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Alex Cora: And I  have  to  admit  it,  to  a  Sunday  night  game 

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Alex Cora: in  New  York  when  there's  bases  loaded  and  the  big 

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Alex Cora: boy,  Aaron  Judge,  is  at  the  plate  and  that  place 

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Alex Cora: is  electric.  It's  electric.  It's  loud,  it's  electric.  And  it 

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Alex Cora: takes  you  somewhere  else.  And  I  was  running, I was  like,  holy 

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Alex Cora: shit,  it's  loud.  It's  fun.  This  is  the  Bronx  times 

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Alex Cora: a  thousand.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Hello  everybody  and  welcome  to  Set  the  Pace,  the  official 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: podcast  of  New  York  Road  Runners  presented  by  Peloton.  I'm 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: your  host,  Rob  Simmelkjaer,  the  CEO  of  New  York  Road 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Owners  and  Becs  Gentry  from  Peloton  is  with  me  this 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: week.  Hello,  Becs.  How  are  you?

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Becs Gentry: Hello.  Good  morning.  I'm  good,  thank  you.  Thawing  out  in our 

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Becs Gentry: little  snow  globe  of the  city  over  here.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes.

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Becs Gentry: What  a  weekend.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: It's beautiful.

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Becs Gentry: Yeah.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: At least it was  beautiful  for  24  hours  or  so.

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Becs Gentry: Yeah,  it's  more  of an  ice  rink  now  than  beautiful.  Yeah.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Which  makes  it  tough. Which makes it tough  to  run.  Tough  to  get  those 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: runs  in  when  there's  a  lot  of  slop  and  stuff 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: on  the  ground.  But  I  know  they  clear  a  lot 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: of  the  roads.

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Becs Gentry: They do.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Central  Park  gets  cleared  out  pretty  well.  So  I'm  sure 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: everybody's  out  there,  maybe  not  on  the  bridal  path  of 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  reservoir  yet,  but  at  least  on  the  roads,  you 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: can  usually  find  some  dry  surface  to  run.

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Becs Gentry: But  how  beautiful  did  Central  Park  look  this  weekend?  I 

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Becs Gentry: saw  a  good  friend  of  the  podcast,  Mary.  Mary  Wittenberg. 

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Becs Gentry: She  posted  some  stunning,  stunning  pictures  of  the  park.  And 

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Becs Gentry: many  other  people  did  as  well,  just  getting  out  there, 

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Becs Gentry: getting  their  miles  in,  whether  they  were  walking  or  running. 

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Becs Gentry: It  truly  was  a...  It  looked  like  a  movie.  It 

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Becs Gentry: looked  like  one  of  those  fabulous  New  York  City  Christmas 

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Becs Gentry: movie  scenes.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.  It  was  spectacular  for a lot of  New  Yorkers  and  spectacular  out 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: in  Brooklyn  as  well  on  Saturday.  That  was  before  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: snow  fell.  So  we  managed  to  time  the  Frosty  5K 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: pretty  well.

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Becs Gentry: It was lucky.  Yeah.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes.  It  would've  been  tricky,  I  think,  on  Sunday  morning 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: with  what  was  going  on.  But  we  ran  on  Saturday. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: We  had  about 3, 500  runners  out  there  to  join  us 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: for  the  Frosty  5K.  It  lived  up  to  its  name 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: as  it  usually  does.  It  was  frosty,  but  it  was 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: a  good  day.  We  had  kids  out  there  running  for 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: rising  New  York  Road  Runners.  We  had the  Striders  out  there 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: and  the  results.  The  women,  it  was  Danielle Aspitz, 18: 01  for, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: of  course,  North  Brooklyn  runners.  They  got to  win  their  home 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: race  in  Brooklyn.  The  non- binary  winner,  Adrian  McAfee,  22:

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Rob Simmelkjaer: 26.  And  on  the  men's  side,  Kevin  Xiao  at  16:03. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: So  it  was  a  good  day  out  there.  And  I 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: guess  Becs  probably...  Do  you  see  an  uptick  of  people 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: on  the  treadmills  at  Peloton  when  it  gets  to  be 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: wintry  weather  in  the  north?  I  would  think  you'd  get 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: a  lot  of  folks  who  show  up  on  the  treads 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: when  the  weather's  like that in the big cities.

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Becs Gentry: Yeah,  it's  funny  because  it's  like  converse.  In  some  places, 

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Becs Gentry: like  in  summer,  we  have  a  drop  on  to  the 

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Becs Gentry: tread  because  it's  too  hot  for  people  to  be  outside. 

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Becs Gentry: And  then  in  winter,  it's  strange.  It's  very  strange.  But 

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Becs Gentry: yeah,  there  was  definitely  a  lot  more  people  taking  class 

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Becs Gentry: this  weekend.  I  think  especially,  as  you  say,  on  the 

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Becs Gentry: East  Coast,  because  we  had  this  Arctic  blast  weather  or 

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Becs Gentry: whatever  it was  that  hit  us  and  has  been  sticking  around 

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Becs Gentry: for  a  few  days.  But  yeah,  I  think  also  it's 

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Becs Gentry: convenience  at  this  time  of  year  because  as  much  as 

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Becs Gentry: it  is  wonderful  to  get  outside  and  as  a  running 

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Becs Gentry: coach,  I  do  recommend  that  we  take,  especially  our  long 

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Becs Gentry: runs  and  as  many  of  our  easy  runs  as  we 

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Becs Gentry: can  outside,  I  think  when  it's  this  cold  and  you 

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Becs Gentry: have  to  bundle  up  so  much  and  inevitably  we  probably 

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Becs Gentry: should  be  doing  slightly  longer  warmups  when  the  weather's  that 

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Becs Gentry: cold  outside,  that  your  workout  duration  ends  up  being  a 

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Becs Gentry: lot  longer.
 And  even  defrosting  when  you  get  home,  you 

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Becs Gentry: don't  want  to  jump  straight  in  that  shower  because  maybe 

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Becs Gentry: your  digits  are  a  little  too  cold  and  it's  painful. 

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Becs Gentry: So  I  think  the  ease  of  jumping  onto  a  tread 

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Becs Gentry: is  really  condensing  the  workout.  And  if  you  are  on 

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Becs Gentry: a  time  crunch,  got  to  get  to  work,  got  to 

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Becs Gentry: get  the  kids  ready  or  whatever  it  is,  the  tread 

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Becs Gentry: does  give  you  that  blessing  to  keep  your  workout  very 

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Becs Gentry: concise.  So  yes,  long  way  of  saying  it  was there  a 

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Becs Gentry: lot  more  people.  But  I  will  say,  I  was  driving 

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Becs Gentry: home  from  teaching  on  Saturday and  I  was  driving  through  Brooklyn 

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Becs Gentry: and  I  kept  seeing  people  in  shorts.  And  I  was  like, "

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Becs Gentry: What  on  earth  are  these  people  doing  in  shorts?"  And 

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Becs Gentry: then  they'd  turn  around  and  they'd  have  their  New  York 

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Becs Gentry: Road  Runners  bib  on. And  I  was  like, " Oh  yes,  it's 

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Becs Gentry: the  Frosty 5K."
 I  didn't  have  my  windows  down.  I  wish 

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Becs Gentry: I  had,  but  I  was  cheering  people  along,  like, " Well 

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Becs Gentry: done,  well  done." I'm  like,  they  can't  hear  me.  They  just 

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Becs Gentry: think  I'm  some  crazy  lady  waving  at  them  in  the 

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Becs Gentry: car.  But  it  was  a  busy  exit  from  the  park 

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Becs Gentry: and  I  was  very  proud  of  everyone.  So  well  done.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh  yeah.  Great  job  for  everybody  showing  up.  We  always 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: have  a  lot  of  people  finishing  their  nine  plus  one 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: at  the  Frosty  as  well.  There's  a  long  line  to 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: ring  the  bell.  So  congrats  to  everybody  who  was  able 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  do  that.  And  we  got  one  more  race  this 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: year  to  Midnight  Run that  starts  at  midnight  on  New  Year's 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Eve,  which  as  of  now,  I  plan  to  be  there. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: So  I'm  looking  forward  to  that.  Haven't  been  to  that 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: in  a  couple  years.  Unfortunately,  we  had  to  cancel  sadly 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: last  year.  So  that'll  be  our  last  race  of  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: year.  All  right, Becs,  we  have  such  a  fun  show  today.

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Becs Gentry: Yes.  You were  very  excited  for  this  guest.  Rob  was  giddy.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: As  a  lifelong  baseball  fan,  the  manager  of  the  Boston 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Red  Sox,  Alex  Cora  is  going  to  join  us.  Now, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: I'm  not  a  Red  Sox  fan,  but  I'm  also  not 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: a  Red  Sox  hater  because  I'm a  New  York  Mets  fan 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: and  all  Mets  fans  know  that  the  Red  Sox are  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: enemy  of  our  enemy.  The  Yankees  are  the  shared  enemy 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: of  all  Mets  and  Red  Sox  fans,  even  though  I 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: don't  mind  the  Yankees  that  much.  But  it's  such  a 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: great  story  for  me,  Becs,  that  a  Major  League  manager 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: in  the  middle  of  all  the  work  that  they  have 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  do,  managing  162  game  major  league  season,  plus  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: playoffs,  because  the  Red  Sox  as we  all  know  if  you're 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: baseball  fans  at  all,  made  the  playoffs  this  year,  lost 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  the  Yankees  in  the  Wild  Card  Round,  but  that 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: he  was  able  to  find  a  way  to  squeeze  in 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: training  for  the  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon  through  that 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: long  season  and  then  was  able  to  make  it  to 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  starting  line  and  find  his  way  through  26.2  miles 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  finish.
 It's  a  great  story.  And  I'm  so  excited 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  have  Red  Sox  manager  Alex  Cora  join  us  to 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: talk  about  stepping  out  of  the  dugout  and  onto  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: 26.2  miles of the  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon.  It  was  very 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: cool,  Becs,  to  chat  with  him.  And  it's a  great  conversation. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: And there's  some  things  I  think  you'll  learn,  including  the  fact 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: that  he's  a  big  Peloton  guy  as  well.

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Becs Gentry: He  is. He  is.  He  also  is  very  passionate  about  running, 

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Becs Gentry: which  everyone  will  hear  and  how  it  has  infiltrated  through 

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Becs Gentry: his  whole  family.  And  really,  I'm  biased  because  I  love 

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Becs Gentry: seeing  people  when  they  talk  about  running  light  up.  And 

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Becs Gentry: most  of  our  guests  do,  but  I  feel  like  sometimes 

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Becs Gentry: even  the  professional  athletes  don't  have  that  spark  that  some 

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Becs Gentry: of  our  hobby  runners  have.  And  Alex  definitely  has  a 

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Becs Gentry: beautiful  spark  when  it  comes  to  talking  about  running.  So 

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Becs Gentry: you're  all  in  for  a  treat  and  even  if  you 

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Becs Gentry: are  a  Yankees,  Mets,  or  other  baseball  team  fan,  do 

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Becs Gentry: not  be  put  off  because  this  is  about  running  and 

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Becs Gentry: he  is  very  happy  to  extricate  himself  from  the  baseball 

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Becs Gentry: side  of  it.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.  And  what's  even  better,  Becs,  it's  not  just  a 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: running  story. It's not just  a  baseball  story.  It's  a  love  story  as 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: well  because  we  know  that-

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Becs Gentry: Ooh. All right.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: ... Alex's  now  fiance  was  a  big,  big  part  of  how 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: he  came  to  running  and  Alex  talks  a  lot-

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Becs Gentry: So  cute.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: ... about that.  So  that's  coming  up  in  just  a  minute.  Also, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: in  today's  member  moment,  Simone Swink,  a  senior  executive  producer  of 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Good  Morning  America  and a  New  Yorker  Road  Runners  member  is 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: going  to  share  her 2025  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon  story. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Of  course,  JMA  was  a  big  part  of  the  marathon 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: this  year.  They  had  a  big  relay  for  the  50th 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: anniversary  of  Good  Morning  America.  So  can't  wait  to  hear 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: from  Simone.  And  finally,  today's  Meb  Minute  will  take  on 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  process  of  failing  and  why  it  might  matter  even 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: more  than  getting  it  right  to  runners.  We  all  know 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: something  about  that.  So  stay  with  us  for  today's  Meb 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Minute  as  well.
 It's  just  a  run  until  it's  a 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: race,  until  you  put  everything  on  the  line  to  cross 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  finish  line.  And  it's  just  water  until  it's  Culligan, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: because  when  it  comes  to  running  your  marathon,  you  get 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: out  what  you  put  in.  So  train  with  cleaner,  safer, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: better  tasting  water,  and  go  further  with  certified  Culligan  filtration. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Culligan,  water  you  love.  Culligan  is  the  official  water  solutions 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: partner  of  the  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon.  Visit  culligan.com/

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Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon  to  learn  more.
 Alex  Cora  is  one  of  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: most  recognizable  figures  in  American  sports.  He's  a  World  Series 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: winning  manager,  a  daily  presence  in  the  Boston  headlines,  of 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: course,  is  manager  of  the  Boston  Red  Sox,  and  someone 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: whose  every  decision  is  dissected  and  probably  questioned  by  millions 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: of  New  Englanders.  But  behind  the  scenes  in  the  last 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: few  years,  Alex  has  also  become  a  runner,  moving  from 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: short  races  to  a  half  marathon,  and  ultimately  to  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: starting  line  of  the 2025  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon  this 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: past  November  2nd.  On  a  day  when  New  Yorkers  cheer 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: for  just  about  everyone,  it  was  hard  to  miss  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: irony,  a  Red  Sox  manager  being  cheered  on  by  most 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: New  Yorkers  as  he  ran  through  the  five  boroughs  of 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  Yankees  hometown  and  the  Mets  hometown,  by  the  way, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: and  then  made  it  to  the  finish  line.  Alex  Cora, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: it  is  great  to  have  you  on  Set  the  Pace. 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Congratulations  on  your  first  marathon.

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Alex Cora: Oh,  thank  you.  Thank  you.  Actually,  I  was  very  excited 

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Alex Cora: about  this,  doing  this.  Most  of  the  time  when  I 

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Alex Cora: have  to  talk  about  baseball  and  the  Red  Sox  and 

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Alex Cora: all  that,  it's  tough,  but  this  is  fun.  It's  becoming 

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Alex Cora: a  way  of life for us, for my family, and  we're  very  excited  about  it.

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Becs Gentry: Oh,  we  love  that  to  hear  that  it  is  not 

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Becs Gentry: just  a  solo  sport,  but  you're  bringing  it  into  your 

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Becs Gentry: family  too.  Who  else  in  your  family  is  joining  you 

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Becs Gentry: on  this?

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Alex Cora: Well,  this  whole  journey  started  with  Angelica,  my  fiance.  So 

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Alex Cora: as  you  know,  throughout  the  Red  Sox  Foundation,  we  can 

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Alex Cora: actually  contribute  to  the  foundation  and  get  numbers,  bibs  for 

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Alex Cora: the  Boston  Marathon.  So  she  decided  to  do  it,  and 

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Alex Cora: that's  how  the  journey  started.  I  was  a  good  partner 

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Alex Cora: throughout  her  preparation.  She  started  early.  In  the  summer  of 

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Alex Cora: '23,  she  ran...  Well,  she  ran  the  marathon  in  '24, 

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Alex Cora: but  the  training  started  in  the  summer  of  '23.  She 

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Alex Cora: loves  sports.  Her  dad  is  one  of  our  best  pitchers 

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Alex Cora: in  our  national  team  here  in  Puerto  Rico.  She's  been 

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Alex Cora: involved  in  sports  the  whole  time,  had  never  run.  And 

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Alex Cora: like  we  felt  obligated  to  do  it  because  we've  been 

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Alex Cora: with  the  Red  Sox  since  2018 as a manager, as  a  family,  right?  And 

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Alex Cora: she  did  it  and  I  was  there  every  step  of 

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Alex Cora: the  way,  except  Patriots  Day.  She  actually  ran  it  with 

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Alex Cora: her  brother,  which  it  was  amazing.  It  was  great.  And 

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Alex Cora: that's how it  started.
 And  we  have  continued  to do  that.  Actually,  we 

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Alex Cora: had  a  5K  this  past  Sunday  for  our  foundation  here 

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Alex Cora: in  Puerto  Rico.  My  boys,  Xander  and  Isander,  they  were 

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Alex Cora: part  of  it.  It  was  their  first  5K.  We  had 

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Alex Cora: approximately  950  runners  for  a  good  cause.  And  we're  going 

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Alex Cora: to  continue  to  do  this  because  it's  not  only  a way of life, but I think 

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Alex Cora: it  has  become  a  great " hobby",  quote,  unquote,  and  has 

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Alex Cora: get  the  family  together.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: It's  awesome.  I  love  it. So  on  that  Patriots  Day,  for 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: those  who  don't  know,  the  Red  Sox  always  play  a 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: home  game  on  the  day  of  the  Boston  Marathon. And  it 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: starts  at 11: 00  AM,  which  is  very  unusual.  And  then 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: everybody  goes  over  to  watch  the  Boston  Marathon.  Were  you 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: able  to  get  out  when  the  game  was  over  to 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: see  your  fiance  finish,  Alex,  or  did  you  miss  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: whole  thing?

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Alex Cora: No,  no,  no,  no.  We  drove  over  there,  her  parents, 

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Alex Cora: the  boys,  my  family,  and it  was  one  of  those  that, 

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Alex Cora: believe  it  or  not,  I've  been  part  of  three  World 

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Alex Cora: Series  champions,  2007 as  a  player,  2017  as  a  coach,  2018 

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Alex Cora: as  a  manager.  And  when  I  saw  Angelica  and  Jesus 

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Alex Cora: just  getting  close  and  we  were  following  them  and  when 

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Alex Cora: we  saw  them,  I  kid  you  not,  we  got  emotional. 

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Alex Cora: I  got  emotional.  It  was  the  commitment,  right?  This  is 

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Alex Cora: what  we're  going  to  do  and  we  have  to  prepare 

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Alex Cora: for  it.  I  remember  the  opening  weekend,  we  were  in 

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Alex Cora: Seattle  and  we  played  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday  she  had  a 

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Alex Cora: long  run  and  it  was 17  miles.  We  had  a  game 

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Alex Cora: scheduled  at 04: 00.  We  got  up at 05:00  in  the  morning  and 

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Alex Cora: we  ran  17  miles.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.

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Alex Cora: And  when  I  was  done,  I  was  like,  holy  shoot. 

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Alex Cora: What  I'm  doing?  This  is  crazy.  Next  weekend  we  go 

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Alex Cora: to  Anaheim,  we  ran  18  and  that  was  it  for 

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Alex Cora: her.  Then  she started  deloading,  but  her  commitment,  just  everything  that 

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Alex Cora: goes  into  it  to  see  her  and  her  brother,  I 

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Alex Cora: got  to  be  honest,  I  had  tears  in  my  eye. I was like, 

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Alex Cora: I  got  very  emotional.  To  see  the  boys  be  excited 

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Alex Cora: about  her  in  the  sports  world  was  different  than  being 

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Alex Cora: excited  than  me,  right?  They  know  that  dad  played  baseball, 

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Alex Cora: dad  is  the  manager  of  the  Red  Sox,  but  they 

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Alex Cora: were  very  excited  about  mom  and  that  really  got  me 

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Alex Cora: emotional  and  it  was a  great  day  for  us.

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Becs Gentry: Oh  my  gosh.  I  love  that  comparison  for  your  kids 

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Becs Gentry: of  them  having  known  that  their  dad  is  this  hugely 

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Becs Gentry: globally  celebrated  athlete  in  his  own  right  and  now  has 

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Becs Gentry: become  a  hugely  celebrated  manager  and  that  their  mom  has 

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Becs Gentry: gone  on  a  different  path  to  become  a  celebrated  athlete 

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Becs Gentry: in  her  own  right  is  just,  I  can't  imagine  the 

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Becs Gentry: inspiration  that  those  kids  can  just  see  in  the  sports 

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Becs Gentry: world  from  the  both  of  you.  And  so  cool  that 

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Becs Gentry: they  run  their  5K.  As  a  parent,  I'm  so  excited 

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Becs Gentry: to  see  my  daughter  run  her  first  5K  in  the 

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Becs Gentry: future.  But  let's  talk  about  your  training.  I  mean,  having 

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Becs Gentry: seen  your  fiance  do  the  hard,  hard  work  of  training 

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Becs Gentry: for  a  marathon,  anyone  who's  done  it  out  there,  you 

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Becs Gentry: guys  know  how  difficult  it  is.  You've  trained  yourself  for 

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Becs Gentry: incredible  feats  of  sport.  What's  harder?  Training  to  be  a  world-

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Becs Gentry: class  baseball  player  or  a  marathon?

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Alex Cora: What we're  doing  now  is  harder,  especially...  I  don't  want  to 

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Alex Cora: make  excuses,  but  our  schedule  is  pretty  tough.

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Becs Gentry: Yeah, I'm sure.

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Alex Cora: You  play  a  week  in  Boston,  then  you  go  on 

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Alex Cora: the  road,  you go  to  Saint  Louis,  you go  to  Texas,  and 

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Alex Cora: we've  been  very  disciplined  as  a  group.  We  have  a 

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Alex Cora: group  of...  Well,  in  spring  training,  it's  a  bigger  group. 

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Alex Cora: We  got  like  five  or  six  coaches,  including  big  league 

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Alex Cora: coaches  and  minor  leaguers.  We  get  up  at  five  in 

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Alex Cora: the  morning,  we  go  in  Fort  Myers  and  you  get 

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Alex Cora: it  all.  Sometimes  it's  50  degrees,  sometimes  it's  85  degrees 

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Alex Cora: in  Southwest  Florida.  But  then  during  the  season,  we've  been 

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Alex Cora: very  disciplined.  I  got  to  be  very  honest  with  you, 

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Alex Cora: it  has  made  me  better  that  game  over,  you  have 

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Alex Cora: dinner,  maybe  a  drink  here,  but  you  know  that  the 

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Alex Cora: next  day  we  running  five  miles  in  Saint  Louis  and 

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Alex Cora: you  have  to  go  to  bed  early.  You  turn  the 

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Alex Cora: page  actually  of  whatever  happened  the  day  before.
 So  it's 

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Alex Cora: a  good  group.  Peter  Fatse,  our  hitting  coach,  Joe  Cronin, 

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Alex Cora: assistant  hitting  coach.  We  just  go  and  we  made  a 

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Alex Cora: promise,  and  that  was  the  season  of  '24,  that  at 

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Alex Cora: least  we're  going  to  hit  five  miles  in  every  city. 

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Alex Cora: The  great thing about  this,  people,  I  played  13  years  in  the 

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Alex Cora: big  leagues.  I  played  in  all  these  cities  that  I'm 

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Alex Cora: coaching  now,  and  now  I'm  getting  to  know  the  cities. 

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Alex Cora: Now  it's  like  the  cool  thing  about  Seattle,  the  cool 

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Alex Cora: thing  about  LA,  the  cool  thing  about  Saint  Louis,  the 

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Alex Cora: pier  in  San  Francisco.  Before  as  a  player,  you  will 

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Alex Cora: get  up  at  11: 00,  grab  brunch  and  go  to 

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Alex Cora: the  ballpark  and  then  probably  hit  a  restaurant  after a  game 

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Alex Cora: and  go  back  to  the  hotel.  Now  we're  getting  up 

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Alex Cora: at  0700 in  the  morning,  we  go  out.  It's  beautiful  out 

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Alex Cora: there.  Then  we  hit  a  spot,  we  have  breakfast,  but 

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Alex Cora: I'm  getting  to  know  the  cities  now,  which  is  amazing. 

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Alex Cora: It's  really  fun.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: It  makes  so  much  sense  what  you're  saying.  And  runners 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: know  there's  really  no  better  way  to  see  a  city, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  get  to  know  a  city  than  to  run  through 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: that  city  and  have  to  find  your  way  and  run 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: past  landmarks  and  things  like  that.  So  that's  such  an 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: interesting  perspective.  That  makes  perfect  sense.  But  Alex,  I  want 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: to  know  what  put it  in  your  mind  in  the  first 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: place  that  you  could  train  for  and  run  a  marathon 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: on  the  heels  of  a  Major  League  baseball  season?  Because 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: I  have  so  many  questions  about  how  you  manage  these 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: things,  but  I  want  to  start  with,  I  guess,  the 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: start  of  it.  When  did  you  first  think  of  this? 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Sounds  like  you  were  running  with  your  fiance  in  '23, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: and  that  got  you  running.  When  did  you  first think,  you 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: know  what?  Maybe  I  could  do  this.

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Alex Cora: So  she  wants  to  run  the  six  majors,  right?  She 

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Alex Cora: wants  to  do  that.  So  Boston  already,  New  York,  of 

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Alex Cora: course,  a  month  ago.  And  the  Boston  one  for  me 

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Alex Cora: is  going  to  be  very  difficult  unless  we  become...  I 

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Alex Cora: talked  to  our  CEO,  Sam  Kennedy,  he  loves  the  idea, 

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Alex Cora: like do it  for  charity.  And  get  up  early,  take  off  at 

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Alex Cora: 06:00,  get  to  the  finish  line  around  10:30,  go to  the 

332
00:18:34,470 --> 00:18:37,619
Alex Cora: field  and  manage  a  game.  And  we  can  actually,  we 

333
00:18:37,619 --> 00:18:40,590
Alex Cora: can  help  a  lot  of  people  doing  that  because  I 

334
00:18:40,590 --> 00:18:43,380
Alex Cora: think  people are  going  to  join  it  and  now  I  feel 

335
00:18:43,380 --> 00:18:46,830
Alex Cora: I'm  prepared  I  can  do  that,  but  it's  going  to 

336
00:18:46,830 --> 00:18:52,800
Alex Cora: be  very  difficult  because  we  have  the game.
 This  year,  so 

337
00:18:53,550 --> 00:18:58,379
Alex Cora: obviously  with  our  connections,  they  help  us  and  we  help 

338
00:18:58,380 --> 00:19:04,140
Alex Cora: some  people  too  getting...  We  got  the  bibs  for  Angelica 

339
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:08,129
Alex Cora: and  actually  Christian  Vasquez's  wife  is  a  catcher  for  Minnesota, 

340
00:19:08,310 --> 00:19:11,670
Alex Cora: Gaby  Otero,  it  was  actually  her  first.  Angelica  got  her 

341
00:19:11,670 --> 00:19:15,930
Alex Cora: going.  So  those  two  were  ready  to  go  and  I'm 

342
00:19:15,930 --> 00:19:18,480
Alex Cora: like,  it's  going  to  be  hard  for  me  to  run 

343
00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:23,040
Alex Cora: in  New  York  because  our  expectations  are  to  play  all 

344
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,030
Alex Cora: the  way  till  the  World  Series.  And  as  you  know, 

345
00:19:27,030 --> 00:19:33,030
Alex Cora: Game  Seven  was  actually  the  night  before  of  the  marathon. 

346
00:19:33,030 --> 00:19:36,359
Alex Cora: So  we're  playing  for  the  ring.  So  no  way  we're 

347
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,179
Alex Cora: going  to  do  this.
 She  kept  saying, " Just  train  for 

348
00:19:39,180 --> 00:19:41,820
Alex Cora: it.  Train  for  it.  Imagine  you  win  the  World  Series, 

349
00:19:41,820 --> 00:19:44,369
Alex Cora: you  go  to  New  York,  you  run  the  marathon." I'm  like, "

350
00:19:44,460 --> 00:19:46,890
Alex Cora: That'd  be  awesome,  but  it's  going  to  be  hard."  So 

351
00:19:48,390 --> 00:19:53,190
Alex Cora: we  lost  to  the  Yankees  and  I  made  a  few 

352
00:19:53,190 --> 00:19:57,600
Alex Cora: phone  calls  and I  go, " Hey,  if  there's  any  way  you 

353
00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,750
Alex Cora: guys  can  get  me  into  the  marathon."  And  inside  I 

354
00:20:00,750 --> 00:20:06,270
Alex Cora: was  like,  no  way.  It's  too  late.  It's  October  5th 

355
00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:09,060
Alex Cora: or  6th.  That's  when  I  made  a  call.  And  they 

356
00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:13,770
Alex Cora: were  like, " Yeah, Tuesday."  And  they  go, " Oh,  of  course,  of 

357
00:20:13,770 --> 00:20:18,930
Alex Cora: course."  And  I  was  like, " Oof.  This  is  tough."  I 

358
00:20:18,930 --> 00:20:21,899
Alex Cora: already  had  the  mileage  right  throughout  the  season,  but  I 

359
00:20:21,900 --> 00:20:24,570
Alex Cora: think  my  long  one  during  the  season,  my  longest  one 

360
00:20:24,570 --> 00:20:29,580
Alex Cora: was  10  and  it  was  before  September.
 We  fly  to 

361
00:20:29,580 --> 00:20:34,949
Alex Cora: Puerto  Rico  on  a  Monday,  we  drop  off  the  kids 

362
00:20:34,950 --> 00:20:37,920
Alex Cora: on  Tuesday  at  school,  we  go  out  for  a  run. 

363
00:20:38,250 --> 00:20:42,270
Alex Cora: It  was  six  miles.  It  was  92  degrees  here.  I'm 

364
00:20:42,270 --> 00:20:45,659
Alex Cora: supposed  to  run  a  10K,  about 6. 2,  whatever  it  is, 

365
00:20:46,170 --> 00:20:50,939
Alex Cora: and  I  stopped  because it  was  so  hot.  Cool.  Saturday,  I 

366
00:20:50,940 --> 00:20:54,150
Alex Cora: went  out  for  11  by  the  mountains.  It  was  cooler. 

367
00:20:54,210 --> 00:20:59,130
Alex Cora: It  was  good.  Saturday,  I  didn't  feel  great.  At  that 

368
00:20:59,130 --> 00:21:03,869
Alex Cora: time,  Angelica  didn't  know  I  had  the  bib.  They  accepted 

369
00:21:03,869 --> 00:21:09,030
Alex Cora: me.  Sunday,  I  didn't  feel  great.  Long  story  short,  I 

370
00:21:09,030 --> 00:21:13,050
Alex Cora: was  dehydrated.  So  I had  to  tell  her, " Hey,  the  goal 

371
00:21:13,050 --> 00:21:15,390
Alex Cora: was  for  me  to  run  the  marathon  with  you.  Sorry, 

372
00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:17,939
Alex Cora: I'm  not  going  to  do  it.  I  feel  horrible.  Thank 

373
00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:20,159
Alex Cora: you  for  the  effort."  Whatever,  blah,  blah,  blah.  And  I 

374
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,410
Alex Cora: saw  her  face.  I'm  like, you know  what?  I'm  going  to  try 

375
00:21:22,410 --> 00:21:26,070
Alex Cora: to  do  it.
 Kept  going,  kept  going,  kept  going.  I 

376
00:21:26,070 --> 00:21:29,490
Alex Cora: honestly  feel  running  here  in  Puerto  Rico,  11  miles  on 

377
00:21:29,490 --> 00:21:31,590
Alex Cora: a  Saturday  with  the  weather  really  helped  me  to  get 

378
00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:37,560
Alex Cora: ready  for  New  York.  It's  very  challenge  here.  It's  tough. 

379
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,580
Alex Cora: And  then  that  happened.  When  I  got  to  the  starting 

380
00:21:41,580 --> 00:21:47,880
Alex Cora: line,  I was  like  (inaudible) .  But  when  I got to 15, I'm  like,  oh 

381
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,340
Alex Cora: shoot,  you  got  it,  kid.  You're  good.  I  just  kept 

382
00:21:50,340 --> 00:21:56,490
Alex Cora: going.  But  it  was  fun.  I've  been  in  some  great 

383
00:21:56,490 --> 00:22:01,830
Alex Cora: places  sports- wise,  having  that  trophy,  playing  13  years  in 

384
00:22:01,830 --> 00:22:07,409
Alex Cora: the  big  leagues.  But  honestly,  the  coolest  day " sports- wise", 

385
00:22:07,530 --> 00:22:11,670
Alex Cora: quote,  unquote,  was  that  Sunday  because  it's  something  that  I 

386
00:22:11,670 --> 00:22:14,429
Alex Cora: never  thought  I  was  going  to  do.  Never,  never  in 

387
00:22:14,430 --> 00:22:18,750
Alex Cora: my  life.  This  started  to  get  healthy,  to  lose  some 

388
00:22:18,750 --> 00:22:23,010
Alex Cora: weight.  And it  just  became  something  that  is,  okay,  cool,  let's 

389
00:22:23,010 --> 00:22:25,500
Alex Cora: keep  going.  But  to  run  a  marathon,  no,  no  way, 

390
00:22:25,530 --> 00:22:27,389
Alex Cora: no  chance.  And  I  was  able  to  do  it.

391
00:22:28,290 --> 00:22:34,470
Becs Gentry: That is so, so  cool.  And  I  am  still  completely  shocked  by  the 

392
00:22:34,470 --> 00:22:38,250
Becs Gentry: fact  that  you  did  that,  what?  That's  four  weeks  essentially. 

393
00:22:38,250 --> 00:22:41,550
Becs Gentry: After  season  ends,  you  get  the  bib  and  you  just 

394
00:22:41,550 --> 00:22:46,200
Becs Gentry: keep  rolling.  Okay.  So  we're  taking  that,  it was  the  grit 

395
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,570
Becs Gentry: of  the  season,  the  grit  of  the  Puerto  Rico  weather, 

396
00:22:50,490 --> 00:22:54,629
Becs Gentry: and  the  motivation  to  be  alongside  your  partner  all  the 

397
00:22:54,630 --> 00:22:57,390
Becs Gentry: way  through  the  race  and  do  it  with  her.  By 

398
00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:00,060
Becs Gentry: the  way,  congratulations,  because  I  heard  you  just  got  engaged 

399
00:23:00,060 --> 00:23:01,951
Becs Gentry: though  after  the  marathon,  right?

400
00:23:01,951 --> 00:23:09,060
Alex Cora: Yeah. We got engaged right  before  Thanksgiving.  We've  been  together  for  a  while.  Our 

401
00:23:09,060 --> 00:23:14,070
Alex Cora: boys  are  eight.  We  have  a  great  relationship.  It  was 

402
00:23:14,070 --> 00:23:16,560
Alex Cora: about  time  a  while  ago,  but  it  was  about  time 

403
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:20,970
Alex Cora: now.  I  got  to  be  honest.  She's  been  amazing  to 

404
00:23:20,970 --> 00:23:27,030
Alex Cora: us.  I  always  said  that  in  this  challenging  job  that 

405
00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:31,169
Alex Cora: is  being  the  manager  of  the  Red  Sox,  there's  a 

406
00:23:31,170 --> 00:23:33,630
Alex Cora: lot  of  times  that  I'm  not  here.  There's  a  lot 

407
00:23:33,630 --> 00:23:37,470
Alex Cora: of  sacrifices.  And  having  twins  makes  it  a  lot  more 

408
00:23:37,470 --> 00:23:42,119
Alex Cora: challenging  for  her  and  she's  been  amazing.  So  it  was 

409
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,179
Alex Cora: a  great  day  for  us.  It  was  very  special.  The 

410
00:23:45,180 --> 00:23:49,380
Alex Cora: boys  were  part  of  the  whole  gimmick.  My  daughter,  Camila, 

411
00:23:49,380 --> 00:23:53,220
Alex Cora: who's  22,  she's  actually  going  to  school  in  Miami.  She's 

412
00:23:53,220 --> 00:23:58,169
Alex Cora: getting  her  master  in  sports  administration.  She  was  part  of 

413
00:23:58,170 --> 00:24:02,280
Alex Cora: it.  It  was  a  fake  interview,  all  this  stuff.  And 

414
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,891
Alex Cora: then  the  boys  and  Camila  had  signs, " Will  you marry dad?" And it was a cool day for us. It was a cool day.

415
00:24:04,891 --> 00:24:04,892
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow. That's great. That's so cool.

416
00:24:04,892 --> 00:24:13,800
Becs Gentry: That's beautiful.  Okay.  Well,  aside  from  you  probably  knowing  in  your 

417
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,050
Becs Gentry: mind  when  you  cross  the  finish  line,  that  might  be 

418
00:24:16,050 --> 00:24:20,250
Becs Gentry: your  next  incredible  celebration,  what  was  the  celebration  of  you 

419
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,359
Becs Gentry: crossing  the  TCS  New  York  City  Marathon  finish  line?  What 

420
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:24,930
Becs Gentry: did  it  feel  like?

421
00:24:24,930 --> 00:24:29,430
Alex Cora: So  the  cool  thing  about  it,  and  the  plan  was 

422
00:24:29,430 --> 00:24:33,840
Alex Cora: for  us  three  to  run  together,  Gaby,  Angelica,  and  myself. 

423
00:24:34,170 --> 00:24:36,750
Alex Cora: And  at  one  point  they  were  like, " Just  go,  just 

424
00:24:36,750 --> 00:24:39,959
Alex Cora: go.  We're  okay.  We're  going  to  be  fine."  So  they 

425
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,520
Alex Cora: let  me  go.  And  throughout  the  whole  thing,  it's  amazing 

426
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:50,880
Alex Cora: how  this  works.  All  these  scenarios,  the  up  and  downs 

427
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,640
Alex Cora: and  not  only  about  25,  it's  throughout  this  journey.  And 

428
00:24:57,660 --> 00:25:00,420
Alex Cora: I  went  back  to  Seattle  when  we  ran  17  and 

429
00:25:00,420 --> 00:25:06,810
Alex Cora: Anaheim  and  the  season  and  it  was  fun. At  one  point, 

430
00:25:07,530 --> 00:25:11,100
Alex Cora: I  really  felt  that  the  crowd  gets  you  going.  They 

431
00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:15,210
Alex Cora: carry  you  all  the  way  to  the  finish  line,  very 

432
00:25:15,210 --> 00:25:18,990
Alex Cora: similar.  And  I  have  to  admit  it,  to  a  Sunday 

433
00:25:18,990 --> 00:25:22,500
Alex Cora: night  game  in  New  York  when  there's  bases  loaded  and 

434
00:25:22,500 --> 00:25:25,380
Alex Cora: the  big  boy,  Aaron  Judge,  is  at  the  plate  and 

435
00:25:25,380 --> 00:25:30,119
Alex Cora: that  place  is  electric.  It's  electric.  It's  loud,  it's  electric, 

436
00:25:30,510 --> 00:25:35,369
Alex Cora: and  it  takes  you  somewhere  else.
 And  Red  Sox  Yankees 

437
00:25:35,369 --> 00:25:38,280
Alex Cora: is  the  best  river  in  sports  regardless  of  where  we 

438
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:43,350
Alex Cora: at  right  now  when  Dodgers  in  baseball  the  last  two 

439
00:25:43,350 --> 00:25:47,369
Alex Cora: years,  but  when  we  get  together, it is  pretty  special.  And  I 

440
00:25:47,369 --> 00:25:50,880
Alex Cora: was  running,  I was  like,  holy  shit.  It's  loud.  It's  fun. 

441
00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:55,320
Alex Cora: This  is  the  Bronx  times  a  thousand,  because  it  was 

442
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,320
Alex Cora: just  kept  going  and  going  and  going.  When  I  got 

443
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,859
Alex Cora: to  mile  22  by  the  park,  that's  when  you  start 

444
00:26:01,980 --> 00:26:06,780
Alex Cora: taking  off  and  you  feel  it  and  you  see  it. The 

445
00:26:07,470 --> 00:26:11,880
Alex Cora: one  thing  that  actually  I  tell  people,  I  explain  it 

446
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,189
Alex Cora: goes  from  miles  to  meters.  All  of  a  sudden  it's 

447
00:26:14,190 --> 00:26:17,490
Alex Cora: like  800  meters.  I'm  like, " What  are  we  doing  here?" 

448
00:26:18,900 --> 00:26:22,290
Alex Cora: We  almost  there.  That's  two  laps  around  the  track  and 

449
00:26:22,290 --> 00:26:26,070
Alex Cora: just  go,  go,  go.  And  when  I  finished  the  line, 

450
00:26:26,130 --> 00:26:29,220
Alex Cora: it  wasn't  like  I  did  it.  It  wasn't  like  something 

451
00:26:29,220 --> 00:26:33,359
Alex Cora: like  personally  I  felt  great.
 I  felt  like  we  did 

452
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,970
Alex Cora: it.  We  did  it  because  she  was  a  big  part 

453
00:26:35,970 --> 00:26:38,850
Alex Cora: of  it.  There  were  a  lot  of  people  that  actually 

454
00:26:39,210 --> 00:26:43,814
Alex Cora: they  learned  two  days  before  or  the  day  before  and 

455
00:26:43,815 --> 00:26:47,310
Alex Cora: they  were  texting  me  and  calling  me  and  wishing  me 

456
00:26:47,310 --> 00:26:51,090
Alex Cora: luck.  And it's  a  total  team  effort,  man.  People  say, " Yeah, 

457
00:26:51,090 --> 00:26:54,060
Alex Cora: it's  individual  sport."  We  know  that.  We  know  it,  but 

458
00:26:54,060 --> 00:26:56,940
Alex Cora: it's  a  total  team  effort.  To  accomplish  that,  there's  a 

459
00:26:56,940 --> 00:27:00,119
Alex Cora: lot  of  people  behind  you  that  really  help  you.  And 

460
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,941
Alex Cora: in  this  case,  they  were  amazing  to  me.

461
00:27:02,941 --> 00:27:06,600
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh,  that  is  so  cool.  And  just  what  a  great 

462
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,660
Rob Simmelkjaer: moment  for  you,  for  so  many  people  in  your  world. 

463
00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:12,300
Rob Simmelkjaer: I  have  to  ask  the  question.  You  talked  about  the 

464
00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:16,740
Rob Simmelkjaer: crowds.  How  were  our  crowds  to  you,  Alex  Cora?  How 

465
00:27:16,740 --> 00:27:19,440
Rob Simmelkjaer: did  they  treat  the  manager  of  the  Boston  Red  Sox 

466
00:27:19,619 --> 00:27:22,800
Rob Simmelkjaer: running  through  the  five  boroughs  of  New  York  City?  Because 

467
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,050
Rob Simmelkjaer: the  word  was  out  that  you  were  running.  So  this 

468
00:27:25,050 --> 00:27:27,359
Rob Simmelkjaer: was  not  a  secret.  And  I'm  sure  there  were  some 

469
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:30,780
Rob Simmelkjaer: folks  out  there  looking  for  you,  including  a  few  Yankees 

470
00:27:30,780 --> 00:27:33,359
Rob Simmelkjaer: fans.  Were  there  any  signs  that  you  remember  that  were 

471
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:34,981
Rob Simmelkjaer: a  little  anti- Red  Sox  or  were  you getting love the whole way?

472
00:27:34,981 --> 00:27:40,800
Alex Cora: No signs.  No  signs.  People  had  recognized  me,  but  it  was 

473
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,490
Alex Cora: more  Red  Sox  fans  actually.  And  they  acted  surprise.  You 

474
00:27:44,490 --> 00:27:49,260
Alex Cora: could  see  I  was  going  and  you  see  a  jersey 

475
00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:53,460
Alex Cora: or  you  see  a  hat  and I'm  like,  let  me  hear 

476
00:27:53,460 --> 00:27:56,850
Alex Cora: the  reaction.  And all of a sudden  he's  like, " Oh,  AC.  There  you  go. 

477
00:27:57,090 --> 00:27:59,820
Alex Cora: Go  Sox." And I'm  like,  I  will  go  like  that.  But  it 

478
00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:05,970
Alex Cora: was  fun.  It  was  fun.  No  Yankee  chants  or  Red 

479
00:28:05,970 --> 00:28:11,820
Alex Cora: Sox  suck,  whatever,  I  think.  Probably  that's  what  I  put 

480
00:28:11,820 --> 00:28:12,840
Alex Cora: in  my  mind, block it,  block the whole thing. But, yeah.

481
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:17,490
Rob Simmelkjaer: Alex,  Becs,  if  this  isn't  proof  that  Marathon  Sunday  is 

482
00:28:17,490 --> 00:28:19,409
Rob Simmelkjaer: the  best  day  of  the  year  in  New  York  City, 

483
00:28:19,410 --> 00:28:22,560
Rob Simmelkjaer: then  nothing  is  because  it  is  the  one  day  I can 

484
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:27,179
Rob Simmelkjaer: think  of  when  Yankee  fans,  Mets  fans,  everybody  unites  to 

485
00:28:27,180 --> 00:28:29,580
Rob Simmelkjaer: cheer  on  the  manager  of  the  Boston  Red  Sox.  So 

486
00:28:29,940 --> 00:28:30,570
Rob Simmelkjaer: go  us.

487
00:28:30,570 --> 00:28:33,869
Alex Cora: Welcome  to  Queens.  Welcome  to  Queens  on  the  corner.  I 

488
00:28:33,869 --> 00:28:39,030
Alex Cora: remember  that  sign.  The  one  thing  I  tweeted  right  away, "

489
00:28:39,300 --> 00:28:42,240
Alex Cora: Thank  you  in  New  York  City."  I  have  never  done 

490
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:52,320
Alex Cora: that  in  my  life. But  what  an  experience.  It's  from  the 

491
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:58,830
Alex Cora: start,  right?  And  then  after  mile  three,  you  start  feeling 

492
00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:04,860
Alex Cora: the  whole  thing.  And  there's  a  point  in  the  run 

493
00:29:04,860 --> 00:29:08,790
Alex Cora: that  everybody  is  closer.  They're  closer  to  you  like  in 

494
00:29:08,790 --> 00:29:10,650
Alex Cora: mile  nine,  10,  I  want  to  say.

495
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:11,010
Becs Gentry: Yeah.

496
00:29:11,070 --> 00:29:12,480
Alex Cora: They're  closer  to  you.

497
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:12,930
Becs Gentry: In  Brooklyn,  yeah.

498
00:29:12,930 --> 00:29:18,810
Alex Cora: And  you're  like, it's  like  I  play  in  Fenway  Park,  Yankee 

499
00:29:18,810 --> 00:29:24,300
Alex Cora: Stadium,  all  these  places  and  not  even  close.  Not  even 

500
00:29:24,330 --> 00:29:32,250
Alex Cora: close.  It  was  a  perfect  Sunday,  a  perfect  crowd,  just 

501
00:29:33,060 --> 00:29:37,830
Alex Cora: amazing,  amazing.  It  was  really  amazing.  Angelica  and  Gaby,  they 

502
00:29:37,830 --> 00:29:41,850
Alex Cora: were  actually  wearing  their  tops  had  the  Puerto  Rican  flag 

503
00:29:42,780 --> 00:29:49,110
Alex Cora: and  she  was  saying  that it  was  amazing. You know  how  our  people, 

504
00:29:50,070 --> 00:29:51,870
Alex Cora: we  got  a  lot  of  Puerto  Ricans  in  New  York and 

505
00:29:52,170 --> 00:29:56,580
Alex Cora: you  could  hear  it. " Boricua,  Puerto  Ricans,  let's  go."  And 

506
00:29:56,580 --> 00:29:59,520
Alex Cora: the  music.  And  the  music  was  outstanding  for  a  while 

507
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,150
Alex Cora: there.  I  mean,  like  Colombians  and  Mexicans  and  Puerto  Ricans, 

508
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:09,990
Alex Cora: you  got  everything.  And  I  heard  about  it,  I  watched 

509
00:30:09,990 --> 00:30:14,220
Alex Cora: it  on  TV,  but  to  live  it,  never  in  my 

510
00:30:14,220 --> 00:30:17,370
Alex Cora: mind  thought  it  was,  if  I  have a chance to  do  it  again 

511
00:30:18,270 --> 00:30:21,871
Alex Cora: later,  I'll  do  it  again  because  the  experience  is  second  to none.

512
00:30:21,871 --> 00:30:24,570
Becs Gentry: That is  what  we  like  to  hear.  That is  what  we  like 

513
00:30:24,570 --> 00:30:31,950
Becs Gentry: to  hear,  especially  from  such  a  Bostonian.  Okay.  Let's  talk 

514
00:30:31,950 --> 00:30:37,320
Becs Gentry: about  running  for  you.  I'm  going  to  give  Peloton  a 

515
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,110
Becs Gentry: shout  out  here  because  just  before  we  came  on,  you 

516
00:30:40,110 --> 00:30:41,820
Becs Gentry: told  me  that  you  have  a  Peloton  tread  and  a 

517
00:30:41,820 --> 00:30:44,970
Becs Gentry: bike  and  you  guys  use  them  as  part  of  your 

518
00:30:44,970 --> 00:30:48,990
Becs Gentry: training  as  well  as  obviously  doing  the  runs  outside,  which 

519
00:30:49,140 --> 00:30:51,120
Becs Gentry: everybody  has  to  do.  We  never  do  all  our  training 

520
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:56,550
Becs Gentry: on  an  indoor  device.  And  it  really  interests  me  to 

521
00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,560
Becs Gentry: ask  you  about  your  running  now.  And  now  you've  achieved 

522
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,690
Becs Gentry: that  incredible  feat  of  26. 2.  What  does  running  mean 

523
00:31:06,690 --> 00:31:07,860
Becs Gentry: for  you  right  here  right  now?

524
00:31:09,210 --> 00:31:15,330
Alex Cora: Yeah,  it's  something  that I needed to do, to be  honest  with  you.  There's  no  one 

525
00:31:15,330 --> 00:31:18,510
Alex Cora: in  life  that  is  more  sincere.  Your  mom  will  tell 

526
00:31:18,510 --> 00:31:22,290
Alex Cora: you  like, " Hey,  you're  doing  this  wrong.  You're  doing  this 

527
00:31:22,290 --> 00:31:30,360
Alex Cora: right."  So  it  was  September  in  2023,  and  after  a 

528
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,380
Alex Cora: game,  and  you  don't  know  because  you  put  the  uniform 

529
00:31:34,380 --> 00:31:36,960
Alex Cora: on  and  you  just  go  about  your  business,  she  goes, "

530
00:31:37,230 --> 00:31:40,381
Alex Cora: Hey,  Alex,  you're  out  of  shape.  You're  fat." I was like, "What?"

531
00:31:40,381 --> 00:31:40,382
Becs Gentry: Oh. Thanks, mom.

532
00:31:40,382 --> 00:31:48,420
Alex Cora: Yeah,  I  appreciate  that.  And  I  started  looking  at  the 

533
00:31:48,420 --> 00:31:53,190
Alex Cora: pictures and I'm  like,  holy  shit,  I  better  get  going.  In  December 

534
00:31:53,190 --> 00:31:56,790
Alex Cora: of  '23,  I  was  getting  inducted  to  the  Puerto  Rican 

535
00:31:56,790 --> 00:32:00,510
Alex Cora: Sports  Hall  of  Fame.  So  I  was  like,  hold  on. 

536
00:32:01,350 --> 00:32:04,650
Alex Cora: I  better  get  in  shape,  better  lose  some  weight  because 

537
00:32:04,650 --> 00:32:06,330
Alex Cora: those  pictures  are  going  to  be  there  forever.

538
00:32:06,330 --> 00:32:06,420
Becs Gentry: Right.

539
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,120
Alex Cora: Well,  every  picture  is  there  forever,  but-

540
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:09,960
Becs Gentry: That  one's  on  the  wall.

541
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:17,610
Alex Cora: ... that's a special location.  Yeah.  So  September  23rd  in  '23,  I  get  this 

542
00:32:17,610 --> 00:32:18,960
Alex Cora: app,  Run  whatever.

543
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:19,890
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runna.

544
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:25,680
Alex Cora: Yeah.  And  the  first  one  I  went  out  in  Newton, 

545
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,760
Alex Cora: Mass  by  the  house.  It  was 1. 5  miles  and  it 

546
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,180
Alex Cora: was  intervals.  And  I  felt  horrible  after  I  was  done. I was like, 

547
00:32:33,540 --> 00:32:35,790
Alex Cora: oh  my  God,  this  is  not  going  to  work.  But 

548
00:32:35,790 --> 00:32:40,830
Alex Cora: whatever.  It  was  called  from  the  couch  to  5K.  That 

549
00:32:40,830 --> 00:32:43,260
Alex Cora: was  the  whole  thing.  They  coach  you  through  it.  And 

550
00:32:43,260 --> 00:32:46,110
Alex Cora: I  started  doing  that,  started  doing  that,  boom,  boom,  boom, 

551
00:32:46,350 --> 00:32:51,719
Alex Cora: looked  better,  felt  better.  Then ended up  taking  off  her  training  and 

552
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,510
Alex Cora: just  kept  going.  But  it  actually  started  with  my  health. 

553
00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:59,520
Alex Cora: It  was  an  unhealthy  life,  what  I  was  going  through. 

554
00:32:59,910 --> 00:33:04,380
Alex Cora: The  pressure  of  the  Red  Sox,  the  nutrition,  not  getting 

555
00:33:04,380 --> 00:33:08,400
Alex Cora: any  sleep,  not  doing  too  many  exercises.  I  pick  it 

556
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,270
Alex Cora: up  and  then  from  one  moment  on,  it  was  going 

557
00:33:12,270 --> 00:33:15,510
Alex Cora: out  to  a  run.  Next  day,  do  the  Peloton.  Back 

558
00:33:15,510 --> 00:33:18,810
Alex Cora: and  forth,  back  and  forth.  Sunday  off.
 Boom,  boom,  boom. 

559
00:33:18,810 --> 00:33:21,690
Alex Cora: Kept  going,  kept  going.  And  now it's  what  we  do.  Now it's 

560
00:33:21,810 --> 00:33:24,930
Alex Cora: what  we  do.  And  I  think  it's  a  good  lesson, 

561
00:33:24,930 --> 00:33:28,530
Alex Cora: not  only  for  us  as  a  family,  but  for  the 

562
00:33:28,530 --> 00:33:32,910
Alex Cora: people  around  me  in  that  environment  that  actually,  you  got 

563
00:33:32,910 --> 00:33:36,030
Alex Cora: to  take  care  of  yourself,  man.  It's  very  important  because 

564
00:33:36,570 --> 00:33:39,450
Alex Cora: sometimes  we  take  this  for  granted,  what  we  do.  You 

565
00:33:39,450 --> 00:33:43,770
Alex Cora: go  to  the  ballpark  at  noon,  you  get  out,  game 

566
00:33:43,770 --> 00:33:47,130
Alex Cora: is  at  07:00,  game  over,  you  stay  there  for a  little 

567
00:33:47,130 --> 00:33:51,720
Alex Cora: bit,  go  back,  go,  go,  go  for  162  days.  And 

568
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,080
Alex Cora: you  forget  the  most  important  thing.  It's  you.  It's  you. 

569
00:33:55,290 --> 00:33:57,660
Alex Cora: It's  your  family.  You  got  kids.  You  want  to  live 

570
00:33:57,660 --> 00:34:00,330
Alex Cora: as  far  as possible.  I  mean,  my  dad  passed  away  when 

571
00:34:00,330 --> 00:34:04,530
Alex Cora: I  was  56.  56.  So  that's  something  that  I  have 

572
00:34:04,590 --> 00:34:07,230
Alex Cora: in  my  mind.  I  want  to  be  there  with  my 

573
00:34:07,230 --> 00:34:10,649
Alex Cora: kids  as  long  as  possible.
 How  we  do  that?  Live 

574
00:34:10,650 --> 00:34:13,799
Alex Cora: a  healthy  life.  Are  we  perfect?  No,  we're  not  perfect. 

575
00:34:13,830 --> 00:34:17,489
Alex Cora: I'll  tell  you  that.  There's  certain  days  that  we  don't 

576
00:34:17,489 --> 00:34:19,620
Alex Cora: get  up,  we  don't  do  our  thing,  but  it's  such 

577
00:34:19,620 --> 00:34:23,969
Alex Cora: a  demanding  job  that it's  hard.  But  we're  very  consistent  and 

578
00:34:23,969 --> 00:34:30,270
Alex Cora: that's  how  it  started. And we're  very  happy  that  we  adopted  this  lifestyle.

579
00:34:30,660 --> 00:34:33,989
Rob Simmelkjaer: And  the  mental  side,  Alex,  you  referenced  it  before  being 

580
00:34:33,989 --> 00:34:37,170
Rob Simmelkjaer: able  to  turn  the  page.  I  mean,  you're  playing  162 

581
00:34:37,170 --> 00:34:40,739
Rob Simmelkjaer: games.  They  don't  all  end  well.  I  mean,  a  great 

582
00:34:40,739 --> 00:34:43,890
Rob Simmelkjaer: team  loses  60  games  a  year,  right?  And  some  of 

583
00:34:43,890 --> 00:34:46,830
Rob Simmelkjaer: them  you  lose  in  heartbreaking  fashion,  you  blow  a  lead 

584
00:34:46,830 --> 00:34:50,790
Rob Simmelkjaer: in  the  ninth  or  whatever.  How  does  the  run  help 

585
00:34:50,790 --> 00:34:53,460
Rob Simmelkjaer: you  stay  balanced  because  you  have  one of  the  most  high 

586
00:34:53,460 --> 00:34:56,340
Rob Simmelkjaer: pressure  jobs  in  sports  and  you're  going  to  need  to 

587
00:34:56,340 --> 00:34:58,170
Rob Simmelkjaer: turn  the  page  a  lot  in  the  course  of  even 

588
00:34:58,170 --> 00:34:58,739
Rob Simmelkjaer: a  good  year.

589
00:34:59,969 --> 00:35:02,969
Alex Cora: Yeah.  Probably  you  guys  have  heard  that  we  always  talk 

590
00:35:02,969 --> 00:35:12,000
Alex Cora: about  it. "It's a marathon. It's a marathon. It's 162. It's a marathon." Well, now I know what a marathon  is.  I  know.  I  know.  And  you  just 

591
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,000
Alex Cora: got  to  be  patient.  You got  to  stay  disciplined.  We've  been 

592
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,969
Alex Cora: doing  it  through  our  life  in  baseball  when  I  play 

593
00:35:17,969 --> 00:35:20,969
Alex Cora: and  now  that  I  manage,  but  now  I  really  know. 

594
00:35:21,060 --> 00:35:27,180
Alex Cora: And  I  think  the  guys  really  respect  what  we  done 

595
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:32,460
Alex Cora: the  last  two  years.  For  me,  as  a  manager,  A 

596
00:35:32,460 --> 00:35:37,259
Alex Cora: Team  was  like  special.  That  was  a  special  team.  We 

597
00:35:37,260 --> 00:35:40,920
Alex Cora: won,  I  think at  the  end  of  the  season,  it  was 

598
00:35:40,950 --> 00:35:45,300
Alex Cora: 119  wins,  including  the  playoffs.  We  were  one  of  the 

599
00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:47,190
Alex Cora: best  teams  in  the  history  of  the  game,  one  of 

600
00:35:47,190 --> 00:35:50,460
Alex Cora: the  best  teams  the  last  20  years.  We  had  some 

601
00:35:50,460 --> 00:35:54,719
Alex Cora: bad  seasons, '22, '23,  '24.  This  year  we  made  it  to  playoffs.


602
00:35:55,290 --> 00:36:00,750
Alex Cora: And  now  I'm  more  patient,  more  patient.  I  understand  what 

603
00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:04,080
Alex Cora: it  takes.  You're  going to  have  good  days,  you're  going to  have 

604
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:07,230
Alex Cora: bad  days,  you're  going to  have  good  runs,  bad  runs.  You're 

605
00:36:07,230 --> 00:36:09,630
Alex Cora: going  to  feel  horrible  one  morning  and  you  got  to 

606
00:36:09,630 --> 00:36:12,180
Alex Cora: push  yourself  to  go  out  there.  There's  other  days that  you're 

607
00:36:12,180 --> 00:36:13,739
Alex Cora: going  to  feel  great  and  you  got  to  slow  it 

608
00:36:13,739 --> 00:36:17,370
Alex Cora: down  because  like  Ferraris,  they  have  to go at  20  miles  per 

609
00:36:17,370 --> 00:36:22,020
Alex Cora: hour  in  the  school  zone.  You  have  to.  So  whatever 

610
00:36:22,020 --> 00:36:23,820
Alex Cora: you  have  to  do  that  day,  you  have  to  stay 

611
00:36:23,820 --> 00:36:27,719
Alex Cora: disciplined  with it.  And  that's  something  I've  done.  I've  done  throughout. 

612
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:31,800
Alex Cora: I  feel  better  as  a  manager.  I'm  more  prepared  now 

613
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:36,989
Alex Cora: because  I  have  lived  this  journey  of  running.  And  I 

614
00:36:36,989 --> 00:36:39,629
Alex Cora: think  I'm  in  a  better  place  now  than  a  few 

615
00:36:39,630 --> 00:36:40,080
Alex Cora: years  ago.

616
00:36:40,380 --> 00:36:44,250
Becs Gentry: Yeah.  Do  you  feel  that  some  of  the,  I  don't 

617
00:36:44,250 --> 00:36:49,259
Becs Gentry: want  to  say  the  more  under- disciplined  players,  but  younger 

618
00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:53,160
Becs Gentry: players,  perhaps  fresher  rookies,  do  you  feel  like  they  may 

619
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,880
Becs Gentry: look  to  you  and  see  that  discipline  and  that  consistency 

620
00:36:56,940 --> 00:37:02,160
Becs Gentry: and  have  inspiration  to  model  themselves  like  you  through  their  training?

621
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,400
Alex Cora: When  I  walked  in  into  the  clubhouse, " How  many  today? 

622
00:37:05,790 --> 00:37:10,110
Alex Cora: How  many  today?"  Like,  miles.  And  they  look  at  it 

623
00:37:10,110 --> 00:37:13,200
Alex Cora: as  like, " Man,  that's  tough  to do.  I  would  love  to 

624
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:14,730
Alex Cora: do  that."  They  cannot  do  it,  of  course.

625
00:37:15,300 --> 00:37:15,600
Becs Gentry: Yeah.

626
00:37:15,660 --> 00:37:18,540
Alex Cora: It  doesn't  work  for  them what  they're  doing  right  now,  but 

627
00:37:18,780 --> 00:37:22,259
Alex Cora: they  respect  what  we  do.  There's  certain  Saturdays  we  play 

628
00:37:22,260 --> 00:37:25,530
Alex Cora: at  four  o'clock  and  I  live  nine  miles  from  Fenway. 

629
00:37:26,219 --> 00:37:29,040
Alex Cora: And  when  the  family's  in  Puerto  Rico  because  of  school, 

630
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:32,910
Alex Cora: get  up,  have  breakfast,  take  off.  And  I  get  to 

631
00:37:32,910 --> 00:37:36,090
Alex Cora: Fenway  sweating,  (inaudible) ,  and  they  look  at  me  like, "

632
00:37:37,050 --> 00:37:39,120
Alex Cora: Running  day  to  Fenway?"  I'm  like, " Yeah,  running  day  to 

633
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:42,780
Alex Cora: Fenway." And  they  love  it.  They  respect  it.  They  see  it. 

634
00:37:42,780 --> 00:37:48,718
Alex Cora: And  it's  not  that I was  not  disciplined  before,  but  now  they 

635
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:53,730
Alex Cora: actually,  they  see  it  firsthand.  They  see  me  sometimes  running 

636
00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:55,650
Alex Cora: by  the  streets  like, " Oh  shit,  there  goes  Alex."  But 

637
00:37:56,790 --> 00:37:59,009
Alex Cora: they  really  like  what  I  do  and  they  get  excited 

638
00:37:59,010 --> 00:37:59,400
Alex Cora: for  it.

639
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,920
Becs Gentry: They're going to be calling  you  Forrest  Gump  over  there  before  we  know  it.

640
00:38:04,290 --> 00:38:06,810
Rob Simmelkjaer: What  are  the  hardest  days  to  run?  There  must  be 

641
00:38:06,810 --> 00:38:09,480
Rob Simmelkjaer: with  the  travel,  Alex,  just  days  that  make  it  nearly 

642
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,710
Rob Simmelkjaer: impossible.  You'll  have  a  day  game  somewhere  and  then,  or 

643
00:38:13,710 --> 00:38:15,810
Rob Simmelkjaer: sometimes  a  night  game  after  a  day  game,  right?  So 

644
00:38:15,810 --> 00:38:17,730
Rob Simmelkjaer: a  night  game  and then you  turn  around  and  come  right  back 

645
00:38:17,730 --> 00:38:20,250
Rob Simmelkjaer: to  the  ballpark  the  next  day.  You  got  the  getaway 

646
00:38:20,250 --> 00:38:23,190
Rob Simmelkjaer: days  where  you're  playing  a  night  game  somewhere,  you  got 

647
00:38:23,190 --> 00:38:26,100
Rob Simmelkjaer: to  fly  late,  late  at  night,  get  in  the  next 

648
00:38:26,100 --> 00:38:29,460
Rob Simmelkjaer: day  and  find  a  way  to  get  some  sleep.  How 

649
00:38:29,460 --> 00:38:30,960
Rob Simmelkjaer: many  days  a  week  were  you  able  to  pull  off 

650
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,300
Rob Simmelkjaer: getting  in  a  run  during  a  season  like  that  typically?

651
00:38:33,750 --> 00:38:38,250
Alex Cora: Yeah,  I  think  consistently  three  times  a  week.

652
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:38,489
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.

653
00:38:38,489 --> 00:38:43,200
Alex Cora: We  go  out  there  three  times  a  week.  We  can 

654
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,760
Alex Cora: work  with  it.  The  hardest  ones  are  the  ones  that 

655
00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:51,600
Alex Cora: we  have  scheduled  and  we  get  into  Cleveland  at  03:00 in 

656
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:56,250
Alex Cora: the  morning.  But  credit  to  the  group,  we  go.  We 

657
00:38:56,250 --> 00:38:59,759
Alex Cora: go  because  we  understand  that  it's  actually,  it's  better  than 

658
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:04,320
Alex Cora: just  laying  in  bed  till  noon.  And  then  we're  out 

659
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,360
Alex Cora: and  that  first  day  you  have  to  be  in  the 

660
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,410
Alex Cora: ballpark  early  for meetings and  all  that.  So  get  going,  have  breakfast, 

661
00:39:10,410 --> 00:39:11,671
Alex Cora: go,  and  then  get  some  rest  in the-

662
00:39:11,671 --> 00:39:13,860
Rob Simmelkjaer: I want  to  hear  more  about  this  group.  So  who  else 

663
00:39:13,860 --> 00:39:16,260
Rob Simmelkjaer: has  joined  you  from  the  Red  Sox  on  these  runs? 

664
00:39:16,260 --> 00:39:18,089
Rob Simmelkjaer: You  got  other  coaches  doing  these  with  you?

665
00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:23,700
Alex Cora: Yeah.  Consistently,  Joe  Cronin,  assistant  hitting  coach,  Peter  Fatse,  hitting 

666
00:39:23,700 --> 00:39:28,650
Alex Cora: coach.  They  both  actually  ran  the  half  marathon  in  Boston. 

667
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:33,180
Alex Cora: We  do  the  5K  before  the  big  race  on  Saturday. 

668
00:39:34,380 --> 00:39:40,260
Alex Cora: That  was  my  first...  New  York  was...  Well,  actually,  I 

669
00:39:40,260 --> 00:39:42,840
Alex Cora: love  New  York  because it  was  a  marathon.  But  to  run 

670
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,430
Alex Cora: the 5K  in  Boston,  oof,  that  is  hard.  It's  very  hard 

671
00:39:47,430 --> 00:39:51,780
Alex Cora: because  everybody  is  there.  And  they  don't  want  to  ask 

672
00:39:51,780 --> 00:39:53,730
Alex Cora: you  about  the  5K.  They  want  to  ask  you  what 

673
00:39:53,730 --> 00:39:54,569
Alex Cora: happened  the  night  before.

674
00:39:54,570 --> 00:39:57,271
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's  right.  You  better  win.

675
00:39:57,270 --> 00:39:57,272
Alex Cora: Yeah. Oh my goodness.

676
00:39:57,271 --> 00:39:57,601
Rob Simmelkjaer: You better win  the  night before the BAA 5K.

677
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:03,840
Alex Cora: We better win the night  before. And  I  honestly  think  that  the  last...  We  have 

678
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,540
Alex Cora: done  it  twice.  We  had  lost  the  night  before,  so 

679
00:40:06,540 --> 00:40:06,930
Alex Cora: it's  not...

680
00:40:06,930 --> 00:40:06,960
Becs Gentry: Oh.

681
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:13,020
Alex Cora: Yeah.  But  those  two  are  cool.  People  act  surprised  when 

682
00:40:13,020 --> 00:40:16,020
Alex Cora: they  see  you.  They're  like, " Oh  shoot,  Alex  is  here. 

683
00:40:16,830 --> 00:40:20,009
Alex Cora: Awesome."  So  Pete  has  done  it.  Joe  has  done  it. 

684
00:40:21,450 --> 00:40:24,750
Alex Cora: We  did  the  half  in  November.  Great  event.  Cool  event. 

685
00:40:24,750 --> 00:40:25,200
Alex Cora: Tough  one.

686
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:26,820
Rob Simmelkjaer: I  got  to  give  a  shout  out  to  my  man, 

687
00:40:26,820 --> 00:40:30,750
Rob Simmelkjaer: Jack  Fleming  up  there, the head of  the  BAA,  who  is  a  massive 

688
00:40:30,810 --> 00:40:33,060
Rob Simmelkjaer: Red  Sox  fan.  And  I  know  he's  got  to  be 

689
00:40:33,060 --> 00:40:35,160
Rob Simmelkjaer: thrilled  when  you  show  up  to  run  one of  his  races.

690
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:40,710
Alex Cora: Yeah.  But  last  year  we  did  it.  Angelica  did  it 

691
00:40:40,739 --> 00:40:46,980
Alex Cora: with  me and  the  two  coaches.  And  in  that  one,  I 

692
00:40:46,980 --> 00:40:50,070
Alex Cora: tell  you  right  now,  I  finished  and  it  wasn't  like, 

693
00:40:50,070 --> 00:40:55,170
Alex Cora: yes,  I  did  it.  It  was  like,  oh  shoot,  to 

694
00:40:55,170 --> 00:40:58,140
Alex Cora: run  a  marathon,  you  have  to  do  this  again.  That 

695
00:40:58,140 --> 00:41:01,410
Alex Cora: was  my  thought.  Honestly,  that  was  my  thought.  And  we 

696
00:41:01,410 --> 00:41:05,010
Alex Cora: were  talking  about  it  afterwards.  It's  like, " Holy  shoot,  that 

697
00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:10,200
Alex Cora: was  a  half."  Between  the  coaches.  But  it's  something  that 

698
00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:13,890
Alex Cora: we, I mean,  we're  enjoying,  man.  And  then  the  group  have  done 

699
00:41:13,890 --> 00:41:18,210
Alex Cora: an  amazing  job.  Kudos  to  them  because  as  a  hitting 

700
00:41:18,210 --> 00:41:22,200
Alex Cora: coach,  both  of  them,  they're  hitting  coaches.  You  got  13 

701
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:28,680
Alex Cora: hitters  on  the  roster.  Not  everybody's  happy.  Not  everybody  feels 

702
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:32,430
Alex Cora: great.  So  you  go  home,  you  have  to  work,  you 

703
00:41:32,430 --> 00:41:35,310
Alex Cora: got  to  get  up  early  and  do  your  thing.  And 

704
00:41:35,310 --> 00:41:38,430
Alex Cora: for  them  to  take  the  time,  and  it's  our  time. 

705
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,469
Alex Cora: It's  our  time  to  be  honest  with  you,  which  is 

706
00:41:40,469 --> 00:41:45,150
Alex Cora: awesome.  They've  been  great  throughout  the  last  few  years.

707
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:51,780
Becs Gentry: It's  really  inspiring  and  running  looks  good  on  you.  It 

708
00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:55,049
Becs Gentry: suits  you.  And  you  have  a  huge  smile  when  you're 

709
00:41:55,050 --> 00:41:58,680
Becs Gentry: talking  about  it,  which  is  really  brilliant  to  see  from 

710
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,710
Becs Gentry: somebody  who  is  already  in  the  professional  sports  world  in 

711
00:42:01,710 --> 00:42:06,390
Becs Gentry: another  aspect  of  it.  So  thank  you  for  spreading  the 

712
00:42:06,390 --> 00:42:12,270
Becs Gentry: love  of  running  into  one  of  America's  greatest  sports.  Obviously, 

713
00:42:12,270 --> 00:42:15,120
Becs Gentry: I'm  not  American,  so I'm like,  I  don't  know  really  which is  the 

714
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,570
Becs Gentry: one  to  say  is  great  as  baseball  or  football,  but I'm going to go  with baseball.

715
00:42:18,570 --> 00:42:19,200
Rob Simmelkjaer: Baseball  is  the best. Absolutely.

716
00:42:20,070 --> 00:42:23,341
Becs Gentry: I  would  think  baseball.  But  yeah,  congratulations.  It's really-

717
00:42:23,341 --> 00:42:23,342
Alex Cora: Thank you. Thank you.

718
00:42:23,342 --> 00:42:25,231
Becs Gentry: ...  really,  really  amazing.

719
00:42:25,230 --> 00:42:28,620
Rob Simmelkjaer: So I want  to  know  what  happens  from  here,  Alex  Cora.

720
00:42:28,620 --> 00:42:29,009
Becs Gentry: Yeah.

721
00:42:29,010 --> 00:42:29,281
Rob Simmelkjaer: What  is next?

722
00:42:29,281 --> 00:42:29,940
Becs Gentry: What's  next?

723
00:42:29,940 --> 00:42:33,600
Rob Simmelkjaer: Because  every  runner,  we  know  them  all,  they  all,  they 

724
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:36,270
Rob Simmelkjaer: cross  that  finished  line  of  a  marathon  and  it's  not 

725
00:42:36,420 --> 00:42:40,350
Rob Simmelkjaer: 24  hours  before  they  start  thinking  about  what's  next.  So 

726
00:42:40,350 --> 00:42:43,002
Rob Simmelkjaer: what  are  your  thoughts  now  on  your  next  (inaudible) ? 

727
00:42:42,989 --> 00:42:44,700
Rob Simmelkjaer: Are  you  going  to  try  to  pull  off  the  Patriots 

728
00:42:44,700 --> 00:42:45,390
Rob Simmelkjaer: Day  double?

729
00:42:46,290 --> 00:42:48,450
Alex Cora: We  have  to  work  on  that one.  We  have  to  work 

730
00:42:48,450 --> 00:42:50,880
Alex Cora: on  that  one.  We  have  to  talk  to  the  people. 

731
00:42:50,940 --> 00:42:53,940
Alex Cora: I  would  love  to  do  it.  Not  next  year.  I 

732
00:42:53,940 --> 00:42:58,200
Alex Cora: think  next  year  is  a  little  bit  challenging,  but  at 

733
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,360
Alex Cora: one  point  we  have  to  do  it  that  way. Do it  for 

734
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,210
Alex Cora: a  great  cause  and  we  go  and  see  what  happens. 

735
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:10,260
Alex Cora: So  I  think  the  next  thing  for  Angelica  is  Chicago 

736
00:43:11,130 --> 00:43:17,280
Alex Cora: next  year.  So  we'll  do  that.  I  think  the  next 

737
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,190
Alex Cora: cause  is  going  to  be  home  base.  We're  going  to 

738
00:43:20,190 --> 00:43:26,489
Alex Cora: be  partnering  with  them.  Tom  Werner,  who's  one  of  our 

739
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:34,110
Alex Cora: owners,  he's  huge  with  that  group.  Yeah,  it's  about  veterans. 

740
00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:39,239
Alex Cora: They  support  veterans.  It's  one  of  the  biggest,  I  want 

741
00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:43,200
Alex Cora: to  say,  for  lack  of  the  perfect  world,  as  far 

742
00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:48,570
Alex Cora: as  contributing  and  helping  veterans,  which  is  awesome.
 We  actually 

743
00:43:48,570 --> 00:43:52,110
Alex Cora: have  this  9K  in  Fenway  Park.  I  think  it's  in 

744
00:43:52,110 --> 00:43:56,430
Alex Cora: June  and  July.  It's  run  to  home  base.  And  you 

745
00:43:56,430 --> 00:44:00,870
Alex Cora: take  off  from  Gate  D  at  Fenway.  You  go  through 

746
00:44:00,870 --> 00:44:04,590
Alex Cora: Cambridge  and  you  finish  at  home  plate  inside  Fenway  Park.

747
00:44:04,590 --> 00:44:05,070
Becs Gentry: Wow.

748
00:44:05,100 --> 00:44:05,101
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's cool.

749
00:44:05,101 --> 00:44:05,311
Becs Gentry: Cool.

750
00:44:07,500 --> 00:44:09,480
Alex Cora: Yeah.  I've  done  it  twice.  I  love  that  one.

751
00:44:09,660 --> 00:44:10,080
Becs Gentry: That's  epic.

752
00:44:11,190 --> 00:44:14,400
Alex Cora: Yeah,  it's  pretty  cool.  You  guys  should  take a look at that one.  A  lot 

753
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,670
Alex Cora: of  people  help. A lot of  people  are  there. It's  a  cool  event.  And 

754
00:44:17,670 --> 00:44:24,270
Alex Cora: then  we  play  that  night.  So  at  least  we have  the 

755
00:44:24,270 --> 00:44:27,870
Alex Cora: map  to  actually  do  it, run in  the  morning  and  then  go 

756
00:44:27,870 --> 00:44:31,950
Alex Cora: and  play.  It  just  happens  that  it's  a 9K and it's  a  marathon. 

757
00:44:31,950 --> 00:44:34,710
Alex Cora: So  we  have  to  talk. Yeah.  Yeah.  But  I  think  Chicago is the 

758
00:44:34,860 --> 00:44:40,110
Alex Cora: next  one.  From  me,  5K  in  Boston,  the  9K  in 

759
00:44:40,110 --> 00:44:42,810
Alex Cora: Fenway,  and  we'll  see  what  happens  in  the  future.  But 

760
00:44:43,469 --> 00:44:45,779
Alex Cora: like  I  said,  it is  a  way  of  life.  There's  something 

761
00:44:45,780 --> 00:44:48,900
Alex Cora: that  we  really  love.  I  love  talking  to  you.  We 

762
00:44:48,900 --> 00:44:52,620
Alex Cora: can  do  it  again  whenever  you  want  because  it  takes 

763
00:44:52,620 --> 00:44:55,500
Alex Cora: me  out  of  the  whole  baseball  part  of  it  and 

764
00:44:55,500 --> 00:45:02,190
Alex Cora: actually  gives  me  the  platform  to  actually  share  our  thoughts, 

765
00:45:02,250 --> 00:45:06,810
Alex Cora: our  ideas,  our  story,  to  be  honest  with  you.  And 

766
00:45:06,810 --> 00:45:10,260
Alex Cora: if  we  feel  great  now  health- wise,  we  can  actually 

767
00:45:10,260 --> 00:45:11,160
Alex Cora: impact  other  people.

768
00:45:11,759 --> 00:45:12,270
Becs Gentry: Well  said.

769
00:45:12,450 --> 00:45:16,710
Rob Simmelkjaer: That  is  perfect.  Love  it.  Alex,  congratulations  on  your  first 

770
00:45:16,710 --> 00:45:19,590
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon.  There's  nothing  like  your  first  one.  I  have  a 

771
00:45:19,590 --> 00:45:22,770
Rob Simmelkjaer: feeling  for  you,  it's  not  your  last  one,  but  your 

772
00:45:22,770 --> 00:45:24,480
Rob Simmelkjaer: first  one  will  always  be  with  us  here  in  New 

773
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,450
Rob Simmelkjaer: York.  So  on  behalf  of  everybody  at  Road  Runners,  congratulations. 

774
00:45:27,780 --> 00:45:30,420
Rob Simmelkjaer: And  I'm  going  to  wish  you  luck  for  this  upcoming 

775
00:45:30,420 --> 00:45:34,080
Rob Simmelkjaer: baseball  season  as  well.  So  I'm  a  Mets  fan.  It's 

776
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:37,140
Rob Simmelkjaer: easier  for  me.  Good  luck  this  year.  Have  a  great 

777
00:45:37,350 --> 00:45:41,968
Rob Simmelkjaer: rest  of  your  off  season and enjoy all the  miles  between  now  and  opening  day.

778
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,060
Becs Gentry: Peloton  is  taking  running  and  race  tech  to  the  next 

779
00:45:45,060 --> 00:45:49,020
Becs Gentry: level  with  the  new  Peloton  cross- training  series,  Tread  Plus, 

780
00:45:49,020 --> 00:45:53,280
Becs Gentry: powered  by  Peloton  IQ.  Built  for  runners  who  want  top 

781
00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:56,730
Becs Gentry: tier  performance,  the  Tread  Plus  helps  you  train  smarter  and 

782
00:45:56,730 --> 00:46:01,950
Becs Gentry: get  race  ready  with  precision.  Peloton  IQ  offers  personalized  insights 

783
00:46:01,950 --> 00:46:05,190
Becs Gentry: that  evolve  as  you  progress,  so  you  can  fine  tune 

784
00:46:05,190 --> 00:46:09,029
Becs Gentry: your  pacing  and  peak  at  the  right  moment.  And  with 

785
00:46:09,030 --> 00:46:11,940
Becs Gentry: strength  workouts  designed  to  build  the  muscle  you  need  to 

786
00:46:11,940 --> 00:46:15,810
Becs Gentry: support  every  mile,  your  training  goes  beyond  the  run.  Plus, 

787
00:46:16,020 --> 00:46:19,770
Becs Gentry: pace  target  classes  designed  to  build  consistency,  boost  speed,  and 

788
00:46:19,770 --> 00:46:23,430
Becs Gentry: improve  your  splits.  Every  single  run  supports  your  full  training 

789
00:46:23,430 --> 00:46:28,770
Becs Gentry: cycle,  from  recovery  miles  to  challenging  race  pace  intervals.  Experience 

790
00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:34,170
Becs Gentry: our  most  advanced  tread  yet  at  onepeloton. com.  Peloton,  the 

791
00:46:34,170 --> 00:46:37,170
Becs Gentry: official  digital  fitness  partner  of  New  York  Road  runners.

792
00:46:37,500 --> 00:46:41,070
Rob Simmelkjaer: Simone  Swink  is  the  senior  executive  producer  of  Good  Morning 

793
00:46:41,070 --> 00:46:45,630
Rob Simmelkjaer: America,  which  includes  GMA's  weekday  and  weekend  broadcast,  as  well 

794
00:46:45,630 --> 00:46:48,930
Rob Simmelkjaer: as  all of  GMA's  overnight  and  early  morning  shows  like  GMA 

795
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:53,370
Rob Simmelkjaer: First  Look,  which  airs  before  local  news  and  GMA3.  Simone 

796
00:46:53,370 --> 00:46:57,239
Rob Simmelkjaer: has  been  with  GMA  since  2010,  rising  through  the  ranks 

797
00:46:57,239 --> 00:47:00,690
Rob Simmelkjaer: behind  the  scenes  of  the  country's  most  watched  morning  show. 

798
00:47:01,020 --> 00:47:04,020
Rob Simmelkjaer: Outside  the  control  room,  Simone  has  also  become  an  active 

799
00:47:04,020 --> 00:47:07,799
Rob Simmelkjaer: New  York  Road  Runners  member.  This  past  November  2nd,  Simone 

800
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,150
Rob Simmelkjaer: and  a  group  of  27  ABC  News  coworkers  all  participated 

801
00:47:12,150 --> 00:47:15,900
Rob Simmelkjaer: in  a  special  ABC  Good  Morning  America  relay.  And  each 

802
00:47:15,900 --> 00:47:18,150
Rob Simmelkjaer: member  of  that  team  ran  just  a  few  miles  of 

803
00:47:18,150 --> 00:47:22,500
Rob Simmelkjaer: the  marathon  course,  passing  a  baton  to  cover  all  26.2 

804
00:47:22,500 --> 00:47:26,460
Rob Simmelkjaer: miles,  both  in  support  of  NYRR's  Team  for  Kids  Charity, 

805
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:30,029
Rob Simmelkjaer: and  also  in  celebration  of  50  years  of  Good  Morning 

806
00:47:30,030 --> 00:47:32,520
Rob Simmelkjaer: America.  Here's  Meb  with  Simone.

807
00:47:33,030 --> 00:47:36,690
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks,  Rob.  Simone,  welcome  to  Set  the  Pace  podcast.  How's 

808
00:47:36,690 --> 00:47:37,320
Meb Keflezighi: it  going  today?

809
00:47:37,770 --> 00:47:42,451
Simone Swink: It's  going  great.  It's  great  to  be  here  with you.

810
00:47:42,451 --> 00:47:45,120
Meb Keflezighi: Great to have you.  As  I  saw,  you  have  a  very  intense  day 

811
00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:48,000
Meb Keflezighi: job  as  a  senior  executive  producer  of  the  entire  Good 

812
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,870
Meb Keflezighi: Morning  America  franchise.  How  do  you  find  time  to  train 

813
00:47:51,870 --> 00:47:55,109
Meb Keflezighi: and  fit  running  into  your  schedule  while  working  on  live 

814
00:47:55,110 --> 00:47:57,150
Meb Keflezighi: morning  TV  shows  every  single  day?

815
00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:02,130
Simone Swink: Great  question.  And  the  truth is that a  lot  of  weekdays,  I  don't, 

816
00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:03,930
Simone Swink: unless  you  want  to  count  running  up  and  down  the 

817
00:48:03,930 --> 00:48:06,299
Simone Swink: hallway  and  up  and  down  the  stairs,  which  does  get 

818
00:48:06,300 --> 00:48:09,390
Simone Swink: me  surprisingly  close  to  my  step  count  some  days.  But 

819
00:48:09,420 --> 00:48:12,300
Simone Swink: I  take  more  of  a  weekend  warrior  mentality.  I  live 

820
00:48:12,300 --> 00:48:15,810
Simone Swink: near  Central  Park.  And  so  for  me,  it's  Fridays,  Saturdays, 

821
00:48:15,810 --> 00:48:17,790
Simone Swink: Sundays.  If  I  can  get  just  one  of  those  in 

822
00:48:17,790 --> 00:48:20,460
Simone Swink: with  the  Central  Park  run  and  all  the  fellow  New 

823
00:48:20,460 --> 00:48:22,680
Simone Swink: York  Road  Runners  I  see  out  there,  then  that's  a 

824
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:23,489
Simone Swink: win  for  the  weekend.

825
00:48:24,540 --> 00:48:27,180
Meb Keflezighi: A  win  it  is.  I'm  in  Central  Park  and  to 

826
00:48:27,180 --> 00:48:29,850
Meb Keflezighi: be  in  close  proximity  and  get  a  few  miles  in 

827
00:48:29,850 --> 00:48:32,880
Meb Keflezighi: is  very  important.  You  just  ran  the  New  York  City 

828
00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:35,700
Meb Keflezighi: Marathon  as  part  of  the  relay  team  with  your  ABC 

829
00:48:35,700 --> 00:48:41,040
Meb Keflezighi: News  coworkers.  What was it like to be out there  on  the  course,  passing  the  baton  and 

830
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:43,050
Meb Keflezighi: running  through  the  city  with  your  colleagues?

831
00:48:43,950 --> 00:48:46,529
Simone Swink: Well,  Marathon  Day  is  one  of  the  best  days  in 

832
00:48:46,530 --> 00:48:49,560
Simone Swink: New  York  every  single  year. So  to  even  be  part  of 

833
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:53,550
Simone Swink: just  a  little  bit  of  it  was  amazing.  One  of 

834
00:48:53,550 --> 00:48:56,069
Simone Swink: the  best  days  in the  20  plus  years  I've  lived  here. 

835
00:48:56,340 --> 00:48:58,500
Simone Swink: I  will  say  about  a  week  before,  I  was  watching 

836
00:48:58,500 --> 00:49:00,630
Simone Swink: one  of  your  wonderful  New  York  Road  Runner  videos  you 

837
00:49:00,630 --> 00:49:03,060
Simone Swink: do  every  year  where  you  show  the  graphic  going  through 

838
00:49:03,060 --> 00:49:06,450
Simone Swink: New  York  City  and  then  how  the  altitude's  going  to 

839
00:49:06,450 --> 00:49:09,509
Simone Swink: change.  And  I  had  been  assured  by  the  people  organizing 

840
00:49:09,510 --> 00:49:11,969
Simone Swink: this  on  the  GMA  side  that  we  were  going  to 

841
00:49:11,969 --> 00:49:14,100
Simone Swink: be  on  a  very  flat  section  of  the  course.  And 

842
00:49:14,100 --> 00:49:16,799
Simone Swink: yet  I  looked  at  116th  Street  and  on  up  5th 

843
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,500
Simone Swink: Avenue  and  it  seemed  to  be  straight  up.  So  I 

844
00:49:19,500 --> 00:49:21,960
Simone Swink: went  with  one  of  my  relay  partners  and  we  ran 

845
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:25,800
Simone Swink: that  the  week  before.  And  that's  one  of  the  hardest 

846
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:28,830
Simone Swink: miles  of  the  race  from  that  section  116  all  the 

847
00:49:28,830 --> 00:49:32,640
Simone Swink: way  up  to  about 91st or  90th  Street.
 So  I  had  a 

848
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,009
Simone Swink: hard  time  doing  that  as  my  first  mile.  I  can 

849
00:49:35,010 --> 00:49:37,830
Simone Swink: only  imagine  if  you're  hitting  your,  I  think,  23rd  or 

850
00:49:37,830 --> 00:49:41,040
Simone Swink: 24th  mile,  but  then  to  go  into  the  park  from 

851
00:49:41,040 --> 00:49:46,440
Simone Swink: there  and  meet  up  with  Ginger  Zee  and  Brooks,  that's 

852
00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:48,660
Simone Swink: got  to  be  the  biggest  hug  I've  ever  given  Ginger. 

853
00:49:48,660 --> 00:49:50,370
Simone Swink: And  I  think  it  was  in  part  out  of  relief, 

854
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:53,100
Simone Swink: passing  her  the  baton.  Of  course,  that's the moment  in  which  my 

855
00:49:53,100 --> 00:49:55,680
Simone Swink: relay  partners  decided, " Let's  just  run  to  the  end  anyway." 

856
00:49:55,680 --> 00:49:58,020
Simone Swink: So  we  went to  the  final  1. 2  miles.

857
00:49:58,860 --> 00:50:02,160
Meb Keflezighi: Amazing.  Just  incredible  to  be  able  to  just  pass  the 

858
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:05,520
Meb Keflezighi: baton  and  describing  the  course.  Yeah,  marathon's  tough,  but  when 

859
00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:08,400
Meb Keflezighi: you go to  5th  Avenue  or  so,  that  little  hill  becomes  a 

860
00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:13,290
Meb Keflezighi: mountain.  But  your  relay  team  ran  for  charity  supporting  NYRR 

861
00:50:13,290 --> 00:50:16,920
Meb Keflezighi: Team  for  Kids.  Why  was  that  cause  so  important  to 

862
00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:18,480
Meb Keflezighi: you  and  the  GMA  team?

863
00:50:19,620 --> 00:50:24,600
Simone Swink: Well,  we  use  GMA a lot  to  keep  in  touch  with  viewers and 

864
00:50:24,690 --> 00:50:27,390
Simone Swink: our  fellow  Americans  and  go  into  communities  and  help  people 

865
00:50:27,390 --> 00:50:30,030
Simone Swink: out.  And  honestly  love  that  New  York  Road  Runners  does 

866
00:50:30,030 --> 00:50:32,339
Simone Swink: the  same  for  so  many  kids  and  communities  all  over 

867
00:50:32,340 --> 00:50:35,700
Simone Swink: the  city  who  are  interested  in  running.  I  did  a 

868
00:50:35,700 --> 00:50:38,460
Simone Swink: run,  I  did  God's  Love  We  Deliver  run  the  other 

869
00:50:38,460 --> 00:50:40,620
Simone Swink: day.  And  the  first  thing  you  see  when  you  cross 

870
00:50:40,620 --> 00:50:42,960
Simone Swink: the  finish  line  is  all  these  kids  getting  lined  up 

871
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:45,930
Simone Swink: for  Team  for  Kids,  age  four,  age  five,  all  having 

872
00:50:45,930 --> 00:50:49,050
Simone Swink: their  first  short  run  and  participating.  And  it's  really  fun 

873
00:50:49,050 --> 00:50:51,569
Simone Swink: to  be  a  part  of  that  and  share  what  I 

874
00:50:51,570 --> 00:50:55,380
Simone Swink: like  about  running,  or  in  my  case,  jogging,  with  kids 

875
00:50:55,380 --> 00:50:57,690
Simone Swink: of  all  ages.  I  think  running  is  the  closest  you 

876
00:50:57,690 --> 00:51:00,750
Simone Swink: can  come  to  flying  on  your  own  and  seeing  little 

877
00:51:00,750 --> 00:51:03,120
Simone Swink: kids  get  to  experience  that  is  awesome.

878
00:51:04,170 --> 00:51:06,330
Meb Keflezighi: Well  said.  Flying  on  your  own,  I  think  as  an 

879
00:51:06,330 --> 00:51:08,580
Meb Keflezighi: ambassador  Team  for  Kids  for  the  New  Yorker  Road  Runners 

880
00:51:08,580 --> 00:51:12,390
Meb Keflezighi: to  see  the  great  work  they're  doing  to be able to  help  kids 

881
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:15,180
Meb Keflezighi: set  goals  and  achieve  what  they  want  to  achieve  is 

882
00:51:15,180 --> 00:51:17,760
Meb Keflezighi: pretty  amazing.  And  thanks  for  being  part  of  that  journey. 

883
00:51:18,420 --> 00:51:21,750
Meb Keflezighi: You  have  worked  your  way  through  the  many  roles  at 

884
00:51:21,750 --> 00:51:25,650
Meb Keflezighi: GMA  before  becoming  an  executive  producer.  Is  there  a  moment 

885
00:51:25,770 --> 00:51:28,530
Meb Keflezighi: from  earlier  in  your  career  that  still  shapes  the  way 

886
00:51:28,530 --> 00:51:29,940
Meb Keflezighi: you  lead  the  team  today?

887
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,219
Simone Swink: Great  question.  I  think  for  me,  right  out  of  college, 

888
00:51:35,670 --> 00:51:38,310
Simone Swink: I  used  to answer the  phone.  I  used  to  deliver  the  newspaper 

889
00:51:38,310 --> 00:51:41,759
Simone Swink: every  Sunday  to  this  guy  who  just  started  at  This 

890
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:45,210
Simone Swink: Week  and  his  name  was  George  Stephanopoulos.  And  I  remember 

891
00:51:45,210 --> 00:51:47,880
Simone Swink: being  very  concerned  at  that  time,  but  absolutely  getting  every 

892
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:49,920
Simone Swink: part  of  that  job  right.  And  it's  important  when  you're 

893
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,350
Simone Swink: an  assistant,  every  phone  message  needs  to  be  right.  The 

894
00:51:52,350 --> 00:51:54,090
Simone Swink: papers  have  to  be  on  time.  You  got  to  know 

895
00:51:54,090 --> 00:51:58,770
Simone Swink: what's  in  the  show.  And  I  think  that  consistency  and 

896
00:51:58,770 --> 00:52:02,250
Simone Swink: frankly,  good  manners  continues  to  this  day.  And  I  have 

897
00:52:02,250 --> 00:52:04,530
Simone Swink: an  even  better  working  relationship  with  George  now  than  I 

898
00:52:04,530 --> 00:52:04,920
Simone Swink: did  then.

899
00:52:05,940 --> 00:52:10,620
Meb Keflezighi: Pretty  amazing.  You  have  spent  years  shaping  Good  Morning  America 

900
00:52:10,620 --> 00:52:14,009
Meb Keflezighi: from  behind  the  scenes.  What  part  of  the  work  still 

901
00:52:14,010 --> 00:52:16,020
Meb Keflezighi: feels  the  most  meaningful  for  you?

902
00:52:17,610 --> 00:52:20,700
Simone Swink: I  think  it's  two  things,  honestly.  I  think  that  we're 

903
00:52:20,700 --> 00:52:23,069
Simone Swink: first  to  our  viewers  as  people  are  waking  up  with 

904
00:52:23,070 --> 00:52:26,310
Simone Swink: the  news  every  morning  is  incredibly  important.  The  stories  that 

905
00:52:26,310 --> 00:52:27,900
Simone Swink: we  bring  and  what  we  can  tell  them  to  start 

906
00:52:27,900 --> 00:52:31,380
Simone Swink: their  day,  but  also  the  chance  to  use  our  broadcasts 

907
00:52:31,380 --> 00:52:33,930
Simone Swink: and  platforms  to  help  people  in  times  of  great  need. 

908
00:52:33,989 --> 00:52:38,280
Simone Swink: We've  been  there  after  the  floods  and  storms  hitting  the 

909
00:52:38,280 --> 00:52:41,580
Simone Swink: southeast  after  the  LA  fires,  after  the  Maui  fires,  when a lot of the 

910
00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:44,370
Simone Swink: food  banks  were  emptying  in  the  last  couple  months,  and 

911
00:52:44,370 --> 00:52:46,860
Simone Swink: being  able  to  turn  and  use  our  platform  to  help 

912
00:52:46,860 --> 00:52:49,500
Simone Swink: our  viewers,  help  our  fellow  Americans,  tell  our  viewers  how 

913
00:52:49,500 --> 00:52:51,899
Simone Swink: they  can  help  some  of  their  neighbors  is  an  incredible 

914
00:52:51,900 --> 00:52:53,580
Simone Swink: privilege  and  frankly  really  cool.

915
00:52:53,580 --> 00:52:57,900
Meb Keflezighi: And  you've  done  that  on  the  course  and  then  after 

916
00:52:57,900 --> 00:53:00,719
Meb Keflezighi: course,  just  helping  others  be  better  version  of  themselves,  Simone. 

917
00:53:00,719 --> 00:53:03,450
Meb Keflezighi: So  thank  you  for  being on  the  podcast  and  thanks  for 

918
00:53:03,540 --> 00:53:06,540
Meb Keflezighi: representing  Team  for  Kids  and  Good  Morning  America.

919
00:53:07,110 --> 00:53:07,649
Simone Swink: Thank  you.

920
00:53:08,340 --> 00:53:11,069
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank  you,  Simone,  for  joining  us.  Thanks  to  all  your 

921
00:53:11,070 --> 00:53:13,379
Rob Simmelkjaer: colleagues  as  well  at  ABC  News  for  being  a  part 

922
00:53:13,380 --> 00:53:16,710
Rob Simmelkjaer: of  that  awesome  GMA  relay.  And  Simone,  thanks  for  being 

923
00:53:16,710 --> 00:53:19,410
Rob Simmelkjaer: a  member  of  New  York  Road  Runners.  Now  it's  time 

924
00:53:19,410 --> 00:53:20,969
Rob Simmelkjaer: for  today's  Meb  Minutes.

925
00:53:23,460 --> 00:53:27,120
Meb Keflezighi: Failing  is  not  always  a  fun  thing  or  injury  is 

926
00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:29,669
Meb Keflezighi: not  a  fun  thing,  but  sometimes  we  got  to  find 

927
00:53:29,670 --> 00:53:33,780
Meb Keflezighi: the  good  in  it.  Sometimes  life  gives  you  lemon,  you 

928
00:53:33,780 --> 00:53:36,420
Meb Keflezighi: got  to  make  a  lemonade.  And  some  of  my  best 

929
00:53:36,420 --> 00:53:39,120
Meb Keflezighi: races  have  come  from  bad  races.  Sometimes  whether  it's  food 

930
00:53:39,120 --> 00:53:44,670
Meb Keflezighi: poisoning  or  injuries,  you  just  have  to...  It's  not  how 

931
00:53:44,670 --> 00:53:47,759
Meb Keflezighi: many  times  you  fall,  but  how  many  times  you  get 

932
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:50,520
Meb Keflezighi: back  up.  As  I  talk  with  my  26  marathons,  you 

933
00:53:50,520 --> 00:53:52,890
Meb Keflezighi: have  to  be  able  to  rise  to  the  occasion.  Even 

934
00:53:52,890 --> 00:53:56,430
Meb Keflezighi: though  the  races,  the  preparation  don't  go  your  way,  you 

935
00:53:56,430 --> 00:53:59,700
Meb Keflezighi: have  to  somehow  find  a  new  goal.  Just  for  example, 

936
00:53:59,969 --> 00:54:04,680
Meb Keflezighi: I  dropped  out,  out  of  the  London  2007  marathon  to 

937
00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,130
Meb Keflezighi: save  my  Olympic  season  because  the  trials  were  in  November 

938
00:54:08,130 --> 00:54:11,880
Meb Keflezighi: of  '07.  I  was  running  the  London  Marathon  in  April 

939
00:54:12,210 --> 00:54:15,030
Meb Keflezighi: 2007.  I  just  felt  something  in  my  Achilles.  I  said, "

940
00:54:15,030 --> 00:54:17,610
Meb Keflezighi: I  got  to  save  this  for  the  Olympics."  And  the 

941
00:54:17,610 --> 00:54:21,510
Meb Keflezighi: Olympic  trials,  even  though  I  gave  it  time,  it  didn't 

942
00:54:21,510 --> 00:54:26,850
Meb Keflezighi: go  as  planned  because  injuries  happen.
 During  the  race,  I 

943
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:30,000
Meb Keflezighi: had  eventually  that  I  realized  I  had  (inaudible)   fracture. 

944
00:54:30,180 --> 00:54:33,630
Meb Keflezighi: My  good  friend  Ryan  Shay  passed  away.  So  mentally,  physically 

945
00:54:33,630 --> 00:54:38,430
Meb Keflezighi: and  emotionally,  it  was  bad.  2008  trial  broke  me,  but 

946
00:54:38,430 --> 00:54:42,570
Meb Keflezighi: the  buildup  of  the  2009  built  me.  That  means  even 

947
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:44,730
Meb Keflezighi: if  it  means  about  a  year  and  a  half  to 

948
00:54:44,730 --> 00:54:49,710
Meb Keflezighi: get  there,  don't  shove  your  goals  down  the  drain.  Just  say, "

949
00:54:49,710 --> 00:54:53,700
Meb Keflezighi: Hey,  what  can  I  do?"  New  goals,  new  adjustment.  And 

950
00:54:53,940 --> 00:54:57,750
Meb Keflezighi: just  like  that,  I  could  not  even  walk.  Let  me 

951
00:54:57,750 --> 00:55:01,020
Meb Keflezighi: give  you  an  illustration.  When  I  was  running  in  San 

952
00:55:01,020 --> 00:55:06,420
Meb Keflezighi: Diego,  anytime  after  January  of  '08  all  the  way  to 

953
00:55:06,420 --> 00:55:09,870
Meb Keflezighi: March,  I  couldn't  go  back  from  the  street  to  the 

954
00:55:09,870 --> 00:55:13,680
Meb Keflezighi: sidewalk.  We're  talking  about  five  inches.  So  I  have  to 

955
00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:17,310
Meb Keflezighi: wait  all  the  way  until  the  end  of  the  block 

956
00:55:17,370 --> 00:55:19,920
Meb Keflezighi: to  get  to  the  ramp  where  the  bike  can  get 

957
00:55:19,920 --> 00:55:22,350
Meb Keflezighi: in  to  get  to  do  that.
 Nobody  told  me  there 

958
00:55:22,350 --> 00:55:25,410
Meb Keflezighi: was  guarantee  you're  going  to  win  the  New  York  City 

959
00:55:25,410 --> 00:55:27,989
Meb Keflezighi: marathon.  I  was  just doing  the  small  thing  that  can  help 

960
00:55:27,989 --> 00:55:31,230
Meb Keflezighi: me.  Yes,  that  means  physical  therapy.  Yes,  that  means  cross 

961
00:55:31,230 --> 00:55:36,239
Meb Keflezighi: training.  Yes,  that  means  be  patient.  And  yes,  I'm  not 

962
00:55:36,239 --> 00:55:39,330
Meb Keflezighi: racing  the  way  I  want  to  race,  like  doing  London 

963
00:55:39,330 --> 00:55:42,629
Meb Keflezighi: Marathon  or  other  races.  Everybody's  getting  ready  for  those  races, 

964
00:55:42,870 --> 00:55:45,420
Meb Keflezighi: but  you  got  to  believe  in  yourself.  You  got  to 

965
00:55:45,420 --> 00:55:48,930
Meb Keflezighi: do  what  you  can,  manage  what  you  can  control.  And 

966
00:55:49,140 --> 00:55:55,140
Meb Keflezighi: yes,  there's  disappointments,  but  you  have  to  refocus  and  refuel 

967
00:55:55,530 --> 00:55:57,780
Meb Keflezighi: and  not...  I  know  sometimes  it  can  be  a  slumber, 

968
00:55:58,620 --> 00:56:02,430
Meb Keflezighi: go  back  to  your  retreats  like  eating  candy  or  eating 

969
00:56:02,430 --> 00:56:04,739
Meb Keflezighi: sweets  and  things  like  that.  But  that's  when  you  need 

970
00:56:04,739 --> 00:56:06,719
Meb Keflezighi: the  most  to  be  able  to  say, " Hey,  I  got to be on 

971
00:56:06,989 --> 00:56:10,920
Meb Keflezighi: the  right  path."
 Because  when  everything's  going  well,  we  are 

972
00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:14,130
Meb Keflezighi: good  to  be  able  to  be  motivated  to  get that run. But  when 

973
00:56:14,130 --> 00:56:16,410
Meb Keflezighi: things  are  not  going  well,  that's  when  you  realize,  okay, 

974
00:56:16,410 --> 00:56:18,690
Meb Keflezighi: why  can't  I  do  the  small  things  like  cross  training, 

975
00:56:19,020 --> 00:56:22,109
Meb Keflezighi: diet,  sleep  and  nutrition  to  help  me  be  the  best 

976
00:56:22,110 --> 00:56:24,719
Meb Keflezighi: version?  And  there's  no  guarantees,  but  what  you  can  do 

977
00:56:24,719 --> 00:56:28,050
Meb Keflezighi: is  control  yourself.  And  for  me  to  have  that  disappointment 

978
00:56:28,050 --> 00:56:31,170
Meb Keflezighi: where  I  was  the  favorite  to  win  in  2007  in 

979
00:56:31,170 --> 00:56:34,500
Meb Keflezighi: New  York,  the  trials.  And  I  made  a  new  goal 

980
00:56:34,500 --> 00:56:36,780
Meb Keflezighi: before  I  left  New  York  saying, " You  know  what?  I 

981
00:56:36,780 --> 00:56:39,150
Meb Keflezighi: can't  go to  the  Olympics,  but  my  Olympics  will  be  New 

982
00:56:39,150 --> 00:56:40,830
Meb Keflezighi: York  City  Marathon."  I  really  thought  it  was  going  to be 

983
00:56:40,830 --> 00:56:43,739
Meb Keflezighi: 2008,  but  the  injury  was  so  severe,  it  took  me 

984
00:56:43,739 --> 00:56:47,219
Meb Keflezighi: into  2009.  And  to  wear  that  USA  jersey,  come  in 

985
00:56:47,219 --> 00:56:51,509
Meb Keflezighi: Central  Park,  beating  the  silver  medalists  from  2008,  beating  the 

986
00:56:51,510 --> 00:56:55,859
Meb Keflezighi: fourth  time  Boston  Marathon  champion.  So  dreams  do  become  reality, 

987
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:58,410
Meb Keflezighi: just  sometimes  they  take  a  little  bit  longer.
 So  be 

988
00:56:58,410 --> 00:57:02,550
Meb Keflezighi: patient  and  sometimes  failing  is  okay.  You  just  got  to 

989
00:57:02,550 --> 00:57:05,430
Meb Keflezighi: build  up  back  yourself  and  great  things  to  be  waiting 

990
00:57:05,430 --> 00:57:07,980
Meb Keflezighi: for  you.  So  don't  give  up  hope,  just  do  the 

991
00:57:07,980 --> 00:57:10,500
Meb Keflezighi: right  thing  and  the  small  things  and  the  reward  is 

992
00:57:10,500 --> 00:57:11,400
Meb Keflezighi: that  much  more  sweeter.

993
00:57:11,940 --> 00:57:14,700
Rob Simmelkjaer: All  right.  That  does  it  for  a  super  fun  episode 

994
00:57:14,700 --> 00:57:17,490
Rob Simmelkjaer: of  Set  the  Pace.  Great  guest  today.  Of  course,  Red 

995
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Rob Simmelkjaer: Sox  manager,  Alex  Cora,  and  senior  executive  producer  of  Good 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Morning  America,  Simone Swink. And Becs,  that  was  a  fun  one.  It  just 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: reminds  me-

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Becs Gentry: It was.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: ...  again  how  running  can  impact  people  from  all  walks 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: of  life.  And  listening  to  Alex  talk  about  how  it 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: really  has  changed  his  life  as  a  manager  just  reminds 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: me  of  what  an  amazing  thing  running really is.

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Becs Gentry: Yeah.  It  does.  And  two  people  who  are  part  of 

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Becs Gentry: larger  teams  that  have  benefited  from  running  in  their  worlds, 

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Becs Gentry: which  is  also  beautiful.  So  yeah,  celebration  of  a  sport 

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Becs Gentry: as...  What  did  Alex  say? " It's  a  team  sport,  but 

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Becs Gentry: it's  a..."  Sorry. " It's  a  solo  sport,  but  it's  a 

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Becs Gentry: team  effort."

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes.

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Becs Gentry: And  I  love  that.  And  it  really  rings  true  for 

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Becs Gentry: both  of  our  guests  today.

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Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.  Really cool. If you  like  the  episode,  make  sure  you  leave  us 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: a  rating,  leave  a  comment  for  us  wherever  you  listen 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: so  others  can  find  us  as  well.  We  got  a 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: couple  more  shows  left  this  year,  so  we're  coming  down 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: the  home  stretch.  Everybody  out  there  who's  enjoying  the  holidays, 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: happy  holidays.  Happy  Hanukkah  to  everybody  out  there  who's  celebrating 

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Rob Simmelkjaer: as  we  speak.  We  will  see you  next  week.  Enjoy  the  miles.