Carrie Tollefson: Hey everybody. I'm Olympian Carrie Tollefson alongside Kyle Merber, and
Carrie Tollefson: we are so excited to have the post- race interviews
Carrie Tollefson: on Set the Pace Podcast. And also today we're just
Carrie Tollefson: celebrating this awesome event that we had. The United Airlines
Carrie Tollefson: NYC have 30, 000 people through the streets of New York.
Carrie Tollefson: Kyle, you live right here. You know how big of
Carrie Tollefson: a deal it is.
Kyle Merber: I mean, if you're going to come up and get early
Kyle Merber: in the morning, you might as well have a shutdown Time
Kyle Merber: Square to run through.
Carrie Tollefson: Exactly.
Kyle Merber: That's the best way to do it.
Carrie Tollefson: Go over Brooklyn Bridge, do all the cool things.
Kyle Merber: I mean, the thing I just love about this course and
Kyle Merber: this version of it is you really just see the
Kyle Merber: whole city. And everyone's out watching. We had, I would
Kyle Merber: say solid weather today. We could deal with it. Some
Kyle Merber: fans out there. There was no rain, which I think
Kyle Merber: in March in New York we're going to take as
Kyle Merber: a big win.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, it was chilly. There was some wind. A lot
Carrie Tollefson: of people said the FDR, there was wind, but they
Carrie Tollefson: were pretty pleased with it. I think a lot of
Carrie Tollefson: people were wondering if Harry Styles was out there like
Carrie Tollefson: incognito, but we didn't see him.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I mean, he might've been in that front pack. It sounds
Kyle Merber: like things are going quite well with his training these
Kyle Merber: days. But no, I mean, it was really great races.
Kyle Merber: And the thing that I love about the New York
Kyle Merber: Half and the New York Full is it's racing. It
Kyle Merber: is not about the clock here. It is about beating
Kyle Merber: the other people on the course. And I think particularly
Kyle Merber: in that men's race, we saw that it was a
Kyle Merber: true race.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, huge pack all the way until we saw Adriaan Wildschutt. We're going
Carrie Tollefson: to figure out exactly how to say his name. I
Carrie Tollefson: say Wildschutt, but you don't.
Kyle Merber: I say Wildschutt, but he's going to correct us.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, exactly. We can't wait, but what an awesome race
Carrie Tollefson: there. Then an event record by Hellen Obiri. She's in
Carrie Tollefson: the house. But we're going to kick off the podcast
Carrie Tollefson: with our two wheelchair champions. So let's bring on in
Carrie Tollefson: Daniel Romanchuk.
Kyle Merber: A huge welcome back to the scene. We believe that
Kyle Merber: this is your third title now, Daniel. So congratulations. We're
Kyle Merber: only a few hours after the race. How's it feel?
Daniel Romanchuk: Oh, thank you. It's great to be here. Really great
Daniel Romanchuk: to be back in New York. Actually, both my sister
Daniel Romanchuk: and brother- in- law also ran today. So it's just amazing
Daniel Romanchuk: to be back on the start line because about six
Daniel Romanchuk: months ago I had an injury that I didn't know
Daniel Romanchuk: whether I would be back on the start line at all.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I guess for those who maybe aren't familiar with
Kyle Merber: the story, can you give a brief oversight of what
Kyle Merber: exactly happened? And I guess, does that change your perspective
Kyle Merber: now when you're racing again?
Daniel Romanchuk: Certainly. Again, just thankful to be back on the start
Daniel Romanchuk: line again. And so yeah, I was in the Sydney
Daniel Romanchuk: Marathon and a pedestrian crossed the course right in front
Daniel Romanchuk: of me. I ended up crashing, dislocating and fracturing my
Daniel Romanchuk: shoulder. But again, really just thankful to be back.
Carrie Tollefson: Daniel, before we get into your post- race interview, which
Carrie Tollefson: was quite emotional, and you could see being away from
Carrie Tollefson: the sport has been hard, and it is for all
Carrie Tollefson: of us athletes. But walk us through your race a
Carrie Tollefson: little bit, because you weren't off the line first. There
Carrie Tollefson: were quite a few of you in the very beginning
Carrie Tollefson: stages, but man, you won by a large margin and
Carrie Tollefson: looked so good. So tell us about your race.
Daniel Romanchuk: Yeah. So beautiful weather conditions this morning, nice and dry.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Daniel Romanchuk: And so getting off the start's a pretty big pack of
Daniel Romanchuk: us. It's a pretty big downhill at first. And really
Daniel Romanchuk: that we stayed as a pretty big pack all the
Daniel Romanchuk: way up Flatbush, back down Flatbush, into Prospect Park. And
Daniel Romanchuk: then during one of the climbs in Prospect Park, I
Daniel Romanchuk: decided to try and break away a little bit and
Daniel Romanchuk: wasn't sure whether that would be my final breakaway or
Daniel Romanchuk: if I'd get back into the pack or not. But
Daniel Romanchuk: I created a little bit of distance and said, " I'll
Daniel Romanchuk: see... How long can I hold this?" And just was
Daniel Romanchuk: able to hold it the whole way, thankfully.
Kyle Merber: Given the break, did that play into your mindset today
Kyle Merber: from a strategy standpoint? Let's start out a little bit
Kyle Merber: more conservative, see what we're like? How's the fitness, I
Kyle Merber: guess, in training been? And how has that played into
Kyle Merber: the way that you actually attack the race?
Daniel Romanchuk: Yeah. Here at the United Airlines NYC Half is really one of our
Daniel Romanchuk: first races of the season. And so it's a really great
Daniel Romanchuk: way to kind of see how winter training went. And
Daniel Romanchuk: so I've been on rollers all winter except for the
Daniel Romanchuk: last month. I've been down in Florida getting some road
Daniel Romanchuk: time in before the season, but I was all alone.
Daniel Romanchuk: And so I really wasn't sure what to expect.
Carrie Tollefson: What do you think is different though? I mean, coming
Carrie Tollefson: back from an injury, we're always a little bit different.
Carrie Tollefson: So what did you do while you were rehabbing that
Carrie Tollefson: maybe has now made you an even better athlete?
Daniel Romanchuk: Oh, hard to say. It's really hard to say. I
Daniel Romanchuk: think just a general mindset of while I've been through
Daniel Romanchuk: things is just to try to focus on things one
Daniel Romanchuk: day at a time, not get worked up with trying
Daniel Romanchuk: to look at the big picture and just focus on
Daniel Romanchuk: one thing at a time, one day, what can I
Daniel Romanchuk: do today to build towards the future?
Kyle Merber: Now, coming a few hours after the race, how does
Kyle Merber: the body feel after that sort of effort? Are you
Kyle Merber: recovering well? And what do you do between now and
Kyle Merber: the next one to really get ready? What do you
Kyle Merber: take away with it?
Daniel Romanchuk: Yes, certainly I'm heading back home to Champaign, Illinois and
Daniel Romanchuk: going to start training with the team again. And so
Daniel Romanchuk: really just rest and fuel to recover. Yeah, get ready
Daniel Romanchuk: for the next race.
Carrie Tollefson: We know you said you had family here, your wife's
Carrie Tollefson: here, your mom and dad are here, your sister, brother- in-
Carrie Tollefson: law, but there was emotion. And I want to talk
Carrie Tollefson: a little bit about that because Sam Ryan was with
Carrie Tollefson: you on ABC and I mean, it was really, really
Carrie Tollefson: cool to see how much you missed it. And I
Carrie Tollefson: think Kyle and I miss it a lot. We're old and
Carrie Tollefson: slow now. So tell us a little bit about that
Carrie Tollefson: and then getting ready for Boston next.
Daniel Romanchuk: Yeah. And so certainly just with the injury and the uncertainty of
Daniel Romanchuk: how racing would go in the future, there's been a
Daniel Romanchuk: lot of uncertainty and really, again, just thankful to God
Daniel Romanchuk: for the opportunity to line back up on the start
Daniel Romanchuk: line with all the other racers that I've gotten to
Daniel Romanchuk: know over the years of racing and you're really thankful
Daniel Romanchuk: to have a large amount of family here as well
Daniel Romanchuk: to watch.
Carrie Tollefson: Do you go party? Do you go do anything fun
Carrie Tollefson: tonight, Daniel?
Daniel Romanchuk: We'll see. I don't know yet.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, we really appreciate it and we're so excited. I was
Carrie Tollefson: equally as emotional. I said off the front, of the
Carrie Tollefson: top of the show this morning, we can't root for
Carrie Tollefson: anybody in the media. But I said, I am so
Carrie Tollefson: thankful to see the guy in red back and we
Carrie Tollefson: are really excited for you and good luck in Boston
Carrie Tollefson: and beyond.
Daniel Romanchuk: Thank you.
Kyle Merber: Thanks so much.
Carrie Tollefson: All right. So now we are going to bring in
Carrie Tollefson: our women's wheelchair athlete, but I mean, isn't Daniel just
Carrie Tollefson: awesome? He's still right by us but you know?
Kyle Merber: I have so many questions that I wanted to ask about-
Carrie Tollefson: I know.
Kyle Merber: - I guess the unknown, the technical side of the
Kyle Merber: sport. And I guess, fortunately we have another athlete that we can pick her brain-
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. But also I think what is interesting about with
Carrie Tollefson: Daniel is when they were racing in Sydney, for him
Carrie Tollefson: to have that collision with someone from the sidelines, that's
Carrie Tollefson: a huge thing that he went through to... It wasn't
Carrie Tollefson: him that caused the injury. It was someone else and
Carrie Tollefson: just a kind of a happenstance situation.
Kyle Merber: It always makes you appreciate every start line that you
Kyle Merber: make it to, but then after something like that, a
Kyle Merber: little bit extra.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, for sure. Okay. Well, we have our women's champion
Carrie Tollefson: today from the United Airlines NYC Half, Eden Rainbow- Cooper. Welcome.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
Carrie Tollefson: I mean, congratulations. This is a big win.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah, I'm over the moon with it. I'm so excited to have won here.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. You've had such a phenomenal 2025. I mean, I went
Carrie Tollefson: on air today, I went through all of your stats
Carrie Tollefson: and it was like second year, fourth year, fifth year,
Carrie Tollefson: whatever. I mean, just boom, boom, boom, right there. And
Carrie Tollefson: you said you went home and after 2025, which wasn't
Carrie Tollefson: too far ago, too far too long ago, you said, " I
Carrie Tollefson: need to do something different. I need to put myself
Carrie Tollefson: in a different situation." And today you did. So tell
Carrie Tollefson: us about your race.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah. I mean, I was up against Tatiana and she
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: is an absolute beast. So I knew from the gun
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: that my way to get aways is go fast downhill.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: That's my strength and hope that I can get a
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: lead and maintain a lead. And yeah, I was able
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: to do that and I really, really surprised myself today. This is
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: a hard course and it's not always about the time,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: but 54 minutes here in a women's race, that's a pretty
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: fast time. So yeah, I'm over the moon with it.
Kyle Merber: You ended up winning by six minutes, at which point...
Carrie Tollefson: Six minutes.
Kyle Merber: At which point in there, did you find a shortcut?
Kyle Merber: No. At what point in that race did you go, "
Kyle Merber: Oh, I'm going to win this?" When did you know?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: When I saw the finish line.
Kyle Merber: That late into the race?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah. It's really difficult in wheelchair racing to see who's behind you. And
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I was mixed up with some of the men. So
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: every time I looked around, there was someone lurking and
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I never know if that's a man or a woman
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: or a hand bike or anything. So every race I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: go to, it's only when I get across the finish that
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I can really go, wow, okay, now I can take
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: in where I am and I can accept it. I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: had a moment around halfway. I thought, maybe I can
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: do this, but for me, it's really important to shut
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: that down and not get complacent with where I am.
Carrie Tollefson: Tell us a little bit about your training and maybe
Carrie Tollefson: it hasn't changed. Maybe it's just the mindset that has
Carrie Tollefson: changed, but what makes you now believe that you deserve
Carrie Tollefson: to be the one breaking the tape, not just being
Carrie Tollefson: close to it, but breaking it?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I think it's a strange feeling for me because I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: have spent the last three years racing against these incredible
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: women that have been my idols since I first started
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: wheelchair racing. And I still have those little fan girl
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: moments and sort of go, " Oh my gosh, I'm on
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: the stand. It's Tatiana..." And it's only this year that
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I kind of feel like I can really compete with
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: them. And most of that is just experience, maybe sort
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: of getting a little bit older, just taking it as
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: it comes. But in terms of training, not much has
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: changed. I've just got this newfound sort of confidence in
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: myself and yeah, I'm ready to go and push the
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: limits and find out what I can do.
Carrie Tollefson: Was it 2024 Boston that you won? And I remember
Carrie Tollefson: afterwards you didn't have a sponsor at the time. Tell
Carrie Tollefson: us the status of that now and has life changed
Carrie Tollefson: since Boston?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: No, not really.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, come on.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I'm still unsponsored. I'm lucky that I have a wonderful
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: charity that's been supporting me, Get Kids Going! So I've
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: had some help from them, but I'm still working, I'm
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: still training and doing it all myself. Yeah. So yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: When you say working, what are you doing?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I'm a digital marketer for a big construction company in the
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: UK. So I wake up, I train, go to work,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: train again, then repeat every day.
Kyle Merber: Does that give you a little bit of balance that
Kyle Merber: you're not only competing and training and having something else
Kyle Merber: in life?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: For sure. I think I'm only 24, so it's really important
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: for me to not put everything into sport. I think
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: just from a mental health perspective, to have something that
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I can come away from for a few hours and go, "
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Okay, this is a completely different world," is really, really
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: helpful to me.
Carrie Tollefson: Eden, do you feel like you're just getting started? I
Carrie Tollefson: mean, we've seen you now for the last few years,
Carrie Tollefson: but you look at your shipper who was, again, in
Carrie Tollefson: this race and did great and he's won this race
Carrie Tollefson: twice. He's my age. He's like 49 years old. Just
Carrie Tollefson: told the whole world how old I'm getting, but he's
Carrie Tollefson: still in it and you're just starting. So do you
Carrie Tollefson: feel like you have a long time still to get going
Carrie Tollefson: here and to hopefully crack some more tapes?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Absolutely. I think what we're learning about wheelchair racing, especially
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: in the road races, with age comes a lot more experience and a lot
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: more speed. We've got so many people breaking records everywhere
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: that are sort of in their late 30s, 40s. So yeah,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: for me, I really hope that my career can span
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: another 20 years, but just will take it as it comes.
Kyle Merber: We know that you obviously have the speed. Talk about
Kyle Merber: that half distance. What do you take away from the
Kyle Merber: half? Is it your favorite distance right now? What do you
Kyle Merber: take away from the experience and what are you learning
Kyle Merber: from today?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah, I really like a half. For me in my head, I go, " Ooh, a half's
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: not too long. It's only an hour." So I can
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: really just push my body to the absolute limit, like
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: max heart rate the whole way. Yeah. And today out there,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I felt really, really good. And I thought, " Do you
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: know what? I'm happy to push as hard as I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: can. And if I die at 20K and everyone overtakes
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: me, so be it. I just want to find out what's
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: possible." And the half is a really good place to do that.
Carrie Tollefson: So we talk so much about times with us, runners
Carrie Tollefson: that are in the half- marathon, but I don't see
Carrie Tollefson: that you guys talk a lot about times in the
Carrie Tollefson: wheelchair event. So do you have metrics that you wear?
Carrie Tollefson: Are you comparing that or is it just straight up
Carrie Tollefson: like, which I love, all about the win?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: It depends on your goal, but I will say that for us, our
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: times depends so much on the weather. There could be
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: the difference in a half of 10 minutes from year to year. So I think for a lot of
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: us, time isn't the only indicator of how well a
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: race is going. It can be so many different things. For
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: me today, my only goal was to have some good
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: uphills. So that for me was like my main thing. And other
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: people, it might be to improve their cornering, but yeah,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I think times for us don't mean as much maybe
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: as they do to months.
Daniel Romanchuk: Do you fuel in a half?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah, it depends, but so I tend to do a lot of pre-fueling, so I take like a pickle
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: shot before-
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, okay.
Kyle Merber: Not a pickle backshot.
Carrie Tollefson: Maybe after.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Because for me, that really helps with hydration and cramping.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: And then during the race, just carbs, carb drink. It's
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: difficult though because we have to carry everything ourselves. And
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: if we drop something like that, that's gone, we can't
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: get it back. So it's really important that we make sure
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: we have enough fluid, but we're not taking too much
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: because of extra weight. So yeah, it's a little bit
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: more complicated for us than it seems.
Kyle Merber: I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to ask
Kyle Merber: some questions. Can I nerd out a little bit?
Carrie Tollefson: Yes.
Kyle Merber: What is your warmup like for you? How do you get to the
Kyle Merber: start line? What's going on beforehand besides just drinking pickle juice?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I'm going to be known for that now.
Kyle Merber: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: I know.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: So for me, I do a lot of stretching beforehand, just because we are condensed in those chairs. I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: don't know if you've ever tried kneeling and putting your
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: back down for an hour or two hours, but it's
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: not comfortable. So that's a big part for me. And
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: then I like to have a long warmup. So I
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: like to do like five, six, seven kilometers. Really get myself
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: moving, get comfortable in the chair and stuff like that.
Carrie Tollefson: So you go out to the start line and then
Carrie Tollefson: you're doing your 5, 6, 7K?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: So a lot of it is beforehand, but it's just
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: trying to get the body ready to go faster. Yeah.
Kyle Merber: Do you do strides in the same way that runners
Kyle Merber: would, like hit it really fast beforehand to prep the
Kyle Merber: body or is it such a momentum, especially the way,
Kyle Merber: I mean you close out, how warm are you on
Kyle Merber: the start line?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: I mean, today we were pretty cold, I'll be honest. Today was pretty cold. So
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: we sort of try and warm up as much as
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: possible, but whereas some of the runners can sort of
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: run on the sport, jump up and down, once we're
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: on the start line, we're on the start line.
Kyle Merber: You don't want to get held.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But we can't move, we can't do anything. So
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: it's important that you know sort of what your limit
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: is beforehand. For me, I don't tend to do sort of
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: much stride stuff. It's just consistent pushing, my warm- up
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: heart rate, just getting the body moving, getting it loose.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: But I know that so many people will do. Yeah, there's
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: so many different things.
Carrie Tollefson: But lots of gear. I mean, you guys have 3D
Carrie Tollefson: printed gloves, some of you, some of you wear, I don't
Carrie Tollefson: know the actual term, but like the plastic medical, like
Carrie Tollefson: what the nurses wear and stuff. Yeah, you wear those
Carrie Tollefson: kind of gloves. You have sandpaper sometimes. There is a
Carrie Tollefson: whole thing that goes into it.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Yeah. I think there's so much more that goes in than what people may realize.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: So a lot of people don't realize that we actually
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: kind of punch the push rim rather than grab it.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: So it's protecting our hands and you say the plastic gloves,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: yeah, we have 3D printed gloves. Some people don't. So there's so
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: many different things, the chairs and wheels and tires. It's like you have a car that you're trying to prep for a race as well.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Kyle Merber: Coming out of the race now a few hours later, I'm thinking about tomorrow, what
Kyle Merber: hurts the most? I guess is it your back? Is
Kyle Merber: it your arms? Is it the hands? Are you just exhausted? What does
Kyle Merber: tomorrow feel like?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: For me, it's actually my legs. So I have full
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: feeling in my legs, which a lot of people don't, but I (inaudible)
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: when I could feel that and that's pretty painful for me. So if I didn't have
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: full feeling in my legs, I'd probably do the ultras and stuff like that.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: But yeah, normally tomorrow I'll be a little bit battered,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: but for me a half is like not a training run,
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: but it's not so hard, so it's not too bad. But
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: yeah, everything hurts after a marathon.
Carrie Tollefson: So we're going to see you in Boston?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Absolutely.
Carrie Tollefson: And then what's after that?
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: London, six days later.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh my gosh.
Kyle Merber: Oh, it's a tough-
Carrie Tollefson: Here we go. Here we go. Oh, well, good luck to you. Congratulations. It was so
Carrie Tollefson: fun to watch you race today.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper: Thank you so much.
Carrie Tollefson: All right. Well, now we move on to the men's winner of the United Airlines NYC Half.
Carrie Tollefson: And I'm excited to see if we are saying this right or if we're not. I said
Carrie Tollefson: it the whole broadcast today.
Kyle Merber: Based off the way that I think I heard some noise
Kyle Merber: from when I said my version.
Carrie Tollefson: They laughed?
Kyle Merber: That it was not.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, I don't care how we said it. This guy
Carrie Tollefson: performed awesome today. He sat for quite a ways. Then
Carrie Tollefson: he pushed, when I asked him beforehand what he wanted
Carrie Tollefson: to do, he said podium. And then afterwards he said, "
Carrie Tollefson: I just wanted to win." So he didn't quite tell me
Carrie Tollefson: that he wanted the win. He just said podium.
Kyle Merber: Of course he wants to win.
Carrie Tollefson: I know. I figured.
Kyle Merber: Now he knows what he's doing in a half.
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. All right. This is a winner. We want to
Carrie Tollefson: hear exactly how to say your name, Adriaan.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Adriaan Wildschutt.
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. So the W is...
Adriaan Wildschutt: Like how we would say wilderness.
Carrie Tollefson: I thought it was like...
Kyle Merber: Okay. There's no V.
Carrie Tollefson: Sorry, Adriaan. I said Wildschutt and I thought I was sounding so good.
Kyle Merber: So Adriaan, you like the half now, huh? I mean,
Kyle Merber: you're two for two on having some really good ones.
Kyle Merber: Did you feel now like with some experience on your
Kyle Merber: belt coming into today, did you have a different mindset
Kyle Merber: because you knew what you're getting into?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, I guess it definitely helped to have run a half
Adriaan Wildschutt: before and I knew exactly where I started hurting last time.
Kyle Merber: Where was that?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Last three miles.
Kyle Merber: Okay.
Adriaan Wildschutt: But this time around, I wanted to make sure that
Adriaan Wildschutt: I conserve as much energy as possible. And since the course is not
Adriaan Wildschutt: recognizable, it was all about the way. And so I
Adriaan Wildschutt: wanted to make sure that I'm really strong. Coach and I decided that the person that
Adriaan Wildschutt: was going to win this race, the strongest last night,
Adriaan Wildschutt: so it's what we were focusing on.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, 59.13 is the PR that you had coming in and is still your
Carrie Tollefson: PR. But that was run this last fall?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yes. I ran it in October in Valencia.
Carrie Tollefson: So this is only your second half. And I mean,
Carrie Tollefson: you ran so smart today, so calm and confident. Tell
Carrie Tollefson: us about your race too, because it was a huge
Carrie Tollefson: pack and there were so many names that they brought
Carrie Tollefson: in this time.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, it was obviously a very deep field and there
Adriaan Wildschutt: were so many people for a long time and I was getting antsy a little bit, but I wanted
Adriaan Wildschutt: to be sure to conserve as much energy as possible. And I made
Adriaan Wildschutt: that mistake so many times, especially on the track too.
Adriaan Wildschutt: And I learned to be much more technically still on
Adriaan Wildschutt: the track. And I think that definitely helped me a lot today, understanding when to
Adriaan Wildschutt: make a move and when to just relax and when to tuck in
Adriaan Wildschutt: behind when it's a headwind. But yeah, the first nine
Adriaan Wildschutt: miles was fit and I was just trying to stay
Adriaan Wildschutt: in myself and then really push the last 5K.
Kyle Merber: There were a lot of hard surges and it seemed
Kyle Merber: like for the first half of the race you were sitting
Kyle Merber: back. Is it tempting to respond to every single surge
Kyle Merber: like that? And I guess how much more difficult does
Kyle Merber: that make a race as opposed to when you're on
Kyle Merber: the track now with pace lights and it's just clicking off.
Kyle Merber: Now today was a real race. And so yeah, how
Kyle Merber: did you respond to all those moves that were happening?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, of course that makes it a lot more harder because you never really know
Adriaan Wildschutt: when somebody's going to make a move and just keep
Adriaan Wildschutt: on going. But it is very helpful to have such
Adriaan Wildschutt: a stake feel then you know if people... Because I
Adriaan Wildschutt: mean, you go off your instinct as well. And I was going off of Grant Fisher.
Adriaan Wildschutt: I knew that he would know when to make moves. And since he's
Adriaan Wildschutt: been very good tactically over the years and I made
Adriaan Wildschutt: so many mistakes like prior and I was just walking off of (inaudible) I see
Adriaan Wildschutt: he was stalking him and I was just like relaxing a bit. And then about towards 10
Adriaan Wildschutt: miles or 9 miles, I could see, I felt really
Adriaan Wildschutt: good and I was like, "At some point, I'm going to just
Adriaan Wildschutt: want to get up the bridge and then make a big
Adriaan Wildschutt: surge down the hill." And then because after the down, you
Adriaan Wildschutt: get one hill again and so I wanted to keep
Adriaan Wildschutt: pushing up that hill. So yeah, that helped a lot,
Adriaan Wildschutt: but I was definitely working off Grant Fisher because I can understand (inaudible) .
Carrie Tollefson: When you say, were you holding back then a little bit? I mean,
Carrie Tollefson: that's a really tough thing to do when there's so many
Carrie Tollefson: athletes in the group as well. How do you calm
Carrie Tollefson: yourself to just be able to be confident in those
Carrie Tollefson: later stages?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, I think around seven mile, there was a big
Adriaan Wildschutt: move down the hill and I follow. I was making
Adriaan Wildschutt: sure that I'm not going to let, because there was four people making that move and I was like, "Okay,
Adriaan Wildschutt: I need to go." It's not just one person. But yeah, I
Adriaan Wildschutt: think it's difficult to explain because you understand when you're in
Adriaan Wildschutt: the moment, you know exactly what to do and I
Adriaan Wildschutt: wanted to make sure that I stay there's very good
Adriaan Wildschutt: athletes, like I said, and they won't just leave somebody
Adriaan Wildschutt: running away from the field. And if they stay behind,
Adriaan Wildschutt: it means I probably should just be calm and they'd
Adriaan Wildschutt: help a lot to work off of other athletes. But yeah, like
Adriaan Wildschutt: I said, you wouldn't exactly... I was holding back a lot
Adriaan Wildschutt: and I guess that's good and I felt really good
Adriaan Wildschutt: going up the hills. And so I knew I was
Adriaan Wildschutt: going to be in a very good spot towards the
Adriaan Wildschutt: last three hours because it's a little more handy.
Kyle Merber: There was a moment, I think you were like cornering 42nd where it
Kyle Merber: seemed you almost went down. Was it a twisted ankle?
Kyle Merber: Did you hit a pothole? What happened there? And what
Kyle Merber: did that do to you?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, I don't know. I guess I didn't expect it
Adriaan Wildschutt: to be so soft to turn and I guess I might
Adriaan Wildschutt: have stepped on something, but luckily it wasn't too bad and I
Adriaan Wildschutt: gained my balance very quickly after that. But yeah, I
Adriaan Wildschutt: saw it after I was like, " Oh boy."
Carrie Tollefson: I know. I didn't see it live on television until the
Carrie Tollefson: replay. You were back home in South Africa running a
Carrie Tollefson: little bit, but you train in Flagstaff. Talk a little
Carrie Tollefson: bit about your situation. Your coach, Jack, is sitting right
Carrie Tollefson: here and one quote that he gave me before one
Carrie Tollefson: of your other races earlier this year is that you
Carrie Tollefson: are just full of love of life and your team.
Carrie Tollefson: You really love that team. Your brother has been over
Carrie Tollefson: to Flagstaff. You guys got a lot going on there
Carrie Tollefson: and a really good atmosphere right now.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, we have a great dynamic. We have one class
Adriaan Wildschutt: that he's on the team and that goes what I
Adriaan Wildschutt: would say. We have a very, very good coach and
Adriaan Wildschutt: I think that you can see that in our performances and even
Adriaan Wildschutt: in the recent weeks, getting off of the US half-
Adriaan Wildschutt: terms and now this race as well and the cross country
Adriaan Wildschutt: as well earlier this year. So clearly we have a very good
Adriaan Wildschutt: coach and a very good team and having world- class
Adriaan Wildschutt: athletes makes it a little bit easier. And I was
Adriaan Wildschutt: in South Africa, escaped the cold a little bit and
Adriaan Wildschutt: then that's why I was a little concerned about the
Adriaan Wildschutt: weather today, but I guess it worked out well.
Kyle Merber: So you're now on the roads twice. Are we done
Kyle Merber: with the track or are we going to go back
Kyle Merber: and forth or is the marathon calling? Where are you at mentally?
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah. I mean, like this is my thing. I just take it one day
Adriaan Wildschutt: at a time. I don't get ahead of myself. Of
Adriaan Wildschutt: course, it's so fleeting sometimes. You get one thing done
Adriaan Wildschutt: and you want to jump straight right into the next thing. And
Adriaan Wildschutt: for me, I want to enjoy my running career and that
Adriaan Wildschutt: means being grateful and celebrating the moments that you do
Adriaan Wildschutt: well and just living the moment. I don't know what the future holds.
Adriaan Wildschutt: I'm not focusing on the track this year because there's
Adriaan Wildschutt: no world championships. And so that's why we wanted to
Adriaan Wildschutt: explore and do a little bit more role. And today
Adriaan Wildschutt: was the big focus for the first half of the year and that's done and I'm very happy about that. And so yeah, I don't quite know.
Carrie Tollefson: There's something big coming though. We haven't talked about the book.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah, that's coming.
Carrie Tollefson: That's coming.
Adriaan Wildschutt: That's in the pipeline.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, you put it out there and I've mentioned it a
Carrie Tollefson: few times on the broadcast. So when do you expect
Carrie Tollefson: that to happen?
Adriaan Wildschutt: The book is being published in May, later May. The
Adriaan Wildschutt: exact date needs to be confirmed, but I think it's
Adriaan Wildschutt: probably going to be around May 9th and May 26th. Yeah, that's something that I've been
Adriaan Wildschutt: writing for the last two years. And I am very
Adriaan Wildschutt: happy that it's approaching the end now. I can just
Adriaan Wildschutt: relax because that's the thing, like coming out of college,
Adriaan Wildschutt: you do NCAAs and you're in school, you're always busy and it's
Adriaan Wildschutt: a pro. You get done with training and you're just like
Adriaan Wildschutt: laying around. And that's not never really my nature. So
Adriaan Wildschutt: I always try to find things to do. I remember
Adriaan Wildschutt: like one of our marketing managers say, I always ask,
Adriaan Wildschutt: is there no... I asked him if there's no internship I think to open. I
Adriaan Wildschutt: feel like (inaudible) . And he was like, " Bro, we're
Adriaan Wildschutt: paying you to run." So yeah, no, I like to keep busy and it
Adriaan Wildschutt: was great for me, especially from a South African standpoint.
Adriaan Wildschutt: I think the book is, people can find a lot
Adriaan Wildschutt: of... In that it's not just about running. I like to run my life how we all want
Adriaan Wildschutt: different kinds of things, and the book is one of
Adriaan Wildschutt: those things. And so I feel like a lot of people
Adriaan Wildschutt: can gain from that.
Kyle Merber: So now what is going to keep you busy after
Kyle Merber: this book? Is there a sequel coming already?
Carrie Tollefson: Maybe.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Yeah. You know what? I think I always find things to do. I have
Adriaan Wildschutt: started a business with one, three other friends of mine in Florida, it's
Adriaan Wildschutt: a electrolyte brand. It's called Hybrid WTR. And so we are working on that always. And I guess
Adriaan Wildschutt: I will keep myself busy with that until I find something more to do.
Carrie Tollefson: Always hungry for something next. Well, congratulations on today. And
Carrie Tollefson: wow, we're excited to see where you go, whether it's
Carrie Tollefson: the track, cross country, 13th at the World Cross Country
Carrie Tollefson: Championships, just in January, now winning the United Airlines NYC Half.
Carrie Tollefson: Bravo, man. Way to go.
Kyle Merber: Congratulations.
Adriaan Wildschutt: Appreciate it.
Carrie Tollefson: All right, now we have one more.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I mean, we've been in the presence of greatness after greatness. And now-
Carrie Tollefson: I mean, just keeps coming.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. The heavy hitter.
Carrie Tollefson: The heavy hitter. Ms. Hellen Obiri. And she has her pizza.
Kyle Merber: Yeah, good choice. Emmy Squared. Great spot.
Hellen Obiri: Thank you.
Kyle Merber: When in New York, what's your favorite thing to do? I mean, you come to New
Kyle Merber: York now similarly all the time. What's your favorite thing
Kyle Merber: to do besides win races when you're here?
Hellen Obiri: Besides what I do after the race, I can touch up my business.
Carrie Tollefson: Yes. When you say New York is like your second home?
Hellen Obiri: It's been my second several times, so I can just go back. It's nice to get home.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Today was an interesting race, wasn't it? I mean,
Carrie Tollefson: for the first half, you had company and then all
Carrie Tollefson: of a sudden you didn't. So was that the point of the race
Carrie Tollefson: today or were you surprised as well?
Hellen Obiri: I was surprised because we have the strong there. Agnes was there with me and they knew Agnes,
Hellen Obiri: she's very strong. When you cross country, you can, and she likes to go the hard
Hellen Obiri: place. So I was ready for the hard place, but I wasn't thinking like she (inaudible) . But
Hellen Obiri: for me, it was like, just let me just try to push myself as hard and see how far I can go because I've been preparing for the marathon. I've not changed anything, so I
Hellen Obiri: will see up to see how my level of my business.
Carrie Tollefson: Sure.
Kyle Merber: Yeah, of course. I mean, the London Marathon coming up, it's going
Kyle Merber: to be one of the great fields that we've ever
Kyle Merber: seen. What did you take from today and what did
Kyle Merber: you learn about your fitness here?
Hellen Obiri: So far I can say like I'm (inaudible) because I have six weeks
Hellen Obiri: of training and the quarters were here. So they have seen what I've
Hellen Obiri: done. And so far I've seen what I've done because I'm not 100% of my fitness
Hellen Obiri: because we still have time. So I can say I'm in a very good place if you can just train that seven weeks. So in preparation to
Hellen Obiri: go as we felt to go and everything from life, so we do hope we see each other in London Marathon.
Carrie Tollefson: You have run so well over 26. 2, but we've seen
Carrie Tollefson: you run well over the 1500, even 800 meters, cross country, all of
Carrie Tollefson: it. You've done it all. But this past year, you
Carrie Tollefson: really have done quite a few 10Ks. You've done some
Carrie Tollefson: different distances. Is that just to keep you excited about
Carrie Tollefson: the sport or is there an actual reason to drop
Carrie Tollefson: down and get the legs going? I mean, what is
Carrie Tollefson: your best distance? Nobody knows.
Hellen Obiri: I can say all are the best of my distances because I
Hellen Obiri: know I love doing 10Ks. I love doing half-marathons and I've been doing track for a while. So last year I would say
Hellen Obiri: I need to get my speed back. I need to get
Hellen Obiri: my legs back towards the marathon. So we decided to do 10Ks so the new 10Ks, it can get me in speed. And because I was paying for the emeritus, so this is the right time, it's the right moment
Hellen Obiri: to be set up to see how far my skill
Hellen Obiri: is. And so now we are ready because I was training with a track register. They
Hellen Obiri: were helping me to push me with the speed. And then they said, now,
Hellen Obiri: even if I do that, I think I did four,
Hellen Obiri: three, 10 case last year because I remember the half number I did was 2023. So having to have how much you can do like half-marathon. So if you have a speed, you can just
Hellen Obiri: to do all the distances for following. Some trust about
Hellen Obiri: yourself and used to trust about what you're doing.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. But not going back to the track.
Hellen Obiri: Because even back to. I don't say I can go and run 5K and 10Ks because my age and my time will allow me to go now.
Carrie Tollefson: Bite you tongue, you're young.
Kyle Merber: Hell, something I've always really appreciated about you is it's
Kyle Merber: not about chasing times. It's about winning races. And I
Kyle Merber: mean, you wouldn't necessarily know it based off of the
Kyle Merber: time today, but it's not known for being a fast
Kyle Merber: course here. You made it one. But when you're out
Kyle Merber: there, are you looking at the clock with the time? Are
Kyle Merber: you just feeding off of the other athletes and ultimately
Kyle Merber: waiting to make your move? I mean, you were following
Kyle Merber: Agnes for so long and then when you moved it
Kyle Merber: just really did open up so quickly. So what is
Kyle Merber: your mindset in those moments?
Hellen Obiri: For me, the first thing I knew when it comes to Agnes, first is doing the (inaudible) from
Hellen Obiri: them. In New York, you can say I want to run this time because hard goes with (inaudible) so what it was
Hellen Obiri: in my mind to do this. And from there, just
Hellen Obiri: the times, but you can't just like I want to do... I didn't have the targets. The time I want to
Hellen Obiri: run is this one and this one. So I said if I win, the time will come. And probably because Agnes was there. So
Hellen Obiri: when you started, the place was so big. So I knew inside the post record.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, it was awesome. You heard people saying though, you're going to run
Carrie Tollefson: 66 minutes, right? You heard someone yell that at you?
Hellen Obiri: Yeah. When I was at the 20 days, some (inaudible) say like that's why I realized I'm on the course record base because Agnes broke up. So me, it wasn't like my place also broken down. So I was thinking like I'm 67, something like that.
Hellen Obiri: But then no, I was so close to 66. So
Hellen Obiri: when somebody told me there are six places, so I tried to get it.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, let's talk a little bit about the spring. So
Carrie Tollefson: this is a little bit of a different spring. Normally we
Carrie Tollefson: see you either here in New York or in Boston,
Carrie Tollefson: but now you're making the trip across the pond to
Carrie Tollefson: London and it's a flat fast course. It's different than what
Carrie Tollefson: you've been running lately. Even the Olympic Games was super
Carrie Tollefson: hilly. Boston's hilly. New York's hilly. So what's your prep
Carrie Tollefson: like for London? Has it been different or about the same?
Hellen Obiri: I think I made the right choice to go to
Hellen Obiri: London Marathon because sometimes you need to change your mind and sometimes you need to
Hellen Obiri: change your training and sometimes you need to see how
Hellen Obiri: far your legs can go into the faster course. So I said, now this is
Hellen Obiri: the right time, this right moment to do London Marathon with the partnerings there. Of
Hellen Obiri: course I love Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, and I like to do what they want to do. None of
Hellen Obiri: them told this might pass. So I say like, I'm not one there to target. I want to do this time and this time is to see how far my list I'm doing and how far I'm going
Hellen Obiri: faster because we love women base makers. I haven't done (inaudible)
Hellen Obiri: without the best matter. So it will be for me my opportunity and to learn the new experience or fun with the faster class.
Carrie Tollefson: It's going to be fun.
Kyle Merber: Do you have to change things in training for what
Kyle Merber: will likely be a quicker cadence and tempo? Especially I
Kyle Merber: feel like in New York the last few years, it's
Kyle Merber: really about how well you close. It ultimately was a
Kyle Merber: sit and kick race. Whereas London, you almost know for
Kyle Merber: certain that, I mean, that first half is not going to be slow
Kyle Merber: by any means. So does that change anything you're doing
Kyle Merber: on a day- to- day basis at crap?
Hellen Obiri: For now, we haven't changed anything because we say I'm doing New York Half. New York Half is tough. So we say for now we don't need to change ending year. But
Hellen Obiri: for next week, we're going to start changing like I need to
Hellen Obiri: do faster process because I used to do the goals I did in Boston and New York. So we have to see faster process and do faster workouts because you have to change the trainings because I can train with Joe and Aya because I think they're doing awesome. So from next week we want to spend our workouts do the also program and the family learning program.
Hellen Obiri: So from next week, I'm going to focus about the (inaudible) .
Carrie Tollefson: Well, I think I got to know what kind of pizza did you get?
Hellen Obiri: Mushrooms with onion.
Carrie Tollefson: Mushrooms and onion?
Hellen Obiri: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, okay.
Kyle Merber: When you're-
Carrie Tollefson: We're back to more technical questions. I wanted to know.
Carrie Tollefson: Of course Hellen would say that. I was going to get into the color of
Carrie Tollefson: her nails now, but we're sorry. That has to wait
Carrie Tollefson: because we're still in the technical questions.
Kyle Merber: No, no, it's not too technical. It's not too technical.
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. Go.
Kyle Merber: All right. So when you're racing here with 30,000 people, you probably
Kyle Merber: get approached a little bit and people ask for advice.
Kyle Merber: Do you have any advice for people who are running the New
Kyle Merber: York City half for in the future? Because now you've
Kyle Merber: run it a couple times. You know what you're doing
Kyle Merber: here. What's the key? This versus other races.
Hellen Obiri: What I can advise them to focus and to be disciplined about what you are doing and to follow the right thing, don't push yourself as, just control yourself and eat well while you're there and sleep well and make sure everything's in the right place. Or then we tell it about, I want to run this time or this time because your first time you should achieve to give the finish line to like, "I want to do this time out." So trust and focus.
Carrie Tollefson: We were on the broadcast today, Hellen. And Hellen and
Carrie Tollefson: I go way back. We have some fun interviews and
Carrie Tollefson: podcasts that we've done, but we were saying, " You are
Carrie Tollefson: the fastest to ever run the half- marathon here. You
Carrie Tollefson: are the fastest to ever run the marathon here in
Carrie Tollefson: New York City." What in the world does that feel
Carrie Tollefson: like? I mean, that is crazy. That's a crazy fact.
Hellen Obiri: It's awesome. It's an incredible moment.
Carrie Tollefson: Wait, put that mic right up to your mouth because
Carrie Tollefson: we got to hear this.
Hellen Obiri: That was awesome moment for me and (inaudible) for me. Having the
Hellen Obiri: post record of a marathon and then after marathon, that seems like New York has a special
Hellen Obiri: space in my life because now I'm the only woman doing the post record 66.
Carrie Tollefson: So fun.
Hellen Obiri: For the marathon under 220..
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, 219.
Hellen Obiri: 219. So that one's a was a moment for me. It gives you motivating me to work hard.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. And I know your daughter, Tanya, is probably making
Carrie Tollefson: sure she's watching the clock too. She's on your shoulder,
Carrie Tollefson: in your ear all the time, making sure you do
Carrie Tollefson: everything right. Yeah. That's awesome.
Kyle Merber: You and Sharon now have this incredible rivalry. I mean, she finished second today.
Kyle Merber: It seems like you guys just are always neck and
Kyle Merber: neck at the end of races. What is that like? I mean,
Kyle Merber: you guys keep each other honest. Is it a friendly
Kyle Merber: rivalry? Are you warm enough together? What is the, I guess,
Kyle Merber: atmosphere like when you two are on a start line?
Kyle Merber: Because it's so often and it always delivers.
Hellen Obiri: Yeah, Sharon and I are very good friends. During warm up, "
Hellen Obiri: You can do it, girl." And as you can see, girl who was standing to start, we started to go and we stop. But when you come
Hellen Obiri: to competition, it's sports, but that shows us that there's no enmity in sports. It's all about plays. Sports
Hellen Obiri: can bring all the kids work. And that's why I
Hellen Obiri: used to share them from sports. So I do say it's a friendship. After sports, there's
Hellen Obiri: life. And after competition, we say that, " Congratulations, you made
Hellen Obiri: it." So that's why we say it's all about sports and we have to keep our friendship.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, congratulations. Another big win for you and so fun
Carrie Tollefson: for us to be able to call your name across
Carrie Tollefson: the line.
Kyle Merber: Best of luck in training prep for London. We're going to
Kyle Merber: be excited to see what you do there next.
Hellen Obiri: Thank you.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, Kyle, that was pretty cool.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I mean, I always just like nerding out-
Carrie Tollefson: I know.
Kyle Merber: - opportunities.
Carrie Tollefson: I mean, I wish we had all day with them.
Carrie Tollefson: I could talk to them all day, but they got to get
Carrie Tollefson: some stuff done.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. It's funny, I feel like after a half, if you're
Kyle Merber: a winner, you actually don't feel that terrible. I'm sure
Kyle Merber: those who did not win don't feel quite as good.
Kyle Merber: The winners after a half, they do still have a
Kyle Merber: lot of life in them.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Kyle Merber: You can cool down after a marathon, there's no reason.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, and most of them are going to stay tonight and they'll
Carrie Tollefson: run in Central Park tomorrow, get a good run in.
Kyle Merber: The competition out there, it was just some of the
Kyle Merber: deepest fields I think we've ever seen. And Agnes strung
Kyle Merber: it out early on the women's side, so you probably didn't
Kyle Merber: have the full appreciation of the men, which was 14, 15 guys
Kyle Merber: playing together through the streets the entire time. But it's
Kyle Merber: just amazing how this is just such a standard spot
Kyle Merber: on the calendar now for all the athletes. It's perfectly
Kyle Merber: situated for a spring marathon in the buildup.
Carrie Tollefson: It really is, really is. And as you were saying, thinking about the men, that
Carrie Tollefson: field was so deep. The women, they had a deep
Carrie Tollefson: field too, but I would think the men had probably
Carrie Tollefson: the deepest field that we've seen maybe ever here. And
Carrie Tollefson: it did look like at times where we had a
Carrie Tollefson: bunch of newbies and then a bunch of veterans. There
Carrie Tollefson: weren't a lot of guys that have done five, 10.
Carrie Tollefson: They're either their second or third half- marathon or their
Carrie Tollefson: first like Grant Fisher or they were veterans. So it
Carrie Tollefson: was really interesting. And I think I just heard some
Carrie Tollefson: champagne get popped.
Kyle Merber: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Did you hear that?
Kyle Merber: Rightfully so.
Carrie Tollefson: But yeah, Grant Fisher, let's just touch on him a little bit.
Kyle Merber: I mean, so Grant, I believe finished 14th today, was
Kyle Merber: in that lead pack for the large majority of the
Kyle Merber: race, sat back. We never really saw him upfront taking
Kyle Merber: too much of the win, but it's a good learning
Kyle Merber: experience. I know he didn't have the perfect buildup into
Kyle Merber: this. And so for him to come out, get a
Kyle Merber: feeler and learn, I do think that we often make
Kyle Merber: this mistake of saying, " Well, you've run fast on the
Kyle Merber: track, so it's a perfect translation." And even though Grant
Kyle Merber: has run well in cross before, it's still a learning
Kyle Merber: experience. And I think he probably comes away from today
Kyle Merber: with a lot of lessons to take into the next
Kyle Merber: future build.
Carrie Tollefson: Totally. So much respect for the distance and just great
Carrie Tollefson: races all around. All four of the races in the 30,
Carrie Tollefson: 000 plus behind it was pretty cool.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I have such appreciation for people like Hellen and
Kyle Merber: Adriaan who are of that mindset of just like, they'll
Kyle Merber: race anything, anytime, anywhere, any surface. And to see someone
Kyle Merber: who's historically been a track specialist like Grant, I don't
Kyle Merber: think that you have to, when you taste the roads,
Kyle Merber: commit, you can go back and forth with a half.
Kyle Merber: And so we're seeing it more and more. It's a
Kyle Merber: good way to spend the winter as well as you're
Kyle Merber: running the big miles anyway. So you might as well put them to use.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, mix it up. And also to Daniel and Eden.
Carrie Tollefson: I mean, for me, maybe the most fun was seeing
Carrie Tollefson: how emotional Daniel was after to see him back. We
Carrie Tollefson: love this sport. All of us, no matter if you're
Carrie Tollefson: racing, part of the staff, whatever it is, there is
Carrie Tollefson: a true family and I think that's what he missed
Carrie Tollefson: the most. And that was pretty cool. And then Eden,
Carrie Tollefson: just to see the fire and the determination she has to
Carrie Tollefson: be on top, she has such a great resume already.
Carrie Tollefson: She could go home today and retire and she'd be
Carrie Tollefson: one of the best we've ever seen. But for her
Carrie Tollefson: to say, " No, I want to win." And we need
Carrie Tollefson: to get her a sponsor and we need to keep
Carrie Tollefson: rooting for her because she is a bright hope in that
Carrie Tollefson: wheelchair division.
Kyle Merber: Yeah. I think the thing that the wheelchair athletes bring is those stories.
Carrie Tollefson: Yes.
Kyle Merber: And they're so motivating. They could be translated from their
Kyle Merber: experiences when Daniel overcame to make it back to the start
Kyle Merber: line to all of us. And we just don't appreciate
Kyle Merber: as non- wheelchair athletes the technical side and how many
Kyle Merber: things can go wrong. So just being able to make
Kyle Merber: it to the finish line is an accomplishment in and
Kyle Merber: of itself.
Carrie Tollefson: It's for everyone.
Kyle Merber: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Really cool day. Thank you for joining us.
Kyle Merber: Yeah, it's super fun.
Carrie Tollefson: Thanks for CITIUS MAG joining us and for the New York Roadrunners Set
Carrie Tollefson: the Pace podcast. I'm Carrie Tollefson. This Kyle Merber. We
Carrie Tollefson: had an awesome day at the 2026 United Airlines NYF
Carrie Tollefson: Half. See you next year.