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Ep 41 - Overcoming doubt (with special guest, John Pelkey)
938 Plays25 days ago
As long as these amazing guests keep saying yes, we're gonna keep inviting them onto the podcast! This week we're joined by runDisney race announcer John Pelkey and founder/leader of the Pelkey Running Club, Grant.
Known in the runDisney community for not being "a runner", John and the Pelkey Running Club just ran the St Jude Half Marathon... John's first half marathon! They're going to tell us all about that experience and go even deeper to the importance of community when you take on a big challenge.
Learn more about the Pelkey Running Club at https://pelkeyrunningclub.com and follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pelkeyrunningclub/
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Transcript
Introduction to John Pelkey and Grant
00:00:00
Speaker
If you've ever been to a run Disney race, then you've seen today's guest in action. We are so excited to have run Disney race announcer, John Pelkey on the show today to talk about his experience running his very first half marathon.
00:00:20
Speaker
Hey there, friends. Welcome to One More Run, the podcast. This is episode number 41, and it's going to be a good one because we have John Pelkey on the show. Yes, we do He's, the I mean, run Disney, I mean, as famous as you can get. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I mean, the man holds a microphone he has for 20 plus years on stage.
00:00:40
Speaker
him and Carissa up there announcing every single race. So we also have Grant who is, i call him like the founder of the Pokey Running Club. He started the whole thing. yeah And there's a group of runners that that kind of, I guess attached is the right word, attached themselves to John's name. you know, and they have a great time on course. They're so supportive
Listener Reviews and Community Engagement
00:01:00
Speaker
and all that. So both John and Grant are on today's episode and it's going to be good. Erica, before we dive right into that, and i literally have nothing else to cover other than getting our review in here. And the reason we do the review is because we want to say thank you to god you guys for leaving reviews like that. Super helpful. And it's obviously very encouraging for other people. And so thank you for leaving these Erica. I believe today's a is this from Mandy, right? Yes. Yes. Okay. Perfect. This one's called What a Great Find from Mandy R. Superstar. Superstar. superstar She says, oh my gosh, I just found this podcast and I've already binged three episodes in the last 24 hours.
00:01:36
Speaker
I ran my first run Disney race and my first half marathon
Birth and Growth of the Pelkey Running Club
00:01:40
Speaker
last weekend at Disneyland and have a bad feeling that I'm now hooked. So I turned to my favorite medium, which is podcasts to find out more and stumbled on one more run. AJ and Erica are so unbelievably pleasant to listen to as someone who listens to podcasts for somewhere near four hours each day. i have an ear for good hosts and ones that I can tell will annoy me from the first few moments. Well, AJ and Erica feel like listening to old friends chat about my new hobby in a positive, but not over the top sugary, informative and encouraging way. I wish I had found them before the Disneyland half marathon weekend as their episodes would have answered many questions and helped my anxiety, but I'm so happy. i at least found it now. Awesome. That was really sweet. I'm glad we did not fall into the category of annoying yes podcasters or whatever. Right. Yes. it's Pleasant. i'd I'd much rather be on the pleasant to listen to. Yes. Yes. I would as well. Yes. Mandy, i if I remember right, is going to be a wine and dine with her family. I believe so. um She training for that's going to be starting pretty soon. yeah um Awesome. Thank you for leaving a review. Thanks for supporting the podcast. We genuinely, genuinely, really, really, really appreciate it. I want to dive right in, Erica, because our interview is pretty long yeah and I don't want to cut any of it. yes And so that means it's going to be a little bit of a long episode. So no more fluff. We're going right in with our interview with John Pelkey and Grant from the Pelkey Running Club.
00:02:57
Speaker
Thank you.
00:03:00
Speaker
Hey there, friends. This is so exciting because we have two guests on the podcast today. And Erica, my excitement level went from like here to here. The minute they popped on the screen right in front us. Totally. I'm so excited to have ah John Pelkey, who we all know is a Disney race announcer, yeah right? Yes. On stage. I think he's been doing it.
00:03:20
Speaker
I'll ask him how long. Okay. Forever. And hopefully that doesn't offend him. I said forever. And Grant is, ah I'm going to call him the founder of the Pokey Running Club. I'm not sure if that's officially a term or not, yeah but that's what I'm going to call him. Anyway, so Grant and John, welcome to One More Run, the podcast.
00:03:38
Speaker
Thank you. this is This is John, by the way. And it's been, we believe, Carissa and I are never 100% sure, but I believe this is our 23rd season. and Oh, that's awesome. We predate Run Disney.
00:03:48
Speaker
So, long time ago. Perfect. And Grant, welcome welcome to the podcast. Did I call you the right thing? The founder? Is that the right term? You know, I don't really keep close titles on things. I'm just here to help lead us into the future and figure out where we're going. So yeah, that works. We'll take it. Right. But if I understand right, like you're the one that like spearheaded the whole thing, like you went and proposed the idea to John and whatever. did i Do I understand that right? He did propose to me. i will say that to Grant. In actuality, he did propose to me during a pre-show. It's still the highest rated pre-show we've had yet. I was about to say I was
John Pelkey's Running Journey
00:04:20
Speaker
positioned lower down vertically than you as you were standing on a stage. It is a bit of a proposal video. so Yeah. Oh my gosh.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah it's one of those things that was interesting. yeah We did. when We started out just making this as a one time, you know, ah costume for Princess 10K in 2024. My wife was going to run as Mia Thermopolis from Princess Diaries. And I had talked about doing something related to a pelkey running club for a while and decided why not bust it out then. so Jumped online, designed a quick logo, printed it on a T-shirt, and had four hats from an Etsy seller that were embroidered and brought them to John and Carissa at the 10K pre-show. Handed them to them and showed them my shirt.
00:05:04
Speaker
Took a quick picture and thought, that's it. This was fun. One and done. and Got a shout out at the finish line from John wearing the shirt. And now it's transpired into 1,900 members across many different continents, gear all over the world,
Run Disney Races Experience
00:05:21
Speaker
you know, giving back to multiple charities. Yeah, we've had two couples now get married from the Pelkey Running Club. That's awesome. I actually performed one of their ceremonies, for God's sake. That is so cool. Yeah, so it's it's just blossomed to something, I think, more than any of us ever expected. And it's been a huge blessing and is exciting to kind of be on this journey alongside John and the rest of our memberships. And I i just want to jump in say really was founded by the people who shouted out to Grant when he was running with the hat and the shirt and Chris and I both were like, wow, these are really quality hats. I go back to that every time I go, this is a really good hat. This was not printed up in the kiosk in the mall. This is actually a fine and I'm a hat snob. Yeah. and And and then Graham was like so many people were asking where to get the hat. So it really founded itself.
00:06:06
Speaker
It really did because we did not have an Instagram. Like I said, I was expecting this to be like a one and done costume fun. We leave it. And the moment we step off the course, people are asking us where they can buy the hat. And so
Fun Q&A with Hosts and Guests
00:06:20
Speaker
i get back to our resort hotel after you know boarding the bus and getting back there and start an Instagram and immediately pick up like 20 followers and message John. I'm like, Hey, so you don't know me. I don't know you, but people are asking about this. Like,
00:06:33
Speaker
You cool. If we make them, I promise I won't like make a ton of money off of it. We'll do something for charity and just, you have fun with it. And, um, it's exploded ever since we've sold out hats a couple of times now and it's gone into shirts and, um,
00:06:47
Speaker
Our own weekend now here at St. Jude, which is exciting as well. So yeah, more than we could have ever expected. That's so cool. Exciting nonetheless. That's cool. What's the why, right? Like I understand why you started it, right? It was a goofy little thing, whatever. and then, you know, hey, yeah let's make yeah these shirts because that'd be fun, right? But then yeah then i think it got a little deeper than that over the last couple of years, right?
00:07:05
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, when we sat down to really think about what the future of the club looked like still early days, but in 2024, we really tried to set out a charter of, you know, what are the pillars we want to stand on um and what do we want to be known for? And we ultimately determined that it was about building community, encouraging others and having fun. And I think the fun kind of came from day one and encouraging others, I think naturally kind of happens to, I can't tell you the number of stories that we get in our DMS after a race weekend where they're like, Hey, I don't know who it was, but somebody wearing your gear, like encouraged me to keep going. And that's one of the main reasons I made it to a finish line. And that's the kind of stuff that gets me most excited yeah because it says that we're doing something right. and We've got people that are
00:07:48
Speaker
good people that mean well that are trying to encourage others and help others get to that finish line and that I think is what keeps us going is this community that we're building the friendships we're making and the you know bonds we're building um well outside of a run Disney race weekend it's going to world majors it's going to you know pokey running club weekend um just daily group chats on whatsapp now there's a wide variety of things that we're doing so awesome Grant, it sounds like um encouragement and community is a big part of the Pelkey Running Club. Is there anything else
Reflecting on First Half Marathon and St. Jude's Marathon
00:08:20
Speaker
that you want people to know, especially maybe those that are new to run Disney?
00:08:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, it's one of those things that we're there just to have a good time. um We don't take ourselves too seriously. And I absolutely ah acknowledge there is a place, especially at the front of the corrals, for those that take running seriously.
00:08:35
Speaker
And we have some of those in our group, to be very clear. We have people that have won their divisions, won the military division. They're way too fast. they They're my least favorite people in the club. was just like to say those people somebody put up a time the other day in a run and I'm like I'm pretty close to kicking you out at this point because that's it's one those things John always jokes that you're running too fast for the pace of the pelkey running club and they definitely skew our numbers much faster than the most are but we've got a wide variety of folks from all different backgrounds walks of life geographies locations where they're living um you know and so I think ultimately know that if you ever see a pelkey running club
00:09:13
Speaker
piece of gear that somebody is wearing, they're extremely approachable. and We have pacers, the Galloway pacers that wear pelkey gear. We've got, you know, people scattered through all of the corrals. And so ultimately, i would just say, like, everyone's welcome. We want you to have a good time out there um and get engaged with us on social, in person or otherwise. Awesome.
00:09:33
Speaker
Love that. John, what's your take on this whole thing? When we started run Disney several, you know, a few years ago, we, you know, you were announced from the stage, like, why are, why are any of you running this race? Like, I'm not around, like we got that vibe from you, right? That you were not a runner. Right. Oh, I still, and there we saw you there are times I question that.
00:09:48
Speaker
And you dopey challengers, I'm still questioning in that part. Yeah, we were around yeah when you did your 5K in Atlanta. We weren't at that thing, but we remember when you did that. And then we remember when you did the 10K, right? And then we remember, you know, what we're going to talk about today. remember your half, like we, from a distance, seen the whole thing. But now you have a running club named after you. Like, what what how does that feel? I mean, it's it's did on a certain level, it's absurd. And that's why the, you know, one of our, the shirts that Grant and I are wearing right now, Both have the the motto, you know, the only running club where you're a better athlete than the namesake, because, you know, so often it's if it's named after someone, it's generally, you
Future Plans and Encouragement for Runners
00:10:20
Speaker
know, like a Jeff Galloway and rest in peace, Jeff, something like that ah running club. ah So it's it's a little absurd, but it's been it's been really, really great for me, too, because ah the lesson that I've learned over this period of time is As as somebody who is sort of of a loner, I mean, i'm I'm an introverted extrovert, and I think a lot of people who perform, that's kind of their thing.
00:10:41
Speaker
um i When I was running, when I've trained for the my 5K, and I did my first 5K actually at springtime a few years ago, and yeah i I did all my training by myself on my treadmill alone. I i ran by myself when I went and ran. And ah those none of the experiences I just mentioned, the training for the 5K nor the 5K were enjoyable in any way, shape or form for me. I didn't really have that great of a time. I pushed myself.
00:11:07
Speaker
And then for the 10K, my friend Stephanie ran with me um ah running through breast cancer and having somebody to have a conversation with. And then a couple other people would jump in from time to time. I had a much better experience. My 10K was so much better. And then um running the half marathon back in December, um i have very little memory of whatever toll it took on my body. I do remember I was sore afterwards. I remember my ankle was bothering me at one point. um But what I really remember is all of us hanging out and having a really, really great time.
00:11:44
Speaker
And I think one of the things that's somewhat unique about ah Disney ah run, Disney weekend is that people people do a lot more over that weekend than they do when they go to just about any other distance race. I know people go to New York. Maybe they'll try to do something, you know Chicago, the like.
00:12:00
Speaker
um But at Disney, that you know, again, those crazy people who do dopey and then go to the park all day. And I, I struggled to understand that because again, a kind of feel a little bit of like a loner, but finally getting together with all the people that we got together with and then being out there on the course with all of those people kind of opened me up to talking to other people as well. And I used to always joke, ah When ah when you know somebody was angry and you're trying to make all rest of us angry, you know, collective suffering is so much better than individual suffering. But I think there's a grain of truth to that. I think we're going through it together.
00:12:34
Speaker
Makes it just makes it easier for you. So the fact that people have said, oh gosh, I meet people from the Pelkey Running Club and and they're good people and they're not snarky people online when you ask a question like ah where's baggage? Yeah. they're like, read the thing. 7,000 people have asked that. No, we're just going to tell you where the bag is. Don't ask me because i don't know any of this stuff.
00:12:54
Speaker
But um I think that, you know, for me, that the the biggest thing about it, other than, and I said this, the initial thing that struck me was getting up in the morning and sadly going onto my phone to check social media and seeing somebody from the Pelking Running Club was in Berlin with my name on a hat running or Milwaukee or, you know, Honolulu, wherever. Oh, yeah. That's kind of cool.
00:13:19
Speaker
It's really, really cool. And um i I don't know why they gravitated towards me. I hope it was because I approached those weekends like, look, guys, I'm not a runner, um but you guys, you know, you're going to do something that's pretty all encompassing. So we might as well have a good time while we're doing it.
00:13:36
Speaker
um We'll celebrate you if you're in the Belky Running Club and you finish first or if you if you can't make it past mile three in a 10K because you have to pull up lame. That's okay. We're going celebrate you because you you put forth the effort and can't get anywhere in life without trying. Well, we love what you guys stand for. And John, we love that you have that that that mindset, that approach, right? Because even kind of like what we do ah with our our silly little podcast here is, you know, someone doesn't believe they can do it or they're scared to do it or they're intimidated by all the people who can and they feel like they don't belong, you know, imposter syndrome, where we just try and break all that down. And I think you guys do that at a whole nother level. And it's it's awesome. So thank you all for what you do. It's really great for the community. But I'm glad that's the direction it's gone.
00:14:18
Speaker
All that's heartfelt stuff. Let's get that out of the way. And we like to play Would You Rather yeah on our show. This is how we get to know folks. So we'd love to throw a handful of Would You Rather questions at you. Grant, you'll be able to answer some of these as well. Some of them are John specific. But if you're if you're cool with a few rounds of Would You Rather, you okay with that? Absolutely.
00:14:35
Speaker
Softball question. Easy one. John, would you rather ride Pirates of the Caribbean or Avatar Fly to Passage? If you had to choose between those two rides, which would you choose? Oh, that is a really good choice because you're going like old school, really old school. I think if I had my choice, it would be Avatar Flight of Passage.
00:14:54
Speaker
just Just by a little. America would agree with that, think. Just by a little. And part of the reason is I haven't ridden it that many times. So I'm still like in mid single digits of riding it. Whereas I've been on Pirates of Caribbean, probably million six. Yeah. Yeah. Grant, what about you?
00:15:11
Speaker
ah Pirates of the Caribbean for me. It's one that my kiddos love, the you know classic nature of it from Imagineering and Walt's Brain and just ah the tune itself. Have you ridden the good one out in California?
00:15:23
Speaker
I have, yeah. Now, I haven't been overseas to ride them over there. yeah Those take it to a whole other level, but yeah, I have. yeah so Awesome. All right, this one's for John. John, would you rather wake up early to announce a morning race or stay up late to announce a night? race oh oh i'm a theater actor i want to stay up late do a night race are you kidding me absolutely i i nobody you know you those online you know bring back the star wars races bring back the california races bring in the paris races but i and i'm like okay whatever you want to do when they bring back the night races i'm the guy going yeah let's do couple of
00:15:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. i love I love a night race. It's fun. it's it's It's also just a fun visual for announcing when everything happens. You know, as you you're coming up to sundown and then happens into the dark, it's just, you know, and it's and it's different than the 1 a.m. m wake up call that I get every day. That was my next question was what time do you get up for announcing races? Our call time for um i like on a marathon weekend or call time for the 5K, 10K and half marathon is ah generally 1 a.m. and then 1230 for the full marathon, though. I think we've pushed we're pushing that back a little bit.
00:16:30
Speaker
Yeah. so Sadly. But yeah, so usually I'm out of bed by midnight pretty much any any night. We try to try to turn out the light around five or six o'clock. And if you can get four hours of solid sleep in, it's pretty good.
00:16:43
Speaker
Wow. So you're telling us to stop complaining. Is that what I just understood? When people are like, oh, it's Terry, you gotta get up at 3.30. And I'm like, 3.30? I've already put in like hours of rehearsal. I'm on cup of coffee number 12. What are you doing? Today's getting a away from you.
00:16:59
Speaker
Hey, four hours of sleep though is pretty comparable to what a runner goes through as well. So we'll share that. it's just a different wake up. You don't have to go to the contemporary for dinner at eight. See, that's the thing. I have to do these things.
00:17:12
Speaker
Like, let me go three hours of sleep. You watch the fireworks. course you only got three hours. That was a choice people. Yes, exactly. I like the judgment that John passes. It's very clear. I like it. I like it. Very judgy. All right. Here's another, another, would you rather, would you rather have the opportunity to announce the New York city marathon or the London marathon? If if you got the choice.
00:17:33
Speaker
um Well, I, up you know, I love, I love new York and different life. I should have been a, i in this life, I wanted to be a Broadway theater actor, but London's my favorite city on earth. So cheers. We're going to London.
00:17:48
Speaker
Awesome. Very cool. Okay. Would you rather let Carissa write your cue cards or let Riley determine your costume? um Well, I certainly don't want Riley writing my cue cards. I've seen his handwriting. um and And he wouldn't want mine either. I have the handwriting of a pediatrician. um I'm going to say ah probably Carissa and Because if I got had to pick Riley's costume, I'd pick something that made him look as silly as possible. And I i would hold it against him if he didn't do the same for me. yes He might give me a onesie, though. And I love when my costume's a onesie.
00:18:22
Speaker
we we We all do. It's easy. Step in, zip up. There's no getting ready time. so Yeah, as long as it's a cold race, right? Those hot races, can't imagine. Yeah, you know, it's it whatever they put me in, I'm always hot. Doesn't matter, generally. Oh, you're sweating either way? They've usually got something on me that, yeah.
00:18:38
Speaker
right, this is our last would you rather and you both get to answer. We ask everyone that comes on our podcast this question and so we're keeping score. And so I'm hoping you guys can help me out with this one. ah John, I don't think you have the experience yet, but I'm still going to ask you. Would you rather run down Main Street or get a finisher medal for a Disney half marathon?
00:18:56
Speaker
You could only choose one of those things, right? Which one would you rather have, a finisher medal or um or you know the opportunity to run down Main Street? Erica chooses Main Street. I choose the medal. And we're we're we're choosing sides. So, John, you're our first person we're asking that has not had the opportunity to run down Main Street, but you get an honorary in on this one because you're so famous. Oh, wow. no Boy, you set the bar lower on famous than I would. But ah I am team Erica on this. i am i I love all the folks who are into the medals and everything.
00:19:24
Speaker
If they didn't give me one at the finish, I'd be fine with it. i'm it's you know It's cool. my In fact, mine's sitting on the table right over here near me, but i'm not that i I'll look at it, think it's neat. Great. But no, that visual of running down. I've had the opportunity to walk down Main Street when the parks are closed and all the lights are on. and Most of the Disney and Universal Parks in that way. And I can just tell you that's that's fantastic at at any time. So yeah, Main Street, absolutely.
00:19:51
Speaker
Okay. I won't hold that against you. Grant, what's your what's your your take? I'm team Main Street. Oh, no. Yes. It's the right answer. It's those things. Yeah. It's all about the experience and you know with that crowd being there to cheer you on, running with friends, family, significant others, the views, yeah the sites, the music. It's just...
00:20:14
Speaker
It's unbeatable. um I can get medal, you know, and most of my medals just end up in a box somewhere respectfully and it's on to the next one. But yeah, that experience is what I'd rather take with You have a core, you have a core Main Street memory. Do you have you have one from a race? Yeah. Back in 2023, I ran my second dopey and my wife was ah pregnant or I just delivered our third kiddo. And so I was going solo for dopey that year. Typically my wife and I run all four races together. um And I helped pace her and, you we'd go across the finish line, and go through it together.
00:20:48
Speaker
um But that year I was going at solo and my parents and my sister came down. all of our kids were there and was able to find them on Main Street. just taken picture My best friend was there, too, um at the time. So it was just one of those experiences that I don't get too often because typically Natalie, my wife, is with me. And then our kids are either back here in Memphis or, you know, still sleeping exor most of the time. So.
00:21:12
Speaker
There's something amazing about seeing a face, you know, on main street, my gosh yeah you know, like you might even be on the trip with them, but something about that moment when you're at mile, whatever it is, you know, depending on the race five or nine or whatever, like something about that. It just, as it is good. I'm still choosing the metal, but it's, it's really good.
00:21:30
Speaker
Cool. Thank you all for playing. Would you rather, it's fun to know. Um, I won't hold that against you about the main street. Can I, can I ask you all a question? yeah No, it's our podcast. so We ask the questions.
00:21:41
Speaker
ah sure yeah for it So John this week actually has been very vocal in the group chat and two of the last three days has asked a food related question. What is your go-to bagel order and your favorite pizza order?
00:21:57
Speaker
Okay. Okay. ah Pizza, like we're talking in general, right? We're not like talking pre-race or anything like that. No, just mine. Mine's sausage and pineapple, which which is unusual, but I like that sweet and salty for sure. But no one else in my family. I like pineapple on a pizza as well. Not it's not in my top, but I like pineapple on a pizza. I will be on that team as well.
00:22:16
Speaker
Perfect. And bagels. I don't I mean, and don't have bagels very often. I think the only time I really have a bagel is in the race but yeah in the runner's box and it comes you're like yeah cold with the peanut butter spread. You know I mean? That's about the only time I have a bagel. Do you have any ah a different answer?
00:22:33
Speaker
I'm kind of with you with the bagel, but I do like um like the chive cream cheese on my bagel. That's delicious. And then I would say if it's not plain cheese, I'd probably get Canadian bacon and pineapple on my pizza.
00:22:46
Speaker
Solid. Solid both ways. Was there, it was there, we're off track, but, and thank you, Grant, but was there a, like a consensus in the group of like a, like a common theme that everybody, no, it was all over the place. Yeah, it really was. Yeah, it's, it went from savory to sweet to what type of spread? is it the sandwich? Does that count? Is it just the bagel? Oh, yeah. Crusts were debated for pizzas. Is it deep dish? Is it Chicago style? New York? what It was all over the board. So I just thought bringing our group chat here. John was the one that asked those questions. It'd be fun to get you. yeah And it's always interesting how many people come out like against something food wise.
00:23:20
Speaker
I hate Carrie. It's like, first why? and sega you know And it's not the question that people feel like I'm going to let you know. Oh, gosh, that's hilarious. Awesome. Thank you all. Thank you for the question, Grant. yeah um John, questions for you before we kind of dive in. We want to learn more about your half marathon experience, right? One of the big things that we you know want ah people to understand and feel is that idea that like, yeah, like you're going to be scared and you're not going to be sure you can do it and all that stuff. Um, but, but you can, you know, put in the work, uh, surround yourself with people, you know, put in the miles, do the, do the other things. And so we want to talk about that, but I'd also love to know, I think a lot of people would love to just have five minutes to ask you a bunch of run Disney questions. So here, here's my question is like, would you be willing to share some insights, right? Like from your career as a, as a run Disney race announcer, you know, and and ah and other stuff, but like any, just like key takeaways for you and your, in your long career doing this. I think You know, one of the main things is it it's how kind of snuck up on me that this was a big deal. We've been at it for 23 years and for a while. And I think it has to do with the growth of running in general across ah ah across the world, frankly. But it was, you know, oh, I had these jobs were a couple times a year. And when started out, when I first was doing it, mar marathon and half marathon were both run on the same day. It was dude this completely different. experience and ah just how it snuck up on me that this growth of this sport has created and i get tie this into like things like the Pelkey Running Club, just communities of runners of all different abilities and
00:24:54
Speaker
needs, desires, just the fact that um as an announcer to see what it's grown into, to the chagrin of everyone trying to register for a race when it's time to do that, um that it's become what it has. And I think largely, and I know there were frustrations involved for people who, you know, can't get into races. And I know ah ah a lot of things come into play, but I think largely it's just the positive effect that it's had on people and just giving them something where for the most part, it's a lot of people getting together on each other's side. I don't think very many people start out with the race with the thought of, you know, I don't care if he makes it. don't care if I think everybody starts out with a we're going to make this. And it's just been remarkable to watch. And like I said, it kind of snuck up on. I think both Carissa and I, we turned around one day and went,
00:25:42
Speaker
ah now there's merchandise with stuff on it and somebody recognized me. it's It's pretty remarkable what it's become. Yeah, awesome. John, can you describe what you see when you look out on the Ren Disney Corrals and all the faces of the runners? What's that like for you?
00:25:57
Speaker
It's amazing and more so for the last... I don't know, 10 years or so. And all ah really credit goes to this to my friend, Riley Claremont, when we started hearing everyone's stories um before that, you know, in my prime directive, and I always tell everybody this, and this is any race that I do. My prime directive is to get the race to start at the time it's supposed to start. That's the first thing that is the most important thing. You get everybody safely on the course at that time.
00:26:22
Speaker
And, you know, for a long time, you're looking at you're going, OK, this corral, we need to get them out in this amount of time. But over the years, getting all those stories and Riley was the one who was adamant about, we want to we don't just want to get the hey, i want to shout out ah to how much fun it is to be at Disney. We kind of want to hear what you went through to get here.
00:26:39
Speaker
And I think now you can't help but look down in there and think a couple of things. Most of those people spent more time on their costumes than their training. And oh, my goodness, the stories that we're not going to be able to tell and ah and how I hope that over the years people get a chance to tell those stories because it is pretty it's pretty cool. Yeah.
00:27:01
Speaker
we we've We've noticed that that that a lot of people are running on behalf of something or something they've overcome or something they're trying to overcome or whatever. Then you really realize you you see a costume, but they're they're doing something yeah most most folks. and And then the most profound thing is the people that don't come back anymore because they're no longer with us anymore or the people who come back and can no longer run, but they're there to cheer on friends that they met in years past. I think profound, that's the, you know, in a time where it's hard to have faith in humanity a lot, that really gives you a lot of faith in humanity.
00:27:35
Speaker
So that's, that's the, that's, the answer that's pretty profound. Yeah, certainly. We had a side tangent and a question. If you don't want to answer is totally is totally fine. We had Chris Twiggs on the podcast a couple of weeks ago and we had an opportunity to talk to him about Jeff and the impact that Jeff had on him and whatever. Any insights on your experience and and, you know, relationship with Jeff or would you rather not not go that deep? No, I know. I don't i don't mind at all. ah He was, ah you know, first and foremost, Jeff was my friend because I wasn't an athlete.
00:28:05
Speaker
And I um I've met a lot of famous people in my lifetime. My father worked at the White House and I met presidents from the time I was a little kid and ah interviewed athletes and everything. So meeting an Olympian, it was cool.
00:28:18
Speaker
Oh, you're at the 72 Olympics. a girl went to my high school was in the 72 Olympics. We talked about that. And he just became my friend before I really knew what kind of ah effect he'd had on the running community because I was not a member of of the running community. I was announcing these races because, you know, several years ago, the director was a friend of mine from theater and said, you know, sports go announce these things. Um, but he was just my friend and I enjoyed talking to them. And he was, you know, one of those people, when you talk to him, you always felt your blood pressure down when you talk to Jeff, because he just, he was that calming influence and boy, you know, the legacy that he's leaving
00:28:53
Speaker
is ah is really quite remarkable. And he will be missed. And as I said on my post, I'm going to be in Atlanta soon to run ah his Memorial 5K in a few weeks. And the last time I was in Atlanta, he he and I spent the whole weekend discussing why the Rockford Files was underappreciated as a television show and how great James Garner was. And I'll miss those conversations with Jeff because he he was just a special guy. He was a really, really special guy. And I think being an Olympian um isn't maybe even in the top five things that were special about him.
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah. Grant, you, I believe you're a run Walker. Did Jeff have a, an impact on your, on your running? Yeah. i think Jeff's, uh, training plans, obviously from the start setting out as a first time run Disney or in that being, ah accessible resource to you is absolutely critical as you get into the sport. But I think, you know, as you continue to go back, uh, weekend after weekend or year after year,
00:29:47
Speaker
the ability to meet and engage with Jeff and Chris and their team, um, becomes that much more important. And it's the conversations, it's the friendships like John mentioned, but I think ultimately it's the legacy. Uh, and that's what we tried to hit on too. And we just, you know, shared our thoughts as a club about it is, and we have Galloway Pacers that are Palky running club members. Uh, and it's one of those things that,
00:30:11
Speaker
you know, the end of the day, I don't think anyone changed the sport of running maybe more than Jeff Galloway did. Um, just the impact and it's, it goes well beyond run Disney, oh yeah you know? Um, and so I think what a ah life lived, what a ah legacy to leave and an opportunity both for, you know, athletes and the Galloway family themselves to continue to, you know, shine Jeff's light, uh, in all those places, be that encouraging voice and help, uh, athletes get to their next finish line. So, yeah,
00:30:39
Speaker
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts on thoughts on that. um Okay. Are you guys comfortable and ready to talk about um your St. Jude half marathon? We'd love to to hear all about that. The fun stories, the hard stuff, the good stuff, all that. You ready? Absolutely. Let's do it. all right. So, John, you kind of touched on a little bit. You know, your first 5K was at, you know, around Disney one. We were there when you did your 10K. Like, can you give me the short short history of like how you ended up going from no miles to to this point of signing up for ah a half? I was shamed and deceived on a number of occasions to get me there. I will tell you that right now.
00:31:11
Speaker
Um, the 5k came about, um, uh, that was just kind of badgering with, uh, Carissa and other people about, you know, oh, you could finish a fight. You could go do a 5k and, you know, and I'd started announcing like a corporate 5k. So I do, I do a bunch of those here around Orlando and, uh, I just think it got in my head. It was like, all right, well, I could probably run one of these. But I thought, well, if I'm going to do it, I'm not going to pay to do it.
00:31:37
Speaker
In fact, I'd like to get paid to do it. So I just approached i just approached our director, ah Mark, and i said, hey, you know, I'd run the 5K if you want to make it part of the entertainment. And Mark's always looking for something to make it, you know, fun and interesting. and he had 18 years of me, 19 years of me going, what's wrong with you people? Why are you even up at this point? And ah so, you know, it was decided that, okay, yeah, you can do that. And they can handle all of the announcing at the finish line because you're not going to get there early enough.
00:32:10
Speaker
to do much of it. Even if you do start in Corrale. And so I barely did the training and went out and did that. And like I said, it wasn't the most enjoyable for me. was raining a little bit, which is never fun.
00:32:22
Speaker
ah and ah i And because of that, a lot of the entertainment had been pulled in and everything. But I did it. And I felt at the end of it, I felt like, all right, well, you know, OK, I feel OK about that. And that was going to be it. And then the Galloway weekend in Atlanta a couple of years ago, Chris is like, oh, come run the 5K for Galloway weekend because we were up there to do ah the podcast that we did um for ah ah for the weekend for to interview Jeff and a couple of other folks up there. And she's like, well, just come out and do the 5K. So I did get out and i and I did that 5K. I ran with her for part of the way and then ah a Galloway pacing group. The first time I was running with people.
00:33:00
Speaker
And that really changed the experience a lot, even though, you know, it's some trails in Atlanta, a little hilly for my taste. yeah um But and there wasn't, you know, other than pretty scenery, there wasn't entertainment or anything, but I still had a much better experience. And that's when they started talking about the ten k And it just I don't know why it crept into my head that, oh, yeah, possibly. And then we were interviewing on our podcast, Chris Nickich.
00:33:23
Speaker
You guys are familiar with Chris Nickich. Yeah. Yeah. first person with Down syndrome, fish and Ironman has finished a number of them since then. And he essentially challenged me to run a 10K. And I'm like, well, how how do you say no to that?
00:33:36
Speaker
And um obviously, if it hadn't been in my mind that, you know, I wonder if I really could go six miles because that sounds like a long and it still is to me a long way to run. Six miles is a long way to run. And ah so i I I never committed to it until the day before.
00:33:55
Speaker
Um, I was back and forth on it and I didn't do a lot of the training when I should. ah and, uh, finally about the day before. And I've, Chris was like, even if you don't make it, it's still a part of the entertainment. And we talk about people who, who didn't make it and maybe, you know, come back next year and try it again. But I went out, Stephanie paced me and I have to say my body felt great.
00:34:20
Speaker
I was tired, but that's the best I'd felt in a long time. And so that was cool. and And then Grant invited us to dinner at ah the ah Contemporary, the the restaurant, the pricey restaurant that Grant could afford at the Contemporary. yeah ah And, ah you know, we went to the Pelkey Running Club had started off and he was bringing like the first, some of the first merchandise for us. And we're having this lovely dinner. And I, to my dine day, I will say that he said to me, hey, you think you'd like to run the 10K in Memphis?
00:34:52
Speaker
And apparently that's not what he said, because when I acquiesced to do this and he was walking me through the registration process, all of a sudden I'd registered for the half marathon.
00:35:03
Speaker
And it was at that point, it had gotten enough of my ah competitive juices flowing, thinking, all right. Yeah. If you committed to this in this kind of public way, you maybe you will actually do the work because you I, you know, I'll try to find a way out of it. If you know me, I'm going to try to find a way out of that hard work. um But then I just took it as a challenge and and got a lot of of support from people. And again, I speak about Carissa. You know, she says, like, I just know when you say you're going to do something, you will do it. It's just getting you to say you'll do it might be difficult. and And then Bob telling me to do the work. So I did.
00:35:42
Speaker
i didn't miss. I probably got in for that period of my Galloway training. i got in probably 90 to 95% of my runs. I missed ah one the day we had our we put our dog down. And I think and I challenge anyone to run that day.
00:35:59
Speaker
um And then I pulled i fold my hand string by changing up my shoes. three weeks before i was going to run. Oh, no. not right, man. ah So I missed a couple of runs there.
00:36:11
Speaker
But the point is, i did I did the work, and then I got up there. I did have an upper respiratory infection that I was just getting over. So, you know, again, going back to what do you see when you look in the corrals? Oh, John has an upper respiratory infection, and he's out of shape.
00:36:25
Speaker
Gee, here's, you know, Ginny, who's taking her old hip out for a run, and she's going to get her hip replaced tomorrow, or, you know, ah Stephanie running through chemo And ah so got out there with everybody. It was just one of the ah magical experience. And the thing I remember, again, I don't remember that much about the physical toll it took on my body. I remember just the fun we had that entire weekend and on the course. Surprisingly, we had fun. Except miles nine to 11.
00:36:52
Speaker
Yeah. So I have, I have a couple comments out of that one. It was before we were recording you, but you told us this story about Bob and Bob, it was rising run Bob that put his hands on your shoulders. Right. Yeah. You know what I mean? Seven foot, whatever. I can't even imagine looking up at him. And he said, do the work, right? Like that, that's the story. It of July. And I was a couple of weeks out from when the, you the training picked up and Bob was a race. I was announcing St. Pete Run Fest Pier Run.
00:37:18
Speaker
And he's like, well, you know, you you must be getting close to your training. And I was like, yeah, he just put his arms on my shoulders and said, just John, do the work. Just do the work. You'll be fine.
00:37:29
Speaker
And he was right. Yeah. And he was right. And when I, and I did all my training on a treadmill, right? I'm going to change that up a little this year to try to get out there. And I already have out there a little more. um And but when I got to mile seven, that was the one for me that kind of was like, oh, you've gone six miles. This is seven. Now you're over halfway and your body still feels like, OK, well,
00:37:52
Speaker
I'm I needed I need a polar plunge in the pool. But outside of that, I'm I'm i'm doing OK. So that was it. It it would really surprised me that it didn't that running it in December didn't ah negatively affect me any more than just, you know, sure. Basic muscle soreness stuff.
00:38:10
Speaker
and My other thought was you ran with Stephanie, who we just met recently for the first time. And I can only imagine how entertaining after having met her now, how entertaining that 10K must have been. ah Yes, it it was very, it was very, I love Stephanie. We hang out. ah It was very entertaining, but she's also, you know, she comes from medical. I think she's,
00:38:31
Speaker
ah I think it's emergency room nurse, surgical nurse. I mean, she has she's got her ducks in a row. And what she did was she just kept me focused on what we were doing by keeping my mind by not allowing my mind to focus on the running aspect of it.
00:38:47
Speaker
You know, she was talking to me, you know, keep your head up, encouraging me to stop and get a photo with the DJ that I knew and things that just were really, really good for my mind. a Half marathon though, it was a little painful because I wanted to run too fast and she just kept hitting me.
00:39:02
Speaker
Repeated. That's hilarious. um So John, you kind of talked about how you were sort of tricked maybe into signing up for the half marathon. Swear he said, um but that's not how I remember it. Well, let's clear it up right here, Grant. What's your what's your position on this?
00:39:18
Speaker
My position is still the same setting, the California Grill Contemporary Marathon Weekend 2025. And I just positioned it as an opportunity for John to fundraise for the kids and families of St. Jude and go a distance that he said he would never go before. And so I said half marathon from the beginning. And go the distance you know you could go. i already done. And that's what I heard. i swear that's what I heard. That's hilarious. Oh my gosh. So that's that's what I recall. And i I do remember walking John through registration for St. Jude Heroes because he fundraised and was a St. Jude Hero. And I remember putting half marathon in there, but it was consistent with what I recall our conversation being three months prior. so Now, I figured if I was going all that way, I might as well.
00:40:02
Speaker
Might as well do the half marathon. You might as well. So ah how are you feeling when training started for that half marathon? um i was I was okay. i had normally, you know, to just keep sort of a baseline um fitness. I usually do two miles at a time on a treadmill. And average...
00:40:22
Speaker
2.75 days a week. Sometimes it'll be three, sometimes it'll be two. And then, you know, do some, of we have a pool and I do a little bit of other fitness stuff. So when I entered into it, I was, I was, I felt pretty good. And Jeff's training plan is, I think really, really worked well for me. And in fact, I actually ran at different intervals and I ended up racing it. But I think that was, ah and that decision was made by Stephanie actually. And I think it was a good decision because it made it even easier for me. But I felt pretty good getting into it um for the first first few weeks. I think, again, when I got to that, like where I started to get to the five to seven mile range and I'd have to I'd get off and thinking, man this is what I feel like after five and a half miles. I am never going to get to 13 miles. But I think like a lot of things, it is somewhat of a slow climb, but I think it also, there you take some leaps every now and again, and it differs how you're feeling that day. I had to learn a lot about fueling and hydration I'm pretty good on because I'm 61-year-old man, and you just have to hydrate all the time. Just assume that you should be IV hydrating at all times. Yeah. um But I didn't know anything about the nutrition. And jumping back to Stephanie with the 10K, she recognized at mile four that I was struggling and said, oh, you need to eat something. And I'd never done that before. I'd never had anything to eat on the course. So it was ah it it it was a lot.
00:41:44
Speaker
Grant, did you have a comment? I was just going to say, John and I were very ah consistent in our communication throughout his training plan, just talking through different things. We got to deal with the hamstring and the shoe issue pretty close to the event. But it was um very noticeable when John would hit those walls and then break through them yeah and get that little bit of confidence and continue to go. And as someone who you know vocally had said in the past, I'll never run a half marathon, to I don't know if I'm going to get through half of this, to
00:42:15
Speaker
the day before race day, a bib pickup. He's like, I've got this. Like, I'm going to finish yeah regardless. You know, I don't know how I'm going to finish. I don't know if it's going to be limping. You're going to be giving me a piggyback ride, whatever it may be, but I'm going to finish it It was fun to watch the progression of John's confidence and his ability, uh, by putting in the miles, but putting in the work on training and, you know, kind of fine tuning some of these other pieces to be race day ready. yeah Um, and he absolutely crushed it.
00:42:41
Speaker
So, Any insight on that? Because I think that's something that like, uh, if you've never accomplished the distance before that doubt creeps in, right? I mean, it just, it just sits, it just lives right there. Any insight, John, from your experience of how did you break through some of those, those milestone moments? How did you go overcome the doubts? ah Well, i again, I think it i think it came down to understanding, thinking, you know, ah that it was going to be this. Oh, I'm going to run four miles ah this week is my long run. And next week it'll be five miles. And, off you know, that'll that'll feel OK. And I'll be a little bit better. than that And it's not like that. It's. You ah this week you've run four miles and you're oh, I feel great. Next week you're running five miles and holy crap. i How did I ever run four miles? Realize that there are going you're going to hit these small little bumps in the road and just just keep going through them.
00:43:31
Speaker
Just keep going through them. You can do more than you think you can do. And if you just take that next step, I had such a great support group around me that I think for somebody who's starting out, find the people who can help you with that sort of thing.
00:43:46
Speaker
Well, you know, what' find out what you need at mile four to eat because it changes from everyone. ah And in Memphis, there were people who were like, wow, you really you you ate quite a bit. That would have sat badly on my stomach. And for me, it was like, no, I need that fuel in these places. So that's that's the type of stuff that I encourage you get get into a running club, ah find people who know that sort of thing, because ah Yeah, that's as big a part of it as just getting on your treadmill or out running. You need to learn those things because and I, you know, I ran into some of those walls not knowing.
00:44:19
Speaker
I find that I just need to be like actively, like humble myself and be like actively curious because I don't know those things. You know what i mean? I just need to has to say, look, I don't know the right way to fuel. Can you help me? You know? yeah And even if I have some knowledge, I found that I like, that's how I learned half the stuff is I just have to humble myself. And instead of being like, well, I'm sure I can figure it out.
00:44:39
Speaker
You know, ask someone who's done it before for sure. Yeah, and I think that goes back to what Jeff Galloway would talked about, you know, the different coming up with the he came up the run walk method. But he said everybody's intervals are different and they may change. You know, you may run an interval to halfway through a race and then change that up. But he also talked about he said fueling is the same way. There are some people he goes, I ran with guys who would get up and they'd have.
00:45:00
Speaker
four bagels with peanut butter to jump back to the bagel discussion. And then I knew guys who ah basically, you know, they just have liquids because they just couldn't, ah it didn't sit well for them. So you really have to, if you're going to do this, I think on a consistent basis, you just have to listen to your body and you're going to invariably run into a wall every now and then go, this, this didn't work for me. That's okay. I just found out a month and a half ago, I was running in shoes that were a size and a half too small.
00:45:28
Speaker
Oh, wow. That's a big size difference. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. My hokas, my red hokas. He's going to crush his next race. My red hokas that I ran every single race that I'd run were in those hokas, and I absolutely loved them. And I went down, shout out to Track Shack down here. And yeah, and I had my foot measured, and my foot's a size and a half large. Well, it's really a size larger, but with a running shoe, you know, a little larger. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a it's a learning process, people.
00:45:59
Speaker
So get yourself some good shoes. Get out there, get active. But to to your point, humble yourself, ask questions. I'm a big fan of going to those places that, you know, um they measure they measure your foot, but they also like have you walk on the mat, figure out like what your feet do. You know what i mean? And listen listen to them for a second. Even if you're like, no, I only run in Brooks. I only this. pray Like, listen for a second. You know what i mean? Try something. You might learn something something new, in my opinion. Yeah, definitely get your shoes fitted if you're going to do, if it's not just going to be a one-off, it's worth it. get Get fitted shoes, people. Absolutely. So, John, tell us about the race. What was the half marathon like? ah it was To start out, it was cold.
00:46:37
Speaker
It was 35 degrees. And ah much as as a runner, I feel like I do as an announcer, I would much rather have cooler weather. um And i was i was oddly confident.
00:46:49
Speaker
um it It was a bit... less controlled the, than a Disney race is. It was kind of chaos at the starting line grant, you know, attest to that. It was, you know, in Disney, they're funneling, they, they have a lot of experience funneling a lot of people in a, in a direction, but this was a little bit different. But, uh, yeah, I, I really felt, uh, I really felt good. Uh, a lot of that had to do with that first stretch is downhill.
00:47:14
Speaker
And I was just assuming that was going to be the entire race, but, uh, yeah, oddly confident because again, I'd done the work and I knew barring injury, which I guess is the thing that we we all, you know, is the wild card out there that I was, I was going to get to the end of this race. I just didn't know if I'd do it before the sunset.
00:47:33
Speaker
yeah You're just hoping for no time limit on that race, huh? Yeah, exactly. Grant, what was your experience like? Yeah, this race is one that is super unique in the fact that it has a bigger purpose than just running and getting a medal, right? and This is the single biggest fundraising day or event for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of the year. um So the city of Memphis puts on a show for all the runners coming in to fundraise for it. And It's meaningful in the fact that there are families that either have um kids that are a part of St. Jude right now or ah families that have lost children um that were patients at St. Jude that come out and cheer and support ah the runners. And some of those are in corrals and they're running with you and they're wearing their bands and their bibs that are you know running in memory of or running for.
00:48:23
Speaker
And there are some that have signs on the side of the you know streets and sidewalks that are encouraging you to keep running. So I think from that perspective, it changes the approach to this race first and foremost in that you can do hard things like Carissa says all the time, right? Um, but you're, you're doing it for a certain reason and your miles are doing good. Uh, you know, in an in an important sense, we had the privilege of taking a private tour of St. Jude the day before. um as a smaller group. And that really helped, I think, even put more context into why the miles mattered. um And this course runs through St. Jude campus at about mile nine, just before mile 10. And they bring and healthcare care providers, patients, families, all of them out to cheer on the runners as you're running through St. Jude campus. And that's ah the most special moment, I think, of that entire course is being able to just walk and observe and soak that all in. um And it's okay if you shed a couple of tears too. I think it's super sentimental at that point. But that is, think, you know, the piece that I take away from that entire experience was 27 people showed up to run with John and run his first half marathon from all over the country.
00:49:35
Speaker
um Some of these people had never met John in a longer than two second capacity at a finish line, but had been part of the Pelkey Running Club for a while. Folks had ah donated and fundraised for St. Jude. And that's not a requirement to be clear. There are heroes where you can fundraise and then there's just general registration where you can come and run like any other race.
00:49:54
Speaker
But ah the community showed out and I think that's what made it most special. And I think a lot of us walked away saying, That's the most favorite race we've ever run. And we have people who have run 100 plus Disney races, world majors, the whole nine yards. But it's that balance of the community and then you know the perspective of what you're actually running for that um I think really made that a memorable day. I bet.
00:50:15
Speaker
Yeah. I would have been bawling my eyes out. Yeah, for sure. um That's very easy for me to do. But I mean, that sounds very emotional and and meaningful and special. um Yeah.
00:50:26
Speaker
John, what was the best part of the race for you? Do you have a core memory from from the race? Oh, goodness. um Well, the finish, the last mile. Um, cause I had never gone over 12.
00:50:40
Speaker
That was, that I'd gotten to 12. Um, and actually ah people told me at 10, if you get to 10, you know, the last 5k, you'll, he trust me, you'll be, uh, you'll be able to make it. But, uh, when I got that last mile and we're running into town and it's not the most, Grant can tell you that is it's not the most visually stunning where you're kind of coming in from an overpass and and coming in. But then the, you know, all that whole group of people there and all these great people,
00:51:08
Speaker
that were running with me. um I'm sorry. Uh, it was just, uh, for all the reasons the grant said for all the money,
00:51:20
Speaker
that we raised, the work that people put in, the the time that people put in to come to this thing, you know, that was nominally about me. It was just incredibly humbling. And to pat myself on the back, the fact that the last hundred yards, I picked up the pace. I picked up the pace the last hundred yards. I was like, by gosh, I'm going to cross this line running. And I did. And it was, you know, as you can see, it was very emotional.
00:51:46
Speaker
Um, and very rewarding. And, uh, the way I know that is because i had always said it would be, I'd never do it again. uh, I was at the hotel with my wife three hours later if said, well, I'm going to do another one of these.
00:52:00
Speaker
Yes. I love i love that you had that that moment and that that community and all that. And without being too cheesy, John, you helped create that for us yeah every run Disney race. And so I know that sometimes it's probably an early call time and and you know ah why do i have to wear this outfit? you know there's probably all you know How come I'm not Thomas O'Malley yet? You know what I mean? like I understand. i mean, You have all the things, but to us, you really create, you really create special moments. yeah I came in on the princess half this last time came blazing through and you didn't have anybody by you. And just, man, you high-fived me all the way through. I mean, I just, I came in hot, you know, like yeah you guys really create those moments for us as an answer. So thank Well, I hope so. And you know, I said this, ah I've said this before and ah quoting Jimmy Valvano about what like a a Full day is a day, you know, when you, uh, you're go to laugh during the day. Uh, you're going to cry during the day. You'll spend some time in thought during the day. And so, mean, it's like a run Disney race day. It's, you get everything. You get all the feels, uh,
00:53:03
Speaker
Good, bad, indifferent, but there you know there you you've lived a full day by the end of that. And and I will say it it is a long day and for us and everything, but the last, let's say, couple of hours of a marathon is as energizing as anything you'll ever experience. Whether people are, you know,
00:53:23
Speaker
limping in, you know, or or getting out of their wheelchair to go the last 10 yards and all the stuff that you see. It's just, it's very inspiring. So it thank you for the the compliment, but the energy is coming from you guys because if it was there's just a bunch of those seven-minute milers, they'd just be running by us and turned up. Yeah, yeah but yeah. But I run other races and it's not the same without you guys. That's what i'm I think what I'm trying to say. Is that it's, yes, it's, there's the characters and the music and all that, but like, it's not the same coming into the finish shoot without you, you know? And it's not the same taking off without y'all. So we appreciate you. Well, thank you. And I, I had the luck of i had 27 people running with me and we had a few of my wife and a few other folks that are cheering from the side. So I did get a little bit of that at the end. I did have a whole group of people welcoming me in, end but it is, I mean, it it really is a full life weekend, ah a run Disney weekend. Cause yeah. laugh, cry. you met John, you mentioned you mentioned coming off the finish line there. I just remember we let John lead and everyone else dropped behind him. So maybe I wasn't running fast. They were just slowing down. that's good You were running fast. so You picked up your pace. You picked up your pace for sure. um But if you haven't seen the video, it's on our Instagram, but we're we're we're trailing behind John and
00:54:42
Speaker
Clearly we make enough commotion that Dave Ragsdale, who's an Ironman announcer, is the finish line announcer for St. Jude. You can hear him on the mic go, oh my gosh, what what just happened? I've got to go figure this out. And he leaves the stage and comes down to the finish line and interviews John. Yes. about what's going on. And that to me was, ah you know, I think kind of the capped in the entire race, if not the entire weekend there was just, you know, John got to tell his story to an announcer, which he doesn't really get to do as an announcer himself.
00:55:12
Speaker
um But also just that the community around John and John himself made enough commotion that it caused a lot of people to be yeah know surprised and excited by what was happening as that finish line occurred. Um, that was definitely cool moment. Shout out to Dave too. Cause I know from an announcer's perspective, uh, he was, uh, he did a great job, but that's a great moment like late in a race. Cause I was late in the race is when you have, uh, when you have somebody you can go talk to or some, uh, so it was, uh, it was good to talk to And I do think Carissa told him, you know, be on the lookout. My friend's going to be running, but, uh, yeah, that was pretty cool. Awesome. cool Um, John, did you learn anything about yourself during the experience of the training and the running? Any of that? Yeah, I just i learned that that often in a life I make way too many excuses and when I don't, I have more success. Perfect. I love it. What advice would you give to someone who signed up for a race? it I mean, whatever it is, it doesn't matter the distance, right? And they're not sure that this that they can do this, right? what what what's What's your advice? ah Just look to your next workout. Don't think I'm going to go, you know, I didn't get on my treadmill last July thinking today I'm going to go 13 miles. I thought this is how far I have to go today. Find a training regimen and just do it. As Bob said, do the work.
00:56:29
Speaker
Just do that part. um You don't have to prove anything in this life to anyone but yourself. So just do it. If you don't end up doing the race, then that's not what's important is right now what's in front of you.
00:56:42
Speaker
Because you can't get there without this. What's the great ah Chinese proverb in the China Pavilion at Epcot? You know, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. And that's it.
00:56:54
Speaker
Just take the first step. And then you'll take the next step. And you will. And ah just be good to yourself when you're doing it. and And get advice from people who have done it before.
00:57:05
Speaker
Because you can do it. If I could do it, anyone can do it. I love that. Uh, has this race experience, you know, doing the half, has it impacted the way you announce, you know, has it changed or will it change the way you announce? you I just think, you know, my confidence in saying, you know, because I'm all kind of the comic relief, uh, Carissa's the, the athlete and, uh, But now i have the confidence to do say things to people about fueling up and about hydrating. It's just not me saying, like i say, hydration every 10 minutes. and And just it brings an empathy with what people are going through. you know It's hard to understand anything you've never done.
00:57:44
Speaker
um And once you've ah you've done it, I mean, I get it. I get where you're going to run into the difficult parts. I get where if you're nursing an injury, it changes. What do you know i get more of those things. And I just think being empathetic and aware of those things is just going to make me better. I don't want make me any funnier, but it's just going to make me a little bit better at what I do, hopefully.
00:58:08
Speaker
Yes. So what's next? Will you ever do another run like this again? yeah Yep. Yep. Yep. What? Two days ago, signed up. Uh, I will be back in Memphis in December for Pelkey running club week two.
00:58:23
Speaker
Awesome. Um, largely because I didn't get to do the sun studios tour last time. So i have to get back to Memphis to do that. And maybe the world's largest bass pro shop. I don't know if there's time. Okay. Um, but no, I, I had an, like I said, when I finished last year, uh,
00:58:41
Speaker
And a couple hours after the race, I think my wife was texting with somebody and they were saying, you know, oh, well, hey, congratulations. You never have to do it again. And I said to Jody, I go, no, I think I'm going to do it again. nice Awesome.
00:58:54
Speaker
Grant, is there anything about this Pelkey weekend? You know, I didn't know that's what you guys call it, right? You know, that like anything about that that we need to know or, or um you know, just anything, right? Like, is it anything can be the same, different? What do we need to know about it?
00:59:08
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. What I would say first and foremost is this is the 25th anniversary of the St. Jude, Memphis marathon weekend. And so they do a 510 and then a half and a full. So all distances are available.
00:59:21
Speaker
I do expect it to sell out pretty quick, just given it's an anniversary year. yeah um But Heroes, so those fundraising for St. Jude. Heroes registration is live through May 31st. So if you want to join the Pelkey Running Club team, um come on and let's fundraise for the kids and families of St. Jude. We've already got, I think, eight or nine folks that have signed up to be heroes. We already are committed to $12,000 and a minimum raising for St. Jude. So we'd love to have you join the team. um And then general registration will be in early June. And I think, you know, it's not a run Disney general registration where it's going to be out in 45 minutes to an hour, but it is something that if you are serious about coming and running, ah you don't want to miss it.
01:00:05
Speaker
You need to sign up on day one. um And so keep an eye out. We'll, we'll make sure we post it all on our socials, but, If you all want to join us, we welcome any and all to come to what we are dubbing Pelkey Running Club weekend. And I'll just say it's not expected to be in Memphis every year. We started this as an opportunity to get together outside of the run Disney race season to see friends and hang out together and run some miles too. And so our goal is to move it around you know the country or if not, you know the world maybe at some point. Yeah. Um, with John running again, we just want to put all of our effort behind that and, uh, have another great weekend here in Memphis and and fundraise for the kids and families of St. Jude. So, uh, yeah, I would say keep an eye out. If you're wanting to fundraise, go ahead and sign up general registration in June. Um, otherwise follow us on the socials and we'll make sure that we share all the details. Is that the best way? Like without getting nitty gritty on like details and whatever here, is that the best thing is go to the Pelkey running club socials, you know, on Instagram or whatever, if you're interested in being a part of it. And when you guys say you're a pelkey running club, like, is this a running club with like membership dues and you know, like all this whatever, or is this like a, no, we just, we just come and yell at John. Like, can you clarify that for yeah for folks? as
01:01:13
Speaker
That's a great question. Cause it's probably one of the top, uh, most frequently asked questions that I get overall. So no, there's no running dues, uh, or race dues or membership dues or anything like that. It really is just like, if you follow, we consider you a member at that point. point right you don't have to buy a a hat or a shirt to be part of the pelkey running club like if you want to support the gear awesome it's there for you but at the same time um it's just you know people that are like-minded individuals looking to uh build that community find friends or those they can run with maybe locally outside of a race season but if at worst case scenario it's a reunion at a run disney race weekend um and then the opportunity really you know to encourage others and just have some fun Uh, because there's so much in life that's too serious or can weigh you down in other ways that it's one of those things that if we can make this a little more fun and exciting and, you know, make some friends out of it, that's, that's. And I will say too, for people, ah because it's not just a centrally located, ah running club, uh, you know, in a city, we have people all over the place and it's also a great resource for finding out about races all over the country. And there's always discussions about racism, people, Hey, you've done, know, you run in Portland. What's that like? There's a lot of that. And it's again, it's very positive reinforcement stuff. And people know about the city that you're going into and can give you good advice, telling anybody wants to come to Memphis. And that falls into my schedule.
Exploring Racing Communities and Locations
01:02:30
Speaker
That's part of the one of the reasons that while I'm doing it. But, you know, Grant's such a great advocate for a city of Memphis that you'll if you if you want to do that race and you want to join the club, you might find out some things in and around Memphis that yeah that you want to do. So as somebody who's also a big fan of travel, I love that aspect of it because we're finding out about so much across the country and really across the world, different races and just different things that you can do as a racing community.
01:02:57
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah. It's been exciting to see to the group right now. We have a couple of folks going to East Tennessee for the Dollywood races yeah coming up here. And so they're already planning their get togethers and meetups. We have folks going to London, Berlin, New York, you know, world majors. They're planning their meetups as well. So it's fun to see kind of these micro communities based off of other race weekends outside of, you know, Walt Disney World or Disneyland come together and folks, you know, be able just to connect and, you know, hang out, have a good time. Yeah.
01:03:26
Speaker
Awesome. You guys seem like a, like a fun group. One of the reasons I reached out to you, Grant, about being on the podcast was like, man, they just look like they're having the best time ever. You know? And that was, that was, I was literally why I text you. i'm like, look, you guys look like you're having fun. Would you be willing to come chat about that on the podcast? You know? And so, yeah, anyway, we love it. We love what you guys are doing. We love the community you built.
01:03:45
Speaker
Appreciate it. Yeah, we're definitely fortunate to have great members and a namesake who is along for the journey with us here. so
Community Origins and Symbolism
01:03:52
Speaker
All all'll hail Grant because this this this was all him and whoever whoever that Etsy person was with those quality hats. yeah those goes back original hat It all starts with a quality hat, people. It does. if If it had been a cheap hat, none of this might have happened. Honestly, I wouldn't have spoken to him. wouldn't have taken this call. I wouldn't have blamed you either. Man has to have standards.
01:04:11
Speaker
Awesome. Thank you guys for joining us on the podcast today. We super, super appreciate y'all. Thanks so much for having us. Thanks.
01:04:20
Speaker
AJ, I feel like this is kind of of becoming like a weekly thing that we say, but I just love that John, just like a lot of our other guests, is so authentic. Like the person that you see from the stage yes is like who he is offstage too. And I love that. I just love the fact that like he is all about the Ren Disney community, encouraging other people. And now, of course, they're doing this through his Pelkey Running Club and yes just hearing him talk about the race, you know, and everyone supporting him. That was a really
Celebrating Contributions and Building Community
01:04:47
Speaker
special moment.
01:04:47
Speaker
Yes. I love too that Grant's heart behind the Pelkey Running Club kind of started like a goofy costume idea, yeah ah you know, and like, let's print a couple hats on Etsy and turned into a, let's all be heroes for St. Jude. Yeah. And let's not just do it once. Let's do it again. Yeah. That's amazing. Right. And so running on purpose, building a community for something bigger than themselves. Yeah. Right. I love that. super love it. And I'm really grateful that they gave us the time and energy and whatever to to share. And then they shared openly and authentic you know authentically. Yeah.
01:05:18
Speaker
Is that the right way to say it? Genuinely? don't Authentically. Anyway, thank you guys for being on the podcast. And we genuinely, I'm saying genuinely too much. We really appreciate, we really appreciate your time. We'll catch you next week for another episode of One More Round.
01:05:38
Speaker
Thanks for joining us for this episode of One More
Call to Action for Listeners
01:05:40
Speaker
Run, the podcast. If you like what we're up to, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Instagram. You can find links to all of that at ajanderica.com.