AUDIO: Thank you, New York. Today, we're reminded of the power
AUDIO: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
AUDIO: your mark. The first woman to finish for the second straight
AUDIO: year here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a
AUDIO: smiling Miki Gorman. And why not? 2: 29:30, the time for Grete Waitz. Look at
AUDIO: the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes to the
AUDIO: line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA he so
AUDIO: proudly 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 your host and CEO of
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer, back with the amazing
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs Gentry back for another week as my co- host.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And Becs, great to see you and happy belated Mother's Day. It
Rob Simmelkjaer: was your second year as mom of Tallulah. What was
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mother's Day like for you and the fam?
Becs Gentry: Mother's Day was wonderful and thank you so much. Well,
Becs Gentry: I started the day with a wonderful run at Peloton.
Becs Gentry: I actually did a Mother's Day run with lovely members
Becs Gentry: in the room, which was very touching, emotional, and euphoric
Becs Gentry: at the same time. And then we chilled. We honestly,
Becs Gentry: we had a really... It was pretty miserable weather, so
Becs Gentry: it was a good excuse to stay home, snuggle up,
Becs Gentry: do some painting, and quality time.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, here in New York, it was not the best
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mother's Day weather. The afternoon got okay, but yes, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: little bit chilly.
Becs Gentry: It did.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hope folks out there had a great Mother's Day. If
Rob Simmelkjaer: they got some runs in maybe with some mother- daughter
Rob Simmelkjaer: runs or whatever it was, that it was a great, great
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekend and always a great day to celebrate. And we've
Rob Simmelkjaer: got ourselves a big, big weekend coming up here, Becs,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but I actually had a little personal news, at least
Rob Simmelkjaer: from the running point of view, myself. I can't run Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: this weekend because it's hard for me as CEO to
Rob Simmelkjaer: run our biggest races, but I did sign up for
Rob Simmelkjaer: a half- marathon. I'm going to run the Fairfield Half
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon up here in Fairfield, Connecticut on Sunday, June 2nd,
Rob Simmelkjaer: which I'm excited about. I tried, Becs, to run this
Rob Simmelkjaer: race last year and this was right around the time
Rob Simmelkjaer: I started to get knee injuries last year. I had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a big ramp- up of my running in the first six
Rob Simmelkjaer: months in this job and my knees just went south
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I wasn't able to make it, but I deferred.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm feeling great and I'm going to give it a
Rob Simmelkjaer: go on June 2nd, so that should be fun. It's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a hilly but nice course. It runs along the Long
Rob Simmelkjaer: Island Sound for parts of it, you get some water views, and I'm excited
Rob Simmelkjaer: to give it a go at the Athletic Brewing Company
Rob Simmelkjaer: Fairfield Half on June 2nd.
Becs Gentry: Oh my gosh. I'm so excited for you! We've been
Becs Gentry: talking about Rob stepping his game up here and you've
Becs Gentry: been getting PR after PR on your four- miler, so
Becs Gentry: this is your endurance time to shine.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, it's time to stretch out the legs a little,
Rob Simmelkjaer: see if I can get to some bigger distances. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: ran last Friday morning in the park, put out about
Rob Simmelkjaer: nine or 10 miles and it felt good. So it
Rob Simmelkjaer: was right after that I said, " Okay, this is it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm feeling good enough to sign up and commit and
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk about it." This is when you talk about it. When you
Rob Simmelkjaer: talk about it is when you're actually doing it right, Becs?
Becs Gentry: Correct.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So I am now talking about running a half and
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm looking forward to that on June 2nd, but-
Becs Gentry: That is it, the commitment.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Absolutely. And by the way, I should mention one of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the things that has really gotten me ready to run
Rob Simmelkjaer: a half this spring is NYRR Group Training, which I
Rob Simmelkjaer: have been a lover of since I started here at
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners. It's an incredible program where our
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners coaches meet up with you. You
Rob Simmelkjaer: can sign up for Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Wednesdays in the
Rob Simmelkjaer: morning or the evenings, and they just have a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: program where you run with a group. They divide you up
Rob Simmelkjaer: based on your speed, groups one through six, and every
Rob Simmelkjaer: single day, there's a different plan. Some days are focused
Rob Simmelkjaer: on speed work, some days are focused on endurance, pacing,
Rob Simmelkjaer: tempo runs, and it has made me such a better runner,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs. So it's actually open right now-
Becs Gentry: Brilliant.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... for folks who are interested in signing up for
Rob Simmelkjaer: the next session, which is the session after the Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: Half. You can go to nyrr.org. We're going to put the
Rob Simmelkjaer: link in the show notes, and you can do it
Rob Simmelkjaer: all around the city. We've got Central Park, we've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: Uptown Manhattan, we've got the East River Park track downtown.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We've got Astoria Park and Prospect Park out in Brooklyn.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So I'm a huge fan of that, and if you've never
Rob Simmelkjaer: tried it, if you want to get better and you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the New York area, you can give it a
Rob Simmelkjaer: try. We also have it up in Connecticut as well
Rob Simmelkjaer: with the YMCA in Westport, Connecticut.
Becs Gentry: Oh my gosh. No excuses.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Group training, Becs, it's a beautiful thing.
Becs Gentry: They're everywhere. I love it. I love running with a
Becs Gentry: community. But you pointed it out, Rob. This weekend, this
Becs Gentry: weekend people have been training with the group training ahead
Becs Gentry: of the RBC Brooklyn Half, and I don't know how
Becs Gentry: many other people, because I think it's zillions, are as
Becs Gentry: excited as I am for the fact that we have
Becs Gentry: all three members of the 2024 U. S. Olympic Women's
Becs Gentry: Marathon Team running in the MasterCard Mini 10K, which is
Becs Gentry: the next race after the RBC Brooklyn Half. So I
Becs Gentry: just feel like we have moment after moment coming through, and
Becs Gentry: I say that because the team training, between all of
Becs Gentry: our women right now in the U. S. Team... I say, "
Becs Gentry: Our." I know I'm British, but I feel like I
Becs Gentry: can say, "Our," on the U. S. Olympic Team here has been
Becs Gentry: amazing. Their community is... I can feel them. I feel
Becs Gentry: like they'd be going to the group training side of
Becs Gentry: things together even if they're sponsored by different people. The
Becs Gentry: love is so real and I'm really excited to see
Becs Gentry: them shine at the Mini 10K.
Rob Simmelkjaer: This was a huge deal for us and an incredibly
Rob Simmelkjaer: exciting announcement last week to announce that all three women
Rob Simmelkjaer: on the U. S. Marathon Olympic Team will be running
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the MasterCard Mini 10K. Fiona O'Keefe, Emily Sisson, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dakota Lindwurm will all be at the starting line of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the MasterCard Mini. That's on June 8th. So yeah, that's
Rob Simmelkjaer: going to be a huge deal. Congrats to them. We're
Rob Simmelkjaer: so excited to host them. Our pro- athletes team did
Rob Simmelkjaer: such a great job recruiting that amazing field, one of
Rob Simmelkjaer: my favorite races of the year.
Becs Gentry: Me too.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Can't wait for it. But before we get to it,
Rob Simmelkjaer: we got a lot of work and a lot of
Rob Simmelkjaer: fun coming up in Brooklyn this coming weekend. The RBC
Rob Simmelkjaer: Brooklyn Half, everybody out there, if you're listening to this
Rob Simmelkjaer: on the Thursday, the Friday before the race, and these
Rob Simmelkjaer: are your final preparations, we wish you all the best.
Rob Simmelkjaer: If you haven't yet, go back and listen to last week's
Rob Simmelkjaer: episode with Ted Metellus, Ted giving you the 411 on
Rob Simmelkjaer: all the things you need to know from baggage to
Rob Simmelkjaer: when to show up to what you can expect at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the finish line, a course review or preview as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So check that out, and obviously we want to make
Rob Simmelkjaer: sure you enjoy the RBC Brooklyn Half Pre- Party Presented
Rob Simmelkjaer: by New Balance. That's at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier
Rob Simmelkjaer: 2. Get there nice and early. Give yourself time to
Rob Simmelkjaer: soak that in. Enjoy that. It's such a great event.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hopefully we get good weather for it, but take your
Rob Simmelkjaer: time, and then make sure it's not... Just don't go
Rob Simmelkjaer: in rushed, grab your bib, turn around and leave. No,
Rob Simmelkjaer: spend a few hours. Make it an event for yourself
Rob Simmelkjaer: to hang out because it's not just a pickup; it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a party, Becs, and I look forward to seeing everybody out there.
Becs Gentry: Oh, yeah. I can't wait. It is one of my favorite
Becs Gentry: weekends of the year. I've run this race. I love
Becs Gentry: this race. I love how it starts. It's a really
Becs Gentry: early start, which is one thing to note if you
Becs Gentry: are finding out about it for the first time. It's a
Becs Gentry: really early start. We're looking at 7: 00 AM first wave, 8:
Becs Gentry: 00 AM, I believe, second wave. And we are also
Becs Gentry: having to mention it's on Saturday, everyone. It's on Saturday.
Becs Gentry: It's unusual. It is. For the amount of-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Don't be the one.
Becs Gentry: No!
Rob Simmelkjaer: Don't be the one that shows up Sunday. We don't want people
Rob Simmelkjaer: showing up Sunday. Absolutely.
Becs Gentry: I mean, you'll always have people to run with in
Becs Gentry: Prospect Park in that area, but it won't be New York
Becs Gentry: Road Runners. So definitely make sure you show up nice
Becs Gentry: and early on Saturday morning. And as Rob said, the Pre-
Becs Gentry: Party Presented by New Balance is phenomenal. It is so
Becs Gentry: much fun. I'm a Brooklynite. I love that it's over
Becs Gentry: this side. I love that we get to show off
Becs Gentry: our vibe a little bit over here. When you pick
Becs Gentry: up your bib, you are going to get no preview
Becs Gentry: of the course, which I quite like. It's just the
Becs Gentry: area. So Prospect Park, you're going to run Grand Army
Becs Gentry: Plaza. If you've never run around that, it is really, really
Becs Gentry: stunning to look up. Make sure you look up to the
Becs Gentry: top of that monument. I know as runners, we keep
Becs Gentry: our eyes down a lot of the time, so get your eyes up
Becs Gentry: to the sky and see the magnificence of the monument
Becs Gentry: there. But then running out to Coney Island, I mean,
Becs Gentry: it's a beach. Even if it's raining, you see the
Becs Gentry: ocean and there's something very calming and relaxing, I think,
Becs Gentry: about an ocean, especially on a rainy day. So get
Becs Gentry: yourselves counting down in the alphabet to Coney Island. That's
Becs Gentry: my cryptic clue.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's exactly what it is. You go down Ocean Parkway, see
Rob Simmelkjaer: those letters going down, and you know you're getting closer
Rob Simmelkjaer: to the finish line. So for everybody getting ready, we
Rob Simmelkjaer: wish you all the best. We'll talk about it a bit
Rob Simmelkjaer: more later in the podcast, but it should be a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: day. We hope for good weather, of course, and a
Rob Simmelkjaer: great day for everybody showing up at the RBC Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: Half. We've got a great show for you on Set
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Pace today. Our guests today are two of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: hosts of the hugely popular The Drop Podcast, Thomas Neuberger
Rob Simmelkjaer: and Meaghan Murray. They've managed to turn their love of
Rob Simmelkjaer: running into their careers. I love it, Becs, when people are
Rob Simmelkjaer: able to do that. I've been able to do that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You've been able to do that. Their website, Believe in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Run, is the top running review site online. They
Rob Simmelkjaer: review shoes and apparel and all kinds of things that
Rob Simmelkjaer: are so important to runners. And they've also, along the
Rob Simmelkjaer: way, built a great community of runners who tune in
Rob Simmelkjaer: digitally every week to their podcast. They'll both be running
Rob Simmelkjaer: the RBC Brooklyn Half for the second year in a row,
Rob Simmelkjaer: so we can't wait to talk to them about how
Rob Simmelkjaer: they are feeling about the race. They'll be up in
Rob Simmelkjaer: a minute. Later on in the show, our man Meb Keflezighi
Rob Simmelkjaer: will be here to interview New York Road Runners' member
Rob Simmelkjaer: Michael Albeck. As Michael prepares for this weekend's RBC Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: Half, he's going to share with us how New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners has become an integral part of his whole
Rob Simmelkjaer: family's life. And for our weekly Meb Minute, Meb's going
Rob Simmelkjaer: to give us his best advice on training to run
Rob Simmelkjaer: a new course for those of you who are running Brooklyn for the first
Rob Simmelkjaer: time. So all that coming up on Set the Pace.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, before we get to our guest, it is so
Rob Simmelkjaer: beautiful outside today, and spring is my favorite time of
Rob Simmelkjaer: year to start a new workout routine.
Becs Gentry: Totally agree, Rob. With the weather warming up, it just
Becs Gentry: feels so much easier to get into the rhythm of things.
Rob Simmelkjaer: One of the things that works so well for me,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, about Peloton is whether I've got 20 minutes to
Rob Simmelkjaer: kill or a full hour for a Pilates class or
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe an outdoor guided walk, Peloton has everything I need
Rob Simmelkjaer: to help get me going.
Becs Gentry: It certainly does. It is such a great way to
Becs Gentry: get a head start on summer with Peloton. You can
Becs Gentry: find it at onepeloton. com.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And now, let's welcome in our guests, Thomas Neuberger and
Rob Simmelkjaer: Meaghan Murray, from Believe in the Run and the two
Rob Simmelkjaer: hosts of The Drop Podcast. If you're not familiar with
Rob Simmelkjaer: The Drop, it's a pretty popular podcast that focuses on in-
Rob Simmelkjaer: depth discussion and interviews relating to running shoes and gear
Rob Simmelkjaer: and training. Thomas and Meaghan, as well as the rest
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the team, are big runners and they say running
Rob Simmelkjaer: has changed their lives. It is great to have them
Rob Simmelkjaer: on the show. Thomas, Meaghan, welcome.
Thomas Neuberger: This is a trip.
Meaghan Murray: Yes, thanks for having us.
Thomas Neuberger: I never thought I'd be on with New York Road Runners and Becs. Obviously, this is
Thomas Neuberger: a real honor to be on the show.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We're thrilled to have you guys. So all right, first
Rob Simmelkjaer: question, for those who don't know, what is Believe in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Run? What is that all about?
Meaghan Murray: Take it away.
Thomas Neuberger: It's always a weird question because I think we straddle
Thomas Neuberger: a couple different areas. So traditional media, we have our
Thomas Neuberger: website where we are, I would say, more on the
Thomas Neuberger: traditional side of doing reviews and long- read articles and
Thomas Neuberger: that kind of stuff. And then we started doing YouTube
Thomas Neuberger: videos to drive traffic to the website and that coincided
Thomas Neuberger: with the trend of people becoming influencers in the running
Thomas Neuberger: space. And so we never intended to be one, but
Thomas Neuberger: because our faces were out there and people see what we were
Thomas Neuberger: doing, that's where we started blending, I'd say, the new
Thomas Neuberger: media with the old media, and it just worked well
Thomas Neuberger: together that we have both going for us and cover
Thomas Neuberger: a lot of area. Did that... I didn't even answer
Thomas Neuberger: the question, did I?
Becs Gentry: You did.
Meaghan Murray: We're primarily a running shoe site that dabbles in the
Meaghan Murray: social world and we have a podcast as well.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, there we go.
Meaghan Murray: A little more succinct.
Becs Gentry: I love that. I love the balance here between the two of you. It's fantastic.
Thomas Neuberger: That's it, yeah.
Becs Gentry: Great pairing. Okay, so let's talk about what has changed
Becs Gentry: because I think just from hearing that, the both of
Becs Gentry: you have two slightly different descriptions of Believe in the Run.
Becs Gentry: So how it started to where it is today, could
Becs Gentry: you talk us through where it's come from and where it is?
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. It started when I was raising money for a
Thomas Neuberger: charity and I was going to run the TransRockies Run,
Thomas Neuberger: which is a multi- day, over- 100- miles race across
Thomas Neuberger: the Rocky Mountains. And so it was one of the
Thomas Neuberger: bigger things I was doing towards the beginning of my
Thomas Neuberger: running, so I thought it would be a great way to raise
Thomas Neuberger: awareness for the Baltimore Child Abuse Center. And so I
Thomas Neuberger: raised funds for that, and so I started a website to
Thomas Neuberger: chronicle my training because back then, there wasn't much in
Thomas Neuberger: the way of... Now there's so many different platforms for
Thomas Neuberger: you to talk about your running. Back then, there wasn't,
Thomas Neuberger: so I created a website. And as I was doing
Thomas Neuberger: the training for TransRockies, people were curious what gear I
Thomas Neuberger: was using and what shoes I liked or what poles
Thomas Neuberger: I was going to use on the mountain or jackets.
Thomas Neuberger: So I started talking about that and the brands started noticing
Thomas Neuberger: and they're like, " Hey, if we send you, would you
Thomas Neuberger: talk about our brand?" I'm like, " Are you kidding? This is great."
Thomas Neuberger: I still remember my first thing I ever got was
Thomas Neuberger: a stick of Glide and I thought I just won
Thomas Neuberger: the lottery. I was like, " Oh, this is amazing."
Becs Gentry: Oh. Hey, don't knock free Glide.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. But then it started to evolve. Meaghan and I
Thomas Neuberger: met at a company that did software for social media
Thomas Neuberger: and we were doing a lot of campaign stuff together and she was like
Thomas Neuberger: a casual runner. You want to talk about that a
Thomas Neuberger: little bit, Meg?
Meaghan Murray: Yeah. I mean, I grew up playing sports my whole
Meaghan Murray: life, but I always hated running. And then when I
Meaghan Murray: went to college, I gave up all sports, so I
Meaghan Murray: was like, " Well, I should do something active," so I
Meaghan Murray: just started running a little bit. And then when Thomas
Meaghan Murray: I met at the marketing company, he was out doing 50-
Meaghan Murray: milers and I was like, " This guy is nuts," but
Meaghan Murray: convinced me to sign up for a race and then
Meaghan Murray: I signed up for a marathon and it just snowballed
Meaghan Murray: from there. But we ended up focusing a lot more
Meaghan Murray: on Believe in the Run at that time because it
Meaghan Murray: was getting a lot more attention and brands were noticing
Meaghan Murray: and sending more product and it just escalated from there.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. And then Robbie came on board and he's a
Thomas Neuberger: phenomenal writer. I don't know if you've read some of his
Thomas Neuberger: stuff on the site, but he's a tremendous asset, and
Thomas Neuberger: we were working, splitting the time. We started our own
Thomas Neuberger: business, Big Run Media, where we did a lot of marketing
Thomas Neuberger: for races and different running events and stuff like that.
Thomas Neuberger: And during the pandemic when everything went to sideways, we
Thomas Neuberger: ended up focusing more on Believe in the Run, doing
Thomas Neuberger: some more stuff, and it's actually one of those, it
Thomas Neuberger: seemed like a tragedy at the time that all the
Thomas Neuberger: races were getting canceled and we were losing clients, but
Thomas Neuberger: we focused on Believe in the Run. As a matter of fact,
Thomas Neuberger: that's when I feel like it just lit fire and
Thomas Neuberger: a lot of people see us and they go, " Oh, you guys,
Thomas Neuberger: last couple of years, you just came out of nowhere."
Thomas Neuberger: I'm like, " We've been doing this since 2009. It's been
Thomas Neuberger: a while."
Rob Simmelkjaer: And do you guys see, I mean, what's going on
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the running space right now with the explosion of
Rob Simmelkjaer: popularity, how many people are running, and not just running,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but to your point, talking about running, creating content about
Rob Simmelkjaer: running, making running the basis of businesses just like yours?
Rob Simmelkjaer: What do you think is driving it? Because I get
Rob Simmelkjaer: this question all the time at New York Road Runners.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Why? What's happening? Why are all of our races sold
Rob Simmelkjaer: out? Why do we have 150,000 people trying to get
Rob Simmelkjaer: into the TCS New York City Marathon with so few
Rob Simmelkjaer: of them actually getting in? What do you think is
Rob Simmelkjaer: driving this cultural phenomenon of running being so hot right now?
Thomas Neuberger: I mean, I have my ideas. What is yours?
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, it's such a good question. I think partially, the
Meaghan Murray: pandemic was responsible for a lot of new runners and
Meaghan Murray: we're seeing that snowball effect. I think especially during the
Meaghan Murray: pandemic, that was the one thing where we could all
Meaghan Murray: just walk out the door and go for a run
Meaghan Murray: still. And I think that was so empowering at the
Meaghan Murray: time and a lot of people have just continued that,
Meaghan Murray: and I think you saw a friend who started running
Meaghan Murray: and then it was like, " Well, if they can do it,
Meaghan Murray: maybe I can do it." And I just think it
Meaghan Murray: was this snowball effect of more people getting involved, and
Meaghan Murray: because we do have social media where you can share
Meaghan Murray: it, even if you don't have a best friend who
Meaghan Murray: runs, you can see someone online who's running and be
Meaghan Murray: inspired by them. So I think it's just been like...
Meaghan Murray: I think that's probably where we got this big growth
Meaghan Murray: spurt, and I'm hoping it continues, but I do think
Meaghan Murray: the pandemic was probably a big part of it.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. And to add on to what Meg's saying because
Thomas Neuberger: I agree, but you go online now and you see
Thomas Neuberger: somebody that looks like you or is starting the journey
Thomas Neuberger: that is like you, so there's more... It's cooler now
Thomas Neuberger: to run. Before, it might've been your dad going, he's
Thomas Neuberger: wearing generic running clothes and the generic blue running shoe
Thomas Neuberger: and it didn't look that exciting. He's going to go
Thomas Neuberger: for his run, mow his lawn, have a beer that
Thomas Neuberger: afternoon. That was the idea of recreational running, where now
Thomas Neuberger: you look and there's people out there like Matt Choi
Thomas Neuberger: who are pushing that hybrid athlete, working out, being a full-
Thomas Neuberger: rounded athlete that happens to love running. You look at
Thomas Neuberger: somebody like Herms Runs, who's Alex Hermanson, who he's saying
Thomas Neuberger: to people, " Hey, it's cool. You don't have to be
Thomas Neuberger: in three- inch shorts and 120 and restricting your diet
Thomas Neuberger: and taking it so seriously that every race has to
Thomas Neuberger: be a PR. It can be an event that we're
Thomas Neuberger: all part of." And Heller, there's a whole bunch of
Thomas Neuberger: people out there that are making this content that now
Thomas Neuberger: you can identify with, Tommie Runz, these people that are bringing people
Thomas Neuberger: into the sport that maybe didn't see a spot for
Thomas Neuberger: them before.
Becs Gentry: I love that. It's so much about the community and
Becs Gentry: I think there's been a lot of chat recently about
Becs Gentry: run crew culture, running culture, how they were parallel, they
Becs Gentry: were intertwined, and now they're going off separately, and I
Becs Gentry: think that does have a lot to do with brand
Becs Gentry: recognition. And I love what you both are saying of
Becs Gentry: the you can go on social media or wherever you
Becs Gentry: digest your culture, let's say, and you can see somebody
Becs Gentry: who looks like you, whoever you are, wherever you are.
Becs Gentry: And from what you guys are delivering, you are individual.
Becs Gentry: You're not heavily... You do reviews of everything and I
Becs Gentry: love going on to online and reading your reviews and
Becs Gentry: seeing them because you're honest. And I think real runners
Becs Gentry: are. We go through... I mean, the real runner fear
Becs Gentry: is what happens if the shoe isn't good enough? And
Becs Gentry: it's not the brand, it's not how it looks. You're
Becs Gentry: just like, "Oh, what happens if it's not comfortable? What happens if it gives me blisters?" That
Becs Gentry: is what reading reviews and listening to you guys, that's
Becs Gentry: genuine because you've got the person who hated running, played
Becs Gentry: soccer, to the person who will run millions of miles
Becs Gentry: over very bad terrain and you're going to deliver honest, honest
Becs Gentry: reviews of, " This Glide stick sucks," or, " this one is
Becs Gentry: fantastic." And I just think, does it ever... When you're
Becs Gentry: doing the reviews, have you ever been too swayed by
Becs Gentry: brands or do you find it really refreshing to be
Becs Gentry: as free and open as you are?
Meaghan Murray: I will say it's easier naturally to talk about something
Meaghan Murray: that you feel strongly towards, whether that's negative or positive.
Meaghan Murray: The words just flow. So we do have an editor
Meaghan Murray: because sometimes we'll just go off on whether it's good
Meaghan Murray: or bad, we're just very honest, and so we do
Meaghan Murray: have an editor to make sure it's all correct and
Meaghan Murray: everything like that. But we found that working with these
Meaghan Murray: brands, they appreciate the honesty because a lot of times,
Meaghan Murray: you're just hearing what you want to hear online and
Meaghan Murray: everything's great and wonderful, but when we are really honest,
Meaghan Murray: and we've tried so many shoes that we can be
Meaghan Murray: really nitpicky and say, " Hey, this little minor thing here
Meaghan Murray: stood out to us and this isn't great," and the brands-
Thomas Neuberger: Easily fixed.
Meaghan Murray: ... the brands love it because they can take it
Meaghan Murray: back to their team and actually use that as feedback
Meaghan Murray: to make the next model even better.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. When I first started meeting brands, and to get
Thomas Neuberger: to the part about being swayed by them, when I
Thomas Neuberger: first started meeting brands, I was actually a little nervous
Thomas Neuberger: because I felt like, "Hey, I just trashed one of their
Thomas Neuberger: shoes," and I was surprised because we'd go to this
Thomas Neuberger: thing called the Running Event where we get to interact
Thomas Neuberger: with the brands. And I was timid the first time
Thomas Neuberger: I went, and then I started talking to them. They're like, " No,
Thomas Neuberger: thank you for saying that because we took it back
Thomas Neuberger: to the team because we've been arguing for a softer
Thomas Neuberger: midsole and you guys keep saying that. So we say
Thomas Neuberger: it, they don't listen, but when we bring one of
Thomas Neuberger: your reviews or something, it's an outsider saying, 'Hey, this
Thomas Neuberger: needs to be fixed.'" So a lot of times, the
Thomas Neuberger: teams are really happy with us. As far as being
Thomas Neuberger: swayed by the brands, we try to keep somewhat of
Thomas Neuberger: a curtain between our reviews and that. So we don't
Thomas Neuberger: ever charge for reviews. We get the shoes obviously for
Thomas Neuberger: free, they'll send them to us, but we don't take
Thomas Neuberger: a fee for doing a review, and we express to
Thomas Neuberger: the brands when we work with them on the other
Thomas Neuberger: side, which is the side like what we're doing with
Thomas Neuberger: the RBC Brooklyn Half where we're working with New Balance,
Thomas Neuberger: we talk to them beforehand when we work with these
Thomas Neuberger: brands and we say, " Hey, look, the reason why you're talking
Thomas Neuberger: to us is because we've been honest about product and
Thomas Neuberger: we're a reliable source for people who want to get
Thomas Neuberger: the best experience out of their running shoes or running
Thomas Neuberger: gear. If we become commercials, then you're not going to
Thomas Neuberger: want to work with us anyway because we're going to
Thomas Neuberger: lose our credibility and our audience." So most of the
Thomas Neuberger: brands have an understanding with us that things aren't going
Thomas Neuberger: to change. Now, it is crazy when we go out
Thomas Neuberger: to a headquarters of a company or something like that.
Thomas Neuberger: For that day or so, you do get a little
Thomas Neuberger: bit of a glow because it's like, I'm sure you
Thomas Neuberger: guys have visited some of these places, they're pretty fantastic
Thomas Neuberger: and these guys know their marketing. They're beautiful, the sport,
Thomas Neuberger: you can feel the sport in the air, and you
Thomas Neuberger: are, for a little while, you're a little drunk on
Thomas Neuberger: love. So I usually wait a little while before, if
Thomas Neuberger: I've got a shoe review for them, I'll wait a
Thomas Neuberger: week or so before I do that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Sober up, sober up a little bit.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, exactly. You can walk away from those places being like, "
Thomas Neuberger: Damn. If I ever lost my job, that's where I
Thomas Neuberger: want to be."
Becs Gentry: Yep.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. I mean, the honesty is what makes
Rob Simmelkjaer: it good, right? I mean, the bad reviews are what
Rob Simmelkjaer: make the good reviews matter.
Meaghan Murray: Right.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So congrats to you guys for being able to carve out that
Rob Simmelkjaer: space, and it's obviously really valuable to your listeners, so
Rob Simmelkjaer: it's really awesome. Let's talk about shoes a little bit
Rob Simmelkjaer: and what you guys are seeing in terms of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: evolution. I've been running since high school and I've run
Rob Simmelkjaer: in running shoes, and some I've liked and some I
Rob Simmelkjaer: haven't liked. I never really thought that they would have
Rob Simmelkjaer: a huge impact on my performance until very recently, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: even now, I'm still catching up to, " Well, should I
Rob Simmelkjaer: get one of these plates? Should I get this?" And
Rob Simmelkjaer: still, I work in the industry and I still don't
Rob Simmelkjaer: really know what I should be doing for my own
Rob Simmelkjaer: shoes to get the maximum performance. For someone like me,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I'm a decent runner, but I'm not winning any
Rob Simmelkjaer: races anywhere anytime soon, how much does it matter? Should
Rob Simmelkjaer: I really be making the hundreds and hundreds of dollars
Rob Simmelkjaer: or sometimes more that people are spending on some of
Rob Simmelkjaer: these shoes to get five minutes off my half- marathon time?
Thomas Neuberger: If time's your only concern, then it would depend on
Thomas Neuberger: your level of running. I don't feel like the cost
Thomas Neuberger: to minutes is actually the best indicator of whether the
Thomas Neuberger: shoe is worth the money. I look at it psychologically.
Thomas Neuberger: If you get up in the morning, and Rob, you
Thomas Neuberger: know every day you don't feel like running, but you
Thomas Neuberger: go down and you just got a new pair, and you're opening the
Thomas Neuberger: box, it's fresh, you slide your foot in, " Oh, that
Thomas Neuberger: cushioning. It's brand new. It feels so good," you're going
Thomas Neuberger: to be pumped up to go for your run. Now,
Thomas Neuberger: you get out the door and the foam doesn't feel
Thomas Neuberger: that great. You start running, not having the best running
Thomas Neuberger: experience. That's where the reviews come in. We're trying to
Thomas Neuberger: help you have the best experience. So when you talk
Thomas Neuberger: about what you're trying to get out of the shoe,
Thomas Neuberger: I want you to be motivated to run, be excited
Thomas Neuberger: to get out there. Once you're out there, I want
Thomas Neuberger: you to feel like you're gliding and feel like the
Thomas Neuberger: shoes aren't part... The best shoes are the ones that disappear
Thomas Neuberger: on your feet and you don't feel them. Now, once
Thomas Neuberger: you get to that feeling and you're out there and
Thomas Neuberger: you're doing your weekly mileage and getting things on the
Thomas Neuberger: baseline done, then you get to race day and you get
Thomas Neuberger: to throw on a super shoe that's plated, bouncy, and
Thomas Neuberger: feels amazing, the whole experience is like going to a four-
Thomas Neuberger: course meal. It's like that's your starter, you go there,
Thomas Neuberger: and then next thing you know, the dessert is the finish
Thomas Neuberger: line and you're kicking it through and it's great.
Meaghan Murray: I mean, we're obviously big shoe nerds, so we could
Meaghan Murray: talk to you about shoes all day long, but I
Meaghan Murray: do feel like they're extremely important and worth the money
Meaghan Murray: because like Thomas was saying, the experience psychologically, you want
Meaghan Murray: to feel good when you're out there running. I do
Meaghan Murray: feel like these new foams and plated shoes can assist
Meaghan Murray: you with running faster. And then also, the last piece
Meaghan Murray: of it for me is the recovery. You feel so
Meaghan Murray: much better afterwards when you have a shoe that fits
Meaghan Murray: well and has a good foam and a plate in
Meaghan Murray: it, or not a plate depending on what you prefer,
Meaghan Murray: but those aspects just make running not only feel better
Meaghan Murray: during, but also after, and then you're more likely to
Meaghan Murray: go back out the door the next day.
Thomas Neuberger: That's a great point.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, I totally agree with you, Meaghan. I'm there for the speed element is
Becs Gentry: a wonderful bonus to the fact that you can recover
Becs Gentry: and get back on the run. Because again, going back
Becs Gentry: to that true runner wants to get out almost every
Becs Gentry: day or as often as they can, and you don't
Becs Gentry: want to be impeded by lower- leg soreness, upper- leg
Becs Gentry: soreness, wherever you've run. So that's my big sell on
Becs Gentry: these, the foams and the plates as we call them.
Becs Gentry: Do you know how many running shoes you've reviewed?
Thomas Neuberger: We were trying to figure that out the other day because
Thomas Neuberger: we probably get over 100 pairs a year.
Becs Gentry: Whoa.
Thomas Neuberger: And you can do the math back to...
Meaghan Murray: 2009.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. So that is the one thing that I feel
Thomas Neuberger: we have an advantage over. There's only a couple people
Thomas Neuberger: that I would say are anywhere close to us with
Thomas Neuberger: the amount of shoes and the variance of shoes that
Thomas Neuberger: we've tried and run in and reviewed. I would think
Thomas Neuberger: you're probably talking about Jeff Dengate, you might be talking
Thomas Neuberger: about, I think that Sam has been doing it for
Thomas Neuberger: a while, Metzler, who's from Outside. Those are the people
Thomas Neuberger: that I know that I feel somewhat peers towards where I
Thomas Neuberger: can talk about a shoe that was... We went through
Thomas Neuberger: all the trends. We went through minimal to max cushion,
Thomas Neuberger: swung back and forth. So those are the people that I can...
Thomas Neuberger: When they say something about a shoe, I listen.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, I could talk about shoes for the rest of
Rob Simmelkjaer: this podcast, but we have a race coming up this
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekend, the RBC Brooklyn Half. You are both participating and
Rob Simmelkjaer: running and let's talk about that. You ran last year,
Rob Simmelkjaer: I believe, both of you.
Thomas Neuberger: I shouldn't have.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What happened?
Thomas Neuberger: Well, I ran London, New York, Tokyo, and Boston, and
Thomas Neuberger: then the half, and my foot was hurting and I think I was-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Gee, I can't imagine why.
Becs Gentry: Shocking.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, I think I had a little bit of a stress fracture or the beginnings of one, so
Thomas Neuberger: it wasn't a good race for me.
Meaghan Murray: I, on the other hand, loved it. It was tons of
Meaghan Murray: fun. I ran with a couple friends and we actually
Meaghan Murray: ran it as more of a progression run. So it
Meaghan Murray: was very, very fun. And yeah, the crowds there are
Meaghan Murray: great. The course was really fun. I remember the end
Meaghan Murray: is almost downhill all the way to the finish line,
Meaghan Murray: which is always lovely.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, it didn't feel downhill.
Rob Simmelkjaer: One of you thought it was downhill.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Thomas was going uphill somewhere.
Thomas Neuberger: I mean, the New York Marathon feels uphill the whole way for me. Yeah.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And what are you guys going to be doing? You've got not
Rob Simmelkjaer: just the race but some other things going on race
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekend. Talk about where we're going to see you.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah. So we are going to come up on Thursday and we're going to host
Meaghan Murray: a panel. Thomas will be chatting with-
Thomas Neuberger: You know one of the guys.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah. Who are you chatting with?
Thomas Neuberger: Ted from New York Road Runners.
Becs Gentry: Aw, lovely.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Ted Metellus, our race director, absolutely.
Thomas Neuberger: Yes, yes. And the New York City Marathon. So I'm excited. I already talked
Thomas Neuberger: to him. We did a little pre- interview thing, so
Thomas Neuberger: it was a lot of fun. So I'm expecting him
Thomas Neuberger: to be great. And then we've got Tyler from Endorphins
Thomas Neuberger: Running, and Andrea from Mill City. So we're basically... All
Thomas Neuberger: of us in our own way work with the running
Thomas Neuberger: community and we all work a little bit differently, and
Thomas Neuberger: I think it'll just be an interesting conversation about the
Thomas Neuberger: trends in the running community. You were touching on it with
Thomas Neuberger: run crews and that kind of stuff, and we were
Thomas Neuberger: talking about enrollments and races, and so we're going to
Thomas Neuberger: cover some of that stuff. It should be a fun conversation.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah. And then after that, we're hosting a party with a New Balance.
Meaghan Murray: This is all going to be at Smack Mellon is
Meaghan Murray: the venue in Brooklyn. And then the following morning, we're
Meaghan Murray: hosting a shakeout run for the RBC Half, and anyone
Meaghan Murray: who wants to join us for about three miles on
Meaghan Murray: Friday morning.
Thomas Neuberger: And our shakeout runs have been insane. I've actually-
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, they're super fun.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Always full to the brim.
Thomas Neuberger: Yes.
Meaghan Murray: Yes, yes.
Becs Gentry: Okay. So talk to us, as you are the kit
Becs Gentry: king and queen here of advising everybody what to wear
Becs Gentry: on race day, how would you best advise our listeners
Becs Gentry: to get themselves prepared kit- wise for the RBC Brooklyn Half?
Thomas Neuberger: Do we know the weather?
Meaghan Murray: I think it's going to be high 50s, low 60s.
Thomas Neuberger: That's pretty good. Any-
Becs Gentry: Yeah, with a possible sprinkle.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Good temps. Yeah, maybe a little rain, maybe not. We'll see.
Thomas Neuberger: Rain never hurts.
Becs Gentry: No.
Thomas Neuberger: Unless you're chafing. But I mean, that's (inaudible) -
Becs Gentry: Eh, yeah. Back to that Glide.
Meaghan Murray: Yep, yep. There we go. Full circle.
Thomas Neuberger: Yes, exactly. I mean, for me it would be probably singlet,
Thomas Neuberger: shorts, easy, 13. 1 miles.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, I think it's always best to dress knowing you're
Meaghan Murray: going to get warm because I feel like especially when
Meaghan Murray: you first go out the door, you always want to
Meaghan Murray: be comfortable, but you always want to be a little
Meaghan Murray: cold when you first get out there so that once
Meaghan Murray: you're out there racing-
Thomas Neuberger: You'll heat up pretty quick.
Meaghan Murray: ... and you're heated up, then you're actually comfortable in your singlet and shorts.
Meaghan Murray: And yeah, if it's raining, obviously we'd recommend maybe some tighter clothing to avoid
Meaghan Murray: that chafing, and then yeah, nothing, don't do anything new
Meaghan Murray: on race day.
Thomas Neuberger: And a hat. I always like a hat.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, we like a hat.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I like a hat too when it rains because it just keeps the drops out of
Rob Simmelkjaer: your eyes. Just a little protection.
Thomas Neuberger: The sun. Yeah, everything.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: I know some people love sunglasses, but I'm like, "Do you have little windscreen wipers on
Becs Gentry: them?" Because every time I wear sunglasses in the rain,
Becs Gentry: I'm just like, " No, this is terrible."
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, it doesn't work in the rain so much.
Becs Gentry: It doesn't. You look cool. You look very cool.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, I'm hoping there's not that much rain so when
Thomas Neuberger: we get to Coney Island, we can enjoy the sunshine
Thomas Neuberger: and the dogs and stuff.
Becs Gentry: Oh, absolutely. Well, I think I love that you said
Becs Gentry: dress to get warm because it's race day and most
Becs Gentry: people are going to be going out and maybe challenging
Becs Gentry: themselves an ounce more than they do on their normal
Becs Gentry: run, and nothing pains me more than when I see
Becs Gentry: people on race day totally overdressed in puffer jackets. I'm like, "
Becs Gentry: Oh my goodness me. You probably could have got a
Becs Gentry: few seconds off your time if you'd have just taken
Becs Gentry: that little puffer off, please."
Thomas Neuberger: So you're not tempted to go help them out? You're
Thomas Neuberger: not tempted to be like, " Hey, just hide that behind
Thomas Neuberger: a tree or something?"
Becs Gentry: Oh, no. Dude, seriously, the amount of times I have
Becs Gentry: conversations in my head with people whilst I'm running next
Becs Gentry: to them, I'm like, " Is it rude of me to
Becs Gentry: just be like, 'Can we have a chat?'" And then I'm
Becs Gentry: just like, " No, keep going." That sounds like such an incredible weekend.
Becs Gentry: I'm sure all of your followers are going to have
Becs Gentry: the best time with you, listening to you, running with you,
Becs Gentry: and cheering for you, which is epic. I know I'll
Becs Gentry: be at the finish line cheering away, for sure, this weekend.
Thomas Neuberger: Awesome.
Meaghan Murray: Oh, nice.
Becs Gentry: Well, we say that. I'm tempted. I'm a little tempted to run it now.
Thomas Neuberger: Why not?
Meaghan Murray: Oh, yeah. Come run it.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah!
Becs Gentry: Yeah, yeah. I'm tempted.
Thomas Neuberger: We'll get you a pair of these New Balance SC Elite v4s.
Becs Gentry: You know what?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Is that what you guys are running in?
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: I love them!
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right. You've tested them out?
Meaghan Murray: Yes, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And?
Meaghan Murray: We love them. So we wore these for the New
Meaghan Murray: York City Marathon this past year. Loved them. We had
Meaghan Murray: some all- white prototypes, which were very cool.
Becs Gentry: So cool.
Meaghan Murray: But yeah, now we're going to wear the inline colorway,
Meaghan Murray: which is also pretty good- looking, so pretty excited about it.
Becs Gentry: It's gorgeous.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: You know what? As somebody who has a wider foot, and
Becs Gentry: I spread my toes wide when I run because that's
Becs Gentry: how I've been coached from my whole career. This width
Becs Gentry: at the front of the v4 Elites is my perfect
Becs Gentry: shoe width. I'm in love with them. New Balance, I
Becs Gentry: can't take them off. I put the Rebels on for
Becs Gentry: my slower, steadier runs and then whew, little bit of
Becs Gentry: energy into the v4. Oh, they're divine.
Thomas Neuberger: I like the Rebel.
Meaghan Murray: That's a good combo right there, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: Chris Chavez from Citius Mag, you guys probably know him,
Thomas Neuberger: he did his first sub- three- hour marathon and he
Thomas Neuberger: was wearing these shoes.
Meaghan Murray: These shoes, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: He did it in these shoes.
Becs Gentry: I've spoken to a lot of people who are making
Becs Gentry: PRs in them.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. It's not the lightest one on the market, but
Thomas Neuberger: it has a really nice feel and I think it's the
Thomas Neuberger: most accessible one with the sizing and the fit.
Meaghan Murray: And like you were talking about, Becs, the wide forefoot is key.
Becs Gentry: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm still stuck on the fact that Becs was coached to
Rob Simmelkjaer: spread her toes apart while running. No one ever told
Rob Simmelkjaer: me what to do with my toes when I ran.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Clearly this is what I've been missing my entire life
Rob Simmelkjaer: was I just ran. I didn't think about my toes
Rob Simmelkjaer: at all, all this time.
Thomas Neuberger: You don't remember the-
Becs Gentry: I (inaudible) your feet. It's my thing in class.
Thomas Neuberger: You don't remember the Vibram FiveFingers, Rob?
Rob Simmelkjaer: No!
Becs Gentry: No!
Meaghan Murray: Oh, yeah. The toe shoes?
Becs Gentry: I saw someone running in those yesterday.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh, the shoes that look like gloves where your toe
Rob Simmelkjaer: has a little spot?
Becs Gentry: Yes!
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You know, I have seen those and it blows my mind.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And actually, the one guy I know who runs in
Rob Simmelkjaer: those is a guy who also runs a lot barefoot
Rob Simmelkjaer: and that's a thing, right? Are you guys seeing a
Rob Simmelkjaer: lot of that? That's not good for the shoe business, but are
Rob Simmelkjaer: you seeing a lot of that?
Thomas Neuberger: We saw after Born to Run came out back in...
Thomas Neuberger: I guess that was 2010 or '11.
Becs Gentry: Yes, everybody.
Thomas Neuberger: That's what kicked off the barefoot rage and Vibram FiveFingers. You had the Merrell Trail
Thomas Neuberger: Gloves, you had Vivobarefoot, all those shoes came out. And
Thomas Neuberger: look, there's an argument to be made for strengthening your
Thomas Neuberger: feet by being more natural, but we also didn't used
Thomas Neuberger: to run a 100- mile weeks on pavement or 60-
Thomas Neuberger: mile weeks getting ready for a marathon on pavement. So
Thomas Neuberger: I think the people that like it, that's fun for them
Thomas Neuberger: and great, but for the rest of us...
Meaghan Murray: We'll stick to our max- cushion shoes.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, I like the benefit of cushion shoes.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, polar opposite. I agree.
Rob Simmelkjaer: 100%.
Thomas Neuberger: They're also hideous. I'm sorry, I'm going to chime in here just on the visual look.
Thomas Neuberger: Nobody looks good in those. I've never seen someone who's been like, "
Thomas Neuberger: Damn, that's a fly outfit he's got on. Look at
Thomas Neuberger: those." Yeah.
Becs Gentry: I got to agree. I've got to. The guy I
Becs Gentry: saw yesterday was running with his double stroller in them.
Becs Gentry: I'm like, " Buddy, honestly"-
Thomas Neuberger: Like imagine you're on-
Becs Gentry: "... the foams and the plates are going to really help you with those two kids," because these shoes, he looked like he was sinking into the concrete with every step.
Becs Gentry: I'm like, " Oh, the pain!"
Rob Simmelkjaer: So I have to ask you guys, for those who don't know who are
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe hearing your voices for the first time, you are
Rob Simmelkjaer: married to each other. You did not just meet and
Rob Simmelkjaer: become colleagues, you became husband and wife. How is that for you
Rob Simmelkjaer: working together this way as a married couple doing a
Rob Simmelkjaer: podcast? You're still doing it and I believe you're still
Rob Simmelkjaer: married, so I guess it's working out okay.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. It's great for me. Maybe not for Meaghan so much.
Meaghan Murray: No, it's kind of how we've always been. We've always
Meaghan Murray: worked together and that's always worked really well and it
Meaghan Murray: almost feels like it'd be weird now not to be
Meaghan Murray: working together all the time just because that's our norm.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah. If you imagine that I couldn't do half the
Thomas Neuberger: stuff without Meaghan, so it really is a yin and
Thomas Neuberger: yang situation where my brain doesn't work the way hers
Thomas Neuberger: does. I can't even say it. It's not working.
Meaghan Murray: I'm very analytical, he's very creative. It's very... Yeah, we're opposites.
Thomas Neuberger: And so it really is. I think part of the reason
Thomas Neuberger: I fell in love with Meaghan from the start was that
Thomas Neuberger: I just felt like, " Oh, this is how easy life
Thomas Neuberger: can be when you have somebody who has that other
Thomas Neuberger: side of what you're lacking."
Becs Gentry: Aw, I love that.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, it's been good.
Becs Gentry: Okay, so I really would love to talk more about
Becs Gentry: you two running together, you two reviewing together, but we'll
Becs Gentry: save that for another podcast. As you are professional running
Becs Gentry: reviewers and have been doing this for a really long time,
Becs Gentry: and this is not your first race with us this
Becs Gentry: weekend, can you give our listeners a full- on review
Becs Gentry: of the RBC Brooklyn Half?
Meaghan Murray: A full review?
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Just a little, not too in- depth, but let's
Becs Gentry: see it from your perspective. This weekend's coming up, what are
Becs Gentry: we going to go do?
Meaghan Murray: Well, first of all, the main goal is always fun.
Meaghan Murray: So that's key. We're going to have a great time.
Meaghan Murray: I do remember last year, it starts out pretty compact
Meaghan Murray: in the beginning, so you definitely have to have some
Meaghan Murray: patience like you should in every race and not go
Meaghan Murray: out too fast.
Thomas Neuberger: But it also kind of goes downhill. I think, yeah,
Thomas Neuberger: it's easy to go out a little too fast at
Thomas Neuberger: this one.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, so I think patience is super important in the
Meaghan Murray: beginning, whether you're stuck in a crowd or you're just
Meaghan Murray: holding back a little bit to leave some for the
Meaghan Murray: end, and then having fun the whole 13 miles.
Thomas Neuberger: Except not the whole 13 because we go into Prospect Park
Thomas Neuberger: and there's a nice little hill you're going to want
Thomas Neuberger: to save some energy for. What mile is that?
Becs Gentry: Literally within the first-
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's in the first few miles.
Becs Gentry: Yeah, before the first 5K mark.
Thomas Neuberger: Okay. So you go into Prospect Park and you get a
Thomas Neuberger: nice... It is a-
Meaghan Murray: It's pretty steep, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: It's a grinder and it's steep and it's long. Yeah,
Thomas Neuberger: I'm sure all the people who live in Brooklyn are
Thomas Neuberger: very familiar with that hill. So once you get past
Thomas Neuberger: that, I think it's interesting. And then you get into
Thomas Neuberger: that long stretch and it counts down by street so
Thomas Neuberger: you can get an idea of where you are. Can
Thomas Neuberger: you explain to me, Rob or Becs, how that works?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, they're alphabetical. So the farther you are from the
Rob Simmelkjaer: ocean, the higher the letter, yeah. So as you're seeing those letters
Rob Simmelkjaer: go down, you're getting closer and closer to the Coney
Rob Simmelkjaer: Island Boardwalk and the finish line.
Thomas Neuberger: Do you do the whole alphabet? I feel like last year, I was a little dazed.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's like a Brooklyn thing. In Manhattan, we do numbers,
Rob Simmelkjaer: except in the Lower East Side, we've got letters over
Rob Simmelkjaer: there. But yeah, they do letters in Brooklyn.
Thomas Neuberger: And that's where I started feeling the chafe. So make sure you do
Thomas Neuberger: put on... But you know what, the whatchamacallit? The medical tents were
Thomas Neuberger: great. They had Vaseline waiting there with the little sticks
Thomas Neuberger: in it and you could find some relief there. Overall,
Thomas Neuberger: the support of the race was great. You had plenty of
Thomas Neuberger: water, there's plenty of stops you, felt well taken care
Thomas Neuberger: of, and there were plenty of medical tents for those people
Thomas Neuberger: who are not wearing enough Glide like I was.
Meaghan Murray: And then I'll always remember that you make that turn
Meaghan Murray: onto the boardwalk at the finish there and there's just
Meaghan Murray: people screaming and cheering and it's hard not to sprint
Meaghan Murray: to that finish line at the end there, which I
Meaghan Murray: think everyone should be doing anyway.
Thomas Neuberger: And we didn't do something right last year. We didn't
Thomas Neuberger: figure out the public transportation back to Brooklyn.
Meaghan Murray: Oh, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: What are the options there when you finish the race?
Thomas Neuberger: Because we stayed, we had a couple beverages.
Becs Gentry: You can take the subway all the way back.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, mass transit. The subway gets it done every time.
Becs Gentry: Or just stay in Coney Island, have a hot dog
Becs Gentry: and a margarita and see where the day takes you.
Meaghan Murray: That sounds better, yeah.
Thomas Neuberger: All right, you heard that from Becs, margaritas and hot dogs.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, yeah.
Becs Gentry: Oh, I love that. Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Not until you've hung out at our party a little
Rob Simmelkjaer: bit and enjoyed that great party-
Becs Gentry: Yeah, and been to our live show.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... at Maimonides Park and listened to the live show, the Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace Show with Becs and Ali on the Run.
Meaghan Murray: Oh, yeah!
Thomas Neuberger: Oh, Ali!
Rob Simmelkjaer: So you're going to hang out, you're going to do all the things, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: then you'll find your way back to wherever you are staying.
Becs Gentry: You will.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And hey, so nice to have both of you on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace. Again, your podcast is called The Drop.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's the place to check out all the reviews and
Rob Simmelkjaer: the great conversations you guys have. I'm all about Believe
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the Run, your organization, and we're just psyched to
Rob Simmelkjaer: have you guys coming back up to Brooklyn, psyched to
Rob Simmelkjaer: see you out there this weekend. So have a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: race and thanks for joining us.
Thomas Neuberger: Yeah, it was awesome. We love the New York Road Runners and what
Thomas Neuberger: you guys are doing for the community and excited to
Thomas Neuberger: be part of it, so thank you so much.
Meaghan Murray: Yeah, thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right. Thank you, Thomas Neuberger and Meaghan Murray from
Rob Simmelkjaer: Believe in the Run and The Drop. For this week's
Rob Simmelkjaer: Member Moment, we're excited to have Michael Albeck joining us.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Michael's going to be running this year's RBC Brooklyn Half,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and running is a family affair for the Albeck family. His
Rob Simmelkjaer: wife is a rising New York Road Runners program lead
Rob Simmelkjaer: and their son has run at the Millrose Games with
Rob Simmelkjaer: the program, and they were both honored at the New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners Youth Night, which took place this past
Rob Simmelkjaer: week. Here's Meb.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob and Becs. Michael, welcome to Set the Pace.
Meb Keflezighi: To start off, we want to ask what we ask
Meb Keflezighi: all our members. What inspires you to start running and
Meb Keflezighi: what keeps you doing it?
Michael Albeck: Well, hello. Thanks for having me. What inspired? Running's newer to
Michael Albeck: me. I started during the pandemic like a lot of
Michael Albeck: people, and it was kind of a coincidence that it
Michael Albeck: was around that time, but I've just really enjoyed setting
Michael Albeck: goals and accomplishing those goals and sometimes not accomplishing those
Michael Albeck: goals. And it's just, I think it's been good for
Michael Albeck: my health. I've lost a bunch of weight and it's
Michael Albeck: been great for our family. It's something that we do
Michael Albeck: as a family together as well. So I don't know,
Michael Albeck: it's been a wonderful experience.
Meb Keflezighi: As we mentioned, you are a family of runners. What
Meb Keflezighi: benefit have you seen with having a household of runners?
Meb Keflezighi: It's always good to talk or nutrition. What was that
Meb Keflezighi: like for you?
Michael Albeck: Yeah. I mean, we talk about all that stuff. I
Michael Albeck: mean, hydration, nutrition. My son, he's 13 now. He's in eighth grade. He started
Michael Albeck: running in sixth grade. So it's been great taking him
Michael Albeck: to races and cheering him on, cheering on his whole
Michael Albeck: team, and he's had a wonderful coach that's gotten a
Michael Albeck: lot of people into running that probably wouldn't normally get
Michael Albeck: into running. But yeah, it's a constant discussion of who's
Michael Albeck: running with who this weekend or today, and who's getting
Michael Albeck: out for a run, what distance you're doing. But yeah,
Michael Albeck: so it seems like it's a constant topic of conversation
Michael Albeck: in the house these days.
Meb Keflezighi: And your wife is a rising New Yorker Road Runners
Meb Keflezighi: program leader. And how does that... I mean, that's pretty
Meb Keflezighi: cool to have your son run and her being involved
Meb Keflezighi: with the New York Road Runners, rising stars.
Michael Albeck: Yeah. So like I said, my son, he started running
Michael Albeck: with his middle school when he started going in sixth
Michael Albeck: grade. And as a coincidence, my wife also became a
Michael Albeck: middle school teacher during that time, and at her school,
Michael Albeck: the main running coach there asked if she wanted to
Michael Albeck: help out as well. So now she has a team
Michael Albeck: that is also going to the same event. So it's
Michael Albeck: great if there's a during- school event that she can
Michael Albeck: actually go to that event and see our son run
Michael Albeck: as well as helping out with her team as well.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, I mean, your wife and you have been part of the
Meb Keflezighi: sport. What is that like to see the next generation
Meb Keflezighi: take up the support that you are involved in?
Michael Albeck: It's great. I mean, I think these Rising Runners events,
Michael Albeck: it's great to see so many young kids getting excited
Michael Albeck: to run and they start them with... There's no time
Michael Albeck: or anything, it's just exciting to get out there. They
Michael Albeck: get some sort of gift, like a hat or a running
Michael Albeck: belt or something, and then they get a medal when they
Michael Albeck: finish. So I think it's exciting to see people being
Michael Albeck: excited about a sport that's very accessible to many people.
Michael Albeck: So yeah, it's exciting to see.
Meb Keflezighi: How has that been interaction for you? They always want
Meb Keflezighi: to sprint, no matter what the distance is, whether it's 200-
Meb Keflezighi: meter or 400- meter or a mile. What is that like
Meb Keflezighi: to be able to interact with them?
Michael Albeck: Yeah. I guess a lot of the younger kids, since
Michael Albeck: I'm not a coach myself, I deal with my son
Michael Albeck: or try to help with him, and sometimes it's almost
Michael Albeck: the opposite. I feel like he still has gas in
Michael Albeck: the tank when I feel like he should be pushing
Michael Albeck: a little bit harder. I mean, yeah, I think there's
Michael Albeck: times when he could be pushing a little bit harder,
Michael Albeck: so trying to get him to manage that in some
Michael Albeck: way has been interesting.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, looking ahead, you are taking on the RBC Brooklyn Half.
Meb Keflezighi: Any big goals for that race?
Michael Albeck: I don't think so. The last six months, I was
Michael Albeck: battling a little bit of injury, like a calf strain
Michael Albeck: and one of my hips isn't great. I had a
Michael Albeck: great year last year with some PRs that I was
Michael Albeck: very excited about, and so I don't necessarily feel like
Michael Albeck: I'm going to have a PR in this race. But
Michael Albeck: I think especially this weekend, I had a couple races,
Michael Albeck: I ran a couple times this weekend and one was a
Michael Albeck: 5K race and I felt pretty darn good. So I
Michael Albeck: feel excited that my body feels pretty good. Like I
Michael Albeck: said, I don't think I'll be setting a PR, but
Michael Albeck: I look forward to doing this race because it's one
Michael Albeck: that I haven't done before. I'm going to have a
Michael Albeck: lot of friends that are out there as well. And
Michael Albeck: finishing in Coney Island just sounds like such a cool
Michael Albeck: place to finish and maybe have a drink if the
Michael Albeck: weather's decent once we finish up.
Meb Keflezighi: You know Michael, it's not about PRs all the time,
Meb Keflezighi: it's all about getting to that finish line and especially when
Meb Keflezighi: you're coming from injury, you don't take things for granted.
Meb Keflezighi: You're just going to be happy that you are running.
Michael Albeck: Yeah, yeah.
Meb Keflezighi: So look forward to seeing you on the starting line.
Michael Albeck: All right, appreciate it.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, Michael, thanks for being with us.
Michael Albeck: All right, thanks. Nice meeting you.
Meb Keflezighi: Likewise.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you so much, Michael, for joining us and for
Rob Simmelkjaer: being a member of New York Road Runners. Now, it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: time for the Meb Minutes.
Meb Keflezighi: This week's Meb Minutes is to get familiarized on a
Meb Keflezighi: new course, whether you run a half- marathon or full- marathon,
Meb Keflezighi: it is very important to know where you are. For
Meb Keflezighi: me, when I did the New York City Marathon, I
Meb Keflezighi: could not run the whole course, so I just did
Meb Keflezighi: the last 10 miles of the course just to be
Meb Keflezighi: aware what it looks like, where the hills are, where
Meb Keflezighi: the downhills are, and obviously the most important thing, to finish.
Meb Keflezighi: So as you get ready for the Brooklyn Half- Marathon, it
Meb Keflezighi: is a good idea to run it or drive it,
Meb Keflezighi: or at least be familiar in the last two miles
Meb Keflezighi: because you want to take advantage of what the course
Meb Keflezighi: is like, especially with Prospect Park or the downhills and
Meb Keflezighi: when to finish. So for me, it is a good
Meb Keflezighi: idea to be able to... Even you can Google it
Meb Keflezighi: or you can YouTube it from previous races. So as
Meb Keflezighi: the more you know about the course, the more your
Meb Keflezighi: preparation is going to be and you're going to have a
Meb Keflezighi: good execution on race day.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And that does it for another episode of Set the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Pace. Thank you so much to Thomas Neuberger and Meaghan
Rob Simmelkjaer: Murray of Believe in the Run, and to New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners member Michael Albeck. Again, best of luck to
Rob Simmelkjaer: everybody running this weekend at the RBC Brooklyn Half. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: remember, if you liked this episode, please go ahead subscribe,
Rob Simmelkjaer: rate, leave a comment for the show wherever you're listening.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Those reviews really help us and helps others find the
Rob Simmelkjaer: show as well. We'll see you next week. Enjoy the miles.