Episode 28: Himanshu Varandani - On a Plane to North Dakota

Episodes

Oct 6

I met Himanshu Varandani on a plane full of runners headed to the Fargo Marathon. Twelve years after colleagues talked him into a lunchtime run, he's a 2:46 marathoner who paces and volunteers to give back.

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About this episode

Himanshu Varandani grew up playing cricket in India and never thought of himself as athletic. While working at GE in Wisconsin, older colleagues invited him on lunchtime runs, and that turned into a first half marathon in Kenosha in 2011, a Boston qualifier at Last Chance BQ.2, and a 2:46 PR at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, three and a half minutes faster than his Detroit time.

We met on a flight to Fargo, where he ran the Fargo Marathon as an elite, and in this episode we talk about his run clubs in Barrington, Illinois, his family's love of Indian classical dance, crossing into Canada at the Detroit Marathon, Berlin with family cheering and Oktoberfest after, pacing half marathons, and running the Gatorade table at mile 1.6 of the Chicago Marathon.

In this episode, we discuss

Meeting on a Chicago to Fargo flight packed with marathoners
Growing up playing cricket in India and never making a track team
How lunchtime runs with GE colleagues in Wisconsin got him started
His first half marathon in Kenosha in 2011
Barrington Run Club and Alpine Runners, and coaching the kids running program
Running the Fargo Marathon as an invited elite
His wife's Indian classical dance and his kids' running
Qualifying for Boston at Last Chance BQ.2, then COVID and a virtual marathon in Busse Woods
Chicago 2021, Boston 2022, and crossing into Canada at the 2022 Detroit Marathon
Seeing Eliud Kipchoge and running a 2:46 PR at the 2023 Berlin Marathon despite foot cramps
Hard plastic cups and fewer aid stations in Berlin
Celebrating at Oktoberfest with family from Germany
Pacing 10 to 15 half marathons and why it's so rewarding
His 'dig in' mantra and why he never runs with music
Volunteering as a Gatorade supervisor at the Chicago Marathon and getting ready for New York

Chapters

00:00 · Intro
06:30 · Meeting on the plane to Fargo
08:00 · From cricket in India to lunchtime runs at GE
10:30 · First races and getting faster
13:30 · Barrington run clubs
15:30 · Running Fargo as an elite
20:00 · Family, dance, and running kids
23:00 · Boston qualifying, COVID, and a virtual marathon
25:00 · Boston and the Detroit Marathon
28:30 · Berlin with family
35:00 · Berlin PR and race strategy
40:00 · Aid stations in Berlin
43:00 · Pacing half marathons
47:00 · Mantra and running without music
51:00 · New York and the World Majors
55:30 · Volunteering at the Chicago Marathon

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Fargo Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Boston Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Detroit Free Press Marathon, Last Chance BQ.2, New York City Marathon, Kenosha Half Marathon, Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben, Geist Half Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, Illinois Marathon
Organizations and charities: Barrington Run Club, Alpine Runners, GE, North Dakota State University, Beyond Monumental
Other: Eliud Kipchoge, Oktoberfest, Strava, Abbott World Marathon Majors

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

What is Himanshu Varandani's marathon PR?

Himanshu Varandani ran a 2:46 marathon PR at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, about three and a half minutes faster than his previous best from the 2022 Detroit Marathon.

How did Himanshu Varandani start running?

Himanshu Varandani started running about 12 years ago when older colleagues at GE in Wisconsin invited him on lunchtime runs, and he ran his first half marathon in Kenosha in 2011.

Does Himanshu Varandani pace races?

Yes. Himanshu Varandani has paced 10 to 15 half marathons in the Chicago area and uses pacing as training runs, and he also volunteers as a Gatorade supervisor at mile 1.6 of the Chicago Marathon.

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Transcript

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

Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones with Ally Brettnacher incredible stories and tales of triumphs with everyday people achieving their goals in fitness. This podcast brought to you by Athlete Bouquets. Celebrate finish lines and milestones of the people that you love by visiting athlete bouquets.com.

Hey, it's episode 28. This is Ally Brettnacher, and right now it is 9:30 PM Thursday, October 12th. Congratulations to everybody who just ran Chicago this past weekend. I ran my own race a half marathon. The Indy half at Fort Ben in the Indianapolis area on Saturday. So the day before Chicago, and the weather was perfect just like it was in Chicago on Sunday.

It was an amazing fall morning. I ended up snagging a postpartum PR of 1 48 18, which was slightly faster about. 37 seconds faster than my geist half marathon a couple weeks before now. So I'm chipping away at that pr. Still not feeling a hundred percent confident that I'm there to snag a sub 1 44 30, which was down a mountain in Utah later this month.

But I need to talk to my coach and figure out if that's something that I'm still going to chase and I really want to, so we shall see. The Fort Ben race was really nice. I pretty much went, it went according to plan. It was a little different than my race plan that my coach gave me for. For Geist, it was broken up into four sections instead of three, and I ended up running quite a bit with the one 50 Pace group.

I just kind of ended up getting. Sucked in with them kind of at the beginning. And so thanks to Todd, one of the Pacers. I didn't really engage much with anybody, but I definitely listened to their words of guidance and encouragement, and it made me realize how valuable the Pacers really are. So I ran probably almost half the race really with them.

And then. About halfway. I knew that I needed to break away to start chipping away at a faster second half. So I did the, again, the weather was great. I did meet a couple people in the second half of the race, and also a guy who wore so much cologne who I dubbed in my head as Cologne guy, and instead of being.

Irritated by Cologne guy, which I kind of was at the beginning. I use it as motivation to wanna stay near him, which is kind of weird, but if you are listening and you wear Cologne to a race, please stop because why? It was, it was interesting Anyway, and my friend Ashley Haynes, who is on the board of Beyond Monumental with myself, her and I saw each other at the beginning.

She's super duper fast and getting ready to run a 100 miler in, gosh, a couple days this weekend on October 14th in Northern Indiana. And so I walked with her to the start, hung out with her until it started, and then I also saw her at the finish. She snagged the top age group finisher for our age group.

Which I forget what it is for this race. But anyway, shout out to Ashley and I'm so excited to have her on this podcast next month to talk about her a hundred miler, because who knows what that's like. I do not. So I'm excited to learn more, and I also got to meet a podcast listener, Becky Riley. Becky listened when her coach Nicole de Bronski was on and.

She was listening to the episode and realized that we were talking about Indianapolis, and so reached out to me and we got a chance to meet before the race, which was awesome. So thank you, Becky. I hope we get a chance to run together soon. And now without further ado, I am so excited for you to meet my friend Hemanchu Verani, who I met on a plane, headed to Fargo, North Dakota earlier this year.

And I actually went out with my sister Morgan, who's getting married this weekend, and we went out for her birthday. And we didn't sit next to each other on the plane, but we ended up sitting next to two friends and one of them was Himanshu and I started chatting with him. He was wearing a Boston jacket, so I knew clearly he was heading there for the race and a lot of others on the plane were as well.

And he was just wonderful. And so. You know, we said goodbye after we got off the plane, but I ended up getting a chance to see him during the race. I saw him, we kind of, we saw the marathoners at a couple of different points, and so I cheered him on kind of during the race and then got a chance to see him afterwards as well, and told him that I had.

A podcast that he was gonna have to be on, and that was very early on in the my podcast journey, which we're still pretty early, let's face it. But he graciously agreed and wasn't sure anyone would wanna listen to him, which is completely false to Moncho. I know that some of your friends from BRC are gonna listen to this, and I can't wait to cheer you on.

At New York here coming up really soon. So in this episode, Hemanchu and I talk about how we met. We talk about how he credits his job at the time with how he got into running. Initially. We talk about how much we both love the running community, how he ended up running and as as an elite in North Dakota.

We talk about his family a little bit. His wife and daughter are into classical Indian dance and his son is following in his footsteps by joining the cross country team and run clubs and someday he hopes to run Boston with with them, which I find really cool. I hope to do that perhaps with my dad someday.

Who knows? And then other marathons, he's run Chicago Last chance bq. He did a virtual marathon. He's run Boston, obviously Detroit, and then we talk about Berlin. So he's fresh off Berlin Marathon. We talk about how he went to October Fest, how he has family in Germany and his PR that he snagged out there, which is just incredible to me.

We talk about how he's also started pacing marathons, really as a way to give back to the running community. And we also talked about how he just volunteered at Chicago. So for those of you who ran, I did say on my Instagram where to look out for him, but Haman Chu was responsible for Gatorade at the first aid station at around mile 1.6.

So I hope some of you saw him there. And maybe I will be volunteering at an aid station in the future for Chicago. We shall see. So I hope everybody loves this conversation with Hemanchu. Alright, welcome Hemanchu. So nice to be here, ally. It is so good to see you again. Last time I saw you, it was May.

Exactly. I, I was remembering the time I first saw you. I believe it was in the plane over from Chicago to Fargo. It was started chatting and I heard about your fun stories. Yeah. It, you know, you sit in the airport and you play the game of who's going to North Dakota for the marathon. Exactly. I said, I, I, I kind of thought that Yeah.

Most of the people would be going. Uh, going to Far Fargo in that plane would be going to the marathon, but I didn't think how many, I think, if I remember correctly, it was like 80, 90% of the plane was all Yep. Marathon four. Yep. I, yeah, I remember. And you had your Boston jacket on. Yeah, I remember. That's right.

Good memory. That's, yep. That's amazing. Well, 'cause that was my telltale sign. I'm like, well, obviously he's a runner. I mean, and you have the build, you know, the runner build. And then we had, um, I forget her name. Do you remember the name of the woman who won the marathon that sat in front of us? Start with an S.

Patty. Patty. Okay. Sadie. Yep. Sadie, yep. Okay. Yeah, I believe, yeah. Yeah. I have yet to track her down, but I remember you guys started talking about being elite runners and I was kind of like, okay, I'm just gonna listen to you guys talk about what it's like to be up in the front. So, cool. Um, I'm, uh, I did, like I told you, Ali and I, whenever we chatted, um, I, it's, it's a blessing to be able to run.

And I feel so happy when I run. And, um, it's, it's an amazing journey that I've been through. So how did you get started running? Uh, so it's a weird and funny story. I started running 12 or 13 years ago. I, I was never very athletic as a kid. Not really athletic. I, I grew up in India and most of the kids in India play cricket.

So I did play cricket, but I was not really good, but I just played with, uh, friends and neighbors and stuff. Um, in high school also, I used to play a little bit, but nothing great. Tried for track teams, but I was never really that good, so never kind of made it to any teams of stuff when I was working in Wisconsin at ge.

I wanted to kind of get healthier. So I started, there was a, a gym at, uh, my workplace, so I thought I'll start taking some of the classes. I started taking spin classes and stuff, and my colleagues there were about 15 to 20 years older than me. They, they used to run at lunchtime. And they said, Hey, why don't Hemanchu, why don't you join us?

And I said, oh, I don't know how to run. I never, I, I can't do it. So they said, oh, why not just try one mile two miles, we'll go We'll, I said, well, that sounds very long. I said, okay, fine. I had started doing some, uh, workout spin classes and some other core classes, so I thought, well, I was getting a little bit better with, with my fitness.

So I said, okay, I'll give it a shot. That's how it started, Ellie. Uh, so I owe it a lot to them and I've actually. Chatted with them a few times since then too. I left that company. For three years or so after I started running. Okay. Uh, off, uh, and then, but I've, I've, I've not been very good at keeping touch with them, but I've thanked them.

I remember I thanked them when I qualified for Boston once, and I thanked them when I ran my first Boston. I emailed them and I, uh, told them that. That's so nice. It was so on the campus of ge, I don't know if it's a campus, that's what I picture. Is there like a run, like a trail around that you would Yeah.

Run. Yeah. So you You're very well said. I mean, it did, it, it's a big campus and we did, there was a trail connecting to it. So yeah, I used to join them and then that's how I got started. So it was, it was very convenient because there was a shower. Gym there. That's nice. So we would go off a run, come back, take a shower, and kind of do that.

So at that time I was mixing it up with other classes like Spin and other core classes. Yeah. That's so nice to have access to that at work. So nice. It was, it is really a blessing. Yeah. So what distance of a race, like how did you get into the racing part of it? So I, from there then I, um, I don't fully remember, but I think I started like with some 5K.

So I tried that a couple of times. It felt good and I did good. I remember I did my first half marathon in, uh, uh, I believe it was Kenosha. Uh, okay. So just across the border, uh, from so close to the border of Illinois and Wisconsin, um, I still used to live in, in Milwaukee there, so I drove about, it was about 40 mil, uh, minutes.

Uh, my in-laws were in town, so they came along with me. My, uh, and the family friends from up north in the Chicago area. They also came in my. Wife. Wife and my son. They came, they did the run walk, kinda the fun, uh, event. And I did that half marathon. So that was my first race, like a longer distance race, the half marathon that I did in 2011.

2011. So when you first started doing those races, even the five Ks, were you really fast just right outta the gate, just kind of naturally. I was reasonable. Uh, I very honestly, Ali, I don't think I can tell you, but remember the time. I remember vaguely the times that I did for my, uh, first few half marathons.

Okay. I was in the higher one forties, if I remember correctly. Okay? Uh, okay. Hour 40, hour 48 is, I believe was my initial time. Hour 48. Hour 50. Okay. Uh, I believe was my initial time. I picture you like winning, winning the, you know, you go out for your first 5K and you just win and you're like, oh, because that's, you know, you've, well, uh, not that, but now I do.

Now you right. I'm blessed to be able to do that. Gosh. Especially in smaller, mid, mid to small races. I, I do that plenty of times. That is so fun. That's really, really cool. And so how, how has your speed improved over time? It's funny to say that because I started running, like I said, about 12, 13 years ago and now I'm getting older and then like we were chatting and we'll get back into it more.

Yeah, I just did my eighth marathon in Berlin two weeks ago and that was my pr so I've, I've been able to get faster as I've grown older and I've definitely gotten much more consistent and serious in the last. Four and a half, five years, even though, like I said, my first marathon was in 2011. Mm-hmm. Um, so I've been, I think consistency is probably, I would say the, the, the biggest reason.

And then just, uh, the aspiration and that, like, I, I keep setting up goals and I chase them and, and I guess finally I would say the support system around me. Uh, has been great. I, I run with some buddies and I kind of train with them. It's, the journey is a lot of fun too. Racing is absolutely fun, but the journey is a lot of fun too.

Yeah. Are those guys you mentioned, are they the BRC gang? Is that what you're referring to? Because I saw that on Strava and I was like, I wonder, I'm gonna ask him about that. That, yeah. So Barrington Run Club, uh, shout out to them and I will send them this podcast. I actually already talked to them about you and your Etsy, uh, store.

Uh, and I'll, uh, with to one of my good friends, uh, uh, I run with her a lot. Uh, but yes, so some of them are parts, part of the BRC and a couple other guys. And part of two run clubs. One is BRRC, which is Barrington Run Club, which is the town that I live in, in North Northwestern Line. And another one, which is right next to next, uh, town over, it's called Alpine Runners.

Okay. Um, that's, uh, those are the two. And I've, I've, I've made very great connections, good friends. Uh, we keep in touch and we kind of train together too. Nice. Are they like formal run clubs where you like pay a fee for the year and you have events together, or is it more. I don't know how big Barton's pretty big, right?

Uh, Barton is a, uh, it's not very big, but yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a reasonably big, uh, good Spice town. Um, no, it was started by, I guess originally by just couple of us just getting together. And then there's this one woman, Mary Berlin, I'll give a shout out to her. Uh, she, uh, she took this initiative, she. I met her just while running.

She makes connections with everybody. She in the town that we run around. Oh, that's fine. She tries to connect and then, so she's, she's like a, a magnet through her I've connected with a lot of, uh, good people and, uh, yeah, I mean, and that's how I kind of grew The Alpine, uh, runners is a formal club. Yeah.

There's membership and actually now I've, uh, I volunteered there a lot. I've helped them with the website. I coach the kids running club program there. Every summer we do that, so I coach there too. Uh, so yeah, I've, uh, tried to keep connected in a lot of different ways. Yeah. Well to your point, you know, the journey, the community, that's what makes running so special and racing is so fun.

I always think when I'm getting ready to race, I'm like, okay, this is, you know, then you, now you get to race. Like this is the fun part. But I do, I love all of that leads up to it too. How did you end up. In North Dakota, was that marathon number seven then, I guess? Correct. Okay. It was marathon number seven, uh, first of the year for 2023.

I'm crazy. And I'm doing three this year, so we'll see how the, those go. Two went great, but yeah, I, I got into North Dakota through one of the, the buddies that I said who I trained with. He ran last year and he said, with my pace I could, uh, run as an elite. And that had a cool, uh, sound to it like, um, you and I were talking about earlier.

Yeah. Just, okay. So I emailed them, emailed, he told me the race director's info, uh, and uh, I emailed them and they said, yes, we would love to have you. That's how it started. And then, uh, I, I booked my flights and everything and then later I realized there were a few other folks from BRC, my local town were also going.

So we had a good, uh, good, uh, it was a quick trip where you and I were on flights back and forth together. Yeah. Uh, to and fro. Uh, but yeah, it was a quick trip. But yeah, a lot of fun. Uh, loved it. And uh, that's how I landed there. So when you are able to be an elite. Does. What does that mean? That means you don't pay.

You don't pay like a typical runner would due to register. Do you get accommodations? Like, what does that look like? I should know because I'm on the board of our marathon, but I don't know, so please tell me. Yeah. Uh, so you make, make me, uh, you're, you're making me blush a little bit, Ali, but I do, this was my first time I did it as an elite in all disclosure, but yes.

They were very nice enough. They, it was a complimentary entry, so I did not pay for the race. Yes. They also gave me accommodation, which was in the students' apartments for North Dakota State University right across from the Fargo Dome. So it was a cool, yeah. Okay. I walked across the street into the race racing area, racing start line, so I was like.

Two minutes away from there. So that was a really, really cool thing. But yeah, that, that's how it was. And uh, I got a nice badge to kind of run around, uh, or wear with, uh, in the expo and around. So it was a cool, cool experience. Yeah, I really enjoyed that race. The weather was really nice. It was nice and flat.

Fargo as a city was a lot better than I expected. I didn't really know what to expect. I'd never been there, and I thought they did a really nice job. Really nice job. Same here. Yeah, same here. I definitely had a great experience. Um, I'm still in the journey to try different, uh, races yet because there's so many of them.

So I don't, I mean, if you were to ask me, oh, would I go again? Yeah, there's, it is a good thing, but there's so many other good things I know to try. Yes. So why, why not try different ones? But yeah, otherwise I would highly recommend, uh, the Fargo marathon very well put together, well organized. So you start from inside the dome so you don't have to freeze.

Right? Yeah. That was nice. Yeah, that was nice. And you finish inside, uh, the dome. You go through a lot of neighborhoods, but yeah, they were, for that size of the race, it was a good, decent crowd around. Yeah, yeah. More people than I thought, you know? For sure. It, I pictured it's like, well, everybody who lives here is outside now, so That's right.

Yeah, I feel the same way about it. I don't know, unless there was like a group of my friends that decided to go for some reason. I don't know that I would go back just because now that was my 50th state visited. So I've been to every state in the United States, but I've not run in every state in the United States.

So now I kind of am like, Hmm, I've run in North Dakota. That seems like a hard one. So maybe I can just start checking the boxes for, for other states. So. Yeah, I remember asking you that, uh, that when we chatted, when, uh, we were there. So that's a cool goal. I don't know if I'll start, uh, that list yet. Uh, I'm, I'll be far, far away from that.

Yeah. So I know I'm just kind of like, it's unofficial at this point. I do have a metal hanger in my basement that has a map, which is just fun. I originally, when I got it, didn't get it just because I wanted to, but because. To do 'em all, but I wanted to be able to see where I'd been, where I'd run and yeah, I think my husband would kill me if I was like, I'm gonna run in every state.

He'd be like, oh boy, here we go. So does your wife run at all? Uh, no, but she has, uh, done, uh, some races in the past few years. Some five Ks primarily. She, she loves to, uh, dance. She's an indi, a classically trained, uh, Indian classical dancer. Uh, wow. So she does that a lot. And then she, uh, obviously other than running around, uh, uh, kids, but she does a lot of, uh, Zumba and, uh, other kind of cardio, uh, fitness exercises is Indian classical dance, like what I would picture at an Indian wedding.

Is that, or is that different? I don't know. Yeah, no. So that what you see at weddings is more like pop or fun. Okay. Kind of party dance, but no, what you would, uh, like it's a lot more a, I don't know, you would compare it to some, it's not a comparison, but like ballet, so there's a formal outfit and then you would, most of Indian classical dance is somewhat done as a.

To some kind of God. Okay. So, uh, you kind of pray to the Lords and then you, uh, you, uh, do the offerings while you're dancing. That's really cool. So she done her whole kinda, she did a graduation, so she, I think it's like seven or eight years of learning, and then you do a formal graduation. And my, now, now our younger daughter is following her mom's footsteps.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. That's cool. And how many, how many kids do you have? I have two kids, uh, two boy, 11, and my daughter is eight. Yeah. So your daughter's following in her footsteps. Is your son running? Is he starting to Yes, my son is running, he's in middle school. He is part of the cross country team. Uh, my daughters, uh, also run, uh, does, uh, run club in her school.

Uh, I keep telling them, I said, I, I, I'm hoping one day both of you get to the Boston Marathon and I hope I can run with you. Yep. So that I said I'll, I'll buy your tickets, I'll do everything for you. Yes. And if you get there and, uh, that'll be, and I wish, and if I'm running till then I will run with you guys.

Yeah, I think that's really special. I've run a couple of marathons with my dad and that has been so special. We ran the Marine Corps together. We've done a couple Chicagos together. One where he actually, he qualified for Boston and Illinois at the Illinois Marathon, and I ran part of it when he was too fast for me.

So now I'm kind of, I'm definitely following in his footsteps. Um, he hopes to run a marathon again, but he's 66 this year. He's hoping to do one when he is 70. So, and he wants to run with my daughter who is six. I'm like, well, I don't know about that dad, but we'll see. We'll see how long you hang in there.

But that's really special. So, um, you mentioned. So that was seven, Berlin was eight. What other marathons? Certainly Chicago, right? Being in the Chicago land area, I have already done Chicago in, in the past that I, in 2021, that was an amazing race, especially coming out of COVID. Um, I had, uh, qualified. For Boston in 2019, uh, by running the last Chance BQ two.

Mm-hmm. Um, in, uh, um, in the wheat, uh, area here in, uh, uh, in the Chicago suburbs. That was really cool. Um, but then COVID came, so 2020, there was just a few weeks before I was ready to race all, everything shut down. So that was a big, big disaster. Yeah. Um, so kind of again, had to qualify in 21. And then I, then Boston 22.

So, so you did Chicago. Oh, you had to do it again. I didn't realize you had to qualify again, man. Yeah, so I did a virtual run. Virtual race in 2020. Yeah. And then I ran, which was, uh, it was a cool one because there's a, uh, it's bus, it's called Bussy Woods. It's a big recreational forest preserve area. And I did loops there.

I believe it was eight or eight and a half mile loops. Okay. And I did, uh, a little more than three of them. And, uh, couple of my friends from BRC. Okay. Perfect pace. Me. It was amazing. My wife and kids and mom wa came and watched. It was just an amazing, uh, cool time. It was a really good, good. They sat around and then, uh, watched me do loops there.

Was that the only one you did virtually? That was the only one I did virtually. But in, uh, in COVID, I did, uh, definitely was able to keep up with my training and actually that kind of helped me be a lot more consistent. Um, so that was a good way to kind of get out, even though we're seeing some of my other running buddies, we were able to keep distance and kind of be, feel comfortable with that.

So yeah, it was kind of a, you can call it a blessing in disguise, right? Um, and we were able to, to do that. Um, so yeah, that was in 20. 21. I ran Chicago. That was a great race. That was my first major. Okay. Then in 22 I did Boston. Um, so I, and uh, amazing. I think so far it's a tough call between Boston and Berlin.

Uh, I totally, totally enjoyed Boston, amazing crowds. It was, uh, it was, it was so cool before the race. And after, uh, and during race and after, it was just an amazing journey and uh, the crowds are just, just super, super. So that was, and then in 22 falls, so I did in 22, early, I did Boston and then the fall 22 I did Detroit Marathon.

That was another cool experience. Uh, you start in Detroit, you go to Canada or the break. Okay. I was gonna ask. You went to Canada, does the marathon always go to Canada? Uh, I believe that was the first year after a few years of stretch, they came, did the whole Canada and US back and forth. Yeah. Okay. For a few years because of COVID, they had shut that down, so they were only doing that in the us.

Okay. And then I was lucky to be able to do the Canada, so I did the Ambassador Bridge, went into Canada. Did five or six miles there and came back, came back under the tunnel to Detroit. Okay. Amazing race. That was my PR at that time. I hit my pr, I broke the two 50 barrier in, uh, amazing. In, uh, Detroit 2022.

I had another guy, actually he's one that I met, uh, in the Fargo Airport, and he was, he, his Fargo marathon was his 75th marathon. And he had done the Detroit one, so I talked to him about that. He said that he like the pa, I asked him like the passport situation for like, yeah. How do you, the logistics of the race work when you're literally crossing the border, did you have, were you carrying anything or like, did they check anything?

I was, it was funny you ask Ali, you, they recommended you carry the passport, so I did carry my passport in my pocket. How, I gotta tell you, I would've been really upset if they called me out and stopped me to right check my passport, to ruin my time, right? It's like, 'cause I was feeling great and I, I, that would've been really bad.

But no, the, it was another very well organized race. The expo was nice on the smaller side, but Expo was very nice. Uh, the logistics were good. The race, uh, course was set up very nicely. Uh, it was a good spectating, uh, course, like I said, my, my wife, my son, and my mom were able to chase me. They saw me at two or three spots.

Oh, that's great. Uh, so it was, it was a cool, cool experience. Yeah. And how did you choose that one? Uh, so that one I was just looking in fall, I wanted to try something different. I did not wanna do Chicago again, so it was just around the time because. Uh, I, with a lot of other buddies I trained with, they were trading for Chicago.

So I thought I'll, it should be around that time. And then I had heard about Detroit. I did some research. It's an easy drive from Chicago. My cousin lives in Detroit, so we did a quick weekend trip and then we were there. Nice. Cool. It was, well, I wanna talk about Berlin, so wait now. Okay. We're in 23 and Yeah.

You did Fargo? Yes. And then Berlin. How did you get into Berlin? So, uh, I did so in Berlin. As far as I know, there's a few ways. Either you go through the lottery or you, uh, go through a charity tour operator, or the other way you qualify the time. Okay. I did qualify with time. I put in my Detroit time. That helped me qualify for the race.

So I was super pumped when I got the, the acceptance in March. Yeah. And, uh, I, that checked off my third major. Yeah. I've done now with three major, three world majors so far, so cool. So did your family go with you to Berlin? Did you take them? That was unfortunate because schools had started and the kids have so many friends, it's a bit hard to kinda go with, uh, uh, kids.

However, I have family in Germany, so they came and watched me. It was really cool. My, my cousins and uncle and aunt, they live four and a half hours away from Berlin. So my two, two of my cousins and uh, their family came over and watched me race, and then I went back with them. So it was very good. Wow. So.

When you were going for Berlin, did you think about that? Did you have your family in mind in terms of, Hey, this is the first one I'll do 'cause I have family there. That would be nice. Yeah, so, uh, I, I did, I told them that I was gonna apply for Berlin, the, the, the fall before. And so last fall, uh, and I told them that, uh, uh, they, they said, we will absolutely come see you if you, if you get in.

So they kept their word and it was so good to see them. Uh, I hung out with 'em before the race. Saw them during the race and then I went back home with them to their place after the race. That's really neat. So how long had it been since you'd seen them before Berlin? Uh, they were here last summer. Come they had come to visit.

Okay, so not too bad then. Yeah, because I was thinking with the pandemic, right? Having international family, it's like, man, having That's right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So we, we, we wanna, uh, our, uh, there. Her kids are younger than uh, uh, my kids, but we wanna keep the connection going. So we we're still now planning for maybe seeing, seeing them next year if possible. Yeah, that's, that's so great. So they live about four, four and a half hours away. So you went back. Them afterwards. Did you get to stay for, I guess I'm trying to like, yeah. Do the math in my head of, in terms of like how long it's been since then. It was a crazy, uh, turn. I reached Berlin on the Thursday before Thursday night before the race.

Okay. Friday I spent. Half a day at the Expo. Amazing expo. Really cool, really cool. And uh, then I did a little bit of sightseeing. Uh, later that evening I saw there was an event that the Bird of Marathon had put together for Meet this Stars, where I saw Elliot Kipchoge the goat. It was so amazing to see him Saturday.

I tried to hang out lo so my cousins were there, so I met them, kind of roamed around a little bit with them. Was trying to keep a wave on, off, on, off my feet, but I, they, they knew some people in Berlin, so I did kind of go hang out with them. And then Sunday I did my race. After the race. I drove with them four and a half hours that evening.

So probably four hours after the race completed? Yeah, about three hours or three or four hours after the race completed that I drove with them, uh, to, to Dusseldorf, which is four and a half hours. Oh, Dusseldorf, okay. Yes. Yep. They're, they're just outside of Dusseldorf, so drove with them and then had a good night's sleep there.

Uh, next day stayed there and on Tuesday my cousin's husband took me to Munich to Octoberfest. Perfect. Amazing. It was spent Tuesday evening there and then Wednesday morning I flew back home. Okay. Oh yeah. October Fest. I'm so jealous of the runners that I know that went after 'cause what a perfect way to cap that off.

Absolutely. It was so cool. It was amazing. Yeah, I went in college, which now has been quite some time ago, and it was one of the most incredible experiences. I mean, it's just so many people, people from all over the world. I mean, just crazy and great beer. I mean, and beer. Like you can, I don't know how.

Women carry these beer steins like in a tower. I mean Oh my goodness. Yeah. I was, Ali, I was, my arm was hurting, but just carrying one moss. Yeah. So, and that was one liter. And even without the beer, the, that glass is so heavy. And then you put a one liter beer. Mm-hmm. It was. Definitely a, uh, arm workout, right?

Yeah. Oh, that's, that's so fun. So you spent one day in Munich then? Yeah, I did spend one day in Octoberfest. Yep. And then the next, uh, mid-morning I, Wednesday I had my flight back home. Okay. Did you wear your medal to October Fest? I did not wear my medal. I did wear, not I, on the airport and everywhere. I did wear my Berlin jacket everywhere.

Okay. Uh, but I, I was wearing, uh, like they do now in a lot of races. They put a band around your arms. Yeah, I saw that. What was that about? Yeah, so I think they are just to sit like to, and you cannot take the band off till you complete the race. It gets you into the corrals and everything. So then you gotta show the bib and you gotta show the band.

Um, they kind of feel the band up your, uh, arm. Um, it was cool. I did not take the band off till I came home. Yeah, so the whole from put it on on the expo. So Friday through the Wednesday later and when I got back home, uh, in Octoberfest, I met others. Who had that. It was cool. I chit chatted with them. I met one woman from, uh, near Philadelphia.

Uh, she had run the raid. Uh, so actually she was gonna run Chicago too, so maybe I'll see her. So are you running, you're running this Sunday? No, I'm not running Chicago. Oh my gosh. I'm volunteering. I'm volunteering Chicago Marathon. Okay. It's like, oh my God. But a lot of people are doing the double. I don't know.

That's so fast. That's correct. Yeah. That's so fast. Oh my gosh. Um. Yeah. So your pr, okay, so 2 46 34. What your Strava said is, at the time, 27 27, I wanna, yeah, we gotta make sure we get that right. 'cause that's now the new number to go after. That is amazing. It, uh, thank you. I, I appreciate it. Uh, I was so ecstatic.

Uh, what a race. Um, I, I mean, I had to dig in for sure. My right foot started to cramp. Around kilometer 31, so let's say around 18 miles. 17, 18 miles. Okay. So I still had a while to go and the cramps were very painful, so they came and went. Uh, luckily I, like I said, I had to dig in. I slowed down a tad bit, but my splits also when I looked at them, were very good. My second half split was only a minute and a half slower than my first half split. Okay. So it was. I mean, I guess God wanted me to kind of do something good and mm-hmm. It worked out for the past. It was a really amazing experience. You talked about the crowds. The whole course was very well laid out.

There were so many bands, uh, playing and then talking about my family. I was luckily able to see them at, I think I saw them at kilometer 34. Okay. So about two to three kilometers after I started to hurt, I saw 'em. So that gave me so much energy and I actually did look at that split, that 5K was. I was able to capture some time back.

In that 5K split, so it definitely did gimme some boost of energy and I would've sustained to the finish line. Yeah. Yeah. That's always scary when something starts to hurt, especially when you've got that much to go. You're like, just please. That's right. Don't get worse. Yeah. Um, that, that's, that's what we talk, right, Ali?

I mean, uh, we both know marathoning is such a, a different sport. Whatever you train, you still don't know exactly how it's gonna happen in that 26.3 miles. Right? Yeah. So ex Exactly. Do you go in with, do you have a certain plan laid out? Are you kind of an even split guy? Like, I'm gonna just. Do the same, like try to stay around the same time every mile.

Do you, you know, block it up into chunks? How do you go into race day typically? I, uh, I definitely, I won't lie that I, I mean, I would've been disappointed if I did not pr so that was my pr I did not think I was gonna be able to PR by this much. Right. Three and a half minutes. Three and a half minutes.

Yeah. So that was, it's insane. Uh, quite a big pr, um. But, so I, I thought that I would try to run a little bit quicker than my previous pr. I don't really believe in fully negative splitting because I believe if I negative split, then I have much more, or I still have more in my tank than I cannot. Mm-hmm. I, I should have run even faster.

So that's just my belief and also with my small experience. Something or the other hurts in the second half. Yeah. So if I don't have something, uh. Like in, in the, in the safe. Yep. The bank, I banked it. Mm-hmm. It's a bit harder to kind of do that. Um, yeah, so I, I felt good in the first half, so I kind of kept clocking along.

I was a bit faster than I thought. What I was able to run would have been able to run. It was a flat course, energy of the crowds, whatever. Mm-hmm. Maybe a good day. Adrenaline, maybe a combination of all of that and preparation too. So I, I was a bit faster than what I thought that I would be able to do, so I kept going.

And then, so I, like I said, I had a, a goal in mind per mile. I tried to do even splits as much as possible. And then, and there are times, usually in the second half, we're gonna have to dig in more to kind of sustain that. Mm-hmm. Or get that back. Yep. And, uh, I was able to do that. So I do have a bit of a race plan in the in mind, but I usually try to kinda think about some final time that I'm trying to chase and then, yeah, break that.

Just go after that. Yeah. Were the kilometers to miles, was that hard? Yeah, I was definitely kinda a bit weird, so I was going by my watch. Okay. More than the, the mind marker or kilomet? Yeah. My running coach actually, she ran and she. Figured out a way to turn her Garmin to have both, I think before. Oh, okay.

Okay. I don't remember exactly the setup, but she did something that made her feel better. 'cause I think that would be hard. You definitely, yeah. Wanna be looking at your watch versus kilometers, especially when you get up in the higher numbers. Yeah, exactly. You know, I'm already trying to do race math in my head.

Am I running fast? You know, how many seconds? You know, all that stuff you're like. Where am I? Yeah. So I, I did not do that, and probably I could, I could have considered, but it was not that bad. I mean, I was lying on my watch and Right. It worked fine. Yeah, just fine. That's good. Yeah. Um, and how was the, like, aid stations and fueling, is that all similar to races here?

Uh, no, it's not really similar, so I, that one I think I did not like it. And I, I, even though I've read a lot and I've, I've seen a lot of videos. It's not. It's very different than what US Americans kinda used to here. So the aid stations, the tables were smaller. Okay. Uh, they were, the cups were, they tried to be Europeans, especially Germans tried to be as efficient and less wasteful, less possible.

So they, they, they're, they're like in the races we, you and I run in, we used to paper cups, which we can squeeze a bit. To kind of pour the liquid, the water Gatorade into our mouth. Yes. Most of the eight stations there had. I don't know what, there was some kind of plastic, which you cannot bend really? Oh no.

So drinking from that while I'm running and when I'm running fast is difficult. Yeah. Uh, so that was hard to do. And secondly, because they were mostly on, only on one side and they were smaller, um, you had to kinda go in and out of runners and there was a lot of water and liquid on the floor. So it was a bit, felt a bit risky.

I thought I might slip. Luckily I did not, but there was a lot of stuff on the ground, like in Chicago also. There's there, but it's, it's so massive. Yeah. Like there's so many tables, like you really would have to kind of work hard to miss it because you can't miss it right there. Actually, I missed one water stop by, which I actually really wanted it, but I did.

Luckily, I, I got to the next one. And secondly, there are less water stops than you see in other races. Okay. But you, did you know that going in to kind of prepare? I mean, I, I did know that going in Ali, but uh, I did not wanna run with my own. Like bottle. Yeah. I don't, I just, especially when I'm kind of chasing a pr, I didn't, that's another logistics I don't usually run with water.

Mm-hmm. Or any liquid in my hand. So that's just, I didn't wanna kind of try that or do that. Uh, and then there were stops I knew earlier, but they were at weird markers, so I didn't remember exactly. Yeah. So, but I was able to sustain. Through them. So it worked out okay at then end. But that would be my only kinda mini complaint about it.

Yeah. Gosh. Three and a half minutes. That's so much time in a marathon. So much time. Yeah. That's so cool. No, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Congratulations. I appreciate it. It was so cool. It was so cool. And then I got your email like, I don't know, as soon as I, so probably that evening. That afternoon.

So when, as soon as I got got back to my hotel, I saw your email and I saw a plenty of, uh, messages from my friends who were training, training partners and uh, obviously my wife. Like she called me right away. As soon as I got my, I took a shower in the hotel and stuff. It was very cool. Yeah. Well I was tracking you.

I was cheering you on. Thank you. Um, and then I saw the number and I was like, crushed it. I didn't even have to like check if it was a PR 'cause it was just like, wow, that was. Killer. And then I saw in Strava you just paced a one 30 and a half marathon last weekend. Yeah, that's right. Uh, how did that, what, how'd you do that?

You called me crazy Ali, but yeah, I had already planned, I was gonna pace a half the weekend after my Berlin, so six days after my, yeah. Breaks. All the travel and everything. Uh, so pacing is another thing that I've, uh, now gotten into for the past three to four years. Again, got through one of my, uh, uh, good, uh, running buddies.

Uh, he told me about it. Uh, so I started now with couple of, uh, uh, racing companies who put a lot of races here in the Chicagoland area. But now through that, I've done quite a few. I've done multiple half marathons. I mean, if I were to kind of roughly count, I've at least spaced 15 half marathons, 10 to 15 half marathons.

Wow. Um, and now I'm on, on other, a lot of other racing, uh, communities to pace. Uh, so I, I, the, the, one of the coolest things about pacing that I would say is people coming and thanking me later. Uh, it's so gratifying. People got emotional. They hugged me, they cried and said, hell, you, I could not have chased one 30 without you.

Um, so it's, it's an amazing, I mean, if I can help just one person. Uh, so that's so cool. And then in the same, uh, thought, I think I, I just told you that I used BQ two last chance BQ two. Mm-hmm. 20. Now I paced that race too, so it's so cool. In 2019, I ran that to qualify, I just paced that. I just paced half part of it.

So I ran 15 miles because they have multiple pacers. I did that right now in September, before I went to Berlin, I used that. Now I use pacing races as my training run. That's what I was gonna ask. Yeah, that's smart actually. That's right. So I that one, so I'm part of that community too. That's really neat.

I am. I'm trying really hard to run with a PACE team. One of my friends is pacing a half marathon. That's the weekend before a race that I'm trying to pr for my half this fall, which is at the end of this month. And so the weekend before, she's pacing a two 10 half marathon, which is like 35, 40 minutes slower than my pr.

So it's, it will be very challenging for me, actually, which I don't want that to sound bad, but it's like, yeah, yeah. Running that slow. Yeah. Is really having to hold myself back. Absolutely. But I'm looking forward to just trying to really, truly go in to enjoy it and just, you know, be with my friend and the community and just, you know, time on my feet before the weekend following.

And so I'm intrigued by the concept of pacing and I'm intrigued by, um, pushing a wheelchair, intrigued by doing that in a race. I, I'm not doing that this year, but I'm hoping to do that. Next May at one of our half marathons here. I would like to do that sometime, but that is awesome. Ally. I have not looked into that, but I, I think that would be something I would, I would, uh, if you find out more, please let me know.

I mean, yeah, I might yeah. Look into that too. But yeah, it's, uh, facing it has been great. I didn't, when I started, I didn't think I was able to do it. I would not have been able to. I thought I can't keep up. It's a lot of pressure to kind of keep up even splits and now it's, it's, it's a lot of fun. I kinda That's really cool.

I I've got so many of them and, uh, uh, like I was telling you earlier that I, with that, I, I, a lot of times I win a lot of my age groups in even when I'm ing Yeah. That's, so that's fun. That's really fun. Um, I wanna be mindful of your time 'cause I know you'll have to get your son at some point and I have a couple of questions to ask you at the end.

Sure. So let's do that. That's okay. We can go a little bit over too, but Yeah, please. Okay. Whatever. Yeah. However you wanna do it. Yeah. Okay. The first question I have is, do you have a running mantra or song? So, I, I, uh, it's a hard question. I officially don't, the only thing that I can tell you, which I just told you about, um, in that had to do in Berlin too.

I just, when the. Thing gets tougher. Which it gets tougher for all of us when we are running long distances. I just think about like just, I keep saying in my head, dig in, dig in, dig in. Mm. And then also then I think about my family and I sometimes get emotional and then just that's cycle kinda helps me boost me and kinda.

Usually overcome. Happened to be in Boston too. I had cramps at mile 24 in Boston. I just told you about Berlin. So that, that's kind of what it is. I don't, I don't listen to music when I run. I've never run. That's gonna be my next question. Yes. So, sorry, I, I messed up that question, but I never No, no, you didn't.

I never listened to music. I, I enjoy the nature. It's a big. I either run with people, so then we are chatting or kinda whatever, or I'm doing harder workouts, which I did one this morning. Mm-hmm. Or I am, it becomes somewhat meditative for me. Like I have these train of thoughts that I'm kind of doing, going, I look around and then I, I just, a lot of times I run by myself.

Yeah. Uh, I enjoy that. I truly do. Yeah. You didn't mess that up. I, I find that in talking to a lot of people that. A lot of people who run faster don't run with music, which is interesting. It intrigues me. So anyway, I don't know if I'm ready to give up my music, but I find that a lot of times I zone out anyway.

Like in a lot of what I hear is what I'm thinking in my head versus music. But I don't know, it's just interesting. I, I, since we both are runners and uh. I admire everybody who runs. I mean, I, I appreciate you calling me fast. We are all at different parts of the journey, right? We are. Yes. I, I call, I mean, I'll say, oh yeah.

I mean, they're, they're, people forget about the elite, but even guys I know who runs much, much faster than me, but I feel blessed to be able to do what I can do. But I, the thing that I, I feel is it's an individual sport. We are running against ourselves. This 2 46 that I'm happy with. A lot of people would be sad with say, oh yeah, that's like if they're, if you're chasing a 2 35, 2 46 is very slow, right?

Yeah. So it's a, it's a individual game. We're all trying to get better. People who do long distances are committed, are usually resilient and kinda they, they put in a lot of commitment to it. So I think that's hats off to every runner. Uh, and who puts in the time and energy. It's definitely a special community and uh, I'm glad I'm able to do it and I'm glad I got into it.

Yeah, yeah. Amen to that. Actually, uh, a woman I had on a couple episodes ago, a few episodes ago, Jamica, she was out in Berlin and she ran, I think just over six hours. Yeah. And so we talked a lot about how she just, she does not really care at all about pa it's, she just wants to be. And I think, you know, hearing that just gives permission for people to just, just go do it.

Like nobody really cares about your time except for you and I I do, I feel the same way. I have so much respect for everybody that's out there. Totally. And then you said three marathons, so, all right. What's, what's next? Is it New York? I'll be, I will be New York in four more weeks. Oh my gosh. So that'll be my fourth major.

So two majors off this year. Uh, I am, I was pumped for Berlin. I'm trying to pump myself, but yeah, I, I've no more, I look and research into New York. Uh, I'm getting, uh, super excited. It's gonna be a very different game than what I had in Berlin. Uh, yeah. But I'm, uh, I'm excited to be there. Wow. Oh, New York I got, I ran in 2018.

Oh, you did? I did. And it was a bluebird day. I mean, the most beautiful, perfect day the way it was, the way I pictured it. Hoping to run New York on a day where you could just see everything and it was, it was awesome. We stayed in Long Island City. Okay. I don't know where you're staying. I'm actually staying in New Jersey.

My brother lives there. Okay. Uh, so he lives in Edison just across the river. Uh, he's, he is gonna drive me. There's a buses that go from Jersey, the meadow lines to Staten Island. So I'm gonna take that bus. Okay, nice. Yeah. I was gonna ask, are you bus or ferry or, we did like a train to a bus. Yeah, we did.

Yeah. Train to bus and it was pretty, pretty easy. It just was a long process. So I just remember I. I ran about four and a half hours was my time in New York, and which was what my goal was, and it took me longer to get to the start line than it did for me to run. So I'm sure that'll be, that probably will be the case for you perhaps, but yeah.

It was so, so magical, so, oh my gosh. Do you have friends that will be out there too that you know are running? Uh, so yeah. My couple of my colleagues live in, uh, Manhattan. So they'll, I've already talked to them, so they'll be out, out there on the course. I told about my brother and sister-in-law, they'll be there, definitely be watching me.

We gotta figure out where exactly and stuff. Uh, and the, I'm, I'm running like, there's a couple people from BRC and I know who are also going there, so. Great. We'll be there. Ah. And then do you have plans for Tokyo and what's it on? London. London, yeah. So I bummer. Uh, I did not get into Tokyo. I put in the lottery.

This was my first time putting in the lottery, so I, I don't think I can complain too much. I know it's a very long shot. Yeah. Uh, uh, before this I never really thought I would go chase the six majors, but now I don't know if I care so much about six majors. As I care about, or not care, but I want to experience different ones.

And yeah, Chicago was awesome. Boston was awesome. Mm-hmm. Uh, Berlin was amazing. I'm hoping from what you just said and whatever I've heard new New York, that's gonna be cool. So then yeah, why not The other two too, I've already heard about. Yeah, I, I, I haven't heard too much about Tokyo, but I've heard a lot about London.

So let's see now. I'll, uh, keep putting it in my, in the hat and see when I get it. Yeah. Very cool. Oh gosh. Oh, I'm so jealous. You get to go to New York this year. I mean, I would love to go back there at some point, but yeah, to your point, again, it's like there's so many others to experience. Yeah, absolutely.

There's so many races I wanna do. Um, absolutely. But have you, I saw, I think on Strava, you've been doing some hill work for the, for New York because there's, you know, the bridge is, I don't know, it was Central Park that got me the most was, oh, really? I didn't realize how hilly the last six miles are. And Yeah, that's what I've been seeing.

Yeah. Yeah. It's not like they're giant hills, but it's just, I didn't know that Central Park was hilly, which might sound silly to somebody who lives there and was like, yeah, it is. But the parts of Central Park I had run in before going there were flat, so I had no clue. So I was glad somebody actually said that to me before I ran.

'cause I hadn't studied the course. I just knew there were some bridges and I knew it was kind of hilly, but I didn't. Meticulously look to see. It was my first marathon back after baby number two, so I was just out there to be out there. Um, yeah. But yeah, so that was the only thing, but when you get to Central Park, it is, the crowds are insane.

Yeah. So it was like a good balance of, you know, obviously the last six miles of a marathon are hard. Um, so, but the crowds were, were great. So that's what I've heard. I mean, uh, so I'm kind of looking forward to that, that piece and, um, how the crowds kind of take you over. Mm-hmm. Um. Yes, I've been doing hill work.

I, where I live in Barrington, it's pretty hilly. People actually from Chicago come over to our suburbs. Oh, they do? To train. Chicago is very flat, as you know. Mm-hmm. Uh, so they come to the suburbs. They're about 45 minutes away from the Chicago city downtown. So yeah, people come here, so I am fine. Even on my daily runs, I kind of get some hills, but there are areas where I go to, to do more head work.

Gotcha. Okay. And one last question. What are you doing in Chicago from a volunteer capacity? So, I'm, uh, this is my second year. Well, I mean, I'm through my run club. The Alpine Runners, they manage the first aid station, which is a mile 1.6. Okay. They recruited me last year as a key volunteer. What that means is I'm.

From one side of the, of the thing, I'm the Gatorade supervisor. All that means that I'm trying to corral the other volunteers and help out to set up. I think there are 10 tables of Gatorade. On the east side is of the course is what I'm gonna be. Okay. Me and, uh. 50, 60 of the volunteers on my side will do.

And then during the race, it's very cool. You see the elites fly by because at that time it's all open and then people start coming in. It's an amazing feeling. It was very cool last year, so I'm excited to be there on Sunday. How many hours will you put in? Uh, I will be there, uh, I have to check in at 4:00 AM Uh, I have to be there at 4:00 AM and I sh probably I'll be back home.

Uh, so I'll leave at, let's say about three 10. Okay. I live over 45, 50 minutes away. Uh, and then I should be back home probably around noon. It's my, yeah, that's a lot. I, I watch the race a little bit after that, but I'm usually very tired not to be able to do a ton more, but I, I try to do a little bit, but, um, but that's a lot.

I did my first aid station volunteering last weekend at a kids' race. We have downtown that our marathon puts on, and it's amazing. But I've never done a water tape. Like I've never done the cups and the filling, and it is so bad. Come on next year. Come on. Next year. Seriously, I'm interested. Yeah, please. Uh, let's, let's be in touch and then Yeah, I'll, yeah.

Come come to our, to, to through us, and then yeah. It'll be, it's a lot of fun. It was, and it's gratifying because you, you and I are runners. Yeah. We see what the volunteers do. Yeah. So now even on the other side, it, I did get an H last time, why am I not racing? But, right. I know it's hard, but side. Yeah. Yeah.

I feel like every runner should have to do that. They should do that for the world majors. Like, come volunteer and then you can have a spot. Yeah. I, I would definitely take that. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Well, Hemanchu. Thank you so much for your time. We've gotta get you to come to Carmel next year too. We gotta, I'll, we'll keep in touch.

Really, really excited for you and your PR and have fun this weekend and I'll be cheering for you in November. But really glad that I met you and I appreciate your time. Thank you so much, Ali. You're so good to meet you. And like I said earlier, running has made, uh, so many good connections and friends, and I'm so glad I would not have met you if I was not a runner and you were not a runner.

So I'm so glad. Made another connection. In touch and, uh, we'll talk soon. Sounds good. Well, thank you everybody for listening and happy running. Thanks.

Ally Brettnacher