Speaker 1: Thank you New York. Today, we're reminded of the power
Speaker 1: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
Speaker 1: your mark.
Speaker 2: The first woman to finish for the second straight year here
Speaker 2: in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling Miki
Speaker 2: Gorman and why not? 2: 29:30 the time for Grete Waitz.
Speaker 3: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
Speaker 3: to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the U.S.
Speaker 3: A. He so proudly wears across his chest. A great day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Set the Pace,
Rob Simmelkjaer: the official podcast of New York Road Runners presented by
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton. I am your host and CEO of New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer. Great to have you with us
Rob Simmelkjaer: on a very special week here in New York at
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Roadrunners. So much going on. Global Running Day,
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Mastercard New York Mini 10K, a lot happening and
Rob Simmelkjaer: we're thrilled to have you with us as we kick
Rob Simmelkjaer: it off and we're missing Becs this week. It's just
Rob Simmelkjaer: me. My co- host, Becs Gentry, is off traveling this
Rob Simmelkjaer: week, but I was so excited to talk to Becs
Rob Simmelkjaer: about my big weekend. If you listen to the show
Rob Simmelkjaer: regularly, you know that I ran a half- marathon this
Rob Simmelkjaer: past Sunday. It was the Fairfield Half Marathon in Fairfield,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Connecticut. First time I'd run that event, and first of
Rob Simmelkjaer: all, I want to say it was a great event.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Congratulations to the organizers. That's a race that's been going
Rob Simmelkjaer: on for over 40 years and it's just a beautiful
Rob Simmelkjaer: race. It starts and finishes right on the beach in
Rob Simmelkjaer: Fairfield, Connecticut, and it was a good day to be
Rob Simmelkjaer: at the beach on Sunday because it was a warm
Rob Simmelkjaer: day. It is a hilly course too. I knew it
Rob Simmelkjaer: was hilly going into this race, but I don't think
Rob Simmelkjaer: I expected the hills to just keep coming and coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: and coming. But I tell you what, I'm so thrilled
Rob Simmelkjaer: with the day I had. I must have really done
Rob Simmelkjaer: a good job training because I felt terrific the whole
Rob Simmelkjaer: way through. Ran my second- best half- marathon time ever
Rob Simmelkjaer: at 1: 35 and change. And for me, that's a
Rob Simmelkjaer: great time and a great experience for me given I tried
Rob Simmelkjaer: to run that race a year ago and was injured,
Rob Simmelkjaer: not able to even make it to the starting line.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And so I just felt fantastic and want to thank
Rob Simmelkjaer: everybody from the New York Roadrunners Group training to everybody
Rob Simmelkjaer: I've run with to help me get ready for a
Rob Simmelkjaer: race like that. And I tell you, I did something
Rob Simmelkjaer: I never do and have never done before in a race.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I am usually the master of the negative splits. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: like to go out pretty slow and try to save
Rob Simmelkjaer: something for the end. For this one, I did the
Rob Simmelkjaer: exact opposite. I went out so fast and I'm not
Rob Simmelkjaer: sure exactly what was going through my mind to be
Rob Simmelkjaer: honest. I think it may have been the fact that
Rob Simmelkjaer: it was a warm day and I knew it was
Rob Simmelkjaer: going to be getting hotter and hotter as the day
Rob Simmelkjaer: went on and I felt really good at 8: 00
Rob Simmelkjaer: AM. The temperature was still reasonable and it was a
Rob Simmelkjaer: flat start and I said, " Let me just bank some
Rob Simmelkjaer: time here early on." And so I ended up running
Rob Simmelkjaer: very quick out of the gate, my fastest mile on
Rob Simmelkjaer: the whole race was the second mile. I ran a 6/ 40
Rob Simmelkjaer: split the second mile, which was bananas. But you know what? It
Rob Simmelkjaer: didn't turn into a fly and die. It was more
Rob Simmelkjaer: like a fly and fight. I kind of was able
Rob Simmelkjaer: to hang on and finish with a respect all the
Rob Simmelkjaer: time toward the tail end, but I've never done that
Rob Simmelkjaer: before. Not sure I'll do that again. I'm sure Becs
Rob Simmelkjaer: would have some things to say to me about those
Rob Simmelkjaer: splits. We'll talk about that later. But all in all,
Rob Simmelkjaer: it was just a great day. Congratulations to the 2, 700
Rob Simmelkjaer: or so finishers. And another thing I'll say about running
Rob Simmelkjaer: a race like that, it was such a great race,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but it just reminded me of how big a scale
Rob Simmelkjaer: everything we do at Road Runners is. This was a
Rob Simmelkjaer: race with 2, 700 runners and it was a great day
Rob Simmelkjaer: and they did a phenomenal job. In New York, our
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekly races are 5, 000 runners and I just think
Rob Simmelkjaer: it reminded me of how lucky we are in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York to have the incredible scale of running community that
Rob Simmelkjaer: we have and also how good our team is here
Rob Simmelkjaer: at New York Roadrunners to put on events of that
Rob Simmelkjaer: scale week in and week out. So it's great to
Rob Simmelkjaer: get out and run in a community race like that, but
Rob Simmelkjaer: it just reminds me of what we have in New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: and how blessed we are in New York City to
Rob Simmelkjaer: have what we have in our running community here. So
Rob Simmelkjaer: thanks again to everybody up in Fairfield for a great,
Rob Simmelkjaer: great event. We are so thrilled to have Dakotah Lindwurm joining
Rob Simmelkjaer: us in just a little while to talk about her incredible
Rob Simmelkjaer: journey from being on average high school runner to being a
Rob Simmelkjaer: member of the U. S. Olympic Marathon team. She'll be
Rob Simmelkjaer: joining us in just a bit. And here at New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Roadrunners, we are in final preparations for this weekend's
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mastercard New York Mini 10K and boy, what a pro
Rob Simmelkjaer: field we have lined up. Senbere Teferi, Sharon Lokedi, Sara
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hall, Edna Kiplagat, Molly Huddle. For those who want to
Rob Simmelkjaer: check out the Mini 10K this weekend, of course you
Rob Simmelkjaer: can show up in person. It's going down Central Park
Rob Simmelkjaer: West and then into Central Park. But you can also
Rob Simmelkjaer: catch the race on ESPN+, on abc7ny. com and on
Rob Simmelkjaer: NYRR's social and digital media channels. All those links will
Rob Simmelkjaer: be in the show notes, so you can check that
Rob Simmelkjaer: out. And by the way, if you want to know
Rob Simmelkjaer: how we got this incredible pro field, check out last
Rob Simmelkjaer: week's episode of Set the Pace. Our general manager of
Rob Simmelkjaer: pro athletes, Sam Grotewold, joined us and took us behind
Rob Simmelkjaer: the scenes of this year's Mastercard New York Mini 10K
Rob Simmelkjaer: field. So check that out as well. Also, if you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: listening to this, you're not too far removed from June
Rob Simmelkjaer: 5th of this week, which was Global Running Day, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: big day in the world of running. It's a worldwide
Rob Simmelkjaer: celebration of running that encourages people of all ages and
Rob Simmelkjaer: abilities to get moving. And of course, we were big
Rob Simmelkjaer: into Global Running Day at New York Road Runners. There were
Rob Simmelkjaer: live events all over the world. We had one in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York as well, a kids race taking place out
Rob Simmelkjaer: at Randall's Island. And there's still time to participate in
Rob Simmelkjaer: our virtual race. We've got the NYRR Virtual Global Running
Rob Simmelkjaer: Day 5K. It's open through June 9th, so you can
Rob Simmelkjaer: sign up for that at New York Roadrunners website, nyrr.
Rob Simmelkjaer: org and then run it on the Strava app. You can find other
Rob Simmelkjaer: virtual events at www. globalrunningday. org. Hey runners, be sure
Rob Simmelkjaer: to sign up for the Peloton app. You can actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: try it 30 days for free. No equipment is needed,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and you can use the app to track all of
Rob Simmelkjaer: your movement in one place, from your outdoor running and
Rob Simmelkjaer: walking to your strength training, even your meditation, and you
Rob Simmelkjaer: can enhance your daily workout routine or training schedule with
Rob Simmelkjaer: workouts that feel right for you. You can find the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton app in the Apple App Store as well as
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Google Play Store. New paid memberships only, terms apply.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton, the official digital fitness partner of New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners. Coming up later in the show, our friend Meb Keflezighi,
Rob Simmelkjaer: will be here to interview Gabrielle Yatauro. She's a New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners member and is also a very fast
Rob Simmelkjaer: runner. She'll be joining the elite field as a local
Rob Simmelkjaer: runner and she'll be joining Dakota Lindwurm and all the
Rob Simmelkjaer: other incredible pros we've got lined up at the starting
Rob Simmelkjaer: line of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K. Then a
Rob Simmelkjaer: little later in the show, Meb will be back with
Rob Simmelkjaer: his Meb Minute. He'll be giving us some advice on
Rob Simmelkjaer: goal setting. We are thrilled to have an incredible guest
Rob Simmelkjaer: with us today. Dakota Lindwurm, who is quickly becoming the U. S. A.
Rob Simmelkjaer: 's favorite marathon " underdog" from her beginnings as a, some
Rob Simmelkjaer: might say average high school runner and then a walk
Rob Simmelkjaer: on at her division II college. Dakota has trained and
Rob Simmelkjaer: willed herself to two victories at the Grandma's Marathon. Most
Rob Simmelkjaer: recently, she earned a spectacular third place finish at the U.
Rob Simmelkjaer: S.A. Olympic Marathon trial, securing her place into the Olympics
Rob Simmelkjaer: in Paris 2024. She's known for not just her incredible
Rob Simmelkjaer: skills as a runner, but her character smile while racing.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And I can see that smile as we get set
Rob Simmelkjaer: to start this interview right here on Set the Pace.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dakota, it is so great to have you with us
Rob Simmelkjaer: here on the show. Thanks for joining us.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited
Dakota Lindwurm: to be a part of it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It was so much fun to see you break through
Rob Simmelkjaer: in Orlando. I was there and watching that race unfold
Rob Simmelkjaer: and of course we knew some of the names and
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of the names there. And I'm relatively new
Rob Simmelkjaer: to my role as CEO of New York Roadrunners and new
Rob Simmelkjaer: to the professional running world. So I would have to
Rob Simmelkjaer: be perfectly honest, I did not know you as I
Rob Simmelkjaer: watched you finish third that day in Orlando to make
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Olympic team. And so this is a chance for
Rob Simmelkjaer: me and our listeners to get to know Dakota Lindwurm. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: I just want to start out with what I usually
Rob Simmelkjaer: ask people when I first meet them. Where are you from?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Where'd you grow up?
Dakota Lindwurm: I grew up in Saint Francis, Minnesota, which is about
Dakota Lindwurm: an hour north of the city. It's a small town
Dakota Lindwurm: of maybe 4 or 5, 000 people.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And was running something that was a big part of your life as a kid or did it
Rob Simmelkjaer: really just start in high school for you? How did
Rob Simmelkjaer: running become a part of your life?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, I started in high school my freshman year. Being
Dakota Lindwurm: from Minnesota, like a true Minnesotan, I played hockey for
Dakota Lindwurm: most of my life. And then my freshman year, my
Dakota Lindwurm: mom was just kind of like, " You know, you're so
Dakota Lindwurm: invested in hockey and that's amazing, but you need to
Dakota Lindwurm: broaden your horizons. Great athletes are typically great at a
Dakota Lindwurm: lot of things, so let's get you in something else."
Dakota Lindwurm: And I threw a fit. I wasn't super happy about
Dakota Lindwurm: joining a different sport because I was so obsessed with
Dakota Lindwurm: hockey, but I decided to go out for the track
Dakota Lindwurm: team because I typically beat the boys in the mile
Dakota Lindwurm: in gym class. So I was like, " I must be
Dakota Lindwurm: pretty naturally talented at this." And it just turns out
Dakota Lindwurm: the boys in my gym class didn't try very hard
Dakota Lindwurm: because when I got on the track team, I was
Dakota Lindwurm: directly on the JV team and took last a lot my freshman
Dakota Lindwurm: year. But because I was so bad at it and
Dakota Lindwurm: I'm generally a pretty athletic person who picks something up
Dakota Lindwurm: pretty quickly, I think because I was so bad at it, it kind of fueled
Dakota Lindwurm: a fire for me. I was like, " I'm going to
Dakota Lindwurm: work really hard to be better." And I think it
Dakota Lindwurm: was a blessing that I wasn't a natural at running.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah, I could see that. And I can also see how hockey
Rob Simmelkjaer: would be a tough thing to give up. In Minnesota,
Rob Simmelkjaer: they play both indoor arena hockey and then I know
Rob Simmelkjaer: pond hockey is huge in Minnesota. Were you a pond
Rob Simmelkjaer: hockey player as well?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah. I mean, I'd get done with practice and then
Dakota Lindwurm: we'd go play. We, I guess call it shinny hockey
Dakota Lindwurm: where you're not in full gear, you just go play hockey at
Dakota Lindwurm: whatever rink is open at night basically. I was pretty
Dakota Lindwurm: obsessed with it and I played all summer long and
Dakota Lindwurm: any chance I had to get on the ice, I
Dakota Lindwurm: was doing it for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Was there anything from the hockey that you found translated
Rob Simmelkjaer: well to running? I mean, there is endurance, especially if
Rob Simmelkjaer: you're on for a long shift or something in ice
Rob Simmelkjaer: hockey, you've got to have some pretty good lung capacity.
Dakota Lindwurm: Well, let me surprise you a little further. I was
Dakota Lindwurm: a goalie, so I didn't do a lot of skating.
Dakota Lindwurm: And let me tell you what I tell everybody is I think the biggest
Dakota Lindwurm: correlation between being an ice hockey goalie and a marathoner
Dakota Lindwurm: is you have to have a screw loose up here
Dakota Lindwurm: to want to be hurt that way. So I do
Dakota Lindwurm: think that they correlate in the way of I'm okay with
Dakota Lindwurm: being in pain.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That is 100% right. That is so funny. Yeah, the
Rob Simmelkjaer: least endurance related spot in a hockey rink and that
Rob Simmelkjaer: was you playing goalie. That's so funny. So as you
Rob Simmelkjaer: go through high school, Dakota, when did it occur to
Rob Simmelkjaer: you, I guess that you might actually have something with
Rob Simmelkjaer: this running? You mentioned beating some of the boys in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the mile, but then finishing last in the JV races. What
Rob Simmelkjaer: was the progression and when did you start to realize,
Rob Simmelkjaer: okay, this is kind of something I'm good at and
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe longer distances being where you could shine?
Dakota Lindwurm: I don't know if I ever really thought like, oh,
Dakota Lindwurm: I'm pretty good at this in high school because I
Dakota Lindwurm: never qualified for state meets, I never won any conference
Dakota Lindwurm: titles. But what I did really love about it compared to
Dakota Lindwurm: hockey was that I was working really hard in the
Dakota Lindwurm: off season. I was working really hard on the weekends
Dakota Lindwurm: and I was seeing the results on the track. I
Dakota Lindwurm: was getting better every year. I never really was great
Dakota Lindwurm: in high school, but I was seeing the PRs pretty
Dakota Lindwurm: frequently. Where in hockey, I was continuing to work really
Dakota Lindwurm: hard, but my position, I could only do so much.
Dakota Lindwurm: I could stop all the goals, but I couldn't score
Dakota Lindwurm: any and I felt like I wasn't seeing those direct
Dakota Lindwurm: results. So somewhere around my junior year, it kind of
Dakota Lindwurm: sunk in that instead of me being like, okay, I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: training during the cross country and track, I'm just training
Dakota Lindwurm: for hockey, it became like I'm just waiting for hockey
Dakota Lindwurm: to get done so I can get back on the
Dakota Lindwurm: track and get back in cross country. And that flip
Dakota Lindwurm: kind of switched for me around my junior year and
Dakota Lindwurm: that's when I started to think, well after college or
Dakota Lindwurm: I mean, after high school I'd really like to continue
Dakota Lindwurm: to run if I could and that's when I started
Dakota Lindwurm: reaching out to my college coach.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. And you were not someone who was on a lot of recruiting lists, it sounds like.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nobody was calling your parents or coming to your meets
Rob Simmelkjaer: to try to recruit you. You were making the calls,
Rob Simmelkjaer: which by the way I can relate to. Did the
Rob Simmelkjaer: same when I was coming out of high school for
Rob Simmelkjaer: playing baseball. How did it play out that you ended
Rob Simmelkjaer: up getting onto a college team? You went to Northern
Rob Simmelkjaer: State University, and what was that process like of being
Rob Simmelkjaer: able to walk on and run there?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, I didn't get a single recruiting letter, not a
Dakota Lindwurm: single person reached out to me to be a runner,
Dakota Lindwurm: and that's perfectly fine. I had kind decided on the college
Dakota Lindwurm: that I wanted to go to was Northern State. The
Dakota Lindwurm: campus was pretty small. It's in a small town and
Dakota Lindwurm: it had my major and it was very affordable, so
Dakota Lindwurm: I knew that's where I wanted to go. And then
Dakota Lindwurm: they had a track team, so I just emailed a
Dakota Lindwurm: coach. I said, " Here are my times. I perfectly understand that
Dakota Lindwurm: I am not somebody who you typically give a scholarship
Dakota Lindwurm: to, but if you let me on your team, I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: going to work really hard." And a day or two
Dakota Lindwurm: later, he called me and said, " You'd be a really
Dakota Lindwurm: great walk on addition." And for me that was him
Dakota Lindwurm: offering me a full ride scholarship. I was so thankful
Dakota Lindwurm: for the opportunity that I really wanted to keep my
Dakota Lindwurm: word and say, " I'm going to work as hard as
Dakota Lindwurm: I can for you," which he probably wasn't expecting me
Dakota Lindwurm: to be eventually a five time national qualifier, two time
Dakota Lindwurm: all American. But he definitely picked a good diamond in
Dakota Lindwurm: the rough for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And it's an incredible thing when a coach is able to find
Rob Simmelkjaer: that, right, because they've all got limited scholarship slots available
Rob Simmelkjaer: for their sport. And when someone with talent pops up out of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the blue and comes on as a walk- on, that's
Rob Simmelkjaer: like gold for a college coach. What was the process
Rob Simmelkjaer: once you got there like of improving and when did
Rob Simmelkjaer: you or your coach or someone say, " Wait a second,
Rob Simmelkjaer: we got something here? I think we got a steal."
Dakota Lindwurm: Actually, it took me a year to get my stride.
Dakota Lindwurm: I feel like, as a lot of people do, I had a little
Dakota Lindwurm: bit of a difficult time transitioning in college and I
Dakota Lindwurm: had a teammate, her name was Sasha Hovind. She had
Dakota Lindwurm: the exact same high school PRs as I did, 5: 35
Dakota Lindwurm: in the mile 1157 in the two mile to the
Dakota Lindwurm: second, the exact same PRs. And her sophomore year in
Dakota Lindwurm: cross country, she qualified for the national meet and I
Dakota Lindwurm: was nowhere near it. And we drove down, we watched
Dakota Lindwurm: her compete, she became an All- American that first time.
Dakota Lindwurm: And it was sitting there that sophomore year being like, "
Dakota Lindwurm: She had the same exact PRs as me. All I
Dakota Lindwurm: have to do is do what she does and I
Dakota Lindwurm: can do that too." And that's when the flip really
Dakota Lindwurm: switched for me. And I did whatever she did. If she
Dakota Lindwurm: were on a workout hard, I run it just as
Dakota Lindwurm: hard. If she stayed after to do core, I did
Dakota Lindwurm: core. And that was where she really set the example
Dakota Lindwurm: for me for sure. And then that outdoor season, I
Dakota Lindwurm: qualified for the national meet as well. So that's, I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: sure, when my coach was like, " Oh, all right, we got a
Dakota Lindwurm: good one here."
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's amazing what someone setting in the example can do.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We think about having a pacer in a race. This
Rob Simmelkjaer: is almost like having a pacer in life. You see
Rob Simmelkjaer: someone doing it and you say, " I want to do that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I just need to keep up with them." And it
Rob Simmelkjaer: can be transformative to have essentially a role model. You're
Rob Simmelkjaer: talking about a role model who is also a contemporary and
Rob Simmelkjaer: a teammate of yours that helped you figure out the
Rob Simmelkjaer: path to being what you could be.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, absolutely. I'm super thankful for her because if she
Dakota Lindwurm: wasn't my teammate, if she wasn't there setting that example,
Dakota Lindwurm: there's no way of knowing if I'd be where I
Dakota Lindwurm: am today. So I'm really grateful for that and I've
Dakota Lindwurm: always sought that rising tides, floats all boats and her
Dakota Lindwurm: having so much success just elevated my success for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So what were your preferred distances, Dakota, in college, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: did you start to now really gravitate towards longer distances?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Where were you in terms of your distance endurance and
Rob Simmelkjaer: where you were lengthwise?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, my college coach only let me run one 10K
Dakota Lindwurm: my freshman year. He was pretty conservative in the idea
Dakota Lindwurm: of doing too high a mileage and he wanted to
Dakota Lindwurm: make sure we had long successful, healthy careers. So I
Dakota Lindwurm: got to do one 10K that freshman year, and I
Dakota Lindwurm: immediately knew that the 10K was for me. I felt
Dakota Lindwurm: like when I would do 5Ks, I would give everything
Dakota Lindwurm: I could in that 5K and then five minutes later, once
Dakota Lindwurm: the race was over, I'd be like, " Okay, let's do
Dakota Lindwurm: it again." I was recovering so quickly. So yeah, I
Dakota Lindwurm: was a 5K, 10K girl, but definitely knew 10K was my strength
Rob Simmelkjaer: And that was a signal for what would come later.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Obviously, your body was telling you, you can go longer
Rob Simmelkjaer: here, this is good. We like to keep going. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: so did that essentially turn you into a 10K runner
Rob Simmelkjaer: as you went further into your college career?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, absolutely. And then even as I got farther and
Dakota Lindwurm: I was getting more successful, I almost never just did
Dakota Lindwurm: one event. It was always like the 5K, 10K double, and
Dakota Lindwurm: I was never really banged up or beat up or
Dakota Lindwurm: tired after, which was also kind of like now looking
Dakota Lindwurm: back, I can see that was my body telling me
Dakota Lindwurm: you're really a marathoner. You don't really get exhausted from
Dakota Lindwurm: these short races.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Having your body tell you is one thing and then
Rob Simmelkjaer: picking up on those signals and listening to it is
Rob Simmelkjaer: something else, right? Because a lot of people, maybe they
Rob Simmelkjaer: have in their mind, " No, no, no, I'm not a
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon or I'm not a long distance runner. I'm a 5K person."
Rob Simmelkjaer: They kind of resist and fight what their body's telling
Rob Simmelkjaer: them, but it sounds like you were ready to listen
Rob Simmelkjaer: and to go that longer distance.
Dakota Lindwurm: And a little funny story people don't always know is
Dakota Lindwurm: my college coach always encouraged us to run summer races, jump
Dakota Lindwurm: into 5K or 10K, stay motivated for cross country. And after my
Dakota Lindwurm: freshman year going into my sophomore year, I convinced him
Dakota Lindwurm: to let me run a trail marathon. And so every
Dakota Lindwurm: summer in college I ran this trail marathon and won
Dakota Lindwurm: it. So I already kind of knew that my body
Dakota Lindwurm: was built for the long haul for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow, that's pretty unusual for someone at that collegiate level
Rob Simmelkjaer: to already be sampling the marathon distance. So you really
Rob Simmelkjaer: had a sense at a very young age. And so
Rob Simmelkjaer: as you get out of college, Dakota, the marathon's already
Rob Simmelkjaer: in your mind at that point, right? So what is
Rob Simmelkjaer: your thinking? As you're getting out of school, is a
Rob Simmelkjaer: professional running career fully in your sights at that point
Rob Simmelkjaer: and knowing that's what you wanted to do?
Dakota Lindwurm: Not at all. I knew that I was going to keep running. Running is my everything.
Dakota Lindwurm: It's what makes me feel most like myself, and I
Dakota Lindwurm: knew I was never going to not be a runner,
Dakota Lindwurm: and I thought, " You know, I'll train for local 5K, 10Ks
Dakota Lindwurm: marathons, maybe I'll qualify for Boston one day." I didn't
Dakota Lindwurm: really have any sense of what professional running was. I
Dakota Lindwurm: literally didn't understand what it meant. And I was helping
Dakota Lindwurm: my coach give a perspective athlete a tour of the
Dakota Lindwurm: school, and his parents said to me, " What are you planning
Dakota Lindwurm: on doing? Surely you're not done with running." And I
Dakota Lindwurm: gave some answer like, " Yeah, I'll always keep running. I
Dakota Lindwurm: want to train for marathons." And my college coach just
Dakota Lindwurm: looked me in the eyes and he goes, " You could
Dakota Lindwurm: qualify for the Olympic trials in the marathon." And I
Dakota Lindwurm: looked and I said, " What is that?" I was like, " What
Dakota Lindwurm: does that mean?" And the next day, I walked into
Dakota Lindwurm: his office with a notepad and a pen and I said, "
Dakota Lindwurm: I need to know everything about what you just said.
Dakota Lindwurm: How do I qualify? What pace is that? How do
Dakota Lindwurm: I get a coach? How do I enter the race?
Dakota Lindwurm: I needed to know everything about it." And he certainly
Dakota Lindwurm: wasn't saying, " Hey Dakota, I don't think you should put
Dakota Lindwurm: everything aside and pursue professional running." Because I was promising
Dakota Lindwurm: at the marathon, but I wasn't a Sara Hall in
Dakota Lindwurm: college. I wasn't an Emma Coburn or a Kara Goucher. I wasn't somebody
Dakota Lindwurm: who was guaranteed going to be a really successful professional
Dakota Lindwurm: runner or anything. So he was just saying, " Hey, you
Dakota Lindwurm: should try to qualify for the race." Not, " Hey, maybe
Dakota Lindwurm: qualify for the Olympics someday." And I was just always
Dakota Lindwurm: somebody who's all in on something so I was like, " If I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: going to try to qualify for the Olympic trials, I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: going to try to qualify for the team."
Rob Simmelkjaer: And so you qualified for the Olympic trials in 2020
Rob Simmelkjaer: and you finished 36th in that race. Super respectable, obviously
Rob Simmelkjaer: for someone who didn't even know what they were not
Rob Simmelkjaer: long before that. So what was that experience like? What
Rob Simmelkjaer: did you get from the experience of preparing and then
Rob Simmelkjaer: running in that first trials race in 2020?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah. I think that was a perfect first Olympic trials
Dakota Lindwurm: for me because I had no expectations. If I would've
Dakota Lindwurm: come in last, I think I'd have been just as
Dakota Lindwurm: happy as coming in 36 or whatever. I had a
Dakota Lindwurm: pretty horrible race there. I can very vividly remember like
Dakota Lindwurm: a lot of people did. The wind got pretty bad
Dakota Lindwurm: and the hills were pretty horrible. But I just enjoyed
Dakota Lindwurm: it and I learned from it and I watched what the
Dakota Lindwurm: front pack was doing for as long as I could
Dakota Lindwurm: until I couldn't keep up with them any more kind
Dakota Lindwurm: of thing. I just felt like I got to go
Dakota Lindwurm: have a really good experience there. Which then going into
Dakota Lindwurm: 2024, I felt like, oh, this is something I've done
Dakota Lindwurm: before and it's no big deal, which I think kept
Dakota Lindwurm: me kind of calm going into 2024.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And as you come out of 2020 now, you're now
Rob Simmelkjaer: a runner, right? I mean, you're thinking about running for
Rob Simmelkjaer: real and of course your greatest successes at the marathon
Rob Simmelkjaer: distance before you're making the Olympics were Grandma's, winning back
Rob Simmelkjaer: to back Grandma's, which is an iconic race. How did
Rob Simmelkjaer: that come about? What was your thinking going into those
Rob Simmelkjaer: races and how did that really change your perspective in
Rob Simmelkjaer: terms of what you were capable of?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, I think going into Grandma's has always been a really
Dakota Lindwurm: great place for me because it's, I don't know, three
Dakota Lindwurm: hours north of where I live. It's a car ride
Dakota Lindwurm: up there. It feels like home. I grew up going
Dakota Lindwurm: up to Duluth all the time with my family. And
Dakota Lindwurm: so it's just really low pressure in comparison to going to
Dakota Lindwurm: a Boston where it feels really high pressure and they
Dakota Lindwurm: don't typically bring in a super strong field. So it
Dakota Lindwurm: feels like I can be a top dog there and
Dakota Lindwurm: it's helped me just build a lot of confidence. And
Dakota Lindwurm: I feel like every time I go to Grandma's, my
Dakota Lindwurm: career just elevates one more step, one more step. So
Dakota Lindwurm: going there that first time in 2021 and winning, I
Dakota Lindwurm: was kind of like, " Oh, this is a big deal."
Dakota Lindwurm: And it ended up helping me get my Puma sponsorship.
Dakota Lindwurm: And then I went back the next year and ran
Dakota Lindwurm: 225, which was a really great time at that point
Dakota Lindwurm: for me. I felt like that really put me on
Dakota Lindwurm: the map over and over.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And it was around that time, Dakota, 2020, '21 that you lost your
Rob Simmelkjaer: mom. And you talked earlier about your mom being the
Rob Simmelkjaer: person who came to you and said, " Hey, why don't
Rob Simmelkjaer: you take those skates off for a little while and
Rob Simmelkjaer: put on some running shoes and give this a go?"
Rob Simmelkjaer: What was it like for you going through that period
Rob Simmelkjaer: where your running is kind of taking off, right? You're exploding,
Rob Simmelkjaer: you have great performances around the same time that you're
Rob Simmelkjaer: losing the person who got you into this sport in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the first place.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah. I love to tell this story of in 2019
Dakota Lindwurm: I ran Grandma's and it's where I qualified for the
Dakota Lindwurm: 2020 trials. My mom was sick for a lot of
Dakota Lindwurm: my life and she had autoimmune diseases where every day
Dakota Lindwurm: was really unpredictable, so you never knew how she was
Dakota Lindwurm: going to wake up feeling. And more often than not,
Dakota Lindwurm: she woke up feeling pretty bad where she couldn't maybe
Dakota Lindwurm: leave the house or even leave her bed. So going
Dakota Lindwurm: into that Grandma's in 2019, my expectations were low of
Dakota Lindwurm: her coming up to watch because it was unlikely. And
Dakota Lindwurm: I finished, I qualified for the trials and I was
Dakota Lindwurm: so, so surprised across the line and then looked to
Dakota Lindwurm: my left, and she was right there at the finish
Dakota Lindwurm: line, and I can still remember our hug and hear
Dakota Lindwurm: her crying saying, " You did it." And then of course,
Dakota Lindwurm: 2020, we lost her. And then 2021, went back up
Dakota Lindwurm: there and won for the first time. I crossed the
Dakota Lindwurm: line and I looked over to my left, right exactly
Dakota Lindwurm: where my mom stood and nobody had any idea about
Dakota Lindwurm: this, but my grandpa was standing right there, and that
Dakota Lindwurm: was the first race he had ever watched me run.
Dakota Lindwurm: And I got to win and I got to go right
Dakota Lindwurm: into his arms. And it was just really, really special
Dakota Lindwurm: to share that moment with him. It's really amazing. I
Dakota Lindwurm: know that she would be so incredibly proud of me, but
Dakota Lindwurm: I wish for one second that I could just tell her, "
Dakota Lindwurm: Mom, you were right." I wish I could give her
Dakota Lindwurm: that satisfaction of you were right all along by making
Dakota Lindwurm: me join a new sport.
Rob Simmelkjaer: She definitely was onto something. And it's great, I understand
Rob Simmelkjaer: that feeling of wishing that a parent could see some
Rob Simmelkjaer: of these moments that you're having. It is great that
Rob Simmelkjaer: she was able to see you qualify for the trials
Rob Simmelkjaer: because that was kind of a moment where clearly there
Rob Simmelkjaer: was something going on here and you knew it and
Rob Simmelkjaer: she probably knew it. So at least there was that
Rob Simmelkjaer: opportunity to have that moment. And I'm sure that moment
Rob Simmelkjaer: is when you think about a lot during races, at
Rob Simmelkjaer: the end of races. It must be a huge motivator
Rob Simmelkjaer: for you.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, absolutely. And she didn't really know much about running
Dakota Lindwurm: or maybe if anything about running, so she was always
Dakota Lindwurm: just proud when I would finish. I mean, she'd be
Dakota Lindwurm: super proud that I made an Olympic team, but she'd
Dakota Lindwurm: be just as proud if I would have taken 70th at the
Dakota Lindwurm: Olympic trials. So I can't wait to celebrate with her
Dakota Lindwurm: someday in heaven, but for now I get to just
Dakota Lindwurm: imagine what she's doing up there.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Absolutely. Amen to that. So all right, let's talk about
Rob Simmelkjaer: what happened this year. So you are getting ready for
Rob Simmelkjaer: your second Olympic trials and you and your coach, Chris
Rob Simmelkjaer: Lundstrom, decide to increase your weekly mileage to 130 miles
Rob Simmelkjaer: a week, which is some impressive mileage. Can you talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: about training for trials this year, what you did differently
Rob Simmelkjaer: and how that mileage really ended up being a key
Rob Simmelkjaer: to your success?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, it's not that crazy that I bumped up to 130.
Dakota Lindwurm: I did 120 pretty frequently, and right before I left
Dakota Lindwurm: for Orlando, which I went down the day after Thanksgiving
Dakota Lindwurm: to train because Minnesota winter is so unpredictable. I wanted
Dakota Lindwurm: to be in good weather, similar weather to what I'd
Dakota Lindwurm: be racing in. And a few days before I left,
Dakota Lindwurm: I said, "You know, I feel like I've been really comfortable at
Dakota Lindwurm: 120. Let's bump up to 130 and see what happens."
Dakota Lindwurm: We kind of have nothing to lose. Either I have a really
Dakota Lindwurm: great race and I make the team or I don't. Like
Dakota Lindwurm: it's not a big deal if we give it a
Dakota Lindwurm: shot and it doesn't work kind of thing. Especially because
Dakota Lindwurm: I didn't feel like I was currently in the fitness
Dakota Lindwurm: or I had been in the fitness it would take
Dakota Lindwurm: to make the team. I felt like I needed to
Dakota Lindwurm: do a little bit more. And I think just bumping
Dakota Lindwurm: up for some reason just helped me click all across
Dakota Lindwurm: the board. I felt like I was able to still
Dakota Lindwurm: do my workouts really, really well. I never looked back
Dakota Lindwurm: at any of the workouts I did in my build
Dakota Lindwurm: to the Olympic trials and thought, " Oh, I wish that
Dakota Lindwurm: one had gotten better." Every single one was pretty flawless
Dakota Lindwurm: and I think it had to do with just having the confidence of the
Dakota Lindwurm: mileage and just getting a little bit extra fit from
Dakota Lindwurm: having that bump in mileage for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So when you stepped to the starting line in Orlando,
Rob Simmelkjaer: it sounds like it was a very different mindset than the one you had
Rob Simmelkjaer: four years prior where now you're not just happy to
Rob Simmelkjaer: be there, you're there to see what you can do.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And as you looked at the other women at that
Rob Simmelkjaer: starting line, the Emily Sissons of the world, what was
Rob Simmelkjaer: your strategy? How did you want the race to out and
Rob Simmelkjaer: then how did it ultimately out for you?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, I had a call with a coach before, the
Dakota Lindwurm: Tuesday before and we kind of went through a race
Dakota Lindwurm: plan. The plan was to be unseen and unheard for
Dakota Lindwurm: as long as possible. I didn't want anybody to know
Dakota Lindwurm: that I was even there. I am somebody who has
Dakota Lindwurm: taken the lead in races before early, and I didn't
Dakota Lindwurm: want to do that. I wanted to waste as little
Dakota Lindwurm: energy as possible. And I told Lando that I was
Dakota Lindwurm: just going to follow any move anybody made a day and
Dakota Lindwurm: just hope that I'm in the final three in the
Dakota Lindwurm: last bit. And his incredible advice and wisdom was that's
Dakota Lindwurm: fine if the moves seem legit, go with them. But
Dakota Lindwurm: know that around mile 18 to 20, people are going to start
Dakota Lindwurm: making moves that are too big for their britches and
Dakota Lindwurm: be aware of those moves and say, " Hey, I'll make
Dakota Lindwurm: it up slowly rather than try to throw down big
Dakota Lindwurm: surges." And he was exactly right. I stayed pretty quiet
Dakota Lindwurm: for most of the race. I did take the lead
Dakota Lindwurm: for a mile or two about halfway through, and I
Dakota Lindwurm: saw my family and got excited, but I worked my
Dakota Lindwurm: way back. And then around 18 or 20, Fiona made
Dakota Lindwurm: that really big press. Emily went with her, and then
Dakota Lindwurm: another group of women, it was like Sara Hall, Betsy
Dakota Lindwurm: Saina, and a few other women made a move to
Dakota Lindwurm: go with, but I thought to myself, I'm like, " Not
Dakota Lindwurm: all those women can hold that pace." And that's where
Dakota Lindwurm: Lando's really great advice came in and I said, " Okay,
Dakota Lindwurm: well I'm going to let them take that pace and then I'm just
Dakota Lindwurm: going to slowly tip away at it." And then somewhere
Dakota Lindwurm: around, I don't know, 22- ish, I caught back up
Dakota Lindwurm: to Sara and Betsy. Emily and Fiona were gone at
Dakota Lindwurm: that point and I was like, " I can still make
Dakota Lindwurm: this team. I can be the third place." And I
Dakota Lindwurm: passed Sara, I passed Betsy. Betsy hung on with me
Dakota Lindwurm: for a second. I had Carolyn Rotich on shoulder, but
Dakota Lindwurm: then around 23 or 24, I started to hear things like, " Five
Dakota Lindwurm: seconds back, 10 seconds back." That was the first time
Dakota Lindwurm: that I was like, " Oh my gosh, I'm on this
Dakota Lindwurm: team if I can just finish this race." Of course,
Dakota Lindwurm: I was constantly like, you can't think about the finish
Dakota Lindwurm: line until you're there. But yeah, I just felt like
Dakota Lindwurm: I was kind of in a zombie walk to the finish
Dakota Lindwurm: line, just like get there, don't have any thoughts. I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: typically so smiley and so engaging with the crowd, but
Dakota Lindwurm: I was really just laser focused being like if you
Dakota Lindwurm: cannot celebrate until you can touch the finish line, and
Dakota Lindwurm: that's exactly what happened, you seem to be super serious.
Dakota Lindwurm: And then once I'm four steps away, I let it
Dakota Lindwurm: all out.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What was that moment for you? What was going through your mind as
Rob Simmelkjaer: you crossed that finish line? What's the first thing you
Rob Simmelkjaer: thought about?
Dakota Lindwurm: I think when you see me finish, I literally put
Dakota Lindwurm: my hands on my head and I go, " What?" I knew
Dakota Lindwurm: it was going to happen, but for it to come
Dakota Lindwurm: to fruition, for you to have all your hard work paid off
Dakota Lindwurm: in one moment. Only three people make the Olympic team
Dakota Lindwurm: every four years, you know how small of a chance
Dakota Lindwurm: you have of making that team and for it to
Dakota Lindwurm: come true is, I think I've been looking for the
Dakota Lindwurm: right word to describe it since that day and I
Dakota Lindwurm: don't know that it exists.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What's the best call or text that you've gotten or
Rob Simmelkjaer: that you got right after that race reacting to you making
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Olympics?
Dakota Lindwurm: I thought it was pretty cool. I got a message
Dakota Lindwurm: from our mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey. He was actually
Dakota Lindwurm: a former runner and he congratulated me and he actually asked
Dakota Lindwurm: me to go for a run with him. So I
Dakota Lindwurm: thought it was kind of cool because he's famous here
Dakota Lindwurm: in Minneapolis, so I thought that was pretty cool.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. Well, you're going to be pretty famous
Rob Simmelkjaer: everywhere and you're going to be famous here in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York. Talk about deciding to come to join us here in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York and what you're hoping to get from the experience.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, this was a perfect opportunity for me to get
Dakota Lindwurm: to the Mini. I've never been because Grandma's is typically
Dakota Lindwurm: two weeks later and I'm pretty committed to being a
Dakota Lindwurm: part of that weekend at this point, and you can't
Dakota Lindwurm: really race a 10K two weeks before a marathon. So as soon
Dakota Lindwurm: as somebody brought it up, I was like, " Yes, I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: doing the Mini this year because everybody talks about how
Dakota Lindwurm: well it's put on." It's a women's only, just like
Dakota Lindwurm: gal pal kind of weekend. And gosh, the New York
Dakota Lindwurm: Road Runners, I always say they have the hardest darn
Dakota Lindwurm: courses and they are so challenging, but everybody loves to
Dakota Lindwurm: go to them because they put on the best races,
Dakota Lindwurm: they treat us so well and they bring together world-
Dakota Lindwurm: class fields every time. It's like every year we're like, " This
Dakota Lindwurm: is the best field ever." And then next year it's going
Dakota Lindwurm: to be like, " This is the best field ever." You guys just are constantly raising the bar for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, Sam Grotewold, who is our director of pro athletes
Rob Simmelkjaer: just does such a great job putting those fields together.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We actually interviewed him last week on Set the Pace,
Rob Simmelkjaer: so you can go back and listen to that if
Rob Simmelkjaer: you're interested in how he does it. But what's it
Rob Simmelkjaer: going to be like lining up against so many of
Rob Simmelkjaer: these incredible runners, including your teammates going to Paris? We
Rob Simmelkjaer: know it's obviously the marathon and Paris is your focus
Rob Simmelkjaer: now we get it, but what do you hope to
Rob Simmelkjaer: get even just out of the race this weekend?
Dakota Lindwurm: I race 10Ks so infrequently. I quite literally don't even
Dakota Lindwurm: know what my PR is. I think I just looking to
Dakota Lindwurm: snag a PR. I'm sure I'm in better shape than
Dakota Lindwurm: the last time I ran a 10K. I would be
Dakota Lindwurm: naive to say that I want to compete against some
Dakota Lindwurm: of these best 10K runners in the world and I
Dakota Lindwurm: don't know want to go race it, have a good
Dakota Lindwurm: time in New York and hopefully just get a good
Dakota Lindwurm: key on where my fitness is right now.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Have you spent much time in New York before?
Dakota Lindwurm: I've been there for the united half a couple of
Dakota Lindwurm: times, and I was there for the marathon in 2021,
Dakota Lindwurm: the really hot year. I mean, I think you can
Dakota Lindwurm: always have more time in New York for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Well, we are thrilled to have you. And you mentioned
Rob Simmelkjaer: earlier the smile that you often run with just not
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe right before the finish line of the Olympic trials.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Where does that come from? I mean, I saw that
Rob Simmelkjaer: in some other video of you just always running with
Rob Simmelkjaer: a smile. You interact with the crowd a lot. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: sure you'll have so many people yelling your name in
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York. There's going to be a lot of smiling
Rob Simmelkjaer: we hope in the Mini 10K, but how does that
Rob Simmelkjaer: work for you? Does that help you run better to
Rob Simmelkjaer: loosen you up and get you to a better head
Rob Simmelkjaer: space when you're running with a smile in your face?
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah. It actually goes back to that first marathon in
Dakota Lindwurm: Grandma's, my first road marathon. I was going through a
Dakota Lindwurm: rough patch around mile 12, which is kind of too
Dakota Lindwurm: early to go through a rough patch in a marathon.
Dakota Lindwurm: And I happened to see my dad and him and
Dakota Lindwurm: I have a fun relationship, so I kind of gave
Dakota Lindwurm: him the strong arm, thumbs up, smile, and he immediately
Dakota Lindwurm: pulled me out of that rough patch and I was like, " Oh, maybe
Dakota Lindwurm: there's something to this." And I just started deciding to
Dakota Lindwurm: have fun. In fact, it's kind of a silly way
Dakota Lindwurm: to try to make a living if you don't love to do it,
Dakota Lindwurm: and I do love it. So why in the world
Dakota Lindwurm: on race day do I decide to be super serious?
Dakota Lindwurm: That would be, I don't know, it's just not me. So it's not authentic.
Dakota Lindwurm: So I started to just smile at everybody and every
Dakota Lindwurm: time I started feeling rough, I'd kind of give a
Dakota Lindwurm: wave like, " Let me hear you," or put my hand
Dakota Lindwurm: in my ear to get them to cheer louder. And
Dakota Lindwurm: it continued to pull me out of those rough patches.
Dakota Lindwurm: And I was like, " There's something to this for sure." And if
Dakota Lindwurm: I'm smiling, I'm hearing people say, " Oh, she looks so
Dakota Lindwurm: great." And I'm like, " Yeah, I do look so great.
Dakota Lindwurm: I feel awesome." And sure enough, I ended up looking
Dakota Lindwurm: it up. And sometimes when you're smiling through something that
Dakota Lindwurm: is hard, it literally will trick your brain into saying like, "
Dakota Lindwurm: We are enjoying this." Even if it isn't super enjoyable
Dakota Lindwurm: in that moment. So yeah, I don't know. It just kind of became my trademark
Dakota Lindwurm: that way.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I can totally relate to what you're saying. The power
Rob Simmelkjaer: of smiles on other people, but then even on yourself.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Just the motion of putting your face into a smile,
Rob Simmelkjaer: you're right, it sends signals to your brain and to your body
Rob Simmelkjaer: that everything's good here. I need to try this because
Rob Simmelkjaer: every time I ever see a photo of myself running
Rob Simmelkjaer: a half- marathon or even a 10K, I just look like I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: in so much pain and I'm not even doing it
Rob Simmelkjaer: for a living. I'm just out there doing it purely
Rob Simmelkjaer: for fun. You're out there doing it as a professional
Rob Simmelkjaer: athlete and you can smile. So if you can do
Rob Simmelkjaer: it, I think I should be able to do it.
Dakota Lindwurm: You know, I think that's another thing too I've thought of is if just
Dakota Lindwurm: one person who's never run a race or a marathon
Dakota Lindwurm: sees me and goes, " Wow, she's leading this race or
Dakota Lindwurm: is being really competitive and she's having a good time,
Dakota Lindwurm: maybe I can go just compete and finish it and
Dakota Lindwurm: have a good time." And I hope it inspires at
Dakota Lindwurm: least one person to at least sign up for a
Dakota Lindwurm: race and say, " Maybe this is fun."
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. It's fantastic. Well, hopefully you'll have a
Rob Simmelkjaer: smile on your face in Paris as well. How is
Rob Simmelkjaer: the preparation going? What's your mindset for that experience? How
Rob Simmelkjaer: are you thinking of it? Are you thinking of it
Rob Simmelkjaer: as, all right, I want to get here in terms
Rob Simmelkjaer: of a time or a finish, or are you thinking
Rob Simmelkjaer: of it more as a, wow, I'm going to the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Olympics, I want to soak up every moment of that experience
Rob Simmelkjaer: from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony?
Dakota Lindwurm: I'm going to try to do a mix. I definitely want to go and just say, this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Obviously, I'd like
Dakota Lindwurm: to make it in 2028 or 2032, but that's never promised. So
Dakota Lindwurm: I am going to go be a part of opening
Dakota Lindwurm: ceremonies. I'm going to go try to watch other events.
Dakota Lindwurm: I'm going to approach it as if it's any other
Dakota Lindwurm: marathon because I don't want to put any extra pressure
Dakota Lindwurm: on it just because it is the Olympics. So I'm
Dakota Lindwurm: going to go have fun, but I think because the
Dakota Lindwurm: course, I've been to Paris now, I got to see
Dakota Lindwurm: the course, I think because the course is so challenging
Dakota Lindwurm: and it'll be likely hot and humid in Paris that
Dakota Lindwurm: it opens it up for an underdog. And I keep
Dakota Lindwurm: saying I can't claim the underdog title for much longer,
Dakota Lindwurm: but I think I can claim it one more time
Dakota Lindwurm: in Paris. And I don't know, I want to go
Dakota Lindwurm: surprise some people. I think I could place well and
Dakota Lindwurm: on the right day, I wouldn't deny myself a medal,
Dakota Lindwurm: I'd say. I think that I could surprise somebody.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. I absolutely love that mindset going in.
Rob Simmelkjaer: What's your relationship with hills, Dakota? Because that's what everyone's
Rob Simmelkjaer: saying is people are intimidated by the hills. We know
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot about hills here in New York. How do
Rob Simmelkjaer: you feel about hills?
Dakota Lindwurm: I prefer flat marathons, but the great thing is we know it's
Dakota Lindwurm: hilly, so we'll train for it. I've got an amazing
Dakota Lindwurm: coach who I trust with my life, and we've already
Dakota Lindwurm: been incorporating a lot of hill work, and I've got
Dakota Lindwurm: a couple really great strength coaches who I've explained the
Dakota Lindwurm: course to, and they're like, " All right, we're going to get
Dakota Lindwurm: your quads ready to get beat up on those downhills."
Dakota Lindwurm: So I have full trust in the system and in the
Dakota Lindwurm: process, so I think I can be better than I have
Dakota Lindwurm: been on hills before, and I like that it's going
Dakota Lindwurm: to be hilly because some of those women can run
Dakota Lindwurm: nearly 10 minutes faster than I can in a marathon,
Dakota Lindwurm: but they won't on this course.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So Dakota, somewhere out there listening to this is a
Rob Simmelkjaer: high school version of Dakota Lindwurm or maybe one of
Rob Simmelkjaer: their parents, a girl who is an average high school
Rob Simmelkjaer: runner, maybe just discovered it. Heck, my daughter just started
Rob Simmelkjaer: running cross country in ninth grade and she's running maybe
Rob Simmelkjaer: a 22 something 5K. Pretty good for somebody who just started,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but no one's looking at her as a division I
Rob Simmelkjaer: athlete at least just yet. But what's your message to
Rob Simmelkjaer: someone like that now as you prepare to represent the
Rob Simmelkjaer: United States at the Olympic Games? What would you say
Rob Simmelkjaer: to that girl out there in terms of what they
Rob Simmelkjaer: can get out of running?
Dakota Lindwurm: I like to say, don't set any limit on yourself. Just because you're
Dakota Lindwurm: not doing what the best in your state is doing,
Dakota Lindwurm: doesn't mean that you can't be better someday. Everybody develops
Dakota Lindwurm: in a different timeline, and you just always have to
Dakota Lindwurm: be the first person to bet on yourself and say, "
Dakota Lindwurm: I believe in myself. I believe in the hard work
Dakota Lindwurm: that I will do and it will pay off someday.
Dakota Lindwurm: Maybe not in the most immediate future, but if I
Dakota Lindwurm: keep on keeping on keeping on, you're going to surprise somebody."
Rob Simmelkjaer: And that payoff, Dakota, I mean, it could be a
Rob Simmelkjaer: payoff like the one you're experiencing, but running can pay
Rob Simmelkjaer: off in so many different ways. What are some of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: ways that running has paid off for you, aside from
Rob Simmelkjaer: the fact that it's been your career?
Dakota Lindwurm: I think running, I mean, aside from the money, the
Dakota Lindwurm: fame, the glory, running pays off every single day for
Dakota Lindwurm: me. I get to wake up, put my shoes on,
Dakota Lindwurm: and go do something I love in the deepest way.
Dakota Lindwurm: On my very worst days of running, I love it
Dakota Lindwurm: more than just about any other activity, and it really
Dakota Lindwurm: centers me, and I think I'm just really grateful that
Dakota Lindwurm: I found it for sure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dakota, we are grateful to you. We're so excited to have you in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York this weekend at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's going to be such a thrill to see you
Rob Simmelkjaer: line up along with all these incredible, great female athletes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So thank you for joining us, for telling your story.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's awesome and we're all rooting for you this weekend,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and then of course in Paris as well.
Dakota Lindwurm: Yeah, thanks so much for having me on. I'm excited
Dakota Lindwurm: to be a part of the Mini finally.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, Dakota Lindwurm, Mini 10K runner and Olympian coming
Rob Simmelkjaer: up in the Paris 2024 games representing the United States
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the marathon. You can check her out this weekend
Rob Simmelkjaer: at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K, and we will
Rob Simmelkjaer: see you there. Today's New York Road Runner member moment
Rob Simmelkjaer: is with Gabrielle Yatauro. Gabrielle's a local elite runner who
Rob Simmelkjaer: has run 33 races with NYRR since 2019. As a
Rob Simmelkjaer: dual sport high school athlete, she transitioned away from sports
Rob Simmelkjaer: and towards medical social work in college and graduate school,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but she rediscovered her love of running with the Brooklyn
Rob Simmelkjaer: Track Club. Like Dakota Lindwurm, Gabrielle is preparing for this
Rob Simmelkjaer: weekend's Mastercard New York Mini 10K and she joins us today after
Rob Simmelkjaer: running five half- marathons in the past five months, including
Rob Simmelkjaer: both the United Airlines NYC Half and the RBC Brooklyn Half.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. Gabrielle, welcome to the podcast. How are you
Meb Keflezighi: doing today?
Gabrielle Yatauro: I'm good. How are you?
Meb Keflezighi: I'm doing well. Well, you were a runner in high school,
Meb Keflezighi: but the physical and emotional struggle in college with the
Meb Keflezighi: sports drain, your desire to continue running. When and why
Meb Keflezighi: did you start running again?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yeah, college was a bit tougher than I had imagined,
Gabrielle Yatauro: and I think I decided to take a break in
Gabrielle Yatauro: college and after college and I decided to really focus
Gabrielle Yatauro: in on my pursuit of social work. So I came
Gabrielle Yatauro: to New York from Nashville, Tennessee to pursue grad school
Gabrielle Yatauro: at Columbia University. And again, I really wanted to put
Gabrielle Yatauro: running away and focus on social work. But the moment
Gabrielle Yatauro: I got to New York, I think I decided to
Gabrielle Yatauro: relieve some stress. I was going to take a little
Gabrielle Yatauro: jog through Central Park, and I mean, I think any
Gabrielle Yatauro: runner can attest to it. The moment I stepped into
Gabrielle Yatauro: Central Park, I was just blown away. I just couldn't imagine
Gabrielle Yatauro: what an oasis this was in the middle of the city
Gabrielle Yatauro: and I started running in Central Park just for stress
Gabrielle Yatauro: relief. And then of course, as all again, I think
Gabrielle Yatauro: a lot of New Yorkers know the moment I started
Gabrielle Yatauro: running in the park, I had friendly faces come up
Gabrielle Yatauro: to me and ask, " Who do you run with? You
Gabrielle Yatauro: should definitely come out and run with us." And I got
Gabrielle Yatauro: all these invites and questions on who I ran with,
Gabrielle Yatauro: and as fate had it, I talked to someone very
Gabrielle Yatauro: specifically who ran for Brooklyn Track Club. They invite me
Gabrielle Yatauro: to a long run, very casually one Sunday, and the
Gabrielle Yatauro: rest is history.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, you're right, Central Park, it keeps us all together
Meb Keflezighi: and kind of keeps us sane and be able to
Meb Keflezighi: just enjoy the comradery that brings the together. But when
Meb Keflezighi: you're not running, you are a medical social worker. Can
Meb Keflezighi: you help us understand what that job entails and how
Meb Keflezighi: it helps you to do the job better as a runner?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yeah, I think being a social worker in general, I found a
Gabrielle Yatauro: love for community and helping others in that community and
Gabrielle Yatauro: within a hospital, you really see all walks of life
Gabrielle Yatauro: and at different points in life. So as a medical
Gabrielle Yatauro: social worker, my main job is to provide support to
Gabrielle Yatauro: families and the patients themselves, but then to help coordinate
Gabrielle Yatauro: their plan outside of leaving the hospital. So connecting them
Gabrielle Yatauro: to whatever resources that they need within the New York
Gabrielle Yatauro: City community or wherever they're coming from or going to
Gabrielle Yatauro: and making sure they're well- supported, well- connected, and really
Gabrielle Yatauro: seeing them through that process. And so I think that
Gabrielle Yatauro: really translates well into even just the running community here
Gabrielle Yatauro: in New York. I think my love for community and
Gabrielle Yatauro: helping others and being a part of community was exactly
Gabrielle Yatauro: the same as running here in New York. So it's
Gabrielle Yatauro: a tough job, but it's very fulfilling. Same with running.
Gabrielle Yatauro: Running is tough, but very fulfilling.
Meb Keflezighi: Sounds very parallel. For me, I visit doctors sometimes when
Meb Keflezighi: it was elderly. I think just have another appreciation what
Meb Keflezighi: your body is able to do because you can see all
Meb Keflezighi: walks of life like it says after surgery, and now
Meb Keflezighi: they have to go through their rehab and all those things.
Meb Keflezighi: What is your mental thing? What do you think when
Meb Keflezighi: you're struggling through the run or whatnot? Does that give you
Meb Keflezighi: a little different perspective seeing those people?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yes. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I specifically work here at
Gabrielle Yatauro: NYU Orthopedic Hospital, and I work on the rehab center.
Gabrielle Yatauro: And the rehab center specifically, I see people going into
Gabrielle Yatauro: really intense occupational therapy, physical therapy, and I think we
Gabrielle Yatauro: can all relate to the fact that a lot of
Gabrielle Yatauro: us don't want to do therapy, don't want to put
Gabrielle Yatauro: in the work sometimes, but we know it's needed. And
Gabrielle Yatauro: watching patients go from something really traumatic or something that
Gabrielle Yatauro: is really important to them and working towards getting out
Gabrielle Yatauro: of the hospital healthier really does put into perspective. I'm
Gabrielle Yatauro: seeing them go from maybe not walking to coming out
Gabrielle Yatauro: walking. So when I get to run, it just really
Gabrielle Yatauro: reminds me of how grateful I am to be able
Gabrielle Yatauro: to do what I do and to be surrounded by
Gabrielle Yatauro: the people that I am. I really lucky. And it
Gabrielle Yatauro: definitely puts into perspective and I think it helps talk to
Gabrielle Yatauro: patients as well and get more on their level as
Gabrielle Yatauro: well, and understanding the hardships of what they're going through
Gabrielle Yatauro: and their body. So it's nice.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, that's great. And then I'm pretty sure you inspire
Meb Keflezighi: them. They inspire you equally. You have around five half-
Meb Keflezighi: marathons in five a month, which is incredible, including (inaudible)
Meb Keflezighi: , few Olympians at the United NYC Half and winning the
Meb Keflezighi: 2024 Surf City Half Marathon. What does it feel to
Meb Keflezighi: have so many great experience and especially winning in your hometown?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yeah, I think I'm really lucky to be able to
Gabrielle Yatauro: have the opportunity. I've grown up in a lot of places, which really
Gabrielle Yatauro: did emphasize my love for community. I've seen a lot
Gabrielle Yatauro: of different walks of life, a lot of different places
Gabrielle Yatauro: where I lived, and it was really exciting. I hadn't
Gabrielle Yatauro: planned on running five. It kind of just came into
Gabrielle Yatauro: every place that I've lived before had a half, and
Gabrielle Yatauro: it was just so exciting because each half was just
Gabrielle Yatauro: so celebratory and different in their own ways. To have
Gabrielle Yatauro: friends that I've met while in New York City congratulate
Gabrielle Yatauro: me and be along me, running next to me at
Gabrielle Yatauro: the NYC Half and Brooklyn, and then to go to my
Gabrielle Yatauro: hometown and have childhood friends be there to support me.
Gabrielle Yatauro: I mean, it truly made me feel so loved and
Gabrielle Yatauro: just grateful to have that support and to be able
Gabrielle Yatauro: to do that was, I mean, truly so fun. And
Gabrielle Yatauro: I went from Houston Half starting where there's, I mean,
Gabrielle Yatauro: so many elite runners go to Houston to get OTQs
Gabrielle Yatauro: qualifying times and then to round it out with United
Gabrielle Yatauro: Airlines and lining up with the professional leap field was,
Gabrielle Yatauro: I mean, so indescribable. To be able to do that
Gabrielle Yatauro: is just... I'm a regular, I work. Professional running is
Gabrielle Yatauro: not my job. So to be able to line up
Gabrielle Yatauro: going from the hometown to then lining up professionals in
Gabrielle Yatauro: New York City was a dream come true,
Meb Keflezighi: Keep working hard. How was it for you to say,
Meb Keflezighi: I'm going to go for a recreation run to Central
Meb Keflezighi: Park, and that changed everything to now be part of
Meb Keflezighi: the Brooklyn Track Club. And how important is the club for
Meb Keflezighi: you as a runner now?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yeah, I think I have to pinch myself every day when I
Gabrielle Yatauro: do get these opportunities. Brooklyn Track Club has helped me
Gabrielle Yatauro: so much. I mean, just in terms of feeling the
Gabrielle Yatauro: love and support. I know no matter how I finish
Gabrielle Yatauro: where I finish in a race, I have teammates, people
Gabrielle Yatauro: that have inspired me since day one. Our captains, our
Gabrielle Yatauro: women's team, we just have so many different people that
Gabrielle Yatauro: same as me, have really tough jobs. They're moms, they're
Gabrielle Yatauro: just doing day- to- Day things, but to always come
Gabrielle Yatauro: together come race day, or even practices on Tuesday nights
Gabrielle Yatauro: at McCarren Track, it is so welcoming and loving and it
Gabrielle Yatauro: just feels so supportive. Brooklyn Track Club has really kind
Gabrielle Yatauro: of helped me meet other people too. And not even
Gabrielle Yatauro: just Brooklyn Track Club, even for the United Airlines Half.
Gabrielle Yatauro: They were women from Central Park Track Club, Dashing Whippets,
Gabrielle Yatauro: Front Runners, so many other clubs, and we all got
Gabrielle Yatauro: to stand together on the line. And I think we
Gabrielle Yatauro: all become, there's a lot of different teams in New
Gabrielle Yatauro: York, I mean hundreds of teams, which fits to each
Gabrielle Yatauro: person's what they want, but when we stand together on
Gabrielle Yatauro: the line, it truly did feel like we are New
Gabrielle Yatauro: York. We came all from the same place. And it's
Gabrielle Yatauro: always special to have a team and people that are
Gabrielle Yatauro: constantly there for you. It's cool.
Meb Keflezighi: Gabrielle, I hear you're running the Mastercard New York Mini
Meb Keflezighi: 10K. How excited are you and what are you looking forward to?
Gabrielle Yatauro: Oh, I'm so unbelievably excited for this weekend. I think
Gabrielle Yatauro: really everyone is going to be in Central Park come
Gabrielle Yatauro: Saturday. New York Road Runners post today. I mean, they're
Gabrielle Yatauro: seven out of the top 10 OTQ Marathon qualifies for the
Gabrielle Yatauro: Olympics. We have world record holders, women that have won
Gabrielle Yatauro: the New York City Marathon. I mean, it's truly so
Gabrielle Yatauro: exciting to be able to line up next to those women and it's
Gabrielle Yatauro: so inspirational. I can't wait. I think because it's all
Gabrielle Yatauro: women too, it's so unique and it really just gives us
Gabrielle Yatauro: a placeholder to stand advocate for ourselves and do what
Gabrielle Yatauro: we do best, which is run, jog, walk through Central
Gabrielle Yatauro: Park. It's going to be a great weekend.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, you are all about community, so looking forward to
Meb Keflezighi: seeing you on that area.
Gabrielle Yatauro: Definitely.
Meb Keflezighi: We're so delighted to have you on the podcast. Keep
Meb Keflezighi: up the great work and wish you the best in
Meb Keflezighi: the future.
Gabrielle Yatauro: Yeah, thanks so much.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you, Gabrielle, for joining us and for being a
Rob Simmelkjaer: member of New York Roadrunners. We will all be watching
Rob Simmelkjaer: for you this weekend at the Mastercard New York Mini
Rob Simmelkjaer: 10K. Now it's time for the last part of our
Rob Simmelkjaer: show, the Med Minutes.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. Goal setting is so important. It's the right mind frame
Meb Keflezighi: to lead to running success. Three things that needs to
Meb Keflezighi: be determined for your long- term goals. You have set
Meb Keflezighi: goals, you have to make a commitment and be a
Meb Keflezighi: hard worker. Goals are important because they are a roadmap
Meb Keflezighi: to success. As we heard our podcast this day, Dakota
Meb Keflezighi: Lindwurm going to the Olympics from being a walk on.
Meb Keflezighi: This is something that you should plan for long term,
Meb Keflezighi: but believe in yourself that you want to do it. You don't
Meb Keflezighi: want to say, " Hey, I expect this or want that,"
Meb Keflezighi: but you want to be able to just say, " I want to do
Meb Keflezighi: this." Make a commitment to be able to be the
Meb Keflezighi: best he can. A goal needs to be specific, like
Meb Keflezighi: for me was like, win New York or win Boston
Meb Keflezighi: or make an Olympic team in 2012. Or sometimes it's
Meb Keflezighi: specific as running a 10K. " I want to break the American record."
Meb Keflezighi: You are personally making that a goal for yourself and
Meb Keflezighi: for others. And if you can tell to some close friends,
Meb Keflezighi: that makes huge. But goals are important. They get you
Meb Keflezighi: out of the bed and make you get up when
Meb Keflezighi: the weather is not nice. So as long as you
Meb Keflezighi: tie your shoes and stop pursuing your goals, great things
Meb Keflezighi: can happen. And as we have seen, Dakota come from
Meb Keflezighi: a walk on or average runner in high school and
Meb Keflezighi: to making the Olympic team, it's just such a wonderful, never give up
Meb Keflezighi: on your dreams, keep pursuing and one mile at a
Meb Keflezighi: time, one goal at a time, and scratch them out.
Meb Keflezighi: Make them attainable. Don't make them so far that you
Meb Keflezighi: can't reach it, but as long you making a checkup
Meb Keflezighi: and going to the progress one step at a time, you're
Meb Keflezighi: going to do wonderful. And congratulations to Dakota on making
Meb Keflezighi: her first Olympic team and just the underdog, finishing third is
Meb Keflezighi: good as gold.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We have reached the finish line of another episode of
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace. Thank you to our amazing guest today,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dakota Lindwurm and Gabrielle Yatauro. And don't forget to catch
Rob Simmelkjaer: them both this weekend at the Mastercard New York Mini
Rob Simmelkjaer: 10K. If you like this episode, please go ahead and
Rob Simmelkjaer: subscribe, rate it, leave a comment for us on whatever
Rob Simmelkjaer: platform you're listening on. This helps us hear your voice,
Rob Simmelkjaer: what you'd like to hear in the podcast. And of
Rob Simmelkjaer: course it also helps others find out about the show
Rob Simmelkjaer: as well. Thanks for listening. Enjoy the Miles.