konishi-Schogel’s days start at 4:00 in the morning.

As a mother of two with a demanding job as well, she says if she doesn’t get her run in then she’s not sure if she will at all. It’s the type of schedule that would make it easy to just quit running—which Taeya did in 2018, temporarily. But over the pandemic she needed an outlet that got her out of the house, and so at 40 years old she worked her way back into the sport.

Taeya had already posted some impressive performances before her break, including a 2:59 at the Boston Marathon. But since her return she’s leveled up even further, running a 2:55 marathon PR in London earlier this year while competing at the top of the Masters division for both North Brooklyn Runners and now 212 Athletic.

The Peru native credits her consistency with allowing her to keep improving, as well as the classic adage of keeping your easy days easy. But in the end, none of it matters without staying the course in the first place.

“I know we as moms are busy, but we all need our own space. We need our me time,” Taeya says. “If any of the moms out there are reading this, I would say don’t give up running, if that’s your passion. Keep on going. Just try to fit it in somewhere in your day, because it’s important not to derail from who you are.”

We spoke with Taeya to discuss her initial running journey beginning in 2010, comparing and contrasting the running community then and now, her favorite New York City races and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you start off with an intro of yourself, where you’re from, what brought you to New York if you’re not originally from here and then your initial origins of how you got into running as well?

My name is Taeya Konishi-Schogel. I was born and raised in Peru. My parents are Japanese, but all my life I lived in Peru, and then I went to D.C. for college. I always wanted to come to New York, but New York just felt like it was too big of a city. So I moved to D.C., I was there for six years, and then I came to New York for grad school. I studied architecture at Pratt Institute, and then I’ve been here since. So I’ve been here for 21 years now.

And my running journey, it started—I think it was like 2009, 2010. I don’t remember exactly when, but a friend of mine [Yasmeen], she asked me to run a 5k. I didn’t even know what that distance was, because I’d never run, really. So I had to search what that was.

I started running one block from my house, came back. The next day, two blocks, went back. And at the time I was living in Crown Heights, so my goal was to get to the top of Prospect Park eventually…. So that’s how my running journey started, it was thanks to her.

What was that motivator that kept you going, despite how painful running can be in those early days and early weeks for a lot of people?

I would say I’m a pretty goal-oriented person, so like I was telling you my goal was to get to the top of Prospect Park, and that was about two miles and change for me. But obviously I wasn’t gonna run two miles the first time, because that was just way too far. So I started one block—‘Okay, I can do it. Let me try two blocks the next day.’ So that’s what I did, and little by little I was able to do it. But I remember getting to the top of the park, I got there but I couldn’t come back, so I had to take the train back.

What did the evolution look like, going from a 5k to running your first marathon relatively soon after that?

So my first marathon was in 2010, it was the Philly Marathon. I couldn’t get into New York, and then Yasmeen was like, ‘Okay, why don’t you try Philly? Because that’s relatively close to New York City.’ But I didn’t know what that meant—like, what do I need to do to train for it? So that year, I basically just picked up a book and started to run what it said, but I didn’t know what tempo was or a track workout was. I was just running all of these at the same pace. And then there was a race by Nike, it was the Human Race 10k, and Yasmeen and I did that, and I beat her. I didn’t train for it, but I beat her. It was a couple loops around Prospect Park. And she couldn’t believe it…. I was like, ‘I don’t know, I just went for it.’ And so she’s like, ‘Yeah, so then let’s train for a marathon.’ And that’s how it started.

But I really had no idea what I was doing. I think I was running maybe 30 miles a week at that point, and that was too much for me. But I went, I did the marathon. I only had one of those stopwatches back then. I didn’t have any Garmin or anything. And I felt like I could do 3:45, 3:30, so that was my goal. But I didn’t know how fast I was going. Then when I crossed the finish, I thought the clock was broken because it said 3:19…. And that kind of got me motivated into, ‘Okay, maybe I should take running a little more seriously and train for it, and really learn about all these different speeds in order to get better.’

At some point you joined NBR as well. What motivated you to join them, and how did they push or motivate you in your running journey?

So back in 2010, the Mini 10K, I went to cheer because my friend was running, and then I saw this singlet. And I’m an architect, so I like anything that looks really cool graphically, and I was very attracted to the NBR singlet. And I saw this girl Anna McCusker, red hair—she was really fast, I saw her with this singlet, and I was inspired, ‘I want to be like her, she looks like a total pro.’ And I just got curious. At the time I was living in Crown Heights, but I said, ‘Well, maybe I can join them, because they look really cool.’ But at the same time, I was very intimidated because Anna was fast, and then I saw other fast girls like Jen Daniels, and I was like, ‘I can never be like them.’

So I joined the Google group, but I wasn’t participating at the time physically because I was intimidated. But eventually I went out and I started running with them, and then my whole intimidation went away, because they were really nice to me. And we started running almost every day, eventually I became a run leader, I also volunteered, I was the team captain of NBR. I just wore many hats within NBR, and I helped shape the team.

In those initial years of racing, what were the north star goals? Or was it really just to get better year by year and just keep improving in your race times?

Yeah, for me, it was a learning journey from other people, my peers. I wanted to learn about how to run, how to improve…. I remember the first time I broke seven-minute pace in a four-miler in the summer, and that got me really excited. So I just wanted to keep going to see where I could go. Because frankly, when I was a kid, I’d never been an athletic person. I was always the last to finish in a 100-meter dash, always last to finish a swimming meet. I’d never been athletic, so it was exciting when I saw that I broke seven-minute pace for the first time. But like a lot of people, you get into the whole marathon cycle, and instead of focusing on other distances, I got the marathon bug.

2012 was a really hot year, and I was trying to break three. I don’t know what I was thinking, going from 3:19 to trying to break three. Of course, I didn’t. In 2013, I hired a coach, James Chu, and he really held my hand and walked me through the whole journey. And in Boston I broke three hours in 2013, and so I just kept wanting to hone on that. But I’ve always been afraid of pushing myself, and I still struggle with that even today. I’m pretty good at endurance, but I’m still afraid of pushing myself, and I’m trying to figure out how to break that out of my comfort zone.

In 2014 I had my first child, but I started running again in 2015, and I was consistent until 2018. 2017 was a difficult year. As a new mom, it was very challenging to train, and I was doing all my runs on the treadmill, pretty much. And my husband was traveling a lot at the time. So 2017, again, I was trying to break three hours in New York City, it didn’t happen, and I just pretty much hung up my sneakers. I said, ‘This is it. I don’t want to run anymore. It’s too challenging to be a mom, having a very demanding work, and running is just not gonna happen.’ So I quit.

And then I had my second child in 2018, and I didn’t run until 2020 really, when the pandemic hit. Being at home with two kids and a husband, it was just driving me crazy…. So I started to run again. And now I live in Cypress Hills, so I have Forest Park about 2.5 miles away from here, so I started again with the whole, ‘Let me see if I can do 2.5 miles, and then come back. So that’s five miles. Let me see if I can do that again.’ So that’s how I started to run, and here we are today.

It seems like over the past couple years, you’ve gotten even faster than you were before you took a break. Was that a surprise to you?

I mean, I didn’t really change that many things from my running, my training. The one thing I changed is my easy pace. I think my easy pace used to be too fast…. So that’s one thing I changed, to make easy days very easy, and I think that’s what helped me get faster. And also being consistent. I try to run almost every day, whenever I can.

Can you talk through ways in which you balance running within your overall schedule?

Yeah, so I have two kids, like I said. One is seven, the other one is 11. And I thought when they were babies it was challenging, but now for me it’s even more challenging because we have to check their homework, we need to do reading, we need to take them to their extracurricular activities. My son who is in middle school, he goes to school in Midtown, but then he has soccer in Flatbush. So luckily, he can take the train on his own with his friends, but we still have to pick him up.

So time-wise, everything is—if something goes wrong, that’s it, I cannot run, it goes out of schedule. So everything is very, very compact in my life. Everything has to just precisely fit in that box. If I’m training, especially if I’m training for a marathon, I have to run at 4:30 in the morning. Because if I don’t run at 4:30 in the morning, that’s it. I have to be creative… So my day starts at 4:00 in the morning, and I just have to keep it super tight.

Outside of what you were actually doing within training, were there any other differences in terms of how you approached running, or what the goals were in your head mentally as well between your first stint in competitive racing up to that 2017, 2018 period versus the last couple years?

Back then I was under 40, so yes I was competitive, but at the same time I felt like I was never good enough. And then when I came back to running again, I turned 40, and I remember I learned about this whole age group competition, and I was like, ‘Oh, let me see if I still have competitiveness in me.’ And I started racing again. I was really scared of racing again because, as you know, New York City has a lot of amazing athletes out there, especially in their 40s and 50s. It’s just so crazy how fast these women are. And for me to be among that, I just can’t believe that I’m racing against these people.

I feel like I’m competitive, but at the same time, I try to not care too much, which is not a good thing to say. But I lower my standards because honestly it’s really hard for me to navigate everything, and be able to be good at every single thing, like be a really good mom, be good at work and be good at running.

You’ve obviously been running for a while within the New York City running community…. Are there things you’ve noticed over the years in terms of how New York City running specifically has changed, or broader running has changed?

To sign up for races—and we’re talking about only 15, 16 years ago. We’re not talking about 30 years ago. Even 15 years ago, I remember signing up for my first half marathon, it was the Brooklyn Half—I remember going to the New York Road Runners office in the Upper East Side, and I filled out the paper application, and I think it was like $25, and I signed up the week before the race. So you can only imagine that’s how chill it was. And now here we are….

Back then, it was just put on your running shoes and go for a run. There’s no selfie, there’s none of the social media content. It was just going with your friends, enjoying the run. But now I feel like the young crowd is doing a really awesome job with documenting their running journey. People also look so cool with their little tattoos and the outfit. And I don’t know, it’s just a different approach…. It used to be a lot simpler back then.

Do you have thoughts on whether that’s a good or bad thing, or is it just kind of a natural evolution as something catches on and grows?

Yeah, I think it’s a natural evolution. I mean, there’s nothing bad about it. I think it’s cool. I think it’s just the way people approach running is different than back then.

More recently, you’ve also started running with 212 Athletic. I’m curious if you can talk about joining them and how that group has added to your running journey?

I wanted to be on a more racing-focused group, which is small. I’ve been looking for that small group since 2021 or so, be able to train with the same people. But 212 didn’t exist then, they just started last year. And I started to see the singlet, and I also saw Felicia, she was always coming in with 212. So I looked it up, and I was a few seconds short of their standards, so I just forgot about it. But then I was like, ‘Well, it would be nice to join if I can, and then I can really contribute to the Masters team.’ And Sarah is more outgoing than I am, so she approached the team, and that’s how we got in.

But it’s been great. We’re a very focused team, we meet two times, three times a week in person. And it’s challenging because I’m on the slower side than everybody else. But still, it helps pull me and try to improve, and so it’s been really a great journey.

You recently set a [2:55 marathon] PR in London earlier this year. Do you have any long-term goals or is it just to keep getting faster and keep seeing what you can accomplish?

I always train for the marathons, and I try to train for the mile, I try to train for the 5k, but I’ve never been successful, and I don’t understand it. So I think my goal is to improve those distances. Because I’m just not a fast runner. I have endurance, I can do half [marathons], I can do the marathon, but to be able to hit a good time in the mile or 5k is extremely hard. So that will be a good goal to have.

And then in terms of long term, unfortunately I have a lot of hip problems. I have arthritis. I have all kinds of things. But I want to see how long I can compete. It would be nice if I can compete until my 50s and 60s, but I don’t know if I can do that. So I’m just taking one day at a time and enjoying it.

Do you have any favorite or most underrated races in New York?

I think the Queens Distance [Runners] Jackson Heights Mile is a super fun one. It’s like a local event, and the neighbors all come out to cheer. All the kids come out to cheer. It’s super, super fun. And then another one I would say is East River 5000 by David Alm. That’s a fun one…. And the Shirley Chisholm Trail 5k organized by Black Men Run. It really brings the community together, and they do a lot of great events around the city.

Do you have a most underrated or favorite running route that you’ve done in New York over the years that you think more people should try out?

I don’t think it’s underrated, but I go to Forest Park a lot. That’s my go-to place. It’s beautiful. The trail’s really nice. So if you’re doing a recovery run, I would say go in there. Shirley Chisholm State Park is also cool to go to.

And then for speed work, it’s fun to go to Linden Boulevard Track, which is in East New York. Because a lot of the super fast high school kids, they train there, and I feel like a total turtle there. But it really inspires me to see these kids, they’re really training super hard, and I enjoy that.

Any topics that we haven’t covered that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

I would say, I know we as moms are busy, but we all need our own space. We need our me time. So if any of the moms out there are reading this, I would say don’t give up running, if that’s your passion. Keep on going. Just try to fit it in somewhere in your day, because it’s important not to derail from who you are.

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There were a few aspects that made Resident Runners unique compared to other early New York City run crews.

For one, the founders aren’t originally from New York, having grown up in different areas across the U.S. before meeting each other after moving to the city—the inspiration for the name Resident Runners. Secondly, they run fast, a threshold effort through the streets that differs from the beginner-friendly easy runs of most other groups as well.

But to co-founder Raymond Hailes, standing out was never really the goal.

“I think a lot of times people try to do something to make something out of it. We’ve never done anything to get validation,” Raymond says. “We don’t really lean into anything. The only thing that we lean into is folks just coming out and having a good time.”

In the end, that attitude is what allowed Resident Runners to grow, along with their relentless consistency of weekly Thursday threshold runs and monthly Taco Runs—a structure that has remained largely unchanged since they started in 2013. However, Raymond adds that one thing that has evolved is the meaning behind why he runs, from staying connected to the crew’s co-founders to inspiring his own son.

We spoke with Raymond to discuss the origins of Resident Runners, why racing has never been a main focus for him, his experience exploring the trails and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you give an intro of where you’re from and how you initially got into running?

Yeah, so born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then relocated to Dallas, Texas. Grew up in Dallas, spent a large portion of my life in Dallas. And then in high school I started to run track. Texas Relays are a huge thing down in Texas, so as a sprinter that’s really what my focus was, running the 100, 4x100, long jump, triple jump and 110 hurdles. And then my last year before college, there were a couple of things that happened to teammates of mine and friends who I ran throughout high school with, they got injured. Prior to that, I had two scholarships to run track and field in college. And then that happened, and I was like, ‘You know what? Let me stay on the safe side and just do something different.’ So ended up going to school for music business. After college, I ended up moving to New York, in 2007. And when I came to New New York, it was mainly about the hustle and making sure I kept up financially and getting a job.

I was living in a music studio on 49th and Broadway, sleeping on the ground on the floor in the music studio, taking a shower at New York Sports Club in the Crowne Plaza right across the street, and coming back over, still making music. From there, I was like, ‘Nah, this is not working.’ And then one day, I literally just walked from there all the way up to 72nd, and was crossing over 72nd to Central Park, and saw this sign in the window that said, ‘Help Wanted.’ And it was a sneaker store that my now-good friend started…. Walked in, said, ‘Hey, I’m in music business management, but I also have dabbled in a lot of marketing and whatnot.’ And he said, ‘Well, we need some help. Come back, help us out.’ I get halfway up to Harlem, where I was going to look at an apartment, and then he called me and said, ‘Hey, we want you to come back. You’re hired.’ Because they just opened, he’s like, ‘We just need somebody.’ Came back, started working with them. And then from there I learned a lot about New York culture, working in a sneaker store but then also on the back end and on the marketing side. And that culture is so huge, and how it coincides with the athletic part of it, and the athleisure and the running part of it.

Fast forward a little bit further, I met [Resident Runners co-founder Eric Blevens]. Eric’s sister came into the store, and she would come in often, and we immediately connected because we’re both from the South. And she’s like, ‘My little brother’s moving up here from Georgia, I’d love for you guys to connect.’ When he came, we were just hanging out, and he came from a personal trainer background, and I was like, ‘Shoot, man, I’m trying to get my body right, would love your assistance.’ And as soon as he came [to New York], he ended up running the [NYC Marathon] that year. And I was just like, ‘Let me go ahead and try and be a part of that and see what I can do.’ Because up until then, I had never run a marathon, half marathon at all. It was all sprinting, and fast pace.

On starting Resident Runners:

That friendship [with Eric] started just simply as us hanging. I was in music, he was a DJ as well, and we would just hang out…. And then we started taking things seriously as far as running together, trying to get our health together, and I said to him, ‘Why don’t we just start our own running crew?’ Before that, we were going to other people’s running nights, like BridgeRunners was the biggest one at that time. And then I said, ‘Why don’t we just start our own running crew, call it Resident Runners?’ It was actually birthed out of a music studio that I used to manage, and we were just like, ‘Let’s start this running crew, this is the only day that we have available for us, the other days we’re working’.... So started on the Thursdays, we did every Thursday. We ran out of the sneaker store that I helped open, so it was easy and simple. And then when we ran the marathons, we would host these little after-party events on that same block, because that’s where the marathon ended on 72nd Street, and people would walk down. So I talked to the owner, and I was like, ‘Hey, we just want to have a few people over.’ A few people turned into like 100, 120, and so we took over our sneaker store, and then the pizza spot that was right next door to it, it brought them business, and it brought the sneaker store business. So it worked out perfectly….

And at the beginning, this is way before run clubs and run crews were a thing, right? I could count on one hand the run crews. You had BridgeRunners, you had Undo-Ordinary, you had WRU Crew, you had us, you had Orchard Street Runners. It was just fun. It was chilling…. During that time, you had a lot of corporations and brands like Nike and Adidas who were taking a look at that, and they were like, ‘Oh wow, we love this connection.’ One of the brands that took a liking to us was Under Armour. They came, they approached us, they said, ‘We’re starting our running division, we want you guys to be the face of the running division, run crews, as we set everything up.’ And so we signed with Under Armour in 2014 I want to say….

The Taco Run started out as a monthly run out of one of our favorite taco spots in Brooklyn called Gueros. The way that started—Eric lived right down the street, and we had a birthday run for Eric. And that’s where Rahsaan [Rogers] came in. So he randomly came into the house and was like, ‘Hey, I’m from LA, want to come and see what this is about.’ We ran five miles around Prospect Park and then ended at the taco spot, and then that’s kind of where the Taco Run started. Taco Runs turned into like 10, and then it ended up being like 100, 200 heads coming out, especially in the summer times. And then that actually turned into Under Armour approaching us and saying, ‘Hey, y’all want to take this Taco Run on a tour?’ So we took it on a tour to eight cities, and that was super successful.

So, long story short, we started Resident Runners with the intention of just us coming together as homies and running, and it being an outlet for us. And then that quickly turned into people coming to us and saying, ‘Hey, y’all really run fast on these Thursdays, I would love to join you all, because I’m training for this marathon or this trail run or whatever, just to get my speed up. But also, y’all are cool, so we can hang afterwards.’ Cause when people come out and run with us on Thursdays, it’s really about—you might get lost in New York City, but to be honest with you, that’s the point. You get lost. You find out new locations. You find something new to do and come back to after you run. But then you ultimately have a great conversation with a few people that you might not have had a conversation with…. Ultimately, bringing people together was our biggest thing.

A couple of the aspects that made [Resident Runners] unique compared to other crews at the time—one, you mentioned the fact that you’re running hard on Thursdays. Most other crews, it’s mostly focused on just easy runs, OSR was kind of the only other one [running hard]…. Why was that something you leaned into?

Were there any other aspects that you think made you guys unique at the time compared to other crews that were starting, and how that helped you guys grow or stand out?

Yeah, man, I don’t know if it was something that we really leaned into. I think a lot of times people try to do something to make something out of it. We’ve never done anything to get validation. It was always like, ‘All right, cool, we’re running.’ We kept a fast pace at the beginning, and that’s just something that continued. We didn’t say, ‘This is gonna be a fast run.’ It all of a sudden became, ‘Those dudes just run fast’.... When we say the route, we let people know, ‘Hey guys, this is the route. If y’all need one of us to hang back with you, cool. If you don’t mind getting lost, cool. Just don’t die, cause we do run in the streets.’

So that’s how really relaxed we were, man. And I think people just get it. To answer your question, we don’t really lean into anything. The only thing that we lean into is folks just coming out and having a good time. That’s it. We’re not putting any pressure on anybody. We want you to come in and have a great time.

What we do lean into is the Taco Runs now. The Taco Runs are great, because that’s a chill run, five miles around Prospect Park, it’s once a month. After that, we go and grab tacos and drink margaritas. And we lean into that because we know that people nowadays need an outlet to just let their hair down, and just not think about somebody coming in and asking them, ‘Oh, so what did you run the New York City Marathon in? What time was yours? What’s your pace like?’ People just want to chill. It’s funny because people come to the Taco Run, and it’s a relief to not hear somebody ask about their time or their pace in the marathon.

It’s been 13 years since you guys founded [Resident Runners]. Have there been any ways that you guys have evolved throughout the last 13 years as well?

I think one of the main things that has evolved and changed is that we all have had kids, we all are dads. And we all have a different look on what running is and means to us and each other, whether that is a different purpose, whether that is inspiring other dads who want to remain active and don’t know how to remain active. The story that you told about your dad, how your dad ran [the NYC Marathon] back in the day, and then you wanted to run it—to me, that’s an inspiration. So just passing that down for my son, and then Eric’s son—if they want to run it, then cool. At least there’ll be that moment, that memory that they remember, they’re like, ‘My dad always used to talk about running.’ So that’s one of the things that has changed.

I think one of the things that hasn’t changed is people coming out and showing up for us in whatever we do. And I think that as long as you have consistency and you’re honest and you just show up, then that’s the thing that’s going to ring true to whatever it is that you try and bring into this running community. Because I think we live in a day and age where there are a lot of running crews out here that have been around for a long time that can see through the smoke. And they can see and tell you, ‘Yeah, no, we don’t really want to support that.’

On your individual running, you ran the New York City Marathon several times, then a couple other marathons as well. But I also listened to [the Urban Sports Insider podcast] where you and Eric talked about how racing was never at the forefront of your running goals, or never the main focus.

I’m curious if you want to talk through why that is, and what those main goals with running were over the years?

I think for me, that’s so true—racing wasn’t a main goal. For me it was an outlet. It was a mental outlet. I think that it’s still to this day a mental outlet, because now I have a kid, and my partner, we have a house, and it’s like, I need to run. I know that I’ll be in a bad mood if I haven’t run. I have this anxiety if I don’t run. But then I also know that—I think running is a gift and a curse, because you can run to release, but you can also run to run away from something instead of confronting it. And I think that we kind of do that sometimes….

I think at the end of the day…it’s about the mental health behind it, and being able to be in the same room as these two guys who I started this running crew with. We’re on a text thread and we’re just talking about parent shit and regular shit, like, ‘How’s your day going? How’s your mom doing? How’s your dad doing? How’s the relationship? Can’t wait till you come back out here’.... And that would have never happened without that interaction through running.

You have explored the trails a little bit within your running as well. What motivated that?.... And anything you’d say in terms of why people should try out the trails?

I love the trails, and I think that everybody should do the trails. First of all, I know that for a lot of runners…running gives them an excuse to travel, to go see other places, and that’s the greatest thing. And I love it. As it relates to trails, I think that it does the same thing. For me, when I’m on the trails, it just breaks up the scenery. And I’m a big nature dude. I grew up in the South, but I was always outdoors. So I think what the trails do for me is allow me to get lost and see the world differently, and have different thoughts, and have different ideas. I come up with the best ideas whenever I’m on the trails, especially now I’m in a marketing field….

I got into the trail running because of Under Armour. They did a number of activations with running crews that they signed after us. And they would fly us out to Colorado and spend three days out in the wilderness running trails with experts, athletes—I’m talking about trail runners who will finish a trail in like a marathon time. That doesn’t make any sense, it’s crazy.

Anything else you want to touch on in terms of whether it be favorite moments or memories in your individual running, or also favorite moments or memories with Resident Runners in general as well?

There are a few. I think any runs that I do where it’s myself, Eric and Rahsaan, those are my favorite runs. Because when we’re running, we don’t run with headphones, we don’t even talk on our run, we just listen to each other and our pace. There are times when we get in lockstep, when you hear our footsteps, they’re just pop pop pop pop pop. It’s just something about that that’s just amazing. So that’s one of my favorite times to run.

As far as runs that I’ve done or experiences that I’ve had, I would say doing the Under Armour tour. So Under Armour chose me to take me on tour to represent and be the spokesperson for their HOVR technology, and that took me to Munich, Berlin, L.A., New York, London, Shanghai. And that experience was really fun to be able to see the cultures and the different running crew cultures, all in those cities, and to see how they reacted to what we were doing in the U.S. and how it inspired them. It was something that I’ve never done before, and to be a part of that was amazing. And then coming back stateside to be able to talk to all of the executives at Under Armour about my experience and give my input on what they could do better in the future, that was amazing because it showed that people do listen. To be heard, to have a seat at a table, to talk to the people who are developing this product, it felt really good.

And then lastly, to watch my son want to do this as well, it’s a huge inspiration. He’ll [ask], ‘Can I go out on a run with you dad?’ And like, ‘Yeah, sure. I’m about to run three miles, you good with that?’ And he’s like, ‘Cool.’ And to be able to have him by my side and running out there, but then [him] also say, ‘All right, give me one second, I just need a drink of water real quick.’ To listen to his body and understand his body, and to not try and push himself because he wants to keep up with me, but he wants to listen to himself, I’m like, ‘Okay, you are becoming your own person, and I love that.’

A big part of your running in Resident Runners is just going out, getting lost, etc. Are there any favorite or underrated running spots that you found throughout the years that you think more people should try out?

I mean, man, I love to run down West Side Highway, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Williamsburg. I think the Manhattan Bridge is great, just because it’s not as crowded….

We run out of Uncle Roger’s every Thursday night, and that was a new spot, new bar that just opened. And I think running out of there and doing routes around there are really fun, because a lot of people in that neighborhood might not be runners or might not be as active, but when they see us, they get excited and they get inspired.

Our second time running out of Uncle Roger’s, one of the bartenders ran with us. He’s like, ‘I’m off tonight, so I would love to get a run in with y’all.’ That right there is like, man, you don’t know what that could have done to that person. That could have been their first run, and that first run turned into them wanting to run a New York City Marathon…. That is the shit that I’m talking about. That’s what inspires me.

Any topics that I didn’t specifically ask about that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

I think one of the things that we, the Resident Runners—it’s all about get up, get out, get running. That’s the motto that we run off of. And don’t put any pressure on yourself. Be consistent, be authentic, have fun, and come out to our Taco Runs because they’re the greatest. You’ll find out a lot about yourself when you come out to a Resident Runners Taco Run.

Mallory Kilmer and Trevor Franklin always wanted to build lives that felt authentic to themselves.

For them, that didn’t necessarily mean following the conventional career path, but instead trusting their instincts and learning from the challenges they encountered along the way. Over time that led to success, whether it be in the fitness space or social media, though they didn’t get there immediately. Rather, they focused on the daily habits throughout the journey that eventually ‘compound into something bigger.’

It’s a lesson that was reinforced for Mallory and Trevor through running as well.

The pair both played sports from an early age but in more recent years have become increasingly focused on endurance events, something that’s helped further instill the consistency and discipline they’ve utilized throughout their professional lives. However it’s also served as a cornerstone of their relationship, whether it be encouraging each other to try new things or cheering one another on from afar.

We spoke with Mallory and Trevor to discuss betting on themselves, what motivated Mallory to start No More Lonely Runs, why Trevor’s enjoyed testing out a variety of different forms of endurance competition and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can each of you start off with a quick intro of where you’re from, what brought you to New York City and how you got into running?

Mallory: I was born and raised in upstate New York, so NYC always felt like an extension of my backyard. My family would visit the city every year for my birthday, along with the occasional shopping trip, and from an early age I knew I wanted to live here.

I’ve been active for as long as I can remember. I played nearly every sport growing up, eventually focusing on swimming and softball. My dad set a strong example of what an active lifestyle looked like, dragging us out to his triathlons on early Sunday mornings, which ultimately inspired me to start racing myself. I ran my first road race, a 5k, on January 1, 2014. Since then, I’ve completed numerous races, including marathons, ultra-marathons and 70.3 Ironman events.

Trevor: I’m originally from Texas, but I dropped out of college and moved to New York City to pursue a career in fitness. That journey eventually led me to open my own gym, Performance HQ.

Endurance sports played a major role in my life growing up. In high school, I competed in six different sports, including track and cross country, before shifting my focus to more traditional strength and fitness training after graduation. During the pandemic, I rediscovered my love for running. What began as a personal challenge quickly evolved into a passion for endurance sports, leading me to complete marathons, triathlons and Hyrox competitions.

You’ve both talked online about how you never saw yourselves following down the conventional path and always wanted to bet on yourself, follow your passions, etc. Can you talk through how your upbringing influenced that mindset, and advice you’d have for others who maybe feel stuck in that conventional path?

Did the risks ever feel not worth it, or were there ever any doubts that you weren’t going to make it? What got you to push past those moments?

Mallory: I always knew I didn’t want to follow the traditional path that everyone around me seemed to be taking. But when I graduated high school in 2012, social media wasn’t what it is today—choosing not to go to college was far less common and not as widely understood. Because of that, I often found myself explaining and defending my decision to family and friends, which sometimes led me to question whether I was making the right choice. I worked multiple jobs to support myself and build the life I envisioned, all while carving out my own path.

I’ve always been someone who thrives on challenge and growth, and looking back, I don’t regret my decisions for a second. I’m incredibly proud of my younger self for trusting my instincts and having the courage to create a path that felt authentic to me rather than following a more conventional route.

Trevor: I struggled with the traditional academic environment and found myself drawn to more hands-on, practical work. Still, I stayed [in college] because I felt a responsibility to my parents—especially my mom, who had left college after becoming pregnant. When I finally decided to leave school and move to New York City, I gave my mom a contract. It said that if I couldn’t support myself within six months, I would move back home and finish my degree. That was nine years ago.

The beginning wasn’t easy. I moved to New York with no real plan. I took a coaching job at Orangetheory, where I spent three years and eventually became a Regional Fitness Director. Once I felt I had learned everything I could, I knew it was time to build something of my own. Starting a business has come with plenty of challenges—financial pressure, long hours and setbacks that people rarely see. But what kept me going was the belief that I’d rather take a chance on something I was passionate about than spend years wondering, ‘What if?’

My advice to anyone feeling stuck is that pursuing your passion doesn’t have to happen overnight. Betting on yourself isn’t about being reckless—it’s about trusting that you’ll be able to adapt and grow through whatever challenges come your way.

You both have backgrounds in different aspects of fitness dating back to when you were growing up, but have somewhat more recently become focused on endurance and long-distance running. What was it about distance running that made it different compared to other aspects of fitness and drew you to it?

How have you each pushed each other in your respective running journeys, and are there ways that your different focus areas complement or motivate each other to try new things?

Mallory: I like to joke that endurance athletes have to be a little crazy, but the truth is that they’re some of the most mentally tough people out there. The longer I run, the more I learn about myself. There’s something about having uninterrupted time alone with your thoughts that’s unlike anything else.

Running has also become a meaningful part of our relationship. We were both avid runners when we met, but more recently I introduced Trevor to triathlons, and it’s been such a fun experience to share as a couple. There’s something special about having a partner who understands the highs and lows, pushes you to be better and knows exactly what it feels like to chase a difficult goal.

Trevor: I’ve always loved training, but endurance sports challenged me in a completely different way. In the gym, you can often rely on motivation and grit for an hour. Distance sports require consistency over weeks and months. There are no shortcuts—you have to put in the work, learn patience and become comfortable being uncomfortable. I also love that endurance sports are one of the purest forms of competition. It doesn’t matter what you drive, what you wear or what your job is. Once the race starts, it’s just you, the course and the work you’ve put in to get there.

I think Mal and I do a great job of encouraging each other while also giving each other space to have our own moments. I love doing races and challenges together, but there’s also something special about standing on the sidelines, watching your partner accomplish something they’ve worked so hard for.

Mallory, you’ve recently transitioned more into ultras and trails, and have talked about how you feel that this is where you’ve always belonged in the running space. Can you expand on why that is and what about the ultra and trail space connects with you? What are your main short and medium-term running goals right now?

Mallory: It’s kind of cheesy, but trail running makes me feel like a kid again. There’s something special about being surrounded by nothing but nature—the trees, leaves, wildlife, hills, rocks and everything that comes with being outside. I love that it’s unpredictable and challenging. It’s dirty, technical and always keeps you learning. Even though I’ve been running for decades, I still love being a beginner and experiencing something that feels completely new. Right now, I’m training for another 50k trail race, and eventually I’d love to take on even longer distances.

For Trevor—Mallory has added that it doesn’t seem like ultras and trails have been your favorite compared to other types of running and fitness. Can you expand on that as well as what your main goals and interests are in running right now?

Trevor: I strongly dislike trails and anything beyond the marathon distance. I have ankles made of glass, and I tend to race because I love pushing myself to go fast, which trails and ultra distances don’t always align with. Add in my lack of comfort with uneven terrain, and I’m happy to leave the trails to Mal. I love cheering her on as she takes on those challenges, and I’m always impressed by the way she embraces them. For me, my current goals are focused on getting fully healthy, prioritizing shorter-distance races and continuing to pursue triathlons. Mostly, I just want to go fast.

What have you learned from that injury process and what motivates you to push past it and get back out there?

Trevor: What I’ve learned is that I can’t put too much of my identity into fitness. The first few months of my injury were incredibly difficult, both mentally and physically. After years of racing, competing and using running as an outlet, I felt lost without it. I struggled with feeling like I had lost a part of myself. What kept me going was the support of the people closest to me and giving myself time to adjust. Eventually, I started feeling well enough to cycle again, and that gave me a way to stay active and helped lift a lot of the negative headspace I had been stuck in. The experience taught me the importance of finding balance and remembering that fitness is a part of who I am, not the entirety of who I am.

For Mallory—can you talk through the founding of No More Lonely Runs, what motivated you to keep showing up in the early days and what makes it unique within a pretty crowded NYC run club scene?

Mallory: What kept me motivated to keep showing up was that people kept showing up too. It became clear that this community filled a real need. We had runners from all walks of life, and I felt a responsibility to continue creating a space where everyone felt welcome. Now we’ve grown into an incredible community with a strong group of leaders, so even when I can’t be there the run club continues as usual.

I think what makes us unique is that I never wanted it to feel like a business. While we’re fortunate to have amazing brand partners, I never want anyone to feel like they need to buy something or spend money to be part of the community. We’ve worked hard to create a balance where our partners have meaningful visibility, while the heart of the club remains simple: show up, run and connect with other people.

You recently started a podcast as well. What motivated you to start that when you already have a lot of other stuff going on in your personal and professional life, what are your main goals with it and what lessons have you learned from that experience so far?

Mallory: When I was younger, I always dreamed of having my own talk show, and seeing how podcasting has evolved made it feel like the perfect way to bring that idea to life. I still have a lot to learn, but we’re now heading into season two, and I’ve been fortunate to have some incredible guests share their stories and perspectives. Every time I sit behind the microphone, I walk away having learned something new—whether it’s from the person I’m interviewing or about myself as a host. I’m excited to keep growing the podcast and see where it takes me.

You both have a lot of experience working with brands. Can you talk through the philosophy you’ve developed when it comes to working with brands while also balancing that with what many see as an increased corporatization of the running space? How do you pick and choose the brands to work with to maintain trust with the audience on your platforms?

Mallory: I only work with brands that I genuinely like, use and believe in. As a consumer, it’s easy to tell when someone is partnering with a brand purely for the opportunity versus when they truly connect with the product. I’ve also turned down partnerships with brands I like if the relationship or experience didn’t feel right. I think the most successful collaborations come from building genuine relationships and working together as a team over time, rather than feeling like just another number on a campaign list. For me, the best partnerships are built on trust, authenticity and a shared vision.

Trevor: I do my best to partner with brands that naturally fit into my life and training. If it’s something I already use or genuinely believe can benefit my community, it’s an easy conversation. If I wouldn’t recommend it to a close friend or client, I’m not going to promote it simply because there’s a paycheck attached. For me, every partnership has to pass a test: does this align with who I am, and does it provide genuine value to the people who follow me? If the answer is yes, I’m excited to build that relationship. If not, it’s an easy no, regardless of the opportunity.

You both have tried out a lot of different types of endurance challenges, whether it be triathlons, ultras, road running, Hyrox, I know Trevor was really involved in Spartan Race for a while and has also done some of the unsanctioned races in New York City. Why have you liked to try so many different things within the endurance and fitness world and how does that keep things exciting for you?

Trevor: Personally, I just love to race. So few people continue competing after high school and college, and I think that’s a shame. I love the challenge of finding out what my body is capable of and testing where my fitness is at any given moment. When I’m healthy and I see a race that offers something unique or pushes me outside my comfort zone, I’m usually all in. Whether it was Hyrox, OSR’s 2 a.m. [races] or the Spartan Death Race, I’m drawn to experiences that challenge me in a different way.

The one exception? Ultra trail races. That’s a hard no for me.

Both of you also talk a lot about how important it is to stay disciplined even when you’re not motivated…. Can you talk about how you internalize that, especially when trying something new that maybe hasn’t quite become a habit yet?

Mallory: There’s a quote that goes something like, ‘You are a reflection of your daily habits, not your goals.’ That really resonates with me because I know I’m not going to wake up one day and suddenly become an ultra-marathoner.

If that’s the person I want to become, I have to show up every day and do the work required to get there—especially on the days when I don’t feel like it. Motivation comes and goes. The difference is having the discipline to stay committed, keep showing up and trust that the small choices you make every day eventually add up to something bigger.

What’s your favorite part of the NYC running community, or what makes it special to you?

Mallory: What makes it special is how connected the running community feels, even when we don’t personally know each other. I never feel alone or concerned when I’m out running because I know there’s another runner out there who would welcome me, support me or simply share the experience with me. One of the best parts about running in this city is the variety of communities that exist. There are so many run clubs, each with their own personality and purpose, which means there truly is a place for everyone.

Trevor: Running is genuinely how I’ve met many of my closest friends. There’s something about sharing miles, tough workouts and long, slow runs together that creates an immediate connection. You get to know someone in a unique way when you’ve pushed through discomfort side by side.

NYC Marathon race day is also one of my favorite days of the year. There’s nothing quite like the energy, the community and the feeling of seeing the entire city come together around running.

Are there any life lessons you’ve gotten from running or ways that running has impacted other areas of your life that you haven’t talked about already?

Mallory: One of the biggest lessons running has taught me is that no one is going to run the miles for you—just like no one is going to do the work for you in life. If you want to achieve something, you have to be willing to show up, put in the effort and take ownership of the process.

Trevor: Running has taught me that progress is rarely dramatic. I’m not going to wake up one day and suddenly become a sub three-hour marathoner without putting in consistent work. The same goes for building a successful business or helping my clients reach their goals. Big results come from the small choices you make every day. It’s a daily commitment that eventually compounds into something bigger.

Any favorite running memories you’d like to touch on?

Mallory: Some of my favorite running memories come from seeing family and friends during races. There’s nothing quite like looking up and seeing someone you love cheering for you from the sidelines…. It means the world.

Trevor: The first time I ran a sub five-minute mile. After putting in the work and chasing that goal, crossing that line felt like pure elation. It was one of those moments where all the training, discipline and effort came together.

What are your favorite running products or shoes in your current rotation and why?

Mallory: For trail running, my go-to shoes are the Hoka Speedgoat 7s. For daily miles, I rotate between the Nike Pegasus 42s and Saucony Ride 18s. Recovery is all about OOFOS, and Feetures socks are a must—always.

Trevor: For training, I’m all about the Adidas Evo SL. They’re my go-to everyday running shoe. And for recovery, it’s OOFOS all day.

When people ask Kevin Kim what he believes is his proudest running accomplishment since he started last fall, he doesn’t point to the 100-mile weeks or even the solo 100-miler he ran throughout New York City.

He says it’s been the opportunity to help connect people across the running community.

Kevin’s certainly in a unique position to do just that, having tried out nearly every run club in the city over the last eight months. But that’s not the only reason connecting others is so important to him.

The Astoria native began running in the first place largely as a way to find a sense of belonging, dealing with bullying and depression for much of his life growing up. He says he knows what it feels like to ‘be invisible’, and that helping others avoid those same feelings is one of his driving motivators. It’s also part of what inspired his increase in mileage and eventual 100-miler, allowing him to develop his own sense of confidence and prove to himself that he can do hard things.

We spoke with Kevin to discuss his run club tour, his 100-mile experience over July 4 weekend, why he’s not focused on official races and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Intro:

I started running more consistently back in November of last year. I only did it because I wanted to lose weight, get back in shape and also meet new people. It wasn’t until at a social event somebody told me, ‘We’re part of a running club.’ Thinking about the idea of joining a running club—I mean, I was never a good runner. Even though I played sports when I was younger, I never was really athletic. Running was just something that I did for a few minutes to get some cardio in, and it’s not something I really had taken seriously. But I thought, as I’ve gotten older, it’s a way to help me socialize more, meet new people and just get back in shape….

The first time I ran a 5k was out at the New York Road Runners Open Run here in Astoria Park. And oh man, gotta tell you, at the time I could barely even run half a mile. I was walking most of the time, and even sitting on the benches, because it was so difficult. I still managed to complete it, but afterwards it took me days to a week to recover. I was in so much pain, and I didn’t even know if I wanted to continue. But the more I did it, the more I became consistent.

I wasn’t trying to become fast or anything. I just wanted to belong somewhere. And the more I ran, the more I started to join different clubs. I wasn’t just running around Astoria or Queens, I was checking out different clubs all over the city. It was a way for me to discover new neighborhoods. Even though I was born and raised here in New York, I was able to discover so many areas that I’ve never visited before. I’ve officially run in clubs in all five boroughs, even one in New Jersey. And on top of that, with all the running, I’ve lost so much weight…. I’ve lost close to 40 pounds.

The biggest factor for me, the biggest change that I saw [from] running—it was not the weight loss, wasn’t the mileage. It’s just that I found a new structure in my life every day after work. Because before that, my life was very routine. Just come home, go straight to bed, doomscroll, and not really have much going on. I was very isolated. But now running has made my world a lot bigger.

On joining a run club for the first time:

I was doomscrolling and came across different social clubs and communities in my neighborhood. I really felt the need to get out of my comfort zone, and in order to combat the loneliness, I really needed to get out there and start to meet people and be involved more in my community. I’ve joined walking groups, meditation class, yoga, and then started volunteering. Volunteering became another way for me to meet people, but it also gave me a stronger sense of purpose. It helped me become more confident and develop leadership skills—today, I help organize a trash cleanup club here in Astoria.

Run clubs didn’t happen until I was at a social event one night, and someone mentioned being part of a running club. Even though I’m not a good runner, I thought it could be another way to meet more people and lose weight and get back in shape, and that’s how my whole run club lore started.

A lot of people go to a couple of different run clubs just to explore the social scene in New York, but you seem to have taken it a step further and really been intentional about going to almost every single one in the city—what motivated that?

Running for me, it began as an escape from loneliness. I’ve been struggling with depression most of my life, and it was a life that felt very small, very empty. As I told you before, my life was just going to work, going to my bed, my phone, and just staring into the void. Also, I struggle a lot socially, I have really bad social anxiety. So for most of my life, I felt like an outcast, like an outsider. And I don’t run because I wanted to be a runner, or an ultra runner or anything. It’s just that ever since I joined a run club, it changed so many things about my life. It really helped me meet people.

And running clubs, you really don’t need to be great at conversations. It’s a way to naturally bond with people as you’re running side by side. There’s less pressure, you don’t have to always think about the perfect thing to say. And those connections, they happen organically. So just going to one club after another, it really helped with my self growth, helped me challenge myself more, being able to go out to all these different areas that I’ve never been to, and meeting different people. It’s also helped me a lot with my social skills. And just building those different connections all over the city, it’s a remarkable part of my journey.

Because nowadays I’ll go to a different club and I’ll meet somebody that I’ve met from another club. So in so many ways, I see that the running community is so big, but yet it’s a small world. Everywhere I go, it feels like family, and always gives me a reason to go out after work and be with people that I vibe with. And in so many ways, I found a sense of belonging in these clubs. So I really cherish and really love the running community….

It’s given me a bigger life, it’s really expanded my world. As I mentioned before, loneliness was a big part of my life that I’ve been struggling with, always had trouble making friends and finding community, and it’s something that I thought I was going to be stuck in for the rest of my life. And running has really given me a reason to be outside, a reason to get out of my bed, a reason to prepare for the next day.

And running has become my transportation. I don’t need wheels, I just need my legs. And it’s really showed me there are so many great people out there that I can meet. I’ve made so many friends through running clubs, and I’ve learned so much about running from them, sharing ideas, a lot of great advice from people. So it’s really been a big part of my self growth, self journey.

How do you find all these clubs, and how do you decide which ones you want to go to from there?

Mostly on Instagram. I see a club, I’ll look at their posts, their photos. If it’s a vibe that I want to check out, I don’t care how far it is, I’ll still make the trek out there just to check out the vibes, check out the neighborhood. Also being part of so many different run clubs and knowing so many people, they’ll tell me about different clubs that are not even on Instagram. So a lot of them also through word of mouth.

Are there any favorite moments or memories that stick out from your run club tour that you’d like to touch on?

Oh, I mean, there’s a lot to mention…. The most memorable experience I’ve had with running clubs…and this is the one thing that I’m truly proud of myself when it comes to running—when somebody would ask me, what’s my proudest accomplishment? It’s not the mileage. It would not be a race time or anything. It’s the fact that I was able to help people connect. I told you earlier about how I struggled with loneliness most of my life, I know what it feels like to be invisible, and I also know what it’s like to wonder if you belong anywhere. That’s a feeling that I would not want to wish on anybody. And whenever I would have the chance, I would help connect different run club organizers with other run club organizers and help them do collabs, and do runs together.

And also introducing people—any newcomers, people who are new to running, I’ll introduce them to people that I know, and help them connect. And there have been times where I have connected clubs with other clubs, and they’ve actually had an event together. I was so happy to see them connect like that, and to see the running community expand in that regard.

Has racing been a consideration at all, or is it not something you’re really focused on when it comes to running?

Yeah, to be honest, I’m not big on races because I’m not fast at all…. Although I have done some 5k races recently, but I’ve only gotten into those races out of peer pressure….

I’m not really into marathons or anything. I’m more of a solo runner, just going at my own pace, going my own routes, and running with running clubs. I’m not really a competitive type of person. So races are just not my main priority.

Regardless of if you don’t think you’re fast, your mileage has been pretty impressive…. What were the origins and motivations of that, and how that transitioned into getting into ultra distances?

I don’t consider myself an ultra runner or anything…. The deeper motivation came from the loneliness, depression, bullying, trauma, and many of the struggles I’ve experienced over the years. And running became a way for me to process those feelings and keep moving forward….

I started running double the amount that I would normally run…. It just turned into 100-mile weeks, and I developed a whole streak of doing 100 miles every week. And the more I did it, the more I felt, ‘Wow, I’m running all these miles, why not try running 100 miles in one single effort? Maybe I should try a solo 100-miler, just around the city, create my own route and see how far I can go.’ Of course I was very nervous about it, but the more I ran, a part of me felt that confidence. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be a fast runner, maybe I could just go at my own pace and focus on high-mileage endurance runs and let me try to challenge myself a bit. And I just decided one day, during July 4 weekend—I didn’t know it was gonna be a heat wave during that time. I was like, ‘Man, should I postpone this? Do this another time?’ But this was something I planned, something I really wanted to complete, and something I wanted to do more for myself than anything. And mind you, I didn’t tell anybody about it. I kept it a secret from everyone, all my friends, the running community.

But yeah, Thursday afternoon, after work—and this was still during the peak of the heat wave, still went out there, I started slowly. It was just scorching hot. I had to stop by so many places to cool down, because I almost did have a heat stroke, and I was getting lightheaded at times. I spent like half my paycheck buying water, Gatorade, electrolytes. The first 20 miles, I did feel a bit confident. I was going at a very relaxed pace, and I thought it was going to be pretty easy, like, ‘Okay, as long as I go at this pace the whole time it shouldn’t be so bad.’ But once I hit Mile 30, that’s when everything became mental, and that’s what made me understand running is more mental than physical, especially if you’re doing long distance runs. Once it became night, it becomes harder to find bathrooms, and everything just becomes survival. And I was running in isolated areas, I was running in unsafe areas. Just having to navigate my way around all these challenges….

My body, my brain, everything was just telling me to give up, maybe I should train a little more for this. But a part of me just kept wanting to keep going. Like, I don’t care. I really want to do this. I really want to see if I could pull off this challenge that I created for myself. At the end, when I saw that I actually hit the 100-miler, I was like, ‘Wow, did I actually run 100 miles in a single effort?’ It was like a fever dream. I was staring at my Strava for so long. I was like, ‘Wow, is this a real number? Did I actually complete this?’ But in the end, it’s not about hitting that 100-miler. It was more about the fact that I just kept continuing, even when things were so difficult. And that’s what I’m proud of the most, the fact that I did not give up. I just kept telling myself I’m going to keep going. And it really gave me back my confidence, telling me that I could keep doing things that are difficult, and be able to overcome my challenges, overcome my inner demons. And it’s something that’s also helped me a lot in my mental health.

What I realized was at first I was running to escape from myself, from all my problems. But in the end, I realized I was actually running back to myself. In many ways, running did save my life. It’s really made a huge impact on me. And so I’m gonna keep running, keep getting those miles, keep making a difference in myself, and still want to continue running with different clubs and helping people connect.

I know you said earlier that you haven’t been super into racing, mostly because you haven’t wanted to focus on speed. But obviously the ultra-endurance world is a whole different world out there…. Is that a consideration, of signing up for any official ultras?

Not really a consideration now. Since I’m still somewhat of a beginner runner, I mean maybe with a little bit of training—as I mentioned before, I don’t consider myself an ultra runner. I’m just a guy who likes to run, likes to incorporate running into my workouts, just want to continue getting back in shape and meeting new people. But who knows? Yeah, maybe down the road, if I feel ready, I could look into some bigger ultra races, once I build my base.

Anything else you want to touch on that we haven’t touched on?

The one last thing I would say about my running journey is that I used to think that running was about speed and mileage, but in the end that’s not what running is really about. It’s about showing up, it’s about taking care of yourself and just really enjoying being part of the community.

Ray Walker has always enjoyed connecting with others. But after moving to New York in 2022 and not knowing many other people in the city, he struggled with feelings of loneliness and isolation.

That’s when run clubs started popping up on his social media feed, and while he’d never really been a runner before, the Ohio native figured the best way to explore New York City is ‘to do something I’ve never done.’ And so he tried out a Team WEPA Thursday night run, and from there just kept showing up every Thursday. Soon Ray became a leader within the group, and eventually a pacer with the Noname marathon training program as well.

Growing up with a deaf sister, Ray is also passionate about how running can be more welcoming to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, helping sign for the Noname program and co-founding ASL Run NYC earlier this year. It’s all part of his overarching goal to educate and inspire others, whether it be the expansion of ASL run clubs across the U.S. to his own family’s journey getting into the sport.

We spoke with Ray to discuss how running has impacted his experience living in New York City, why he enjoys documenting his journey on social media, the origins of ASL Run NYC and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Intro:

I graduated from college and moved here in 2022. I was never really a runner. I played sports, and ran during those obviously. But in 2022 I started to see run clubs populate around New York City, or they started to come up on my feed at least. And I moved here not knowing that many people, and I kind of got pretty lonely and felt somewhat isolated. And I’m a very personable person, so I was really looking for an outlet that would allow me to connect with folks and lean into my personality, but I didn’t know what that thing was or would be. And then I kept seeing the run clubs pop up on my feed, I don’t know how, I guess I was looking for things to do. And there was a crew not too far from where I live, and so I was like, ‘Let me check them out.’ And I delayed it for like a year, and then one Thursday I was like, ‘Let me try this out, I clearly need friends.’ The crew is called Team WEPA, and it was like a mile from my house. So I went there one Thursday, and pretty much the rest is history. I got super involved, I went back almost every Thursday. I found myself becoming a leader in the group, and then that connected me to different opportunities and different groups. And now I’m one of the leaders of a marathon training program with the Noname program here in New York City, leading a pace group. I’ve run seven marathons, all of the World Majors except for Tokyo, and I think running has just been a great connector for me and a community builder….

I majored in journalism in college. I had a real passion for writing and people, and combining those two was something I was really interested in. I worked at NBC News out of college, and then I worked at CBS News…. Now I work at JetBlue on our corporate communications team, which is a lot more writing that’s fun and engaging and interactive and different, and I’m enjoying it so far. So, a little bit about me.

You mentioned you’d seen Team WEPA and their Thursday runs for like a year before you finally just convinced yourself to go…. What made that difference of, ‘Oh, that’s a cool thing I could do,’ to something that you actually wanted to start doing and started showing up every Thursday after that?

Yeah, I’ve always enjoyed movement, and I’m like, ‘Whatever it is that I decide to do or lean into as a way of community, being new to the city, I wanted to involve some sort of movement.’ Didn’t know it’d be running, but like I said, I got lonely at some point, and I was just like, ‘I need to get out there.’ It’s the only way to really experience New York City, is just throw yourself in the deep end. This city is crazy. I come from Columbus, Ohio. It’s day and night. And so I’m like, ‘The only way I can really put myself out there to meet and make friends is to do something I’ve never done,’ which is long-distance running and a run club….

You have to be consistent in New York City when you want to have anything—I mean, anywhere, but New York City specifically, because things can be oversaturated and there are so many people. So you just have to keep showing up to create a presence for yourself, and that’s what I did.

Curious if you can talk through—you did your first half relatively quickly, and then your first marathon that fall, so just that journey from when you initially started running to what convinced you, ‘Oh I want to start doing marathons’?

And even from there, it kind of snowballed into a journey of going for all the Majors and things like that.

It was kind of like—I got the bug. It just kind of rubbed off on me. I joined the run club and I started hearing about marathons. I’m like, ‘What is this? Half marathons, marathons, what are people doing?’ Somebody asked me what am I training for, I’m like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ I truly didn’t know what they were talking about. And then I just started learning more about what it meant.

I started running consistently in March [2023], and then I started learning about the Major Marathons. And then one of our crew leaders was working with Adidas at the time and had an opportunity for a bib [for the Berlin Marathon]. You had to write an essay, and whoever wrote the best essay got the bib. And I told you I like writing…. My story was essentially, I’m a kid from Columbus, Ohio, who moved here not knowing anyone, joined this group that not only gave me a community but gave me an outlet for my mental health, physical health, and I’ve been able to build such a community from running. And running has become so much more than one foot in front of the other, but a way for me to make Queens and New York City feel like a home. And running the Berlin Marathon would allow me not only to take a step further in this journey, but also experience stepping outside of the country for the first time. And what better way to do that than on foot and running and a sport that has already given me so much in terms of a community and honestly a lifestyle? So yeah, that fall I ran the Berlin Marathon. Obviously a life-changing experience….

But like you said, I ran that half too, and that was really just on a limb. I had met some friends in the group, and they were like, ‘We’re running this half,’ and I’m like, ‘All right, we’re running the half.’ And I started convincing other people, ‘Let’s run the half.’ I didn’t have a watch, I didn’t even know people wore watches for running. I knew very little. But I just jumped in and I had a great time.

It was just always fun for me. And it’s still not so much about the time and pace and stuff like that, but it was just genuinely fun. As I started learning more about the sport, that’s when I developed a competitive side as it relates to myself, competing with myself just to be better. But I’ve never lost that fun side of it.

You mentioned the Noname program earlier. I’m curious if you can talk through how you got involved with them as a runner, and then also how that developed into you becoming a leader with the program, and then the lessons that you took away from being a leader and mentor to other first-time or newer runners as well?

Yeah, so as I started joining the running community, I just started popping up everywhere. Once I met a few runners, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to this group, I’m going to this group,’ just to get acquainted with the community, get acquainted with the people. The first group I actually went to was DeFine New York Run Club in Brooklyn. I had seen their Instagram page, and I was like, ‘This club looks really diverse,’ and that’s always what I wanted, was a diverse group…. I met the founder named Coffey, and Coffey has been running in the New York running scene for a very long time, is very connected, knows a lot of folks, at the time was an ambassador for Lululemon, launched the Noname program. I got to know him really well, and he saw I guess how I just navigated the running community, my experiences, how I interacted with people, and just who I was as a person, and saw how committed I was during my first year as a runner during the program. And that next year he called me and asked me to be a leader for the 8:30 pace group for the Noname program. And it was an honor, of course.

So I got to experience that the past two years. This year will be my third year. But I think the most transformative piece about the Noname program was getting to meet runners from all walks of life, from all boroughs, getting to traverse the city on foot. I got to learn so many of the streets just by running through Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, running through all the boroughs, getting to know different neighborhoods….

It was very enlightening and very rewarding to lead people and get feedback that I made a difference in people’s lives based on the words that I said, or the encouragement that I gave, or the push that I gave when I was running with people. It just taught me that it’s so much bigger than running, because people go through so many different things, whether it’s life, finances, family, that lead them to running. And so you don’t know what people are going through, but someone always has a why, why they started running. And my why was because I was lonely and I was new to the city and I needed a community. Someone else’s why might be they’re trying to get sober and running is an escape. Someone else’s why might be they lost a family member. But for me to be there in those moments, to lend a word of encouragement that might have helped in a certain moment where they were feeling down while they were running, or they didn’t think they could hit this pace, and I told them, and I affirmed that they could—that whole program just opened my eyes to that.

Because it’s 16 weeks, you go through so much during that time period: speed runs, long runs, so many different things. And then you see them through their marathon. I remember being in church on a Sunday, and I had runners doing a marathon, and I’m tracking them, and I’m so invested. So yeah, that’s a long way of saying that Noname was a very transformative experience.

In early 2024 you started documenting [your running journey] more on social media and being more intentional and purposeful with that—maybe that connects with your journalism, storytelling background a little bit, but what motivated that and what lessons have you learned from consistently sharing your story over the last couple years?

I’ve always been a storyteller at heart. And I noticed that I would record these videos and just leave them on my phone. And I’m like, ‘What if I started sharing some of the insights or experiences that I had while running, and stop just leaving it on my phone? What reach and what impact could I have, or how could I inspire someone else?’ That’s always been my goal in life, is to inspire someone else, in this stage of my life through running. And I started documenting it, just for fun. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed putting the videos together. I enjoyed filming and the editing process. And I enjoyed posting it. And so I started getting good feedback, and I started just making connections online through my content, and the connections led me to certain experiences.

Like part of the Noname experience, Coffey and the leaders there saw my content, and other community leaders would see my content. I’ve gotten so many opportunities from my content. And I’ve never been—I actually don’t like the word influencer and content creator. My content is very much me, like what you see is what you get. And I feel like sometimes the word influencer and content creator get a negative connotation. But for me, it’s always been I am a people person who just likes making cool videos about running and family and people. And if it happens to land well with you, I love that. And if not, that’s great. But I’m always going to share what’s in my heart.

And so that’s kind of my content journey. I always share what I feel might inspire someone else or educate someone else to move in the right direction, but I’ve seen it as also just a creative outlet for me as well.

Your involvement in advocating for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community within running—can you talk through the motivation behind that and why that is important to you, and then also how that eventually led into you creating [ASL Run NYC] this year as well?

Yeah, so I have a deaf sister, and so I’ve always had a connection to the deaf community and American Sign Language. And I was thinking about ways to make running more accessible for everyone, and because I have a connection to the deaf community, I was like, ‘I have a unique opportunity here to use ASL to help others feel more included in a space that can often be not the safest or inclusive for deaf and hard-of-hearing folks.’ So I think the moment that really sparked was maybe two years ago, during one of the Noname long runs. There was a deaf runner, and she came up to me. I didn’t know her, but she had seen my content with my family about ASL, and she’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve seen your content.’ And immediately I was like, ‘Wait, I can interpret for her, in this moment when our leaders were giving introductions. I can be that connector there, that interpreter for her.’ And from that point on, I started meeting other deaf runners and thinking, ‘Wait, there must be other deaf runners out there who want a community.’

And so as a hearing individual, I couldn’t solely create an ASL run club myself, because I’m not deaf, that’s not my culture. But I could do it in collaboration with a deaf person. And so back in February, I met a guy named Guillermo. And Guillermo’s deaf, from uptown, Washington Heights area, but moved to Austin, Texas for a little bit, and then moved back. And he was asking in a group chat full of deaf, hard-of-hearing, advocates, etc. in New York City, ‘Is there an ASL run club in New York City?’ And I was like, ‘This is the perfect opportunity to connect with him and help build this up.’ Because I have experience with content and experience with the deaf community, we work great together. He’s a little bit more on the shy side, but he’s a great way for the deaf community to connect with him, and then I can also help elevate it through my content and my just passion and advocacy.

So that’s kind of how that kicked off, and we’ve been going strong. New York Road Runners invited us to a panel a few months ago, and we got to share about why we started it. And just getting more and more runners each week, getting a consistent group of folks…. Even hearing runners have shown up, friends, not friends, have shown up to some of our runs and wanted to learn sign language. I have so many people who reached out to me. It’s landed very well. Our mission is to sign, run and connect. That’s our mission, our tagline. And anybody who shows up, you have to be willing to learn a few signs. You have to obviously be willing to move your body and connect with somebody else. And so that’s been a huge component of my running journey. Because, like I told you before, it’s always been bigger than running to me. And also like I told you before, my goal has always been to inspire. And so to inspire someone else and educate someone else, ASL is the perfect way to do that as it pertains to running, that I can uniquely step into.

You’ve mentioned in other interviews you’ve done as well, but what are some ways that the broader running community can make it more inclusive to [the deaf and hard-of-hearing community]—just things that people can do in general, clubs can do in general, etc.?

It’s easy to do research, I can type in Google or Chat, ‘Tell me the basic facts about the deaf community,’ or, ‘Tell me the basic facts about American Sign Language.’ Boom, you get a little bit of insight. Next, you can research ASL classes online. You can research ASL classes in your area if you want to go in person. In New York City, a popular center is called the Sign Language Center. They do classes, they do events, and that’s where I direct a lot of people. Online, there’s an app called Lingvano, there’s an app called ASL Bloom….

Also, if you’re a running club and you’re a group and you want to be more accessible, maybe try to learn a few signs. Maybe connect with the ASL Run Club and see if any of your runners want to come over, can learn a little bit, and we could collaborate on some sort of program or some sort of run that feels inclusive to everyone, where we learn basic signs and we start that process toward becoming more inclusive in that light…. I think doing the small things, like I mentioned, will really help build a connection.

But in our group, I use a lot of hand signals when we run to make sure everybody’s on page. What a lot of people don’t know is signing and running at the same time is pretty hard. It’s not like we’re talking and running, which is obviously easy, especially if you’re running an easy pace. But we’re signing, having to look where we’re going. So it’s a whole different layer.

On [ASL Run NYC] in particular, any favorite aspects of it so far?

Yeah, there was one particular moment that really stood out to me a month or two ago. We had a runner drive from Maryland to join us. A deaf guy drove all the way from Maryland to run with us, and I was like, ‘Wow.’

And another good point to highlight is—we weren’t the first one, the first one was Austin in Texas. But I think once we started ours, and maybe it was because of the content I post with us, ASL run clubs started popping up all throughout the United States. The most popular cities now have an ASL run club within the last two months, like Atlanta, Chicago, L.A., Nashville, Houston. I’ve seen them everywhere, and they all started popping up after us. And it just goes to show the impact.

There are deaf folks everywhere, there are hard-of-hearing folks everywhere, and there was none of this before now. Austin is just one year old recently, so all of this is new, which is also mind-blowing to me because deaf people—obviously they’re not just coming into existence. But it’s like, ‘Wow, this is just starting this year.’ And to have a part in that is pretty phenomenal to me.

You’re inspiring your dad and sisters to get into running as well. Can you talk about that and why that’s so special to you?

Yeah, I mean I’m a big family guy, and my family’s seen me running since I started here in New York in ‘23. And they’ve always been curious—they didn’t see it coming, and they’ve obviously followed along. I talk to my parents every day, and I talk to them about running, and they see me run and hear about these races…. And I was like, ‘You guys should start running.’ I popped it in here and there, not a lot. But in December they agreed to go on the run with me on Christmas Day, my big sister and my dad, and I was shocked. We got together, went outside, stretched. It was a beautiful moment. Health is wealth. And not only that, you want to build generational health. And so to see my family running—especially there are a lot of disparities in the Black community when it comes to health and wellness. And to be able to have my dad, who was once addicted to drugs and alcohol, my older sister, who deals with a lot of depression, to have them both out running with me was huge, just mental and physical. And so to see that was a lot.

We went out there running, and then my little sister, who was not trying to run, pops up out of nowhere and starts running with us too. We ran our first 5k in April—all of us, my little sister, my big sister and my dad. My dad’s been the most consistent, but they’ve all gotten into it. My little sister was on the treadmill yesterday FaceTiming me, and this is all within this year. Ran the 5k with them in April, and then recently my dad ran his first 10k, and he told me he plans to run a half this fall. He’s 57 now, he says by 60 he wants to do a marathon, the New York City Marathon. I’ve inspired so many friends to get into running, but I think my dad is the most special…. We talk every day, but now that he runs, we have more to talk about. He’s talking to me about pace and how many miles—I’m like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’

But yeah, they’ve been super, super into it, all of them, and it’s been such a joy for me. So I love documenting that as well. I always make sure to document the experiences I have with them as it relates to running, because it inspires other people.

Any topics that we haven’t covered that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

The thing I’ll leave you with is that running has been transformative for me, because—if it wasn’t for running, I don’t think I would like New York City as much as I do. I think running has exposed me to so many different neighborhoods, cuisines, people, culture. I’ve really gotten to experience it on foot. I’ve been here four years, but it feels like 10 because I know so many people and neighborhoods and just so much about the culture and running through so many places, running in the morning, running at night. It’s opened my eyes to the melting pot that New York City is, but also to the world.

Being able to run in London, in Berlin, being able to run in Boston, in Chicago—I never would have thought that would have happened. And I’ve met people all over the world. I’m friends with people in so many different states and countries because of running, and I think that just expands my worldview and allows me the opportunity and ability to be more conscious and aware as it pertains to the world we live in, and movement, and health, and wellness, and community, and connection. And I’m just happy to be able to use my platform to inspire others in any way that I can.

For the first time in 35 years, the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships are coming to New York City.

The meet will be held this Thursday through Sunday (July 23 - 26) at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, featuring stars such as Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Nikki Hiltz, Grant Fisher and more. It’ll be a historic event for both New York City as well as the USA Championships, which have been held in Eugene each year since 2021 and one of Eugene, Des Moines or Sacramento each year since 2007.

And to Devon Martin, it’ll hopefully serve as the gateway for more to come.

“The New York City running scene is phenomenal. We have the best club scene in the country, and we have so many talented athletes…. Our goal is to put on a fantastic meet this time around, but we’re not going to stop here,” said Martin, a longtime coach with Team USA and the executive director of Central Park Track Club, one of the four hosting organizations of the meet. “This is going to be the first of many national championships, and hopefully the U.S. Olympic Trials.”

We spoke with Devon to discuss how USAs came to New York, why Friday night (which features both the men’s and women’s 100-meter finals) is the day she’s looking forward to the most, what it means to have several local NYC runners competing in front of their home crowd and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can purchase tickets to the event here.

If you want to start off with, at least from your perspective, when the idea of New York City hosting USAs this year was first proposed, and that process for when it went from an idea into a reality earlier this year?

Yeah, sure. Well, I think we’ve been floating it for a while. Lauren Primerano of USATF New York has been pushing for a long time—we’ve been working together for decades now, and so we definitely have wanted to do it. I think everything just kind of all fell together, with Icahn Stadium putting in a brand-new $2 million track, including lane nine, which makes it more of a world-class track. So that finished up early October, and then the request for proposal came through in December, and quickly turned it around—the press release came out in February and then ticket sales started in May.

So we’ve been on a very short timeline there, but we’re super excited on the athletes that are coming. Especially in the men’s and women’s 100, you got the big stars, Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, two great show athletes for sure. So definitely want people to know that the 100 meters is happening Thursday and Friday…. I think that’s going to be exciting for sure.

Obviously you’ve been involved in the New York running scene for a while. What does it mean to you personally for New York City to finally be hosting this meet?

I think for me, this hopefully is just the start of many national championships. I think the New York City running scene is phenomenal. We have the best club scene in the country, and we have so many talented athletes. You’re seeing it in track and the roads, whether it’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers or USA qualifiers, the New York area has so many athletes, and I just think we’re getting better and better….

So our goal is to put on a fantastic meet this time around, but we’re not going to stop here. This is going to be the first of many national championships, and hopefully the U.S. Olympic Trials.

I’m curious if you can touch on how and when Central Park Track Club specifically got involved, and what it means to you to be one of the organizers hosting this meet as well?

Yeah, so the official local organizing committee (LOC) is ourselves, Central Park Track Club, New York Road Runners and USATF New York, and then we’re partnering with obviously Icahn Stadium / Randall’s Island as the venue and USATF. To put on a meet like this is a huge undertaking, so we were glad to be involved to try to help, especially bringing in more clubs in terms of participation, attendance, that sort of thing. You’re investing time and energy—it has been a crazy few months promoting the event, selling tickets and getting our own athletes ready for the event.

So we’re excited. We feel like you can’t just do this alone. So we’re thrilled to have New York Road Runners involved, as well as USATF New York on there. It’s been a great journey, a lot of work…. And in New York we’ve been really fortunate, they’ve had more media requests than they’ve ever had for this entire event. I think it’s almost been double on the amount of requests. So I think that’s a good sign for national championships going forward, that we have a lot of media that is very interested in this event here in New York City.

What are the emotions now that it’s less than a week away before it starts on Thursday?

I’m super excited. I can’t wait. I think the best night’s going to be Friday night, for me. I love the 100-meter finals, with Sha’Carri and Noah Lyles. The women’s 800—that is the event to watch, Friday night in the 800. And the reason why is you’ve got 17 women who have run 1:59 or faster, and only nine of those women can make the final. And I mean, there are so many talented women who have run 2-flat too. So I would say this is the best USA women’s field we’ve ever had, to have 17 women with 1:59 or faster. And obviously we’ve got fan favorites like Nikki Hiltz in there, Roisin Willis, Nia Akins, just to name a few. Of course, my fan favorite is Emily Richards at Atalanta Track Club, so I know where my loyalty is.

Also the men’s 800 is great. So you’ve got the 100s, you’ve got the 800s, both men and women. And I love the race walk at the end. That’s going to be fun. That’s always a great one. I don’t know how they move the way they do. I was very fortunate to coach race walkers for Team USA back in 2018, so I learned a lot….

Thursday is definitely worth going because you’ve got the 100 prelims, so you get to see all the 100-meter [runners], you’ve got the 1500, you have Nikki Hiltz, and then you have all the local New York City men in the 1500. Steeplechase is always a fan favorite, and then the 10,000 meters we’ve got Grant Fisher in there on the men’s side, and of course CPTC’s own Maddie Offstein. So I definitely think Thursday and Friday are going to be fantastic.

You touched on it earlier specifically with the media, but anything else you want to touch on in terms of the benefits New York City provides, whether it be media exposure or just exposure in general?

I think it’s just great to rotate the event. Track and field, I think we really still need to focus on expanding our fan base, and I think it’s great to have multiple venues that can host a great event. Also with New York City, we’ve got eight million people, we’ve got huge fans. I mean, you saw the Knicks, right? And we’ve seen that soccer has been huge here. And track and field should be huge as well. Obviously the New York City Marathon is the premier event on the marathon, we’ve already got that here. So track is just a natural extension of that….

I think a lot of people don’t realize and forget that some of the top track athletes have come from New York City. You have CPTC’s Derrick Adkins, our sprint coach, was the gold medalist in the Atlanta Olympics in 400 hurdles. Sydney McLaughlin was just over from New Jersey. We had Lalonde Gordon, who ran for Trinidad, multi-medalist there in the 400 meters, and raced at The Armory for years and years. He was actually world champion in the 4x400 that took down the U.S. for the first time in 20 years.

This is New York City. We have here in New York City some of the best high schoolers in the country. And what this allows, and what my dream has always been, is we’ve got to continue. We’ve got to continue to produce elite athletes and Olympians from New York City, and that requires support. And that’s why our club scene is so important in New York City. When our athletes, they go off to college, but then they come home…and they have to have a framework. And that’s one of the reasons why, for us on Central Park, we created our International Elite program, so we could support athletes post-collegiately, as well as at Atalanta, the pro women’s team is the same thing—to create an opportunity.

The great thing about New York, which most people don’t realize, it is a running mecca. We have some of the best meets. I mean, you see the Millrose Games, Dr. Sander meet. We had the New York City Grand Prix, Athlos is fantastic, that is just stunning. On the road racing, we’ve got the New York City Marathon, some national championships, we’ve had 5k on the road. So we’ve got the great elite races…. We’ve got beautiful miles and miles of trails in Central Park to run in. We’ve got trails up in Rockefeller, just 30 minutes up. We really do have everything. The training facilities, Icahn Stadium, The Armory is the best. So I think people don’t realize that New York City is actually a track mecca.

You talked about how the post-grad New York competitive running scene is unique…. To what extent [can USAs] also showcase the post-grad competitive running scene in New York to people who are outside of New York and don’t really have an understanding of what that is here?

I mean, the club scene is so competitive, and we’re excited that USA Nationals is the same weekend as [NYRR] Team Champs. Because one, that means a lot of our own athletes are in town, but I think it’s hard to explain to people how good our athletes are in New York City. You’ve seen we keep getting better and better, both on the track and and the roads. We’ve seen Ryan Kutch from Central Park has taken top 10 USA Road National Championships twice, he’s also qualified in the past for the USA 10k Nationals. And that’s just to name one that covers both the road and the track.

So yeah, I do want to get the word out that New York City is the place to be in terms of running and training and camaraderie. It’s so much fun to train with people. That’s what we do best. We train together, and I think that’s probably a little bit different than a lot of places in the country. We have serious training groups, people that get together, work out, and train, and are trying to elevate themselves and each other.

Anything else you want to touch on in terms of how you’re trying to lean into not just the competitive running club scene here in New York, and getting them to really show out at USAs, but also beyond that?

I think in terms of marketing, we’re trying to reach everybody, young and old. We have a fantastic kids zone for the event, so people can get a poster and they can hopefully get a chance to meet their stars and get an autograph and selfies and all that good stuff. We really want to inspire the next generation on the kids’ side.

And then as you know, we have the most thriving Masters community there is. Not just on Central Park, but New York City is unbelievable in our depth. Lynn Blackstone, who was one of the co-founders for Central Park Track, she’s still racing. I can’t believe—I think she’s 88. And we’re just hoping to get all those fans out there and see what the running community can do in New York City. It’s definitely exciting.

You talked about the hope of this being a gateway to hosting future national championships, Olympic Trials, etc…. What are you hoping out of [USAs] in terms of being that first step toward eventually doing that here in New York?

Yeah, I mean I think we’re already on our way for next weekend. Saturday and Sunday’s ticket sales are going through the roof, so I highly recommend people get their tickets soon for Saturday and Sunday. And Friday and Thursday are doing well. I think as soon as people realize that the 100 meters is on Thursday and Friday, and Sha’Carri and Noah Lyles are there, they’ll take off too.

So we’re ready for the event. The athletes are exciting. I think having that world record in the mile helps promote track and field and hopefully bring more fans. So it should be fantastic.

What does it mean to have local New York City athletes, whether it be several from Central Park Track Club or other local clubs, competing in the event as well?

Yeah, anybody from the New York City area is a hometown favorite, because we see them all the time, and sometimes some of the groups train with each other. So we’re always cheering our local athletes from New York City, and want to see them do well.

At the end of the day, we want to inspire the next generation of New York City kids to keep going, pursuing. And hopefully we’ll get some more Olympians coming out of New York City as we should, and as we have in the past.

Anything else you want to touch on that I didn’t specifically ask about, or any last words you want to say of why people should show up and come out as well?

It’s so exciting to see people race in person. There’s a certain magic. I mean, we do want people watching on YouTube and that sort of thing, and there’s huge coverage—both NBC and also Peacock all four days, and we’re having the most coverage yet. But there’s nothing like the excitement of the crowd and everything. And for those of you who’ve been to Millrose Games or Athlos, it is worth it. Come experience the magic. Come with your friends. Come with your family. Come with your coworkers, and just have a great time.

And nothing is more beautiful than Icahn in the evening. It is a magical place. Beautiful, beautiful views of the East River and the track. So I’d just say to people, come and experience the excitement of track…. So come for Friday night, come for Thursday night, and enjoy the sunsets at Icahn Stadium.

Jacqueline Elbaz says she can never pinpoint the exact lessons she’s learned from running, but that it’s made her the person she is today.

It started at 14 years old—her high school didn’t have a cross country and track program, so her origins trace back to running the South Brooklyn streets on her own. From there she eventually caught the half marathon and then marathon bug, hired a coach and joined a group while training for a Boston qualifier.

Along the way Jacqueline started running into injuries, and it was through that process that she fell in love with strength training and became a certified personal trainer. She later earned her run coach certification as well, passionate about how increased time in the gym can help you be a stronger and faster runner. However she adds that her favorite part of coaching is seeing how someone can grow as a person from the beginning to end of a training block, similar to the way running’s impacted her over the years.

We spoke with Jacqueline to discuss leading the Nice Jewish Runners beginner program, the role her mom has played in her running journey, balancing strength with running and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

If you want to give an intro of where you’re from and then how you initially got into running?

I’m from Brooklyn, but I live on the Upper East Side now. My family lives in Brooklyn.

And then I started running when I was 14, right before going into high school. My elementary and high school didn’t have running teams. I went to a pretty religious Jewish school, so there was no running. But I got into it on my own. My parents were both pretty athletic. My mother was a runner. My dad ran recreationally, but also played a lot of sports, so pretty active. And my mom always used to watch the New York City Marathon on TV every year, so I always knew the sport. And then one day I was 14, just went for I think it was a half a mile around. It wasn’t anything significant. I was like, ‘Let me just go run down Ocean Parkway,’ it’s the main street in Brooklyn. And I made it a half mile and turned back home, and that was it.

But I just started running from then. I trained on my own for most of it. And then when I was 17 or 18, there was an organization from my community…they were raising money, and they were taking 10 or 11 kids to Disney World to run the Princess Half Marathon. And they knew I was a runner, and they’re like, ‘Jacqueline, do you want to come?’ And at that point, I hadn’t run more than maybe five or six miles. And I was like, ‘Okay, let me try this.’ That was my first race, and that’s how I got into running longer distances, I would say. I ran my first half marathon, and then from then I just got the bug, hired a coach, and pretty much got more into running that way.

At what point did you run your first marathon, and what motivated you to think that you wanted to do something like that?

So from then, I caught the half marathon bug. And I loved it. It was fun because not a lot of people who I knew really ran long distance, so I was considered fast. It was just fun to beat the boys at that point, and I am competitive a little bit. And at one point, I just wanted to get faster in the half, so I hired a coach. This was Google days, I just googled New York City coaches, sent out three emails, and whoever answered me first, I joined their group. And my coach at the time, he was my coach for a really long time actually, he’s like, ‘You’re gonna run a marathon eventually. You’re around all these people, they’re all training for marathons, you’re gonna want to do it.’ And I was like, ‘Not for me, never gonna run a marathon. I just want to get faster in the half.’

And I joined his group [Gotham City Runners] in 2013, and I ran my first marathon in I think 2014. So I pretty much just got the bug. I was around regular New York City people, but also a few of the people who I used to warm up with or do some easy runs with actually qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon. So it was just very inspiring to be around so many people. We would do long runs on Saturday, and I would cut my long run at 10 to 12 miles, and they were going for 20. So I just caught the bug from being around it much more than I was growing up.

What did the initial goals look like when you first started doing marathons, and how have they evolved since then?

So my first marathon I trained for and got injured. It was New York. My goal was really just to make it to the starting line. I had no time goal. I’d never run over a half marathon until I started training, so for me, it was just getting to the starting line.

I ran my first marathon, and I remember crossing the finish line and just saying, ‘Holy shit.’ It was just a great experience. I ran the New Jersey—well, they don’t have it anymore, but it was in Monmouth County, and I loved it. And then once I did my first marathon, then I had my time goals, so I wanted to qualify for Boston. I trained for New York again, got injured again, so I swore off New York. That will be like my retirement race, maybe. And then I ended up running Marine Corps, and I missed Boston by 13 seconds. It was a super hot day, and I was a little bit annoyed because New York the following week was perfect weather that year, 2016…. And then I was in a string of injuries after that, and I stepped away from the marathon until 2023. So from 2016 to 2023, maybe I trained one more time for a marathon, got injured again, didn’t do it.

And then in 2023 [signed up for the Baystate Marathon], a pretty low-key marathon, which I do better at. I don’t like big ones.... So that was my last marathon I did, and I ran 3:16. My goal was 3:22 at the time, and it was a big chunk coming from 3:35 to 3:16. And that was my first marathon that was pretty perfect—perfect weather, perfect splits, didn’t look at my watch until the last few minutes. I passed a famous hockey player on the way, which was pretty fun.

And from that, right now…my goal is just to stay injury free, because I really love running. I’ve been doing it for almost 21 years now, and I’ve been injured more than I care to say, and it sucks. And running for me is like my therapy. So my goal—I would love to do another marathon, but right now just stay healthy.

You’ve been involved with a couple different clubs or groups, Gotham City Runners was one of them. Anything else you want to touch on in terms of other groups or clubs you’ve been involved with and the impact that they had on your running journey as a whole?

Yeah, so after Gotham City I joined Streets 101. My coach Greg, I met him from Gotham City Runners, he used to run with us, so then he coached me….

But [when] I ran the Baystate Marathon in 2023, it was October 15, so it was one week after October 7, what happened at the NOLA Festival in Israel. And I’m Jewish, I was alone in Massachusetts, it was really hard. It was a week after everything happened, I have friends in Israel.

Also, my mother is a very big part of my running life, and she used to come to all my races. No matter where I was, she would drive at three in the morning to come watch me. And she was diagnosed nine years ago with Alzheimer’s, and she’s in a wheelchair now. So I was so alone, didn’t have my mother—my mother used to surprise me in Morristown, New Jersey to come watch me race. And so I didn’t have anyone to come watch me race at all.

And three days before, I saw that Nice Jewish Runners was a group that was starting. And I had reached out to Ezra, he was the founder, and he’s like, ‘Oh, I would love to have you involved,’ and that sort of gave me motivation for the race. Then the week after the race—I know you’re supposed to take time off after a marathon, but they were having their first group run and I joined. I met so many friends from that group, it was so nice. Everyone’s invited, it’s open for everyone, but it was just nice to be around my Jewish family right after all that was happening. It was very comforting in a time that was very scary.

And so that group I’ve been involved with a lot too, more so in 2023, 2024 than now—I’m coming back now, thank god, but I’ve been injured, so it was hard for me to get to the group. But that was a really nice group to be a part of also, I really loved that…. We had the first group meeting in my apartment, actually. We were trying to think of fundraisers or things to do, and we had it here in my apartment.

At some point you were doing a beginner’s program [with NJR], so if you want to touch on that, or anything else that you did within that group as well?

So they needed someone to lead the beginner run, and I am that friend who will run with a beginner runner. I love it. I don’t care about pace. That doesn’t bother me. Unless I’m going to the track and doing a workout, I just don’t care. I could run a 15-minute mile, I could walk, I don’t care. And they were looking for someone to lead the run. And for me, I loved it. I like running with new people.

It wasn’t long term because it was only a mile, and then people started to want to run the three miles with the whole group, so then I would just join the whole group with them. But it was just nice. I met one girl, and recently I bumped into her actually, and she told me that I inspired her to run longer, and now she loves running. And it was really nice to hear that from someone….

Any one of my friends who is looking to run even just a mile or two, I’ll go with them. Running’s changed my life in so many ways, so if I could pass that on to someone else, that would be nice.

You mentioned you took a long break between 2016 and 2023 in terms of marathons. What did running look like for you in that period as you were trying to get back to being healthy consistently?.... And then what did you learn from that process that you’re trying to take with you into future years as well?

Yeah, so within those years I was on and off running, but I really stepped back from racing. One, because it was becoming stressful to me. I was very much in my head. I’d be running on pace for a workout and just be like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this anymore,’ and completely just start walking. It was becoming so mentally draining for me to just finish a workout. I started running because I loved it and it was fun for me, and I didn’t love it anymore. So I stepped back. I was comparing myself to girls in the group who were running the same times as me, and then running faster, and I wasn’t running faster. And then I was getting injured all the time because I was trying to keep up, and just I didn’t like it.

And so I really just stepped back from the sport. I stepped back from the group also, I stopped meeting up with the girls to run. I did my own thing. And that’s when I really fell in love with going to the gym and strength training, and I got certified to become a personal trainer because I just saw how much strength and actually lifting correlates to running stronger and faster. And I did some races, but shorter ones, and I was just as fast, if not faster than when I was just running all the time, and I really attribute it to spending time in the gym.

So how that relates to now is I’m not going to compromise strength for running. I used to be like, ‘Oh, let me just get a 10-mile run in, and I don’t need to do my prehab exercises,’ or, ‘I don’t need to lift.’ And now I’m like, ‘No, I will cut the run short so I can get my lift in also and do all the extra things that people don’t like doing.’

You’re a running coach as well. When did you decide to do that, and what motivated that?

So when I lived at home in Brooklyn, there were not many people who would run at like 4:30 or five in the morning before work, or I didn’t know anyone from my community that I grew up with that really took running super seriously. And then I met, it was my friend’s sister-in-law, she just started running and she lived around the corner from my parents. We’d meet up at five in the morning to go for a run, and then she asked me to coach her for a marathon. And I mean, I knew what to do, I’ve been running for so long at that point, but I didn’t feel like I was qualified. I’m like, ‘I can help you, but I don’t want to be—like if you get injured, I don’t want it to be a problem, I don’t know everything’....

And so I got certified from that [in 2020]. I already had my personal training certification at that point, and then I figured to be more well-rounded, having the running certification. That’s when I really started coaching as more of a side job, I would say. And it was from that one friend who had asked me to coach her. I was like, ‘Okay, let me be certified so I know what I’m talking about.’

What’s your favorite part of coaching, or in what ways has being a coach and helping others through that changed how you view your own personal running journey?

It’s like the same thing from what I told you about NJR, doing the beginner program. For me, it’s so fun. I’ve had clients call me the morning of their race and say, ‘I’m not going to the starting line, I hope you’re not mad at me.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not mad. You had a great training season.’ And I think the race is just extra, and you learn so much about yourself during a training block. I know that from myself. Some of them are my good friends, and some of them are just people randomly off the internet. But seeing my clients complete a full training block, and you change so much even if you think you got slower. Whatever you put in, you’re gonna get out, whether it’s in the race or within a workout or within the training block. And I love seeing the growth from one person.

That always was something that I loved from coaching. So when I started coaching, that was something that really spoke to me, just to see one person grow. And then sometimes they have a great race and they call you after, and you feel really proud because your name’s a little bit on it. This one girl who I coached from the beginning, we’re both in the same community, we do the same local 5ks in the summer. She’s faster than me, and I remember someone asking me, ‘You don’t get first place anymore’—[the races] are very local. And I’m like, ‘I don’t care. It’s so nice.’ Like first of all, I coach her. Second of all, it’s so fun to see her go from not knowing anything to running a pretty fast 5k. I always like that.

Any favorite running memories or moments that stand out over the years?

One thing that’s always been my favorite period of running, was there was one point I was part of Gotham City Runners, used to meet up Tuesday, Thursday mornings at 6:30 for our practice. And I had moved back to Brooklyn for like a year and a half to just be with my family. And I was gonna get on the train at 4:30 in the morning to go drop my stuff at a gym and meet everyone for practice, because at that point, I loved running with the group. And my mother heard me getting ready at 4:30 one morning, she’s like, ‘There’s no way you’re getting on a train. You’re a girl. You’re young. Like, no.’ And for a full year, she would wake up every Tuesday and Thursday morning and drive me into the city.

My only job was to wake her up and get her coffee, and we would sit in the car, and we got a little bit of time. And she would ask me about what the workout was going to be, or the run. And now I told you she’s sick, so she doesn’t communicate as much. So I was always very grateful that I had that year that was just me and her at 4:30 in the morning, just chit chatting. And she knew how important running was to me and how much I wanted to be running with a group than alone on the streets. So that’s always going to be a favorite thing for me.

And then just all the group runs I’ve done over the years, the people I’ve met. I’ve met all my good, good friends through running…. Those are all my favorites. My first marathon is also gonna always be a favorite, and now my last one, just because I was very proud of the work I put into that one.

What life lessons have you learned from running, or just ways that running has helped in other areas of your life as well?

Yeah, I treat running as my therapy. And sometimes that’s not the best thing because I’ll run myself to an injury. But it’s just taught me to be really resilient. And whatever you put in you’re not gonna always get out from running, but you learn so many things about yourself along the way. And I always thought that running was such a good outlet for me….

It’s always been a part of me. I can’t see myself not running, and that’s why my goal right now is just to stay healthy and get to the starting line. I can never pinpoint what lesson it’s taught me exactly, it just made me the person who I am now.

What’s your favorite part of the New York City running community as a whole, or just what makes the New York City running community at a high level special to you?

First of all, it’s so competitive. My friends who don’t run think I’m so fast. I’m like, ‘You don’t even know. I’m nowhere near what some people are running.’ And that’s fine….

It’s so inspiring. I love the running community here. There’s always more to do and more to see. I’ve met so many people through running. I’ve been in other cities running, and I think the community here, everyone knows everyone through something. And everyone’s so helpful. The people I’ve met, everyone wants to see everyone else thrive. They want to help you at a workout. They want to pace you. They’ll bike ride on the West Side Highway while you do a long run. I feel like everyone’s just a big community helping each other move forward.

Laura Perlongo lives by the motto that if an opportunity presents itself, you take it and figure it out later.

“I think that’s the way a lot of good things start,” she says. “Is just kind of saying yes when you’re not sure how it’s going to go.”

That’s the way she ran her first marathon in New York last fall, signing up less than a year after she started running again (following a decade-long hiatus from the sport). And that’s also why she founded McCarren Kids Track Club this past spring, when other parents in Williamsburg were looking for a local kids running program and urged her to just start one.

At first Laura figured she would simply coordinate a time for her and her friends’ kids to run some laps around the track. But after going through the hurdles needed to do that, the idea quickly ‘snowballed’ into creating a waiver, earning her coaching certification and eventually competing as a team at the USATF New York Junior Olympics in May.

Laura now hopes to keep expanding McCarren Kids Track Club, including a cross country program beginning this fall. She adds that one of the things she’s noticed within her own return to running is how many other adults say, ‘I don’t run, I can’t run,’ and that one of her goals with the club is helping kids flip that internal dialogue at a young age.

We spoke with Laura to discuss her track origins in middle and high school, what motivated her return to the sport after her 10-year break, how her own kids influenced the start of McCarren Kids Track Club and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Just to get started, if you want to give an intro of how you originally got into running?

Sure. I mean, I think I was sort of an awkward kid. I was shy, I was really nervous, I wasn’t someone that would naturally be like, ‘Sign me up for soccer. I want to play with other kids.’ So I guess I’m in the bucket of kids that maybe wouldn’t have been considered athletic, quote unquote, but I was.

When I was in fifth or fourth grade, there was this one girl, she was challenging everyone to foot races on the playground, and I was basically the last kid she hadn’t raced. So she was like, ‘You, it’s your turn.’ And she probably was faster than me, but she’d already ran against so many kids, and I beat her, and I was the only one to beat her. So after that moment, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m kind of good at this.’

So that sort of inspired me to then in middle school sign up for the track team. And again, in the track team, we got to do some time trials, and I think I did have some natural ability in terms of running. I feel like when you’re a kid, once someone tells you, ‘Hey, you’re kind of good at this, or, ‘Oh, you have a little bit of natural ability here,’ at least for me, then it made me be like, ‘Oh okay, I’ll focus on this more, and I’ll sign up, and I want to get better.’ So sometimes someone just telling you, ‘Hey, this is something that you should try out,’ makes you want to get better and do it, and so I did. So I ran in middle school, I ran in high school. I was okay. I wasn’t the fastest. There were definitely kids faster than me. I got really into pole vaulting. I was a 100, 200-meter runner, and then as I got older, I was developing my skills, and I could do more of 200, 400. I was always doing the relays, and I just loved it.

And I never really ran long distance until after high school. You know, college can be a tough time…. And I found running to be something that I always returned to when I was in a tough spot. If I was struggling with school stuff or afterwards, especially in my 20s, with career stuff, relationships, I found it just like a very centering, calming thing. And I accidentally started running longer. It wasn’t something I aspired to do. I would just go out for a run and then get lost. I mean, I’m kind of old I guess, because it was before you had the blue on the map on your phone. So I’d actually get lost, and then go home and MapQuest how far I’d run and be like, ‘Wow, that was a five-mile run, oh my god that was eight miles, oh wait I just ran 12 miles.’ So in that way, I think that’s how I started getting into longer-distance running…. But I never really did more than a half marathon.

And then I really hurt myself in my late 20s, and I didn’t have health insurance. I didn’t look at—I was just like, ‘You know what? Running’s not for me anymore. I’ll just give it up.’ Had my kids, I have three kids. And then my husband broke his neck, and he was a big—it’s funny, I was the big runner, I got injured. We met, he had never really ran, and then he started getting into running, and then he ran for those 10 years where I wasn’t running. Then when he broke his neck, he’s like, ‘I think I’m gonna rehab my running. I want to get back into running.’ And I was like, ‘Well, if you’re gonna run six weeks after you broke your neck, I can get back out there from some random knee injury I had 10 years ago. Like, it’s time.’

So then I just started running again, and I remembered all the things I loved about it. And not that I’m in a hard time of life, but I think there’s definitely a life transition happening after you have your kids. You’ve spent so much time and energy on that, I think there is a big what’s next moment. And running has always been there for me when I’ve been in those moments.

You’ve talked a little bit about this on social media…. What did it feel like to push past that initial fear of getting hurt in that early process of getting back into running in late 2024, early 2025?

Yeah, I mean my first run back, I think I did two miles. And every step, I’m basically limping. I thought my knee still hurt, but maybe it was just underuse, because after the first little bit the pain completely went away, and it was as if I’d never been injured. It was so strange….

My first run was two miles, my next run was three miles. I was just adding a mile per run to just go for it, and then everyone thought I was insane. They were like, ‘That’s dumb, you’re gonna get injured.’ But I was having fun with it. And I made it up to 13 miles, I ran a half marathon.

It seems like you got faster quicker than you expected getting back into it. I’m curious if you can talk through that experience as well of just running times, or distances, that you did not think that you’d be able to do in such a relatively short period of time?

Yeah, I chalk it up to muscle memory. I think that specifically being a sprinter in my youth—I mean my form isn’t perfect, but I think I already came with a working running knowledge of how my body feels when I’m moving. And also because I remember what it was like to run fast, I wanted to get back. It’s almost a nostalgia thing, like I want to be able to move my body fast again, because it takes me back to the good old days…. Like I just want to be a kid again, and running makes me feel like a kid again. And so the more wind I feel on my face, the better.

I was progressing quickly. Now I feel like the speed development, if I really do want to get faster, it’s going to be smaller increments, and I have to really fight for those extra minutes on a half or a full marathon. I did like five half marathons or something in my first year, and I was beating my time by 10, 20, 30 minutes. I think that’s pretty typical of a new runner who’s just kind of getting their feet wet. And then after you’ve been practicing a lot, you’re so excited to get 30 seconds faster.

When did you start thinking that you could do or wanted to do the New York City Marathon?

Yeah, I remember the year before when my husband ran…the 2024 New York City Marathon—so I had started running in September, I’d only been running two months, and then it was the New York City Marathon. And I remember watching the marathon, cheering everyone on, and just being like, ‘Man, I’m never gonna get here. I can’t run a marathon.... I can’t do this, this feels too hard, this looks too hard. I’m inching up my mileage, I’m excited I got six miles, this is too crazy, but happy to be here and cheering for everyone.’ It felt like a long time away before I’d be at that level.

But I think watching any running event is inspiring. So even if you think you can’t do it, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, eventually you’ll find yourself at a start line. And I think that’s what happened to me. I was excited to be watching the marathon, I didn’t really see it for myself. And then someone reached out and they said they had a bib for me if I wanted to run—and it’s hard to get a bib to the New York City Marathon…. I just felt like if I’m gonna do it, it’s got to be now, so I better just say yes and not look back. I think that’s kind of how I do a lot of things, which is just if an opportunity presents itself, you take it and you figure it out later.

So I was not ready when I accepted that bib. I didn’t know if I would be. I didn’t know if I’d walk the marathon. I didn’t know if I’d be limping through half of it. But I said yes. And I think that’s the way a lot of good things start, is just kind of saying yes when you’re not sure how it’s going to go.

How did the training process for that compare to how you expected going in?

So once I had the bib secured, I was like, ‘I better start training.’ And then I started training really hard. I didn’t have a specific training program, but I have friends that are coaches, and I was loosely just doing things that I thought I was supposed to be doing, and ramping up my mileage. And then in the middle of the summer, I got really bad shin splints, so much so that I was limping, it hurt to walk on the beach. I was devastated. And the shin splints were not going away, so much so that I thought I might have had a stress fracture.

Luckily, I do now have health insurance, so I could look at what was wrong with me, as opposed to in my 20s when I just was like, ‘I’ll quit.’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m not quitting. I just started again’.... I was crazy with the ice packs. Those ice packs came with me on road trips, I was icing my legs three times a day. I really wanted to run the marathon….. After two months of icing, I finally felt—again, it was back to that, ‘Okay, I have to be brave and I have to try it. I’m never gonna know if I can do this unless I get back out there.’ I knew I didn’t have a break, so I went out on the track and I started doing track miles, because it was soft. And I had to push through a little bit. I know you’re not supposed to push through pain on shin splints, but I definitely did a couple miles, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna give it a day.’ And so I ramped up the mileage slowly.

And then I only ran on the track to get ready for the New York City Marathon. I think I did maybe one or two not on the track. But I was very scared that I was going to go back to shin splints, so my training was very light.

From there, if you want to talk through the experience of then actually running the marathon and what that was like?

As I said, I felt undertrained. I was very nervous. But I will say the crowd is just so special. I felt like I was carried through the race. I had a ton of friends and family watching. And I didn’t know exactly where a lot of people were, so that kind of kept me moving, because I didn’t want them to see me struggling too much. And I just kind of kept a smile on my face, and I got to the end—I don’t know, I blacked out…. I forgot what I got, but 3:40 or something.

It was magical. Honestly, I don’t remember running. I don’t remember it, because I was like on a different plane…. Then I ran the London Marathon this year, and that race sucked for me. I remember every second of the London Marathon. New York Marathon, maybe it’s just because I’ve lived here for 20 years, and just running the streets you know with all of your friends and family makes a huge difference versus traveling to do a race where maybe one person is there for you.

You still set a PR, right off the BQ mark [in London]. Anything else you want to talk through on that London experience?

So London, I thought I was going to BQ so easily because it’s a flat course. New York is notoriously hard, I found it to be lovely, and then I go to London and I’m expecting flat and easy. But what’s interesting about having not really run marathons before is you don’t know what you don’t know, and the wheels are going to come off at some point, and who knows what those wheels are gonna be?

For me, it was I forgot to trim my toenails. No one’s ever said, ‘Oh, remember to trim your toenails.’ And I usually get pedicures, but I was like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna get a pedicure right before I run a marathon. That seems silly.’ And I was traveling, so I didn’t have my clippers. I just didn’t think about it. At mile one and a half, two miles of the London Marathon, I realized, ‘Oh my god, every single step of this marathon is going to hurt,’ because my toenail was jamming into my toe the entire race.

To most people there, you’re like, ‘That’s ridiculous.’ People that know what they’re doing in long-distance running are like, ‘Okay, dum-dum.’ And I’m like, ‘Yup, well I had to learn that lesson the hard way, and that really sucked.’

Can you talk through the McCarren Kids Track Club and why you wanted to start that, what your goals with it are and why you decided this was the right time to do it?

As you know, I’m just recently back into running, but as I was getting back into running, my kids started wanting to run with me. I’m like, ‘All right, I’m gonna go try to squeak in a run,’ and my kids, they always want to be with me, they’re like, ‘Well, we’ll come run with you.’ And so we have a couple treadmills in our building, and they’d come down and run. I’d be doing six miles on the treadmill, they’d take turns running a mile each. And they could do it, and I was shocked at how much me running was really inspiring them to want to get out there. And then my daughter started saying, ‘I want to run a mile every single day,’ and just getting really into it.

So that had been happening, and I think I made a video on my Instagram about how a cool part of me as a mom getting back into running is watching me inspire my kids. Because I think there’s a point in anyone’s parenting journey—when you’re taking care of babies, it’s just one direct that you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna make sure they’re fed and they go to sleep and I’m enriching their brain.’ But as they get older, you watch your kids look at what you’re doing and mimic it. I guess babies do that too, but it hit me that what I do really, really matters for my seven and nine-year-old specifically…. And it’s been really cool to see.

And then also my son is in a little league program called North Brooklyn Baseball, and it’s completely parent volunteer-run. One guy runs it, and then all of the teams have parent volunteer coaches…. And some of the dad coaches have been, since I started running, basically like, ‘There’s no running thing’—and having three kids, I know what kid programs are in the neighborhood, and there was no running thing. I’m like, ‘I can’t believe there’s no kids running stuff in a neighborhood where it feels like’—it’s a huge running community in Williamsburg, because of the track, but also all the running brands are here. It’s where all the run clubs meet, to everyone’s chagrin, but also sometimes they like it. So it’s a big running community, and there are no kid running programs. And so this volunteer dad coach community, they kept being like, ‘You do it. Why don’t you do it? Like, just do it.’ And sometimes that’s all it is—someone says something, and you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, okay.’

So I thought I’d have some kids meet at the track, and we’d all run a mile or something. And then when I decided I was going to do that, I was like, ‘Well, okay, I guess I need a waiver, right?’ Because you’re working with kids and you want to be safe, and you also don’t want to get sued and stuff like that. And even though it was gonna be my friends’ kids, like, ‘Oh, it’s just a little waiver.’ And so I think again, what you don’t know, you don’t know…. In order to get the waiver I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just use a waiver that some other club uses,’ and then they’re like, ‘Oh, well to get a waiver, you need insurance also.’ And to get insurance, you need to get an LLC, and to get an LLC, they ask you, ‘Well, are you a business or are you a charity?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t want to charge anybody, I just want kids to go and run. I guess we’re a charity.’ So basically, because when you want to do something small that’s good for the community, sometimes it snowballs, all of a sudden I have a charity, I have a waiver, I have insurance. And I’m like, ‘Okay, well to get people to sign the waiver, I have to have some sort of backend. So I guess I need a registration link.’ Now I have the registration link. And then people are asking, ‘Oh, where do I meet?’ I’m like, ‘I gotta have an Instagram.’ So it all just snowballed.

And now I’m so excited to say that I have this really epic kids run / track club, and it all started because I just wanted a couple kids to be able to meet on the track. And now we just went to the USATF Junior Olympics as a very legit team. We have singlets and a logo. The same kids are showing up every weekend, and it’s so big…. I have amazing volunteer coaches that I’m very lucky to have been connected with. The NARC Run Club, they put out the call, ‘Okay, we could use some volunteer coaches on Sunday mornings at McCarren,’ a lot of them have college track experience. And so we meet on Sunday mornings, we have usually around 40 to 50 kids split between two sessions: an early session for the younger kids, four or five, and then six to 11. I stopped it at 11 because I think after 11 there are middle school and high school programs that can take them….

And bringing kids to a track meet, and they see the events, and they’re like, ‘Wow, I want to try that.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m going to take a class on how to teach hurdles, and find out if there are any hurdlers in the neighborhood that can come down and teach.’ I think that just putting it out there that you want to do something, people come and they want to help, which has been really special and cool. And I just feel so lucky to have been told to start this, and now I’m going full-steam ahead, and it’s great.

As you’ve gone through that process of creating that club and being involved with it, in what ways has it changed your own relationship with running?

Yeah, because at first I thought, ‘We’ll just go out there and run some laps,’ but in order to become a USATF-affiliated club—again, this is how it all snowballs, they’re like, ‘Okay, well you need your background check, your safe-sport certification, and also if you want to be able to go down to the field, you need to have a coaching certificate.’ And I always thought too, ‘Oh, I’ll let the volunteer coaches that have coached kids before, I’ll let them be the head coach.’ But the reality is, they can’t come every week, and I’m where the buck stops, right? So I have to have some coaching knowledge and experience. What I remember from middle school, high school is helpful, but also I want to get better. And the first thing I learned in my first coaching course was that the number one thing to becoming a good coach is wanting to be a good coach, and to be ready to learn and willing to learn….

Now I’m like, ‘Okay, how can I teach them how to keep their arms in,’ and, ‘How do I activate those fast-twitch muscles for them,’ and, ‘How do we prevent injury,’ and certain ways they can stand when they’re brushing their teeth—all these little things that make running fun for kids and make good form fun for kids. We do a lot of games and we do a lot of things that are like tricking them into learning how to run properly, but also just it’s fun.

I just did my long run, and I’m thinking, ‘Okay, pretend there’s a tennis ball behind you, and you’re hitting a tennis ball,’ so my arms stay in and stuff like that. So all of the things that I’m now learning to coach kids, I’m also coaching myself. So I’m becoming a better runner by learning how to teach them to become better runners, 100 percent.

What’s your favorite part about the New York City running community as a whole, or what makes the New York City running community special to you?

I mean, what I can say about the New York City running community is that it seems like everybody really wants to help each other out. Like a water fountain was off the other day, and someone saw me go up to the water fountain, ‘Oh man, that one’s broken, but I have a full Yeti, I haven’t had a sip of it. If you want to go drink some of my water, you can.’ That to me embodies the New York City running community. ‘Oh, there’s no water, here literally take my water’....

It’s so helpful. And especially with the track club, ‘Oh, you want to teach kids how to run? I will help you do that for free too. Like, let’s all do this, it’ll be fun.’ So yeah, everybody’s just very observant of each other’s needs and helpful when they can be, and I think that’s really special.

Any life lessons that you’ve taken away from running, or just ways that running has helped in other areas of your life?

Yeah, I always joke that since I’ve become a runner, I’ve joined two book clubs, now I have a garden. I feel like my parenting is better, I’ve started this track club, I’m doing more things for the community.

Running to me feels like just a launchpad to whatever you want to achieve in life. For me, it’s about focus, it’s sort of my meditation. Anytime I’m in a spot where I’m not sure what to do with my life, or I’m in a tough spot emotionally, a run just recenters me, and I find that it just makes me a better person. And so being able to give that to kids at a young age—I think a real reason I started the track club also is I meet so many adults that say, ‘I can’t run. I don’t run, I can’t run.’ And I think that if they tried, they very much could. And if they had ever, they also very much could.

So giving kids that language when they’re four, five, six, seven—I run, I am a runner. The more you say, ‘I am a runner, I am an athlete,’ the more you become a runner and an athlete. And I think that having that internal dialogue for myself has always helped me. I can, instead of I can’t. I am this. I can do this. I can do hard things. I think for me, that is what running has given me. I’m so lucky to have it in my life, and I’m so happy to now be paying it forward for the youth community.

Any other topics that we haven’t covered that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

I think we covered most of it. With the track club too, I’m excited, we’re hoping to keep expanding, and we’re gonna start a cross country team. So that’s coming soon. That’s breaking news for you.

While going through infertility, Allie Egan was told to stop running.

“They’re like, ‘Don’t run. Running is bad for this,’” she remembers. “And I was like, ‘Well, this is my outlet, I need this.’”

Three years later, after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease but still experiencing infertility, Allie started her own research, finding functional medicine and learning that running wasn’t the problem. That journey laid the groundwork for eventually reversing her Hashimoto’s and starting her company Veracity Health.

Now a mother of two, Allie says she’s had to be more forgiving of herself while still chasing her running goals, both in terms of balancing family life as well as simply navigating running postpartum. She adds it’s that last topic that’s ‘not talked about enough’ and why she feels so strongly about sharing her own experiences, whether it be through events she’s hosted alongside Central Park Track Club or simply being there when others reach out for advice.

We spoke with Allie to discuss the initial races that hooked her to running, her hunt for a sub-three marathon, how she uses lessons from running while leading her own business and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To get started, if you want to give an intro of yourself, where you’re from, what brought you to New York City if you’re not originally from here and then how you got into running initially?

Yeah, sure. Allie Egan, born and raised in Philadelphia, diehard Philly sports fan. Went to the University of Virginia undergrad, and then moved to New York directly after that, and except for a short stint for graduate school in Boston I’ve been in New York for the last 18 years.

I am the founder of a health and wellness business called Veracity, which is the leading clinically-backed and doctor-recommended brand for safe, natural and sustainable metabolic health. So we sell supplements and nutritional products to support metabolic health and also help to educate people on what really matters within the space. Previously I was the CEO of a company called Cynthia Rowley, it’s a women’s apparel business. And prior to that I worked at Estée Lauder Companies, three of their brands: Clinique, Origins and La Mer. Prior to business school I worked in finance and private equity, so I was investing in consumer businesses. So really have been a consumer brand person my whole career, just on different ends of the spectrum.

And I started running because I was a three-sport athlete in high school—I played field hockey, basketball and soccer, soccer probably being the number one—but I went to the University of Virginia, and I was not good enough to play anything D1. So like a lot of people, I felt a little lost for a while, would go to the gym and not really have anything to focus on. But actually a college roommate of mine, she was a D1 field hockey player, and she ended up breaking her jaw getting hit by a field hockey ball, had to have her mouth wired shut, and it was very traumatic. And so she was like, ‘Screw this, I can’t play field hockey anymore,’ and she started running, and basically brought me along with her. So we actually started running a little bit in Charlottesville, and then when we were summer interns in New York we lived in the Financial District, so we’d run around Staten Island Ferry up the West Side Highway. And when we came back to school, she convinced me to run a race, the Charlottesville 10-Miler. So I thought I might be one-and-done, ran that race, and kind of got addicted since.

What convinced you to sign up for your first marathon, and what convinced you to keep doing them after, because you’ve done a ton of them over the years?

Yeah, I think 19 now. I don’t remember who brought me around to watching my first New York City Marathon, but like so many other people, you see it, you just get so—you want to try it too….

So I did 9+1, and my goal was just to run the New York City Marathon once. That was supposed to be in 2012. That’s the year that Hurricane Sandy hit a week before the marathon…but they were still telling us the marathon was going to happen, and then canceled it the Friday before. So I had already done all the training, and I was like, ‘Well, this would be a waste to not run a marathon.’ So I was able to get into Philly at the last minute, and because I’m from Philly it was nice and a good experience.

Ran that with the goal of finishing under four hours, and I ran 3:41, and I was like, ‘Oh, I actually might be better at this than I thought I was.’ So I looked up the women’s qualifying Boston time and was like, ‘Let me try to get that.’ And so ran my second marathon the next spring in Providence, Rhode Island, and ran 3:25 and qualified for Boston. And that’s kind of what started the spiral, because then I was able to run the New York City Marathon the next year in 2013, then I was able to run Boston, and so on and so forth.

After you [qualified for Boston], how did the goals evolve from there, whether it be just how you viewed goals or what you were striving for?

Yeah, running, especially for type A people, which is a lot of more performance-oriented recreational athletes, is so much more satisfying than so many other aspects of life. Because your career, it’s not linear in the same way that training and performance can come to—and obviously it’s not perfectly linear, but kind of you put in the work and you do get faster, and you see results. And there’s something so nice in such a complex world, of something so simplistic like that that gives you that….

I think it’s that addiction to putting in something and seeing direct, tangible results. You get one goal and go to the next goal, and go to the next goal, and go to the next, etc. And it’s fun.

A lot of podcasts talk about the overlap between running itself, or just endurance competition, and entrepreneurship. I’m curious if you can talk through the lessons you’ve gained from running, whether it be for your career as a whole or specifically building and starting your own company?

I think you got to both be in it for the long haul, is sort of the main thesis. I think my team might be annoyed by the amount of running analogies I use for certain aspects, but I’d say, number one—and honestly this is something more I’m trying to teach myself—is you gotta love the process first. Because way more than in running, in entrepreneurship, you don’t control the outcomes. And part of that is the fun of it. If you’re trying to really innovate and create something totally new, you have to be open to the possibility that the world or the market don’t want it or aren’t ready for it, or whatever the case may be….

So I think it’s just you gotta really love the process, because you don’t know what it’s going to be, and finding enjoyment in that side of it—who you work with, what your mission is, the fact that you don’t have to like work for the man, or whatever.

But the other aspect of it that I relate to my team a lot is you have success in certain ways—and for us as a business at Veracity, we’ve raised Series A by a tier one VC, which has been obviously exciting, but that’s not the finish line. So I often say, trying to give this analogy of we’re sort of in Mile 14 to 18 of the marathon. That it’s just hard, and you can’t see the finish line. And just having that resilience in the process I think has helped me be a better entrepreneur, learning that from running.

What is the high-level mission of Veracity, and are there ways that your work feeds into your running journey, or vice versa?

The reason I started my company was I was trying to get pregnant and was experiencing infertility, and was sent for regular infertility diagnostic stuff. And they came back, and they told me I had this metabolic health disease called Hashimoto’s. I was so scared, because I’d never heard the word disease before…. But they’re like, ‘Oh no, it’s no big deal, we have this drug that you just take every day for the rest of your life, and you don’t have to worry about it.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, okay,’ and so I started doing that, and started fertility treatments. And three years later I was still going through fertility treatments, and I was like, ‘Something else is going on here, I have to figure it out.’

And that’s when I started teaching myself how to read my own blood work, I started actually researching my disease, I found functional medicine. And long story short, through more of a root cause functional health approach, was able to get pregnant, have my two kids and reverse my Hashimoto’s, so now I no longer take prescription medication. And so the whole mission behind Veracity is to actually design products that are targeting the root cause versus just end symptoms, and to really empower people with the information they need to be better CEOs of their own health, is sort of how I like to phrase it.

But for me personally, I think I learned the different aspects of health. I will never know, but Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune metabolic disease, and at the time prior to trying to start my family…. I was sort of on this mission to break three hours [in the marathon]. And I think it created, amidst other work stuff, a lot of stress on the body. And I was trying to be so perfect and diligent, like eat healthy all the time, and do certain things. And I think I learned what healthy is versus supporting your body in the proper way, and obviously through that have been able to heal myself.

And at the time, what was devastating is, going through infertility, they’re like, ‘Don’t run. Running is bad for this.’ And I was like, ‘Well, this is my outlet, I need this.’ So it’s been a really helpful journey to learn running is not the problem. It’s how—and I’m not blaming myself for getting this disease or anything, and I don’t think anyone should ever blame themselves for it—but there have to be a bunch of components in the bowl to create the good things or the bad things. And definitely how I was living my life at the time, high-stress job at Cynthia Rowley, training hardcore, not timing my nutrients properly, all of these things I think is part of what led to the metabolic dysfunction in the first place.

Can you compare and contrast what your running journey looks like now versus what it looked like before starting a family—in terms of how you have to approach training, but also the importance in your mind of returning to that competitive side of you and continuing to do it even with other stuff going on in your life?

Yeah, I think because I’ve really learned for it to bring me joy. And I run most of the time in Central Park at like 5:30 in the morning with other people, a lot of Central Park Track Club folks, and no matter what that’s just a really enjoyable experience.

My running journey post-kids has had to be a delicate balance of, ‘Look, if you want performance, you have to push yourself and suffer in some ways,’ but it’s a delicate balance of understanding how to do that in a way that satisfies the need of what it is. So that’s an understanding of stress is stress, and whether it’s running workout stress or kids stress, or stress from raising money, I’ve had to just be a little more forgiving of myself than I typically would be as a more Capricorn, type A perfectionist.

But I think it’s also just knowing that there are different chapters of one’s running journey, and they can all be fun and exciting. But I am really proud of myself, because I was so concerned going into—and for the record, I still haven’t broken three hours in the marathon, but I feel very confident that I will, for a variety of reasons. But I think I was trying to force things on such a timeline before, and I think having kids and running, it just forces you to give up on that in a good way.

What made me really excited about what I ended up doing—this would have been fall of ‘24, was in great shape, and then right before I was supposed to run the Wineglass Marathon I tore my groin, which is not a super usual running injury, but because of postpartum. And so I couldn’t run that. And then I had a New York City Marathon bib, and I was just kind of like, ‘Let me do this.’ I hadn’t run really much between that injury and the marathon, and I essentially tied my lifetime best in that race.

And so it just made me really proud. I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve been able to get back here.’ And that has changed my perspective on, ‘I need to make this happen now,’ to, ‘Let me just set myself up and be patient with it.’ Because with running, you never know if you’re sick or the weather’s crap, or your kid is in a bad place. And so that’s been a helpful thing to have as a motivating factor, of knowing that I was able to get back to my sort of younger-self performance.

How do you look at short, medium and long-term goals when it comes to running?

Yeah, so I think I want to just make myself proud, is the most broad-based goal. And that can be little improvements, or in a race keeping more mentally tough than I did the last race, or things like that. Trying to focus on things that I can control, and things that are more micro, if that makes any sense.

But also postpartum, I’ve had a lot of injuries, and so I’m also really trying to learn how to train differently and train smarter. I hosted with Veracity and one of our physicians an event for Central Park Track Club women on running and fertility and the post-journey, because it’s not talked about enough. Basically your whole pelvis changes shape during pregnancy and postpartum, and that’s what supports the base of your running frame and what have you. And so I’ve been able to train really hard, but haven’t been able to stay healthy the last two-plus years….

I love running, and I want to be able to do it for the long term, and I want to be healthy and enjoy it. And sometimes I think I could be 60 still running marathons, or I could say, ‘I actually don’t want to do this anymore, it’s too hard on the body, I want to do something else.’ It also might change from year to year, and just being excited about potentially focusing on different things at different times.

How have you seen the New York City running community change during your time involved in it? Or even more broad than the New York City running community specifically, running has changed a lot compared to pre-pandemic.

First of all it’s something I love, so the more people that want to do it, I’m all for it…. But the sad thing is, it makes everything so competitive—like signing up for a New York Road Runners race is insane, and I don’t know that I would have actually stuck with it had it been so difficult. It was really easy to sign up for races, and it was less intimidating. I can remember showing up to those four-milers in Central Park and just having fun, and that’s what led me eventually to want to continue doing it. So I would say that’s my only fear, is everything in this world of health and wellness goes hard and fast. And it becomes, ‘Oh, wow, this is the thing,’ and then it’s over, and then it’s bad for you all of a sudden.

And I’m obsessed with running—as a sport generally, I’m also a big track and field fan, I follow the Diamond League and things like that. And I wish more people would be interested in it as a sport as well, not just a fitness activity.

What’s your favorite part of the New York City running community as a whole, or what makes the New York City running community special to you?

I think it’s just what makes New York special in general, is that people are all so interesting and driven and different, and yet can still come together around something. It’s competitive, mostly against ourselves, and doing that together. And that’s just a really fun thing of working on yourself with other people.

Any topics that I didn’t specifically ask about that you’d like to touch on, or just any closing thoughts?

The other thing that’s been fun about running this business and being involved in the New York City running community is I have shared my story of infertility and health and what have you, and it was at a time where—now a lot more people are talking about it, but it’s been fun to have people reach out to me and ask me for advice, and also to get advice from other people. So I’m just really hopeful for the power that us all sharing our experiences openly and honestly is giving, especially to the women’s running community.

Jeff Benaim had always viewed the marathon as a distance that was unattainable to him. So after completing his first in 2018, his mind naturally gravitated toward even longer distances he should try.

He started with a trail 50k, followed by an 100-miler in 2024. The Long Island native says these types of events provide the opportunity to push both his mind and body, but emphasizes that running to him has always been about ‘more than the miles’ as well.

In 2020 Jeff founded Project Patriot 22, an organization dedicated to veteran and first responder mental health, suicide awareness and prevention. He officially registered it as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2023, and that same year ran five marathons in five days in each of New York City’s five boroughs to help raise money and awareness for his mission.

But this past June 27-28 he took it a step further, running 133 miles from Montauk to Manhattan across 38 hours. Along the route Jeff met with various members of the community impacted by mental health struggles, saying it was their stories that helped him through the painful moments of his run—and that one of his main takeaways from the weekend overall was how much more support is out there than you initially realize.

We spoke with Jeff to discuss his journey to ultra-marathons, how running helps with his own mental health, moments that stand out from his Montauk to Manhattan run and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Just to get started, if you want to give an intro of where you’re from and how you got into running?

Yeah, so my name is Jeff Benaim. Grew up mostly in Nassau County. After I met my wife and we got married, we moved to Queens, I lived in Whitestone for a couple years, and then we just moved out here in 2021 to Suffolk County.

I started running in 2015. So right now I’m a police officer, and before this I was a corrections officer for about 10 years. So in 2015 I was trying to get in shape for the Corrections Academy, and running was what I decided to do. And aside from just trying to get in shape, I wanted to use running as kind of like a proactive way to manage my mental health. So I started doing that, and it ended up being something I really fell in love with, and something that’s really changed my life, and it’s done a lot for me.

I started off doing 5ks and short distances, like everybody. And then did my first marathon in 2018 New York City. After that, I think I did my first ultra the year afterwards, Tesla Hertz. It’s out in Suffolk County, it’s a Trail 50k—it goes up to I believe 150 miles, but I did a Trail 50k that year. And then in 2022 or ‘23 I had my first 100-miler attempt, which was at the Hainesport 100 out in New Jersey. That one was rough, I ended up pulling out at Mile 65. I sat down in my lawn chair for a couple minutes, my body locked up, I could not get up at all. I left that race in crutches. So that was tough. After that, in ‘24 I did my first 100-miler, the Loopy Looper 100 out in Jersey. Then we just did this big run from Montauk to Manhattan, 133 miles.

What attracted you to those ultra-endurance events?

Before I ran my first marathon, it seemed like a distance that was so unattainable to me that once I crossed that finish line the first time, something switched in my brain, and I felt like I could do anything. And I just wanted to push, not just my body, but my mind, and just see what I could do.

A couple years after that first marathon you started Project Patriot 22. Can you talk to the origins of that and what motivated that initially?

Yeah, so I started Project Patriot 22, my nonprofit. We raise mental health awareness for veterans and first responders. I started that in 2020, and we got our nonprofit status in 2023.

Like I mentioned, I was a corrections officer before for 10 years. In 2017 I lost one of my first partners to suicide, along with a handful of other officers that I worked with. And I was having my own struggles as well, dealt with a lot of stuff. The 22 in Project Patriot 22 represents the 22 veterans we lose to suicide each day—I’m also a veteran, and so that’s something that’s really important to me as well.

And so connecting my passion for running, and this submission I have with Project Patriot 22, I feel like it’s a good way to shine light on this cause. For example, the run we just did from Montauk to Manhattan, using the running that I love doing to shine light on the cause.

What are the main initiatives [Project Patriot 22] is focused on?

I feel like running is something that personally has saved my life, and just exercise and being active is huge for mental health, it’s been shown in studies. And so one of our core things we do is we have our “Movement is Medicine” campaign, so we sponsor veterans and first responders with free gym memberships at various gyms that we’re partnered with around Long Island, hopefully we can get into New York City eventually. So we sponsor them with free gym memberships to try to keep them active and give them something to keep their mind occupied.

We also help provide financial assistance for therapy, help give referrals. And we also help them get better rates and services as far as wellness services, like massage, cryotherapy, sauna, a bunch of different types of wellness services out there. We’re partnered with various businesses like that, to make it more accessible and affordable for those who serve.

Before Montauk to Manhattan, you did five marathons in five days…. What motivated you to want to do that and what was that experience like?

Yeah, so that was great. That was in 2023, I ran five marathons in five consecutive days in each of the five boroughs. And then along those days, during that whole run, I was stopping and talking to various law enforcement. It was actually during Fleet Week, so I was actually talking to active service members. It was great.

I ran through each borough, and just trying to have conversations with people who serve, and just trying to get the message out there.

When did you come up with the idea for this Montauk to Manhattan run, or just what were the origins and initial motivations for that as well?

From Montauk to Manhattan, that’s been on my list for a few years now. It’s tough, obviously, logistically doing something like that. It’s a lot. It’s not a race where you have your own aid stations, and everything’s mapped out and stuff. And you’re out there for so long. Five marathons in five days, that was more manageable. I could handle being out there a few hours, and just it’s not that much I have to worry about logistically. So this was definitely tougher.

And yeah, it was great, super amazing experience. I got so much more support from the community than I ever could have imagined. Had so many people join me for some miles, people ran marathons with me, ultra-marathons with me. It was nuts.

Are there any favorite memories or moments within the couple days you were out there that stick out?

Yeah, I met a couple of families—I mean, everyone I met was incredible. People were telling me their own story, how mental health has affected them, their struggles, why it’s important to them. A lot of people were out there running for others that they’ve lost. I had an entire family stop and cheer us on, they had signs and stuff.

A particular family, the Grice family, I met multiple family members from that family throughout the route in various different towns, and they just lost a relative who was a police lieutenant from my job to suicide a couple months ago. So it was a special moment that we got to share. And yeah, it was powerful.

Any unexpected challenges, or just things that came up that maybe you didn’t expect going into it?

Nothing too crazy. I did have a support crew, so I definitely want to give them credit. I had a couple of drivers that drove all throughout the night, had people coming out at random points throughout the day that supported me, helped me with my hydration and helped me keep the morale up, get some miles in with me. So my crew, shout out to them, they did a tremendous job. I was navigating the best I could with my Garmin, but they verified the route, and they kept us on the path, and it was great.

Can you talk through the experience of when you finally made it to Times Square, and finally finished the run, and just the emotions or feelings you were going through in that moment?

Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, I definitely felt a lot of pain at that point physically, so it was tough. But it was crazy. The NYPD, they helped escort us to Times Square off the bridge, and we had other nonprofits come out and join us for support. It was just crazy, starting in Montauk, and then just ending up in a giant city. And it was definitely overwhelming, and I see everybody there, and it’s like, ‘Wow, we did it.’

Obviously it’s only been a week, but what’s next for you on the running front? Is that something you’re even thinking about, or are you still mentally and physically recovering from the run last weekend?

I mean, I have some goals, like personal running goals. I haven’t really thought too much, as far as stuff that I want to tie into Project Patriot 22. Personally, I would definitely love to run Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, that’s on my list for sure, maybe a couple other big races. But I’m still figuring out what I want to do as far as other events and stuff with the nonprofit.

Later this month we have a fitness for mental health CrossFit event at one of our partnering gyms, so that’s something we’re gonna be doing. So the community is going to be invited out to get a workout in, and it’ll be great.

Are there any life lessons you’ve gotten from running, or just ways that running has helped in other areas of your life, that you haven’t touched on already?

You know, 133 miles was a long time to be on your feet, and just a lot of miles. But I feel like running has done so much for me that it’s become more than the miles….

It’s about the experience that you go through, it’s about the journey that you’re on, it’s about everybody you meet along the way. It’s about who you become along the way, the conversations you have in your head. It really is medicine to me, and to a lot of people.

During the Montauk to Manhattan specifically—obviously part of it you’re talking and meeting people throughout the route as well, but a lot of that time are you just in your own head? Are you listening to any music, podcasts or anything, or is it really just your time to think and be in your own head for a while?

Yeah, so I did zero music the entire time. When I got to 100 I did like half of a podcast. But honestly, during my toughest times, I was just in my head, just thinking about all the people I met, and the stories that they’re telling me. And that truly did help power me through each mile. It was a lot.

What makes the New York City or broader New York running community special to you, or what do you enjoy about New York running at a high level?

Yeah, there’s no place like New York. Everyone says it’s New York or nowhere. I live in Long Island, but New York City is great. Every time I run in the city, it’s magical, it’s so amazing, there’s nothing you could really compare it to. And just the people, the energy—it lights you up, it puts a fire in you, it keeps you going, and you just want to be out there doing more, and experiencing it all. And yeah, there’s nothing to compare it to.

Anything that we haven’t touched on that you’d like to touch on, or any closing thoughts?

Yeah, so like I said, my nonprofit is dedicated to veteran and first responder mental health, but I want everybody to know that it’s okay to not be okay. We all deal with stuff, and it’s important to know that you’re not alone. There are so many resources out there.

I think one thing from my run from Montauk to Manhattan, there’s an overwhelming amount of support from the community. So I know you may feel alone, but you’re not alone. And if you’re struggling, or if you’re thinking about doing something, just reach out, talk to somebody, and we’re gonna get through it together, and it’s gonna be okay.

This past March, Grace Heymsfield won the open field and placed 20th overall at the NYC Half with a 1:14:26 PR.

And while the former All-American at Arkansas has an extensive competitive background in the sport, it’s been a long journey back to actually racing at this level.

By the time Grace graduated from Arkansas in 2014, she felt burned out. The pressure had reached an apex, and her joy for racing was gone. But after moving to New York in 2018, she started exploring the community aspect of running in the city, joining North Brooklyn Runners and dabbling in some of the local non-NYRR race circuits. Eventually Grace caught the bug to run the 2023 New York City Marathon, and over the past year especially has reignited her love for hard training.

After this most recent half marathon performance, an OTQ attempt in the marathon might seem like the natural next step. But Grace says she has no plans to run another marathon in the immediate future—for now she’s perfectly content supporting those around her on that journey, and is also inspired by other runners who help further prove that her competitive racing days are far from over.

We spoke with Grace to discuss why she decided to take a break from competitive running after college, what motivated her return to racing, her favorite local races in New York and more.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

If you want to give an intro of where you’re from originally, what brought you to New York City and then how you initially got into running?

Yeah, for sure. My name is Grace, I live in Brooklyn over by Prospect Park, but I grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas. Probably like a lot of New York transplants, came here for a job, thought I’d be here for a year or two, and then really it became home, especially during the pandemic.

My earliest running memories, or how I got into it, is from my dad. My dad is a pretty classic old-school marathoner. We got Runner’s World Magazine every month, he was really into like Yasso 800s and deals on shoes, and his big goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon. So I have really early memories of riding with him in the pickup truck the night before his long run to hide water bottles, and going to some of his races.

My first race was when I was seven or eight, I did the Rover Run Mile with our dog Ruby, which I’m sure was just to get our energy out. And from there, they would enter my brother and I into the shorter races, if my dad was going to run a race—probably, like I said, just to keep us busy. And then by junior high, my brother and I were training together semi-seriously. So all of my running origins and early memories are definitely that it was a family endeavor.

When did it progress where it might look like you could run seriously and competitively in college? And if you want to talk through the process of what convinced you to eventually commit and run at Arkansas?

I think by high school I knew I was interested in doing it more seriously. And then I just had an incredible high school coach, his name is Godfrey Siamusiye, he was a national champion at Arkansas. He was just so good with us—his priorities were really to keep us low mileage and to get us good enough that it could be an option if we wanted to run in college, but that the most important thing was that we were confident and healthy, which I think especially a lot of high school girls don’t have.

So by my senior year I had decided that I wanted to run in college. I think Arkansas still felt like a stretch, but my dad was a professor at Arkansas, I grew up really close to Fayetteville, so that team was so on my radar. The college coach that I ended up running for, Lance [Harter], was very prolific—I mean, he’s a legend. So definitely some of our workouts I would see them, and I knew who all the girls on the team were. So getting recruited to go to Arkansas, even though I wasn’t one of the big fish by any means, was kind of surreal for me.

It’s interesting to hear that you saw it as a little bit of a stretch in high school, because you obviously competed well for them throughout your four years. So if you could talk through just the experience of running at Arkansas in college and how that played out compared to your expectations going in?

Yeah, I mean time-wise, I achieved so much more than I ever could have thought I could achieve in college. Lance is very much known for developing athletes. It was so humbling—I remember the times coming out of high school I was so proud of, the vibe was kind of like, ‘Yeah, that’s cute, but you’ll be doing that in practice soon.’

And it was a pretty painful freshman year. I remember coming from the gym and taking sitting breaks on the hill up to my dorm, just because I was so exhausted. Like I said, my high school coach had kept me at like 25 miles a week—which I was chomping at the bit. I could see other high school girls running 50 or 60 miles, and it was just such a gift that he kept us low, because I did have a lot of upside in college. But making that leap of mileage, also the intensity of the workouts, and also going to the gym, it took my body a year or two to respond to that.

And then by my sophomore year, I just really, really started dropping times, where I was steepling faster than I had run flat before. Steeple was kind of my bread and butter. So definitely by my senior year, time-wise was really, really running faster than I ever would have thought I could.

Coming out of college, you took a long competitive break from running, at least until recent years. What did running look like for you post-college?

I think like a lot of post-collegiates, by the time I got to junior, senior year, I was really struggling to make it to the end of seasons. I had put so much pressure on myself that I felt like I was kind of limping to Conference and limping to Nationals, more figuratively than physically. I was pretty injury-free during college, but the joy was just really gone. I just remember a lot of dread leading up to races, and then relief when it was over, and my last race was a culmination of that. So even though I had had dreams or hopes of going pro, I think I knew for myself that it was not going to be a good fit by senior year. And that’s really when I launched more into my current career, which is in humanitarian aid, which is a very different but similarly in a lot of ways intense environment.

So post-grad spent a lot of time in places where running was not an option, or it looked much different. I lived in South Sudan for a year. When I first moved to New York, I was traveling like 60 percent of my time to places where I’d deploy for a couple weeks or a couple months at a time. I also had a lot of injuries post-college that were really residual for not being healthy during college. So the joy was just kind of gone. I had no interest in racing, I wanted a lot of distance from just any way I could assess my speed. Running is kind of tough in that way, because it is objective. Like a track is a track, and sure courses are different, but you have a gauge for yourself of what you can do over a 5k. And I really wanted distance from being able to make comparisons to my college self, because I knew I just wasn’t doing the same thing anymore.

So I think career-wise, that really lent itself to being forced to take a break. And when I moved to New York three or four years post-college, that’s when I really started to get more into doing it recreationally. Made a lot of friends through running, so it felt very community-based. And then I finally got to a point where I was like, ‘Okay, racing doesn’t feel like pressure, it feels like something I would do in the city that I love with people that I really care about.’ So I think I didn’t race for eight or nine years post-college, and I still don’t know that I have the racing fire as much as I love to train and I love to run, and racing can be a fun celebration of that sometimes.

What got you to start dabbling in races?

Yeah, probably the same story as so many New Yorkers, which was I got the bug for the New York City Marathon. It was going to be my five-year anniversary of living in the city—I think doing the marathon is special regardless of your relationship to the city, just because it’s such a cool course. But living here, when you’re like, ‘Oh wow, I know this borough, I’m gonna go through Brooklyn and get way too hyped up, I’m gonna end in Central Park,’ I really wanted to do that. So I did the half to qualify—I didn’t have a bug to run a half as much as I wanted to do the marathon. And then actually my now-husband, our one-year anniversary was the marathon, so we thought it was something fun we could do together; he runs it every year. So that was really what got me back into racing.

I’d also dabbled a little bit in some of the great local circuits that we have, like anything David Alm does, or the Glue Factory guys, and the SBRC Superfund Run every year. So I think I’d kind of gotten back to it and started having fun. But the more formal racing was really first motivated by the marathon.

And then I’m a PhD student at the London School as well, so I have to spend time in London for extended periods of time based on coursework. And last year I was in London for a few months with a friend who I met in New York through NBR, Gabby, and she was just crushing training. And I remember just being stressed with school, stressed with the global environment for humanitarian aid, and nothing sounded better to me than running lots of laps on a track with her. We would just meet and do these huge workouts and talk about the most banal stuff, and it was such a release, and I realized, ‘Oh, I really like training this hard again.’ And I thought, ‘Well, I should maybe look into leveraging this into a race.’ So I did Brooklyn Half last year, had so much fun, and then thought, ‘Okay, I’ll do another half this year,’ and I did New York this year.

Before current training and goals, if you want to talk more about what that New York City Marathon experience was like?

I had a pretty classic first marathon experience, which was a spectacular 12 or 13-minute positive split. I think that happens to a lot of folks. It’s so easy to do in New York because of the course and how it is. So I remember just absolutely buzzing through Fort Greene, and my husband being like, ‘I think we should pull it back,’ and you start to think you can run way faster than you can.

Time-wise, even though I didn’t have a specific goal in mind, I think you still get attached to some ideas of what you could do. And my goal, really, for New York was to enjoy it, as cheesy as that sounds. So I think it was a good check for me, because when I finished, I was like, ‘I kind of lost it in the back half.’ And it’s like, no, the whole point was to experience this day, do the super early transit out to Staten Island, huddle under blankets with your friends. I mean, it was hot, so I guess we weren’t huddling under blankets that year, but you know what I mean. It was just a really fun experience to do that.

And also, I mean, it’s surreal. Like I understood the marathon bug, because it’s just such an accomplishment. There’s so much out of your control, like the weather, just how you’re going to happen to feel—so yeah, it was a great experience.

Coming out of that, and also combined with some of the halves you ran over the last couple years—do you have any goals or ideas for a next marathon? What’s next for you on the running front in your mind, or still to be determined?

Yeah, I mean I had so much fun with the haves. I think if anything, training for a half really puts in perspective how much of a different ball game it is than training for a full, if you’re going to do it that way. Honestly, my only racing-related goals are probably my husband runs New York every year, and we got to get him to that start line healthy. And if you’ve spectated the New York City Marathon, you know that that is in and of itself an athletic accomplishment.

So I don’t have ideas for a marathon right now. I think I want to give it some time before thinking about that. I’ve started getting curious about what I could do as a Masters runner, but that’s several years away. I think what’s really cool is you see so many women in their 40s just absolutely continuing to progress, so I haven’t felt rushed to think of what I could do in a marathon. So it’s definitely not on my radar at the moment.

Going back, if you want to talk through how you found NBR, what motivated you to join them and what that community has meant to you in your running journey overall?

Yeah, definitely. When I first moved to New York, I was living really close to where they would meet for their Local Competitive Saturday morning long run, and so I just really loved going, and knowing it was going to be fun conversation. I was going to see new parts of the city, because especially when you’re moving to a place like New York, you don’t really know where to go outside of the parks, and we did different routes every week. And I also really liked that everyone was totally fine just doing their own thing—like you feel really good today, you speed up. And that was important to me, because I think in college it could at times feel a little less like iron sharpening iron and a little bit more like, ‘I’m going to try to beat you on this rep,’ which I definitely did my fair share of contributing to. So when I was looking to run with groups of people in New York, it was really important to me that this is our hobby and this is what we do for fun, so no hard feelings depending on how fast you want to go that day.

And then I just made really great friends through NBR, a few of them I’ve mentioned. And then my husband’s been part of PPTC for over 10 years. Those two groups have this really nice collaboration workout on Tuesday nights, which is predominantly how I trained for the half. So definitely really grateful to both of those groups for how I’ve met so many great people in the running community here.

The running scene, both in New York and just in general, has changed a lot from the last time you were training and racing competitively versus the last several years. What’s it been like seeing that growth outside of your own running?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I don’t super, super closely follow the sport, but you don’t have to to understand how it’s changed. I mean, the times to start with are just—it’s night and day. And that is so cool, just to see what you ran in college be completely irrelevant in the best possible way. And I don’t really think standard chasing for the Trials was a thing [when I was in college], or I just wasn’t aware of it. And now you see women—I like to think that the push has been more on an emphasis on being stronger and getting to do this for a really long time than it was when I was in college. Because you see women come out of college and chase that standard, and they’re healthy enough to do it. And it’s really cool to see too in that group of women chasing the standard, women in their 40s, women who are my peers who I would have ran against, and people who didn’t run in college at all.

So I think just kind of the collective effort toward being competitive in whatever sense you want to be. I don’t think you have to chase the standard to get that bug, but it’s like lifting tides float all boats. If you know somebody who is trying to chase 2:37 and you’re working out with them, you’re going to get faster. So I think it’s been really awesome to see an expansion of who thinks it’s possible to run at this level, and just that it’s important to be able to do it healthy for a really long time.

Just because you mentioned it right there, I know you said earlier you have no marathon goals in the near future and no next goals, but obviously a lot of people I’m sure you’re training with on the women’s side are all chasing the [Olympic Marathon Trials] standard. Is that something that’s crossed your mind at all, or just not really an interest right now?

Not this cycle. I think I have other things going on in my life, and I do think you have—I mean, 2:37 is no nonsense, like you have to be all-in, and you also have to have a great day. Never say never if things kind of change, but what has been really cool is I run along plenty of women who are on that journey, and I don’t think anybody gets there alone. So I definitely feel like I’m on the standard cycle, even if I’m not planning a race to chase it myself. One of my closest friends just ran 2:37:00 at the Rotterdam Marathon [to qualify]—the feeling you get when you see someone you’ve trained with, in whatever capacity, get there if that’s their goal, it’s just really special.

So maybe next cycle it’s something I would think about. Even though this cycle is long, it does kind of come up quickly…and that’s just not a good fit for other things I have going on in my life. But what’s been really cool is to see women like Caitlin Phillips or Roberta Groner doing this in their 40s, and I don’t feel rushed to do it this cycle.

Any life lessons you’ve gotten from running, or ways that running has helped in other areas of your life?

I think probably like a lot of runners—I don’t know that running has made me more disciplined, because I think we’re probably all predispositioned that way, but it’s definitely given me an outlet for it.

I think what I appreciate most about running, especially now, is just the opportunity to have friends across so many different lifespans, so many different careers, in a way that I think can be hard to find in a place like New York without a shared activity. Some of my closest friends I’ve met through running, I can’t imagine having met them if we weren’t running in circles together every morning at around the same time. I feel like a lot of my best memories of New York are conversations I’ve had on runs with people before 7 a.m., so that’s pretty special.

Any favorite racing or running memories that stand out over the years?

Definitely racing New York City with my now-husband was super special. During it, it was so painful, and I remember somewhere in the Bronx very dramatically telling him, ‘Just go so you don’t have to wait for me, I have to walk,’ and the feeling sorry for yourself in the middle of a marathon. But my parents had come, and we saw them twice. And it was just, when I finished it, I was like, ‘Wow, that was—I’m never gonna forget that.’

Do you have any favorite or underrated races in New York?

Anything David Alm runs, if I am in town, I will be there. The Beach to Brooklyn race is really fun—it’s just such a nice community that he’s built up. Ekiden is one of my favorite races in the city, I usually try to do one of the bridge routes.

I mentioned the Superfund Race, which SBRC puts on, and it’s from Newton Creek to Red Hook, and it’s a fundraiser for the Gowanus Conservancy. So that’s another great running memory I have, is doing that last year with my friend Jerry. And you make your own route, so it’s mostly under the BQE—it’s a little deranged, depending on which way you run it. It’s in August, so it’s sweaty, you’re cruising through stop lights just without abandon.

And then the Glue Factory guys do the Glue Loop every year, and that’s really fun. It’s a really great race. It’s so laid back, and one loop of Prospect Park is pretty straightforward. So those are some that come to mind.

Introducing the NYC Race Calendar, which currently includes all races in New York City (and nearby areas) for the rest of the year, whether it be NYRR, NYCRuns, run club races, unsanctioned races and more. You can click any race name to register / find additional details, and also search and filter the calendar by location, distance, race organizer, etc.

We plan to update the calendar weekly, and include new race additions in our newsletter and Instagram; you can subscribe and follow us below.

If there are any races we should add or if you have any suggested edits, don’t hesitate to reply to this newsletter, DM us on Substack or Instagram, or reach out at runnersofnycblog@gmail.com.