1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,000
You're listening to episode 256 
of the Marathon Running Podcast.

2
00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,040
In this episode, we're going to 
talk about the reality of 

3
00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:17,920
running and sponsorships. 
This is the Marathon Running 

4
00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,480
Podcast by Letty and Ryan from 
Week at the Runs. 

5
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,800
Join us in our running community
for weekly content that is 

6
00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,600
motivational, educational, and 
inspirational, and let the 

7
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,400
Marathon Running Podcast take 
you from the starting line to 

8
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,840
the finish line and beyond. 
Hey runners. 

9
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,840
And welcome to the. 
Marathon running podcast episode

10
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,560
2. 156. 
My name is Ryan. 

11
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,920
My name is Lady. 
And we are your hosts today. 

12
00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,840
And every every day. 
Every day we have a podcast. 

13
00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,800
Thank you so much for tuning in.
And we are here with another 

14
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,920
exciting episode. 
Today we're going to talk about 

15
00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,520
something kind of, you know, 
reality check because we're 

16
00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,320
going to talk about running and 
sponsorships when it comes to 

17
00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,080
running. 
Reality check for anyone 

18
00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,000
thinking of making a career out 
of running, I guess. 

19
00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,120
Yes, Ryan, you're absolutely 
right with that. 

20
00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,760
Yeah, I think, you know, it's, 
it's hard to understand. 

21
00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,520
I think because some, you know, 
the mainstream sports, they make

22
00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,120
lots of lots of money. 
And in the other sports that 

23
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,080
maybe aren't so mainstream, then
the money is less. 

24
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,520
And also the amount of money is 
kind of skewed towards the very 

25
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,120
top racers with sponsorships and
other stuff too. 

26
00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,920
So like it goes down quite 
quickly to almost nothing or 

27
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:30,080
very little. 
Yeah. 

28
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,680
And we can see that already when
it comes to prize money for 

29
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,040
marathons, how quickly they 
taper off. 

30
00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,960
I don't recall right now how 
much these big major marathons 

31
00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:41,960
pay for prize money, but it's 
like. 

32
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,520
First, second, third. 
And then it just. 

33
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,520
Kind of comes down to pocket. 
Change, especially given that, 

34
00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,440
you know, a marathon is not 
something that you can engage in

35
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,160
every week. 
You're not going to run 5 

36
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,440
marathons a year. 
You're going to run maybe 2 for 

37
00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,360
most professional runners, maybe
3 now that we have better shoes 

38
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,800
and better recovery. 
But maybe 2:00 to 3:00. 

39
00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,040
And that is just to get a shot 
at coming in as a top level 

40
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,759
athlete. 
And how do you finance that, 

41
00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:11,200
right? 
Because you have to pay for a 

42
00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,720
run code. 
You have to pay for your house 

43
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:15,880
mortgage. 
If you have children, you have 

44
00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:17,600
that. 
You have all this recovery 

45
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,360
stuff. 
You probably need some PT maybe.

46
00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,040
And none of that stuff is cheap.
Yeah. 

47
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,480
And our guest today that we 
talked to is Jeremy Rivera. 

48
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,280
She had actually gotten to the 
level where she had a 

49
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,080
sponsorship and she's telling us
a little bit, giving us a little

50
00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:41,600
glimpse about how that goes and 
how the pressure is on for terms

51
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,760
in your contract, including 
placing at a certain amount of 

52
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,480
races, etcetera. 
Can only imagine how stressful 

53
00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:49,720
that would be. 
Yeah. 

54
00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,760
You know, I mean, we were 
talking about prize money 

55
00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,800
earlier, but also sponsorship 
money. 

56
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,480
I'm sure they have a lot of like
stipulations on what you need to

57
00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,480
accomplish or what, what goals 
you need to meet. 

58
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,200
That could be really stressful, 
I think. 

59
00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,240
Yes. 
And on top of that, nowadays in 

60
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,840
the age of social media and 
everything being so out there, 

61
00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,200
it I've heard actually before 
that, you know, there's a 

62
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,160
running comedian. 
She's really funny, but I think 

63
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,760
her earning level with brands 
and everything is higher than 

64
00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,360
most of these athletes that are 
actually performing fast 

65
00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,360
marathons, which also makes you 
question, what do brands really 

66
00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,000
value? 
You know, does it matter that 

67
00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,360
you're running in alpha flies? 
I'm just throwing something out 

68
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,280
there and you're not the 
fastest. 

69
00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,800
Or do they just really want to 
have the fastest athlete? 

70
00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,440
And it almost seems like at this
point in age, they don't care as

71
00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,240
much about people. 
Being so fast. 

72
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:49,760
Yeah. 
I mean, I think their primary 

73
00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,440
goal is to probably sell shoes. 
So yeah, whoever can get the 

74
00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,840
most shoe sales would probably 
be who they go after. 

75
00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,840
But I think now the importance 
of social media and people on 

76
00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,760
there on there where the 
influence over others is pretty 

77
00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,960
great and probably greater or 
just as great as some of the top

78
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,640
athletes In the past, they used 
to almost be just the top 

79
00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,720
athletes, like, oh, this person 
is the best soccer player, so 

80
00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,880
let's get those shoes, those 
cleats, whatever, because then I

81
00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,160
can potentially be the best. 
But now there's so many more 

82
00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,600
influences. 
Yeah, it would be like, oh, get 

83
00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,600
the shoe because it makes you 
the fastest. 

84
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,360
And now it's like, get this shoe
because it makes you the 

85
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,720
happiest and you'll feel like a 
happy good athlete in them, 

86
00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,920
which is great, but I feel like 
it's almost sad. 

87
00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,400
That it takes away so much from.
A high performing athlete, 

88
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,200
especially if it's someone that 
is not really into social media 

89
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:45,320
because they really want to 
focus on their athletic careers.

90
00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,440
You can kind of see that a lot 
with, you know, we've been to a 

91
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,760
camp in Kenya and a lot of these
athletes just for lack of 

92
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,200
knowing English and not really 
having the quote, UN quote. 

93
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,960
Skills to use social. 
Media to their advantage you 

94
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,240
know they're really fast they're
sub two O 5 yet they don't have 

95
00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,920
a lot of following and they have
one little contract whereas. 

96
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,600
You know. 
There's such a huge opportunity 

97
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,760
for them to monetize on that if 
they knew how to. 

98
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,440
Yeah, additionally, I think shoe
brands have all kind of jumped 

99
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:22,680
on the newest technology. 
They all kind of match each 

100
00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:24,680
other. 
They all kind of innovate really

101
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,560
quickly now when anything 
changes. 

102
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,600
So you know the the difference 
between the top brands shoes 

103
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,840
probably isn't as great as it 
was in the past. 

104
00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:36,280
Maybe it was more important to 
like get a certain shoe because 

105
00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:38,760
it was faster or whatever sports
equipment. 

106
00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,520
But now it seems like all the 
brands kind of matched pretty 

107
00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,680
quickly and and have their top 
level shoe or whatever. 

108
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,520
Yeah, they're all carbon plated,
they're all lightweight, and 

109
00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,360
now, you know, you can kind of 
figure out which ones are most 

110
00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,080
comfortable for you and your 
lifestyle. 

111
00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,400
Or which ones like you like the 
way it looks best? 

112
00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,400
Because I mean, if they're all 
pretty good, then that's the. 

113
00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,040
Yeah, on that note, you know we 
have shoe reviews on our YouTube

114
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,480
channel, so feel free to check 
that out, but. 

115
00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,520
Anyway, so I guess. 
With that, we should introduce 

116
00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:07,800
Jeremy. 
We already kind of did. 

117
00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:09,960
We've had it on the podcast 
before. 

118
00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,360
She's amazing, very inspiring 
and very real, so. 

119
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:14,640
You want to get into it? 
Yes. 

120
00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,480
So without any further ado, 
we're now going to play our 

121
00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:22,600
conversation with Jeremy Rivera.
All right, so I am back on with 

122
00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:24,960
Jeremy. 
Jeremy, thank you so much for 

123
00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,880
coming back onto my podcast. 
Thank you for having me. 

124
00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,320
Yes, of course. 
I'm super excited for you to 

125
00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:31,920
come back. 
You are also at the same time 

126
00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,040
coming back from injury and. 
With all that, we're going to 

127
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:36,840
have a. 
Great topic. 

128
00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:39,960
Today we're going to talk about 
everything, including the 

129
00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,840
reality of sponsorship. 
But before we do that, maybe you

130
00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:44,480
can give us a little rundown of 
who. 

131
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,480
You are your PRS. 
And what you do? 

132
00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,280
Yes, so I am. 
I guess I would. 

133
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,560
Well, I'm a runner, but I would 
classify it myself as more of a 

134
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,720
marathon runner. 
That's my wheelhouse. 

135
00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:01,000
I started running back in 2015 
with no athletic background and 

136
00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:05,840
decided to jump into a marathon,
was one of my major races for 

137
00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:09,280
that year. 
From there I I ran a 525 on that

138
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,480
marathon and the running bug got
me. 

139
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:14,880
Over the course of years I 
wanted to get better and 

140
00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,200
improve. 
Dealing with setbacks and 

141
00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,720
injuries motivated that. 
So I fixed my diet. 

142
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,480
I got more into kind of the 
nerdy side of running, got 

143
00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:32,720
faster and went after BQ, then a
sub three and then wanted to go 

144
00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,400
for Olympic trials qualifying 
time but I fell short by 10 

145
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,760
minutes on a hot and humid day 
in Houston. 

146
00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,160
Also dealing with an injury at 
the time, but yeah, so that's 

147
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,560
kind of my background and what 
got me here. 

148
00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,720
That's awesome. 
So you have pretty fast 5K's. 

149
00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,320
We were just talking about that.
And with that, you know with 

150
00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,120
somebody of your caliber comes 
the dream of sponsorship. 

151
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:58,840
So maybe you can tell us a 
little bit about what the 

152
00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,080
initial dream was and. 
How you hold? 

153
00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,160
On and how your first 
sponsorship came about. 

154
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,360
Yeah. 
So my sponsorships actually, 

155
00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,680
well, I guess if you want to, I 
don't know how we'll define 

156
00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,760
this, but because they became 
more professional within the 

157
00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,360
last two years. 
But before that, when I wasn't 

158
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,640
really running all that fast, I 
still had companies sending me 

159
00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,680
stuff from time to time, as I'm 
sure a lot of people who share 

160
00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,720
their running on Instagram do 
get approached by companies. 

161
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,440
So I kind of started back before
I got totally fast, but as I 

162
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,360
started picking up traction, 
actually met my a coach that I 

163
00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,600
switched to. 
I don't know if I'm wearing this

164
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,360
very well, but anyways, I 
switched to a private coach. 

165
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,480
I guess I kind of jumped over 
some things, but which was your 

166
00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,280
coach Ron Tab and he got me 
insanely fast. 

167
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:54,240
I started getting attention on 
social media as a result, and 

168
00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:59,320
major companies like Advent 
Health Run, Disney started 

169
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,160
reaching out and asking me if I 
wanted to partner with them. 

170
00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,480
And I said absolutely because 
where I was going in the amount 

171
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:11,520
of time that I was dedicating to
my sport and my goal, you need 

172
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,000
that level of support. 
You need help. 

173
00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,240
You're running 300 plus miles a 
month. 

174
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,120
Shoes are very expensive. 
And it's not just that. 

175
00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,680
It's your medical care too. 
It's the PT that you have to 

176
00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:28,240
invest in the massages. 
So, you know, I was on board 

177
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,800
immediately and there was, and 
I'll say to you that I'm not 

178
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,440
when we talk about the reality 
of sponsorship, I'm not 

179
00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:37,960
ungrateful for anything that 
I've got and I'm very, very 

180
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,640
happy. 
But with the sponsorships come a

181
00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,160
level of expectation. 
They don't just want to give you

182
00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,120
free clothes and free shoes just
because like, you're a nice 

183
00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,120
person and you run fast. 
No, they want like, results, 

184
00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,080
they want content, they want 
engagement, they want to see you

185
00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,600
placing at races. 
And so there's a level of 

186
00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,480
pressure that comes along with 
that that I think a lot of 

187
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,320
people, they see more of what 
you get and not what you're 

188
00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,160
putting into it, which is fair. 
Someone can't be in the room 

189
00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,360
with you 24 hours out of the day
seeing every single little thing

190
00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,400
that you go through. 
They can only see the bits and 

191
00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,440
pieces of your life that you 
post on social media. 

192
00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,800
So, you know, on the side that 
people did did not get to see of

193
00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,760
my life was that I was dealing 
with chronic pain. 

194
00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,640
And I was pushing through that 
not only because I really wanted

195
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,640
to see this goal, but because I 
had these other companies and 

196
00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,520
identities backing me. 
And I felt like I had something 

197
00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:43,280
that I had to basically I had to
pay for it. 

198
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,320
You know, I had to show in a 
way, I guess through gratitude 

199
00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:51,040
that I was willing to put in the
work to accomplish a result, 

200
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,520
whether it was in my best 
interest or not. 

201
00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:54,560
So. 
Yeah. 

202
00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:57,280
So that's some really 
interesting points because 

203
00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,680
obviously now with social media 
being what it is and everything,

204
00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,920
maybe we can talk a little bit 
about, we can backtrack and talk

205
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,240
about the differences between 
the sponsorship or our guest 

206
00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:13,640
partnership as a running 
influencer where you literally 

207
00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,600
can just have a very popular 
account and run a 5 hour 

208
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,360
marathon versus somebody who 
also has the pressure of 

209
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:25,640
performance. 
You have both in a sense that 

210
00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,800
you do have a huge account on 
Instagram, but at the same time 

211
00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,000
you're also getting sponsorships
because you're a highly 

212
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,920
accomplished athlete. 
So maybe you make that 

213
00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,080
differentiation for us a little 
bit to better understand? 

214
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,000
Yeah. 
So there are sponsorships that I

215
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,120
have that there are no 
expectations attached to them 

216
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,800
and I can be who I want to be. 
Like Noon is one of those that 

217
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,320
you can technically be injured 
and still use Noon and and 

218
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,400
they'll still work with you. 
But when you're in the contract 

219
00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,040
to show up for a particular 
number of races, to place within

220
00:11:55,040 --> 00:12:00,160
those races or pay back money, 
big money, if you don't place or

221
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,640
if you miss a certain amount of 
races, like that's when things 

222
00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,240
start to get kind of like scary 
and dicey. 

223
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,160
So I'm like, Oh my God, I'm 
going to cry right now just 

224
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,480
thinking about, you know, the 
pressure that comes with that 

225
00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,680
and the pressure that I was 
putting myself through because 

226
00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:17,760
sometimes I feel like I accepted
sponsorships that I was working 

227
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,360
for and not ones that were 
working for me. 

228
00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,560
So those athletes contracts, 
those are athlete contracts 

229
00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,440
where a company has those 
expectations. 

230
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,200
Maybe tell us a little bit more 
about because because all we 

231
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,040
know as lay people, I want to 
call us that just run for fun. 

232
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,760
We don't have any kind of 
expectations. 

233
00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,400
So what we know is there's 
social media partnerships and 

234
00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,800
they send you free stuff and 
maybe they say, hey, create one 

235
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:45,840
post of you looking happy with 
our product. 

236
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:47,680
So this is something completely 
different. 

237
00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:49,040
You're talking about a contract 
here. 

238
00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,600
Yes, yeah, I'm talking about 
signing your life away. 

239
00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,080
Not really, but you know, they 
within those contracts, there's 

240
00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,640
an, there's 12 races lined up 
and you need to place and it's 

241
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,680
really hard to promise that even
on, you know, even if you stay 

242
00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,840
totally healthy. 
But yeah, that's a big amount of

243
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,040
weight on top of your head in 
addition to Oh yeah, you have to

244
00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,400
maintain the content and the 
engagement and the following. 

245
00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,480
So yeah, actually went through 
like, I don't know this. 

246
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:20,680
You can cut this out if you want
if it's not monetizable. 

247
00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,960
But I went through like almost 
like a breakdown at work out of 

248
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,720
nowhere two years ago when I was
in the midst of this. 

249
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,600
And I did not understand why it 
had happened. 

250
00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,960
Like I just broke down into 
tears, hyperventilating. 

251
00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,840
And I was like, I cannot 
understand where this is coming 

252
00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:38,560
from. 
And I got myself into therapy. 

253
00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:43,240
And my therapist was like, you 
have such a level, like a high 

254
00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,000
level of expectations sitting on
your head, whether part of it is

255
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,280
imagined placed on myself or 
placed upon me that I just 

256
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,960
didn't realize. 
But anyways, yeah, I was not 

257
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,760
aware of it even myself at the 
time being in it. 

258
00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:59,480
I was like, yeah, I can make 
this work. 

259
00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,280
Like this is great. 
I'm appreciative of the support.

260
00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:06,720
But I didn't quite comprehend 
what it would take out of me to 

261
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,360
not only do that side, but hold 
a full time job and do all of my

262
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,640
duties at home. 
So it was just, it was a lot. 

263
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,480
So you're so we're talking about
a contract where you get 

264
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,040
financial gains and you get. 
Support by the. 

265
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,640
Brand and in return basically 
that's a lot that's I mean 12 

266
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,800
races is a lot for anyone. 
I don't care what distance they 

267
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:28,120
are. 
Yeah, yeah. 

268
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:29,920
It's hard to stay healthy for 
that. 

269
00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,640
So, so with that, it feels like 
a job on top of a job that you 

270
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,920
already have. 
And you know, it's, it's always 

271
00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,240
interesting to see how something
you love can shift into 

272
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:42,760
something that you don't love 
anymore. 

273
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,160
For example, when I was in high 
school, I wanted to be an art 

274
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,520
major and then I didn't want to 
do that in the end because I 

275
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,440
figured if I'm an artist, no 
matter what I do, there's going 

276
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,560
to be a timeline. 
And I feel like for something 

277
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,840
that's creative, you can't 
really put a time pressure or a 

278
00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,880
timeline on it. 
I kept that for myself as in, 

279
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,440
you know, my outlet. 
I can't imagine for running to 

280
00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,520
change that way because it's 
already, I think pressure enough

281
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:10,960
to do A11 speed workout a week. 
But then having somebody that 

282
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,280
pressures you into time goals, 
be it because you're fast or 

283
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,760
not, that's got to be super 
difficult it. 

284
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,200
It was. 
And I will say that I had great 

285
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,360
support through it. 
Like our coach was like, let's 

286
00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,760
make it happen. 
And he was supportive. 

287
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,720
We were not going to run all the
races as true races they were 

288
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:30,320
going to be. 
Some of them were going to be 

289
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:34,800
workouts, but I knew, like, I'm 
racing in Orlando. 

290
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,520
So the competition is there. 
It's definitely there. 

291
00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,320
And it's gotten more fierce in 
the last few years. 

292
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,520
But back then, even if it was a 
workout, like I knew I was 

293
00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,320
probably going to place 
somewhere in the top. 

294
00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:50,360
So it wasn't like, Oh my 
goodness, I have to PR at every 

295
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,840
single at all 12 races. 
That wasn't the case. 

296
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,200
But yeah, sorry, my mind is 
going in a million different 

297
00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:57,400
places. 
No, no, no. 

298
00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,080
This is exactly what I I wanted 
to. 

299
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:03,000
Hear so. 
So with that, tell us about how 

300
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,120
How? 
Was your. 

301
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:05,960
Expectation. 
What were your thoughts of what 

302
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,840
a sponsorship was going to be 
versus what it ended up being 

303
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:10,960
it? 
It was great in many ways. 

304
00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,920
It was the best of times. 
I don't think the worst of 

305
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,880
times, but the times it did got 
did get dark. 

306
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,840
You know, were dark for me. 
But you know, I knew that I was 

307
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,720
going to have to put in a lot of
work to make this happen. 

308
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,760
And every runner that has a big 
goal like this, that needs 

309
00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,040
support, I mean, this is all 
that they dream for. 

310
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,320
So I and I knew that I was very 
appreciative of it. 

311
00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,560
At the same time, I think a lot 
of the perception, the outside 

312
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,000
perception can be like, oh, this
influencer just gets free shoes 

313
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,240
and just gets to show up to 
races and just gets to, you 

314
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,480
know, go to running social 
events and have all this fun. 

315
00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,280
But you really are on the clock.
Like you're filming things. 

316
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:52,320
You're you're thinking like, how
am I going to tell a story here?

317
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,400
You're not really relaxing and 
in between that you're also 

318
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,640
managing the social aspect where
you're like having to like 

319
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,760
interact with other people as 
well while you are working at 

320
00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:08,200
these social events. 
So it's, it's the work knows no 

321
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,760
bounds or on the, on the hours 
that you're working as well. 

322
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,520
That's another aspect and when 
you are doing, when you are 

323
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:20,079
accepting these sponsorships or 
accepting these brands, 

324
00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:24,599
sometimes I feel like you're 
putting all of your time and, 

325
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,280
and like really breaking 
yourself to make this happen 

326
00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,360
because you just don't know when
the next one's going to come 

327
00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,240
again. 
So you're just like, I have to 

328
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,480
make this work and I have to 
leave a really good impression. 

329
00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,840
So I guess I think from the 
outside, I don't know that I 

330
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,680
would say I did have a feeling 
deep down inside that I I would 

331
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,440
potentially lose myself 
accepting these things. 

332
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,960
And I do personally feel that I 
do my best when I don't have 

333
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,480
support, as weird as that 
sounds. 

334
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,560
And you do need it. 
But I do feel like I'm more 

335
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,600
authentically myself and I can 
be who I want to be. 

336
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,640
There's also that part too, like
you can't say things that brands

337
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,040
don't want you to say. 
You can't totally be yourself. 

338
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:07,920
And I'm a very outspoken 
political person and not in, you

339
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,440
know, negative way, like in the 
kind of way that I understand 

340
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:16,440
science and like, I love 
humanity and I love diversity. 

341
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,440
So I just know, you know, 
there's restrictions that come 

342
00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:21,960
with the things that you can 
say. 

343
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:26,720
The work knows no bounds on the 
hours and yeah, that's kind of 

344
00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:31,560
the two things that I knew I 
would be sacrificing in order to

345
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,120
accept these things. 
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like a 

346
00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:36,840
almost like a government job, 
right, where that never leaves 

347
00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,600
you and you're a constant 
representative of of that 

348
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,440
entity, which you know is is 
interesting. 

349
00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:46,200
But I mean, to me it just sounds
like for someone, well, I mean 

350
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,720
you also had a full time job, 
but for somebody who's primarily

351
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,920
prime kids, primary first job is
to run fast. 

352
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:58,960
That's a lot. 
Of other stuff piled up because 

353
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,200
how are you going to focus 
mentally on your race when you 

354
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,400
are trying to think of how to 
create a story right? 

355
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,000
Like I'm comparing myself to 
you. 

356
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,280
Even though I only fun run, I 
don't have any kind of pressure 

357
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,880
and I sometimes when I run 
races, I carry a little camera 

358
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:15,280
and then. 
While I'm running. 

359
00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,840
And I start getting tired. 
I'm like, I don't want to bring 

360
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,360
that little camera out, so I 
choose not to and I don't have 

361
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:21,880
to. 
But I having to focus on your 

362
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,680
performance and every single 
mile that really counts down to 

363
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,920
the second, having to also have 
all that other noise in the back

364
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,080
of your head. 
And then I guess with that, I'm 

365
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,440
wondering without you having to 
tell me any kind of numbers, how

366
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,720
sustainable is that for somebody
living in the US? 

367
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,320
Because we know I just went to 
Kenya and Kenya money goes a 

368
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,600
long way. 
But we're in the US, where you 

369
00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,400
know. 
Eggs if you buy. 

370
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,560
Pasture raised eggs, they're 
like 10 bucks now. 

371
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,240
That's what we pay for eggs. 
So how does that pan out? 

372
00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,280
Not great. 
It is definitely not a living 

373
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,880
that you can make just doing 
sponsorship. 

374
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,920
I mean, not for me. 
Maybe there are other people who

375
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,640
do have that opportunity and God
bless them, love that for them. 

376
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,440
But that was not me. 
I still have to work another job

377
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:12,080
because this was this was beans.
I mean, yeah, the shoes are nice

378
00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,560
and stuff like that. 
But do you count that as money? 

379
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,240
You know, like what can you 
really do with that? 

380
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,280
The ones, the opportunities that
do. 

381
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,480
Pay cash are kind of few and far
in between. 

382
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,760
A lot of it is just going to be 
product and then with some cash.

383
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,760
So it's definitely not 
sustainable and it's not worth 

384
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,240
giving everything up for it for 
sure. 

385
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:33,880
Yeah, don't quit your daytime 
job. 

386
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:38,320
Because we saw even with the 
Olympic teams for marathoning, 

387
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,040
I, I think I saw something on 
some platform where they were 

388
00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,320
fundraising, right, Because they
had to pay a lot of it 

389
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,880
themselves, which is kind of 
mind blowing because these 

390
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,360
people are representing the US 
for the marathon. 

391
00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:52,400
Yes. 
And I saw a story of a woman who

392
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:59,200
was homeless competing at Paris.
She was a homeless Olympian and 

393
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:01,800
had given up. 
I mean, yeah, I won't say I 

394
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,920
don't want to be judgmental to 
the people who do give up 

395
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:08,320
everything because I get why 
when you have something that's 

396
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,640
so important to you, why you 
would be willing to do that. 

397
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,120
But it's not the sport, 
unfortunately, especially for 

398
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,400
the lore is for women. 
I haven't compared to my fellow 

399
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,240
male peers. 
It's kind of hard to do that, I 

400
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,360
feel on social media. 
But for women, the money is not 

401
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:26,840
good. 
So it's definitely while the the

402
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:32,000
accolades, the time, the glory 
are all good things, it's not 

403
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,160
something that like brings you 
closer to being economically 

404
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,560
more stable. 
Or mentally, right, especially 

405
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,640
when you have a situation like 
maybe that happened to you, but 

406
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,440
maybe not, or maybe you know 
something about it. 

407
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,400
But I know that you can lose 
sponsorships. 

408
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,160
We know that there was a company
that before has terminated women

409
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,000
when they were pregnant. 
Hopefully nobody does that 

410
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,360
anymore, but also with injury. 
So tell us a little bit about 

411
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:54,920
what you know with that. 
Yeah, so the story isn't too 

412
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,480
long because as soon as I got 
injured, everything fizzled out.

413
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,600
Everything. 
No one contacted me. 

414
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,520
It was just kind of like 
goodbye. 

415
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,400
Once I had a not so great race 
at CIM. 

416
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:11,840
So in addition to running that 
race, like breaking myself to 

417
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,440
make this happen, which is not 
really it's not their fault. 

418
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,320
Like I chose to do that, but you
know, it was there was nothing. 

419
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:23,760
So everything fizzled up. 
Even funny enough. 

420
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:25,560
I'll I guess I'll share this on 
here. 

421
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,720
I lost followers like the moment
that I posted myself in 

422
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,640
crutches. 
I lost a ton of views. 

423
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,680
Like people were like, EW, I do 
not want to see this. 

424
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,600
So it was, it was shocking on 
many levels. 

425
00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,320
I'm strong. 
So like that I was going to 

426
00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,680
overcome this and I was doing 
the work by myself. 

427
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,240
I have a lot of intrinsic 
motivation. 

428
00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,600
You can't start to get swept 
away once you start getting eyes

429
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,120
on you. 
It could be luring to be 

430
00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:56,160
extrinsically motivated by all 
the, the money or the, I mean, 

431
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,760
not all the money, but you know,
the money and the views, the 

432
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,560
followers, all that stuff I had,
I had the tools to keep myself 

433
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,920
going. 
But I can see how for many 

434
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,000
people it leaves them feeling 
like discarded or, I don't know,

435
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,160
just kind of odd. 
Icky, I guess is the feeling. 

436
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,960
I've never fully really unpacked
this. 

437
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,480
Before we started recording, I 
was sharing with you that I only

438
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,120
spoke about this to one other 
runner, so this is my second 

439
00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,920
time unpacking all of this and 
talking about it. 

440
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,920
We appreciate you sharing that 
because I mean, it's like most 

441
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:31,000
of us think it, right? 
Most of us are aware of how 

442
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,000
running is not something that 
pays a lot of money and how bad 

443
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,320
social media is. 
I don't have many followers so I

444
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,320
feel very lucky with that. 
And I also feel. 

445
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,400
Lucky that I didn't grow up with
a cell phone in my hands, so I 

446
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,480
don't have that. 
But for future generations, I 

447
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,400
fear that this is a huge thing, 
right? 

448
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:55,680
That your motivation comes from 
that quote UN quote fame or I 

449
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,680
don't know. 
It's really hard and I 

450
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,960
appreciate, like I said, you 
unpacking that here. 

451
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,000
Yeah, I yeah, thank you. 
I know you will have much to 

452
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,600
add. 
So then where do you go from 

453
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:06,480
there? 
Right? 

454
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,920
Because to me it's almost like a
stab in the back. 

455
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,560
If I where to have run a race 
and all of a sudden I didn't 

456
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:18,120
perform as well as I should due 
to injury and then you lose 

457
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,760
followers. 
I think I would just quit social

458
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,760
media. 
I know listen, I went to 

459
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:25,880
therapy. 
I even talked to Chad. 

460
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,640
I have many conversations with 
ChatGPT. 

461
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:30,680
It knows all of my deepest, 
darkest secrets. 

462
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,920
So his wife so I had to connect 
with the people that were 

463
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,200
closest to not care about seeing
me in crutches. 

464
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,600
Actually, I had a friend I 
showed up to run club in 

465
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:47,400
crutches at week 3 of my surgery
because I was just going stir 

466
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,000
crazy and I was finally able to 
take off the back brace. 

467
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,880
So I was like, OK, I can go in 
public now. 

468
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,160
And I went to run club and I 
found a friend of mine who was 

469
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,680
in, she was walking with a cane 
and she was at run club. 

470
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,640
And so we were like, hey, here 
we both are mortally injured. 

471
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,880
And we went from, you know, 
crutching around in the parking 

472
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,840
lot together to doing like 1/2 
mile to a mile together of just 

473
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,000
walking and then eventually 
running together. 

474
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,840
So, you know, I found my people,
which I think is really 

475
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,760
important. 
And I grounded myself, my 

476
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,520
medical team became kind of like
quote, UN quote my friends 

477
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,400
because I was in physical 
therapy for so long and in 

478
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,480
constant communication with 
them. 

479
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,760
And this was like 9 months going
multiple times a week to 

480
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,360
physical therapy. 
So it was, it was very involved.

481
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:39,560
And so yeah, I just grounded 
myself with the people who 

482
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,960
believed in me and who didn't 
care to see me in that state. 

483
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,760
And there were people who I 
continued to create content. 

484
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,440
And I told myself along the way,
whether the people are there or 

485
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,240
not, the right ones will find 
me, you know, You know, I had 

486
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:56,200
previously I if you were 
following me from like 2016, 

487
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,920
which I think we were, maybe we 
were friends more around like 

488
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,000
20-19. 
But I used to share a lot of 

489
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,080
Buddhist type messages on my 
post. 

490
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,040
And then I switched more to hype
content because my life became 

491
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:13,320
so busy that I was like, I don't
have the time to sit down and 

492
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,840
and create anything worth of 
quality at this time and point. 

493
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,200
Like we are in survival mode. 
So it's switched to that. 

494
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,840
And now I've kind of switched 
more back to what I want to do. 

495
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,640
And I just know that the right 
people in the right brands will 

496
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,360
find me. 
I have faith in that. 

497
00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:32,360
I mean, that's how I developed 
my channel. 

498
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,000
My space to even begin with was 
like, I'm going to go to the 

499
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,640
beat of my own drum. 
And if you know, if other people

500
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,560
resonate, then we'll find each 
other and make community. 

501
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,840
I love this. 
And I think that's ultimately 

502
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,600
all that matters anyway, right? 
The people that will be there 

503
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,760
when you're injured as well as 
not other ones, just like in 

504
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,640
real life, right, That that 
would be there for you and 

505
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,640
everyone else that doesn't 
believe in you no matter what. 

506
00:26:56,640 --> 00:26:59,560
It's just not even worth it, and
it's kind of a good riddance 

507
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:00,720
anyway. 
It is. 

508
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:03,240
I'm like, Oh my God. 
I mean I could identify like 

509
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,720
these people were clout goblins.
I just think like honestly 

510
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,000
myself, I don't think I've ever 
unfollowed anyone and I think 

511
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,000
that would take too much 
thinking. 

512
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,200
Like, I don't know who these 
people are that like unless you 

513
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,760
post something that is like 
totally against what I believe 

514
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,120
in, but like an injured runner 
probably wouldn't do it for. 

515
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,120
Me, yes, Yeah, I agree with that
sentiment. 

516
00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,800
Like it would not occur to me 
like going back and like 

517
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,360
recently I had checked up on 
this one girl that I was like Oh

518
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,920
my God, I wonder what happened 
to her and she unfollowed me and

519
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:34,840
I was. 
Like, Oh my God. 

520
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,960
I did not know she felt that way
about me, but I hope she's doing

521
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,520
well so. 
She must be. 

522
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,200
She has enough time to unfollow 
people, right? 

523
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:43,760
Yeah. 
I don't know, maybe that's my 

524
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:45,520
disconnect. 
I'm one of these people and this

525
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,800
is like huge controversy. 
But deep down inside, I'm kind 

526
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:49,680
of happy Tick Tock doesn't exist
anymore. 

527
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,000
Maybe it does, but I never used 
it and I was just like, oh, you 

528
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,200
know, 1 less thing for my kids 
to get into. 

529
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,240
Yeah, I mean, who knows? 
But I'm very proud of you and 

530
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,320
I'm following you. 
I will never unfollow you. 

531
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,320
And we're very excited to watch 
the recovery because that's a 

532
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:07,480
story in itself, right? 
It's beautiful to see how 

533
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,040
something can develop out of 
basically nothing, right? 

534
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,040
It's like full surgery on 
crutches. 

535
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,560
And now I come back no matter 
where you go. 

536
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,560
With this. 
Is going to be amazing and we're

537
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,920
we're behind you and I guess so 
with that maybe. 

538
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,840
Share with us how. 
We can find you on Instagram and

539
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:24,640
where. 
Else you are. 

540
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:31,680
So oh also thank you so much And
I I am on Instagram at Lol Space

541
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,840
Monkey. 
I think I've shared this on one 

542
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:38,160
of your previous podcasts. 
I am on TikTok solely as a 

543
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,560
lurker but also under Lol Space 
Monkey. 

544
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,920
But I only have like 2 videos 
posted and they're very old and 

545
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:50,000
not they're not doing well. 
So I am mostly someone who goes 

546
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,480
on in like comments and and 
likes other people's stuff. 

547
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,320
But yeah, that's where you can 
find me. 

548
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,120
Perfect. 
Thank you, Jeremy, so much. 

549
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:03,400
Thank you. 
Thank you Jenny so much for 

550
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,720
speaking with us and sharing 
everything that you unpacked 

551
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,160
today. 
We are really grateful that you 

552
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:10,720
did. 
That yeah, I think having that 

553
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,760
insight is really cool because I
think a lot of us, even if we're

554
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,080
just running for fun, we maybe 
not think about those aspects of

555
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,800
the sport, especially in the 
higher level athletes. 

556
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,280
No, that's true. 
But it's knowledge is power and 

557
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,240
we are all runners, we have to 
support each other. 

558
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:32,160
And then if we see situations 
that need to be improved, we can

559
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,120
all kind of call that out. 
I also think Ryan, honestly, 

560
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:41,440
that in the near future, 
hopefully the rewarding system 

561
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:46,080
for athletics, I mean for for 
runners particularly, is going 

562
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,600
to get better just because it's 
becoming such a popular sport. 

563
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,520
If you just look at the numbers 
and statistics of how many 

564
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,360
people started running since 
2020 and how big the marathon 

565
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,760
has become for everybody, I 
think there's more eyes on 

566
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,280
running. 
And so hopefully with that, the 

567
00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,480
monetary reward for these top 
athletes will get better. 

568
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,880
Anyway, all right. 
So I guess that wraps up today's

569
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:10,520
episode. 
So give what are you some 

570
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:12,160
feedback? 
Do you like her videos? 

571
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,520
She works hard trying to get 
them out to everyone and she 

572
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,320
loves the positive 
reinforcement. 

573
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:18,440
So do I. 
Well, thank you. 

574
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,280
I sound like a puppy now, so 
stay tuned for next week. 

575
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,720
We'll have something great on 
that. 

576
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,600
We're not revealing yet because 
we don't know yet, but we've got

577
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,280
stuff in the works. 
As always, we'll never leave you

578
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,720
content no matter what, until 
our dying. 

579
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,640
Days and with that. 
Have a good weekend ready. 

580
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,840
Thanks for tuning in. 
For more information and 

581
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,800
marathon running news, please 
head to 

582
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:49,120
www.marathonrunningpodcast.com 
and we'll be back next week.