Runners of The Bay

In this episode we talk to Abbie McNulty just a few days after she ran the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando! Abbie is a former Stanford Track & Field and Cross Country Athlete. After college, Abbie ran for the Reebok Boston Track Club (based in Charlottesville, VA) before making her way back to the Bay Area. Abbie overcame injuries and other challenges to toe the line at CIM this past December to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials in her first marathon. Abbie works full-time and trains with other talented runners in San Francisco.

Some highlights from our conversation:

💪 Staying tough during the last few miles of the trials when things started to get hard

💫 Expectations of what being a professional runner was supposed to look like when she graduated college

🌉 Training in San Francisco with some of the most talented runners in the country

🩷 Meeting, training, and competing with her partner, fellow runner, Colin Bennie

🌲 The ultimate Stanford Cross-Country team

🎽 Her future marathon plans

In this episode we talk to Cal Calamia fresh off their win at the New York City Marathon! Cal is a marathoner, educator, poet, and an inclusivity activist for trans and nonbinary athletes. In November, Cal became the first trans nonbinary athlete to be granted a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone by the US Anti-Doping agency. This trailbreaking first is a complicated story that Cal generously shares with us. Cal recently got their masters in creative writing from USF and talks about the interplay between creativity and running. They share their work to get races to include nonbinary divisions and how important it is to make everyone feel recognized and celebrated and included!

Some highlights from our conversation:

✍️ How Writing and running allow them to connect with themselves and feel connected to others 

😅 Finding joy in running and competition in high school

🤩 A sneak peek of the name of their upcoming collection of poems!

⏩️ How running may have accelerated their understanding of their gender identity 

🌉 How Spain and San Francisco showed them the joy and connection within the trans community

🎓 The beauty and honesty of transitioning while teaching

✊ What pushed them to apply for the therapeutic use exemption

🏆 The joy of racing authentically and winning the nonbinary division at the San Francisco Marathon, New York City marathon, and Bay to Breakers

🥳 Making sure that we celebrate the winners for all divisions at races

In this episode we talk to Emily Oster, fresh off her run at CIM! If you have a kid or are expecting, you know of Emily. Emily is an Economist, Professor, Writer, Podcaster, Parent, and now, a MARATHONER! Emily is the founder of the podcast and newsletter, Parent Data. Parent Data, along with her books Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm, takes a data-driven approach to questions around pregnancy and parenting. She blends economics, statistics, and common sense to make the journey of parenting just a little easier. Emily is also an avid runner and a huge fan of the sport. If you follow her on Instagram you get to see Emily at the end of her runs most mornings, dishing out the parenting advice we so crave. 

Some highlights from our conversation:

🎽 Why Emily went from running for enjoyment (and mental health) to racing

🌟 What makes Emily a fan of the sport

🍩 What it’s like to run with Molly Huddle (and Shane Quinn)

📊 How working experts has changed how she approaches her training and fueling

💨 Why a bad workout impacts us more than a bad email or bad day at work

🏁 Her determination to finish CIM and who, in particular, was following along

😬 Why agreeing to give a talk the day after a marathon is a very bad idea

This week we are sharing our conversation with Zach Litoff, runner, artists, and Santa Clara Alumni. Zach ran a 14:13 at Tracksmith’s Twilight 5000 in San Francisco this summer and paced a blistering heat 1 at the Oakland Twilight 5000.  We had a fascinating conversation about his experience falling in love with running, building team culture, creativity and taking chances to pursue the things he loves. 

Some highlights from our conversation:

❤️‍🔥 Loving running first and learning how to be competitive

🎽 Helping build Santa Clara’s track and XC programs

🤸 How trampoline tricks made him into a steeplechaser 

⚙️Finding balance between running and other parts of his identity

🪩 Useful delusion to manage the pain of racing

🤝‍How his running and creativity go hand-in-hand

💡Starting and growing his design firm Litoff Studio

🤩Holding on to the things that brought him child-like joy 

Jay Holder is back! We talked to Jay fresh off three very important events: the New York City Marathon; the announcement that he will be the new Executive Director of Running USA; and of course, 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

We kick things off by talking about the New York City Marathon and what his role was at the race. We then get into some exciting career news and what Jay’s future being front and center in the running industry will look like. There’s also some trials talk. We wrap it up getting to the real reason we came back together - 1989 (Taylor’s Version). We talk not only, Taylor, but about the impact of pop music in general, and about Jay’s love for the band Guster.

Some highlights from our conversation:

📈Why getting older as a runner is actually a great thing 

🗽The New York City Marathon, specifically the women’s race

🇺🇸Why we’ll all watch the Trials, no matter what time they’re held (update: as of 11/15 they will be at 10am ET), and the amazing job the Orlando LOC does with their races

👋 Knowing when it’s time to make a change in your career and being ok taking risks

🩵Why 1989 is one of the best pop albums ever made

🕛The importance of nostalgia in music

💽 How Jay found Guster and his love (and commitment) for the band

This week we talked to Reisel Berger, runner, mother, and psychiatric clinical pharmacist. Reisel shares her experience with running, developing tools and an integrative approach to cope with mental illness, motherhood and running, her work as a psychiatric clinical pharmacist, and starting her own consulting business. 

Some highlights from our conversation:

🥇How high expectations impacted her running performance

🌿 Her experience with an eating disorder

🔨 The downside of using running as therapy

💫 How a bigger life made her mental illness smaller

🐣 How motherhood has changed her relationship with running

♾️ Developing an integrative approach to mental health

David Lam is back! David had an incredible experience racing Western States for the first time and we couldn’t resist the chance to hear all about the build up, race, and his thoughts on equity, inclusion and diversity in trail running. 

Some highlights from our conversation:

🤓 Training for Western States without a coach

🎽 Racing all of the oldest races in the US in his build up 

📖 The book that helped him train his mind for the race

🎉How running 100-miles is like returning to childhood

✨ The sparks of joy he encountered during the race

🧑‍🤝‍🧑His amazing crew and how he picked those people to be by his side

❤️‍🩹How the running community helps him grieve 

👋The importance of seeing people who look like you at races

🤗The work he’s doing with organizations to expand access to trail racing and running

This week we are sharing a conversation with Danielle Domenichelli & Malcolm Richards, a bay area running power couple! Malcolm is a longtime member of the West Valley Track Club OTQ’ed in the marathon in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024, and he set the indoor marathon record in 2016 and 2018. Danielle is a talented runner (All American in the 5 and 10k and 1:16 half marathon) and has spent a decade working for Sacramento Running Association. Malcolm and Danielle share their running stories, how they met, working in the running industry, chasing big goals, and having a baby on the way!

Some highlights from our conversation:

♥️ How friend of the pod @lasala916 played matchmaker 

😍 What sparked their passion for running as children

🤕 Chasing dreams when injuries keep getting in the way

🔂 The inspiration for and experience of setting the indoor marathon record at the Armory in NYC

👟 What keeps Danielle working in the running industry

🔆 Staying motivated and chasing new goals to keep running fun and challenging

In our fourth Exchanging Experiences live podcast conversation at San Francisco Running Company we talk with the incredible mother daughter duo, Sharon Finston & Carolyn Latham. Sharon and Carolyn share the equestrian origins of Western States and their family’s multi-generational history participating in the Western States Trail ride commonly known as the Tevis Cup. 

In our third Exchanging Experiences live podcast conversation at San Francisco Running Company supported by Nike Trail we talk with Oscar Mejorada. Oscar shares his story of building community, creating a legendary route from the top of Tam, across the East Bay to the top of Diablo and back again, and negative splitting the Boston Marathon! 

This week we talk to Peggy Lavelle and Shawn Sax about the SF women's 100x 1 mile world record attempt! Shawn is a runner, SFRRC board member, and director for the world record attempt relay, and Peggy is a pioneer for women’s running and a participant in past world record breaking relays. Shawn and Peggy share their personal running journeys, the evolution of San Francisco’s running community, the details of what it takes to put on a relay of this size, and their efforts to elevate women in sports. 

This is our second Exchanging Experiences live podcast conversation at San Francisco Running Company supported by Nike Trail with the Queen of Tam herself, Katherina (Kati) Laan. In this episode Kati shares her stories as a legendary local ultrarunner, being a mother of three, and her incredible FKT for summiting Mt Tam 16 times! 

This is the first episode in our Exchanging Experiences live podcast series with San Francisco Running Company supported by Nike Trail. This first episode is with Ted Knudsen, SFRC’s owner and “Boss Man”. In this episode we talk about Ted’s love of running, his favorite races, how SFRC builds and strengthens community, owning a small business during the pandemic, and technology’s role in running.

This week we talk to Jen Odenheimer, a 2:37 marathoner and a member of the Peninsula Distance Club. Jen talks about breakthrough performances, learning from disappointing races, and the power of training with a team and being inspired by amateur elite women in running.

AVID Sports Medicine is our partner so listeners can receive:

This week we talk to Lauren Fleshman, whose first book, Good For a Girl, A Woman Running in a Man’s World is now available! Lauren won five NCAA championships at Stanford, is one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time, co-founded Picky Bars, is a brand strategy advisor for Oiselle, mother of two, and is married to former pro triathlete Jesse Thomas. Lauren talks about her book writing process and what it was like writing hard truths that she at times didn’t even want to admit to herself.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🛠️ The responsibility she felt to make things easier for the next generation

🗣️ Finding and balancing three voices: the expert, the storyteller, and the soap box

🤯 Unpacking what it means to be “coachable”

⏱️ How coaching Little Wing was influenced by her desire to shape a better system for female athletes

🏃‍♀️ Women in sports as a microcosm for women in society at large

🌎 How writing forces us to reflect on the stories we tell about ourselves

✍️ Her own literary influences

This week we talk to Julia Sachdev, runner, mother, and activist for mother runners with &Mother. Julia was tapering for CIM 2022 when we recorded this interview and had been training to run sub-3 hours with Lift, Run, Perform’s training group. Julia shares her experience with postpartum running, how she and her partner balance parenting duties, overcoming personal challenges and learning how to ask for help, and the work she’s doing with &Mother to reduce barriers around running and motherhood.

Some highlights from our conversation:

⏱️Defining success when you have a time goal in mind

👂The benefits of approach goals with balance and listening to her body

🍼Why she almost didn’t ask about lactation accommodations at the Boston Marathon

🌎How the benefits of accommodations for mothers at races extend beyond the people who need those services at that time

📣Embracing the role of advocate

🥰How the goal of running joyfully keeps her focused on what matters when it comes to running

This week we talk to Joyce Young, runner, pharmacist, and SFRCC member. Joyce shares what drew her in to the sport as an adult, how her breast cancer diagnosis impacted her running and racing this year, her experience with AVID sports medicine, racing the NYC marathon this year, coping with uncertainty and finding joy in the community, and so much more.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🤩The allure of racing and the power of the running community

🧩Experimenting with workouts, training loads, and nutrition

🎽How her running friends slowly normalized the marathon distance

💪How working with AVID Sports Medicine helped her overcome injury, gain strength, and prevent injury while training for the NYC marathon

🎗️Learning to adapt her training and deal with uncertainty after her breast cancer diagnosis

🥐Her experience with Keto (spoiler: she’s back on carbs!)

📣The pure joy of crossing the finish line and the strength of the crowd support at NYC

This week we talk to Stephanie Howe, ultra runner, nutritionist, coach, mother, and advocate for women in sports. Stephanie talks to us about her path from skiing to trail running, how she became interested in pursuing a PhD in nutrition, her entrance into the professional trailing running circuit, motherhood, and so much more.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🩴Her very first cross country practice (and choice of footwear)

💪How pushing her body hard makes her feel

🎽Why she signed up for her first 50K and what came as a result

🔬What drew here to get her PhD in nutrition and exercise science

🤰🏼Nutrition throughout pregnancy and beyond

🏔️Her experience running OCC this year and life in France

👭The importance of mentors and support in the sport

This week we talk to Veronica Jow, a Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine doctor, athlete, and founder of AVID Sports Medicine. Veronica talks about the role athletics played in her her life and the story of and vision for AVID Sports Medicine, a cutting-edge coordinated care for athletes. AVID Sports Medicine is now a Runners of the Bay partner, offering our listeners:

This week we talk to Laura Green, runner, physical therapist, videographer, co-founder of the November Project SF, mother, and Instagram running reel MVP. Laura talks about her experience starting the November Project in SF, what it was like leaving SF just before giving birth to her first child, her work as a PT, and obviously, what it is like being one of the funniest and most poignant voices in the running community right now.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🌉 How she was told that starting the November Project SF wasn’t a good idea and doing it anyway

🙋🏻 Finding your people by being your authentic self

💪 Not shying away from competition

🎫 The creative strategies she employed to get people to show up to the November Project SF

🚘 Leaving SF and starting over with running as a new mom while navigating all the feelings that come postpartum

🎥 Getting into videography

🎭 Her full circle journey, combining many of her passions through her instagram reels

😂 Her process for creating the reels and her comedic ambitions

This week we talk to Cadence McCracken, marathoner, trail runner, trans activist, expressive art therapist, and parent. Cadence shares her powerful journey exploring identity and gender through running, art therapy, poetry, and community.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🔗 How running connected her with her body in new ways

😅 Experience training with RUN365 for her first marathon

🏳️‍⚧️ Trans joy, gender euphoria, and passing!

🤼 What’s missing from the discussion around transgender athletes in sports

🤘 How punk rock and poetry slams gave her a place to explore and express herself

🫶 Her thoughtful approach to parenting

🧑‍🎨 Getting her masters in expressive art therapy

This week we talk to siblings Ron Douglas and Shamara Carney, who co-founded of The Race Continues Track Club and coach track and field at Notre Dame High School in Belmont. Ron and Shamara share their unique journeys with running, their surprising path to working together, and how they are inspiring the next generation of runners to have a strong sense of self on and off the track.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🏃🏾🏃🏾‍♀️ How racing their cousins inspired competitiveness early on

⚖️Learning balance after trying to do it all

🏈 Developing their coaching style by taking elements of practice and competition from different sports

🙌🏾 How being siblings impacts the kids they coach

🔗 Integrating mental health with physical health

🤗 Finding ways to make connections with everyone

🌳 Developing a strong sense of self outside of sports

Jessica de Leon, founder of Hella Bae Running joins us on the podcast today to talk all things Speed Project and her journey to the 2022 Boston Marathon, plus much more!

This episode is dedicated to Athena Liberatos Dawes, the beloved mother of two of Hella Bae Speed Project runners. The love she had for her daughters represents all the motherly love we had carrying them through the desert.

Dena Evans, accomplished runner, soccer super-fan, coach, Club Director for the Peninsula Distance Club, mother of two, and Stanford track and cross country coach from 1999-2005, joins the podcast to talk about her unlikely journey to coaching and embracing opportunities outside of her comfort zone.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🏞 Being challenged by outdoor fitness adventures early in life

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📈 Learning how to build up to big adventures

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🎽 Being a multi-sport athlete throughout college

⁣

🙅🏽‍♀️ Thinking she never wanted to be a coach

⁣

👋🏽 Coaching and recruiting athletes that weren’t much younger than her

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💅🏽 Developing her coaching style

🎽 The role running plays in her own life

Jenny (Donnelly) Grimshaw, a new member of the Impalas, joins the podcast to talk about her start in running, how her relationship has evolved throughout her life, what led to a mental breakthrough, and what running means to her now.

Some highlights from our conversation:

😂 Being tricked into her first “long run”⁣

🙉 Struggling with race anxiety⁣

👯‍♀️ Finding her running community in New York City⁣

🐙The path to her QTQ and all things post-race octopus⁣⁣

❤️ Testing positive for the BRCA gene and her path to having her son, Tate⁣

🗽Running the FKT of the NYC perimeter with some of her best friends

🏃🏻‍♀️What running means to her right now⁣

Morgan Meade, a member of Peninsula Distance Club, joins the podcast to talk about her unlikely start in running, surprising herself, taking breaks, and training for her first marathon.

Some highlights from our conversation:

👑 Her experience as a competitive cheerleader

🌓 Focusing on fun when trying new things

🎯 The power of being satisfied with a wide range of possibilities

😍 Learning how to be a runner when you can’t run

😫 Taking time off to rediscover her passion for running

🎤 How a long run to Hawk Hill inspired her to run her first marathon

🎧 Training for her first marathon

Dana Giordano, elite track athlete, Host of the More Than Running podcast, women in sports advocate, and digital marketing professional, joins the podcast to talk about her recent move to the Bay Area, creativity and the importance of broadening the way we cover athletes, and trying new things and being playful with running and life.

Some highlights from our conversation:

👑 Jumping into SF running scene with the Chase the Throne series

🌓 Realizing the benefits of separation between career and running

🎯Throwing out timelines to achieve goals

😍 The best run of all time

😫 Embracing creative fits and spurts

🎤 Encouraging more athletes to share their voices and perspectives

🎧 The evolution of her podcast

🤳 Having fun with social media

Casey Corman, road and trail runner, endurance cyclist, lover of Type II fun, and marketing professional, joins the podcast to talk about his athletic journey from coming in DFL at high school cross country meets to doing BIG training for the Napa Valley marathon.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🏃🏻‍♂️Doing workouts when things aren’t perfect

⏱Figuring out race goals when you’ve taken leaps since your last race

🔨Training aggressively so the marathon feels like just another training run

🦵Having compartment syndrome in both legs as a kid

🏁How a Ragnar race inspired him to take running more seriously

⏳How running helped him find a community outside of work

👟Learning a new running gait

💎Sharing Type II fun with his father

💯Doing a 100+ mile week during Des Linden’s Run Destober Challenger

🤫The power of being a “quiet minded” runner

Amy Leedham, professional trail runner, 2:48 marathoner, architect and sustainability consultant, wife, and mother to Aila, joins the podcast to talk about her postpartum journey and how she balances running at a high level with work and now motherhood.

Some highlights from our conversation:

⚽️ Love for running started on the soccer field

🦄 Going to school in Boston inspired her to run the marathon

🐿 Pursuing a demanding career as an architect and carving out a specialty in sustainability

⛰ How she got her start as a trail runner

⏳ Her approach to setting work boundaries, working efficiently, and finding time

😫 Going from breakthrough races in 2018 to a stress reaction in 2019

🤰 Challenges of being pregnant and postpartum during COVID

💪 Having to be her own research to learn how to heal and strengthen her body after pregnancy and giving birth

Holly Clarke of the Impala RacingTeam returns to talk about what she’s been up to since we last spoke to her in August of 2020. We recorded this episode before the USATF announced the new Olympic Trials Qualifying standard and before Holly ran CIM and (spoiler alert), saw that 2:37 and said, “hold my Negroni” and ran a 2:36:52. Holly is always a delight to talk to and we loved having her back on!

Some highlights from our conversation:

🏔 How her first “ultra” went (and whether or not she considers it an ultra)

🎽 Deciding to make a shift in her coaching and training situation

👯 Training with her best friends who are also often her toughest competitors

💖 Focusing on the process rather than the outcome

⏳ Balancing training with big life changes

💉 Why race organizers should offer boosters at the end of a race

💩 What you should yell at her while cheering for her in a race

Sophie Payne of the Impala RacingTeam joins to talk about how she found running after burning out on soccer, finding her running team, training for CIM and racing with some of her best friends, and going to the Tokyo Olympics for work.

Some highlights from our conversation:

⚽️Loving team sports as a child

🇪🇸Signing up for her first half marathon while studying abroad in Spain

🔥How she reconnected with her competitive spirit after athletic burnout

💫Why the 2018 Chicago marathon was a turning point for her identity as a runner

⚖️Balancing the pressure to improve with the simple joy of training

🗼Exploring Tokyo by running around with friend of the pod, Jay Holder!

🏃‍♀️Training mentally and physically for a marathon PR

Pamela Iwaszewicz, winner of the Skyline to Sea 50k and member of David and Megan Roche’s SWAP team, joins the pod to talk about her running journey and switching from trails to the roads to train for CIM.

Some highlights from our conversation:

❤️‍🔥How a race in the 3rd grade cemented her passion for running

🙌Why she walked on and then off the team at UC Davis

🏃‍♀️Starting a women’s running club that’s still active

🌲 A trail run in Santa Cruz that was the worst… and the best

🤝 Meeting her coach David Roche at a trail race in Pacifica

🙏 Learning to believe in herself

⚡️ Deciding to chase some speedy goals on the roads

🙃The power of renaming the hard parts

Imran Khoja, entrepreneur, Stanford Graduate School of Business alum, and sub 2:45 marathoner (and good friend of the Pod), joins the podcast to talk about training for CIM and how he balances working hard, training hard, and running fast.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🏃🏾 Finding community in sports all over the world

☀️ Learning how to show up on the days when you’re not feeling good

🔁 Why running is a kind learning environment

🎽 How business school inspired him to run his first marathon

🛠 Figuring out the right tools and community to help him run big, hard miles

💪🏾 How running helps him be a better entrepreneur and stave off burnout

😵‍ 💫 Getting so excited about racing and signing up for races when he can’t sleep

Lizzy Rountree (episode #53) returns to the pod to talk about her new coach and training for CIM, which will be her first marathon since the Olympic Trials. Lizzy shares how she’s evolved as an athlete since her last marathon and what will be different this time around at CIM.

Some highlights from our conversation:

💃 Why an acute injury earlier this year was actually a blessing

🙌 Working with Dena Evans as her coach

🙅‍♀️ Deciding not to run Chicago

🏠 How working from home has helped her improve her running and recovery routine

📋 Changes in her marathon training

🙏 Gratitude for the return of in-person racing

🍝” Michael Scott-ing” the night before the Urban Cow Half Marathon

Mimi Albert (now Kellogg) shares her experience at the 125th Boston Marathon, and spoiler alert: it was a hard day. We talk about the days before the race, her mindset going into the race, what it was like racing a marathon for the first time since the pandemic, and how quickly the fire to race again returns after she crossed the finish line.

Some highlights from our conversation:

💊  Dealing with a dreaded UTI in the days before the race

🙅‍♀️ Recognizing and rejecting her disordered eating voice

😎  The vibe in Boston pre-race

🏁  The strangeness of the rolling start

🏃‍♀️  Executing her race plan for the first half

💧  Feeling the dehydration hit at mile 16

🔂  Having to take it one 400 meter at a time

💪  Being the most sore she’s ever been post-marathon

👰‍♀️ The challenge of running a race 10 days before her wedding!

🧥 The best and worst Boston Marathon jackets

Follow Mimi on Twitter @MimsMPH and on Instagram @mimsers84. You can also find her on Strava as Mimi Albert Kellogg.

Jenni Dubman, co-founder of Nth Degree Athletic Club and leader in the Bay Area running community joins the pod to talk about her running origin story, finding her people in the running community, and why she felt a responsibility to grow and preserve the running community that helped shape her.

Some highlights from our conversation:

🌉 Her experience leading Take The Bridge in SF

🐢 Coming in dead last in cross country races in high school

⏩ The transition from running being a hobby to a lifestyle

🪝 How Concrete Runners and Nike Run Club got her hooked on the running community

👟How running gives her confidence to see what’s possible

👩‍💻Balancing a professional identity as a runner and a high-stress corporate job

🪢Creating an inclusive training group with high level coaching

Matt Forsman is back to the podcast to talk about the return to in-person racing and how his Haunted Bay Area Road Trip has evolved since last year. Matt discusses why this April was a breaking point for him and the challenges of figuring out the right mix of in-person and virtual events. We also hear how the Ninja Loop was the origin for his racing company Sasquatch Racing.

Some highlights from our conversation:

✅ The challenges of getting a permit for an in-person race

🔗 Inclusivity in event organizing

🎽 The return of group training

🧠 The mental health components of in-person training and events

🚨 Addressing our depleted surge capacity

🤩 His personal renaissance

🐲 The creative evolution of his races

💡 Finding his best ideas on long runs