Running through the Decades Series 4 of 4: The Evolution of Running in the Digital Era

Embrace your inner runner with us, as we embark on a journey through the last decade, tracing the evolution of running culture. We have experienced this shift firsthand, making this episode an intimate reflection on a sport that has pushed the boundaries of human endurance. 

Come with us as we discuss the rise of ultra marathons and the household names they have created, like Scott Jurek, Dean Karnazes, and Courtney Dawaulter. 

Let's cheer together for the women redefining the sport with incredible feats.

This episode is about the runners and the technology that has become a core part of the sport. Strap on your Coros or Garmin, fire up your podcast app and tune in as we discuss how these advancements have transformed our everyday run into a data-driven, performance-enhancing endeavor. 

You'll also hear about how the running landscape is diversifying, with adaptive athletes and non-binary runners stepping up to make their mark. 

Finally, let's take a moment to appreciate the power of media and its influence on running culture. Whether it's running documentaries that inspire us, run influencers who motivate us, or artists who become the soundtrack to our runs, we owe it all to the media. But the journey doesn't end here. 

Despite the pandemic throwing its challenges our way, it has led to an unexpected shift in the running scene, bringing new enthusiasts to the sport and pushing seasoned runners to achieve their personal best. 

So, tie your laces and hit the play button as we celebrate running in this era of evolution.

Chapters

• 0:02 Running Evolution in the 2010s
• 10:32 Changing Landscape of Running and Inclusion
• 19:10 Evolution of Running Culture and Influences
• 33:15 The Changing Landscape of Running

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey friends, coach Shelby and Coach Christine, welcoming you in and letting you know it's time for Brunch, arc Quick Bites Edition, where you can grab your movement and your miles with the side of smiles, take them on the run, midday in the afternoon or a late night snack attack. And, if you haven't guessed around here, we love running, so it's not surprising that we're going to talk about running today and how we got to where we currently are. We are in the middle and actually coming to the end of our four part series as we deep dive into the history of running. Again, we've kept it light, we've kept it fun, with a whole lot of info sprinkled in between, and this episode is kind of the most exciting because we're going to be talking about the 2010s to current day and there is a lot to unpack here. I feel like I have to slow my roll. I can't get too excited because girl this is. This is when Shelby enters the scene.

Speaker 2: 1:07

I think we're going to have difficulty not getting you overly excited. I feel like there's going to be so much like bubbling joy. So, friends, if you want a little bit of effusion of some bubbles and some excitement and some sparkles, I have to say this is the episode for you. And are you not entertained with this four part series? Because we are a little?

Speaker 1: 1:28

glad you are there.

Speaker 2: 1:29

It is because, again, we get to talk about all things that we love, plus also have a little bit of a lens of what was going on in the world around us at that time. So hopefully you guys are enjoying it and we can't wait to see you over in our community page, but for here and now.

Speaker 1: 1:42

So, coach, you started running in the 2010s Yep, in 2010s is when I decided to become a runner. So this is just where I'm starting to wet my whistle. Think that I could be a runner, much to the shock and all around me, including myself. So I was just dipping my toes into the pool. But this is where we started seeing the rise of ultra marathons, to where people are deciding OK, I can do a marathon. We saw in the early 2000s about the recreational women starting to get more into it, and then we just see it again. Keep going, keep going further and faster and start seeing about ultra running, ultra marathons. Like Scott Jurick, dean Karnassus gained recognition and started doing 50 miles, 100 miles longer.

Speaker 2: 2:38

Yeah, this is definitely where I feel like I love ultra running, and maybe I love the ultra running big names as much as you love the traditional, more marathon or cross country or track and field type elites, and I think it's because this is where the distances of all distances we see the biggest equal playing field between men and women, and for some reason that just brings me so much joy and I would probably fangirl over all of the ultra runners indefinitely.

Speaker 2: 3:09

I also love to. While I've never run an ultra, I love to learn a lot about ultra running and training because I feel like those are so easy to employ into our traditional training for the marathon or anything beyond. So, yeah, according to Walter Myrna, valerio, which we're going to talk a bit about as well. So we're starting to see some names that maybe they're not dominating from an elite standpoint, but they will. Courtney definitely, as she's breaking records. Like every time you just sign on to any kind of internet thing, she's breaking yet another record. So we're starting to see really big names and maybe would you say even the rise of the run influencers.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Um, maybe starting in the little bit of the later 2010s. I would say that we're starting to see it more, but we are also seeing an uptick of more conversations happening within the running world. Finally, talking about things that had been happening in the decades past, about how, while running, yes, is, has the ability to be inclusive, it still has a long way to go and something that we still, in present day which we'll talk about more are working on, but we're seeing a more inclusion and a little bit more of the barriers that were placed for African Americans, black runners, hispanic runners, all different nationalities and ethnicities really starting to be talked about more openly.

Speaker 2: 4:34

Absolutely so. Lots to talk about that. We're also seeing that during this time, in terms of our like just key notable things is that, while we've already talked about how great GPS watches were and fitness trackers, we're starting to see more running apps coming into play. We're also starting to see that people actually know more about these metrics, because I think that one thing that can be said is, generally, when we get our garments or corals, there's a plethora of them now, but once you get it, you're like, what does all of this mean?

Speaker 2: 5:05

And we're starting to see like more information being disseminated on, like vertical oscillation or the fact that your cadence can run into play, more so than just the distance, and maybe even more than just the distance and pace. We're starting to really see I would call like the regular runner, the extra ordinary runner, the extraordinary runner they're starting to realize heart rate comes into play. There's just more customization regarding their training plan versus just going out there and running the distance, which is still a beautiful way to tackle it for the records. And if you're new here and you're tackling the time that you have to have hand on your feet or mileage, perfect friends, you don't have to worry and get mired into the rest, but it's exciting that we have those options available to us as we progress in our running as well.

Speaker 1: 5:47

And pedometers like not taking even the GPS watch out of it. Pedometers and wrist based pedometers became so big. Everybody started with the 10,000 steps. It became a way of life. Everybody's had. Fitbit come onto the scene hot and heavy and if you didn't have a Garmin at that time because I feel like in the in the 2010s, Garmin was still quote unquote for those serious runners more to where Fitbit really started bridging that gap as focusing on the steps and became that entry level technology going into the more running and they were again, even by today's standards, more affordable and in the realm of possibilities for those who were dabbling and starting to get into it. But in the 2010s we saw the elites and not just any of the elites American women elites starting to stake their claim more and more in the sport.

Speaker 2: 6:49

Okay, hit me with your best shots, my friend, because I know that this is like you've been doing your homework. You are ready. You have to get down with this.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Let me add it. So we had Shalane Flanagan, one New York City, ending that dry spell. We had Deslinden winning Boston, ending that dry spell. We had Kara Goucher, alison Felix, bridget Coskay and so many others. Bridget Coskay, yes, I know she's not American elite, but I'm just saying the women were forced to be reckoned with, and especially by the likes of Shalane and Alison and Des. They became the poster girls and the poster women for American running. And Alison Felix, again, she's just now, well, just finished her career, so she's been around for a while and she, single-handedly, I think, really turned the world of track upside down because she was going hot and heavy, just as other male counterparts were going hot and heavy. So it was really, the eyes were on them.

Speaker 2: 8:01

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean Again, while we're focusing specifically on longer distances, we can't take away the fact that there is a beautiful crossover in terms of our mutual admiration of folks conquering all of the distances. So, of course, even here presently, we just saw records fall by the wayside. It felt like race after race If you guys were watching the 2023 track and field world championships with Shikari Richardson and Noah Lyles. I mean absolutely. So exciting of a time. I feel like Nikki Hilts.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Granted, that's current day. Nikki Hilts. Every other week they were smashing some record and they are on fire right now.

Speaker 2: 8:40

It is absolutely amazing, so it's an exciting time. It's like I feel like now you can't even sign into social media without seeing some incredible new announcement of yet again another record falling to the wayside. So it's an exciting time. We also are going to talk a lot about how we're seeing that again for the person who maybe has to juggle their running in between all of the other facets of their life and their responsibilities and aren't maybe necessarily sponsored, so I think that's going to be an exciting conversation to be had as well.

Speaker 1: 9:13

Well, I do have to jump in because we also saw running, specifically the shorter distances, to talking about track and field. For a minute, usain Bolt Usain Bolt, single-handedly, I think, put even more emphasis on track and field, not taking anything away from Allison, not taking away from any other athletes, but he became, I would say, the equivalent of like an NBA player in his stardom, full hard of me, and made people say I want to do that. It became a rabid fan base.

Speaker 2: 9:48

I think that when you are able to surpass the boundary of just runners, know who you are and you actually enter into popular catchphrases, where we even saw ads of car commercials talking about eating his time or whatever the case may be, you have.

Speaker 2: 10:04

He achieved sports stardom. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And then, of course, we see quite a bit on the accessibility front. So we're seeing a lot of records falling to the wayside as well when it comes to more of first having more accessibility, more pair Olympics, more eyes on Paralympics. So it's just, it's an exciting time all the way around, I feel like, and gear got prettier Gear became a fashion statement in a half.

Speaker 2: 10:32

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that. I even think of, while I don't consider. I know we have runners who've been running probably since they're across in country, or track and field days back in school, and I'm sure they could probably think back of how much their gear has changed. Even though I haven't been in the game that long, gears substantially changed from when I first got into it. So what kind of gear are you getting into?

Speaker 1: 10:55

I mean again, athleisure wear Definitely went full out. You could wear it all day, every day. Can't talk about the 2010s without talking about Nike's vapor flies. You love them, you hate them, they're all across the board and especially in the later 2010s it became a very hot button and a very hot topic of what that's just a good store in the 90s to just an FYI hot topic. But we're seeing all of that different technology not just being reserved for the elites and starts trickling down in the mainstream, because also with the popularity of running, with the scientific and technological advances, we saw a lot of regulations change with what elites could use and they had to be available to the everyday runners, which was a big thing. That came up with the Nike vapor flies.

Speaker 2: 11:53

Yeah, we're also continuing to see again the platform of people accessing technology, where now podcasting has definitely hit its stride, if you will, and the number one category in podcasting world is sports. So, while it may not be running, we are able to see that we can tune in from wherever we're at and learn more about it, so we're able to have really in-depth conversation. You're able to hear from some of these incredible elites on their training regiments in detail. You can hear from the coaches that coach them. You can hear from exercise physiologists so the amount of knowledge available that's easily distilled.

Speaker 2: 12:31

I call podcasting like your car university, it's like pod you. So instead of worrying so much about having actual degrees about it or necessarily even going back to school to learn about it, you can pretty much access a lot of that information just from the podcasting world or YouTube and all of that jazz. So a lot of technology, a lot of information continuing to be pushed out, and I think what's super exciting as well is that we're starting to actually get hydration and fuel the taste a bit better, wouldn't you say?

Speaker 1: 13:01

I mean, I don't know If you listen to our live taste testings. I don't think that it gives any hope for running fuel If you haven't listened to them.

Speaker 1: 13:11

Please head to our YouTube page and just fire. Be warned for some of these gels. But we're seeing cliff bars, we're seeing honey stinger, we're seeing goo, we're seeing cliff shots. My personal go to, as of right now, martin gels. All of them really become again. We've used the word a ton, but mainstream is the best way to explain it. You can pick them up now, not only at your specialty running shops. You can see some of these bars and the cliff bars and everything at your local grocery store.

Speaker 2: 13:43

That's that is wonderful. Second part of what's wonderful is now we're also seeing the fact that you don't have to be pigeonholed into just vanilla or just chocolate. So while you may not be able to find a lot of the varietal type of more extreme kind of like what we had to order online for the pumpkin spice, you can get something that literally will appeal to your palate by a couple of different clicks and have it delivered to your front door, which is super exciting, and I love that we're starting to see where people that maybe have a more diverse palate are being represented in these kind of aspects, cause I saw a lot of like salted margarita, where it has a bit more of a lime kind of a flavor, where prior to it really was Nellow chocolate maybe, maybe a little dabble of a couple of different other flavors available to you.

Speaker 1: 14:28

It gave you a wonderful opportunity to be disgusted in 15 different flavors versus just five. Basically, is what we're saying.

Speaker 2: 14:36

There were a couple of gels that I actually enjoyed from our last one, and I don't usually like gels, so I think the spring was pretty, was pretty good.

Speaker 1: 14:44

Pring was ridiculous. It's ridiculous in price, but it's pretty.

Speaker 2: 14:48

It's pretty good to say the exact same thing, so hopefully we'll continue to see, maybe, where these things are a bit more accessible from a pricing scenario as well. But, with that said, there are plenty of varieties. You're definitely going to want to check out our YouTube if you haven't. But what I am excited about, coach, is, while clothes are getting more stylish and I guess that they're helping us be faster as well While our fueling is definitely has more variety, we're also seeing some incredible times in the marathon distance. Can we talk a?

Speaker 1: 15:16

little bit about that, I guess. So the finishing times on the faster end stayed about the same for elite males at that two hours five minutes mark, but the little bit of the more I even hate to use this word conservative facing did increase a little bit and we started seeing that time and that gap shortening to two hours and 15 minutes. Recreational male runners again are continuing to vary because we started getting more data. We started seeing more runners. The different demographics were being reported. So with finishing times around the three hours to six hours we were seeing a bigger range, which we'll of course see as we get into the females.

Speaker 2: 16:03

Yeah which makes me ecstatic for the record right. Because again, this goes to show that we are starting to really kind of chip at that wall that had been built, regarding seeing it as only something that skinny white people did essentially.

Speaker 1: 16:20

Yeah, it's like we have to get comfortable saying it. It went from being white males to white males and white females to now all of the diverse groups being included in this conversation and even still making history. In the current day, we're finally seeing the adaptive athletes have more of a stand at the table and we're seeing the non-binary categories becoming more equally represented. So it's still a lot of work to go at all of these junctures.

Speaker 2: 16:57

Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about that though, coach, because we are actually in that. I would say it's definitely more recent, but in September 2021, we actually saw the first major United States race to have a gender non-binary category with equal elite prize money. So that's the caveat that we want to make sure that we put that into play, and I think that that is absolutely exceptional, because what we're seeing now is okay. We're hearing, we are, we're processing, we're understanding that we have to be able to really make this something where people do feel comfortable entering the categories, entering the races, and I think we could honestly attribute all of this Well, let's go ahead and say let's go ahead and take it back.

Speaker 2: 17:47

Let's talk a little bit about the elite marathon finishing times, because we're also seeing those while they're still knocking down a couple minutes here and there. I think it's also exciting that we're starting to see that marathons are becoming willing to accommodate for back of the pack runners. So London Marathon, after a backlash of closing down the course, after they build themselves as being truly more of a back of the pack marathon friendly race, came back and said, hey, we apologize, we should have never shut down the course and really took great strides to make sure that they were able to accommodate people who may be taking tackling the marathon distance and need eight, nine hours on their feet to be able to tackle it.

Speaker 1: 18:27

Exactly, and I feel like in the 2010s going into current day, we are finally seeing not only the gambit of all runners being representative as far as race, gender, gender identity, adaptiveness, but also celebrating. I love going on social media now and saying, hey, I got last place. And people are pumped with that and you should be. It's like enjoy and it's becoming more accepted. Bye, you don't always have to ask somebody when they ran a race, did you win? Yeah, and if we're breaking that mold again, there's always going to be the naysayers. But especially, even like on the mental health front, we're seeing athletes of the elites as well as recreational's not being held on this pedestal of perfection. And talking about my elites, you know I love. We see the big movements with Kara Goucher, allison Felix, molly Seidel all of them talking about not only mental health but maternal health, fair wages, fair practices throughout the sport. So it's it's going through an evolution and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.

Speaker 2: 19:45

No, because we're starting to also see we've already mentioned that the advent of the internet allowed us to see more online running communities. It also allowed us to see the advent of more people connecting in real life because of finding each other online for, specifically, groups like we see Black girls run, black men run, we see front runners so a lot of groups that really allow a lot of inclusivity and allow a lot of representation to be at the be at the table is just extraordinary for this sport and really is such a big catalyst of why we are here, you and I here with lunch and making sure that folks do feel like they have a welcome spot with us as well. So, with that said, I also feel like this is the time, coach shall be that you are maybe stumbling across a movie or two that may have furthered your passion for running.

Speaker 1: 20:41

Oh yeah. So again can't have an episode about the 2000s and current days without Brittany runs a marathon. It is a staple. It's so funny. I feel like it came out just yesterday, but it came out in 2019. I know, it's still extraordinary, it's amazing.

Speaker 2: 20:57

That's what's so great about all of these is that they span. They can span decades. We still feel the exact same way.

Speaker 2: 21:03

It's still challenging. It still is transformative. Regardless of whether you were lucky enough to tackle this back in the 50s or you're tackling it right here and now as your very first run, it still is a transformative, absolutely inspires you to actually live to the calling that you were meant to. So I love Brittany runs a marathon. I cried, of course. Crying happened in all these movies McFarland, usa. Oh, again, we're seeing a movie you can find out, disney plus my friends but you're seeing a movie where it's about cross country team and it was predominantly Latino community in California and how their coach was able to help them kind of stay the course so they could go off to achieve success and gain that championship, and how it really changed the lives of these young men who maybe would not have been afforded the same opportunities if they hadn't come to running. Same with track town, which, while it was an indie film, still absolutely extraordinary. And girl, we are not going to talk about movies without me talking about some documentaries, because you know I love me some documentaries.

Speaker 1: 22:07

The one thing that I do have to say, too, is, especially in the 2010s and current day, the cinematic features, even if it's an indie film about running, are much more robust, and we're not just looking at the Olympics as a way to get involved, while not specifically about the entire running community breaking to with Elliot Kipchoge. Again, I mean extraordinary movie.

Speaker 1: 22:36

One of those to where you would have to wait for that type of movie to come out around, like an Olympic time right, and or just watch the Olympics and again, not running specific, but rising Phoenix is an amazing documentary that was done around the Olympics. Adaptive athletes that again talk about a movie or a documentary that wouldn't have been made 10, 15, 20 years ago. It just wasn't a thing.

Speaker 2: 23:05

And again it's because we're seeing those advances in technology that allow people to have more accessibility to these kind of products, to create them, and we're starting to see where companies are willing to put money behind it and that's always extraordinary to be able to see that. And again it spans the horizon. It spans the distance from track and field all the way up to ultra. It talks about there's, I know, several documentaries that you can find that are all about mental health benefits or mental health struggles and their kinship to running and with books. We could honestly probably have an entire four port series on just running books and running documentaries. So we're not going to necessarily do that here, but we are going to like touch on a few my personal favorite documentaries. So I think, personal favorite, it's like asking which favorite major. They're all like my favorites.

Speaker 2: 23:59

But broccoli marathons, while again controversial with the race director's practices, still extraordinary to see the feats that people are tackling on their own skid row marathon Again definitely a tear joker, showing the transformational power of running. So these are just extraordinary to have and extraordinary to have access to, especially when you're maybe lacking in motivation or inspiration. So, coach, tell me, what am I listening to now on my Spotify playlist, because even the way that we consume our songs are very different than what they used to be. We can't actually necessarily download or pirate the song.

Speaker 1: 24:37

It's just there.

Speaker 2: 24:38

Yeah, they're literally, they're streaming for us and we can create our playlist very easily, or even have playlists already created, like over at the time for brunch. Spot of spy channel.

Speaker 1: 24:48

Well, and listen, if we had a hard time pronouncing elite names, we're going to have a hard time pronouncing some of the current stars on the music scene. It took me forever. Doja Cat is huge right now. We of course have Taylor Swift, which love Taylor Swift. We have Halsey, we have Meek Mill, ariana Grande, maroon 5. Uh, uh, post Malone, who's no longer? I guess Post Malone. I guess he's retired. I think it's the artist formerly known as Prince, type of deal, okay, to where they're? They're going away from it. Billie Elish Elish. I again talk to me about names, people, yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:29

I feel like it's. This is where people will probably say oh, this music nowadays, these kids with their music nowadays is horrible, let's be honest, there's still some incredible music coming out.

Speaker 2: 25:40

Um and again, we're seeing an advent of now. We're actually seeing the run influencers and the influencers of music changing the game. So, like TikTok, uh, famous, and Instagram, famous, and a lot of maybe indie artists that we wouldn't have access to coming onto the scene, like, for me, Queen Herbie oh my gosh, I am obsessed with her and, of course, she grew in her infamy through social media, so it is really exciting to be able to have such such a plethora of choices available to us.

Speaker 1: 26:10

There's literally a little bit of everything, and thank you Google. By will say, other than running, I think Google changed my life.

Speaker 2: 26:18

Google is pretty extraordinary. There is no doubt on that. We're also seeing some pretty cool advances because of AI, so it's going to be very interesting to see how AI changes the running game, but we're already starting to see quite a bit of that in terms of um, maybe, uh, coaching platforms utilizing it, and or are even our smartwatch is being integrated with it, so it's it's going to be super interesting. I think, though, that, with all of that said, there's still quite a bit of some popular hobbies that we should talk about, and I love the fact that I feel like running empowered people to try their hand at obstacle course racing, cause those were so like mud runs and sprouting race and tough mudder for super huge around this time and color runs, I feel really became a thing I'd probably say that's more like the 2010s.

Speaker 1: 27:08

They're still here today, but we've been there, we've done that. But yeah, the mud runs, I know, are huge. Um, we're seeing a little bit more popularity though in Ragnar's and relays. I feel like a lot more races are starting to kind of beef up that portion.

Speaker 2: 27:27

And I think that Ragnar kind of started to kind of really popularity a little bit even popularity a little bit, yeah, just because they've changed a lot. They had so much difficulty with their permitting issues, with all of us crazy runners running, you know, 200 miles through people's homes.

Speaker 1: 27:43

Oh, no matter what, it's bussin. So, that's what we're saying. It is, it's bussin. All right, tell me more about bussin. It means it's good, it's amazing, it's like really good. So I'm definitely extra, I am not basic. Okay.

Speaker 2: 27:59

But what is basic and we all know it is that pumpkin spice, because that's definitely something that's happening in all of our lives around this time of year, especially fall, which is also weird to think of the fact that I am before like my time came before pumpkin spice became such a thing, and now here we are we're, like we even did an entire, an entire episode on fueling around pumpkin spice. So, yeah, there's some great phrases, though I don't 100% understand them all, and that's probably why I'm still using lexicon from the 70s you just rent free.

Speaker 1: 28:31

That's it. That's a. It's living rent free in your head. You've used it.

Speaker 2: 28:36

Oh yeah, your head Okay.

Speaker 1: 28:37

Yeah, thank you Thank you, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm working hard on that, my friends.

Speaker 2: 28:43

But what kind of other foods do we have access to nowadays besides all of everything?

Speaker 1: 28:47

Yeah, literally Now we have Uber Eats, which I still will. I've used Uber Eats or not Uber Eats, Maybe it was. Whatever the other one is, I've used it once to have people actually deliver my food. It doesn't, it doesn't appeal to me, okay, but yeah, I mean, we're seeing everything again. We have pumpkin spice running gels. For goodness sake. Yeah, I was telling somebody about that and they're like why? And I said because we can. That is why.

Speaker 2: 29:15

So I think what's also cool is again, I'm thinking about Pinterest, and Instagram really did influence our food as well, because everything had to be either Instagram perfect, that's what. I'm officially going to call it. So we started to see some really beautiful foods coming out. I know the rise of the charcuterie board has been super popular and Michelle Obama talks about her kids trying to make their version of a cheese plate and the charcuterie board in it just makes me laugh so much.

Speaker 1: 29:43

But anyway, because I'm plant-based is a huge thing. Now to where was?

Speaker 2: 29:47

not, or, like we recently had our NA brews. I mean again, the younger generation is definitely gravitating more towards non-alcoholic options and because of the advent of that popularity, we're seeing that a lot more nowadays.

Speaker 1: 30:02

It was so cool. It was so hard to find the NA's for our fuel testing. It was a struggle. Everything was sold out, which I love, but I have nothing to drink. Aw, that's good, though right, I mean still that's kind of.

Speaker 2: 30:18

So let's talk about that, because that perfectly goes into our next conversation. So we've started every one of these episodes with the fact that we're starting to see breaking times and numbers. One of the things that we're starting to see something that we just recently experienced in the running world that I think has been huge is the fact that we're having world breaking registrations for every single event. I mean truly all of the races are having difficulty with keeping up with the amount of interest, just like you experienced with your NA beers, and that's always a good thing. We talk about it quite a bit for Run Disney. We even have a blog dedicated to it how to PR your Run Disney registration.

Speaker 2: 30:56

It's a service that we help our 101 athletes with is figuring it out and making sure they get into their wanted races. But there's also the case that people work hard to Boston Qualify Sometimes years, sometimes decades, thinking of one of our wonderful, wonderful guests, tia, who actually even planned out her training plan in an optimal time with two different races that would potentially give her that entry into Boston Marathon. And then they were hit with 33,000 applications with qualifying times for, I think, a field size of 20 to 22,. Is that correct, coach?

Speaker 1: 31:37

Somewhere around there and I still I wanna say I am heartbroken for so many of these runners Because, like you said, this isn't just something. Most runners go out and, oh yeah, I Boston Qualify today. This is years and years of hard work, sacrifice, dedication, like you said, tia, having two different races, not knowing what was gonna be the most ideal, and now we know that those who didn't have a cushion of five minutes and 29 seconds are out, and I mean I knew it was gonna be a hard. Basically five and a half minutes, so let's call it that. That's insane. Again, when you're not in the running world, it's like, oh, it's five minutes, like I can throw away five minutes. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2: 32:27

Seconds are hard fought. Seconds are hard fought. So I think what's incredible about this specifically, this is already on the heels of them strickening up and like pulling back on the qualifying standards, because they had already struggled with this in their history. They already saw that they needed to make things a little bit faster. So just four years ago is when they adjusted the race qualifying standards by five minutes for every age group in every division. And here we are in 2023, on the heels of that happening in 2019 and still breaking records towards. It broke the internet. Taylor Swift and Boston Marathon have broken the internet specifically in this year. She also broke the NFL.

Speaker 1: 33:10

I heard, I heard.

Speaker 2: 33:11

They have never been so lucky. But that's it's extraordinary to see. Now, I think we have different opinions as to why we see this happening, so I'm curious as to why you feel it's happening.

Speaker 1: 33:22

I do feel like technology plays a big portion in it, but I also can't say that it didn't enter my mind that we are seeing how the needle has moved in our running world and people getting more into the sport. We're also seeing the peak demographic of when running became popular. They've put in all these years, they've put in all this work and now is their time that they're reaching some of their best times. They're a hardest fought effort and I don't think it's gonna slow down because we have these new generations coming up that have lived and breathed running. They're not necessarily finding their running at their 30s. They've had it since they were 20.

Speaker 2: 34:12

So I think that we can thank the pandemic for it and we can't talk about the running scene without talking about the pandemic because, let's be honest, it shut the world down, especially the racing world.

Speaker 2: 34:25

So most of the racing world went to a complete virtual community and where you were just devastated overnight not speaking from personal experience or anything devastated overnight with the world shutting down and not being able to head toward any of these races because they couldn't hold them. But what we saw during that time is, yes, we welcomed in a whole lot of new runners during that time as well, but we saw that the runners that had been in the game have more time because there was less commuting, there was less social obligations. There were quite a bit of people running for their mental health, coming to the sport or maybe re-picking up their sneakers in a much more dedicated fashion. So I think we saw this with the elites a bit, where they were able to kind of really rest and recover from race seasons and really spend time on dedicated training. And I think that's kind of what we're seeing as well. We're seeing the fruits of labor of folks having more time to actually dedicate to running than they did in the past.

Speaker 1: 35:22

That's my personal opinion and I can't guarantee that there's any kind of study that will ever prove that to be true, there will be probably not for like another 10 years, but we'll be having this conversation, hopefully in another 10 years, saying, see, we called it then, but Right.

Speaker 2: 35:38

So we'll have to see if that's part of it, which I think it has to be right.

Speaker 1: 35:42

And there's one thing on this list, though, that changed the running world forever, that neither of us wrote in our outline.

Speaker 2: 35:52

Well, we already covered that. I was born in the 80s and you were born in the 90s and I can't imagine what else we would have forgotten. We met each other. That is so true. Oh, my goodness, coach, I know and it happened because of the pandemic.

Speaker 2: 36:08

It did so truly, it really did change the sport quite a bit. All the way around. We also saw a lot more people focusing their running for charity and fundraising. We're gonna continue to see the trail running scene and that's why I think we see Courtney DeWalt for breaking as many records as she did, because, again, a lot of folks were maybe living in more congested cities during the slowdown of world. We're heading out to the trails. So all the way around, I do feel like, if there's silver linings to be had not trying to be polyanna we are able to now say that, while it's very difficult, heartbreaking and maybe it feels like your entire world has been rocked from not being able to get into that Boston time that we worked so hard for that, I still feel confident that we're seeing a really beautiful time as well, with the popularity and the abilities of what we're able to do in this day and age.

Speaker 1: 37:01

Absolutely. And if you are one of those people and you're listening and you are not getting to run Boston due to that, please reach out to us.

Speaker 2: 37:12

Let us welcome you into the fold, we will celebrate and maybe you can take a page out of one of our brunchers books and do Boston virtually, because that 26.2 still counts, no matter where you run it, and I think it's also really important and this is one of the beautiful things about running Friends at Regardless of maybe be able to run Boston specifically and I know this probably sounds like very hollow words, but nobody's going to take away the fact that you put one step in front of the other, you dedicated yourself to it and you did Boston qualify, yes. So, regardless, if you're Boston qualifying, if you're getting out there for your first run, these are accomplishments that no one can steal from you. So, please, please, have that at your prep and your step, and we're sending you big, huge virtual hugs and a whole lot of cheering from afar, maybe some NA bruise. They might be quite a bit of driving their sorrows and NA bruise right around now. For sure, that's why your bruise were so hard to locate.

Speaker 2: 38:07

Ok, anyway, regardless, friends, we want to thank you so much for joining us in this four-part series. We can't wait to hear from you what your thoughts are on it. Why is the landscape of running changing so much and what do you look forward to? So please join us over on the Facebook community page, where you can be embraced by your running community. We would love for you to continue sharing this series and podcast with friends that maybe aren't yet runners, but you know they want to be. So join us again with Time for Branch. Our long run edition drops on Friday, or come back for more of our midweek quick fight meals on Wednesdays, regardless of when or where. We're going to keep serving up more miles with a side of probably some salty smiles.