Runners of NYC Podcast

"Going back to how welcoming Dao-Yi Chow, Eugene Tong and Ryo Yamamoto are. That sets the tone for everybody else. That's a huge reason why Paolo and I are as welcoming as we are. We've learned from them. We want to pay it forward. We do realize that yes, you can feel alone in a big group of people and we just want people to know that we're not going to leave you behind. That's something we try to drive on a weekly basis and try to emphasize that we are a club for the purpose of community. The PRs will come. It's crazy too that we're not totally after PRs – sometimes we are – but they just come because we're having fun while running. Sometimes you don't realize you're improving while you're improving."

Our guests for this new episode are Paolo Alberca and Kim Yee. They are the captains of Old Man Run Club. Paolo Alberca is an account manager for a medical supplier. Kim works in the technology department within the Creative Artists Agency. In this episode, you'll get to know them, how they got into running and eventually caught the marathon big that now has them leading so many others on their respective marathon journeys.

“In 2006, I started running for a friend who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a rare blood cancer. She had been diagnosed years before but she had always seemed fine so I never really thought about it. When I saw her go through a stem cell transplant, where they basically beat your body down, strip you of your immune system, do the stem cell transplant and build you back up again. It’s a brutal process. I decided I wanted to do something just to support her. Then over the years, it just started to ramp up. I kept meeting more people involved with the organization and more people with the disease. As the events grew and got bigger with more attention, it just got to a point where I was running for this thing that was a whole lot bigger than I was.”

Eric Gelber is an executive vice president at CBRE. He is a father. He is a husband. For some of our focus, he is also quite an endurance athlete. Back in 2016, he ran 200 miles in Central Park to honor his friend Anita and raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. As Anita bravely faced a cancer diagnosis, he took to running to raise money to aid in research, awareness and treatment. He ran marathons and ultra marathons but his biggest feat was running about 33 times around Central Park's outer six-mile loop. It didn't come easy. He failed at it twice but never gave up. 

In this episode, you'll learn more about his work, how he juggles that work, run, life balance, overcoming failure and now raising more than 1.7 million dollars to fight multiple myeloma. You can watch a documentary about that 200 mile run on Amazon Prime, if you search 200 miles. It’s a great film. On Sept. 17, he will return to Central Park but not to run. He’s rowing 200 miles while at at Engineer’s Gate. If you’re in the area, come out to row alongside him, cheer him on and learn more about his cause. 

“Chinatown Runners is not a crew and it's not based in any specific locality. It's not a crew. It's a movement. I wanted it to feel bigger than just this one group that really sort of permeated throughout the entire running community worldwide. When you think about it, there are Asian-American Pacific Islander-centric communities all over the world outside of just America and Canada....Every neighborhood and borough has a dozen or so specialized running crews and groups, which is amazing and I don't want to try to eat anybody's lunch, but the idea is for it to feel really inclusive. And that's kind of the reason why I fight hard to say that it's not a running crew, but it's a movement...All you have to do to tag in is start or end a run in a Chinatown or an Asian-American Pacific Islander neighborhood or business even. Throw up the hashtag and show some love to a community that can really use it right now.”

Victoria Lo is a designer and senior creative with years of experience in New York City's running community. Most recently, she started Chinatown Runners as a way of bringing support, awareness and love to protect and preserve the Chinatowns and AAPI-centric neighborhoods in cities across the world. She underscores that this is not a performance team, crew or club but a movement. As noted on their website: "We run to fill in the gaps that global tourism can’t fill during a worldwide pandemic. We run to keep the streets safer by watching out for the most vulnerable. We run to celebrate the diverse cultural narratives that make our country wonderful." In this episode, you'll hear more about what drove her to take action and start this group as anti-Asian hate crimes and violence is on the rise.

“Yeah, it would be a bummer if there’s no Olympic Games because I feel like it would be a very political Games. But at the same time, I’m in fencing. I know that people forget the day after the Games are done that I go back to being a regular person. A million people could kneel at the Games and I don’t think you’d see a million people do it. You’re going to see a few special ones. That special one is important. But the idea that people felt comfortable to do that is so powerful for all the communities and all people. For people to be able to come and say what they want to say without worrying about the repercussions of losing monetary value or their families being hurt or being kicked out of the things that they want to do. That’s important. That’s the one thing I hope maintains and stays after all these movements.”

Race Imboden is a bronze medalist from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in fencing. So you're probably wondering what's a fencer doing on a running podcast? In addition to his success in sport, Race made headlines as one of the top American athletes who has made a political statement and demonstration at a global championship. At the 2019 Pan American Games, he won a gold medal and took a knee during the national anthem. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee placed him on a 12-month probation as a result of his actions. Imboden accepted the sanction but has never been silenced in his message against racism, gun violence, racial inequality and police brutality. Through his work with Everytown, an anti-gun violence organization, he's looking to educate people and see change across the country. You'll hear why this means so much to him in our conversation but also he will be a featured speaker at the next Running to Protest event in New York City. 

“I come from the South Bronx. I had to leave the Bronx to have access to these things. I had to go downtown to take arts classes, writing, theater and poetry classes. What did I do it? I brought all that shit back Uptown so that everyone had access to that and it wasn’t just me. I felt horrible to be in these spaces that I knew would never accept me if I was with my homies from the block. They would never allow me. It was important for me to be the conduit or in the middle and maneuver through these spaces to see what I can do so I could bring it back." – Patty

“There’s a lot of dope things in the hood. We’re trying to empower people to celebrate the dope things. It’s not always about getting away and getting other resources from outside of the hood. That’s super important but it’s also about celebrating the things that are dope in the hood, why we should stay in the hood and foster it...While you’re going out and getting resources from other places and seeing the world, you’re also celebrating your people and the world that you’re in while uplifting those narratives that are from the block." – Reph

“Running communities are a reflection of American communities, and if we know that American communities have been shaped by racist real estate laws; racist criminal justice systems; racist police officers; racist, segregated schools…how can there not be racism in running?”

This is an episode of Social Sport – another show on the CITIUS MAG Podcast Network. This show is hosted by Emma Zimmerman and features conversations with endurance athletes of all types committed to fostering social change. The athletes she speaks with on this show are climate change activists, mental health advocates, and promoters of more inclusive outdoor spaces. Through Social Sport, she shares the stories and thoughts of people who explore the connection between sport and activism in their lives.

Ben Chan is an ultra runner and activist, perhaps best known in the New York running community for his racing attire—leopard print short-shorts and a cowboy hat. But in recent times, Ben has also become well known for his activism. On this episode of Social Sport, we focus on Ben’s exchanges with a certain, high-profile race director (Gary Cantrell AKA "Lazarus Lake") who banned Black Lives Matter from his events. It can be difficult to talk negatively about people who have large followings, lots of power, and have created events that are, frankly, important to the running community. But Ben and I both feel that we need to hold everyone accountable for their words and for the communities they create—in sports and beyond. This episode was recorded about a week ago, and since that time, more exchanges have unfolded; "Lazarus Lake" shared his racist speech openly on a prominent podcast. So Ben’s sentiments shared in this episode are, perhaps, even more important.

Meggie Sullivan is a communications strategist with a specialty in architecture, design, and lifestyle. On the track and roads, she's one of the fastest women in New York City, who has a 4:18 personal best for 1,500 meters and 4:46 for the mile. She's just wrapping up her time as a captain and board of directors member with Central Park Track Club and embarking on some new and exciting projects. We talk about that as well as her up and down journey into coaching and getting involved as a mentor for youth runners.

“With family comes a lot of responsibilities. With a lot of responsibilities can come a less active lifestyle is how I guess I can put it. I got caught up in life and just tried to work my ass off and raise the kids that I kind of let loose with myself as far as health and wellness was concerned. It wasn't really a priority. I didn’t really care what I looked like...From like 22 to 34, health just wasn’t a real priority for me...How I felt about myself physically wasn’t something I cared about but it should have been. I came to realize that as I got older and when I hit 240 pounds on the scale.”

Lenny Grullon is one of the founders of the Boogie Down Bronx Runners, which is a group that comes out in full force at the New York City Marathon. It gets loud when you cross over into the Bronx and see their black and white shirts and flags. In this episode, you’ll learn about how that group came to be because when it all started no one initially showed up. You’ll learn about what also got Lenny started running late in his life and has kept him motivated to inspire others in his community. Outside of running, Lenny also shares what it’s been like being the Dean of Culture at DREAM Charter School in East Harlem and being a father of four in this pandemic.

“I was in my own little bubble for a long time...I think if I had a sense of how bad I was, I don’t know if I would have continued. I love that in New York you can go to all these local races and kind of place high without having these super performances. I think that gave me some teasers that I could kind of be good at this.”

Somehow the World Athletics World Half Marathon Championships are still set to take place on Oct. 17 in Poland. For this episode, we are joined by Marie who was set to represent France in her first-ever world championship but is 99% certain that she is not comfortable making the trip amid the global pandemic and may have to skip the race. 

However, she still managed to qualify with an impressive 1:14:12 half marathon back in January in Houston. She's also run 2:36.23 for the full marathon last October in Chicago. Our very own Leigh Anne Sharek has raced against her many times in the city and can attest that Marie is definitely one of the city's fiercest competitors. 

She runs for the Queens Distance Runners. For more on that group, check out our past episode with founder and captain Kevin Montalvo. We touch on how she connected with that group but most importantly how she made major leaps in training once she teamed up with her coach and husband Luciano Medina. Together, they operate and run Coach Medina NYC. You'll also learn more about her own coaching philosophy.

"We, as Bronx Femme, promote health and wellness not just in our little running community but we run the streets...It's not just for folks to come on a run but it's also to show the Bronx that we can run. We're running in the hoods. We're running in all the crevices of the Bronx. I really hope that Bronx Femme is inspiring people. This isn't normal to see runners in the Bronx so when they see us, they're always like 'What is going on?' We're breaking necks out here. I really hope people see us, join us and talk about us to further promote in the Bronx because that is so important, especially right now in the pandemic. It's so important."

For this episode, we are joined by Michelle Nguyen and Amy Ortiz. They are both Bronx residents and two of the founders of the Bronx Femme Run. The group's mission statement says they aim to create a space where all women run free. They meet on the first Friday of every month and connect women from all across the city and specifically the Bronx. In this episode, we'll learn how the group came to be, what they're doing to build that safe space and how they're resetting and regaining momentum after the coronavirus pandemic hit their respective communities. This group is fairly new so we hope you enjoy getting to know them.

“By being last, I obviously didn’t want to be last. I wanted to just beat one kid in swimming, running or whatever it was. I just wanted to get a little bit faster. Having that mindset of ‘getting a little bit faster’ is really what took me all around the world on a competitive world stage. Just wanting to be a little bit better each day and each time I compete...It was a slow progression of keep moving forward and really not letting the naysayers get to you. When you’re doing something unique and different, there will always be people who say that will not be possible or something negative about it.”

Rudy Garcia-Tolson is a four-time U.S. Paralympian in swimming and track. He has got a truly inspiring story that starts with being born with popliteal pterygium syndrome that resulted in a club foot, webbed fingers on both hands, a cleft lip and the inability to straighten his legs. 

At 5 years old and after many operations, he made the decision to amputate both of his legs and move forward with his life on prosthetics. This allowed him to get his start in sports and primarily swimming where he’d usually be the last one to finish races. He never gave up and set incremental goals along the way, which eventually landed him representing the U.S. at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. When it comes to running, he has set American records in his age group and classification in distances from the 400 meters to the half marathon. He has also completed an Ironman.

In addition to all of that, he’s done a lot of work with New York Road Runners in guiding kids with disabilities to get their own start in sports and running. You’d think that four Paralympics would be enough for someone but the pandemic has bought him an extra year to try and make a run for a 5th. He was recently profiled in The New York Times about this because there was a point where he had to improvise and just run 10 miles in Brooklyn without much else to do for training. We hope you all learn more about everything Rudy has had to overcome and persevere.

“I think where the dialogue really happens is in a Black Men Run group chat that we have. Just think about what we’re all feeling when that situation happens with George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. It really gets to a point where we don’t feel OK. We’re not alright. We try to support each other as best as we can but the reality is our job as Black Men Run is to show our community what we can do as a unit through running and to be role models. When I joined and we started doing the hood runs, just seeing the power of people in those communities seeing us as a unit and sticking together, I can’t even put a value on that. It’s so grand. That’s where a lot of hope lies – in seeing Black men like ourselves stepping out there and choosing to stick together in a positive way. In Black Men Run, we have doctors, principals, lawyers, chiropractors, educators and the list goes on. It’s just a good place where not only are we connecting through running but we stay connected outside of that and work on various things.

It wasn’t a big group when they started in New York City. They stuck with it. That to me and where we’re at now is more about how they built that. Now, how do I take what they built and figure out what I can build through the things I have talent in. They were really pivotal in being an example to me and the power of sticking together with something that has meaning.

One thing I’m learning is: Everything I want to do has to have a purpose. I try to think of that purpose before I do it. I’m starting to speak up with a purpose. I want people to be more vulnerable. I want people to share their stories. I want them to let people know how they’re really feeling. I think for too long and in my workplace with certain friends that I have who are white, I’ve held back on having real conversations with them for a real long time. Do you know who that’s affecting the most? Me. Because I’m holding that inside. I can’t reach my full potential until I let all of this out. My biggest message to people is to encourage them to use their voice. We all have a story. Life is difficult. Whether you’re dealing with racism or some other trauma that maybe you’ve been dealing with since you were a kid, these stories need to be let out. I’d rather know the real you than the person you perceive to be. To me, that’s when we can brick by brick lay the foundation for a better future for our youth. They need to know some of the truth."

Jason Fulford is a Gowanus, Brooklyn native. He is the coordinator of community programs for Community Roots Charter School. When he's not working, he's likely running as a member of Black Men Run and The Running Edge. He is also known as the cousin of Eric Garner, who died on July 17, 2014 when a New York City police officer tackled him and put him into a fatal chokehold. Garner's dying words – "I can't breathe" –  helped galvanize the Black Lives Matter movement to protest racial injustice in America. Five years after Garner's death, Jason partnered with Overthrow NYC to host the Run for Justice in 2019. This year, the run is back and will be held on July 18. Hear about Jason's work as an activist, how running has been his therapy, his role as a father and educator during this important movement, his relationship with Eric Garner and what his hope is for the future.

"My daughter said to me the other day, 'I want to be a police officer, Daddy, so I can be a good one and make changes.' I said, 'That's good, baby. Listen to all the conversations that are happening because you don't have to make this decision yet. Originally, she wanted to be a teacher. My mother is a teacher. I'm kind of a teacher in how I articulate things to my community. Now with everything going on, I think she's kind of re-thinking things and trying to figure out her purpose in all of this. She's also hearing about the children of the future. She said that to me yesterday, 'Daddy, I keep hearing them say 'children of the future' and that's me, right?' She's understanding that she's going to be the one and her generation are going to be the ones to change this indefinitely. We're moving the big boulders out of the way but they're going to come through and they're going to clean up the dirt and get the rubble out. They're going to get something growing here."

Nova Church is a captain for The Bronx Sole. If his voice sounds a little bit familiar to you, it's because he was one of the leaders who spoke at Coffey's run to protest. If you haven't listened to that episode yet, we highly recommend checking it out. In this episode, we continue the conversation amid the Black Lives Matter movement about the changes that we're pushing for as a community. Nova expands on his call to action and what he wants to see from all of us. He also shares some insight into how he started getting active in running, why helping improve the health of the Bronx keeps him motivated and the unity among the Bronx running division. People said 'The marathon continues' when Nipsey Hussle died but Nova is someone who is living that daily.

On Sunday, June 14th, hundreds of New York City runners gathered at the East River Amphitheatre for a two-mile protest run against racial injustice and police brutality in America. The run was organized by Coffey – who was recently a guest on our show and has emerged as one of the city's most vocal activists in the fight against racism. He called on all New York City runners to come together and run together as one community. He initially expected 40 to 60 people to show up but there were hundreds. It was further proof that everyone in the running community will take the time to run together, protest together, listen together and make change together.

After the run, there was a speaker series with crew leaders sharing personal stories of their encounters with racism, what it means to be Black in America and how you can help make a change. Coffey granted us permission to share the audio from the conversation.

The speakers are listed below with timestamps so that you can pick up on hearing everything they had to share because it's important. We have also included their respective Instagram handles so you can follow them.

"I saw that there was this lack of representation within this space. Even though I'm going it at a recreational level, I started to see the reactions and responses to people who were finding out that this is something I was actually doing. It is very normal for folks to just think, 'Oh you're in the sprinter category or you're you're more for short, fast distances or jumping' and that's the end of the road. Even my family and friends finding out that I am running these longer distances, my parents were even like, 'Oh my gosh. This is so wild and we're so excited to see you.' My little cousins were looking up to me and saying, 'Oh my God, Ameerah! This is so cool that you're doing this' and asking questions. For me, seeing that beginning to happen made me think there's something that's here. There's this sense of representation that's definitely lacking. Now that I have this opportunity to show up and be in this space, it's super important to stay there and continue moving forward. This is available to any and everybody...There's a lot of self-limiting beliefs but then we also have socioeconomic limitations that are set on certain groups of people. Speaking to this conversation and leaning into just showing up. I'm a huge advocate of just showing up. That's something that I always say. For me personally, it became this super important thing to just keep showing up and taking up space to a certain degree."

Ameerah Omar is a self-development coach and meditation teacher but also the mindset coach for Adidas Runners and one of the first members of Girls Run NYC. In this episode, Ameerah shares some advice for how we can all go about getting in the right headspace in such weird times, the importance of a routine and taking inventory of your well-being at the moment. We dive into her upbringing, her introduction to sport and how she went from a multi-sport athlete in college to frequently running marathons. Ameerah shares some insights into her involvement and the mission of Girls Run NYC as one of the city's groups using running as service and helping others. We also continue the discussion of race and running with Ameerah and how she's been grappling with the news of Ahmaud Arbery's death. Ameerah was another guest that was frequently requested from our listeners so we're happy to finally bring you her story.

"My grandfather told us from the jump, ‘Don’t ever let color separate you from anything. Don’t the color of green get you into any kind of trouble with another color but always accept another color besides your color and because we can all be a family together. Don’t worry about whoever it is that hates your color. You were born this color for a reason and wear it with pride.’ That’s what I’ve been doing since that day. I’m not afraid to speak my mind because I’m black. I just pay attention to my surroundings at all times at 110% level."

To start, we address the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man in Georgia who was fatally gunned down by two white men while jogging near his home. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23. A legal argument from a district attorney, who later recused himself from the case, follows and says that no one should be arrested. However, after the 36-second video footage of the shooting is made public, outrage follows and the two men are eventually arrested. Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.

"It's been pretty overwhelming and stressful at work. I am in the gastroenterology and hematology unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Every floor in the building specializes in a specific type of cancer. For now, I'm not working directly with COVID patients but we have about four to six floors exclusively for COVID patients. My floor is taking in cancer patients from all the other floors. It's a very stressful environment even though I'm not taking care of COVID patients. There were a lot of positive cases between patients and nurses in my unit. I have not tested positive, thank goodness. We all have to wear personal protective equipment even though we're not a COVID unit. My hospital has been amazing in protecting us with enough PPE, giving us support and implementing a lot of testing for COVID. All the nurses in my unit have to get swabbed every week and we're also swabbing our patients every two days. When the coronavirus started, we all didn't know much about it and so seeing my colleagues getting infected was so overwhelming. My biggest fear that I had – and I still have it – every time I go to work is to bring the virus to my apartment and my family, especially my mom. She's my primary caregiver. She's over 60 years old. It's pretty scary but I'm taking all the necessary precautions just before I enter my apartment to see them. I love my hospital. I love my job and helping people with cancer in emotional and physical aspects. They're very special to me. It is sad and feels like a different world when patients and their loved ones are suffering and struggling to survive. At the end of my shift, it makes me feel like a better person and I thank God for my life, my family and I just want to go home to hug my kids."

Today is National Nurses Day and we're super thankful to have amazing medical professionals working on the frontlines in hospitals combating the coronavirus pandemic. We're fortunate to share a conversation with Ana Johnson, an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a runner with Distance Project NYC who has shown resiliency and heroism in these devastating times. Our chat touches on the state of work at the moment but also sheds some positivity from her upbringing in Mexico, starting running at a young age, a made-for-Hollywood love story, being a mom to two kids and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

"I feel really lucky that I wasn't hurt in college but I’m definitely dealing with what a lot of injured college runners deal with. In some ways, it's a bit of an identity crisis. I've been injured now for about eight months at this point. I came back for a little bit but I'm still struggling right now. Even though deep down I know I'll run again and I'll be healthy, I think you do so grieve in a way of losing running – especially when it's a huge part of your community."

Kira Garry is a research coordinator at NYU Langone Health. She was a five-time academic All-American in college while competing for Yale and Michigan. She has her masters in public health from Michigan and her senior thesis was on the history, management and anthropological perspective of the Ebola epidemic in 2014.

In addition to her professional work, Kira is also a standout runner in the city with her eyes on the now-2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. She’s competed at U.S. Championships in the past so we wanted her thoughts on what the Olympic postponement means for her own hopes of competing at the trials. In addition to that, she's also attending medical school soon!

Caught up with past guest David Kilgore to recap and explain why he ran 100 miles in less than 18 hours on Friday. He raised more than $10,000 for gift cards from local running retailers in New York City, which would then be donated to NYC Health + Hospitals to provide medical workers with supportive footwear while they work long days to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Peter Walsh is one of the owners of Coogan's Bar and Grill on 169th and Broadway in Washington Heights. If you've ever run a race at the Armory, attended Millrose Games or bore witness to the 5th Avenue Mile afterparty there, you know that Coogan's is a runner's bar - and there's few of those that exist. However, Coogan's is among the many businesses that have closed its doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is a place that just three years ago was on the verge of closing for good when rent was nearly raised by $40,000 a month. Runners and the Washington Heights community – especially members of We Run Upton were among those that helped raise awareness and save the bar. Peter thought the bar was done for then. Now even in these unprecedented times, he has hope that the bar can survive this pandemic. We discuss some of the bar's history and the dystopian feeling of the last few weeks. You'll very quickly be able to tell that Peter's got lots of stories and this could've been a three-hour podcast filled with tales about track and field stars eating and drinking at Coogan's but maybe we can save those for another time over a beer at the bar.

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Chris Chavez and Leigh Anne Sharek reconnect over Skype to discuss the uncertainty and odd feeling of running in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 15,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in New York State and people have been encouraged to stay indoors. However, you are permitted and some experts encourage still getting out for walks, hikes or runs as long as you remain six feet away from other people. 

As an escape from the coronavirus chatter, we recap Leigh Anne's run at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials - where she ran 2:49:26 for 213th place among all women. How was she feeling in the leadup to the race? Did it live up to expectations? How bad were the hills that everyone was talking about? What comes next and how does she approach the next Olympic cycle.

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Don Snellings is a runner for the Henwood Hounds and is one of the founders of FICS NYC. We sat down with Don to share his story of how he started running cross country as a high schooler and then went about a normal college experience without much athletics. He started drinking and partying, which led him down an abusive path with drugs and alcohol. He opens up about how bad those years got for him, which led him to seek professional help since his family saw him spiraling out of control. Don shares how he found the turning point and was able to channel his energy into a much healthier lifestyle.

Don also takes us through some of the struggles he's had with injuries and the preventive measures he's taking (and you can take) to get back to racing. 

Wilson Tang is the owner of Nom Wah Tea Parlor on 13 Doyer Street. The restaurant has been around since 1920 and seen different iterations as a bakery, tea parlor and it’s New York’s premiere dim sum parlor. 

Wilson grew up in Queens but spent much of his childhood in Chinatown, where Doyers Street was one of the most dangerous streets in the neighborhood due to gang violence. His parents immigrated from China and quickly settled in the restaurant and bakery industry. Wilson grew up helping out his family and attended college at Pace University.  In 2011, he left his career in finance and took over for his uncle at Nom Wah. Ever since then, he has kept so much of the restaurant’s history in the Chinatown community alive. One step in there and you can immediately feel that history. The restaurant now has more locations in Manhattan, Philadelphia and China.

When he’s not at his restaurants, Wilson is running for fun and frequently runs the New York City Marathon. He started off using the sport as a means to get healthy and lose weight. Now he’s just happy to be a part of it as one of the key members of Old Man Run Club. Catch Wilson on a run and he’s likely smiling. We think you’ll catch some of that in this conversation that we had when he hosted us at the original restaurant.

Kevin Montalvo would be the first to describe himself as "just a kid from Queens." Those in the running community know him as the Queens guy. Those in the Queens community know him as the running guy. Kevin is the founder and team captain of Queens Distance Runners and the race director of the Queens Marathon.

He grew up in an Ecuadorian family in Queens and has spent much of his life in the borough. One of the biggest things that has kept Kevin in Queens is the importance of diversity in Queens. His team reflects that and has more than 1,000 members in all parts of the borough from Astoria to Jackson Heights to Forest Hills to Jamaica and beyond. 

In addition to his work as a team captain, he is the race director of the Queens Marathon. Through his race organizing, he maintains relationships and works closely with civic, non-profit and city organizations to make the race a reality. He also ties in the community by involving local businesses and sponsors. 

The following episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the New York Road Runners Center as we honored some of the local runners who will be competing at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta on Feb. 28.

For those who may not be as familiar with the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, the top three finishers at the race will represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. In order to compete at the Trials, men have to run a marathon in 2:19:00 or faster. Women need to run a marathon in 2:45:00 or under. More than 200 men and 400 women have hit the mark. New York City is expected to field one of the strongest contingents of runners, especially on the women's side.

Our guests for this episode:

Brendan Martin of the New York Athletic Club

Brendan is a Smithtown, New York native who ran at Columbia University and helped the team win an Ivy League conference cross country title in 2009. After graduating, he took to the roads as a member of the Hansons-Brooks team and debuted with a 13th place finish at the 2012 Boston Marathon. He ran 2:18:28 at the 2013 Fukuoka Marathon and qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 with a personal best of 2:16:28 at the California International Marathon. He lowered that to his current personal best of 2:15:30 at Grandma's Marathon in June 2015. He qualified for this year's Olympic trials with a 2:16:26 at the 2018 Berlin Marathon. When he's not running, he's a physical therapist at Finish Line Physical Therapy.

Distance Project's Lauren Perkins 

Lauren is the Chief Operating Officer at Great Oaks Foundation. Lauren ran 2:42:55 at the 2018 Chicago Marathon and finished as the 18th American woman across the finish line that day. In 2019, she finished second in her first trail marathon at the 2019 North Face Endurance Challenge in Massachusetts and then ran 2:43:40 at the 2019 New York City Marathon. She was previously nominated for New York Road Runners' Runner of the Year (30-34).

Central Park Track Club's Jenny Donnelly

Jenny is a senior manager in marketing insights at strategy at Glossier. She ran cross country and track at Yale and made her marathon debut in 2013 with a 3:12. Her qualifier for the trials came at last month's California International Marathon, where she ran 2:44:36 for a 15-minute personal best. She spoke with Outside Magazine about her close call and also recently appeared on the Ali on the Run Show alongside her mother.

To kick off 2020, we're going to try and share a few more stories from some of the top New York City women competing at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. We're kicking it off with Sarah Cummings of the New York Athletic Club. She's one of the nicest people that you might encounter if you're on an early morning run in Central Park. She owns a personal best of 2:34:47 from the 2014 Chicago Marathon, competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and represented the United States internationally several times. 

She got her start as a competitive figure skater in New Jersey and then went on to have a successful high school career in California before committing to Princeton. She ended up being a four-time Ivy League champion in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, an All-American and a member of a fifth-place finishing team at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. She accepted a job in New York City in graduation and never skipped a beat in her running. The transition to the roads was seamless until a nagging hamstring injury finally caught up to her and detached from her leg during a 50K world championship race. She shares the road to recovery that nearly led her to quit the sport and how she managed to qualify for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials with a comeback at the 2018 California International Marathon.

Never give up. Trust the process.