Extraordinary Strides
Welcome to Extraordinary Strides, the podcast that celebrates the spirit of running and the inspiring stories of those who lace up their shoes and hit the pavement.
Here, we dive into the heart of what makes running an extraordinary adventure.
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Our episodes feature seasoned runners, coaches, and everyday athletes sharing their triumphs, challenges, and the joy they find in every run.
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Extraordinary Strides
Ken Zambito on Designing Races for Runners, By Runners
Lace-up your shoes and pull up a seat at the brunch table because we're taking an insightful journey into the world of marathon running with a special guest, our very own Ken Zambito - race director for the Town of Celebration Marathon and Half Marathon. Have you ever wondered about the real-world experiences and challenges of designing a race, especially one that gives so much back to the community? This episode is sure to satisfy your curiosity.
We also want to have you join next year for the Celebration race weekend!
REGISTER TODAY with code BRUNCH for $15 off, and come out and join Coaches Christine & Shelby at this fast, flat, and beautiful hometown race.
The race takes place on Jan. 28, 2024, the weekend before the Olympic Trials here in Orlando. So come for the world-class race, stay for the Olympic experience!
We kick off the conversation with Ken's journey from high school cross-country runner to triathlete to race director and how that shaped his perspective on orchestrating a race designed for runners by runners.
We also dissect the pros and cons of competing in big city marathons versus small-town races. As Ken shares his experiences and insights, we see the unique charm that each type of race brings. Get ready to discover the allure of the Town of Celebration Marathon, which has donated over $800,000 in scholarships, making it a race that truly gives back.
To cap it all off, we dive into the wonderful world of race swag. We explore the appeal of unique race memorabilia - from the infamous Celebration blankets to handmade medals - and discuss our traditions of bringing home a memento from each race. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or a newbie to the racing scene, this episode promises something for everyone.
Come explore the diverse world of running races and find your ideal style. It’s time to hit the ground running!
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Hey friends, coach Shelby and Coach Christine, welcoming you in and letting you know it's time for brunch, where there's always an open table, a hot cup of coffee, an endless running fun to keep you moving and grooving. So lace up your shoes, put a smile on your face and let's log some miles. And even if you're not out and moving about at the moment, no worries listening along and whistle while we work it out. Today we're going to be chatting with a very special guest and race director for the town of celebration marathon and half marathon. But before we bring him into the brunch table, we want to remind you in your newsletter we had a little fun with how to pick an ideal race for you quiz, because I feel like we never really lost that nostalgia from the 90s of taking like what personality quiz are you?
Speaker 1:I still do that you send me them the other one that you did. I was a lion and a golden retriever, so it was very it was an identity crisis for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we have traits from both. Yeah, no, I absolutely still do them. I think that's maybe why I like the whole world of HR human race versus so much because they gravitate towards all these types of tests. So any shout out to our friends that are in HR if you guys ever need a guinea pig on people that you want to like, maybe conduct some of those tests that you get your specials, your specializations, your certifications in. I am your girl, I would have. I literally will take them all.
Speaker 1:I'm riveted by them. I love finding out like what fruit I am or what type of pillow I am, like I don't know for me, it's just it usually says a lot about my personality, even like how we said in our other episode about what cup of coffee you use as you as a runner. That was so hilarious to see. That was so much fun. It was awesome how she did.
Speaker 2:Everybody got it. We had to go back and like provide a couple of others that maybe didn't make a list. So, friends, if you didn't check it out, you really should be following us on Instagram, because that's where that fun was at, or joining us at our community page as well, because that's where we get to get into like the lengthier debates. But it was. It was a lot of fun, I think. I think most folks really feel like they, like their coffee personality really was akin to their running personality.
Speaker 1:One of our listeners, rebecca, shout out to Rebecca. She actually messaged and she goes why is my black coffee with the decaf coffee? And I literally responded. I'm like, please take it up with Instagram the fact that they only allow 10 slides. But listen, I feel like people who only drink black coffee and only drink decaf. We're a breed of our own, so it only made sense for those to go together. I feel like they're kind of polar opposites, though they're both very compelling.
Speaker 1:Like people have a lot of opinions on both of those two coffee choices.
Speaker 2:I had no idea there were so many people that were half calf, half like you. I mean not to say that you're not unique, but I was surprised. I thought that most of the world's really liked caffeine and their coffee. But I guess there's a lot of you guys, a lot of half calf, half people.
Speaker 2:But with today, what we're trying to figure out, friends, more so than anything else, is what is your running race style Like? Do you like that small town feel? Are you more of a big town? You want the big city lights and those big crowds or little Goldilocks? We like it just right. That's, I think, kind of me for the most part, and I think they all have a great place in your training. But I think, more so when you're starting to focus on maybe your ideal race in terms of what am I going to get excited about, what's going to put an extra pep in my step? It is trying to figure out what is it that I'm actually looking for on race day which of course we're going to hear from Ken in just a little bit what it kind of takes behind the scenes to put on an ideal race for runners by runners. So I think it's really excited Seriously.
Speaker 1:And after you've talked about this race so much, I'm like, I feel like I'm about to meet the Wizard of Oz, like the man behind the curtain, the Emerald City Gates.
Speaker 2:That is the perfect description of him, definitely, except he's not. He's not a fraud, he really is. He is truly a wizard. And I'm going to try not to fangirl too much, even though I have drug out every single piece of celebration, a ton of celebration swag that I've ever encountered, and I just found, like my beer opener oh my gosh, like let's not, let's not go into it anymore, because you guys are going to hear me gush plenty, so let's just go ahead. And I don't know what do you think? Coach, bring him on in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's do it. Okay, let's do it. We are very excited to be pulling up an extra seat to the brunch table for your episode of pleasure this day, because you've heard us talk quite a bit about this specific race and you pretty much heard coach Christine not shut up about the blankets that she has received and she taunts me any chance she gets with them. But we are very, very thrilled to have Ken Zambedo, the race director of the town of celebration marathon and half marathon, and we are so excited to finally have you here and to talk. All things obviously, celebration and running. But first I'd love to hear a little bit of bio of yourself, let our brunchers get to know you and who you are.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you both for having me on your podcast. This will be my first ever podcast.
Speaker 1:So that's even better.
Speaker 3:You thought I was a bigger celebrity than I am.
Speaker 2:No, you really are.
Speaker 2:Guys, I'm having a hard time not vangrolling because I cannot express to you how I feel such admiration for this specific race, because I feel like it's a race for a true runner who wants just a fun time. Lots of simplistic courses to follow, logistics, and people really know how to take care of the runner. Like of all of the races I've done, this is one of the ones where I would say is in the top. So, beyond that, you are a celebrity and we can't wait to get into a little bit more about how you got here to the celebrity status.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, we'll start. I'll try and keep it brief. You know, I ran cross country in high school track, like a lot of folks, and then I quit for 20 years and I had a moment where I decided to get back into it and decided I'm just going to go out and run America on Right. So I signed up for Disney. I lived on Disney doorstep and went out and did that knee tendonitis, miserable training, training by myself, all the good stuff. But I got through the race and then it was like, okay, cool that was. That was a great experience. You know, I probably need to do that again.
Speaker 3:I read one of my friends who was really into biking and he was like, hey, let's, let's go do a track triathlon. I'm like, sure, sounds good, let's, let's go. I kind of went down the triathlon route for a number of years. You know the gateway drug to triathlons your sprints, and then you work your way up and I did Ironman Florida like seven times and then I was finally like, okay, that's enough of that. And somebody mentioned to me that 50 States marathon club. I was like, oh, that sounds pretty cool. What do you got to do? I was running marathon every state. So at that point I was like all right, that's the next kind of goal and started doing that and probably over about five and a half six year period, work my way through the States. You know there were times running one every month, just bouncing race to race, and it was a good time.
Speaker 3:And I was in Maryland running the lower Potomac River marathon in Piney Point. All race about 200 runners a little less than and you know we were all the cold morning. We're all huddled inside. Race director comes in. It's like, all right, it's time to start, let's go. So we walk out and they point to a line on the ground and say, all right, here's the start line and bullhorn ready to go and off we went.
Speaker 3:So great, you know, great race, great course. I think I had like one deputy manning the course, it was low key and came back to my running group and I said, hey, we can do this, we could put on a race like this. You know, I mean it was nothing and yeah, that's kind of where the celebration marathon got started and yeah, so for myself, I've continued to run. After the I completed all my states, I did a couple of 100 milers up in Ann Arbor and now I'm just sort of taking it easy. You know, I'll run half marathon here and there, maybe one marathon a year, just trying to keep it reasonable, as I get you know, being old man here.
Speaker 1:I always love that. Like everybody's slow place, like now, I'm taking it easy. I just do this every once in a while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you've had your fill, but we have so many questions, so you take a 20 year hiatus. Let's say, what was the actual catalyst to get back to running? I'm very curious about that, if it's something you could talk about or willing to talk about.
Speaker 3:Nope, I can, that is. It's not not a trade or anything. I was working on my master's MBA at Stetson and one of the first classes I took was human behavior in the organization and they were talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and you know, self actualization is kind of the pinnacle of that and somebody said, hey, the closest I felt to that was when I finished the Disney marathon and I went, I'm going to do that and that was kind of it and it was probably I think it was a summer course, it was probably June and I had six months. This was back, you know, 2001, or I think I ran the 2002 maybe. So you know it didn't quite fill up. Then I was able to sign up it wasn't as much of a challenge as it is now and just went out and started training, didn't know anything, went across the street to the Nike outlet, bought a pair of shoes that absolutely killed me, but you know, but did they look good?
Speaker 2:Because I think they're first.
Speaker 3:I don't think they could either. I think it was. You know. Let's go to the bargain spot and find some shoes. I think these fit and yeah, and I blame my knee tendonitis on those, sorry.
Speaker 2:Nike, I was going to suggest that that might have been part of the case.
Speaker 3:Yes, I've run in Brooks Adrenaline's ever since and have been great. So there's the shout out to Brooks.
Speaker 2:We're big fans of Brooks. We're fellow run happy people here.
Speaker 1:yeah, I was just eyeing their new shoe and I'm like I kind of like those, but now, if you would have asked me how you got back into running, I can guarantee that that reasoning would not have been one of my top five guesses. I feel like it would have been Coach Christine's, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I don't know. I haven't really ever had a chance to really talk to you, kim, but I will say that self actualization in the Maslow Hackey of me is something that I work on a lot with my clients as well, because I do think that we have to have a lot of the other pyramid to be able to get to that point when you have the time and space and mindset and dedication to be able to really work on that top tier, that self actualization. You have to have all this other foundational needs, of course, but it is. I think that's the best description.
Speaker 2:It's exactly what I feel about crossing those finish lines. It really is that wow, I have such a sense of accomplishment and feel like that actual purpose. So I feel like that may be part of why and you could tell me that I'm wrong and I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you by any means but do you think that it is also part of what drives you for, year after year, to come back and put the town of celebration marathon and half marathon on for runners? Because I think that to me, I feel like it's such a love, it's an outpouring of love that you guys put into this specific race and it has such a great cause and it really, to me, feels like you're giving back to the community.
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, thank you. We appreciate that, and I'll say we, because there's a lot of folks that put out an effort to do this. And I will be perfectly honest when I came back with the idea and we started talking about in the running club, it was not an idea of, hey, let's try and raise money for a specific charity, it was let's put on a race. And then we found the charity later, right so, but what we wanted to do was really put on a race for runners. So our running group would all run a lot of different races, a lot of different places, and I said let's bring back the best ideas that we experienced, that races and let's really make this a race for runners, right, and that was kind of the impetus for creating what you call a runner friendly race. And so that's what we did and lots of long runs, chatting and talking, and from the time that I came back with this idea, which was March of 2012, I think we had almost two years till we put on the first race. But that's what we did. We said what do we like about other races? What do we want to differentiate? Because to me, it was all about you gotta be special. We've seen the competition running.
Speaker 3:At that time maybe not as much, but over the years, races just popping up everywhere and people are looking for value and you only have so many dollars to spread around, you only have so much time to spread around. So that was our goal. Really put on a great race, that's what we wanted to do. And then we started giving the money away. So it's kind of like now you're like okay, I don't have a choice, I have to keep doing this because all these folks are benefiting from this and truly, when you have a race day and things go well, you get a sense of satisfaction that people enjoyed it. I'd love to see people enjoying themselves, and that really is what it's all about.
Speaker 2:Can we call out and highlight a little bit of the numbers of what you guys have donated, because it appears that you guys are almost closing in on a million dollars, just about that $750,000 worth of money that you've been able to donate to nonprofits that do benefit and go directly into the community.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. We're over 800,000 that we have donated scholarships for graduating seniors in Osceola County, which is where the celebration is at. We've been doing that since the first year. We've also taken up the cause of Boys and Girls Club of Osceola and there's a group in celebration Celebration Foundation that has a component of their organization called Thriving in Place, where they help senior citizens to be a little more self-sufficient, stay in their homes. You know, if they need help, they need a ride somewhere they need. You know things like that. So those have been our primary things. The other thing we do that helps with the community. I will tell you the first year we were gonna do this celebration, like many communities, is let me put it the right way concerned about things that might disrupt their lifestyle And-.
Speaker 2:It is Florida, but I think that's actually probably the hardest part. Being a race director I don't know, but I would think that having to deal with the concerns of the community and the fact that they wanna be able to get out and to leave their house at seven o'clock in the morning without waiting until two o'clock- which, if they're not runners, I don't really understand where they're going at 7 am.
Speaker 1:but we'll come back to that.
Speaker 3:Shelby, trust me, someone's not going to work at Disney and then? They'll need to make sure they can get out.
Speaker 3:Many times I will say well, what time are you leaving? And here's the route you need to take and you'll be good, don't worry about it. And if you leave before 7 am, you got no problem getting anywhere, but anyway. So we have that first year where it was a lot of questions, a lot of things that we had to work through and once we got past that it's been, the community has very well accepted it, embraced it.
Speaker 3:Really at this point, but that first year, one of the things that happened and again I didn't say it's the beginning we put on this race. None of us had ever put on any race, not a 5K, not a 10K, nothing. So we are just going out there and winging it. And one of the things we had happen was when we were you're trying to get your volunteers organized or thinking about it is we're like, well, how are we going to get all these volunteers? Because one of the things was what do you do for runners? Enough water stops. You show up at a water stop and there's like two people there and you're like this is terrible.
Speaker 1:We need groups.
Speaker 3:We need all this, so we decided we were going to invest in that. We reached out to a lot of the high school sports teams, churches in town, scouts, everything, and essentially we you know our volunteer water stations get paid, so that's part of I don't know rambling here, but the money that we donate, or we count for the donations, is given to those groups as well. So it's all not for profits that receive that.
Speaker 2:So to me I'm hearing that it's a little bit of a sweat equity kind of a thing. So if they provide volunteers, okay, I think that I love that.
Speaker 1:Yes, but again talking about like doing the community as a whole and really like it's almost like that hand, like each finger going into a different stream. I think that's quite honestly brilliant and not stroking your ego in any which way.
Speaker 3:Well, I have to give credit to my friend Bob, who was the one who came up with that idea, and we actually. The funny thing is that first year we had no idea what to expect. We didn't, you know, really know. We said, well, we need to set a limit on this race. Let's set the limit at 2000 entrance. And there were some side bets going on.
Speaker 3:I won a steak dinner because my friend Al, who was one of the original organizers, said ah, we're not gonna get over a thousand people. I'll bet you steak dinner, we get over a thousand people. And we sold out at 2000 people. So I had all these people emailing saying I gotta get in this race. I really wanna run this race. You know the different things. I think my favorite was one guy who was like I was supposed to sign my wife up for this race and I didn't do it and now it's sold out and I'm gonna be in a whole lot of trouble if I don't pay this down. So we decided we're gonna open up 250 more spots but we made them all $100. At that first year our race was like I think we were charging like $40 or $50.
Speaker 3:It was really inexpensive, but these people wanted to. I said so we had this extra, essentially $25,000. And that was where Bob said why don't we use that to lock in our volunteer groups? And that was really the start. And we've done that ever since and we've got great volunteers and commitments and they do a great job. But they get to see the benefit and the community gets to see it. You know, if your kids are out there volunteering, you kinda see, okay, that's bringing benefit to my family as well, and people really, you know they went to.
Speaker 2:I may have been one of the people emailing you, or I may have asked one of my friends to email. You say we didn't get our spots and we really wanna run. But one of the things that I've loved about your website and everything about the fact that you guys have a really kind of tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and it's there's a lot of wittiness laced throughout, and folks will see that as well when they actually sign up and run this incredible race, because you guys go all out with some of the support signs for the like. The spectating signs make me laugh every single time. I mean, some of them have seen a couple of times now and they still quite literally make me laugh out loud because they are so hilarious. So is that something that you guys also work on? And you kind of knew that sometimes people are? They're getting into that part of their run where they need a little bit of levity, they need a little bit of pep in their step and you guys really strategically place those, or has that just organically happened over the years?
Speaker 3:No, that was. I think we had that from year one. And you know we looked at that stretch on Celebration Boulevard and it's, you know, it's about two and a half miles and we're like, you know, we probably need something to give people's attention. And of course we've all run races where people have held up plenty of signs and we're like, all right, let's just make signs, let's do that. And so I'm gonna take credit for probably half those signs.
Speaker 3:Another one of our organizers, eric, probably gets credit for about the other half. And then over the years we've added some here and there. You know, we've probably reached about our limit because somebody has to put all those signs out and pick all those signs up. And you know, so we're driving down the boulevard, somebody's jumping out of a moving van to sit a sign down, to run back in, totally safe, and then picking them up as it's getting dark and raining one of my favorite years the year it just rained the entire time and wondering if I was gonna survive. You know, getting down the boulevard picking up these signs.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I volunteered that year, but I was very lucky. I'm so sorry to say this, but I volunteered for on like bib pickup so I didn't have to deal with that rain.
Speaker 3:So I I don't think I've ever been wetter in my life it was a terse. And Saturday would have been a fine day and Monday would have been a fine day, but it rained all day Sunday.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's runner, it's runner, it's gonna happen, but Eventually. Really, it's refreshing to hear a race like this, where it's done by runners for runners and not even just from like the logistics of having the proper volunteers set up, making the fun with the signs and everything, but the course itself. It's flat, it's fast, it's a runner's dream.
Speaker 2:It quite literally is. So I feel like again talking about as coach Shelby DeCedra for a race made for runners by runners. I think you guys take into account everyone who might be there who needs to Boston qualify or wants to PR and really needs a flat, fast condition type of run where they are within the looped marathon course. I know that there's some people who don't like to do the second loops. That's absolutely brilliant when you're trying to go for a PR or BQ, because you know the course, you know exactly what you need to do. You kind of go into muscle memory in that back half quite a bit, so I love that aspect of it. I also, though, love the fact that you guys are so inclusive and really do think of the back of the Packers, because I've never made it to that finish line and felt like, oh man, I'm not gonna be able to get my mimosa Like you guys always keep that runner's party going all the way through.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the mimosa's was another one of those things where we were like you know, everybody has beer and we do have beer, but nobody has mimosa's, and it was like, so that is one of those things that we thought was you know, a unique ad. But you're right, we make. We have those restaurants that in the downtown celebration area that donate that food and that's their contribution and we really appreciate it. It can be challenging, it's a long day. If you've got marathoners. You know we have a seven hour time limit.
Speaker 3:We do not sweep the course, nobody's getting forced off the course, but at some point I gotta shut things down, or at least begin shutting things down. So that's kind of our goal. But we make sure there is food available. There's always gonna be beer and mimosa's available, even if you're finishing in that seven hour timeframe. And you know the pancakes that we have we that was one of the things a few years ago when we had concerns about, okay, are restaurants gonna be solid or are they gonna be able to support this? We say, well, let's make pancakes. So I have a guy I work with who has a running group down in St Cloud and every year they come over and they pan the pancake things and cook pancakes for us.
Speaker 2:Shalby. I wanna interject real quick, ken, cause we have a little bit of battle here between Team Sweet and Team Savory. They even have you in mind, my friend, because this is one of the very few races that I know that has like quite a bit of savory dishes, not just those pancakes that are sometimes seen in post run kind of festivities. They've got like a little bit of baella type, like a rice-arrose kind of dish.
Speaker 1:Even though I'm gonna say, after you run a half marathon or a marathon, I don't care what you're shoving at me, I'm gonna eat it and it's gonna be the best day in meal I've ever had. Just saying.
Speaker 3:I have to give a shout out to the Columbia restaurant in celebration. There they absolutely bring it every year. They provide black beans and rice, they provide salad, they provide bread, the paella and they're there till the end. We've been very fortunate to have them step up and do that for us, and you're a great supporter of the race.
Speaker 1:The hometown feel is just awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't stress it enough, so I'm not gonna wax poetic much more because, again, I don't know that anybody can really get it across until they actually experience it, and I know you've done, clearly, the marathon in every single state. I know the runners all put back, brought back all these great information. I'm gonna invite you guys to come join Coach Shelby and I for 2024, and you're gonna wanna sign up sooner rather than later, because prices will go up at the end of the spooky month, so you don't wanna get too scared. You wanna make sure that you go ahead and just sign up and then register. We can't wait to cheer you on. You guys are gonna see some of, again, the best sign ever. We have a big group of folks who love Run Disney, because we do love Run Disney around here. But I will say, ken, my favorite sign I feel like I shouldn't spoil surprise, but it does have a little bit a little bit something to say about Run Disney and maybe have I know which one you're gonna say Is that?
Speaker 2:one yours.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's absolutely mine.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, Shelby, we will talk about it. I'm gonna leave it a surprise. I'm not gonna share it with anyone. You guys are just gonna have to sign up for this race and you'll see a little bit. That'll definitely make you smile as well. But with that said, friends, we do want you to absolutely go check out celebration, the town of celebration, marathon and half marathon. We can't wait to learn more about it. But I do also wanna ask you, Ken, just a couple more questions about what were some of your favorite states and maybe how did you're running and training for all of these really big, big, audacious goals also play into having the boldness to start a race in a town when you had never run a race before, Cause I feel like there has to be some crossover there with that boldness and courage.
Speaker 3:Or just you know stupidity. I mean you have to talk, sometimes you have to shock things up, to that you know.
Speaker 1:Again, we are runners, so it can mask itself.
Speaker 3:It can mask itself as boldness or something like that.
Speaker 2:I think that we can remarket it as boldness, but I do like. I like how direct you are with it. Okay, well, let me go ahead and pull it back to my original question was do you have some favorite states that maybe even inspired you a little bit?
Speaker 3:There were. You know I always get this question what was your favorite race? And it is very, very difficult. I absolutely know which race I like the least. I won't share it, but it was. It was misery, and I don't want, I don't want to. You know somebody will sue me or something for this in their race.
Speaker 3:But I enjoyed. You know who, for a mid-sized race, des Moines actually puts on a really good race. I think they still have a 10K, a half and a full and I've run that a couple of times. I had a friend of mine who was working on her 50 states and that one ended up being her 50th so I went back and ran it. Even though I'd run it, I ran it to run with her, so I really liked that. You know, for scenery you can't beat Big Sur. It's just. You know it's a challenging race but it's really spectacular scenery. And but I like the small races. The Pocatello in Idaho was a nice small race and you know they bring something different to the table A lot of times they're you know, they're just easier to navigate, right, you don't have to show up three hours before the race. You don't have to. You know, do all those logistical things and you know, hey, after Pocatello you get a giant baked potato with sour cream, I mean almost as good as rice and beans, not?
Speaker 2:I mean not almost as good, yeah, so the best payment or not? I mean okay, now that you're throwing that into play, of course. So, friends, we're going to have the link in our episode notes. We're definitely going to invite you guys to check it out, because it is truly and I'm not kidding, I even have my blankets right next to me as we're recording.
Speaker 1:She does. I can attest to this. Her dork meter is fully off the charts. You?
Speaker 2:could go buy yourself blankets, but how?
Speaker 3:much better, is it?
Speaker 2:when you earn it. I mean, come on. So with that said, friends, it's got great swag, it's got a great party, it's got a great atmosphere. You'll have brunch there, both with us, and, of course, with the brunch that they provided, that post refreshments, and maybe we'll all get to get an autograph from Ken this year around. We'll have to see. So, with that said, ken, thank you so much for joining us and I can't wait to see you at Celebration next year.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:That was so much fun getting to talk to him, even though I have to laugh. One of the biggest points of this entire race is that we love the blankets and we did not actually ask him how the blankets came to be, but I'm glad we got a little off the record talk.
Speaker 2:Well, he did tell us a little bit. He gave us a bit of a background with one of the wonderful people. Oh, you know what? We're gonna have to confirm that story. We're gonna have to confirm the story Maybe it's something that I've heard in the local lore here in our racing scene as to how those blankets came to be. You know what? We also forgot to ask him and I honest I'm gonna blame myself, coach, I was again awestruck. I was officially in awe in the Emerald City. We didn't ask him if he was team sweeter, team savory, but I'm thinking based off of and he's not savory. Oh, you're just gonna try this. I mean, I probably agree, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter, because at that post-race celebration there's literally something for everybody which I think is really, really important. So you could do a little team everything.
Speaker 1:And now we'll just have to put him on the spot once we're done with the race and be like listen, we ran the whole race, Now we need these answers. The people need to know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like that's not gonna, like he doesn't have anything else going on that day that he needs to worry about, or anything?
Speaker 1:Not at all.
Speaker 2:But friends, he did invite you all to come join us at brunch. You can register. Episode link will have celebrationmarathoncom. You could tackle the half marathon or tackle the full distance and you're still gonna get $15 off with the code brunch. This isn't sponsored. We weren't paid by any means. We're not gonna get a kickback. We just truly honestly, first of all, love when you can see the love and just support that the entire celebration community comes out to for this race and, as you heard, it quite literally takes an entire village to put these kind of really wonderful, first class events on. The second of all, with all of the good that it does for the community. So we'd love it. If you guys want a little bit of a break from, maybe, the run Disney scene and you still wanna get away, especially come winter time for all of the North Easterners where it starts to get a little dreary, come on down to Florida, come meet us at celebration. We are super excited to be there.
Speaker 1:And, like Ken said, it's a race by runners for runners. So I feel like they get it, they're on the wavelength, they're running the groove and it's pretty awesome. And I'm really excited too, because not only will the quiz help to tell you that, yes, you should come we're just gonna throw it out there and also we'll kind of unlock the Pandora's box of how do I know what things mean the most to me?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let's get into it. I'm curious Do you wanna tell us now or towards the end, what your style of race is? Do?
Speaker 1:you like that. I'm gonna make you wait for it.
Speaker 2:Okay, I don't know if anybody needs to wait for mine, because I think everybody will probably have a pretty good idea that I like them all. Why choose when you can have them all? But let's get into it. So in the quiz we discussed kind of a little bit of small and mid-size and big race energy. Now we're gonna go point by point and we're gonna discuss maybe some of the pros and cons.
Speaker 2:So crowd comfort, this one, I think, is a really big deal right out of the gate, and by that I would say the crowd is like how okay are you with standing in a super crowded corral for what could be a very lengthy amount of time while you tow on up, liking the logistics of getting there very early to find your place in the corral? That would be the biggest difference between a small hometown race and a big city race. Where a small hometown race you can kinda lull a gaggle on up, find your place, enjoy it, get out there. In a big city race you have the logistics of where you have to be there, probably hours in advance, to say the least. So this one I feel like the small hometown race. The pro is right there. There's just a lot of reduced pressure, not just from like other folks being out there with you, but also just that reduced pressure of your race pickup, your big pickups. The race day feels finding it.
Speaker 2:My smallest town race in memory was probably this Hatfield McCoy and our start line was the parking lot of the Pigley Wiggly supermarket. It brought me so much joy. I don't think I ever thought I was gonna hear you say Pigley, wiggly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it brought me so much joy and I will tell you I absolutely loved that race for a myriad of reasons. First of all, it had higher elevation than any race I've ever done in terms of what I had to climb, which was pretty fun and very challenging. But also because I have never in my life been so motivated to not necessarily rush through the race because there was not a lot to do in town, so I was doing it. I was at the big time, I was at the big show, like that race was all there was going on that weekend. So I took my time and enjoyed all 26 miles.
Speaker 1:I will say, with the small town races, the biggest pro is also the biggest con for me, because it is very convenient. You can go pick up your packet on the way to the grocery store. It's no fuss, no musts. But at the same time you're still in your day to day life, so the night before the race you're still having to in my case, get the kid to bed, dinner, dishes, all of that stuff to where, when you go somewhere else, you have a little distance, a little space from the rest of your life. So it's such a mixed bag for me as far as that small hometown race.
Speaker 1:but the biggest pro, I think, is you actually get to see the good of the community, especially if you're in an area where your quote, unquote, small down, is still kind of large. You get to feel like, oh, there is, my mailman, there's, you know, the cashier from the public or whatever the means are. So I will say you get to see some of the best of your community in a small hometown race.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can see that I have another small hometown race that I've done, which is a 10 mile around Thanksgiving, and that was super enjoyable to kind of go through the back roads of central Florida where so much of it's very overly populated and this specific race was not done. A few small time races I love them. I personally will say I tend to use them as training runs and for that it's like it's a bonus if you get a course aid station support. If you don't, you should be planning to have it on your own, because there are some amenities that you have to think of with these smaller term races that they may not have A big.
Speaker 2:A big small town race that comes to mind, though that when people are talking about tackling, would be if you're looking at traveling to a small time race, it would be bird and hand half marathon generally takes place in September every year and you get to run through Amish country. It's absolutely beautiful. Of course you've got the opportunity to have, like the aid stations, are some of the community members there? So, whether you're wanting to stay at home for your small town race or actually go out somewhere into the world, there are quite a few options and of course you know I wouldn't call celebration a small town race, but I would say it's got the heart of a small town race community. So you guys can always check that one out too in January.
Speaker 1:I was going to say I'd probably classify celebration as like a mid size. I feel like in the, in the factor of that, I feel like you could go there, like we talked about, to shoot for a PR, like it could be a destination without being like a full big marathon major type of destination, right? So I I'm giving a skewed type of definition.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's a bit more small hometown, except for the fact, like again, that it's 100% because it was developed by runners has all of those amenities that maybe you may not have quite as much in some of the other small hometown races, because I've been to small hometown races where if they had one or two aid stations on the course, that was a lot.
Speaker 2:So I feel like that's probably the biggest differentiator, but also it comes down to like what motivates you, because there's a lot of folks that do not want to be out on those courses when they are 100% wickedly packed. So if you need more space, I would definitely say a small hometown race in terms of crowd comfort is your way to go. Scenery preference is the next one on that list, and I got to say small hometown races are likely going to be where it's at in terms of seeing some beautiful scenery or at least, if you like, more of a nature. What about you, though, coach? What do you think?
Speaker 1:I think scenery if you're going purely for, like I want to see some stuff, I want to see things that I don't see all the time, I would probably say honestly, big races are going to be the way to go, because the bigger races usually are in the historic parts. They have the landmarks, they have a different vision when they're building the course Because, yes, they have to worry about logistically, but they realize if they're going to be charging this much, having this big of field size, the courses need to say something on their own. So I would say, even Big Sur, like, yeah, you're going to get nature views, but that's going to be nature views. That's not like running through the local trail and seeing somebody passed out drunk on the side of the woods and all the litter to go with it.
Speaker 2:Well, hopefully that's not me after our tasting, but, yes, world class views, I will say, in terms of the big races, in terms of the iconic scenery. There is something to be said about that. Again, what comes to mind out of all of them that I've done because I'm sure there's a goozling out there that I still want to do, but the ones that I've done from a big town race kind of a big town, I don't even know that you could classify. It would be New York City, where you truly are getting to run by. For me it felt like running through just nostalgia of all of the shows or movies that I grew up with. So I think that's the only caveat was that it didn't have the Brooklyn Bridge. But that's okay, we'll forgive them, we'll allow. On that one You're probably right.
Speaker 2:I would say the big races definitely do have a lot of thing for their buck in terms of the landmarks and scenery. Again, I guess it just comes back to. There's not a right or wrong with this. It's like what feels good to you For some folks they'd rather see like gorgeous foliage in rows after rows of like field land or countryside, and others need a little bit more of that electric energy. And then there's that you know, just right in the middle. So thinking those through Mid-sized race for me would be gosh. People probably will probably say this is absolutely nuts, but I would say mid-sized race. Miami Marathon would probably be a mid-sized. I kind of even think from Disney as mid-sized.
Speaker 1:What do you think? Yeah, again, it's an up to for interpretation. I would say, yeah, miami's more mid-sized and like the Fort Lauderdale, the A1A, all of those, I would say more like mid-sized, going into like a local big race territory, but not full into the big race category. Run Disney. Yeah, that's kind of like the unicorn. Yeah, I would. I would teeter that closer to a big race because there's a lot of sensory overload as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that you don't get at a mid-sized race, and that is something to consider. If you do have either a sensory condition or just you are sensitive to sensory overload, like myself, a big race it can get overwhelming. There's a lot going on, there's a lot of logistics. So before you dive headfirst or, this case, feet first into a big size race, I would test out with a mid-size to get an idea of what you'd be getting into.
Speaker 2:I think, a really popular mid-size. That comes to mind for me and again, going back to this, is completely subjective Everyone, you could probably find this specific race that I'm going to divulge on anywhere from a list about best small town races all the way to big town races, and it would be grandmas. When I hear of grandmas, I think that's like the perfect mid-size where you're still going through a lot of nature, a lot of scenery, like that in smaller towns, as you go through the course, but it has a bit more logistics in terms of it. Crowds are a little bit bigger than what I would typically think of a small town race being, but you know, for all intents and purposes, if we're going to talk about field size field size Boston actually has a pretty small field size and that would never be considered a mid-sized or a small town race.
Speaker 1:So don't get me started on Boston right now. There's so much happening with that and I don't know if I can unpack at this moment in time.
Speaker 2:Well, friends, we're not going to get coached. I'll be heated right just yet, because we still have more on this list. So, again, I think there is, though, all the way around, quite a bit of a common theme with all the points, but let's talk about food. I'm going to say that while the course talk, or all the quiz talked about food afterward, I actually think we should include on the course and afterwards. So we've kind of already touched on it. Some of the small town races may not have a lot of course support, so you have to be very prepared, and I know we have quite a few here locally that have, again, aid stations. You don't even know where they're going to be. There's a lot of stranger dangers. There's not even stranger dangers because people don't come out to support them. I think I ran one, and I remember, specifically, everyone in my run group was complaining afterwards and I'm like come on, friends, we knew we were going to be like literally running through farm town. Did you really think that they were going to have aid stations for us?
Speaker 1:So see some of the small town actually most of the small town races that I've ran have lots of stranger danger aid stations Because again, here our races mostly start like 730 to where a lot of the northern races might not start till nine. So there's a lot of mimosas running through this course.
Speaker 2:That makes me super dull. It's about the other parts of the world that absolutely have that great those later weather, because they can do it.
Speaker 1:One of my one on one athletes. They're raced in starts like nine or 930. And I, honestly, I was like if that was happening here, we'd be melting. It would have gotten a black flag condition I have ridden.
Speaker 2:I have run a race that has started around 930. It was in January because our weather can be very unpredictable. So for friends that are considering celebration, we should say that it was the shark bite half and they did have to delay the start because of the weather being unpredictable. So neither here nor there, though, it really was super enjoyable. So I think what we should do, coach, before we go any further in this, is let's define what typically is considered small hometown. So small hometown race, typically about up to 500 participants, and, yeah, that Thanksgiving 10 miler definitely would fall under it.
Speaker 2:Midsize race, usually from 500 to 5000. So I think that's where you're right. Run Disney Pirelli is just a little bit outside of that 5000 range. So it's touching on that. That big, that big race for sure. And then again big race over 5000 runners and of course, as we know, the majors can even have tens of thousands, usually in major cities or popular destinations. So I think that that pretty much defines it. An example of a big race would again be the majors Boston, york, chicago midsize. A great one would be like those regional half marathons that we're talking about, kind of like grandmas, or maybe celebration might be considered. It's definitely a midsize.
Speaker 1:Without that, if we're going to use participation, that's definitely midsize and that's where I do feel like I'm gonna probably say it at least three more times so you guys can keep a long track and have a drinking game. But it really is up for interpretation. I think. Like, even though Disney, I think, goes into the big race category, obviously by participation size, it is the reason I put it a little towards the midsize is because it's so spread out that you don't feel this necessarily the same congestion, because in the corrals, yeah, it gets a little close for comfort, but you have the ability to not be in the corral and smushed in for hours and hours on end.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's true. We're in a big spot in a big well, especially the majors they would require a big cattle farm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they would require exactly they would require you absolutely to be in your corral, and I do know that can cause a lot of discomfort for folks. Those are usually the folks that you'll find towards the outside portions of the corrals and they wait until the very last minute to jump in. So I personally love that energy. Oh my gosh, just like the quiz said, that sardine packed energy is something that I absolutely love. It's something that you don't find in a lot of places and probably why I cried when races came back after COVID, because it was so special to be with other people and participating in something that I love so much. So, yeah, I think it's all the way around. I would say they're probably when I think it's small hometown races, though most local five case would probably fall under that territory.
Speaker 1:So, again, what we, what we had started saying about the post race food. I'm telling you, when Ken was talking about what they have at that post race, that's where I do think the small town to midsize runs and races do have something special, because they're gonna have that community support and that community food coming in and you get to experience what that area is like. Not that the majors don't have it, but again, because they have so many people to figure out, so many logistics. You're probably gonna get the same package, this, that or the other thing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And so if you're going for any type of enjoyment eating, I would go for that small town to smaller, midsize race.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or again. This goes back to stake out where you're going to be consuming, both before and after, and making sure that there's gonna be foods for you. Now there are people who travel with their foods prior to race, and that's A-OK as well, of course. Just taking that into consideration, that will the location that you go to have availability of and I know this sounds crazy, but again, I've done some small town races where there was not a microwave to be seen in our hotel room, if you wanna call it a hotel room, so that that's basically was one step above camping. So take into consideration all those different aspects, especially if you have any food allergies or you have any special dietary concerns. This is gonna be absolutely pivotal for you in that decision-making process. Now for me, I like big races and I cannot lie is because of the spectator energy. If I can't hear my thoughts and get to just hear like cheering nonstop, I'm in.
Speaker 1:Okay, I can appreciate that. I'm probably gonna say I'm more of a midsize spectator. I like having those boosts when I need it, but I don't really need the continuous soundtrack. I kind of like to zone into my music for a little bit.
Speaker 2:No, that's not true. I've run with you. It's because you are the cheer station for the entirety of the course. So you don't need that big town energy because you provide that party along the course with you. So yeah, folks, don't be-.
Speaker 1:I do love cheering on runners around me, like I'm obnoxious to run with during races.
Speaker 2:Do not be swayed by Coach Shelby saying oh no, sometimes I like to listen to my music. No, she don't. She's gonna be cheering for everybody along the entire course, the entire time she's out there. So still.
Speaker 1:I'm still not over though, that guy that was hacking up alone when we did Spacecoast. That was so much, Please, friends. Just a reminder. That was the worst thing ever we know you're going into race season.
Speaker 2:We know that you have very much so dedicated the last three, four, maybe even up to six months of your life training for it and you don't want to necessarily skip out on this run. But don't be that runner.
Speaker 2:Run around you has also been dedicating towards that run. So please don't send them hoping whatever it is that you have at that point yeah, there's no doubt about that or just be considerate, let's all we're asking. We have a whole lot of topics about being considerate and we will maybe, because it is race season, see that coming back into play where we bring that up again. Coach, how about souvenirs? Because now this is where I think you and I have the big like. We have a lot in common, but we have a lot that we differentiate on this. May be it race souvenirs. Like girl, I feel like if they don't give you swag, you're going to make sure you find your own swag from that local community. So you have your race souvenirs and I'm just like yeah, you could go without any swag.
Speaker 1:I feel like I'm being very happy, Except for this celebration blanket.
Speaker 2:Yes, I swear, I'm not kidding, I use this blanket every single night and I just said it last night. Where I actually prefer, I have three of them, maybe four. The one that I prefer the most is the one that I did the 26 miles at celebration instead of the 13, because I feel like it's extra special because I earned it twice as much.
Speaker 1:Those are with us Floridians liking our fleece blankets because it's we have a lot of them outside, so we keep it at 62 degrees inside.
Speaker 2:So, thank you, like I feel like the electric company should actually sponsor us right here and now. But yeah, so we need those blankets.
Speaker 1:I don't know if there's ever been. I mean, now that I'm going to be doing celebration, there will be, but I don't know if there's any swag that's left me like cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.
Speaker 2:I'm shocked to hear you say that I thought you would love the Ren Disney shirts.
Speaker 1:I do love the Ren Disney shirt, but I've talked about it before Like I'd rather have like a key chain or something else versus a shirt per se. Yeah, I mean the medals are great, don't get me wrong. But yeah, I like a little creativity. Maybe I'm partial from when we were doing, when we first unveiled our brunch plus boxes. Like a necklace would be awesome, a coosie is awesome and I don't know. Yeah, I've not been blown away to be determined of any swag yet. Yeah, on any field size.
Speaker 2:So, friends, this is definitely going to be one that may touch on you specifically. You can find races that have necklaces at the end or have all like, if you really prefer, like handmade, like burdened hands again has a really beautiful handmade metal. Big sirs got a very unique one that's handcrafted as well. Some of like.
Speaker 1:Some of the big ultras do belt buckles, yeah, which is, I think, that I don't wear belts, but it's really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know what I would do with the belt buckle. Either I'd probably go in my top wear box with everything else, but it does stand out, there's no doubt about that. So again.
Speaker 1:that means I do get a Chachki, though, from like somewhere random. When I go places I always get a Chachki or a coffee mug.
Speaker 2:I was going to say girl, we know you get coffee mugs wherever you go to kind of celebrate that. So and that's something that's very cool too you guys can start your own traditions of what is your takeaway from your races and your travels whenever you start to add those in and then thinking about what that may look like and how you can find those with all the different races, especially the different race sizes. So that's something to take into consideration. I know a lot of folks based they are specific race decisions just on the medals and we're not judging. That's you. I was. That was definitely me the first three years of racing, the bigger the better, and I would travel for big medals. So I get it.
Speaker 1:I showed my sister-in-law my. I'm pointing to it because you guys can always see the space ghost and she goes what is that? Like a coaster? Yeah, it looks like a dinner plate, basically. Actually it is. And her eyes got so big and I'm like, listen, it's all about the bling.
Speaker 2:So celebration does not. Generally I don't know if they haven't unveiled their new one they generally have what I would consider a more moderate sized medal. So if you guys are looking for really big bling, like so big that you need to have its own space on your wall to hang up, then space coast may be more of your variety. I personally again like my medals to be just right so that they're not taking up too much space, but that's not goldilocks. Again, I am like officially goldilocks here.
Speaker 2:So preparation we've already touched on this entire time Like what does it take? Like you even said, small hometown races has pros and cons for you because you don't have to go out of your way, but it also doesn't pull you into getting to kind of just focus on the race. You still have to do all of your regular home time life kind of stuff. Again, with big races and you guys will recall, and if you haven't checked out our World Marathon majors blog series, it talks a lot about there's so many different things to take into consideration different neighborhoods, public transportation, how you get to the start line, how you get to expo. So taking those into consideration as to what your comfort level is and I'm gonna say this, though I'm gonna caveat this Sometimes we choose these things not because they're in our comfort zone, so don't let your comfort necessarily dictate.
Speaker 2:If your heart is set on insert whatever race here, just know that you can make it happen, and pushing yourself past all of those lack of comfort zones is usually worth it. So just a little caveat there as we move forward. But this one's probably the biggest one, coach, right out of the gate. We should have started with this, because while we buried the lead, we did. While I may have a big race like love, I probably have more of a small hometown race budget, especially nowadays. So there is just a lot. If you want to do those big races, know that they come along with really big price tags and understandably.
Speaker 1:And there's ways to make it more cost-effective Sharing rooms, maybe doing a bus or a train, versus flying, driving different, staying with family, staying with friends. So there are ways to make big races more manageable. However, the mid-size races to small town races again, if they're relatively geographically to you, are going to be a little bit more budget-friendly, because, while it's a con that, yes, you have to deal with your everyday life, you also don't have to necessarily have a room and board issue, finding out places to eat you can cook at home. So, all of that, taking it in even Disney races, though, because, again, I think we've put them in the big races and we know we talk a lot about Disney but because it is such a bucket list type of item along with the majors, there are plenty of ways to make it more affordable staying off property in the majors, maybe like New York, for example, staying in Jersey versus staying in the city.
Speaker 1:Little tips and tricks like that that we did go over in our blog series, as well as the Quick Fights. It's all about, again, gaining that knowledge from other runners checking our site, checking other sites and making sure that you don't get so overzealous in signing up that you kind of don't take, forget about everything else, take everything else. But it is really easy to. It's like, okay, that race entry is manageable, but you're not looking at the $500 that it's gonna take to get there, or the $1,000 for the hotel and travel and everything of that nature.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's such a really good reminder that there is so much more to take into consideration, and I've been very transparent that likely I would not do run Disney as much as I have if it wasn't in my backyard, if I had to travel for it. Just because it is, it can add up, especially if you guys are coming with family or looking at heading to the parks. One of the wonderful things, though, again about celebration, is that you could still hit the parks afterwards, but at a fraction of the cost, if you're staying near celebration, of course. And again, you don't have to pay those big run Disney entries or freak out about being at 10 o'clock on registration day at your computer. So we're gonna give you $15 off, I know. So don't forget to use that special discount code.
Speaker 2:Join us at the celebration marathon. It is going to be January 27th of 2024, a little pro tip. If you guys have been considering, if it's been in your heart, like it's in Coach Shelby's, to be here live to spectate for the Olympic trials. This race is just the weekend before. We're literally just about 35 minutes south of where the Olympic trial course is going to be, so if you pop on in and to do celebration, you get some run in, you maybe visit the theme parks for a little bit, and then you'll still be here in town for that following Saturday to spectate. I think that the entire city is going to be a buzz, and I'm sure there's gonna be a celebrity or two sighting that week, I would assume so anyway.
Speaker 1:I'm so like I don't go into fan girl mode, but if I see an elite walking around I'm gonna lose my shit. I'm not gonna be chill at all, that's.
Speaker 2:I guess that's okay. I'll fangirl about the race directors. You fangirl around the elites and we will find our. Hopefully they all don't get scared of us.
Speaker 1:You know I'll keep it professional, it's fine.
Speaker 2:Well, friends, we wanna thank you so much for joining us, give yourself a high five, make sure that you're rehydrating and refueling if you were out on your run with some of those brunch tastic favorites and while you're recovering and resetting for your next run, be sure to go into those show notes. We will find that link. But again, also, we wanna welcome you to come on back, check us out for our Quick Bites edition, because we're in the middle of our Running Through the Decades series and I think we haven't had so much fun in any series. I mean, I love the series, but this one is so much fun.
Speaker 1:We keep saying that, but it's like every series we do. We're like this is the best one. You know, this is the best one, this is the best one for now it's a love fest. So yeah, out of the series we're currently doing, this is the best one. Ha, ha ha ha Okay.
Speaker 2:Well, friends, if that doesn't like, put a little extra pep in your stuff that you're gonna definitely wanna check us out Next Friday, where we have our next long run and we're gonna chat all things, costuming for race season, run dizzy and, of course, all those Halloween fun runs. So we're gonna see you again when it's time for brunch, because we're gonna keep serving up more miles with a side of smiles.
