Episode 167: Kelvin Quang - 3RUN7

Episodes

Jul 24

A year ago 3Run7 was a group chat of friends training for the Indy Mini. Now it's one of Indy's fastest-growing run clubs, and co-founder Kelvin Quang still pays to keep it free.

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About this episode

Kelvin Quang is a co-founder of 3Run7, a free, come-as-you-are run club that meets Saturdays at 9 a.m. at Provider Cafe in Indianapolis, right off the Monon. He ran cross country and track at Warren Central, studied health and human sciences at IUPUI, works in communications for the city, and taught himself design and video to build the club's brand, logo and monthly sticker drops.

We talk about how 3Run7 grew from about 10 friends to crowds that outgrow the patio, why Kelvin measures success by who comes back, and the pace groups and cheer squad that make everyone welcome. We also cover the charley horse that nearly ended his first marathon at Monumental, his side gig as a lion dancer, and his family's story as Vietnamese refugees and his time living in Vietnam as a child.

In this episode, we discuss

Starting a group chat called Runners Boys Club to train for the Indy Mini
Launching 3Run7 in 2025 and the first run with 10 to 20 people
Keeping the club free because running should be accessible
Naming the club after the 317 area code and designing the logo in Indy's flag colors
A member who tattooed the 3Run7 logo on his leg
Limited monthly sticker drops that bring people back
Saturday mornings at Provider Cafe with a 1.2-mile loop
Pace groups from 7:30 to 11:30 and up so no one gets left behind
Judging success by who comes back, not who shows up once
Teaching himself Photoshop, photography and video through consistency
Losing his Apple Watch and running without data
Dragging through the last miles of his first marathon at Monumental with a charley horse
Indiana as a growing running state and learning from established clubs
His side gig as the head of a lion in traditional lion dancing
His parents' journey as Vietnamese refugees and his mantra "this is easy"

Chapters

00:00 · Intro
02:00 · How 3Run7 started
05:00 · Free and accessible
09:00 · The name, the logo and a tattoo
13:00 · Monthly sticker drops
17:00 · Saturdays at Provider Cafe
19:00 · Pace groups for everyone
22:00 · Measuring who comes back
25:00 · The team behind the club
28:00 · Teaching himself design and video
38:00 · Running for fun without the data
41:00 · A charley horse at Monumental
44:00 · Indy's growing running community
52:00 · Lion dancing
58:00 · Growing up in Vietnam and his family's story
1:03:00 · Mantra, music and what's next

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Where to find Kelvin

Instagram: @kelvinquang
3Run7

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Indy Mini Marathon, Indy Mini Miler Series, CNO Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Monumental Mile and Doggie Dash, Run 317, Full Mo 50K
Organizations and charities: 3Run7, Provider Cafe, 3Run2, 2Run9, Indy Runners, Carmel Running Club, Fleet Feet, IUPUI, Warren Central High School, Vietnamese Student Association
Other: Lion dancing, Lunar New Year, Dunning-Kruger effect, Strava, Inkbox

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

What is 3Run7?

3Run7 is a free run club in Indianapolis co-founded by Kelvin Quang that meets Saturdays at 9 a.m. at Provider Cafe near the Monon Trail, with a 1.2-mile loop and pace groups for every level.

How did 3Run7 get its name?

Kelvin Quang says the name comes from Indianapolis's 317 area code, and he designed the logo in the dark blue and gold of the Indianapolis flag.

What is Kelvin Quang's running mantra?

Kelvin Quang's mantra is "this is easy," which he repeated through the last miles of his first marathon at Monumental while battling a charley horse.

Support this show

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically, so it may contain errors.

This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.

Kelvin Quang: 99% of people don't know this about me

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, breaking news I don't

Kelvin Quang: about it at all What?

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: talk about it. I wouldn't shut up about it. It's so cool.

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ally Brettnacher, and if you run, you're a runner, and every runner has a story. Join me each week as I share these stories and we celebrate finish lines and milestones together.

This week's episode is brought to you by Hug and Goodr, but more on them in a minute. I am recording this as a masters runner. Yep, I turned 40 on July 10th and celebrated with my husband in Greece. We went to Santorini and stayed in a city called Oia for six nights, and it was heavenly. If you want Greece content, I've shared some on my Instagram, and you can follow me at For today's episode, I am talking to Kelvin Quang, co-founder of 3Run7, which is one of the fastest growing run clubs in Indianapolis, arguably one of the coolest as well. What started a year ago as a small group chat training for the Indy Mini, one of our local half-marathons, has now turned into a free come-as-you-are Saturday morning gathering, 9:00 AM at Provider Cafe in Indianapolis, complete with pace groups, cheer squad, photography, and a monthly sticker drop that people show up for.

We get into how Kelvin built the brand, how he judges the club's success by who comes back rather than who shows up once, and his own running journey, including a charley horse that nearly ended his first marathon at Monumental. We also talk about his family's story as Vietnamese refugees and his very unexpected side hustle, which I will not spoil.

And This episode is a great reminder that running is more fun the less seriously you take it. Enjoy meeting Kelvin

Ally Brettnacher: Well, welcome, Kelvin.

Kelvin Quang: Are we starting?

Ally Brettnacher: We're starting now. It's official.

Kelvin Quang: It's official. Ally, this is beautiful. You know what I mean? I, I, I just wanna first off say this is so fun. This is incredible, and I, I'm so grateful to be here.

I feel like you are such, a big name in the running community, especially in Indy. Oh my gosh. I don't think you know

Ally Brettnacher: I

Kelvin Quang: That's nice. I don't- That's really nice ... you, you really are. Like, I'll go onto Fleet Feet and they'll talk about you. I'm like, "Wow, that's incredible."

Ally Brettnacher: incredible." Oh, that is incredible. Hopefully nice

Kelvin Quang: Great things. Yeah, that's nice. And so it, it's so fun and I'm, I'm very grateful to be in this seat ' cause, I mean, you know, w- with finish lines and milestones, like it's a running-based podcast. I'll just be straight up, and I'll be clear with you, I'm not the greatest runner. Oh. Right?

Ally Brettnacher: You're in good company, man.

Okay.

Kelvin Quang: 'Cause I know you've had really good athletes come

Ally Brettnacher: Very true.

Kelvin Quang: I'll tell you, not the greatest athlete right now. I'm no Boston qualifier, but I'm very happy to be

Ally Brettnacher: But you are one of the co-founders of one of the coolest clubs that our city has. I'm

Kelvin Quang: so happy about that. Yeah. It, it, it's, it's been so crazy, Ally. I mean I- I'll just tell you, like, last year was when it first officially started,

Ally Brettnacher: A year, that's it.

Kelvin Quang: It's been a year. That's crazy. Right? And, you know, it started with, I would say like 10 friends and, you know, we all kinda knew each other. I remember I had to make a group chat and I really forced my friends to come.

I'm like, "You guys, please, please make it out." Like, "Don't embarrass me."

Ally Brettnacher: they all even runners? They're just some friends

Kelvin Quang: There was a few runners. A few people do not run, but, you know, they were there to be supportive and I'm- Perfect ... eternally grateful for that. And so starting from that 10 year- like a year ago to what it is today, I mean it's, it is a little intimidating, but nonetheless I'm so happy and grateful for it,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ... seriously. Yeah. It's so cool. Thank you. What got you to start it?

Kelvin Quang: Well, a little context. So before anything 317 happened, me and my friend wanted to do the Indy 500, the Mini,

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Yep.

Kelvin Quang: And so we started it by doing the Miler series, right? It was the 3 Mile, 6 Mile, and 10 Mile, I believe. And so it was just me and like four other friends Our group chat was called Runners Boys Club- Mm-hmm

'cause we were all boys and we all ran. It's a little group chat, right? Yeah. And so over time, you know, during these three-mile runs, we would invite our friends to come cheer us on and, like, have this little group, right? We would make, like, little singlets and jerseys and, like, little posters, right? And it was fun, and then did the three mile, the six mile, the 10 mile, and, you know, we did the mini and all that.

And over time it grew to, you know, our friends wanting to support you know, they would join us during our, our weekly training runs and stuff like that. And so I felt like that was kind of the first experience of coordinating, like, a group run, right? And so, you know, 2025 came around and, we all decided, "Look, let's really try to bring it to the public and get rid of that name," right?

We don't want it to just be boys.

Ally Brettnacher: get in trouble for that. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, but-

Kelvin Quang: I, I want it to be for everybody. Okay. That's all right. And, and so what better way to include the city than to name it 3Run7, coordinate, you know, make a branding about it, and just publish it and see who showed up?

Yeah. And yeah, I mean, the first run, it, it was decent, right? About 10, 20 people showed up. Incredible. Amazing. And I thought I made it. You know what I mean?

Ally Brettnacher: like, "Great, we got the club."

Kelvin Quang: The first run, I'm like, 10, 15 people showed up, and like, yeah, we're set. Like, I'm gonna- Right ... quit my job and do this. And it was so fun. and it was just about just keep doing it every single week, and it's so crazy. Like, people will be like, "Yeah, I heard about it at the gym. My friend told me about it. I saw you on Instagram."

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm

Kelvin Quang: just keeps piling up into what it is

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Well, and one of the key things about it, it's free.

Kelvin Quang: about it, it's free.

Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: So that's what differentiates from a lot of the typical clubs you might hear about here, like Indie Runners or Karma Running Club. You pay a membership fee to join, and you guys are not the same way.

Kelvin Quang: And you guys are not the same way. No. I, I honestly, I spent so much money- and my friends spent so mu- so much money trying to, like, keep this thing running, and we're happy to do it.

You know what I mean?

Ally Brettnacher: how I feel about this, actually. It's like, ah. Yeah. Pretty much paying to do this. It's not cheap. No.

Kelvin Quang: But, uh, I'm so happy to do it. And, I think it's so important because running is one of the few sports that is cheap and accessible to anybody. Mm-hmm. Right? You don't need a ball, you don't need special helmets, you just need shoes.

Yeah. Right? and so with us allowing it to be free,

Ally Brettnacher: I,

Kelvin Quang: I don't want anybody to come in expecting to pay or anything. Yeah. we recently started, creating merch. It's

Ally Brettnacher: so good. Thank

Kelvin Quang: so much. Yeah. This is... I, I recently just got- The shirt

Ally Brettnacher: you're wearing right now, so cool.

Kelvin Quang: you're wearing right now, it's so cool. Yes. I, I meant to get you one.

Oh, okay.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's okay. I will, I will support you. I will support you.

Kelvin Quang: later.

Ally Brettnacher: Thank you. I love presents.

Kelvin Quang: I love presents. Um, but yeah, man, I, I think that's the most important thing, is keeping it accessible to anybody. Yeah. Right? And that's always been, like, a big mission of 3Run7, is no matter who you are, no matter if you're running 60 miles a week doing

Ally Brettnacher: doing nothing around

Kelvin Quang: or if you've never ran before, I want 3Run7 to be a place where you can come in, have a good workout, meet cool people, and just have a good time.

Yeah. And I feel like nowadays in this, you know, climate, it, it's very rare to find that

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: In my personal experience, right? Mm-hmm. And so I, I think it's just a combination of like, you know, everything's so expensive nowadays, and then also, it's been a while, but we are living in like a post-COVID society where there was a time where everybody was isolated.

Mm-hmm. And now that, you know, it, we're not, there's still like a disconnect of now where's my community at,

Ally Brettnacher: Right? Absolutely.

Kelvin Quang: Have you ever done team sports or like did you run in like school or

Ally Brettnacher: found running through punishment 'cause so- I played soccer growing up. Soccer, yeah. So it was always like go run laps or whatever. So I was, I was an athlete as a kid.

Okay. But never, not in college or anything like that.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah, running used to be a punishment,

Ally Brettnacher: right? Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And, and I don't know if you had this experience. I ran cross country and track in high school, and that was about 10 years ago. 10 years ago running was considered lame.

Right. Like you're a loser if you

Ally Brettnacher: runner. Right. Like, oh cool, you're, yeah,

Kelvin Quang: Oh, go run some laps. Go turn left, right? Yeah. Now I feel like it's switched.

Ally Brettnacher: I agree.

Kelvin Quang: Cool people go to run clubs. Cool people run marathons and all that stuff. Mm-hmm. And I don't know if it's 'cause I'm biased, if my feed is biased, but I ha- I feel like that's been a shift recently.

Yeah. Right?

Ally Brettnacher: Well, and also that any, to your point, anybody can be a runner.

Kelvin Quang: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: like all that's now on social media or just the number of races that there are have made it more accessible to everybody, and that, has made it so much more popular.

Kelvin Quang: it, it's so beautiful too because for a lot of people who've never ran before it does sound like a punishment, right?

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And it is at certain times, but I'll tell you, once you get good at it, it's incredible. It's, it's amazing and, and I really hope that more people can experience that feeling like the runner's high, right? Mm-hmm. and so yeah, I mean it, it's been awesome. Seriously.

Ally Brettnacher: year. I can't believe it's only been a year. And so what about the name? Who thought of it? 3Run7.

Kelvin Quang: 3Run7. So 3Run7, I mean, it just kinda makes sense. It

Ally Brettnacher: ma- well, it makes the most sense. I'm like, whoever just thought about that was just brilliant.

Kelvin Quang: thought about that name is brilliant. Right? W- 3Run7, when I first heard it, it just blew my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about it, right? Yeah. I, I was like, "This is amazing." And at the time, you know, nobody knew about it.

Maybe we had, like, 50, 60 followers on

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: And so I just took it as, like, the perfect opportunity to turn it into a, essentially like a brand. Yeah. Right? I wanted a incredible logo. I wanted to put it on everything, and I want people to associate that with a running community. Yeah. ' Cause it's perfect with Indianapolis, and I, I was very intentional with that, too.

Like, I really wanted to keep it very centered with our city. Mm-hmm. And so the colors are actually the same colors as Indianapolis, the Indianapolis flag colors. Okay. And the Pacers

Ally Brettnacher: I was trying to remember the India- Indy flag.

Kelvin Quang: It's like blue, dark blue and gold Yeah. Okay I've taken that same shade of gold Perfect It's also the same gold as, like, the Pacers,

Ally Brettnacher: I really appreciate that.

Kelvin Quang: And I wanted to incorporate that into the brand

Ally Brettnacher: brand. Perfect. 'Cause

Kelvin Quang: I really w- didn't wanna center it as a run club for our city, the downtown Indianapolis city Yeah. Yeah Right?

Ally Brettnacher: And for people who don't know, who aren't from Indiana or local, it's 317's our area code, so-

Kelvin Quang: yeah, that's right

Ally Brettnacher: It's brilliant because 3Run7 basically sounds like you're saying our area code.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah, and it's funny 'cause at the time I thought we were being original, but no. A lot of other cities have their own version

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, right, like Chicago Kelvin Quang: 3Run2, right. And it's so funny 'cause we saw them last year at the, the Mini Yeah And they're like, "Wait, 3Run7, we've seen your guys' content.

We share it in our group chats." And so it's so funny that, you know, other communities are seeing it-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ... as well. Absolutely. It's so good. And you designed the logo?

Kelvin Quang: Yes, I designed it, it, in my bedroom last year, 2025, and I don't know if you saw my story

Ally Brettnacher: I just did, and yeah.

Kelvin Quang: What? Someb- somebody took that design and tattooed it permanently on their leg

Ally Brettnacher: And it's not small.

Kelvin Quang: No, it's not It's

Ally Brettnacher: It's like a four by six tattoo.

Kelvin Quang: It's so funny.

One of my best friends, he said he was in the sauna one day and he saw him in the sauna, and he just could not believe it. He was, like, rubbing his eyes. He's like, "It- there's no way"

Ally Brettnacher: "It--

I hallucinating?

Kelvin Quang: Am I hallucinating? 'Cause it's the same font. It's the same

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, it's- Like, you could put it- The logo

Kelvin Quang: can overlay it.

It's the same one Yeah And he just couldn't believe it. He didn't take a picture, but he was trying to tell me on the phone Yeah And I'm like, "Dude, you're... Yeah, right." Like g- uh, "I get it, whatever. Just like y- you're joking." " No, I

Ally Brettnacher: So cool.

Kelvin Quang: real life, and it's, it's real."

Ally Brettnacher: When are you gonna get one? I'm

Kelvin Quang: I know.

I, I think that's, that's the next one is, um, everybody's been telling me I gotta get it tatted, so I'll be the second. Yeah. You

Ally Brettnacher: You also-- I replied to your story. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but they-- I make temporary tattoos, and there's a couple companies that could do it where you could make temporary tattoos, like ones that are legit, not just like the really super cheap ones.

Oh. Oh,

Kelvin Quang: Are you talking about the ones that stay on for

Ally Brettnacher: days? It's, it's k- it's not quite to the level of Inkbox. Inkbox is where it- I know, yeah, yeah ... like fades and then it fades darker. It's not quite to that level, but kinda in between, like where these tattoos will last through a marathon, through an ultramarathon.

Mm-hmm. But they're not like the kids' tattoos that you get on Amazon that like peel right off.

Kelvin Quang: That is gonna be important 'cause we had the kids' one last year and, it, it was black and gold. Yeah. And at the end of the marathon it ended up being pink and, like, brown.

Yeah. It was not good.

Ally Brettnacher: I know I've tried some other tattoos as well and same. Like, you're like, "Oh, well this is not gonna last." It like bubbles and just melts off and you're like- Yes ... "Okay, we need something that's gonna last."

Kelvin Quang: Well, that's so fun because, in the same conversation of 3Run7 as a brand, I wanna try to explore other ways to turn it into, like, more of a lifestyle thing.

So it's, so the tattoos, I think that's a great idea. I wanna get into, like, handkerchiefs- Oh ... obviously merch, right?

Ally Brettnacher: obviously merch, right?

Kelvin Quang: Bottles. We do something at our run club where every month we come out with a new sticker.

Ally Brettnacher: Yes, I do know that and love that

Kelvin Quang: and love that too. And, um, it, it's so fun 'cause there's a limited amount, right?

Yeah. And once they're gone, they're gone. I don't make any more. And so each month it's an incentive to come to the run club and earn your sticker essentially- Yeah ... right? And it, it's so fun because I have such big imposter syndrome, right? I feel like whatever I, I design isn't great or good enough, but when people, cherish the stuff, like a sticker or a shirt- Mm-hmm

it really validates me and I'm like, "Okay, so maybe it's not too bad

Ally Brettnacher: No, it's cool. People come run because they want one of your stickers you designed. That's pretty crazy. I know. It's so fun. It's so cool. A-

Kelvin Quang: It's so cool. A- and another thing too is, this blows my mind as well, I try to talk to as many people at the run club as possible.

Yeah. Right? There will be people who drive 40, 50, up to, like, two hours to come. Wow. Yeah. On a Saturday at 9:00 AM. So that meant they had to probably wake up at, like, 6:00. Yeah. Right? Yeah. To drive all the way here, listen to me talk, and then run with the crowd, and then-

Ally Brettnacher: what?

Kelvin Quang: You stay after for a little bit and then go.

I think that's crazy. That's really cool. But that's so cool.

Ally Brettnacher: It is so cool. Really a

Kelvin Quang: grateful for those people. Like last week we, or two weeks ago, we had a Fort Wayne run club come down and like-

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's so nice ... run with us all.

Yep. Very cool. Shout out to

Kelvin Quang: them, by the way. 2RUN9,

Ally Brettnacher: Come on, when are they gonna do it? That's-

Kelvin Quang: do it next? 2- yeah- Whoa

2RUN9.

Run 9.

but yeah, it, it's been so incredible just seeing how big this community has grown. Yeah. And, and I'll tell you, Ally, like, I'm still somewhat in that mindset of having 10, 20 people in front of me. And so when, you know, the time hits and I'm in front of all these people, I got the mic and the DJ's turning the volume down and I'm looking at everybody, there is like a lot of anxiety going through.

Ally Brettnacher: you- I relate to that very

Kelvin Quang: can you imagine,

Ally Brettnacher: I can do it like this because I just pretend like n- I just talk to my guests. Nobody's listening.

Kelvin Quang: Great.

Ally Brettnacher: But what I have to do, like we've done a couple live shows, It's, yeah, very anxiety-inducing for me 'cause I can't edit it.

Right. We can cut anything if we want.

Kelvin Quang: We could cut anything we

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I could say something dumb and just completely cut it out. But if I say something dumb live, Yeah. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And not only that, it's just there's so many people watching and, you know, there's some people like with their phones

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, totally. The room now

Kelvin Quang: out looking at me. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I think one thing that we do, which I think adds to how, our community's been growing, is we try to, have a lot of photographers and make a lot of content during our runs.

Ally Brettnacher: brill- which is brilliant Thank

Kelvin Quang: you. Absolutely. I, I think it's, it's been so huge- Mm-hmm ... not only to the brand, but the run club and community as well. but just seeing all those cameras pointing at me, you know, I get a little anxious, but I'm happy to do it, right? I've always told my team, like, " If you don't do it, somebody less qualified could

Ally Brettnacher: True

Kelvin Quang: take over- Yeah

and do it." And

and so I, I'm so happy and grateful for what we have. And let, let me also just be clear, 3RUN7 is not like a self-made thing by me. It's, it was built on thousands and thousands of shoulders of people who've helped me along this journey, right?

you know, some of my closest friends have spent countless hours, days, and nights working on this. And so, you know, I, I have to give a shout-out to everybody who've, shared or liked or commented or, came to our 3RUN7 meetings. I mean, it's, it's been incredible to see this, grow into what it is.

Yeah. And so thank you to everybody. Thank you to the city, all of our sponsors as well

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. You guys are crushing it. Thank you. So tell people the specifics of the Saturday 9:00 AM. Is that the only run you do throughout the week?

Kelvin Quang: So far. Okay. Right. Saturday at 9:00 AM just kinda works perfectly for, for us- Yeah ... who kinda coordinate it.

I wanted it to be something that most people would be free at, and you don't have to wake up incredibly early. Yeah. You know? I, I know there's a few run clubs, which I deeply respect, but they show up at 5:00 AM

Ally Brettnacher: Right.

Kelvin Quang: Yo, I don't think I could do that. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: It's rough. Right?

Kelvin Quang: With 9:00 AM it's a little easier, right? Mm-hmm.

You could still go out the n- night before and still make it, which- Mm-hmm ... a lot of people do. Do,

Ally Brettnacher: Do. Yeah. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And I have so much respect for them, right? but yes, so 9:00 AM is where we tell people to come in, right? We have a, a few things that we have at the, coffee shop, which is Provider Cafe. They've been so nice to let us use their patio.

Ally Brettnacher: And so that's where you meet every Saturday?

Kelvin Quang: where you meet every Saturday. Yes. Uh, Provider Cafe, which is honestly perfect because it's right next to the Monon

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: Literally the most perfect spot. and so what we'll do is we'll do a group stretch, right? Mingle a little bit, talk to everybody. You know, they could get their waters, speak to maybe a couple sponsors that show up.

But yes, we will all stretch together, and then we'll do a 1.2 mile loop. Okay. Right? Now, I was very intentional with that because like I said, I want people, no matter where their fitness goals are, whether you've never ran ever, you can still come to 3Run7, do a mile 0.2, right? You can walk, all that, whatever.

But you could still do that and come together alongside all the people who are running 7:30 pace, 8:30, 9:30 pace- Yeah ... whatever, right?

Ally Brettnacher: And so

Kelvin Quang: it's a 1.2 mile loop. You could do two, three loops or one loop, right? We split up into a couple different pace groups, and I also wanna give a shout-out to our pacers. I mean, they've been incredible.

We, we have a few people who are dedicated to show up every Saturday, and they'll pace our groups. Our 7:30, pacer, his name's Steven, he qualified for Boston. He's an incredible guy. He placed second at the Doggie Dash

Ally Brettnacher: Oh ... at the beginning of the mile. Then I probably saw photos of him, for sure.

Kelvin Quang: Oh my gosh. He actually, him his dog's name is Cash.

He finished the finish line and Steven went on the right and Cash went on the left, and in the middle was, one of the photographers.

Ally Brettnacher: It was probably Terry ... it

Kelvin Quang: was probably Terry ... it might've been Terry.

Almost-

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, no, they clotheslined him?

Kelvin Quang: clotheslined him? Clotheslined Terry. It was incredible. And I, I, I got like so many photos of it.

So funny. It's so funny. but yes, Steven paces 7:30 pace, and those guys are incredible. Yeah. They'll maintain a 7:30 pace for three laps. Okay. Ends up being 3.6 miles, and they'll be at a conversational pace.

Ally Brettnacher: I-- That's-

Kelvin Quang: Those are some real athletes. Those are some athletes. Those are some real guys. Mm-hmm. Then we have our group two.

Our group two is split into two different, pace groups. our friend Eddie, his Instagram is King Lopez, he paces the second group. It, it's at nine-minute for two, two laps, 2.4. One thing about Eddie is he is on a journey where every single day he'll try to run, and it's, I believe, his 135th

day in a row running.

And so you're in great hands with him, you

Ally Brettnacher: know

Kelvin Quang: know what I mean? which is such an incredible feat. We have a girl, her name is Carla, she's doing 9:30. And then we have, an incredible mom. She shows up, she's been there from, you know, very-- the very beginning. She runs the 11:30 pace and above. Her name's Leslie. And so, you know, no matter where you're at, I feel you can come in, get a good workout in. I feel like that's important. Mm-hmm. Get a sweat in, and have a good time with the people who are at the skill level. And you can always, you know, fall back, move forward- Yeah ... stuff like that. And so it, it, it's been, great.

The logistics behind everything, with the help of my friends, have been awesome.

Ally Brettnacher: I, just the simplicity of having pace groups at a run club. It's, it's- Yeah ... such a no-brainer to me. And I remember, she's been on this podcast before, her name's Nicole. I'm blanking on her last name, but she got married, so it's new anyway.

she's below average running, and she's built this community around just that, you know, people who are back of the packers. Mm-hmm. And so I showed up for a run club that she hosted in Vegas, and it was great. She's like, " Okay, over here, this person's doing this pace. This person's..." It was very clear.

Mm-hmm. And I think that that helps people not be so scared. When you, when you, when they know they can show up- Mm-hmm ... and they're gonna be part of a pace group, they're not gonna get left in the dust. Yeah. Because I think that's one of the fears that people would have as a beginner, that you just, you show up and then nobody's gonna run with you, or- Yeah

you know, you feel like you're the slowest one there and-

Kelvin Quang: Yeah. Yeah. That-- I, I'm so glad you brought that up because yes, it is intimidating. I, I feel like, you know, with me,

I portray myself as extroverted, but deep down I'm very introverted. And so for me- you know, going out to somewhere that's unfamiliar with a bunch of strangers, yeah, it's intimidating to show up, to a run club.

And so that's why I prioritize that, that if you're new, I'll try to talk to you. I'll talk about your shoes or I'll try to, like, kinda introduce you to other people

Ally Brettnacher: 'cause I

Kelvin Quang: like it's so important, right? I, I don't judge the success of our run club by the amount of people that show up.

I judge it by the amount of people who come back, right? Exactly. I feel like that is the most important thing because, look, if, if you can bring 100 people once, that's a great event. But if you can keep them coming back and back, I feel like that's when you have a community. Agreed. And that's what I really wanna focus on and emphasize, right?

Yeah. Yeah. And so

I'm very happy for our community that we've been building.

Ally Brettnacher: our community that we've been building. Are you getting close to outgrowing the space that you're in?

'Cause every time I see a photo from a Saturday, it's like there's more people every time, and I'm like, they're all, you know, you cram them together and- Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: Honestly, that's one of my biggest concerns right now.

Ally Brettnacher: It's so hard.

Kelvin Quang: Last week, I literally got on the top of a ladder to take that group photo.

Ally Brettnacher: Wow.

It's... And- Did you bring the ladder with you?

Kelvin Quang: Well, luckily they had a ladder in the garage. Okay. But even that, I was very close to cropping people out. So yeah, we're gonna

Ally Brettnacher: you can't have that. You can't have somebody cropped out of

Kelvin Quang: don't want anybody cropped. No, that's the last thing I want.

And so

Ally Brettnacher: last thing I want.

Yeah. And

Kelvin Quang: I gotta figure something out. but you know, Provider Cafe has been so incredible. You know, I'm sure they're happy that we meet at their coffee shop, right? 'Cause-

Ally Brettnacher: 'cause people are probably gonna buy some coffee.

Kelvin Quang: crazy. The line stretches across outside and out the building.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, it's amazing.

Kelvin Quang: Oh, yeah.

Nice coffee And turns. Yeah, it's m- it's amazing. Yeah. It's amazing. They've been so helpful and so, you know, I'm very thankful for them. But yeah, we are kind of outgrowing that space. Yeah. I will say we're very lucky because they allowed us, to use their big garage.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: It's like an event space

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's nice.

Kelvin Quang: We're honestly still outgrowing the garage. And the fact that it is an event space allows for a lot of parking. We are still kind of outgrowing the parking, and so if you're listening to this, make sure you carpool if you can. but yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: run

Kelvin Quang: Or run to run club. Or run. Actually, there's a lot of people that- Good

Ally Brettnacher: bet. You know, if you're trying to get a little bit more mileage, maybe you run there and back.

Kelvin Quang: of people do, like, you know, we start at 9:00, but I see our friends running, like, at 8:00 just to get their miles in, and then they treat us as the cool-down. That's smart. Which is great.

Ally Brettnacher: It's perfect. Love that. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: but yes, that is a big concern, and I think about it a lot, that we are outgrowing.

I don't know what to do. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's a good problem to have.

Kelvin Quang: It's a great problem to have. I'm happy. I guess it's just another roadblock. But, I mean, that's, that's just life. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. There's always gonna be roadblocks, and it just depends on how you manage it. Right. And I'm confident that we'll figure something out.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, absolutely

Kelvin Quang: yeah, I'm surrounded by a great team, really. Quick shout-out, my friends David Garcia and Bre. They, they've been so helpful. David's been there, uh, I, I've been friends with him ever since college, and he's been one of the most hardworking visionaries I've ever met,

Ally Brettnacher: Where'd you go to school?

Kelvin Quang: school?

IUPUI, or IUI now.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: and so I met him. He, he's great. Bre, I, I feel like she is the most textbook run club athlete that you can think of. She showed up in the middle of our last year, and, she studies PT. She, she does all that stuff. She's very knowledgeable. And back then, I used to lead the stretches.

I don't know anything about stretches. Yeah, that's- You know what I

Ally Brettnacher: mean? Ooh, yeah. I don't really stretch. I don't really stretch. I'm sorry. But

Kelvin Quang: I'll watch, like, TikToks on how to stretch, but I don't know anything. Bre came in, and she kind of helped start leading the stretches last year. Yeah. ' Cause she would tell me what stretches to do, and I would just yell it louder.

I'm like, "Wait, Bre, you might as well just lead it." Yeah. And so she has, jumped on the leadership team, and, you know, she, she's been incredible at helping coordinate and, you know, with day-to-day operations. And so I have an incredible team. and, and you know, there's a few people as well. There's Priscilla.

Priscilla is the most OG 317 member out there. She was there from the very beginning. she's, currently pregnant with a baby girl and s- we're so excited for it. So she's taking some time off, but, you know, I can't wait to have her back. And, we've had so much help from the past. One of my best friends, Ketza, he used to be the photographer.

Mm-hmm. Um, and he helped also coordinate and run the run club. We had our friend Adam, who helped manage things and help with sponsors. And so, like I said, 3007's been built on the shoulders of hundreds of people, and so I'm eternally grateful for them. I'm so excited to see what happens this year and the years after.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Me too for you guys. I have to come out,

Kelvin Quang: Ally, I'm really waiting for you to come out Well

Ally Brettnacher: you know, I have plenty of excuses. It's just I live up here in the suburbs and have- I know ... two young kids.

That's my main excuse because otherwise, if I could do whatever I wanted on Saturday mornings, like you better believe I would've been there. Do people bring strollers and kids or-

Kelvin Quang: I was gonna ask- Yeah ... do your kids run?

Ally Brettnacher: running? So I could totally bring both of my kids actually, because my youngest is five and We do the Monumental Mile. I s- that's the first place I like officially

Kelvin Quang: right. I saw you there. Yeah, yeah ... ran.

Ally Brettnacher: and so we do that as a family every year, and so they've done at least a mile, and then my oldest just did her first 5K.

Kelvin Quang: Oh, that's beautiful. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Beautiful. So yeah. So I really now don't have an excuse.

Kelvin Quang: don't have an excuse. Ally, yes. Bring your

Ally Brettnacher: And 'cause it's not even early either. It's not even early. It's 9:00 AM on a Saturday. I'm awake for three hours by that point, so. That, that's the point, right? Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: right? Yeah. Yeah. And so yes, I would love to have you. Anybody who's listening, I would love to have you guys here. I'd love to talk to you guys, and I really want you guys to see what it's like, right? You know, you-- I could explain it and make videos about it and post it, but really once you actually go there and get a feel for what it

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: you'll understand, right?

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: and, and so yeah, it, it's been an awesome movement.

Ally Brettnacher: What did you study at IU Indy?

Kelvin Quang: You know what's funny? I've never done a single marketing class or business class or any exercise class. I, I- Really? ... I studied, uh, health and human sciences. Okay. I specialized in respiratory, and I also have a nutrition minor.

Cool. Completely unrelated to anything I do

Ally Brettnacher: I do now What do you do now for your day job?

Kelvin Quang: do communications for the

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's right. I

Kelvin Quang: And so I don't do anything related to what I studied, but when I was in college, I, uh, applied myself to a lot of like extracurriculars. Mm-hmm. Right? I, I, I did communications for our student government.

I did marketing for our student activities. I met a lot of incredible people there as well, and I feel like that's where my passion for like marketing and content really came from, right? And

Ally Brettnacher: even, so what about the video stuff? How did you get into learning about how to do that? Do you, do you do just video or you do photos as well? I guess you take, take the

Kelvin Quang: I'm just learning.

Ally Brettnacher: I'm just learning. Well, right, like you and I both said before we started recording, I'm like, "We're just pretending

Kelvin Quang: just pretending like we know what we're doing." We're

Ally Brettnacher: be experts. Um, I,

Kelvin Quang: to be

experts. Um, I, I started V- very young. I always had a toy camera growing up when I was a little kid.

Okay. and then when I grew up and I was in high school, I bought like a little cheap camera, and I would record like little movies and like little videos of my friends just on YouTube, right? Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: In college, you know, I had little more things to market, and it also became something that I can make some money on, right?

Yeah. Feed myself with. And it's just growing and learning how to use it year after year, learning new techniques and, you know, if you showed me a video I made 10 years ago versus the videos I make today, it's a huge improvement, right? But I've never taken a course on videography or photography. I'll watch YouTube videos.

Yeah. What does this button do, right? But it's, it's really just consistency, right? Mm-hmm. I, I think another thing is, I do a lot of graphic designs for 317, right? I did not know how to use Photoshop when I started 317 at all.

Ally Brettnacher: Shut up

Kelvin Quang: No idea how to do anything with it.

Ally Brettnacher: The stuff you do is so cool, Kelvin.

Kelvin Quang: you. It, it's just because I do it every week, and I set myself an expectation and a timeline, right? Yeah. I wanna get things out- Yes. ... you know, because we have run club this weekend and we gotta post something- Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ... at the end of the week.

Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And so it's just been me constantly doing it every week. I've just gotten so much better. I think it's just a fundamental law that no matter what you do, as long as you're consistent, you just get better. Mm-hmm. Whether it's in creative work, whether it's in running, in athletic, or any type of field, as long as you're consistent, you'll just get better. It's, it's a fundamental law, right?

I'm sure your first podcast wasn't-

Ally Brettnacher: my God. It's so bad.

Kelvin Quang: Oh my God. It's so bad. Right. Your first podcast.

Ally Brettnacher: and the audio's horrible.

Kelvin Quang: yourself. Yeah. It was a solo one, right? Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: And there's no video and- Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, it took me a long time to get to do video 'cause people told me, "Well, you gotta, you gotta do video for your podcast."

I'm like, "Ugh."

Kelvin Quang: And look at you now, you just, you knew it had to be on 60%-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, those lights. Well, I knew, I knew it felt bright.

Kelvin Quang: it felt bright. A- a- and so it, it's just so incredible, right? Your, your first podcast, your first book, your first run club, it's not gonna be great. Yeah. You know, obviously our first run club wasn't fantastic. oftentimes I'll, like, think back in the past and I'll cringe a little bit.

But I feel like that's such a good sign of growth, right? Yeah. If you can look back and be a little embarrassed, it means you've learned something. Yes. Right? I know a lot of our friends have recently started their own run clubs. A lot of our friends who showed up a couple times to 317 decide, "Okay, I think this is fun.

I wanna start my own." I wanna tell them, like, just keep working towards it, right? Like, it's tough, and it's hard, and it, you don't really see the results up until you do.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: I'll say 317 didn't get big until maybe eight weeks in. We just went kinda semi-viral on one post, and that kinda changed everything.

It's

Ally Brettnacher: It's wild how that works, isn't

Kelvin Quang: It's so crazy. Yeah. and it's so crazy how powerful social media is- Mm-hmm ... nowadays, right? Yeah. and it, it's so funny too. You know, like, I'll spend hours and days sometimes working on something, and it flops. Oh

Ally Brettnacher: yeah. It's like 30 people see it and you're like, "Cool."

Kelvin Quang: likes it. spend something that took me 15 minutes and I was halfway distracted making it, and it's our most viral post.

Ally Brettnacher: isn't it?

Kelvin Quang: it? It's so funny.

Ally Brettnacher: It is. You're like- It's so crazy ... God, well.

Kelvin Quang: what? Well. But, but it, it's like a lottery. Like, I, I kind of see social media as kind of like a scratch-off game. It's like you just keep scratching off.

One day you'll hit it, and then, yeah. And

Ally Brettnacher: then it'll have all been worth

Kelvin Quang: then it'll have all been worth

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I've definitely started feeling some of that momentum myself because- Mm

of the consistency of it and just- Yeah ... just gotta keep doing it. And you know what? If your video flops, good news, nobody saw it.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah, just do it again.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Try again. So it's, it's fine. yeah, that's, it's so relatable, for sure.

Kelvin Quang: What episode is this?

Ally Brettnacher: That's a good question.

Kelvin Quang: You don't even know. Shoot. Um

Ally Brettnacher: Uh- 100 or something

167 maybe,

Kelvin Quang: That's awesome It's a

Ally Brettnacher: I can't believe it. It's like all of a sudden I blinked and it's like, holy crap.

Kelvin Quang: a sudden I blinked and it's like, holy crap. 160 just general things, that is so impressive. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's so hard to be consistent.

I feel like that is the number one thing that 99% of people struggle on- Mm-hmm ... is just being consistent. And I really feel like if you do wanna be part of that 1%, you have to do what 99% won't.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah That

Kelvin Quang: is consistency, right? Yeah. Whether it's running, whether it's art, creativity, you just keep, being consistent and keep trying.

And I think the biggest thing is just to also keep learning.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: Mm-hmm. I, wasn't born a great photographer or videographer or run club coordinator or anything, right? You have to allow yourself to be a beginner.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm

Kelvin Quang: Learn things and fail and fail a lot and try and learn why you fail, and then just try again. Mm-hmm. I feel like some of the most successful people are people who just, they just do things without having to think about it. Yeah. and I feel like a lot of smart people struggle because they sit and they overanalyze everything, and they don't actually execute because they're just so anxious about making the first thing right.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: It, it's funny, there was a experiment, it was a photographer professor who split their class in half. Half of their class took a photo every single day, and half the class spent the whole semester trying to make the perfect photo, one photo. And obviously, at the end of the course, the side that took photos every single day had so mi- so many better results than the side that focused entirely on one photo.

Yeah. And I think you can apply that logic and that mentality to anything. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: the results.

Ally Brettnacher: You'd probably put all those up on a PowerPoint and people wouldn't be able to tell the

Kelvin Quang: You could probably put all those up on a PowerPoint and people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Yeah. Right? That's the thing.

Ally Brettnacher: so funny how

Kelvin Quang: so funny. Art is so- Right ... subjective

Ally Brettnacher: really, it, that's, yeah. Whole 'nother, whole 'nother podcast. Yeah. What about your own personal running journey?

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What about your own personal running journey? So you mentioned a friend signing up for the Mini is, and you did cross country when you were younger. Mm-hmm. But what has your running journey been like the last year or so that now you're, like, ingrained in the running

Kelvin Quang: community? It's so funny, right? with me owning a run club, you'd assume, I'm out here doing, like, ultramarathons and all this.

I'm really not. there, there was a point in my life where I was very competitive, right? In high school I was deeply competitive.

Ally Brettnacher: Where'd you-- Did you go to high school around here?

Kelvin Quang: you go to high school around here? Yes, I went to Warren Central- Okay ... High School. Shout out Dub C. but Over time, I realize it's more fun when you take it less seriously, right?

Mm-hmm. when I was training for my marathons and my minis, I was so focused, too focused, like tunnel visioned on breaking records and getting this set time that I didn't really have that much fun. lately Another thing, I lost my Apple Watch, so I haven't been tracking my runs.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh my gosh. Gives me anxiety

Kelvin Quang: It's crazy. It does, right? For, for a while I'm like, "It doesn't exist if I don't record it." But lately I'll run and I don't know how long I ran for or how many miles I ran, but it's kind of freeing in a

Ally Brettnacher: It does sound kinda nice It's

sound kind of

Kelvin Quang: Sounds kind of nice. It's kind of freeing 'cause it's like I'm just running for the fun of it.

Right. I'm not trying to,

be in zone four, three for this amount of time

I, I, I will say at a point I was like that. now it's just I want to run because it's fun and it feels good, and I think I just take it less seriously and it's so much better- Mm-hmm ... in my personal experience.

I know there's a lot of runners who care about, the data and stuff.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah But

Kelvin Quang: I don't know. I, I think the game gets more fun the less serious you take it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I think that's a good lesson for people to learn. It took me a long time to learn that. I'm so competitive, mostly with myself 'cause I'm not a great athlete, as we've mentioned. But it-- Like, I've cared about time forever, and then finally now being so much part of the running community, running being such a big part of my life, I realized that unless I changed my relationship with running, I was gonna burn out and not love it like I used to.

And so now I've focused more on the fun side. But I will say I still wanna compete. I still wanna get faster and be the best version of myself, but I don't do that every race like I used to feel like I had to. And so I've just changed my relationship with the sport, and I think that's helped me so much.

Yeah. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: I think that is important.

I think it is a very valuable character trait as well. You always wanna be better, you know what

Ally Brettnacher: mean? Mm-hmm. I-

Kelvin Quang: if you're not better, then, I feel like you spent a lot of time not improving and...

Ally Brettnacher: There, there's

Kelvin Quang: always that, right? but you're right. I, I think a big reason why I have burnt out in the past is because I would always compare myself to how I was during my peak.

Right. And it, you know, stresses me out. I'm like, "Dude, like, you know, after a marathon you take a couple weeks off and then you're like, 'Oh, I'm not, it's not there anymore.'" Yeah. and so I feel like that could also, hurt your relationship with running. There's just, you just have to find a balance- Mm-hmm

right? Yep. I think that's just the most important part.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: but yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: What was your first marathon? Was it Monumental?

Kelvin Quang: It was Monumental. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: What year would that have been? Last year

Kelvin Quang: the year- 2024, right before I did the run club.

Ally Brettnacher: So was that a really windy year?

Kelvin Quang: I don't remember if it was windy. I just remember I had so much fun.

Good.

Ally Brettnacher: Good. Well, that's good.

Kelvin Quang: It was so fun. I ran with one of my friends, Adam, and seriously, like, for advanced runners who do marathons, there comes to be a point where you don't really get tired, like your endurance doesn't get tired. It's more about how your muscles react to, running 20, 20 s- Beating.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so during that Monumental, I had so much energy and I wasn't tired. I was jumping around, smiling, laughing, talking to the crowd. obviously at the end, my freaking legs just died out on me. I had a charley horse and I was just like dragging my feet through the last four miles

Ally Brettnacher: having a charley horse during a marathon

Kelvin Quang: Ally was insane

Ally Brettnacher: sounds like a hell. Ugh

Kelvin Quang: Ally, I looked at my foot, my, my, my quads, and it was pulsing

Ally Brettnacher: oh, no

Kelvin Quang: And there was a stretch and I'm like, "Dude, I can't even move it."

So I think for like a good two miles, I dragged my foot

Ally Brettnacher: Did you stop at a med tent or anything to get, like, a- No Yeah I didn't Yeah

Kelvin Quang: There was this guy, I don't know him, but he was just like, "Brother, let's keep moving" Aw

Ally Brettnacher: Aw, those are

Kelvin Quang: really inspired me. and I think that's another thing, too, like running with people is an entirely different experience

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: You know this

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: Running by yourself and running with other people, it doesn't even feel like the same sport.

Like- Mm-hmm ... there's so much energy i- in a crowd and also having people support you Mm-hmm I remember I was doing the... any race, but specifically the Mini. I'm like, "You know, let's just start chill. Let's, let's, cruise at like a good 9, you know, 9:30." I'm having so much fun at the start.

I check my watch, it's like 7:30

Ally Brettnacher: Ooh, oops.

Kelvin Quang: And I feel like I'm running a 9, but it's just the energy, right? Yes. Yeah Everybody's so happy, excited. There's

cowbells,

cowbells, you know, ringing on the side. There's signs and you just get lost into this, uh, experience that you just push yourself so much. And I think that's another reason why 317

Ally Brettnacher: 317

Kelvin Quang: has been so successful, is because of the energy that our runners have, supporting each other Mm-hmm Our pacers have been incredible with supporting the groups.

We have a cheer squad that plays music and we have our own cowbells and we-

Ally Brettnacher: we- It's perfect ... you know, have photographers. So good.

Kelvin Quang: It's so fun because it really changes the sport from a punishment activity to something that you look forward to

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Like a party with all your friends.

Kelvin Quang: It absolutely is a party every single Saturday Yeah Ally, I really can't wait for you

Ally Brettnacher: I can't wait to go. I cannot wait to go. do you do the Run 317 series of races? I always mess that up because they just sound similar.

They really missed the boat on naming

Kelvin Quang: They really did

Ally Brettnacher: really did. 'Cause they were before.

Kelvin Quang: I have a lot of respect for them. They were so close

Ally Brettnacher: So close.

Kelvin Quang: we got invited to it, during that last 5K and this 5K that's coming up on Thursday as

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. What's this week's one? Um, I, I believe it's

one?

Kelvin Quang: It's this week's one Um, I, I believe it's in Broad Ripple Ally Brettnacher: Oh, that's right, 'cause it's close to my, my bir- it was on my birthday last year. Oh, really? Mm-hmm. So I did run it last year.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah. We get invited and we'll have a tent set up. but I feel like we just recently, started doing more of that community stuff,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And I'll tell you, Ally, Like last time we went to that 317 Run event, I still feel like such an imposter and underdog 'cause there's been so many other run clubs that have been established for years.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And, you know, there's levels to this. There's levels to, coordinating a run club and coordinating this community that's, I have so much deep respect for them. and, every single week I'm learning more and more. but yeah, there's still so much to, to learn. I, I feel like Indiana has recently, also out of nowhere, become such an incredible sport state. Yes. Right? With football, with basketball, women's basketball. Like, like with every single sport, it's been so incredible. I really think running is the f- next frontier for Indiana. And one, I'm very grateful we've been established for a year. Mm-hmm. I'm, I'm also very grateful to be a part of a running community where, there's tons of running clubs that have been established and I could learn from them and take notes from them.

Mm-hmm. I hope people do the same with 317 as

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah Right? Absolutely.

Kelvin Quang: And so yeah, it, it, it's, it's been fun And I wanna be more involved in the running community, right?

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. There's so, there's so much. And I would say, you know, I was just thinking, "Gosh, it would've been great to see you guys at the Full Mo, the ultramarathon that goes the whole length of the Monon." 'Cause I'm like, "Well, shoot, Provider Cafe was probably right there on Saturday, like Saturday morning when we were..."

It took us a while to get down there, so it would've been the afternoon by that time. But just there's so much opportunity for everybody listening to this who's local or, you know, in their own local running communities to get more involved if you want to, especially with volunteering too. I sat on the board for Monumental for five years and- Wow

yeah, I learned so much about all that goes on behind the scenes, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for these events that I participated. Yeah. I had no idea. Blows my mind. Yes.

Kelvin Quang: Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? Mm-mm. It's essentially, like, when you first start anything, any type of interest or any field, the first time you learn about it, you feel like, oh, I kinda get the grasp of things.

Yeah. But the more and more you learn and realize, the more you know that you don't know anything. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Right? It's so true. It's so true.

Kelvin Quang: like that as well, right? Whether it's in film, photography, or running a run club, you know, the first taste I'm like, "Okay, I get the hang of this." And then you realize how much there is and how much you don't know.

And so, like I said, right, I, I wanna allow myself to still be a beginner and learn the ropes on how all these other run clubs are operating and how I could take that for myself. Mm-hmm. and so I'm, I'm-- I've always been a lifelong student, no matter what it is, and I think that is what makes 317 great and what it is today.

Yeah. Right? but yeah, I mean, seriously, we could honestly use as much help as we can

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: also.

Ally Brettnacher: mean, yeah, show up, people. Show

Kelvin Quang: please do show up, But yeah, no, it, it's been fun.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so you've done Monumental. Is that your o- You've done multiple marathons or is Monumental your o- marathon that you've done? Um,

Kelvin Quang: yes. Let me be clear. That is my only marathon. I know you've done countless marathons. Monumental has been my first and only.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, he says only on recording.

Kelvin Quang: Yes. Mm.

Ally Brettnacher: So far. We'll see. Okay, there you go. I was like, "Never say never, Kelvin." We'll g- Never say never.

Kelvin Quang: never. I've done a few minis. but yeah, I, I definitely do want to get back into that.

Lately, I've just been so focused on 317 that it's kinda taken over

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's a lot, I mean, it's a lot of work. I don't think people realize how much work really goes into that.

Kelvin Quang: It's a lot. It, a- and-

Ally Brettnacher: a- and

Kelvin Quang: The thing is, it doesn't have to be, but I want it

Ally Brettnacher: But you want the qual- yeah. I mean, if you wanted to just throw together stuff. Yeah. Yeah. But-

Kelvin Quang: I think a little bit of effort goes a long way, especially when doing something like this, right? Mm-hmm. it's easy to just, not care and just hope people don't notice these little details. But for me, I'm just such, like, a, I have a perfectionist mindset

Ally Brettnacher: Me too. It's so- It's not great ... hard sometimes. It's

Kelvin Quang: It's not a great trait,

Ally Brettnacher: but

Kelvin Quang: putting in a little bit more effort goes such a long way.

Ally Brettnacher: I will say props to us as perfectionists actually making things happen. Because I think the hardest thing, like you said, is just to start, just to do it. But it took me so long to start this, to start, you know, other things, just because I wanted it to be perfect before I started, and then you realize, oh, Kelvin Quang: Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: this is

how it works at all.

Kelvin Quang: wanted it to be perfect before I started. Yeah. And then you realize, "Oh." Yeah. That's not how it works at all. It's a analysis paralysis, right?

Yeah. You just get stuck because you wanna make sure everything's perfect, but by the time that you do it and you think it's perfect, somebody else could've done, like, 30 versions of it,

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And, and so

Kelvin Quang: yes, it, it's good to think and put effort, but it's also important to execute and, um, just get started, you know?

Mm-hmm. I, I tell my friends, you know, the hardest part about running is putting on your shoes.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That first

Kelvin Quang: That first thing, that first second of deciding, you know, the, your brain neurons for the first time connecting of let's go on a run. Yeah. That's the most difficult barrier. Once you get over that-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Then it's, I mean-

Kelvin Quang: it's whatever.

Ally Brettnacher: lot better.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah. A- and you just keep riding the momentum, which, you know, I, I've been grateful to be able to do. and I hope I do it for a very long time, right? Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Ugh

Kelvin Quang: Ally, I'll just also be transparent with you. The run club does cost a lot of money and it's- our friends are just paying for it out of pocket, but I'm grateful to do it.

You know what I mean? I would do this if I made zero money. I'd pay to do this, and I'm very passionate about it. Yep. Um, and I just love seeing the people come. You know, last week we had a field day and,

Ally Brettnacher: So good

Kelvin Quang: people were just saying like, " I haven't felt like this in so long." It's like, I haven't felt like a child in so long," or like do all these activities.

And

Ally Brettnacher: Activities and

Kelvin Quang: I think that's the best reward and- Mm-hmm ... best payment- Mm-hmm

Ally Brettnacher: for. You know what I mean?

Kelvin Quang: ask for. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so it's been very cool.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. You're changing lives whether you feel like it or not.

Kelvin Quang: I'm grateful. Yeah. You

Ally Brettnacher: It's cool.

Kelvin Quang: Um, and it's funny 'cause so... I get a lot of praise and I'm very happy. In the moment, it's, it's hard for me to register.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm

Kelvin Quang: I o- I can only register it once, everything's done, everybody went home, I'm sitting in my car. That is when, like, it hits. I'm like, "Okay." And I'm very grateful. And so yeah, it's been awesome

Ally Brettnacher: Let's transition. I wanna talk about your heritage-

Kelvin Quang: Yes

Ally Brettnacher: lion dancing.

Kelvin Quang: the lion dancing Oh my goodness

Ally Brettnacher: did not know what that was, okay? So please, let's, let's talk about it.

Kelvin Quang: I love how you did y- your research I

Ally Brettnacher: to just get as in there as I can.

Kelvin Quang: 99% of people don't know this about me

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, breaking news I don't

Kelvin Quang: about it at all What?

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: talk about it. I wouldn't shut up about it. It's so cool.

Kelvin Quang: up about it. It's so cool I do this

Ally Brettnacher: gotta show up at run club. What are you

Kelvin Quang: I know. I, one day I will Okay. We'll

Ally Brettnacher: I'm gonna hold you to that. The day that I

Kelvin Quang: show up

Ally Brettnacher: Perfect. But yes

Kelvin Quang: so lion dancing is a traditional, it, it came from China.

It's a traditional Chinese dance where it involves two people, the head and a tail. And what the head does is he controls the mouth, and the eyes, and like the whole head of the lion. And then the tail is there specifically to create that illusion of the lion body,

Ally Brettnacher: and

Kelvin Quang: also to help coordinate stunts and tricks. Nice And so what we'll do is, a lot of ceremonies or-

Ally Brettnacher: and who's we? Who's we?

Kelvin Quang: So it's me and my friend Quan Okay Right? I'm the head, Quan is the tail Okay And people will hire us for weddings or store openings or banquets.

Ally Brettnacher: My gosh.

Kelvin Quang: essentially the tradition goes the lion it's a god full of energy and good luck Yeah Wherever it goes, the more energy it has, the more it shakes.

If you touch it, you get good luck. If it touches your ground, the store, the store gets good luck. Casinos will hire me a lot Because-

Ally Brettnacher: up to Anderson? Yeah. Shelbyville. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: They hire me because it's good luck, right? And so what we'll do is I'll be the lion, shake around, right, or the head, and one of our tricks is the tail lifts me up and puts me on their head. And so it's two guys stacked on top of each other to show off this illusion as if the lion is standing up like this, right? it's so fun. It's like a acrobatic, performance.

Ally Brettnacher: crazy. Okay, so when you're inside the head of the lion, Are there sticks in there? Like, how do you control... Okay, it is

Kelvin Quang: So the mouth is just a flap. Okay. And you'll use your left hand to keep it open- Okay ... and like, like a

Ally Brettnacher: puppet, right? And the-- Yeah, yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And then on the right hand, there's a string, and you pull the string to open and close the eyes. And so you do both of them at the same time to show like, very dramatic movements

Ally Brettnacher: so crazy.

Kelvin Quang: you know, you try to act as like a little cute dog, kind of, you know, like you're winking and like you're listening left and right. Wow. And kids love it.

Ally Brettnacher: My kid would be terrified of it,

Kelvin Quang: A lot of kids cry- Yeah ... when I do it, though- Yeah ... 'cause it's

Ally Brettnacher: it now 'cause it's scary. It is, yeah. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: It is. And this lion's like eight feet tall running around, right?

Yeah. but it's, it's been so fun. I did it in college Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Is that when you started doing it, or did you do it as a

Kelvin Quang: No, I did it in college. Gosh. Um, and,

Ally Brettnacher: How did you find it?

Kelvin Quang: Dude, So I was part of this organization called the Vietnamese Student Association, right? Okay. And

Ally Brettnacher: you must-- Your heritage is not Chinese.

Kelvin Quang: I'm Vietnamese. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: That confused me a little

Kelvin Quang: I need a,

Ally Brettnacher: lion dancing confused

Kelvin Quang: Okay. I am f- fully Vietnamese. Okay. and so, we did a performance for, you know, one of the VSA Student Association shows, and someone in the crowd scouted me out and picked me to be part of their lion dance team.

And so now this, this guy- ... he reaches out to different communities and sees if they want, want it or not, and then I'll just come out and perform. Stop it. It's so

Ally Brettnacher: There's so much opportunity there, Kelvin.

Kelvin Quang: so funny. I mean, can you imagine

Ally Brettnacher: so funny. I'm like, can you imagine you're running a marathon and there's just a lion?

Kelvin Quang: Yes.

Actually, I think they have shown up to a monumental. Okay. Really? Man. It, it's so funny. but it, it, it's great. It's, it's a lot of fun, a lot of energy. People love seeing it, and so I'm just happy to do it. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: it's really great. I don't know if I've ever seen one in person. I mean, performing, 'cause w- at my kids' school there was... I think it was just the head. Does it-- Do they connect together, or is it always one piece? So

Kelvin Quang: there's versions where it's just the head. Okay. You know what I mean? For like little kids- Yeah ... or like little small ones. Okay. But the real performance includes two people- Yeah ... in one costume.

Ally Brettnacher: Like, where do you get the costume?

Kelvin Quang: Dude, they hand make it in China and then they ship it.

Geez. It's like thousands of

Ally Brettnacher: of dollars. I bet. They look incredible. Some of

Kelvin Quang: They look incredible. Some of them have like LED lights on them. Stop it.

Ally Brettnacher: LED lights on them. Stop it.

Kelvin Quang: so fun.

Ally Brettnacher: It's so fun. And it's- So cool

Kelvin Quang: heavy though. It is a lot of work, dude. Like So the head itself is maybe 12 pounds of wood and, like, metal wiring, which it's not too bad, but once you're shaking it and you're jumping around and dancing for, like, 10 minutes, dude, it's exhausting Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: How long is a typical performance? About 10 minutes. Okay.

Kelvin Quang: Okay. It's exhausting after a while.

Ally Brettnacher: I bet Seriously.

Kelvin Quang: but yeah, it's, it's so fun. I'm so

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ... that we brought that in. I'm so glad I found it. And the tail, what does the tail do? B- I mean, you said it creates the illusion. Are you just, like, standing

Kelvin Quang: So the tail, it's funny. The tail will shake its butt, you know what I mean? Yeah. Kick its legs.

Ally Brettnacher: do you wear on your legs?

I can't remember.

Kelvin Quang: Oh, so we have our own, like, pants- Okay ... that look like part of the lion dance. Okay. The...

Ally Brettnacher: That you made or you bought or?

Kelvin Quang: It comes with the costume. Okay.

Right. Makes sense. And so the tail's job is to finish out that back silhouette. You... The tail actually, there's a real tail and you could... It's connected to a stick and you could wave it around, too- Mm-hmm ... and wave it in front of people's faces.

Ally Brettnacher: That's fun.

Kelvin Quang: Um, but yes, the tail's main job is to also do the stunts.

Yeah. Right? And, you know, there's a cue and so once I hit this cue, the tail knows Kelvin's about to jump on my head, so he helps lift me, on his head, and then we do the whole thing. It's so

Ally Brettnacher: cool. Okay. It's so fun.

Kelvin Quang: such like a random side gig-

Ally Brettnacher: It is so

Kelvin Quang: that I do

here and there, but it's awesome.

It's so popular during, like, Lunar New

Ally Brettnacher: Oh, I can only imagine.

Kelvin Quang: I'm s- like, super booked around that time, but- It's so cool ... after that it's just like-

Ally Brettnacher: Awesome. It's just like- So cool. It's my work.

Kelvin Quang: some lore. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Yeah. So your Vietnamese heritage. Yes. Um, where-- Were your parents born there? Mm-hmm. What, what's the story there?

Kelvin Quang: were both born in Vietnam. Okay. and I'll tell you, like, we grew up in absolute poverty, right? Like, I think when people view Vietnam, there's a touristy place and then most of it is jungle. Yeah. We used to live in the jungle where, we didn't have plumbing,

Ally Brettnacher: So you, you were-- Were you born there?

Kelvin Quang: there? I was born in America. Okay. I came back for a little bit and I lived there as a child. Wow. and then I moved back, right? Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay

Kelvin Quang: during that time, yeah, it's super humid. it's always, like, 95 degrees. There's mosquitoes and lizards everywhere.

Electricity was not that great. We didn't have nothing. Wow. I, I think our roof was made of, like, hay at one... Like, I'm telling you- Geez ... we didn't... I remember our toilet was just, like, a bucket. Yeah.

just like a bucket.

Ally Brettnacher: I mean

Kelvin Quang: The, on, there was, like, a flowing river that you would go to. Wow. It was crazy. And so-

Ally Brettnacher: is crazy

Kelvin Quang: I'm also very grateful for that experience because it showed me a side of life that a lot of people don't experience.

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Well, especially we're, like, recording this in Carmel, Indiana.

Kelvin Quang: Carmel, Indiana- Yeah ... you know, AC, everything's beautiful. Yeah. There's roundabouts everywhere. In Vietnam, I mean, where we grew up in, it's, it's very, it was very poor, growing up. And so I feel, like, very grateful, you know? Yeah. 'Cause if I never experienced that, I would not understand the power of what luxury feels

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: You know what I

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. How did your parents get here to the US?

Kelvin Quang: parents get here to the so my dad was a refu- well, I guess my parents were both refugees, right? They came here a long time ago. I'm thinking 1970s. Mm. Right? They're very old people, by the way.

Ally Brettnacher: very old?

Kelvin Quang: My dad is turning, 73.

Ally Brettnacher: Oh my gosh, my parents just turned, turned s- I guess re- relative to you, they're very old. I was like, "My dad just turned 70. He's gonna die." Oh, yeah. Yeah. Very old. Uh,

Kelvin Quang: 70." Oh, yeah? Yeah. It, it- They're very old ... uh, it's so funny 'cause I've always grown up with very old siblings. Like- Okay ... we have, like, a 12-year age gap.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Kelvin Quang: My mom's a trooper.

Ally Brettnacher: how old is your mom?

Kelvin Quang: My mom is turn- is getting there, yeah. She's turning 69, I believe. Okay. Yeah. And so, they came here about 30 years ago and, um, no, it's been incredible.

They've been able to kinda help raise this family. They work so hard. Seriously, you know, they came to America not knowing anything with absolutely no money, My dad worked at Steak 'n Shake and lived by himself just to save money to send to my mom so she- Wow ... he can bring... Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Geez ... my family

Kelvin Quang: has incredible lore, and I feel like I have somewhat of an expectation to, live out what, they worked so hard

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: Right? Mm-hmm. They, they worked so hard for me to get to America, to live this life, to go to college, to do all these things, to buy my own house.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And I feel this,

Ally Brettnacher: like,

Kelvin Quang: debt to them that, you know, I really want to be the best version of myself because they worked so hard and had to sacrifice- Yeah

so much to get me here, right?

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: And so that, that's kinda shaped the person I am today Yeah, it's

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, it's like such a blessing to have that, but also obviously you wouldn't-- I mean, I wouldn't wish

Kelvin Quang: wish that- Yeah ... level of

Ally Brettnacher: on anyone, but that's incredible.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah, and,

Ally Brettnacher: Incredible.

Kelvin Quang: like I said, I, I'm, I'm very grateful for a lot of things, right?

Like, I mean, just for example, if you were to build the perfect human being, you probably wouldn't wanna give it everything they asked for or spoil it, right? Right. You'd want it to go through-

Ally Brettnacher: We wanted to go through-

Kelvin Quang: trials and tribulations, through struggle. That way they can understand what success feels like, right? Yeah. And so it was rough. Very rough, but I, I'm very happy to be who I am today. I'm also very grateful for, everybody who's played a part in my life, right? Mm. Like, I, I, I feel like I'm essentially a mosaic of everybody I've ever met, of any interaction, right? No matter how little or how deep the interaction was, like it's made me who I am today and helped shape the decisions I make every day.

And so I'm very grateful for everybody who's been in my life.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm. Grateful for

Kelvin Quang: Grateful for this podcast too, Ally. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you for this coffee. That's all right. I

Ally Brettnacher: You need to drink some of it. Wow. Geez. All right, I'm gonna ask you then the podcast questions now. Yes. yeah. I'm so happy to have had you on.

It's been long overdue to having somebody from 3Run7. But I also feel like, in a weird way, I'm not super meticulous about like planning who I'm interviewing when and why. It just, and things just seem to kind of happen when they're supposed to. So I think that's kind of cool, because now look how far you guys have come.

Like, if we'd have talked at the very beginning, it'd be so different than talking now.

Kelvin Quang: It'd be a completely different

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, so that's really cool. Okay, my two questions I ask everybody. Yes. The first one is, what is your favorite running song and/or mantra?

Kelvin Quang: Oh, you gave me this as, and I just honestly did not think too

Ally Brettnacher: perfect. Now got on the spot.

Kelvin Quang: straight from my heart, I would say my favorite mantra, and you could apply this to anything,

Ally Brettnacher: No

Kelvin Quang: matter how hard it gets, my mantra is, " This is easy."

Ally Brettnacher: You know what I mean? I

Kelvin Quang: I was telling you when I had that charley horse on mile 21 of my marathon, it was the hardest thing ever, dude.

I'm telling you, my right leg was not functional, right? And I had four more miles to go. Every step hurt. I just kept repeating, "Oh, this is easy," even though it wasn't. You know? Even though it hurts and it sucks, this is easy. Yeah. I feel like you could apply that to everything.

Ally Brettnacher: you could apply that to everything. Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: If it works really hard for you, your boss is killing you, you got all these deadlines, nah, this is easy.

I can do it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: And I feel like your word is so important, because your brain essentially believes it- Mm-hmm ... in a way. Yeah. Subconsciously it does. Yes. So it, when you consistently say, "This is easy. This is easy. I can do it. It's not a big deal," your brain does believe it. Part of it does.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Kelvin Quang: And it does get easier.

It's crazy how that works.

Ally Brettnacher: I love that one

Kelvin Quang: I love that one. But yes, my mantra is, "This is easy."

Ally Brettnacher: do you listen to music while you run?

Kelvin Quang: Yeah. I'm a big li- music listener. I, I will say the times I didn't listen to music were my best runs. I

Ally Brettnacher: after starting this podcast, it was so weird. I would chat with people and there was this theme.

People weren't listening to music when they would run, and I was like, "Huh, maybe I should try that." It was kind of a crutch for me for a long time, and now I could take it or leave it, or I like listening to audiobooks sometimes if it's- Yeah ... a longer run, but...

Kelvin Quang: No, I think listening without music is expert ball knowledge.

Mm-hmm.

Ally Brettnacher: Ooh. Um,

Kelvin Quang: the thing is, I feel like running is a form of meditation. Yeah. Right? Because when you're running, you don't really think about your problems. You don't really think about anything else except for Your breathing and one foot over the next, right? You're not worried about the bills or the problems waiting at home.

You're just focused on running. Mm-hmm. And that is a state of meditation.

Ally Brettnacher: of meditation Yeah

Kelvin Quang: I love listening to music while I run because it does, like, make things better. But the moment that you turn everything off and you just focus on what's around you and the running, you do get into this enlightened state of mind where it's just- Mm

it's just meditative. Yeah. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I think it can take some practice 'cause sometimes my thoughts chase me around, but- Mm-hmm ... you know,

Kelvin Quang: And that's the point.

Ally Brettnacher: that's the point.

Right.

Kelvin Quang: Right? Y- you, you want to have all these thoughts come up, accept it, acknowledge it, and then move on.

Ally Brettnacher: on. Move on

Kelvin Quang: Right. And then once you keep doing that enough, it takes, like, maybe 10, 20 minutes, but after that, you'll reach this point where it's like, "I don't have anything else to think about."

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Kelvin Quang: "And for the past 10 minutes, I haven't thought of a single thing, and everything has been so peaceful, and I feel so aligned." Yeah. I think that is a skill I encourage everybody to at least try. Mm-hmm. So maybe on your next run, try not to listen to music. Focus on your thoughts. Let all the thoughts that pop up, just acknowledge it and move on. After a few minutes, after a few miles, yeah, it might change your life, seriously.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm. And then if you're feeling really brave, go without your watch too.

Kelvin Quang: Yes, turn it off once in a while, even though it doesn't count technically on Strava, but

Ally Brettnacher: I know. It's like nobody... I mean, it's so funny how I care because it's like nobody cares. "Oh, Ally didn't post a run on Strava today." Nobody cares.

Yeah. But it's weird that you're like, "Oh, I just like that it's there." Mm-hmm. I don't know why. It feels

Kelvin Quang: feels like I'm accumulating something.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, maybe.

Kelvin Quang: like a scoreboard. I like to see how many miles I ran last year.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Kelvin Quang: But like I said, it gets more fun the less serious you

Ally Brettnacher: I like that.

I, I could really learn, learn from that. Yeah. That's for sure. Okay, and then next finish line and/or milestone, which includes your new house.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah, Ally. I just bought a new house and I've been so overwhelmed with a million different things, right? With housing, with finances, with coordinate these runs and managing everything. Think my next milestone is just to have more fun with things, you know?

Like, I, I say all these things, but I still, think a lot about my times and think about how other people view me and- Mm ... think about all these other races. I think the next milestone is to continue to find the fun in running and just let go of all that stuff and just, you know, just have a good time, right?

Like, at the end of the day, spoiler alert, we're all gonna die. Yeah. Nobody's gonna care about your mileage or your marathon time.

Ally Brettnacher: I don't know

Kelvin Quang: about how much fun you had- Yeah ... on this planet in that short amount of time, and so I wanna keep focusing on that.

Ally Brettnacher: Perfect way to end. Amen to that

Kelvin Quang: And so yes, three around seven every Saturday at 9:00 AM. Boom. Outside provider. Would seriously love for you guys to pull up, and I'd love to talk to all you guys, and especially you, Ally.

Ally Brettnacher: you, Ally Yes, I will be there.

Kelvin Quang: will be there. I'm waiting.

Ally Brettnacher: And you'll be a lion. Maybe, maybe save the lion for like the second time to get me to come back, you

Kelvin Quang: you come back, you know?

Lunar New Year, we'll f- we'll have to do something.

Ally Brettnacher: feel like when, when is that? I'm so

Kelvin Quang: It's February. Okay.

Ally Brettnacher: God, I feel like that just happened, and that is not the case.

Kelvin Quang: I feel like that just happened, but it's months. It did. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. This year's been going

Ally Brettnacher: crazy. Yeah. It's nuts.

Kelvin Quang: Yeah. It's nuts. But yes, I try to do something fun every week and so.

Ally Brettnacher: Perfect. All right. Well, thank you for doing this.

Kelvin Quang: Ally, it's been amazing. And thanks to everybody who

Ally Brettnacher: Ally,

Kelvin Quang: and happy running. Yes. Happy running. Thank you, guys. Shout out to Indianapolis and all my running friends.

Ally Brettnacher: Man, Speed City Speed City,

Kelvin Quang: Speed City. Speed City, yes.

Ally Brettnacher: If you enjoyed this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones from Sandy Boy Productions, head to the show notes, sign up for weekly emails. I try to make them enjoyable.

I also wanted to give a special shout-out to Trina Roudebush, who was a previous guest on this podcast, who is now also going to be working in communications for our city. She will be the chief communications officer for Metropolitan Development, so perhaps her and Kelvin will be working together. So congrats, Trina.

So excited for you. Also wanna thank everybody for making my birthday so special. I love all of you, and I will talk to you again next week. Thanks for listening. Bye.

Ally Brettnacher

Episode 167: Kelvin Quang - 3RUN7

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