Episode 34: America's Marathon Weekend: An Audio RunDocumentary on ATL Trials and Marathon

Episode 34: America's Marathon Weekend: An Audio RunDocumentary on ATL Trials and Marathon can be heard on most podcast apps, including Google, Apple, Spotify and Anchor.
Below is a photo collage to accompany our Audio Documentary, at various points throughout the weekend.  Description and links below following the photos!

Phidippides Manager Sloan Ware, introducing Running Anthropologists to Atlanta and the Trials weekend

Male Leaders, passing on Peachtree 1st Loop

Females, on Peachtree 2nd Loop

Cheer Zone, "Oldest Running Store in the US" Tailgate

Finish Line, at Centennial Park (Jocob Riley)

Press Conference photo, Top 3 Qualifiers Female: Molly, Alphine and Sally

Abdi Abdirahman's two sons after the win, supporting him by cheering in the Subway

Mark Lane-Holbert (host) and Bob Shea (subject of Atlanta Marathon documentary, first time marathoner)

Mark and Bob at the Torch and Rings, site of 1996 Olympic Stadium in Atlanta

In this episode, we give you a play-by-play from America’s Marathon weekend, including the US 2020 men’s and women’s marathon trial; during, finish, press conference with our qualifiers, as well as interviews afterwards with Olympic hopefuls on leap day Sat. Feb29th! We also cover what it’s like to be part of the Atlanta running community, from cheering on the streets to volunteering and being a runner in the Publix Atlanta Marathon, which happened the day after, today on Sun. March 1. We do this in the style of a public media documentary in which we try to have as many diverse voices as possible, including following a first time marathoner thru the experience. Please subscribe and share with others if you like learning about the culture of running in this way... And also message us to share your stories / check us out on Instagram/FB @runninganthropologist 
FYI, notable results of the Trials:

Men
1. Galen Rupp — 2:09:20
2. Jacob Riley — 2:10:02
3. Abdi Abdirahman — 2:10:03
4. Leonard Korir — 2:10:06
5. Augustus Maiyo — 2:10:47
6. Martin Hehir — 2:11:29
7. Clayton Albertson — 2:11:49
8. Jonas Hampton — 2:12:10
9. Colin Bennie — 2:12:14
10. Matt McDonald — 2:12:19
12. Scott Fauble — 2:12:39
18. Bernard Lagat — 2:14:23
22. Jim Walmsley — 2:15:05
27. Jared Ward — 2:15:55

Women
1. Aliphine Tuliamuk — 2:27:23
2. Molly Seidel — 2:27:31
3. Sally Kipyego — 2:28:52
4. Des Linden — 2:29:03
5. Laura Thweatt — 2:29:08
6. Stephanie Bruce — 2:29:11
7. Emma Bates — 2:29:35
8. Kellyn Taylor — 2:29:55
9. Nell Rojas — 2:30:29
10. Julie Kohnen — 2:30:43
26. Jordan Hasay — 2:37:57

Links from the episode:  

Phidippides Running, Atlanta http://www.phidippides.com/

Official Trials Website:  https://www.atlanta2020trials.com/

Atlanta Track Club:  https://www.atlantatrackclub.org/

Episode 33: 15 Minutes with Tokyo Marathon RD Tadaaki Hayano

Episode 33: 15 Minutes with Tokyo Marathon RD Tadaaki Hayano
This episode an be heard on most podcast apps, including Apple, Google, Overcast, Spotify and Anchor...

Tadaaki Hayano is the Race Director of the Tokyo Marathon and the CSO of the Tokyo Marathon Foundation.mUnder his leadership, Tokyo Marathon joined as the newest member of the World Marathon Majors.Series, of 6 races. He is a member of the general affairs committee of the JAFF, the road running commission of the World Athletics, the sports health department of the Japan Sports Agency’s sports commission, and the committee member of NAS-PEHDM, Cabinet office, Gov. of Japan. 

He was involved with running from a young age and has lived all over the world through his involvement with the sport of running. In 1976, he was the national high school champion in the men’s 800m. After graduating from the University of Tsukuba in Health and Physical Education, he was a high school teacher, then later becoming the manager for ASICS in Boulder, CO., and the managing director for NISHI Sports. He later joined Tokyo Marathon from initial year of 2017, worked to enter the event in the Abbott World Marathon Majors!

Links from our talk:

Here's one supplemental information regarding the Tokyo Marathon charity program.

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/media/press-release/pdf/1749cd72150bf377f856146703c7077c.pdf  

Here, one can see the details on how much was raised through each charity in 2019, and you can find our "Sports Legacy Program" on the top.The "Sports Legacy Program" is the one that the Tokyo Marathon Foundation, manages on its own.More details on our charity program can be found below:

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/charity/ 

https://www.runwithheart.jp/en/ 

Regarding the Semi-Elite (RUN as ONE) entry, please see below: 

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/participants/run-as-one/  

Episode 32: Rich Kenah on 2020 US Olympic Trials & Publix Atlanta Marathon

Episode 32: Rich Kenah on the Publix Atlanta Marathon & US Olympic Trials Weekend 2020

Rich Kenah on the track

Running Anthropologist sits down with Rich Kenah (Executive Director of the Atlanta Track Club) to discuss hosting the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials and Publix Atlanta Marathon, the same weekend! "Running City USA" will together with the Atlanta Track Club host on Feb. 29th (leap day) 2020 for the Trials and March 1st for the Marathon. Rich has traveled to and raced in more than 30 countries, including the Sydney Olympics in 2000. One can easily see he "is a true believer in the power of this sport and its ability to change the direction of people's lives". As Exec. Director of the Atlanta Track Club (ATC) his overall mission is creating a healthier Atlanta through running and walking. He discusses organizing the world’s largest 10K – the AJC Peachtree Road Race, and how that ties into this historic Marathon weekend- namely the logistics of coordinating an entire city of staff and volunteers. By the way, with more than 115,000 participants at our events and 28,000 members, ATC is the second largest running club in the United States.

In this episode, he describes how running has had an immeasurable impact on his life, a job he gets to talk about running all day long. He also describes what it's like to qualify for the Olympics and what it's like to be a competitive runner: disappointment and injury, ups and downs, finishing his career on a very high note. For example, in 1996 when Atlanta hosted the Olympics, he missed making the U.S. Olympic Team by tenths of a second.  And those years proved to be his most productive as a professional runner, just after this loss: winning two World Championship medals, setting a world record & coming back to finally win his Olympic berth for Sydney.  He describes what it was like to be a part of the Olympic Athlete Village and walking into the Olympic Stadium wearing a USA uniform. This success, he believes, helps athletes transfer to other areas of life.  Rich was also a sports marketing professional for many years after his running career, and had many challenges in these roles as well.   

It is important to note that his work and the organization in Atlanta are not just about running, but fitness in general and getting moving, in fact run/walkers and e fitness walkers are a big part of the ATC.  Rich touches on the depth of programming they offer in the interview, and desire to help young runners especially; from elementary to high school runners finding their footing. They offer everything from first-time running programs to training Olympic hopefuls. 

Rich's love for the mission of ATC and fitness at the community level is incredible, as is the task of  organizing thousands of volunteers around a world class event like the US Olympic Trials and Publix Atlanta Marthon, we wish him luck and look forward to an amazing weekend! Join them online to find out all the details on the 2020 Trials, planning for upcoming events & more:

https://www.atlanta2020trials.com/

https://www.atlantatrackclub.org/

Episode 31: The Impact Marathon Series with Founder/CEO Nick Kershaw

Episode 31: The Impact Marathon Series with Founder/CEO Nick Kershaw
(This Podcast Episode can be found all Podcast Apps, including Apple, Google, Spotify & Anchor)
www.impactmarathon.com

Nick Kershaw giving a group talk

The Impact Marathon Series is all about unleashing the power of running to change the world, and making an impact through the combination of knowledge building, running and volunteering on a community created project in Nepal, Malawi, Kenya, Guatemala and Jordan.  The exciting part is engaging with the UN Global Development Goals on a grassroots level and being a part of the solution along with (rather than apart from) communities in these countries.

Nick and all the the organizers rely on local hosts and have depth of experience in running event organizing.  The culmination of the week is a marathon or half marathon in an iconic race course, for example in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, or experiencing the desert and historic ruins in Jordan.  Kenya, Malawi and Guatemala all weave through terrain that one may never experience elsewhere.  Each Saturday local runners join the 50 program participants to put the total number of participants at 200-300, allowing for a much more personal experience than big international marathons.

However, Nick tells us that by far the most important part of the program is the impact that the runners have on those communities, in terms of empowerment and encouragement.  Nick explains that runners will bring back firsthand experience into some of the most challenging global problems, such as water shortages, climate change and permaculture helping to reform landscapes!

Read all about it: 

The Impact blog is a good spot to find all the stories from recent runners and organizers, challenges and joys of the entire experience.

From Nick's LinkedIn blogs (don’t do enough of this!)

From an Impact Runner firsthand point of view: https://runningthebreeze.blogspot.com/,  an epic trilogy on his time in Nepal... 

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/impactmarathons/about/?ref=page_internal

"You come for the running, you return for the people."

Episode 30: Year in Review & 2020 Vision with Sanjay Rawal, Trish Trout, Jorge Garcia and Michael Wardian

Episode 30: Year in Review & 2020 Vision! Is available on most podcast apps, including Apple, Google, Anchor, Overcast and Spotify...

In this episode we recap some of the culture of running uncovered this past year & important events in running during 2019 finishing a decade of dramatic increase in distance running, and look forward to the next decade...

To do so, we catch up with 4 veteran guests of the podcast that have unique 2020 vision, who offer some advice for a prosperous running year ahead!

Sanjay Rawal shares his insight into starting back as a marathoner and how he prepared for the California International Marathon to run a 2.5 hour marathon and qualify for Boston. He also shares his "effort", struggle as the inward journey of meditation while running, and we discuss other mental aspects of running. We also touch on the importance of rest cycles and time for the body to rejuvinate in order to enjoy running and preparing for the next event. Sanjay speaks more about his running documentary film project "3100: Run and Become" is Episode 21 of the podcast as well.

Trish Trout shares some practical tips regarding running an international marathon (Berlin in 2019), and her quest to get into and run all of the World Marathon Majors. She discusses goals for 2020 and ways to "keep the fun in the run". One of the most contagiously enthusiastic runners, fundraiser and general positive person, her efforts with "Team Freedom" (supporting Abolition International, Hope 4 Justice) inspire many to join, at Gasparilla in Tampa, FL and other races. Trish goes into more detail on this fundraising effort and Boston Marathon in Episode 2 of the Running Anthropologist Podcast.

Jorge Garcia, our favorite race pacer clocking many events this year in St. Louis and across the globe, walks us through what it's like to join a professional team (Michelob Ultra) and run several major marathons in one fall season spanning less than two months (Sydney- Australia, Chicago, Marine Corps in D.C., New York). He discusses the difference between training for one large target marathon and running many for the experience, a jack of all trades so to speak. Either way, his enthusiasm and joy for running translate into some great perspective and advice for starting out 2020. Jorge was also featured in EPISODE 5 of the Running Anthropologist Podcast.

Lastly, Mike Wardian (also Episode 4) discusses constantly challenging himself with new creative multi-day marathons and Ultra events. He also highlights some of his #1 picks for running events, as well as the book he has co-authoring (along with many other expert adventure runners) his first book collaboration "Epic Runs of the World", an amazing new running guide book by Lonely Planet. He lastly talks about his goal for 2020: to see more of his home country and get to know the quiet corners of it by running from coast to coast, and another possible world record attempt!

Links and Info:
From Mike Wardian:
Epic Runs of the World, Lonely Planet Shop & Amazon (Co-Authored by Mike Wardian and ~25 other running experts, sharing over 200 unique runs across the US and globe)
From Trish Trout: The Berlin Marathon and Team Freedom-
Hope for Justice team training with Team Freedom!
#Gasparilla Gasparilla Distance Classic
From Sanjay Rawal, his documentary film 3100:Run and Become https://3100film.com/

Episode 29: Healthy Holidays! with Dr. Brian Fullem of Elite Sports Podiatry

Episode 29: Healthy Holidays! with Dr. Brian Fullem of Elite Sports Podiatry is available on most podcast apps, including Google, Anchor, Spotify and Apple

Links: Elite Sports Podiatry and his book, Runner's Guide to Healthy Feet and Ankles

Dr Fullem (interviewee,Left) and Mark Lane-Holbert (interviewer, Right)
outside his Practice in Clearwater, FL

In this episode, we dive into healthy practices, prevention and treatment of most common runners' injuries, and Dr. Fullem is a font of knowledge on most all running experience and athlete concerns from many years of practice and current research.  Dr Fullem is Board certified in Foot Surgery with specialization in tendon injuries including the use of Extracorporeal Shock Wave therapy. Dr. Fullem has experienced tremendous success using shockwave therapy for injuries such as Plantar Fasciitis, Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction, Achilles Tendonosis, Medial Tibial Shin Splints and Peroneal Tendonosis.

Dr. Fullem practiced in Connecticut for over 20 years before moving to Florida in 2010 and in November, 2014 he started a solo practice, Elite Sports Podiatry.  While in CT, Dr Fullem served as the Team Podiatrist for the Yale University Track team and Sacred Heart University Athletic Department.  Dr Fullem also co-founded a running camp for HS athletes in Connecticut that is still in existence, The Running Academy.

Dr Fullem has a passion for treating athletes and frequently lectures nationally on the subject and has published several articles in peer reviewed medical journals on subjects ranging from Plantar Fascia ruptures, Navicular Stress Fractures and is co-author of a soon to be published article on the effectiveness of shock wave therapy in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.  Dr Fullem has also published extensively for national running magazine Running Times. Dr Fullem has also authored chapters for two textbooks: Foot and Ankle Sports Medicine by Dr David Altcheck and International Advances in Foot and Ankle Surgery by Dr. Amol Saxena.

Show notes and details of his answers provided prior based upon Running Anthropologist's questions:

RA: Why did you choose or how did you get started on the path of podiatry?   

Dr Fullem: I entered college as a Chemistry major with the goal of doing Sports Medicine.  My Freshman year at Bucknell University I was running an indoor track 2 mile race and coming off the final turn I felt a pop in my foot.  It did not hurt at the time and I was able to sprint in and ran a big PR of 8:59.  My foot started to hurt a little on the warm down and was sore when I went to bed but the next day I fell down when I jumped out of top bunk of our dorm room due to the pain.  I went to the local Ortho and he gave me a cortisone shot and said it was Plantar Fascitis (in retrospect it was a plantar fascia tear but there was no such thing as an MRI at that time).  The shot was his only treatment and I was able to get back to running but a few months later after racing a 10K in spikes on the track my foot was just as painful. A Podiatrist that ran for Bucknell 10 years before I did was in practice in CT and my Coach sent me to him and he provided a much more detailed treatment plan including stretching exercises and custom foot orthotics.  That is when I decided Podiatry was the field I I wanted to go into.

RA: Has your own sports or running background played a role in your chosen profession, or how you approach it?  

Dr. Fullem: I know that my background helps a great deal in my treatment of patients, I hope it allows me to feel and express an empathy for my athletic patients.  I try and treat every single patient that walks in my door as if they are an athlete.  There was a great Doctor named George Sheehan, he was an MD that loved to run and he wrote books about the spiritual and mental aspects of running, I started reading his books when I was in HS.  Dr Sheehan has a lot of great quotes but my favorite is 

"Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not." A big part of sports medicine is trying to get athletes back to their sport as soon as is safely possible. I encourage all my patients to exercise even if it is just walking 30 minutes a day.

RA: Regarding the book, why did you embark upon writing this and how long did it take to put together?    

Dr. Fullem: I met Scott Douglas around 1994 or so, he had just become editor of Running Times magazine in Wilton, CT and I was practicing in Bridgeport, CT at the time.  We were introduced by mutual friends and  we ran a lot of miles together. I think he asked me to write my first article for Running Times around 1995. I am not sure I have a copy of it and I have been unable to find it on the internet but it was article focused on the fact that running shoes have too high of heel height, way before the Minimalist movement but the thought of that article was running and walking around in running shoes with a 12mm or higher heel height helps to shorten the achilles tendon which may help contribute to some injuries like Plantar Fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.  Scott was asked by SkyHorse Publishing to do a series of books and one was on running injuries of the foot and ankle.   Scott was invaluable to the book and I hope people realize how important an Editor is to any writing process.  I was very lucky to work with great editors at RT including Gordon Bakulis and Jonathan Beverly.  They each had their own style and I loved working with all of them.  Sadly that great magazine was bought by Runners World and then folded by Rodale.

 RA: You take a very hands-on and practical approach, including pictures and exercises combined with your years of medical expertise around various conditions... Would you mind sharing what you see most often in distance runners? 

Dr. Fullem: I would say that heel pain is the number 1 injury that I see in runners and in the general population.  I think there are a number of factors that contribute to it but for runners the number 1 cause of most injuries is overuse. I am very lucky for my practice and in life that I am married to Annemarie, she is a great Physical Therapist and she contributed a huge amount to the book and sees some of my athletic patients on top of her regular job working in the Neonatal ICU at Morton Plant Hospital.  Annemarie is a very gifted artist, she drew the illustrations for my book and demonstrated most of the stretches and exercises in the book. She has taught me so much about rehabbing people that it has definitely made me a better Doctor. 

 RA: Among a few of these (achillies or plantar fasciitis, for example) what are some of the solutions that most often work for runners?  

Dr. Fullem: Most important for any injury is early intervention.  As soon as there is swelling or pain there should be some sort of intervention - icing, relative rest, a Doctor's visit.  My rule is that if you have pain during a run that is consistent then you should not be running because it is going to lead to compensation and sometimes the compensatory injury is worse than the original injury.  I have written about treatment of some of my patients with their permission for my Running Times articles. Rich Kenah, the current Director of the Atlanta Track Club won 2 bronze medals in the World Champs in the 800 and represented the US in the Olympics in 2000.  After his world champs medals in 1997 Rich developed pain in his foot, which in retrospect was a stress fracture of his Navicular, while compensating for that injury he developed a stress fracture of the 4th metatarsal. Rich had a very long lay off, he did not want surgery to fix the Navicular so he opted for conservative treatment and I think he was non weight bearing in a boot and used a bone stimulator for about 3 months.  Amazingly after not running a step for most of 1998 he was able to come back and make the Olympic team in 2000!

RA: Can you provide some tips for these common problems?

 

Dr. Fullem: 1. Heel pain - keep the foot supported, ice and stretch daily. I recommend rolling over a frozen water bottle and do the wall stretch for the calves. Do not hang off a step as the PF is really a ligament. KT tape is a great addition as well.

2. Achilles pain - if there is swelling then stop running! Stretching only helps a small amount.  It is important to figure out the cause and sometimes it is the Glutes not firing properly.  Also after 2 weeks a tendon is no longer inflamed but is actually degenerated.  So eccentric strengthening is important to rehab an achilles tendonopathy - eccentric means the tendon is lengthening and firing at the same time.

3. Stress Fractures - some people think that if they have a fracture they would not be able to run and that is not true.  Endorphins are powerful pain killers.  If you see swelling on top of the foot especially and the pain gets worse with activity then a stress fracture might be developing. Vitamin D is very important to supplement with for a runner IMO and the medical literature supports that. 

Episode 28: Race Directors and Abbott World Marathon Majors: Carey Pinkowski of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Angela Anderson of the Marine Corps Marathon

Episode 28: Race Directors and Abbott World Marathon Majors is available on most podcast apps: Google, Anchor, Apple and Spotify!

Carey Pinkowski with new female Marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei

https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/

With the Bank of America Chicago Marathon since 1990, Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski has been a key player in building the marathon's dynamic relationships with the city of Chicago, the corporate community and local neighborhoods along the marathon course. In 2006, Pinkowski also became one of the original architects of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series set to recognize and challenge the world's top adventurous marathon runners. Carey explains how these marathons must meet stringent guidelines for runner experience/logistics and other marks, and now includes the original 5- Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Berlin, and most recently Tokyo was added to round out the number at six. He tells us about how the Marathon Majors began and why, as well as why sharing "best practices" with races across the globe is so important as a goal of this group, and he highlights the importance of the running community for these cities. He also shares a bit about the changing culture of marathons and the culture of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series, and where he sees it headed in the future.

Carey's page: https://www.facebook.com/CareyRunsChi/
The official Bank of America Chicago Marathon site: https://www.chicagomarathon.com/

Angela Anderson at one of many marathon finishes

The Marine Corps Marathon Deputy Director Angela Anderson has been with MCM since 1994. She oversees the various branches within the MCM organization and develops new projects to enhance the event experience. Originally from Germany, she has participated in the United States Marine Corps' Civilian Leadership Program and Toastmasters International. Anderson discusses her current World Marathon Majors attempt and 1/2 way through has some insight to share about the experience (including Chicago, Boston and most recently NY Marathon). She also tells us about "the Oprah effect" and its impact on women's running since Oprah ran the MCM in 1994, this event ushering in a new era of distance running for women, or at least her reflection as a cultural symbol of new women marathoners.  Lastly, she highlights the work of race organization and logistics of “The People’s Marathon” and reveals exciting things to come!

All the yearlong MCM Events and more that we discussed can be found at: https://www.marinemarathon.com/events

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