Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a vision
Rob Simmelkjaer: to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative
Rob Simmelkjaer: power of running. The support of members and donors like
Rob Simmelkjaer: you helps us achieve our mission to transform the health
Rob Simmelkjaer: and well- being of our communities through inclusive and accessible
Rob Simmelkjaer: running experiences empowering all to achieve their potential. Learn more
Rob Simmelkjaer: and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Speaker 2: Thank you, New York. Today, we're reminded of the power
Speaker 2: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
Speaker 2: your mark.
Speaker 3: The first woman to finish for the second straight year
Speaker 3: here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling
Speaker 3: Miki Gorman, and why not?
Speaker 4: 2: 29:30, the time for Grete Waitz.
Speaker 5: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
Speaker 5: to the line.
Speaker 6: Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA he so proudly
Speaker 6: wears across his chest. A great day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace, presented by Peloton. We are the official podcast of
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners. I'm New York Road Runner's CEO,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Rob Simmelkjaer, and with me all the way from her
Rob Simmelkjaer: home country of The United Kingdom, my cohost Becs Gentry. Becs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: good to see you from across the pond today. How
Rob Simmelkjaer: you doing over there?
Becs Gentry: Good afternoon. I'm doing very well in this sweltering English
Becs Gentry: heat with no air conditioning. But yeah, it's great over
Becs Gentry: here. I'm getting my miles in. Well, when nap time
Becs Gentry: happens. But no, all good.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Sweltering English heat, what's that? Like 79 degrees?
Becs Gentry: You jest. It's actually in the 80s. I'm shocked. But it
Becs Gentry: feels more like 100 without. I feel precious now, looking
Becs Gentry: for the A. C. I was here for 18 years, I grew up when it used
Becs Gentry: to be hot here properly with no air conditioning and
Becs Gentry: now I'm like, " Oh, where's my air conditioning?"
Rob Simmelkjaer: We have fully spoiled you here in The United States
Rob Simmelkjaer: with our air conditioning ways. I get it. You're back
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the old country now, where they open a window
Rob Simmelkjaer: and turn on a fan.
Becs Gentry: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So hopefully you'll survive. It has certainly been hot enough
Rob Simmelkjaer: over here, Becs. We had a very hot week in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York last week and still managed to pull off
Rob Simmelkjaer: a race on Sunday with our friends at Achilles. We'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk about that in just a second, but we've got an absolutely
Rob Simmelkjaer: packed show today, a lot of information about run clubs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: about coaching and upcoming races. And by the way, we
Rob Simmelkjaer: usually do this at the end of the show, but
Rob Simmelkjaer: today we're starting at the beginning, to ask everybody out
Rob Simmelkjaer: there, if you're listening, to leave us a review. If
Rob Simmelkjaer: you're listening on the Apple iTunes podcast app, you can
Rob Simmelkjaer: actually not just rate the show, give us a five-
Rob Simmelkjaer: star rating, but you can also ask us a question
Rob Simmelkjaer: or leave a comment. We'll actually give you a shout-
Rob Simmelkjaer: out on the show or maybe even answer your question
Rob Simmelkjaer: to me or to Becs. So go into those comment
Rob Simmelkjaer: sections, leave us a review, send us a message or
Rob Simmelkjaer: a question or a comment. We'd love to hear from
Rob Simmelkjaer: you, and we will shout it out right here on
Rob Simmelkjaer: the show, whatever platform you're listening on. It also helps
Rob Simmelkjaer: other people to find the show, as well. But, Becs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: speaking of the hot weather, so we had a hot,
Rob Simmelkjaer: hot weekend and managed to do a lot this past
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekend in New York. We had a brand new event,
Rob Simmelkjaer: first of all, on Saturday, something called The Dog Days
Rob Simmelkjaer: of Summer, and this was so much fun. This was
Rob Simmelkjaer: one of our open runs, Becs, which-
Becs Gentry: I am so mad.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You missed the Dog Days event, exactly. I don't even
Rob Simmelkjaer: know. You wanted to bring your pup to this or
Rob Simmelkjaer: do you-
Becs Gentry: I wanted to bring-
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... have a dog? I don't even know this.
Becs Gentry: I have two, I have two.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What breed are they? What are they? Who are they?
Becs Gentry: Who are they, who are they? They are two little...
Becs Gentry: they are big dogs. We have Dot, who is a six- and- a- half- year-
Becs Gentry: old Weimaraner, who loves to run. And we have Maurice,
Becs Gentry: who is a four- year- old English Cream Golden Retriever, who
Becs Gentry: detests running.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's so funny, Becs, I've got a very similar situation
Rob Simmelkjaer: with my two Whoodles. I've got two Whoodles. A Whoodle is a Wheaten Terrier combined
Rob Simmelkjaer: with a Poodle, so one of the many doodle breeds our there. But
Rob Simmelkjaer: I've got Frankie, who's the black one of the two,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and he loves to run and loves to run long
Rob Simmelkjaer: distances. And then, I've got Mookie, who he'll sprint with
Rob Simmelkjaer: you for like 100 meters, but then he's done. He
Rob Simmelkjaer: doesn't want to go any distance at all. But both
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mookie and Frankie came with me to the Dog Days
Rob Simmelkjaer: of Summer, which was an open run. So it was one of
Rob Simmelkjaer: our free park runs that we do every single week
Rob Simmelkjaer: all over the city in 16 parks all over New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: City. Anybody who's interested in going out and getting a
Rob Simmelkjaer: free run with a great group of people can check
Rob Simmelkjaer: out open run and join any one of them. But
Rob Simmelkjaer: this was the first time we had one that was
Rob Simmelkjaer: specifically dog themed, and it was in Inwood Park in
Rob Simmelkjaer: Upper Manhattan, and so I drove down from Connecticut with
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mookie and Frankie in the car, and it was so
Rob Simmelkjaer: hot, but they were still so into it. They met
Rob Simmelkjaer: some other dog friends and there were treats for them
Rob Simmelkjaer: and there was water and we did one loop of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the park out of the three that we were supposed
Rob Simmelkjaer: to do, because Mookie was like, "No, no, no. I'm done.
Rob Simmelkjaer: This is way too hot for me." But it was
Rob Simmelkjaer: so much fun. We're going to have three more of
Rob Simmelkjaer: those events coming up in Queens and Staten Island throughout
Rob Simmelkjaer: the summer, so check those out at nyrr. org. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, you still have three more chances to get Dot
Rob Simmelkjaer: out there for a run.
Becs Gentry: I can't wait. I will get Maurice to bring his pom-
Becs Gentry: poms to cheer in the shade, but I can't wait
Becs Gentry: to come along to the next one of those, for
Becs Gentry: sure. But as I'm over here in The UK, I
Becs Gentry: was checking New York Road Runner's social and I saw
Becs Gentry: that you were watching the weather ahead of the Achilles four-
Becs Gentry: miler and that was so wonderful to see, when you
Becs Gentry: put out the announcement that you had confirmed that it
Becs Gentry: was safe temperatures for the Achilles four- mile race to
Becs Gentry: go ahead. There were some really fast times, Rob, for the
Becs Gentry: weather. The top finishers were phenomenal.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, it was-
Becs Gentry: I mean, everyone was phenomenal, but wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. It cooled off just enough. There's a reason we
Rob Simmelkjaer: have these races in the summer at 8: 00 in the morning or 7:
Rob Simmelkjaer: 45, because it makes a big difference, and we just
Rob Simmelkjaer: got enough cool air. It was still humid, but a
Rob Simmelkjaer: bit of cloud cover, obviously, early morning temperatures made it
Rob Simmelkjaer: pretty bearable, I think, for most of the runners who
Rob Simmelkjaer: had a great, great day. We had over 5, 000
Rob Simmelkjaer: finishers at the Achilles four- mile race, the Hope & Possibility
Rob Simmelkjaer: race with our amazing partners at Achilles in Central Park.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And yeah, the winners were really impressive. Jennifer Walrad was
Rob Simmelkjaer: the female winner at 24:02. It was Guillaume Flamarion at 21: 48 for the men,
Rob Simmelkjaer: coming up in the lead. And then, in non- binary,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pierce Lydon at 25: 17. But a great day, an inspiring
Rob Simmelkjaer: day with our friends at Achilles. And also, one of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the things that made that race special was that we
Rob Simmelkjaer: paid tribute to Dick Traum, who was the incredible founder
Rob Simmelkjaer: of Achilles, and also a very important figure in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners, a former board member. Dick passed away
Rob Simmelkjaer: earlier this year, and the bibs for the race pay
Rob Simmelkjaer: tribute to Dick, showed a picture of him, and I
Rob Simmelkjaer: think a lot of people were just really happy to
Rob Simmelkjaer: honor Dick, speeches from the stage at the starting line,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and a lot of commemorations of Dick and the great
Rob Simmelkjaer: work he did. Because creating Achilles really changed the world,
Rob Simmelkjaer: in so many ways, for athletes with disabilities. It really
Rob Simmelkjaer: did create, as our race is called, Hope & Possibility for
Rob Simmelkjaer: people out there to be athletes, to run races, to
Rob Simmelkjaer: achieve the kinds of things that we all like to
Rob Simmelkjaer: achieve as runners, even if they don't have the same
Rob Simmelkjaer: physical abilities as many of us. So that was an honor for us
Rob Simmelkjaer: to pay tribute to Dick.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Absolutely beautiful. And then, we've got another race this
Becs Gentry: coming weekend, to round out what has been, I think,
Becs Gentry: a hugely busy June. We have the Front Runners New
Becs Gentry: York LGBT Pride Run, four miles. And I know I
Becs Gentry: have a lot of friends who have been training for
Becs Gentry: this, a lot of first time racers, in fact, who
Becs Gentry: have signed up for this race, it's very special to
Becs Gentry: them. So big, big cheering from this side of the
Becs Gentry: pond for this final race of June.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes. I can't wait, Becs, to get out there for the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pride race, four miles, again, in Central Park on Saturday
Rob Simmelkjaer: with our incredible partners at Front Runners and this is
Rob Simmelkjaer: really a great way to kick off the big Pride
Rob Simmelkjaer: Weekend in New York City at the end of June
Rob Simmelkjaer: every year, always a great turnout, always a tremendous amount
Rob Simmelkjaer: of pride, literally, out there for this race. So can't
Rob Simmelkjaer: wait to be out there and Front Runners is an
Rob Simmelkjaer: incredible organization, an incredible club that has done so much
Rob Simmelkjaer: for LGBTQ+ people in New York, but really around the
Rob Simmelkjaer: country and the world, in giving them a chance to
Rob Simmelkjaer: run and to be out there with folks from a
Rob Simmelkjaer: wide range, of course, of backgrounds, but all celebrating LGBTQ+
Rob Simmelkjaer: pride. So we're just excited for that event. And speaking
Rob Simmelkjaer: of clubs, and impactful clubs, Becs, our guest on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: show a little bit later is someone who has created
Rob Simmelkjaer: a club that is changing the world as we speak.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler Swartz of the Endorphins Running Club is going to be with
Rob Simmelkjaer: us to talk about Endorphins and the incredible growth that
Rob Simmelkjaer: that club had had. It just started less than two
Rob Simmelkjaer: years ago, already has 18, 000 members around the world, so
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler will be here to talk about Endorphins and just
Rob Simmelkjaer: the story of how this thing has absolutely taken off,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs. Looking forward to that in just a little bit.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, one other thing I want to touch on before
Rob Simmelkjaer: we get to Tyler, we had a big announcement this
Rob Simmelkjaer: week at New York Road Runners, something that is really
Rob Simmelkjaer: important to me and to so many senior folks on
Rob Simmelkjaer: our board and our senior team at New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners, which is sustainability. And so, this week, we announced
Rob Simmelkjaer: something that people love anyway, a new way into the
Rob Simmelkjaer: TCS New York City Marathon, a new program called NYRR
Rob Simmelkjaer: Team for Climate. And Becs, this is a way to get
Rob Simmelkjaer: into the marathon. It's really hard to get in. We
Rob Simmelkjaer: just opened up a couple hundred new spots this week
Rob Simmelkjaer: to get in, and it's a way for about 200
Rob Simmelkjaer: runners to raise funds that will help us offset the
Rob Simmelkjaer: carbon emissions from the TCS New York City Marathon. We
Rob Simmelkjaer: know that people are traveling from around the country and
Rob Simmelkjaer: the world to get to these races. We know that
Rob Simmelkjaer: there is a carbon impact of this event. And Becs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: we have a mission to create healthier lives and stronger
Rob Simmelkjaer: communities through the transformative power of running, but we need
Rob Simmelkjaer: a healthy planet to run on, if we're going to
Rob Simmelkjaer: do that. And so, these lucky 200 or so runners
Rob Simmelkjaer: are going to help us by helping us offset that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: The funds that are raised are going to go to
Rob Simmelkjaer: projects in New York state. They are essentially forestry projects
Rob Simmelkjaer: that are going to ensure this incredible space in upstate
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York is going to be maintained as forest land
Rob Simmelkjaer: for years to come, and of course, more trees means
Rob Simmelkjaer: more carbon taken out of the atmosphere and a better
Rob Simmelkjaer: climate for all of us, so really excited to announce this.
Becs Gentry: That was a wonderful announcement and I'm excited for everything
Becs Gentry: in that, the 200 people who might get in, well will
Becs Gentry: get in, but there's 200 more possibilities floating around out there
Becs Gentry: of runners who are now doing something extra special for
Becs Gentry: the planet. So yeah, congratulations on that. That's a really
Becs Gentry: awesome thing to be doing. My goodness, are we waiting
Becs Gentry: for our feet up in July?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh, yeah. We're going to be excited. June has been
Rob Simmelkjaer: an incredibly busy month, and Becs, yesterday was the last day
Rob Simmelkjaer: of school for New York City Public School students. Happy
Rob Simmelkjaer: summer, kids.
Becs Gentry: Yay.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I know, one of the best days of the year,
Rob Simmelkjaer: right? So in honor of the school year coming to
Rob Simmelkjaer: an end, today's member moment guest is a New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: City Public School teacher and a program lead for the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Rising NYRR program, our free running- based youth program, Christine
Rob Simmelkjaer: Fajen will be here, and the great Meb Keflezighi will be
Rob Simmelkjaer: here to interview Christine about working on Rising NYRR. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: then, appropriately for today's Meb Minute, Meb will be giving
Rob Simmelkjaer: us some of his best tips for youth coaches. So
Rob Simmelkjaer: stay tuned for that, as well.
Becs Gentry: Did you know that incorporating strength and cross- training is
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Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, I am so excited to have our guest join
Rob Simmelkjaer: us today. The Endorphins Run Club has been an absolute
Rob Simmelkjaer: sensation. Founded less than two years ago in November 2022,
Rob Simmelkjaer: it already has more than 15,000 members worldwide, including many
Rob Simmelkjaer: here in New York, and it continues to grow. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler Swartz joins us today. He is the founder of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Endorphins Run Club, and it really was born from
Rob Simmelkjaer: his own personal passions, running and building communities inspired by
Rob Simmelkjaer: the joy and energy he personally gets from running. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler started this thing, and look at it now, it
Rob Simmelkjaer: has just absolutely taken off. Tyler Swartz, so great to
Rob Simmelkjaer: have you here on Set the Pace. Thanks for joining
Rob Simmelkjaer: us.
Tyler Swartz: I'm stoked to be here. When we grabbed coffee a couple weeks ago,
Tyler Swartz: I was just soaking it all in and trying to
Tyler Swartz: learn so much about New York Road Runners. I'm excited
Tyler Swartz: to now share my story with you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, and we're excited to share your story about Endorphins Run
Rob Simmelkjaer: Club. So let's just start at the start of this.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How did this begin? Where did you have this idea
Rob Simmelkjaer: to start Endorphins? And there's so many running clubs out
Rob Simmelkjaer: there. We talk a lot about the explosion of run
Rob Simmelkjaer: clubs in the last few years, but how did you
Rob Simmelkjaer: have this idea, and how did you want to make
Rob Simmelkjaer: Endorphins different from what's already out there when it comes
Rob Simmelkjaer: to running clubs?
Tyler Swartz: Sure. That's a great question. The origin is no different
Tyler Swartz: than many other runners. I was training for a race,
Tyler Swartz: it happened to be a 50- mile ultramarathon, that may be different
Tyler Swartz: from other races. But I wanted to train with other
Tyler Swartz: people, and in this post- COVID world, I was lacking
Tyler Swartz: social connection and a way to train with others. Many
Tyler Swartz: of my friends were not runners, many of them just
Tyler Swartz: weren't interested in training with me, so I started posting
Tyler Swartz: on the internet saying, " Does anyone want to run with
Tyler Swartz: me?," and the power of social media brought all of
Tyler Swartz: us together, and it started with one person showing up
Tyler Swartz: to run with me. And now, we're in 11 cities
Tyler Swartz: and we have just about 18,000 members, as of yesterday,
Tyler Swartz: and it's growing pretty fast, which is cool to see.
Becs Gentry: Oh my gosh. Massive congratulations. That is awesome to hear that 18,
Becs Gentry: 000 people around the country are all coming together in the
Becs Gentry: exact same way that you initially wanted that connection. So
Becs Gentry: when you got that connection with people, you got yourself
Becs Gentry: out running, and then what was that transition in your
Becs Gentry: mind like, from doing it for yourself, for that amazing 50-
Becs Gentry: miler, by the way, to starting a run club, official?
Tyler Swartz: Yeah, so I actually did not want to do it. We
Tyler Swartz: hosted several runs, and it was more so a way
Tyler Swartz: for me to interact with individuals in the running community and
Tyler Swartz: meet other people. And then, we actually took a pause
Tyler Swartz: and we decided that we weren't going to do it.
Tyler Swartz: And then, people started saying, " We want more of these
Tyler Swartz: runs," and that's when I realized people in a post-
Tyler Swartz: COVID world were really lacking social connection. People are working
Tyler Swartz: from home, people are depressed, people are anxious, people lack
Tyler Swartz: friends, people are lonely, and we created Endorphins as a way for
Tyler Swartz: people to meet other people that show the same interests,
Tyler Swartz: that are like- minded individuals, so that way they can
Tyler Swartz: make friends. We don't necessarily say it's about making friends,
Tyler Swartz: but that's kind of deeply rooted in what we do.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You're saying the things that I always talk about when
Rob Simmelkjaer: people ask me why we're seeing this boom in running
Rob Simmelkjaer: the last few years. You're really like a living example,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and Endorphins is a living example of what is happening,
Rob Simmelkjaer: right? The isolation we all had during COVID, the fact
Rob Simmelkjaer: that there wasn't anything else we could do. We started
Rob Simmelkjaer: running. Running alone was one thing, but then when people realized, "
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wait a second. This can be a community for me,
Rob Simmelkjaer: after all the isolation I've experienced during COVID," and maybe
Rob Simmelkjaer: before, for a lot of us. I mean, isolation and
Rob Simmelkjaer: loneliness is not a new thing. So what does someone
Rob Simmelkjaer: experience, Tyler, when they join Endorphins? What happens?
Tyler Swartz: Sure. There's a million run clubs, as you've alluded to.
Tyler Swartz: I think the thing that sets us apart we are
Tyler Swartz: very mission oriented. At all of our experiences, we set
Tyler Swartz: the intention of our gathering by saying our mission and
Tyler Swartz: explaining why we're there that day. I don't know many
Tyler Swartz: other running organizations that even have a mission, I know
Tyler Swartz: New York Road Runners has a mission, which we'll speak
Tyler Swartz: about, but I don't know many other run clubs that
Tyler Swartz: are mission driver or impact driven, and we're very intentional
Tyler Swartz: about that. The mission is to spread positivity and happiness through
Tyler Swartz: movement and exercise. At all of our events across the
Tyler Swartz: country, we host about 30 events a week, we're on
Tyler Swartz: pace to host about 1, 500 events this year, and every
Tyler Swartz: single one of those events across the country, you will hear
Tyler Swartz: that mission and it keeps us all connected. We all
Tyler Swartz: know why we're there and it sets the intention for
Tyler Swartz: the experience to be social first. I also always love
Tyler Swartz: to say, " If you've been here before and you see
Tyler Swartz: someone that you do not recognize, it's important to say
Tyler Swartz: hello and welcome them into the group." And we say
Tyler Swartz: that at the beginning of all of our runs, and then
Tyler Swartz: when the people are there, they understand why they're there.
Tyler Swartz: But also, we're empowering our existing members, the people who
Tyler Swartz: have built our culture, to then spread positivity and happiness
Tyler Swartz: by interacting with the new people and making them feel
Tyler Swartz: included, and that's kind of been the snowball effect, and
Tyler Swartz: I think that's why it's worked so well for us,
Tyler Swartz: to date. And that speaks to our experiences and our
Tyler Swartz: leaders and people feel endorphins at our events.
Becs Gentry: That's so lovely, and I think it's a really special
Becs Gentry: way that you are welcoming people into the run club.
Becs Gentry: Because, historically, running and run clubs are daunting. They are
Becs Gentry: quite intimidating places to go to, because for a lot
Becs Gentry: of people, myself included, when I first went to a run
Becs Gentry: club, it was an immediate opportunity to compare myself. And
Becs Gentry: I think what we're learning today with mental health is
Becs Gentry: comparison is an evil these days. We just can't do
Becs Gentry: that. And so, the fact that you are moving with
Becs Gentry: that social thing first, with the movement, it's just movement,
Becs Gentry: it doesn't matter what pace you're going at. So can
Becs Gentry: you just tell our listeners a little bit more about
Becs Gentry: how you make sure that with these almost 18,000 runners
Becs Gentry: across multiple cities in the U. S., how do you
Becs Gentry: ensure that all of your coaches are inclusive of everybody
Becs Gentry: when you are actually out on the run moving?
Tyler Swartz: Sure, so we have different tiers of involvement within our
Tyler Swartz: group, but I think it's important that all of those
Tyler Swartz: tiers, and I'll speak to them, understand their role and
Tyler Swartz: their identity within the group, and they're also empowered to
Tyler Swartz: be a leader. So that way anyone, whether you're a
Tyler Swartz: coach, we have coaches, we also have what we call
Tyler Swartz: city leads who manage the cities and make sure all
Tyler Swartz: the events and logistics are happening. And then, we have
Tyler Swartz: pace leads, people that set the pace for our events,
Tyler Swartz: and then we also have members. And from the top
Tyler Swartz: down, or from the bottom up, everyone understands their role
Tyler Swartz: and identity and that's something that I'm working on quite
Tyler Swartz: meticulously right now, as we scale, is to make sure
Tyler Swartz: that everyone knows their purpose and why they're there and
Tyler Swartz: how they can make sure that they're effecting positive change
Tyler Swartz: for our members. And it's really complicated. Now, we have
Tyler Swartz: 50 cities leads, we have three coaches, and we have
Tyler Swartz: 18,000 members, and we have probably hundreds of pace leads.
Tyler Swartz: Making sure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in
Tyler Swartz: a volunteering based organization, no one's paid to do this.
Tyler Swartz: So it's an organizational matrix and hierarchy, and it's really
Tyler Swartz: complicated behind the scenes of how we're organizing things, and
Tyler Swartz: I'm losing sleep over it every day, in a good
Tyler Swartz: way, and it's not easy.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's like a startup, Tyler.
Becs Gentry: It is.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It really is. It's a startup.
Becs Gentry: I was just going to say that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: People who have done that, who've worked at a startup
Rob Simmelkjaer: or are starting to actually start one themselves, know how all-
Rob Simmelkjaer: encompassing it is, so I can understand the losing sleep
Rob Simmelkjaer: part. Was there a moment in the early days when
Rob Simmelkjaer: you realized you were onto something here? When did you realize, "
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh my gosh, there's really a lot of demand for
Rob Simmelkjaer: what we're doing here, and this thing seems to be taking off"?
Tyler Swartz: Totally. We hosted a social event in New York City,
Tyler Swartz: there was no run. It was just a gathering for
Tyler Swartz: people in Endorphins and the running community to come together, and 500 people
Tyler Swartz: showed up. And the next day, I quit my job.
Tyler Swartz: It was wild, and part of that story is it
Tyler Swartz: timed up really in sync with my 50- mile race. I
Tyler Swartz: ran my race, I broke my back, and then this
Tyler Swartz: event happened, and then I quit my job. So all of
Tyler Swartz: these things really happened in tandem, but I think what
Tyler Swartz: I've been saying is my injury, me hurting my back,
Tyler Swartz: actually happened for the community and for me and for
Tyler Swartz: Endorphins, because I stopped investing my energy in my personal
Tyler Swartz: growth, and I started investing my energy into the growth
Tyler Swartz: of the group, in supporting all of our members. And
Tyler Swartz: once that flip switched, Endorphins really took a life of
Tyler Swartz: its own. And yeah, that's when I realized, all of
Tyler Swartz: those things kind of happening within a week span, that
Tyler Swartz: was my calling to do this and be more intentional
Tyler Swartz: with it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Why do you think they showed up? What were those
Rob Simmelkjaer: 500 people there, not even for a run, what where they
Rob Simmelkjaer: there for?
Tyler Swartz: They were there to meet other people. And that's when
Tyler Swartz: I realized, if you go back to the startup mentality,
Tyler Swartz: I was in venture capital before this, so I was evaluating startups
Tyler Swartz: in the consumer space, which we've spoken about before, Rob,
Tyler Swartz: I realized that we were solving a problem. The world
Tyler Swartz: needed this. This wasn't just something that we were doing
Tyler Swartz: for fun. There's actually a problem here. People are lacking
Tyler Swartz: social connection, and we're now trying to solve that at
Tyler Swartz: scale, and our goal is to really impact a million people in
Tyler Swartz: the next three to five years.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, and what's so interesting to me about it, Tyler and Becs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: is there's places to meet people, right? You can meet
Rob Simmelkjaer: people in lots of different environments. What is it about
Rob Simmelkjaer: running and that shared common interest in running that makes people
Rob Simmelkjaer: want to meet other runners, right? It's like a common
Rob Simmelkjaer: language you speak or something you can talk about. There's
Rob Simmelkjaer: always that opening question you can ask of, " Hey, are
Rob Simmelkjaer: you training for anything?," or " What's your next race?," or "
Rob Simmelkjaer: What's your favorite distance?" So it it just that bit of
Rob Simmelkjaer: a commonality that can bring people together in a way
Rob Simmelkjaer: that there's more comfort level than there might be just
Rob Simmelkjaer: meeting a bunch of random strangers somewhere?
Tyler Swartz: Yeah. That's a great question. And I'm going to remove
Tyler Swartz: running from my answer, and then I'll bring it back.
Tyler Swartz: I spent a ton of time thinking about community development
Tyler Swartz: and how to create connection, whether that's a knitting club
Tyler Swartz: or just a dinner. Let's think about this as a
Tyler Swartz: dinner, if you bring 20 people to a dinner and
Tyler Swartz: nobody has anything in common, it could be a success,
Tyler Swartz: but you're probably more likely to have a successful event
Tyler Swartz: if the people in that room are curated based off
Tyler Swartz: an interest. The same thing goes for college. A lot
Tyler Swartz: of my friends in college, they're some of my closest
Tyler Swartz: friends in the world, and if anyone's listening, please text
Tyler Swartz: me, that'd be hilarious. I hope one of my college
Tyler Swartz: friends is listening to this. But they were proximity based friends. They
Tyler Swartz: were people that were put in a college town and
Tyler Swartz: we were kind of thrown together, and we didn't necessarily
Tyler Swartz: have a lot of interests in common. Now, there's pockets
Tyler Swartz: and you can find your community. With running, it's a
Tyler Swartz: lifestyle that we all can relate to. It's something that
Tyler Swartz: everyone understands what it feels like to put in time
Tyler Swartz: and effort in personal growth and development and try and
Tyler Swartz: get better, have a goal, and live a lifestyle of
Tyler Swartz: health, wellness, and trying to be active. And I think
Tyler Swartz: when you put people in the same room that all
Tyler Swartz: share those interests and passions, it's like bringing 100 people
Tyler Swartz: together that all like Peloton. It's the same thing. Right?
Becs Gentry: So for the future of Endorphins, I'm sure, I mean, as you
Becs Gentry: say, you've come from the startup analysis world, you've seen
Becs Gentry: and experienced these new and growing companies, what do you
Becs Gentry: see or where do you see Endorphins going? Where do
Becs Gentry: you want them to go?
Tyler Swartz: Yeah. I think one of the reasons why Endorphins has
Tyler Swartz: seen the success that we have to date, and I'm
Tyler Swartz: a software engineer, as well, so one of the things that
Tyler Swartz: we've done incredibly well is we ask for feedback constantly.
Tyler Swartz: We don't make decisions without the community's input first. The
Tyler Swartz: reason why I say I'm a software engineer, is because
Tyler Swartz: before you code anything, you talk to your users. We
Tyler Swartz: send out these things called community votes, and they're quarterly,
Tyler Swartz: at the global level, and then they're monthly to every
Tyler Swartz: other month, at the city level. And we basically say, "
Tyler Swartz: What times do you want to be meeting? Where do
Tyler Swartz: you want to be meeting?" In New York City, we
Tyler Swartz: just sent one out yesterday and we asked, " Are we
Tyler Swartz: holding true to our mission? Yes or no? And what
Tyler Swartz: else can we be doing to make sure that we
Tyler Swartz: are holding true to our mission?" And our members gave us
Tyler Swartz: feedback, and now I know people want more social events.
Tyler Swartz: They don't even want to do more runs, they want
Tyler Swartz: more social events. And then, we can offer those experiences
Tyler Swartz: for our members to ensure that they're always happy. And
Tyler Swartz: I think that's our future is just I don't know
Tyler Swartz: where we will go, but we have ideas. Our members
Tyler Swartz: want us to create singlets for race day. Our members
Tyler Swartz: want coaching. We developed a coaching program with Coach Stowe.
Tyler Swartz: Our members want cool experiences, we partner with New Balance
Tyler Swartz: to offer coffee at the end of our events. So we are listening, and I don't know where that's going to necessarily take us, and
Tyler Swartz: we have ideas, but it's unclear, and that's what's really
Tyler Swartz: exciting.
Becs Gentry: Can I ask you a startup based question?
Tyler Swartz: Sure.
Becs Gentry: So being that you do take the feedback directly from
Becs Gentry: your community, which is beautiful, has there been any moments
Becs Gentry: that you received the feedback and sat there with your
Becs Gentry: team and went, " Oh, boy. This is really not where
Becs Gentry: we were going"?
Tyler Swartz: Yes, and I think that's okay.
Becs Gentry: Of course.
Tyler Swartz: Right now, I'm spending a ton of time thinking about how
Tyler Swartz: to maintain a small community culture as we grow, because
Tyler Swartz: it's inherently changed. When it was the first 50 members,
Tyler Swartz: that experience is now much different than when members join
Tyler Swartz: today and there's 500 people meeting up on a Saturday
Tyler Swartz: morning, right? And those people aren't getting the same experiences
Tyler Swartz: they once were, so I'm trying to find ways that
Tyler Swartz: we can maintain our culture and keep it a small
Tyler Swartz: community feel while it is a huge community, and I
Tyler Swartz: spend so much time thinking about that. And back to
Tyler Swartz: the feedback, we hear things like, " It isn't the same."
Tyler Swartz: But I think it's important for people to understand that
Tyler Swartz: there are transitions happening, and it isn't what it used
Tyler Swartz: to be, and make sure people are grounded in our
Tyler Swartz: mission and understand the impact that we're making, so that
Tyler Swartz: way there's transparency and people understand why we're making the
Tyler Swartz: decisions that we are, and it's really to impact a million
Tyler Swartz: people, so we're working on that. And members, running is
Tyler Swartz: really personal, run clubs are really personal for people, and
Tyler Swartz: it feels like it's much bigger than it truly is.
Tyler Swartz: It's a run club, it's important, but it becomes their
Tyler Swartz: identity and it becomes the whole world for them. So
Tyler Swartz: it's important to listen to feedback, but then also make
Tyler Swartz: sure people understand it's much bigger than just New York
Tyler Swartz: City. We're now all across the U. S. and we're trying
Tyler Swartz: to make decisions that impact as many people as possible,
Tyler Swartz: and I think people need to hear that, and I'm
Tyler Swartz: thinking through that every day.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler, we have so many running clubs here in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York and so many different types of run clubs. We
Rob Simmelkjaer: have, as you know, something called Club Council, where the
Rob Simmelkjaer: clubs all get together and talk about things they want
Rob Simmelkjaer: from New York Road Runners or work together to come
Rob Simmelkjaer: up with ideas. We have a club points series that
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of our runners know about, where the clubs
Rob Simmelkjaer: compete to be the fastest in different age categories and
Rob Simmelkjaer: genders and all of that. And I remember, when you
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I talked about all of this and I said, "
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler, what, as a run club, do you really want
Rob Simmelkjaer: from New York Road Runners?," your answer was a lot
Rob Simmelkjaer: different than what I usually hear, because you are not
Rob Simmelkjaer: trying to compete and win races. You're not really thinking
Rob Simmelkjaer: that way. You're very different than a lot of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: other run clubs out there. How do you fit into
Rob Simmelkjaer: that ecosystem, in a place like New York, of all
Rob Simmelkjaer: the different clubs and what they offer?
Tyler Swartz: Yeah. I think a ton about community integration, and then
Tyler Swartz: not just in New York City, but also globally and
Tyler Swartz: how Endorphins can integrate into the community. And I think
Tyler Swartz: the first and most important thing to do is pay
Tyler Swartz: homage to those who have been here well before us.
Tyler Swartz: What I mean by that is, there's culture that has
Tyler Swartz: been in New York, and we talked about this, there's been
Tyler Swartz: culture in New York City running that has kind of
Tyler Swartz: set the tone for other run crews and clubs, domestically,
Tyler Swartz: but then also internationally. So the first thing is, we're
Tyler Swartz: trying to make sure that we're not stepping on any toes,
Tyler Swartz: that we're being good community participants. But then, also, as
Tyler Swartz: I think about New York, specifically, we're just trying to
Tyler Swartz: listen to what our people want, and provide that for
Tyler Swartz: them. And prehistorically, it was people were trying to do
Tyler Swartz: performance based things, and now it's definitely skewed toward social
Tyler Swartz: and community based in a different way. And we do
Tyler Swartz: have people that are quite fast and elite runners, like
Tyler Swartz: one of our members placed fourth in the women's half
Tyler Swartz: recently, which is amazing, but that isn't what our entire
Tyler Swartz: community is looking for, so we don't necessarily highlight that.
Tyler Swartz: So it might be a little different, but I think,
Tyler Swartz: now, there's been a huge wave of social based clubs.
Tyler Swartz: I can speak to, probably, a dozen in New York
Tyler Swartz: City and all the organizers, we're tight. We're talking about when
Tyler Swartz: we're going to do a recovery day together next week.
Tyler Swartz: It doesn't need to be competitive. So that's how we
Tyler Swartz: think about it. We're just trying to integrate. We're trying to do something with WRU
Tyler Swartz: Crew, We Run Uptown, and Hector. We're trying to do
Tyler Swartz: something with clubs in Brooklyn and Queens and we want
Tyler Swartz: to integrate with everyone, because it doesn't need to be
Tyler Swartz: competitive. And I think the club points makes it a
Tyler Swartz: competitive energy between a lot of the clubs, and we just
Tyler Swartz: want to say, " Hey, we come in peace, and we
Tyler Swartz: want to have fun," and it's difficult because, again, I
Tyler Swartz: said this earlier, it's really person for many, and as we
Tyler Swartz: grow and scale, I think, initially, people are like, " Oh,
Tyler Swartz: this like the darling child of New York City running,
Tyler Swartz: and now people see us as this big behemoth group,"
Tyler Swartz: and we're trying to combat that with integrating with everyone
Tyler Swartz: to show, " Hey, we're just trying to have fun."
Becs Gentry: It sounds like you are really taking your mission that you
Becs Gentry: take to each run onto the business side, if you
Becs Gentry: excuse me calling it that, but it is really. And
Becs Gentry: that movement in the community is so lovely to hear
Becs Gentry: that you're actually doing that behind the scenes, working with
Becs Gentry: Hector, et cetera, and bringing the love to each and
Becs Gentry: every run crew that you can have, just using New
Becs Gentry: York for an example. I'm sure there's multiple in Chicago
Becs Gentry: and everywhere else. And the points are the points. We
Becs Gentry: all get competitive, we do. There's no denying that. I
Becs Gentry: think we all get competitive with ourselves and the points do
Becs Gentry: come to fruition when the day comes around, but keeping
Becs Gentry: that mantra of movement being the most important thing in
Becs Gentry: community, is going to lead you into such a wonderful,
Becs Gentry: wonderful connection around the whole country. It's so positive, that's
Becs Gentry: why I love it. It's just such positivity and joy.
Becs Gentry: It's great.
Tyler Swartz: That's what it's supposed to be about, and it's not
Tyler Swartz: just in the U. S. We've integrated with Australian clubs,
Tyler Swartz: we've integrated with UK based clubs. I think there's a
Tyler Swartz: story that can be told. The story is, it doesn't
Tyler Swartz: need to be competitive, and that while we might be
Tyler Swartz: doing things differently, we're all here for the same reason,
Tyler Swartz: and that's a really powerful story to be told. And
Tyler Swartz: it might actually be a little bit opposite of the club
Tyler Swartz: points model. That does maybe foster some competitive energy. We're
Tyler Swartz: trying to basically say, " You can do that, but you
Tyler Swartz: can also be friends, too."
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, you can be friends with your competitors, absolutely, or
Rob Simmelkjaer: just not compete at all. I love it.
Tyler Swartz: Well, we're all doing the same thing. Right?
Becs Gentry: Yes.
Tyler Swartz: We all can relate. If you were to put all
Tyler Swartz: these people around a table, it would be a really
Tyler Swartz: fantastic dinner, and everyone's doing the same thing, so I
Tyler Swartz: think that's the story that I'd like to tell over
Tyler Swartz: time.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Tyler, you have also gone down the road of actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: doing partnerships. I mean, this is really more and more
Rob Simmelkjaer: of a business. You're doing brand partnerships, like New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners does. What kind of partnerships get you excited?
Rob Simmelkjaer: What are you looking for with partners or from partners
Rob Simmelkjaer: with Endorphins?
Tyler Swartz: Sure. That's a great question. This is going to sound like I'm a
Tyler Swartz: broken record here, but we ask our community. At the
Tyler Swartz: end of last year we said, " What partners, in all of
Tyler Swartz: these categories, would you want to see us integrating with?"
Tyler Swartz: And then, we went out and we said, " Hey, 1, 000
Tyler Swartz: people from our community said that they want your electrolytes
Tyler Swartz: at our events." How is the director of marketing at
Tyler Swartz: that brand going to say no? And we use that
Tyler Swartz: model with our current partner, New Balance, who have done
Tyler Swartz: an amazing job of supporting us. We said, " Hey, these
Tyler Swartz: are the things that our community wants to do. Can
Tyler Swartz: you make these things happen?" And the reason why it's
Tyler Swartz: a really important thing of taking the community feedback first,
Tyler Swartz: is then we can say thank you to New Balance,
Tyler Swartz: as opposed to making it an ad, and I think that
Tyler Swartz: makes it a really, really fruitful partnership. What I mean
Tyler Swartz: by that in practice is we did Global Running Day.
Tyler Swartz: I think that's a New York Road Runner made event,
Tyler Swartz: and we had 10 concurrent events across the country at
Tyler Swartz: the same time in 10 different cities. New Balance came and
Tyler Swartz: provided food and beverage and shirts to every single one
Tyler Swartz: of our participants. And when we were even speaking to
Tyler Swartz: the team at New Balance, we actually didn't talk about running
Tyler Swartz: much. We really talked about our mission in connection. What
Tyler Swartz: I like to think about is the surface area of
Tyler Swartz: connection, specifically, if our run is 45 minutes long, and
Tyler Swartz: Rob I think we might've spoken about this in the past, but
Tyler Swartz: then we have coffee at the end of the event,
Tyler Swartz: the surface area of connection doubles, meaning there's a 45-
Tyler Swartz: minute window after the event for people to make more
Tyler Swartz: friends. And New Balance is at the heart of that,
Tyler Swartz: or the brand is at the heart of that. So
Tyler Swartz: then, when people make friends, and then they go for a
Tyler Swartz: run at a different time or not at an Endorphins experience,
Tyler Swartz: those people feel like New Balance is at the heart
Tyler Swartz: of that relationship, and that is extremely powerful. It creates
Tyler Swartz: connection that I think a lot of brands are yearning
Tyler Swartz: for, and we just don't want to do ads, we
Tyler Swartz: want to do integrations that really make it feel like
Tyler Swartz: the community's benefiting, as opposed to being sold something. And
Tyler Swartz: that's how we handle most of our partnerships.
Becs Gentry: That's amazing, and so worthwhile. As you said, when you
Becs Gentry: make it about the connection. And how does it make
Becs Gentry: you feel now, looking at where Endorphins has come? Earlier
Becs Gentry: in the conversation, you said that your community were asking
Becs Gentry: for singlets for the races that they're signing up for.
Becs Gentry: How does that make you feel inside?
Tyler Swartz: It's a really, really interesting feeling, because it's a selfless
Tyler Swartz: act of trying to impact people and their well- being
Tyler Swartz: and their lives and trying to make people happier, but
Tyler Swartz: it's also the most selfish thing in the world. What I
Tyler Swartz: mean by that is when I see the impact that
Tyler Swartz: we create, I'm invigorated to continue creating that impact and
Tyler Swartz: inspire people to change their lives, whether that's making more
Tyler Swartz: friends or become more fit or become more active, so
Tyler Swartz: it makes me fulfilled every single day. I'm inspired by
Tyler Swartz: the stories that I hear of people. I mean, people
Tyler Swartz: will pull me aside and break down crying, because it's
Tyler Swartz: changed their lives. And when that happens, it's amazing, and
Tyler Swartz: that doesn't happen every day, but what does happen every
Tyler Swartz: day is at the end of one of our experiences, I like to take
Tyler Swartz: a moment and stand off to the side and I like
Tyler Swartz: to watch what happens, and that's impact every single time.
Tyler Swartz: It's people exchanging phone numbers, exchanging Strava, exchanging Instagrams, and
Tyler Swartz: I know that those people may never come back to
Tyler Swartz: one of our events again, but we've changed their lives,
Tyler Swartz: and I feel the endorphins when that happens.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I can relate to that 100%. We have people coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: up to us, pretty much every race I go to,
Rob Simmelkjaer: talking about how running has changed their lives, so it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: got that power and you have really created something special
Rob Simmelkjaer: with this, so I can only imagine how that feels.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Where does Endorphins go from here, Tyler?
Tyler Swartz: That's a good question. I think there's a lot of
Tyler Swartz: different ways that it can go. I just really think about
Tyler Swartz: how we can support as many people as possible, and
Tyler Swartz: I know that, as we grow, it might not be
Tyler Swartz: as easy to do so. I know there's growing pains,
Tyler Swartz: and I'm just thinking of ways that we can grow
Tyler Swartz: and scale while also making it feel like it's a
Tyler Swartz: small, close- knit community, and we still maintain culture. So
Tyler Swartz: that's where my head is right now, and I know
Tyler Swartz: that if we can create connection at scale, we'll be
Tyler Swartz: able to do a lot of different things, and I'm
Tyler Swartz: not sure what those things could be, but who knows?
Becs Gentry: That's so exciting. Okay, we've got one more very pertinent
Becs Gentry: question for you. And you have coaches at Endorphins all
Becs Gentry: over the country, but what we want to know, Tyler, is
Becs Gentry: what is the best piece of advice you have ever
Becs Gentry: received from a coach?
Tyler Swartz: Wow. This is a big question. I have an interesting running
Tyler Swartz: journey, in the sense that I didn't have a standard
Tyler Swartz: running background when I got into the sport, and I
Tyler Swartz: developed a very close- knit relationship with my coach, Rebecca
Tyler Swartz: Stowe, who's involved in the New York scene as one
Tyler Swartz: of the Nike head coaches. And I don't know, Rob,
Tyler Swartz: if you've met her, but Becs, it seems like you guys
Tyler Swartz: have a relationship. The stories around my relationship with her
Tyler Swartz: are, I would go to the Nike runs and I
Tyler Swartz: would throw up running every single time. I would just
Tyler Swartz: run my body into the ground, because that's how I
Tyler Swartz: was conditioned. I was a football player in high school.
Tyler Swartz: It was when the whistle blows, you give everything-
Becs Gentry: You go.
Tyler Swartz: ... you got.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, and Stowe-
Tyler Swartz: And I thought that's-
Becs Gentry: ... can throw some-
Tyler Swartz: ... how I was supposed to run-
Becs Gentry: ... nasty workouts.
Tyler Swartz: ... too. Yeah, she was definitely pushing me. And then,
Tyler Swartz: the Nike coaches, at the time, definitely did their little
Tyler Swartz: huddles before their runs and said, " We need to keep
Tyler Swartz: our eye out for this guy who's definitely a problem.
Tyler Swartz: They don't know what they're doing." And I learned later
Tyler Swartz: in life, through Coach Stowe, after five, six years of
Tyler Swartz: working with her, maybe it's not one piece of advice,
Tyler Swartz: but the mantra is really just listening to myself, because
Tyler Swartz: I don't have to do every single workout exactly the
Tyler Swartz: way it is. It's make sure I'm listening to my
Tyler Swartz: body, and then I'll perform better. And I wasn't listening
Tyler Swartz: to myself, I was more trying to do every single
Tyler Swartz: thing, and the second I started listening to myself, I
Tyler Swartz: actually started listening to her, and I think that was
Tyler Swartz: really important, because now we have a much more stable
Tyler Swartz: relationship, where I'm not overdoing everything and have to do everything. I'm listening
Tyler Swartz: to my body, and then it falls right back into
Tyler Swartz: our programming, so I think that's been really helpful for
Tyler Swartz: me.
Becs Gentry: Sounds it, sounds it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, Tyler. If someone's listening out there, Tyler, who
Rob Simmelkjaer: wants to become a part of Endorphins, what do they
Rob Simmelkjaer: do? Is there a cost? How do they sign up
Rob Simmelkjaer: and become part of this?
Tyler Swartz: It's totally free. All of our events are free. In
Tyler Swartz: New York City, we host four or five events throughout
Tyler Swartz: the boroughs each week. Across the country we're hosting runs
Tyler Swartz: in Chicago, Dallas, Austin, L. A., Seattle, Boston, D. C.,
Tyler Swartz: Philly, Pittsburgh, and we're launching Miami on Thursday, which is
Tyler Swartz: super exciting. We have a website, it's endorphinsrunning. com. We're on
Tyler Swartz: Instagram, where all the events are posted. I'm posting them
Tyler Swartz: on my socials and trying to do the storytelling behind the scenes
Tyler Swartz: on my socials. And we'd love to have you, and
Tyler Swartz: if you ever do come to one of the events,
Tyler Swartz: come say hello. I like to try and talk to
Tyler Swartz: as many people as possible at the events. And yeah,
Tyler Swartz: that's how you can stay involved.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Amazing. Tyler, congrats. I can't wait to keep talking about
Rob Simmelkjaer: how we can work with you at New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners. I know we're doing a lot already here in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York, but I just think we're probably scratching the
Rob Simmelkjaer: surface, so for members interested, put something in the comments,
Rob Simmelkjaer: if you have an idea or you want to throw
Rob Simmelkjaer: out a shout- out to Tyler and Endorphins, would love
Rob Simmelkjaer: to hear from you. And Tyler, it's great having you
Rob Simmelkjaer: here on Set the Pace. I know I'll be seeing
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of you between now and the marathon.
Tyler Swartz: I can't wait. Thanks for having me on, and I can't wait to figure out more ways to support what
Tyler Swartz: you guys are doing.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Awesome. It goes both ways. Thank you. Tyler Swartz, the
Rob Simmelkjaer: founder of the Endorphins running club, the incredible, growing Endorphins
Rob Simmelkjaer: running club, here on Set the Pace. Some runners run
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of races, some runners volunteer and run races,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and some runners bring their love of running to their
Rob Simmelkjaer: schools and pass on the benefit of running to New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York City young women. One of those people is Christine
Rob Simmelkjaer: Fajen, a New York Road Runners member and an active runner,
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well as a program lead for Rising NYRR, which
Rob Simmelkjaer: is the free running based youth program designed to make
Rob Simmelkjaer: physical activity enjoyable and accessible for kids all around New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York City and around the country. And this summer, she'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: also be a coach for Run for the Future, which
Rob Simmelkjaer: is a free six- week program that introduces 11th and 12th grade
Rob Simmelkjaer: high school young women to the sport of running.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. That's wonderful. Christine, welcome to the podcast. You
Meb Keflezighi: are a dedicated runner. You have been running with NYRR since 2015 and
Meb Keflezighi: you run every distance, the 5Ks, 10Ks, four- milers, half- marathons,
Meb Keflezighi: and even the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon. Why did
Meb Keflezighi: you start running, Christine?
Christine Fajen: So, like a lot of people, I started running to
Christine Fajen: lose some weight. I didn't start running until I was
Christine Fajen: 40. I was going to the gym, I had gained
Christine Fajen: some weight, but then I started running, and I loved
Christine Fajen: the feeling of being outside, I loved being alone with
Christine Fajen: my thoughts, the pounds dropped off. I ran about four
Christine Fajen: miles a day near the water. And then, a lot
Christine Fajen: of my friends ran races with New York Road Runners.
Christine Fajen: I didn't know much about that, but my friend Mike
Christine Fajen: encouraged me to sign up, and I was hooked.
Meb Keflezighi: Just amazing, and you are now a program lead for
Meb Keflezighi: the Rising New York Road Runners program. Why was it
Meb Keflezighi: important for you to bring the program to your school?
Christine Fajen: Well, when people run and you love the sport, you
Christine Fajen: want to tell everybody about it, you want to share
Christine Fajen: it as much as you can with people. And we
Christine Fajen: actually had the program, already, in the school, but it
Christine Fajen: had not reached the potential that it could've had. So
Christine Fajen: a colleague of mine, actually, Mr. (inaudible) brought it
Christine Fajen: in. He was using it in phys. ed. He passed
Christine Fajen: the torch to me, I started an afterschool program, and
Christine Fajen: began to take the students to the races. I wanted
Christine Fajen: them to see the beauty of all the people at
Christine Fajen: the races, because that's incredible, the community of running. I
Christine Fajen: wanted them to see that they could do it when
Christine Fajen: they're older. I wanted them to see that people with
Christine Fajen: special needs, they do it with Striders, there's Achilles, there's
Christine Fajen: something for everybody. And through Team for Kids, it makes
Christine Fajen: it all possible for the runners, because my students, they
Christine Fajen: come from backgrounds that they could use all the help
Christine Fajen: that they can, financially, so I wanted them also to
Christine Fajen: think of moving their bodies outside of school, not just
Christine Fajen: in gym class, and I wanted to show them that,
Christine Fajen: if they wanted to, they could run for life, and
Christine Fajen: maybe people do, of all backgrounds.
Meb Keflezighi: Can you tell us some of the reaction of the
Meb Keflezighi: students, what their experience or their smiles and things like
Meb Keflezighi: that?
Christine Fajen: Oh, yeah. So some of the students are super competitive and
Christine Fajen: I try and tell them they should also be having
Christine Fajen: fun, right? It shouldn't be all so very competitive. There's
Christine Fajen: stage two in Rising New York Road Runners. I do
Christine Fajen: that specifically so that they can learn to enjoy the
Christine Fajen: sport first, before they compete. They have maintained friendships from
Christine Fajen: the sixth grade through the eight grade. I've had the
Christine Fajen: same group of kids from six, seventh, and eighth, so
Christine Fajen: I've watched them grow. They talk to their friends about
Christine Fajen: it, their friends want to join. They really do love
Christine Fajen: the program, and they love all that comes with it.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, now you are also about to begin the first year
Meb Keflezighi: as a coach for the Run for the Future program. Tell
Meb Keflezighi: us about what you hope to instill in the young
Meb Keflezighi: women you will be coaching this summer.
Christine Fajen: It's my hope that the ladies who participate in the
Christine Fajen: program will continue to develop the courage to start new
Christine Fajen: things. Right? Because this is a new thing for them.
Christine Fajen: I want them to learn to accept the challenges that
Christine Fajen: they face as they grow, not to give up, and that
Christine Fajen: running can help them with that, because life is like
Christine Fajen: a race, right? You run it to the best of
Christine Fajen: your ability and you come across challenges, and I want
Christine Fajen: them to be able to face those challenges and not
Christine Fajen: give up.
Meb Keflezighi: As a seventh grader, that I run about running, sports
Meb Keflezighi: has changed my life because it gives you confidence, it
Meb Keflezighi: makes you camaraderie and friendship that, for me, transferred. I
Meb Keflezighi: hope you do the same thing this summer and you
Meb Keflezighi: continue to do with the Rising-
Christine Fajen: Thank you.
Meb Keflezighi: ... New York Road Runners. On a personal note for
Meb Keflezighi: you, what's your next race?
Christine Fajen: The next one will really be the New Jersey 5K,
Christine Fajen: for me, personally, so a while from now.
Meb Keflezighi: Awesome. The New York Road Runners and Team for Kids does a
Meb Keflezighi: great job as an ambassador for them. They do such
Meb Keflezighi: an awesome job to be able to help kids get
Meb Keflezighi: into sports and keep them at it, because I think
Meb Keflezighi: sports change lives. So thanks for being a member of
Meb Keflezighi: the week, and we love having you. Thanks for all the
Meb Keflezighi: work that you put in.
Christine Fajen: Thank you. And thank you for being the ambassador for
Christine Fajen: Team for Kids. It's an honor to meet you.
Meb Keflezighi: Great to meet you, Christine.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right. Thank you, Meb, and thank you so much, Christine for
Rob Simmelkjaer: joining us and for being a member of New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners. Now, it's time for today's Meb Minute.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. This week Meb Minutes are tips for youth
Meb Keflezighi: coaches. Here's my recommendation, make it fun, teach them about
Meb Keflezighi: patience and not race all the time, because I've been
Meb Keflezighi: around kids where they just want to race me all
Meb Keflezighi: the time. Racing is important, but pacing is important. Speed
Meb Keflezighi: is essential, but you have to reward kids who are
Meb Keflezighi: maybe even the last finisher, because all kids want to
Meb Keflezighi: win, right? And then, you want to be able to
Meb Keflezighi: reward them for the fastest person, eventually, but reward for
Meb Keflezighi: the person that is hit the right time. So, for
Meb Keflezighi: example, if you're doing 100- meter, they all want to sprint,
Meb Keflezighi: I want you to run it in 25 seconds or
Meb Keflezighi: 30 seconds, see if you can strategize about patience, because
Meb Keflezighi: kids just want to go out hard. And, obviously, Christine
Meb Keflezighi: Fajen is also a lead for the New York Road
Meb Keflezighi: Runners kids, so she will be able to use those
Meb Keflezighi: essential improvements to be able to be patient, because we
Meb Keflezighi: want to develop them to be sprinters, but also milers
Meb Keflezighi: or 5K, 10K, eventually do the marathon. So by teaching discipline
Meb Keflezighi: at early stage is such a crucial, because they're listening,
Meb Keflezighi: if they listen, they should be rewarded.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you so much, Meb. And that brings us to the
Rob Simmelkjaer: finish line of another episode of Set the Pace. I want to
Rob Simmelkjaer: thank Tyler Swartz of Endorphins Running Club and this week's
Rob Simmelkjaer: member, Christine Fajen. If you liked this episode, please go
Rob Simmelkjaer: ahead and subscribe, rate, leave Becs and me a comment
Rob Simmelkjaer: for the show. We will shout you out, we'll answer
Rob Simmelkjaer: your question, so just send it along. This not only
Rob Simmelkjaer: helps us, but it also helps other people find the
Rob Simmelkjaer: show, as well. Feel free to ask a question. Have
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great, great week and enjoy the miles.