Episode 37: Michael Hartnagel - Stay Positive

Episodes

Dec 15

Michael Hartnagel took over his dad's run streak when cancer stopped him from running. Two days after his dad passed, he ran 157 miles across Indiana in three days to honor him.

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About this episode

Michael Hartnagel grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, the youngest of three boys, played college baseball at DePauw and Butler, and briefly played independent pro ball. His dad, a longtime Avon High School teacher and coach, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January 2017 and lived by one mantra through his six-and-a-half-year battle: stay positive.

We talk about walking the Indy Mini with his dad during chemo and radiation, the run streak his dad started that Michael carried on past 1,000 combined days, and running laps outside the Simon Cancer Center during his dad's final chemo rounds. Michael shares the run across Indiana he did in September 2023, just after losing his dad, along with Metastatic Mission, the nonprofit he started, and becoming a new dad himself.

In this episode, we discuss

Growing up in Brownsburg with two teacher parents and family trips out West
Playing college baseball at DePauw and Butler and a stint with the Schaumburg Boomers
His dad's prostate cancer diagnosis in January 2017
Signing up for the 2019 Monumental Marathon with no running background
Taking over the run streak his dad started during chemo and radiation
Walking the Indy Mini with his dad, who jogged the final mile months after a fractured femur
His first ultra, the Ice Age Trail 50K, with his dad crewing
Running 10, 11 and 12 miles outside the Simon Cancer Center for his dad's chemo rounds
Planning a 157-mile run across Indiana for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Losing his dad two days before the run and the rainstorm at the start in Richmond
Grinding through hills and heat by running from one no passing zone sign to the next
Breaking down at mile 137 and walking the last mile in his dad's HOKAs and hiking poles
Metastatic Mission and spreading faith, love and positivity
Support from HOKA and a $10,000 surprise donation from the Indianapolis Colts
Becoming a dad to Banks and the mantra "For those who can't"

Chapters

00:00 · Intro
06:00 · Growing up in Brownsburg
11:00 · College and pro baseball
13:00 · His dad's cancer diagnosis
18:00 · First marathon and the run streak
24:00 · Walking the Indy Mini with Dad
26:00 · Ice Age Trail 50K
28:00 · Laps outside the Simon Cancer Center
30:00 · Planning the run across Indiana
34:00 · Losing his dad before the start
37:00 · 157 miles from Richmond to Illinois
41:00 · Mile 137 and the final mile
46:00 · Time with Dad and final conversations
52:00 · Metastatic Mission and its supporters
58:00 · Becoming a new dad
1:02:00 · Mantra, podcasts and what's next

Where to find Michael

Metastatic Mission
TikTok: The Positive Runner

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Indy Mini-Marathon, Ice Age Trail 50K, Leadville Trail 50, Chicago Marathon, Run Across Indiana
Organizations and charities: Metastatic Mission, IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, HOKA, Indianapolis Colts, Butler University, DePauw University, Schaumburg Boomers, Avon High School, Beyond Monumental
Other: Rich Roll Podcast, Noah Kahan, "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira, HOKA Speedgoat, Shokz headphones, Strava, Joe Kern

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

Who ran across Indiana in honor of his dad?

Michael Hartnagel of Brownsburg, Indiana ran 157 miles across Indiana in three days in September 2023, from Richmond to the Illinois line, to honor his dad, who died of prostate cancer two days before the run.

What is Metastatic Mission?

Metastatic Mission is a nonprofit started by Michael Hartnagel that aims to spread faith, love and positivity to people facing cancer. Half the funds from his run across Indiana went to the Simon Cancer Center.

What run streak did Michael Hartnagel take over from his dad?

Michael Hartnagel's dad started a daily run streak on January 1, 2021 while going through chemo and radiation, and when doctors told him to stop running that April, Michael kept the streak going for him, passing 1,000 combined days.

Support this show

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.

Hello and welcome to episode 37. This is Ally Brettnacher and I just got home from a gift exchange at my run Coach's house, so thank you Rachel Senders of Rachel. Michelle running for opening up your home to me and other women that you coach. It was really fun. We did like a. Why Elephant Gift exchange, but it was all of our favorite running things.

So thank you to my friend Amanda who purchased a mug that I made for the exchange that had team RMR on it. That was a big hit. Thank you to Jennifer Nye, who was recently on this podcast for showing up with a gift just for me. She got me this super cute custom podcast ornament that says the year and finish lines on it.

And it is my favorite colors and thank you, Jennifer. That was so thoughtful and kind of you. I got to see Lindsay Welty, who was also on this podcast. Couple of Christie's there. Christie d um, was early in this podcast and she. It's getting ready to run Sydney next year, and we were talking about her bracelet business that's on Etsy and how we can work together next year.

I'm just so grateful for her. I got to meet Allison in person. We have exchanged many messages on Instagram and she has been a customer, and I appreciate her so much. Lisa, who listens to this podcast, I actually got her favorite things that she brought to the party. Some featured socks, which I am obsessed with, and Tiger Balm.

If you have not tried Tiger Balm, it's kind of like a Biofreeze or. Uh, a title. It's like a muscle soothing cream balm, and it's amazing. I also got to meet some women I've never met before and see a few familiar faces. Um, I met a young woman named Emily, who runs marathons with her dad and was inspired by her recent race in New York, and she's heading 18 Tokyo next year.

I met Kristen, I saw Susan again, who I met at another Rachel gathering. Danielle, Jill, who I've spent some miles running with, uh, in races actually. And then of course, Sarah, who I think listens to this still, who I've now met on a couple of occasions and seen at the end of a race. And this group of women is just so amazing and so inspiring.

And tonight was. Something that I needed. I'm just overwhelmed with the holidays and trying to figure out what I wanna do with my life and then enter Michael Hart Nagel and this conversation we had this week. And you know, the whole mantra behind this episode is to stay positive. And when I express some of my overwhelming feelings, he said to me, you know, just stay positive and you'll see why that is so meaningful as you hear the story of him and his dad on today's episode.

So. Michael has started an organization called, UM, metastatic Mission. So first and foremost, please go check that out and support him. I know that by the end of this episode you will definitely want to, but we talked about Michael, his upbringing growing up in the nineties. His parents were both teachers.

He's the youngest of three boys. A lot of this episode has to do with his dad's cancer diagnosis and battle. He was diagnosed in January of 2017 and passed away this year in September. We talk about how running. Came into the picture in this journey and how run streaking became a thing for his dad. And then Michael took over when his dad couldn't, and when we recorded this, it was day combined over a thousand, like something like 1,075.

We talk about the kind of cheerleader his dad was. We talk about the Indie Mini that his dad did while they, he was going through chemo and radiation. You're gonna hear more details about that. They're just mind blowing. But he even ran the last mile and Michael got to experience that with him. We talk about Michael's first ultra marathon, which was in May of this year, how he honored his dad and his chemo rounds by running in front of the Simon Cancer Center.

We talk about how he ran across Indiana, the state, 157 miles to honor his dad and have some difficult conversations around, you know, the last couple of months of his dad's life and what met metastatic mission is and how Michael is, is looking to honor his dad's legacy. And it's just so incredibly inspiring.

And I told Michael this, you'll hear, hear me, tell him this, but I was just so impressed with him. So inspired by him and his courage and strength to. Continue on through such a hard journey that him and his whole family have experienced. And if you don't feel inspired by by this episode, then you are crazy.

So without further ado, here is my conversation with Michael Hart Nagel. Alright. I am here with Michael Hart Nagel. Howdy. How's it going? It's going great. Thanks so much for being here. Of course. Thanks for having me. Of course. I told you right before we hit record, I'm nervous. No reason to be nervous.

Well, I just wanna make sure I do this incredible story justice. Yeah, no, I appreciate that. It, uh, it means a lot. I know it's gonna be probably difficult for me to get some of the words out today, but we're, we're gonna do our best. I forgot to get tissues for myself. That's all right. I got a hoodie. Okay, perfect.

And so do I. I'll just be, there you go. You know, covered in mascara. Let's, let's just start. At the beginning, kind of of your life. Yeah. Who you are, where you're from, and I wanna learn about growing up. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, my name is Michael Hart Nagel. I grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana. Um, basically born and raised there.

Lived in the same house for 26 years. Uh, I've got two brothers, three nieces. Just had my first baby, a baby boy. Um, so we're super happy about that. But growing up it was kind of just all about family, you know, we did, did everything together, sports, outdoors. I think my dad kind of instilled in us early the importance of movement and getting outside.

Um, they were both teachers. My dad was a teacher at Avon High School for 37 years. That's incredible. Yeah. And my mom was, I think 38 at Decatur. But yeah, he was a, a coach there. Deck of teacher, business teacher. I think the coolest thing about them both being teachers is that, you know, spring break, fall break, summer break, they had off and it was aligned with us.

So, you know, those times we went out to national parks, we went down to Florida, we went on skiing trips and we got to just make so many memories. I actually came across my dad's old, uh, Handycam about a month ago and got to relive a lot of those, like one to three years of my life that I personally don't remember.

But it was cool to see like from the outside and just kind of be like, wow, that was such an awesome childhood. That is really cool. You mean like a old school like camera that you hold in your hand? Like I picture it. Yep. Pop it out and you slide in the little, um, it's like an eight millimeter tape. And I was gonna say, how'd you even watch it?

Yeah. So I had to buy a handy, he basically had like 25, 30 small tape. So I had to go on eBay, buy an old handy cam. Um, and then buy a converter and then now I have it all converted over to my laptop. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. It was a process. Yeah. I'm sure. But itm, it was completely worth it. Yeah. My parents put all of our, like VHS on DVDs.

Mm-hmm. I don't know where they are. Yeah. I should, they're in my house somewhere. Look for 'em. Yeah. There's some cool memories I'm sure. Should be fun to watch. Yeah. And where do you fall in your brothers? I'm the youngest. The youngest, okay. So I'm the oldest. I'm the baby. I'm the oldest of three girls. Oh, there we go.

So I don't know if you ever see the videos, like the memes about like oldest, middle youngest. Yeah. But they're always pretty spot on. Yeah. My, my wife is the oldest and, uh, it's kind of funny watching those videos. We talk about the middle one being just like the crazy one. Yes. And it is funny watching my middle brother just be an absolute, just like absolutely crazy in a lot of those videos.

Yeah. My, my dad had a nickname for him. Crazy busting. So crazy busting. Yeah. That's so funny. It, it's funny because I am horrible at TikTok. Okay. But you're real, you're pretty good at it. Yeah, I've gotten better. So Michael is what is the positive runner, right? Yeah. Yeah. And so I went on there this morning actually, and I, my sister had sent me like, I don't know, 20 videos that I had to watch because it's now like this curated playlist she sends me.

But one, a couple of them were about the oldest in the middle, and there was one where it's like the oldest is like playing the violin like so seriously. And then it like pans to the middle child who's like trying to like, I don't know, have his, an elastic band around his leg and his head. And I'm just like, wow.

So growing up all boys, your mom must be a freaking saint. Oh, she is. She's the best. A teacher? Yep. A mom of three boys. How amazing. Yeah. And she is actually one of three sisters. Really? Yep. So then she got three boys and now she, she absolutely killed it as a mom and I'm, I'm super grateful. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

So those summers you did, did you do RV trips in the summers? No, it is funny. There's, uh, one of the clips is actually us heading out. We did like an out west trip where we went to like Badlands wind cave and then down, like through Colorado, Wyoming, and all that stuff. Mm-hmm. We went out to, to Estes Park.

That's kind of like a traditional family thing that we did from my dad's side. But we're in this old, like, I don't even know, like 1990 blue van. That's just, just, it's got some, some sick, uh, kind of interior and outside. It's, yeah. Did it have the wood paneling on the side? Because had it had, it had a strip of wood paneling on it.

It had the same van. Yeah. We did, I swear to God. And I have a picture of me and my sister standing on the top of it when we got rid of it. 'cause it was, we called it Woody. Yeah. Yeah. Must've been the cool thing to have. Our parents were cool, I guess so, yeah, vehicles were dope back then. Yeah. Wild. So you played sports growing up.

Mm-hmm. Was your mom active too or is it kind of more your dad kind of being the sports guy? Yeah. No, it was, it was definitely more my dad's side, but I think my mom obviously just kinda had to dive into it. I mean, prime example is my dad's side. His dad played hockey, uh, men's league hockey until he was 74 years old.

So sports were just like a crazy thing and they just like dove into it. I mean, all my cousins played. I probably had like five or six cousins that played, um, sports in college. Um, but it was, yeah, it was definitely more on my dad's side. So he coached you and your brothers growing up, I would imagine? Yep.

Yep. All of you? Uh, little league baseball was kind of the big thing. He was actually on the board and kind of ran Brownsburg little league. Wow. Okay. Um, basically from like 1998 till when I was done, which was 2007, um, he coached guys like Lance Lynn, Tucker, Barnhart, Auan. A lot of those guys played with my oldest brother.

Um, but yeah, I mean, some of those earliest days were at the little league fields. Wow. Yeah. And you ended up playing at, you went to Butler? Mm-hmm. Okay. So you ended up playing in college? Yeah. Yeah. So I actually went, my first year was at DePaul University on Greencastle. Okay. Um, so I played a year out there, had a really good season, and then I just kind of wanted more, um, and also to be able to just be closer to my family.

Um, so I kind of took that leap of faith. Went to Butler, had to sit out a year for red shirt, and then basically when I, when I started and was able to play, I basically played every game, every game since it was an awesome experience. And then after college. You became a professional baseball player? Yeah.

Um, not like full on professional. I didn't get drafted or anything. Um, I had a, a really successful three years was actually first team all Big East my last year at Butler, which allowed me to kind of have that opportunity to have some tryout. So I went up to, it's a league called the Frontier League.

It's independent baseball, but they have a lot of like feeding into, um, professional base baseball. So I played it with the Schaumburg Boomers played basically a half a season there. Enjoyed it, but it, it kind of didn't fill that same love that I had. It wasn't necessarily all about kind of like working together as a team and everyone hanging out and there camaraderie of like just a bunch of dudes.

It was kind of more individualized, which I get 'cause everyone's wanting to make it to that next level. Mm-hmm. Um, and I enjoyed it. Like, I could still, like, I, I miss it. Um, I could go out and take ground balls for, you know, 24 hours, seven days a week. I just, I just loved it. But I was starting to get that feeling that I, I needed to fill something else and kind of, you know, reach out and explore different things. Okay. Yeah. What was it like being a collegiate athlete? Like did you have, were you in a fraternity as well? Is baseball your fraternity while you're in college? How does that work? Yeah. Um, at DePaul, Greek life is, I think it was like 93%. So everyone was in a fraternity. So I joined a fraternity. It's actually kind of funny.

I went through, rushed at all, like the stuff that's not super enjoyable. And then that year I left. Um, so then I went to Butler and fraternities and Greek life aren't as big and it was just more of, you know, a lot of the seniors had houses and you kind of just went and hung out there. Okay. That's funny.

Yeah. You went through the hardest part Yeah. Of rush and like getting through it and then you're like, see you later. Yeah. Yeah. I bet it was nice to be closer to home for sure. So when, at what point, how old were you when your dad was diagnosed with cancer and how did that, how did that go down? Yeah, obviously I kind of remember it like it was yesterday.

It was January of 2017, and there was a lot of things kinda leading up to it that now that I like look back on it, I can kind of see that, okay, things were starting to steer that way. But we were at my brother's house in the kitchen and my dad kind of just said, I, I need to talk to you guys about something.

And um, obviously you hear that six letter word that no one ever wants to hear, and your, your mind starts kind of spiraling. But just kind of a quick snippet of who my dad was. I mean, he, he kind of shut that down real quick. Like, I'm not going anywhere. Like I'm, I'm gonna fight this thing. I'm gonna stick around and we're gonna, we're gonna make some memories.

And, you know, over those six and a half years that he was battling, we, we did that. But yeah, cancer, it sucks and it affects too many people and it's, it's hard to hear, but you just gotta attack it. And that's, that's what he did. Yeah. You say like, looking back, you kind of knew where it was heading. Did he ha you just could see like the symptoms and stuff or, yeah, kind of like November, December of that year, he kind of was like going to obviously like doctor's visits and he had, so he had prostate cancer and he had like medicine for like prostatitis and some of that other stuff.

And it's just kinda like. You know, I, I, my dad is just this like, overarching fatherly figure that's like, so strong and just like nothing can affect him. And so you just don't think about it that way. Mm-hmm. And I know he didn't either. And it's kind of that male mentality that like, I'm not gonna go to the doctor.

I'm not getting it checked. Yeah. And with prostate cancer, it's so important to catch it early before it metastasizes and spreads to other parts of the body. 'cause most of the time you can just take the prostate out and basically you're in remission, kind of, you know, for the rest of your life. Um, but unfortunately, um, my dad had some unfortunate mishaps with kind of his first checkups and with his doctor.

And, um, I'm not gonna go into details with that, but he, he got a new doctor and, and absolutely loved him at, uh, Simon Cancer Center. But yeah, unfortunately it was a very aggressive form and they had to start chemo quickly. And what year? So what year was that? I can't do math. That was 2017. Okay. 2017. So I was.

Like 22 years old. Okay. So you had graduated from college at that point? Yes, it was, uh, I think my fin going into the final season at Butler. Okay. Okay. Yeah. At least you were, you were close to home. You hadn't. You know? Yeah. And you're the youngest. So where were your other, where were your brothers at this point?

Were they still local? Um, my middle brother, uh, was in Chicago, and then my oldest brother is in Brownsburg. Okay. And he actually lives right next door to my mom now. Oh. Which my, my dad lived there too. They, they moved like three years ago and lived right next door to them. Okay. Oh my gosh. That's so nice.

Do they have kids? They do. Three little girls. Oh man. Three girls. Yeah. I know. Yeah. We are happy to finally have a boy. My mom's loving it. Yeah, I bet. That's so funny. 'cause I told you, I'm the oldest of three girls. I have two daughters, 6-year-old and a two and a half year old. My sister has a daughter who is about, who's three just turned what's today?

No, she turns three in January. Mm-hmm. But then just had a boy. Mm. And so my dad is so happy. Yeah. Because he's thinking, you know, we're never ever gonna have a boy in this family. So you did it, what's your son's name? Banks. Banks, Edward. Yeah. We carried on that. My middle name's Edward and my dad was Ralph Edward Harne ii and Edward goes way far back and my dad's family, so we wanted to carry that on.

Yeah. It wasn't gonna be Ralph though. Ralph I think kind of died back in like the nineties or something like that. So my mom was not gonna let him name me. Ralph either. Yeah. So we, I got Michael. That's, that's funny. Yeah. My dad's middle name is Everett, so that's what, yeah. So we have Eddie Everett is our Yeah.

Uh, is the grand baby boy of the family. So yeah. I wanna hear more about becoming a new dad, but we can save that for later. Yep. Okay. Yeah. Um, don't let me forget. 'cause sometimes I say that and then I completely forget about it. I try to read it. Yeah. So your dad's diagnosed and you're already a pretty active family.

Mm-hmm. And so. At what stage of the game did you start, like, running every day or going on walks or maybe, maybe talk a little bit more about the journey and some of the things you did to build memories over that time period where he was battling cancer. Yeah. You know, like most athletes, you kind of want to fill that void and find something that you can kind of physically push yourself. And for me that was just like, all right, I'm just gonna sign up for a marathon. It was actually because of my, um, sister-in-law, she was running the monumental in 2019. I was like, ah, I mean, I sure I'll, I'll try it. Like whatever. So I, I threw my name in the hat and at that point I'm like, well, you can either not train and it can be a miserable experience, or you can start training.

So I started running back in the summer of 2019 and basically fell in love with it. Um, ever since my dad was actually going to run the half with me. Okay. Um, I was gonna run the full, he was gonna run the half, so we were kind of training and all that stuff, but it's one of those things and it kind of became an unfortunate trend for him to where kind of things went south and he wasn't able to run it.

So my brother ran it for him. No, he was not bi willing. I, I promise. Um, yeah. And then, you know, I think we just, I kind of just fell in love with running and, um, my dad kind of always just wanted to be a part of it, which I absolutely loved. He would bike, um, when he could run. He, he ran, he actually on January 1st, 2021, um, started a little run streak.

He was going through chemo and radiation at the time, and he wanted to kind of just figure out a way to kind of keep pushing himself and basically fight back against cancer and say, Hey, I'm not gonna slow down. Mm-hmm. Um, so he made it to April 26th of that year. Um, had a medical emergency, he had to go to the hospital and his doctor was just like, you can't run anymore.

Um, so that next day I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep this thing going for him. And, you know, I kind of expected, you know, maybe a month and he would come back and run and keep it going himself. And we're like 900 and, I dunno, I think it's like 60 days in of my streak and day. I think like 1075 are combined.

So it's been cool to kind of carry on something that he started and, and keep that going for him. That has to be hard to keep track of two numbers. It's hard enough to remember probably what day you're on. Do you have an app or something? I have an app. Okay. Yeah. It helps because I would be like, what day is, I have a hard time remembering.

For the longest time I would like go back into Strava and I would have to like look at the counter and be like 1, 2, 3, 4, and just add it up. I was like, there's gotta be an app for this and I found one. Yeah, that's good. 'cause yeah. Otherwise you're gonna like mess it up somehow and Uhhuh that would, yeah, that would make me crazy.

I think that's actually how I found your story. Mm-hmm. Was through Lara. Okay. Because she's run Streaker and I follow her on Instagram. Yeah. And I think she shared. And is that how you guys got connected through run streaking or? No, it was one of those things where we, which obviously we're probably gonna get into, um, when I had the run across Indiana, I was connected with a, a, a lady by the name of Megan through Simon Cancer Center.

And one of the stops was gonna be there and she said, Hey, like, I'm gonna reach out to Laura. I think she'd love to join you. You guys have that shared, you know, run streak going on. Mm-hmm. And she came out and actually joined me for a couple miles during the run. Oh, that's really cool. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, we'll definitely get back to that.

Yeah. So have you ever done a race before signing up for the monumental, like to do a marathon? Have you ever done like five Ks or anything else? Or it was just kind of like No, no, there was no like, official races. I mean, obviously we ran in college, but I always hated, like, long distances. You know, I was a very, I was very fast.

I was probably one of the fastest guys on the Butler team. I enjoyed short distances, but when we had to run like for conditioning or anything, I, I, you know, I hated it. Yeah. So, you know, it was just one of those things, I just kind of threw my name in the hat and I was like, we're gonna do this. And it was the first race and.

Wasn't the best, but we enjoyed it. Yeah. Well, right. How did you know how to train? What did you do? Oh, I didn't, I completely trained the wrong way. I went out every single day, ran like, you know, for the first probably month or two, I just would go out, I'd run three miles at like 90% effort. Yeah. And just gas myself.

I know. Um, and even I had this like Nike training app or something like that. I didn't follow it 'cause it was like, oh, you gotta run, you know, two minutes slower than your race pace, which is like 11 minutes or something like that. I was like, I'm not gonna go out and run 11 minutes. So I didn't really focus on, you know, that low intensity training, building up an aerobic base.

And I kind of just like. Sent every run. Yeah. But as, as I've kind of progressed in my running career, I've learned obviously the importance of different types of runs and how it can help. Yeah. Let me tell you that I feel like most people did the same thing. Yeah. Like when they just go out and you run as fast as you can for as many miles as you're gonna run.

Well, that athlete mentality would Right. Just wanna push it and give it all. Yeah. Like how fast can I go? I need to, you know, every workout needs to be Yeah. You know, I need to get a workout in Uhhuh. Exactly. Yeah. It's weird. And now I actually like my easy runs. Yep. I've learned to like relish in them and enjoy it and then push myself on the days that I'm supposed to.

Mm-hmm. But it's amazing how much better it works, right? Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. You're like, how can I run most of my miles at like, yeah. 10, 11 minute mile and then go pr. Yeah. How does that work? But it does, it does somehow. So did you run, did you run at all with your sister-in-law? Did you train together?

No. So they, it was my brother that lives up in Chicago. Okay. So they do a lot of that running up there. But we run a little bit in the beginning 'cause my brothers run the half to, and then he split off and then I kind of went on at my own pace. Okay. And did you do any fundraising for the marathon? I did not, no.

Okay. And then did your dad come cheer you on? He did. Yeah. I mean, my dad, my dad was always, I mean, the biggest supporter, like basically every game from like literal league gone, he was there. I mean, he just, he just found a way and he was always the most loving and supporting parent. He was kind of known as that.

You'd always see him down there at the baseball fields, down the left field line. Um, he was never that like. You know, p putting pressure on you, yelling like, oh, you can do this, blah, blah, blah. He just was quiet and you knew he was there and it, it was exactly what I needed at every event. Yeah. That's amazing.

Where was he at the marathon, at the finish or some Oh, he made stops throughout the whole way. Throughout the whole way. Yep. Yeah. Which is a, which is a challenge in and itself is, especially while he's battling cancer. Yeah. He's out there being a, an amazing spectator. That's, that's just who he was. That was his mentality.

Yeah. That's incredible. And was your mom with him too? Yep. That's so cool. Yeah. How did you feel when you crossed the finish line? Oh, I don't even, I mean, when you cross, I was just absolutely beat. I mean, I was exhausted, I was broken down. I started going into the shakes, and it's just kinda one of those things like, holy cow, this is, you know, this is crazy.

Never in a million years that I think I could, you know, obviously run 26 miles. But then, um, you know, you have that kind of week after and you're like, oh, I'm never doing that again. And then my brain started, you know, gearing up like, all right, what could be next? Yeah, what could be next? I'll just run an ultra now.

Yeah. Was that the, and was that the next race you did? That is the, or did you do the mini somewhere in there? Uh, we did, uh, the mini, uh, was I think 2021. Um, it was one of those things I did with my dad, and I mean, my dad, we always had to try to like, Hey dude, you need to like slow down. He's like the opposite of 99% of society where, you know, most of the time mentally they start to like break down first.

For him, it's like mentally he thinks he can do everything, but unfortunately his body wasn't allowing him to. Mm-hmm. So he actually did the mini while going through chemo reradiation. He was five, five months, five or six months off of a fractured femur that came from radiation. Um, so I was gonna run the mini, he was going to walk it, but I just felt this calling to like, I, I need to experience this with him, with him.

Um, so we walked it together and then of course we get to the last mile and he just starts jogging. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, I'm finishing this thing the right way. I was like, all right, let's do it. So, yeah, there's a really cool video I have of me and him kind of running that last like a hundred meters and, um, he's got a, he, he's got a big old GMP and obviously he's in pain and, but it's just who he was, you know, it's how he was able to find joy through the struggle is just pushing through and enduring.

Yeah. So it's like, what's your, what's your excuse exactly. Anybody who's listening to this. Yeah. Like that's how I'm able to, I draw so much motivation from him. A fractured femur. Yeah. I mean, it's not enough that he's already going through chemo and radiation. Mm-hmm. But then he has a fractured femur, which is your, like the most, the biggest bone.

Yeah. I don't know in your body. He had a big old, big old steel rod all the way through his like. Oh boy. I know. Yeah. That, that was my mom's reaction and probably 99% of the things he did, just like, well, what are you doing? But we understood, I mean, if we didn't allow him to do some of that stuff, it would've been way worse for him mentally.

I mean, we just Yeah. You don't wanna take the joy out of Exactly. Out of his life that I can imagine. Yeah. Your mom being like, oh my gosh. Yep. Are you really gonna do this? Yeah. Wow. That's really special. Mm-hmm. That's really special. And then, then you decided to do an ultra Yep. So a 50 K. Yep. Was that, was that one in Indiana?

No, it was up in, uh, Wisconsin, I think. Just outside of La Grange. It was Ice H Trail, 50 k. It actually, it was my sister-in-law again. She signed up for it and I was like, oh, 50 k, let's, let's try it. Um, so me, my brother, his wife, um, we all did that race. My mom and dad were there. We got like a little cabin up there, and it was, it's a super cool experience.

And I, I started to catch a glimpse of why I really enjoyed running, seeing. The mental and physical battle that my dad went through every single day with cancer. I started to feel, you know, this solidarity and connection that running brought to his battle. Um, obviously a small glimpse of what he had to endure, but as I started to push past those like 10, 15, 20 miles, and you start to get into that point where like your legs are breaking down, you're tired mentally, you're just like, I can't do this anymore.

That's where it was just like, I kept just like revising my dad and just being like, you know, if he can endure and he can push through, like so can I. Mm-hmm. Um, so I started to really find this deep connection with my dad through some of those more endurance runs, and there's a really cool clip and I, I literally watch it every single day after the 50 k, sorry.

Uh, I walk around and it's just me, just gimping. My legs are shot, they're shut down, and I'm just kind of gimping up into my dad and he just embraces me with the biggest smile and we hug and it's. Uh, it's one of my, one of my favorite memories. And did he run any of that with you? He crewed you, right? He was there, yeah.

He was a crew. I mean, I would come in and he would gimme water and he was mach machine, gunning my leg, massage my leg, and he was doing it all. And that was when, was that this year in May or when was, uh, yeah, that was May, may like 13th of 2023. Okay. And then you're like, what can I do next? Yeah, exactly. Um, what's harder than an ultra, like, let's run across the state of Indiana.

How did you, how did you come up with that idea? Uh, kind of. Just on a whim, honestly, there were times, I'll, I'll get to kind of the run, but my dad was going through kind of his last stint of chemo as Simon Cancer Center back in December of 2022. We basically found out that the clinical trial that we were super hopeful for wasn't working.

So they were gonna switch it up, go back to chemo. 'cause he always responded to chemo well. Um, but at that point, you know, my, my parents didn't tell us, but the doctor kind of said, you know, you know, maybe a month is what you got left. And luckily he started chemo, um, in that January and reacted really well.

Um, and basically pushed it to 12 rounds of chemo. And when you started getting those later rounds, you started to see the PSA, which is kind of like the indicator for prostate cancer kind of rise back up and you start to realize that the cancer's adapting and it's not working anymore. Um, so we kind of knew that potentially it was.

Probably gonna go downhill. So at chemo 10, I was like, what, what is a way that I can kind of show my dad like, Hey, I'm, we're with you, like I'm fighting with you. Um, so I was like, I'm gonna go out downtown and I'm just gonna run 10 miles for his 10th chemo outside of the cancer center, which it is one eighth of a mile, one way in front of the building.

So it's like four down and backs is one mile. So I was just running out in front, in front of the building and it was kind of cool 'cause he was up in the window there. So I did that for his 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds of chemo. The 12th one, I actually had a bunch of friends come out and show their support.

Oh, that's cool. Um, but it's just my way of kind of showing my dad like, Hey, hey, I'm here. We're with you. Um, and I think it's so important when it comes to cancer. Um, it's just, just to have that constant love and support. But as it kind of progressed and we found out that basically the chemo wasn't gonna work and there really wasn't any other options, I was like, what is something that I can just throw myself out there, raise awareness, education funds for people battling cancer, but also like get that full connection in solidarity with my dad.

And funny thing, we actually kind of talked about this on, on when I was running, he was biking next to me this idea of like, oh, you know, next year we should, we should do the outer. Like Rim of Indiana. Oh. Which is, I think it's like a thousand miles if you like, start in the middle and then go around then.

But we're like, oh, we're gonna stop in each city, take it slow. Talk about, you know, cancer, the importance of getting checked up. Um, you know, what PSA is, how easy it is to just get your blood drawn and just basically try to hopefully change the future outcome of someone getting diagnosed. So we kind of had that idea kind of stirring, but obviously weren't able to make it happen.

So I was like, oh, this run across Indiana, like we can make this happen. And I actually have it on my phone where I kind of announced it to myself 'cause I wanted to get it out there that I was gonna do. And it was on July 3rd, I came up with the idea that I was gonna run across this day. And I wasn't sure how I was gonna do it, whether I was gonna do it, you know, continuously in three days, in four days.

Um, obviously I knew I wasn't at the point where I could probably do it continuously. So it was really between three and four. And I was like, okay, well now when am I gonna do it? Um, and I looked it up in September, is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Um, and I wanted a way to kind of bring awareness and funds to that.

So I was like, no better way to cap it off than running across the state of Indiana 157 miles in three days. And that's what we decided to do. So 157 miles? Yeah, I had about 90 days to kind of train for it. Obviously it's one of those things that like, I think my dad starting the run streak is this weird way of like slowly setting me up for this event to putting enough miles under my legs that like, I could actually do this.

And obviously this should normally take like six to 12 months of like training mm-hmm. And preparing and coming up with a route and all this stuff. But, um, I knew the importance and the impact it was gonna have and. How much it was gonna allow me to connect with my dad. So I said, let's, let's do it. Let's do it.

Is there a specific, is there a reason why it was at the end of September, is there a day for prostate cancer? So the entire month is, whole month is, yeah. Um, but I was just like, well, I think if we, one, I was like, oh, I think I probably need a little bit more to train, so let's, let's push it all towards the end.

But also I wanted to like, use that whole month to kind of raise funds, raise awareness, bring education around prostate cancer, and then kind of like cap it off at the run. Yeah. Culminate in that like, okay, now I'm gonna do it. Yep. So I'm curious where were, where were your brothers in all this too? Did they join you in some of the running?

Did they, were they like, good job brother, I'm just gonna cheer for you. Yeah. How, where were, where were they in, in all of this? Um, I mean, they're, they're my biggest supporters as well. I, I kind of told 'em, they're like, yeah, let's do it. Like, how can I help? You know, they helped out with kind of like a lot of the marketing stuff and getting stuff together and helping me plan the route and do all that stuff.

And they joined me for, for quite a few of the miles as well. Okay. So your sister-in-law. Hasn't quite gotten your brother to be as crazy as she. She is. It sounds like. Not for the most part. I think she's done like eight marathons. Okay. And he's done, he did the Chicago a couple years ago. Um, but he actually did the 50 K with us as well, so he's Oh, okay.

Yeah, he went from basically, and he, he doesn't care what I say. He was outta shape overweight, and she got him into running and, you know, he's obviously fell in love with it ever since too. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. So how, yeah, how did you go about planning for, for this run? Yeah. Uh, a lot of it was, uh, Google Earth, Google Maps, just looking at, you know, what points I could stop.

So basically I wanted to do it to where I had some sort of support vehicle going out every three to six miles to where I could, you know, run to it, refuel, rehydrate, change socks, do that. Then they would go out again and I would run to it and we basically piece it together. So a lot of it was just Google Maps, trying to figure out spots to stop.

I actually met up with a guy named Joe Kern, who ran across the state back in 2021, but he did it consecutively all one go. Oh wow. He's got a podcast. He's pretty crazy. Amazing guy. Does a lot of ultras. Okay. Yeah. I don't remember the podcast he was on, but, uh, he talked about Joe Kern is his name. Um, so I got to run with him and he gave me a lot of advice and that was super helpful.

Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah. And so were you, did you have some miles that you were alone or were most every mile You had people joining you here and there. Yeah. You know, so that's, that's the crazy thing. I mean, throughout my dad's entire battle we had such amazing support from the community and you need that when you're going through something like that.

Um, so basically the first 13 miles were alone. Um, which I had like support and crew, but I knew I kind of wanted just like that initial mm-hmm. Start to just be like me and my dad. Yeah. Which it wasn't, I mean, my dad was there. Unfortunately, two days before the run, my dad passed away. Um. And it was hard, uh, obviously for our family, but we are at peace knowing, you know, that he was finally paying for that, that that last month was incredibly difficult, seeing the pain that he had to go through.

Mm-hmm. Um, and how kind of just beaten down he was. And most people probably think I'm kind of crazy, like, how can you run and do something like this two days after your dad passed? Mm-hmm. But it was, for me, the perfect way to kind of celebrate who he was. 'cause that's, I mean, that's who he was, you know, as, as hard as it can get.

Um, and how basically beaten down you are to just kind of push through. Mm-hmm. Um, and do it by bringing community together. And, and we did exactly that. So those first 13 miles were by myself. And after that, basically I had someone with me the entire way, the whole time. Yeah. I saw the dates of the run and when your dad passed away, and I was like, is that, is that right?

Yeah. But. I can totally see, I can totally see and understand that Yeah. Decision. Mm-hmm. And that's so freaking cool. Yeah, no, it was, you know, it was cool 'cause I knew my dad was finally able to like actually run beside me again. And it was, it was one of those things where we started at 6:00 AM um, in Richmond on the Indiana, Ohio border, and there was no rain in the forecast like it was supposed to be like a perfect start.

And we get up to the start line and it just starts dumping. And everyone's like, oh my gosh. Like, like this has gotta suck. Like, oh, he's gotta start in the rain. And for me, it just like lit me up from the inside with so much joy because me and my dad. Loved being out in the rain. Like it was our thing, like if it started rain during our run biking while we were hiking, we're like, this is so freaking awesome.

Yeah. And it was just, I knew it was my dad's way of showing me like, Hey, I'm, I'm here. I'm with you from the start. I'm here. Like, let's go do this thing. That is so amazing. I was gonna ask you about signs, like if you saw him there or felt him there, like, could there be any clearer of a sign to start? That is exactly what I, I mean, I was going into it, like I didn't have the mileage.

I should have, I was fearful, like the farthest I ever ran a day before that was the 50 k, so 32 miles, and I was about to basically supersede that by 20, 22 miles each day. So obviously I had a lot of fear going into it, but just him showing me that and, you know, the strength and the courage and the positivity that he showed me through my battle, like, I, I knew I could accomplish something like this with him by my side.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, sorry. Yeah. That I just can't, it, it's hard, it's hard to imagine. Mm-hmm. It's hard to imagine. And, um, yeah. I mean, partially just 'cause my, my dad and I have a relationship with running too. Yeah. And yeah, I, I don't wanna think about the day where I'm doing that to honor his life. Yeah. You know?

Um, but I know there will be that day. Oh man. So where, where did you run? Did you run on the highway? Like where, I mean, 'cause there's certainly not. A monan trail across the state of Indiana? No, there's not. So like, so it was basically along us 40 from Richmond all the way to downtown. Um, and then at that point I wanted to make some important stops, which was Simon Cancer Center, my hometown in Brownsburg, and then come down through Avon where my dad teach for 37 years.

So to be able to do that, I went 40 up into Brownsburg down, and then I took 36 all the way across. Okay. Which most of the time the people who have done this just take 40 along the whole way. Okay. 'cause it's, it's two lanes on each side. So a four lane road to where, you know, people have the ability to get over, which Right on us 40 on the east side, it didn't really make an impact.

'cause people still kind of weren't getting over. We found that if we just stood in the middle of the road in that one lane, they would finally get over. So yeah, we learned that. But, uh, yeah, 40 to 36, um, basically Richmond to Dana. The, the entire way. Okay. And you had an rv. Yep. Right? Yeah, we, uh, we were trying to figure out a way to basically host the crew and make this comfortable for them.

I, I actually had a buddy fly in from Denver who's gonna video the whole thing. Um, we partnered up with Hoka and they supported that, uh, which is super cool. But I went up to Touchdown RV in Zionsville and just kind of shared them the story and the mission of what we were trying to accomplish. And then we were gonna be doing like videos and, um, some marketing stuff along the way.

And they were all about the story and wanted to help out any way they could. So, uh, they cut us a super nice deal and allowed us to take the rv and it, it played a huge role in helping us. Yeah. Because everybody who's, you know, kind of helping crew you and, um, and having a nice place to sleep and all that at night was, was great.

Right? Oh gosh. Yeah. Was who was in the rv. It was kind of, you know, a mix throughout, obviously the whole thing. But the main people were my buddy Isaac who shot the whole thing. My wife, my buddy Jimmy and Kyle, who also flew in from. Uh, Colorado. He's a pt, so that helped tremendously as well to have him.

'cause we did have some mishaps along the way that I kind of needed his help. Um, so there's a crew about five or six of us, but then as we got closer into Browns or my hometown, like everyone just kind of just like was in and out. In and out. Yeah. And then what about, what about the final miles? Yeah, so day, day three was probably one of the tougher ones. 'cause I was not expecting Indiana to have rolling hills and elevation. And I tell you what, it kind of roasted us. It was hot that day, which kind of just soaks into what the whole experience was about. It's, you know, the whole theme of it was to stay positive. That was my dad's mantra through his whole battle.

Mm-hmm. And we knew that it wasn't, you know, it wasn't gonna be something that, you know, if we wanted to truly experience it and have that experience and, and force ourselves to stay positive through it all. Stuff kind of had to hit the fan. You know, we had that on day one. My knee flared up. Day two was kind of just long and grueling.

And then day three was just hot rolling hills. Um, so we just kind of had to grind through. One of my buddies had the idea to every one of those no passing zone signs that we saw mm-hmm. We had a run to, so that was our way of kind of like piecing it together. 'cause I was just beaten down. I was nauseous, I was tired.

I was kind of like falling asleep on the side of the road, um, in the morning. So he was like, every time we see one of those, we're gonna run to it. So we just basically for like 30 something miles, just piece it together for, and there are a lot of no passeng zone. I was gonna say, I can start to picture, I'm like trying to picture what that would be like.

Yep. That, but it's something. Yeah. No, I You have to piece it together. Yeah. Um, 'cause if, if you look at it just like, oh, I gotta run 157 miles, it's just gonna be too difficult. So that's why I broke it up into that three to six miles. Mm-hmm. And then day three, we really kind of broke it up into like every 200 yards.

Um, something like that. But. It was really cool just to see all the people coming out and that last mile, I know this is gonna be hard for me to kind of get across. Basically you'll see in the film. So next year we're gonna kind of release this film kind of getting off, um, keel here. But next year we're gonna release a film on my dad's.

Um, one year passing. It's gonna be called, probably stay positive. Um, but there's a moment, mile 1 37 where I come in and I just lose it, you know, I break down emotionally, physically, I am, like my knee's in so much pain. I'm in my dad's walking sticks. I just embrace my mom with a massive hug and I just break down and I really just don't know how.

I'm just gonna keep pushing on. Um, we're still like 20 miles left to go, so I sit down and you can just kind of tell the vibe of the crew is just like down, like, everyone's just like, oh man, we're, we're beating up. And I don't remember who it was, but they put on the song, one of my dad's favorite song, Shakira Hips Don't Lie.

My God, I know he loved it. Yeah, it's, I don't know why he loved it, but he has this thing with his deca and a lot of the girls at Avon High School, you know, love him for that. But yeah, they played that and basically something switched where the, the vibe of the crew just picked back up and we just attacked the rest of it.

Um, but the last mile was basically what I wanted to accomplish. You know, I, the goal I set out for was to really have that strong connection with my dad and feel kind of what he had to endure and what he had to battle his entire diagnosis. And that last mile in his hokas with his hiking poles, wearing his t-shirt, basically with a gimp surrounded by 30 plus people, just community.

And I had this. I just had this strong out of body experience where like, I truly felt like him and I really kind of felt what he had to go through. And it was just about just kind of piecing it together. And yeah, so it was, it was cool just to, to kind of have everyone backing me, my mom by my side, my wife, my brothers, and that last mile we walked in honor of him because obviously for the longest time, cancer took away his ability to run.

Mm-hmm. So it was a way of honoring him, wearing his shoes, um, walking, I, I truly felt like him and I think it was kind of what I needed to experience it fully. And at the moment where you see, oh my gosh. I was like, which sign is it? Illinois. Yep. Yep. When you see that sign, like, what did you, how did you.

Did you like run and like jump and hit the sign? Did you just like curl up in a ball in the like fetal position on the side of the road? Like what? There's, because there's obviously not a finish line there, there, so No, I mean it was dark and it was kind of funny 'cause we're in the middle of nowhere and it was kind of funny.

I did the complete opposite of what normally you would do, which is like run to and embrace it, just like enjoy it. But we're coming up to the sign, all of a sudden these like four huge tractor trailers were coming in a row and we've obviously got like 30, 40 people in the middle of the road just kind of walking to the sign.

And I knew my buddy like this was gonna be an important shot for the film. So I'm like, we're gonna stop here. Like we gotta get the shot, right? So we stopped and as I stopped, like my legs just were like, Nope, like you're done. So like, I'm just like holding onto the, the trekking poles and like my wife's holding me up and I'm just like shaking and we're like 50 feet from the sign.

So finally, you know, 20 seconds pass track shows are gone and we, we get back to moving and. We just kind of cross the sign and everyone cheers. And I walk up to it and I just, I kind of talk to my dad a little bit and kind of embrace and thank everyone for being there. And, uh, yeah, nothing too crazy about it.

It was just kind of wild. I mean, you do this whole thing and then it's just over. Yeah. And then it's a hour rv, hour and a half RV ride home. Did you, like, did you shower in the rv? Was there a, would the shower work? Uh, I did not shower at the end, but there was a shower, there was the bathroom like working, you know, we could make coffee and food and Yeah, I mean that, it was super important.

Yeah. So did you, when you got back in the rv, did you, did you just get to go to sleep? Did you just get up and like hang out with everybody while you're driving back? Like what? Yeah, so like kind of everyone just kind of dispersed their own way. You know, we had like four people get back on the rv. I was blessed to have a good friend to be able to drive us back 'cause we were all obviously super tired and I just sat on the couch and I was just kind of.

You know, zonked, it's obviously like one of those things you can't really, like my brain was so mush at that point that I didn't even really know what to think. So it was just kind of, and I think I fell asleep for like 40, 45 minutes and then got home and showered and it was one of those things, it's like I was so happy.

'cause I was like, I can finally just like sleep in. Yeah, through the run. Like we would go to bed at like 11, 11 30. I had to make sure I got calories and showered before I all went to bed. And then your body like won't shut down. So then I couldn't fall asleep. So I'm just like constantly stirring and my knees throbbing and then all of a sudden the 5:00 AM alarm hits and it's like, well we gotta start running at six.

So it was just like day after day. So it was kind of kind of nice to get a cup of coffee. Kind of relax. Yeah. So throughout this time, what are you doing for work? Do you have like a full-time, like normal job or? I haven't had a full-time job. I've kind of just kind of pieced it together and like made it work over, you know, the past five years, I, I had a job when I moved out to Breck.

Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. Yeah, so I, I had a job out there and then I moved home and then I, I did some stuff in real estate and kind of worked in like property management and fixing up rental properties. And then I got into like day trading and then kind of doing some other flipping stuff.

And now I have a kid, I'm kind of looking for full more full-time marketing sales positions. Mm-hmm. But for me, I wanted to, I knew the end at some point with my dad was gonna come and I wanted to be able to soak in and make as many experiences as possible. So I knew I wasn't gonna make a bunch of money, but I was like, I'm gonna figure out a way that like I can have as much free time as possible just doing side hustle jobs and just kind of making it work.

And, you know, I wouldn't change a thing 'cause there were so many experiences that I was able to have with my dad over those five years. And I tell people that. You know, it's crazy. Those five years and what we were able to experience together and travel and do all these things, the memories that we made, probably we wouldn't have experienced that if he never had cancer and he lived for another 20, 25 years.

Right. So, so that amount of time and the experiences and the importance of that and how much it means to me over those five years, six years that we had with my dad. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah. I'm for forever grateful with those moments. Yeah. Well, and how nice that you were in a position where yeah, you could have that flexibility and spend that time.

Yeah. You know, I, I, well, you know, you think things happen for a reason, but that's always a dumb thing to say. It's like, don't say that. That's stupid. It's, it's, I mean, it's like, yeah, it makes sense. I mean, I had this deep conversation with my dad about a month before he passed and he, he, he's kind of said, you know what, it always had to be me.

You know, it was always the oldest person, like, I, I'm not mad, you know, I'm at peace with God. Mm-hmm. Like basically his, unfortunately, his battle meant that our family. Just got completely want, like, we are such a close family now. Mm-hmm. You know, our, our faith in God is stronger than ever and the experiences that we've got to have and the impact he's had, you know, he, he just kind of said, you know, it always had to be me and there's, there's a reason for everything.

Yeah. So just, just keep living your life and, and embrace the memories we made. Yeah. Yeah. I've talked to my dad about, I mean, we've had deep conversations about death and what's gonna happen. My 6-year-old is asking questions and you're like, yeah. Anything that's alive will die. Yeah. And it's hard to talk about those things.

My dad's like, you know, I've had a great life. I'm not ready. But yeah, I've had a great life. Yeah. No one, no one ever is. Right. And so in, in preparation, and this will probably be a tough conversation, but you know, your, your wife was pregnant, right? Yeah. I mean, he knew he was gonna be a. A grandfather to your baby?

Did he know that you were gonna have a son before he passed? Yeah, he kind of obviously knew it all, and it was, it was one of those things, 'cause like we knew his time was coming, but we were hopeful that he could make it to the due date, which was November 18th for my wife. Um, we were hopeful that he was gonna at least be able to meet him.

Yeah. Um, and as time went on, we kind of knew that that possibility and those chances were, were dwindling. Um, but he knew as a boy, we had the, the opportunity to go do like a 3D ultrasound, um Oh, okay. Which is where you can like really see mm-hmm. Kind of like the facial features and all that stuff. And I, I knew I wanted to do that to allow my dad to kind of be able to see him, see him.

Um, so that was a really cool emotional experience. But yeah, that's, that's probably been one of the hardest things for me is knowing that my son will never get to experience, you know, how amazing my dad was. Right. Um, and that was kind of the o The other reason I wanted to film something like this, um, and do something like this was to say, Hey, son, like I did this.

We did this. But I wasn't able to do it because of myself. Like mm-hmm. There was someone that was so strong and was so courageous, and he was the reason I was And that was your grandpa? Yeah. Like, that's kind of another reason I wanted to do it, but yeah, it's, it's been, it's definitely been hard. Yeah. Did, did your dad do anything else?

Like, like any videos or like write, like have a journal or anything? Yeah. Um, he, he's made these, which I don't know when he's gonna have 'em open. He's made these like personal boxes for each of the grandkids. Gosh. And he's, he's did some notes and I had him write some stuff in a journal for me before, before he passed.

But, you know, that's, that's one of the things we're grateful for. And it's an unfortunate thing that most people. Don't have that opportunity mm-hmm. Is that we kind of had, you know, that those six and a half years, but really those last two months to prepare for it. Yeah. And have those deep conversations with him and really just pour out our emotions and you know, unfortunately not a lot of people get, get that, you know, people who die in like car crashes or Yeah.

You know, get diagnosis and they only last like a month. Mm-hmm. I can't imagine that because that's, you know, one of the things that's helped me through is, is what I got to experience in the, in the memories I made with my dad. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I think about that more than I should probably. 'cause I'm like, oh, should I make, should I just make videos for my kids just in case something happens to me?

Mm-hmm. And it sounds so morbid, but at the same time you're like, I want them to know all these things. Yeah. 'cause they're not gonna remember. Yeah. That's tough. I actually found out yesterday, a friend of mine, her dad passed away unexpectedly. Mm. And you know, it just makes you, I just can't, I can't Yeah.

Imagine the pain of that. Mm-hmm. And you know, even though cancer is horrible. Six and a half years is, I mean, thankfully you got Yeah. You know, that time, but it's, yeah. It's just, it's all sucks. It does. I wanna talk about the mis metastatic, metastatic mission. Yeah. Mission. I wanna make sure people know all about that and how to support that mission.

Yeah. Um, and I love the sweatshirt, your sweatshirts and like apparel that you've Yeah, thank you've created. It's, it's really cool. So tell me, tell me all about that. Yeah, so for the runner, I obviously wanted to figure out a unique way to kind of raise money and funds and support those people kind of going through the same battle that my dad did.

Um, and one of the days I kind of just was kind of pondering names for like a nonprofit or ways that we could do it. And I came across metastatic mission where the term metastatic or meta metastasize generally means to spread, aimed at more of the spread of cancer or spreading something interestingly.

But through my dad's ability to take negative situations, um, and negative things and find the positive and. You know, who made the rules that I can't take a negative term and just put a positive spin on it. So I came up with metastatic mission. It's all about metastasizing, faith, love, and positivity.

Mm-hmm. Positivity, which are three things that were extremely important to my dad. So it's about spreading faith, love, and positivity, and it's about community over cancer. Through my dad's battle, we saw the importance that having constant love and support from others had, um, not only for him but for our entire family.

And the unfortunate reality is that not everyone going through that has that same support and those same people to lean on. Um, so we wanna make sure that, obviously everyone has that. So 50% of the funds that we raised through the run went to Simon Cancer Center, where my dad had his battle just for research education, which is obvi extremely important for cancer.

And the other 50% is gonna go to different initiatives and supporting and loving on those people. So we've donated stay positive sweatshirts. We're gonna do like a vacation giveaway for a family that's been effective. And we're kind of thinking and, and figuring out new ideas and ways that we can support people.

Yeah, that's, that's so incredible. Yeah. Thank you. Do you, now I noticed at least my, I don't know, my googling. You don't have the apparel for sale at this moment, right? We do it. Is it more Okay, you do. Tell me where then. So if you, if you go to metastatic mission.org org or if you go to like my Instagram or, or TikTok, I think I have links on there.

Um, there's just like a shop section that you can buy, uh, different. Okay. I appar, I messed that up. Yeah. Disregard, I'll edit that up. All good. So I don't sound so dumb. Um, I couldn't find it. Yeah, well I, I've kind of gone through like different redesigning of different websites. Yeah. And wear the, wear the shirts and all that apparel are Okay.

Kind of have been, so it's kind of been on and off. So you, well, maybe I found a broken link then somewhere. It probably wasn't broken link. Well, I'll have to tell you if I can find it again. Okay. But no, anyway, go buy and support. The sweatshirts are really cool. I like Yeah. I appreciate that. The concept of taking a a term like that Yep.

And, and spinning it is really, really neat too. Yeah. And we wanted to just come up with a really unique, like kind of simple, I think kind of simple is maybe the new style. So, um, it's very simple style. We're kind of figuring out new ways and designs that we can make as well. Mm-hmm. So. And I also wanted to shout out Hoka.

Yeah. Who has supported you, the Colts have supported you. Yeah. And who, who else has supported you? And then what other kinds of partnerships, what do you dream about when it comes to this organization? How can people help support you, not just by, you know, donating and, and buying apparel, but how, what other kinds of things can, can they do?

Yeah. So Hoka has kind of been a, a big supporter of my dad and I's story, which is crazy to think, you know, a massive brand like that supports a, a father son duo out of Indiana. And how did that come about? Uh, I made a random TikTok one day that got over like 500,000 views talking about kinda my run streak and my dad.

Um, and wanting actually new shoes, new speed goats. 'cause mine were just torn to shred shot for my, uh, 50 K coming up. And they reached out and were like, you know, happy birthday we got you. And the connection kind of just grew and grew over time as they learned more about my story. Um, and we kind of, we want to give away talking about joyful movement.

That was obviously in part of my dad, but I had a connection there and reached out to her and told her about the run across Indiana and she was like, you know, I'd, I'd love to support you. Let's, let's basically pay for a videographer. Obviously, obviously I was able to, to hire my buddy, um, which I wanted someone who obviously knew my dad's story and our relationship, but they have been truly amazing.

After my dad passed, I mean, they sent us flowers just to like. You know, give us our, their condolences, which is just crazy. I think a massive brand like that would do something like that. The Indianapolis Colts came through with a huge surprise when we made our stop at Simon Cancer Center. Blue showed up and surprised me and my family with a $10,000 donation to Simon Cancer Center through the Eartha family.

I know that was a huge part of Megan and Laura for setting that up. So, huge shout out to them. And then just moving forward, we're trying to figure out ways that, I think there is such a unique connection between running and kind of endurance in sports and athletes and that battle with cancer, obviously it's, it's so minuscule to what they're enduring, but we're trying to figure out ways that we can, you know, have races or events or people basically kind of like be ambassadors for the brand for something that they're gonna do that's challenging to raise money.

Mm-hmm. Um, for cancer because there, there is, you know, a small connection between that physical and mental battle that you go through. Mm-hmm. So we're, we're, we're trying right now, I have a couple friends that we're just kind of talking each week trying to figure out. Unique creative ways to kind of grow the mission and support those battling as much as possible.

Yeah. And are you specific to prostate cancer or is it more generally speaking? Yeah, so for the donation it went to prostate cancer through my dad's doctor and his team. Just because obviously there's that connection there. Mm-hmm. But like, moving forward, it's all cancers. Okay. I mean, everyone going through cancer, obviously, it's, you know, everyone deserves the same amount of support.

Mm-hmm. And love. And I'm actually trying to figure out a design now that kind of incorporates all the unique colors of like different ribbons and stuff in a, in an apparel or a hoodie. But yeah, all all cancers. Okay. That's really cool. I feel like you should work for Hoka or somebody like that too. I've applied a couple times to different jobs.

Okay. All right. Yeah, we gotta figure that out too. 'cause I feel like, gosh, just, yeah, no, a dr a dream job would be to work for like a running company or an outdoor company. It's, it's harder in Indiana, obviously. Yeah. You lived out west or something like that. It'd be easier to find a job like that. Um, but we're trying to figure out ways.

I mean, through my dad's battle I found such a strong passion for like. Community and getting involved. Mm-hmm. And obviously running and sporting events and I've always had a passion for the outdoors, so trying to figure out a way that I can slide into one of those avenues. Okay. Well, I'm on, I'm on the board for the monumental marathon.

Oh, there we go. So I've gotta figure, I will figure it out. Yeah. And anybody who's listening has any ideas for this incredible young man who's now a dad. Okay. Let's bring it back. Let's talk about being a new dad. Yep. And then we can wrap it up. Yep. 'cause I know you probably wanna get back home to banks.

So how is it being a new dad? Oh, it's five weeks, right? Yeah. Five weeks. It is the greatest blessing. Um, I think I kinda listed as one of my, obviously my greatest achievement. Um, but it truly is. I mean, I remember the first night when he was born, waking up at, you know, 4:00 AM to him crying and having to change my first diaper ever.

And I was just overcome with just this immense amount of joy. I mean, it's, it is just a different type of love. You've never loved anything like it. Obviously my wife. She's up there, but she, she knows we kind of, we have the same feeling. She's not right. It's tough. I'm second to her, she's second to me.

Like he, he just gets all our love. Um, but it, it truly is the greatest blessing. And I, I know I kind of talked about it before, um, but it truly is, you know, when you feel like everything is beating you down and you're going through all these life challenges and you feel like nothing can turn right. You know, I went through the hardest stretch of my life in September, losing my dog and my dad within the same week.

And then basically you follow that up with two of my greatest achievements, which is the run across Indiana and having my son. So it is just a reminder to mm-hmm. To keep pushing on and better days are ahead. Yeah, I meant to ask you about who else you had lost your dog. What kind of dog? She was a German short hair pointer.

Okay. And it was, it was one of those unfortunate things. It's IMHA, which is like an autoimmune disorder that just basically comes on randomly. And you know, one day she just got really sick and she went through a week battle of going through three different transfusions and um, it just got to the point where it was, she was just in too much pain and she was struggling too much.

Yeah. Yeah. She was six years old. She brought so much joy. But, um, my wife reminded me that. You know, as hard as it is, you know, I think my dad needed a close buddy up in heaven. Mm-hmm. There you go. So that was kind of just our way of like, trying to figure, 'cause other than that, I can't think of like, why else would this happen?

Like, you take away my best friend and someone who brings me so much joy who's supposed to help me get through my dad's passing. Right. Um, and you take, take her away from us. But yeah, that's kind of what I've been holding onto is that, you know, they're up in heaven right now. They're fishing, they're running around, and they're enjoying each other's company, man.

Yeah. I have a, um, a doodle who's, he's gonna be 10. Next year. So yeah, he's our first kid. Yeah, our first kid. Yeah. And so was your dog, would she have liked banks? Would she have been a good Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah, she was the most people dog ever. Like always had to be touched, loved given kisses. Yeah. I'm not sure banks would've liked her right now.

'cause she probably would've been, she, we called her the sniper. You know, if you've been down to tie your shoes, she'd jump up and lick your face. Oh yeah. So I'm not sure banks would've liked that, but No, she would've, she would've loved him. Yeah. Oh man. Yeah. That's tough. But at least, yeah, to your point, they're together.

So, yeah. New dad. That's really cool. Well, hopefully you get some stroller runs. Yeah, sometimes. I'm looking forward to it. How long did they make you wait? Like six, six months? I don't, yeah, I don't know. Um, I know obviously they've gotta have like, head strength to hold it on and stuff. We were looking the other day to have one of those pull behind things on a bike, and they said at least one year.

So I would think after, like, you know. After six months to a year attempted, I feel like six months you can do the stroller when they're in the car seat kind of situation. Yeah. Yeah. But the whole, I'll figure it out. I thought you could do it right away. I was so confused. I'm like, what do mean? I gotta wait.

Yeah. Yeah, I remember having to wait to run with our doodle. They're like, you have to wait a year. Yeah. 'cause they're hips and whatever, whatever. Um, so I have a couple of questions Okay. For you to wrap up the podcast. Yep. Yep. So the first is what, well, I already know your dad's mantra. Mm-hmm. Stay positive.

Yep. Are there other mantras that you have? And then it's kind of a two part question. Mantra, and then song besides hip don't lie, obviously. Um, one of the mantras, and I've kind of, I actually used to write it on, um, my wrist Hate for baseball. One of the mantras that has kind of always stuck with me is for those who can't.

Yeah. Oh, that's good. Mm-hmm. And it's, for me now, it's like obviously running for those who can't. And it's one of those things that like, we don't realize how blessed we are to be able to put on shoes, go out, you know, actually move and run. Um, and do all that. And, and I saw how hard it was for my dad to not be able to like, jump in with us and go run and play pickleball and hike and do all this stuff.

So anytime you know that I'm tired, the weather's cold, it's crappy out, or you know, I just don't have any motivation. I just think about all those people who would kill to be in my shoes at that moment mm-hmm. And go out for a run. So it's as simple as for those who can't, and it's just a reminder that you know how grateful we are and how blessed we are to be able to do what we do every day.

Yep. Yeah. I had, uh, a sticker on my Peloton bike that says, work harder. It's not chemo. Exactly. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. It's so, it's, that's so good. And then songs, do you listen, do you listen to music while you run usually or, I'm a big podcast. Uh, okay. Podcast guy. I absolutely hate. Headphones. Like for the longest time I couldn't run with like any headphones.

Oh, good. So you love wearing these? Well, I'm not running, so I don't feel as clouded out. Okay. Yeah. But I then I found those shocks like over the year. Yes, I wear those and I absolutely love those. But big podcast guy I listen to, like basically Rich Roll, his podcasts almost every single day. And then a lot of the running songs I listen to, I, I'm a big, like, chill, like indie pop, like Noah Khan is my favorite artist.

Okay. I listen to a lot of like, obviously like Christian music and stuff like that, but yeah, not a huge music guy. But yeah, most of the time it's podcast. Okay. I have a confession. I have not listened to Rich Rolls podcast. I am so bad. I need to, it's good. Yeah. I, I see the video clips all the time and I think to myself, okay, I need to watch that, or I need to go listen to that and then I forget.

No, no, he's to, he's very good. It's all about health and obviously running and nutrition and wellness. Yeah. Yeah. Some good life advice on there as well. Yeah. I need to listen to that. And then the next question is. What's your next finish line? Milestone. So you've, I mean, running across the state is pretty gnarly.

Yeah. That's quite the accomplishment. Like how do you top that? What are you thinking about? I, I know it's endeavor. It's hard and it's one of those things, I think it opened up my eyes that like I'm capable of doing some of these like much harder challenges. Kind of funny. I have a buddy, the buddy that flew in from Denver boy, the farthest he ever ran in a week was 25 miles and he came in and threw down over a hundred in that three day stretch and it opened.

Yeah. There. That was the coolest thing about the run. I'm getting off track again. No, it's good. One of the coolest things about the run is that, you know, my dad was all about inspiring and pushing through and, and doing something that you never thought was possible. Mm-hmm. And there were probably. Over 20, 30 people who ran farther than they ever did before when they came out and ran.

I think I had five or six friends that became like ultra marathoners, ran more than 30 miles in, in day three. So it was so cool to see my dad and his strength inspire so many people other than just me. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's opened up my eyes to kind of what I'm capable of doing. So I'm trying to figure out, obviously moving into 2024, what could maybe compare to something like this?

I have my eyes on now. I'm, I'm a big trail run guy. I absolutely love being out in the woods and the outdoors, so I wanna get out West. Leadville has obviously been on my, um, brain for a long time. I, I'm not ready for the hundred, but I think I'm gonna try the Leadville 50 in the summer. It's kind of like a real quick sign up.

So January like sixth I think it is. You gotta be quick on the trigger to try to get into that. Mm-hmm. Um, but some sort of out West 50 miler would be awesome. Um, I want to do Assignment Cancer Center Marathon. So 26.2 miles out in front of the building. Oh. Which I think I did the math, which is. Oh boy.

It's like a hundred trips. So it's kind of like one of those backyard ultras. Yeah. Yeah. Where it's just a very repetitive back and forth, back and forth. But yeah. Um, I love the, the mental challenge that it brings and obviously the connection with Simon Cancer Center. Ooh. So I'm trying to figure out, obviously unique kind of stuff like that to, one, bring awareness to cancer, but also to push myself.

Well now I'm like picturing people trying to join you in that, that that'd be awesome. Which I don't, I can't picture like Yeah, you couldn't make it like a huge race because it's a very narrow sidewalk. Yeah. So you'd be like, okay, and which lap are you on? Yeah. Am I in the league? It'd be dope if they could close that, that one eighth of a mile section of street.

There you go. To just allow, you know, like 50 runners to, to do it. To do it. If they, they could. Yeah. Cool. Well, I will be cheering for you, whatever you do next, and I'm excited to be able to now know you and support you as best I can. Thank you. Because yeah, you're, you're really incredible. You really are Michael.

Yeah. And yeah, it means, it means so much and I, I know obviously I, a lot of that comes from the dad that I had and what he obviously taught me. So that's one of the biggest things I'm excited for is to be the dad that my dad was to me. So I appreciate you, you know, obviously sharing my dad's story and our story and it means, it means so much.

My pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you. And thank you to everybody who has listened to this and happy running. Yeah, happy running, happy holidays and stay positive. So good.

Ally Brettnacher