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Becks: So  when  I  came  to  a  point  of  what  I 

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Becks: was  doing  and  understanding  that  there's  a  need  for  change 

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Becks: here,  my  mom  really  gave  me  that  feeling  of  empowering 

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Becks: myself  to  do  something  about  it.  And  I  didn't  leave 

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Becks: that  moment  with  my  mom  thinking  I was going  to  start  a 

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Becks: business.  I  held  it  tight  to  my  chest  for  a 

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Becks: while,  but  I  can  look  back  and know that  that  was  the 

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Becks: moment  that  I  created  my  business.  I  became  an  entrepreneur 

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Becks: and  I  said, " There's  something  that  needs  to  be  done 

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Becks: here.  And  this  girl  from  Jersey  is  going  to  do 

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Becks: something  about  it."

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

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Rob: podcast  of  New  York  Roadrunners  presented  by  Peloton.  Happy  New 

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Rob: Year  to  everybody.  If  you  haven't  heard  from  us  yet, 

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Rob: this  is,  I  guess  is  technically  our  second  podcast  of 

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Rob: the  year  since  we  had  one  on  New  Year's  Day. 

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Rob: But  the  first  time  I've  seen Becs in 2026. Hi,  Becs.  Happy  New  Year.

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Becks: Hi.  Happy  New  Year. Great  to  see  you.  Congratulations  on  a 

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Becks: wonderful  midnight  run,  midnight  race,  should  I  say?

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Rob: Oh,  yes.

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Becks: Weather  was  good  this  year.  It  was  all  safe  and 

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Becks: it  was  cold.  It  was  very  cold.

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Rob: It  was  cold,  but  it's  New  Year's  Eve  in  New 

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Rob: York  City,  so  you  can't  really  expect  warming-

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Becks: But one of  the  coldest  in  years.

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Rob: It  was cold.

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Becks: I hear.

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Rob: It  was  very  cold.  Yes.  I  felt  it.  Thank  you 

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Rob: very  much,  by  the  way.  It  was a  great  day.  We 

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Rob: had,  I  think,  over  4, 000  runners  out  there  on 

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Rob: New  Year's  Eve  and  it  was  super  festive.  Everybody  had 

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Rob: a  great  time.  We  had  the  sparkling  cider.  We  had 

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Rob: amazing  fireworks.  We  had  glow  in  the  dark  bibs  that 

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Rob: said  Happy  New  Year  under  the  ultraviolet  light.  So  it 

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Rob: was  really  a  great,  great  night.  But  yeah,  it  was 

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Rob: cold.  It  was  so  cold.  In  fact, Becs,  that  when  I 

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Rob: finished  running,  I  mean,  a  lot  of  the  time  I 

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Rob: like  to  hang  around  the  finish  line  and  give  people  high-

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Rob: fives  and  all  that.

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Becks: Of  course.

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Rob: Becs, I  just  kept  on  running.  I  ran  past the-

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Becks: Run home.

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Rob: (inaudible)  right to  the  apartment.  I  was  like, " Okay,  bye.  Everybody happy New  Year."

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Becks: Head  down.

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Rob: Oh  yeah.  I  had  to  get  out  of  that  cold. 

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Rob: It  was  a  chilly  night,  but  it  was  a  great, 

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Rob: great  way  to  ring  in  the  New  Year's.  So  hope 

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Rob: everybody  who  came  out  enjoyed  it.  It  was  a  lot 

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Rob: of  fun.  We'll  talk  about  the  top  times  in  a 

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Rob: minute,  but  how  was  your  holiday  season?

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Becks: It was wonderful.  It was a  really  nice  break  out  of  the  city  to 

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Becks: refresh and  be  in  the  cold.  It's  just  constantly  snowing  and 

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Becks: frozen  up  where  I  am  these  days,  which  is  amazing. 

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Becks: We  got  onto  the  mountain,  which  is  five  minutes  away 

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Becks: from  us.  We  have  been  ice  skating  because  the  lake 

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Becks: is  fully  frozen  over.

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Rob: Oh, yeah.

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Becks: So  we've  been  ice  skating  on  the  lake  and  taking 

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Becks: the  dogs  for  a  walk  on  the  lake,  which  is 

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Becks: really  weird.  Yeah.  Seeing  my  city  dogs  in  boots  and 

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Becks: socks  and  coats,  I'm  like, " What  is  happening  to  us?"

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Rob: That sounds adorable. I hope you posted that  on  Instagram.  I  need to see that.

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Becks: Yeah,  I  need  to.  I  need  to  catch  up  on 

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Becks: social.  That's  another  thing.  It's  nice  to  be  off  social. 

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Becks: Not  that  I'm  keeping  a  secret  where  we've  moved  to, 

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Becks: but  I  like  to ...  I'm  trying  to  keep  it  kind 

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Becks: of  private  and  it's  nice  to  not  be  constantly  posting 

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Becks: up  here  just  picking  and  choosing.  But  it  was great. There  were 

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Becks: fireworks  in  the  street  in  this  tiny  little  dead  end 

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Becks: that  we  live  in,  which  was  our  neighbors  firing  off 

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Becks: a  huge  box  of  fireworks.

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Rob: I  love  it.

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Becks: Yeah.  We  were  in  our  PJs  at  their  house  until 

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Becks: about  one  o'clock  and  then  went  to  bed.  So  it 

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Becks: was  chill.

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Rob: It's  a  real  winter  we're  having  so  far.  I  feel 

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Rob: like  it's been a  while  in  the  New  York  area  since  we 

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Rob: had  a  real  winter,  but  it  snowed  the  day  after 

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Rob: Christmas.  And  in  Connecticut  where  I  am,  I  know  where 

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Rob: you  are  upstate.  It's  been  white  ever  since.

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Becks: White  non- stop.

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Rob: And  it's  just  been  a  lot  of  cold  days  in 

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Rob: New  York.  A  little  bit  of  a  warmup  this  week. 

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Rob: I  know  people  are  feeling  good  about  that.  Something  that 

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Rob: starts  with  a  four  feels  really  good  when  it's  been 

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Rob: starting  with  ones  and  twos.  But  we're  Fahrenheit,  of  course. 

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Rob: I  know  you  know  what  I'm  talking  about.  But  yes, 

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Rob: it's  been  nice.  And  so  yeah,  happy  New  Year  to 

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Rob: everybody.  And  I  hope  folks  are  finding  ways  to  get 

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Rob: some  of  those  runs  in.  And  of  course,  Becs,  you've 

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Rob: been  giving  folks  a  great  way  to  get  runs  in 

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Rob: with  your  67- strong  initiative  raising  money  for  Save  the 

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Rob: Children.  And  so  many  people  who  are  trying  to  get 

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Rob: kind  of  restart  or  maybe  just  start  for  the  first 

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Rob: time a  running  routine  as  a  New  Year's  resolution,  this  is 

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Rob: a  great  way  to  do  it.  How's  that  going?

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Becks: Absolutely.  It's  great.  Huge  thanks  to  everybody  who  has  donated. 

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Becks: You're  not  donating  to  me,  you're  donating  to  Save  the 

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Becks: Children,  which  is  battling  to  fight  hunger  for  children  around 

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Becks: the  world.  Biggest  thing  I  will  say  is  it's  a 

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Becks: mile  a  day.  You  do  not  have  to  do  it 

102
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Becks: running.  You  can  walk  it,  you  can  bike  it,  you 

103
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Becks: can  swim  it. You can  do  whatever  you  want.  You  can  combination 

104
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Becks: it.  You  can  walk  jog.  It's  just  a  matter  of 

105
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Becks: moving  our  bodies  and  doing  it  with  a  purpose  because 

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Becks: I  do  find,  especially  in  the  new  year,  when  we've 

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Becks: got  these  patterns  that  maybe  we  establish  or  reestablish  into 

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Becks: our  routines,  it's  easier  to  be  consistent.  And  when  there's 

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Becks: a  cause  behind  it  makes  it  even  easier  to  remember 

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Becks: to  do  it.  I'm  adding  in  a  little  strength  thing 

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Becks: this  time  as  well  on  days  six  and  seven  every 

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Becks: week.
 I  just  want  people  to  do  67  strength  moves 

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Becks: over  that  48  hours.  You  don't  have  to  do  it 

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Becks: all  in  one  go.  You  can  split  it,  but  like, 

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Becks: I don't  know,  do  67  pushups  one  week  on  67  squats 

116
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Becks: the  next  week.  Just  to  bring  in  a  little  bit 

117
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Becks: of  strength  training  too,  because  we  need  it.  We  all 

118
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Becks: need  it.  No  matter  how  young,  how  old  we  are, 

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Becks: we  need  that  strength  training.  So  if  you  want  to 

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Becks: check  it  out,  head  to  my  Instagram.  It's  again,  as 

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Becks: I  said,  for  Save  the  Children,  battling  hunger.  It  happens 

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Becks: in  the  US.  It's  not  just  abroad.  I  think  our 

123
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Becks: first  thought  for  most  people  is  to  think  that it  is 

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Becks: a  charity  that  works  for  children  and  families  only  overseas. 

125
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Becks: And  that's  not  the  case.  Hunger  happens  far  too  often 

126
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Becks: right  here  in  our  own  country.  There  are  far  too 

127
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Becks: many  children  who  are  under  the  poverty  line  here  in 

128
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Becks: the  US.
 So  just  know  that  anything  you  donate  goes 

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Becks: to  your  own  soil  as  well.

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Rob: Absolutely.  Great  idea,  great  initiative.  And  I  hope  folks  are 

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Rob: out  there  taking  advantage  of  that  because,  hey,  if  you 

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Rob: do  67  days  out  of  the  gate,  next  thing  you 

133
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Rob: know,  it'll  be  March.  It's  exactly  moved  every  single  day 

134
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Rob: and  you'll  probably  just  keep  that  momentum  going  all  throughout 

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Rob: the  year.

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Becks: Pretty  much  into  spring.

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Rob: Yeah.  Yeah.  Come  on.  Let's  get  going.  I  love  it. 

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Rob: It's a  great  way  to  start  the  year.  Awesome.  Well-

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Becks: Thank  you.

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Rob: ... you  mentioned  the  midnight  run and  the  winners  from  that  night. 

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Rob: I'm  always  curious  how  many  people  go  out  at  the 

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Rob: midnight  run  and  like  go  hard  to  win.  You've  got 

143
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Rob: to  plan  your  whole  evening  around  going  out  and  really 

144
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Rob: racing  the  midnight  run.  Not  like  me  who  had  already 

145
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Rob: been  to  a  party  earlier  that  evening.

146
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Becks: Just  you  had  a  little  jolly  jog.

147
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Rob: It  was  a  jolly  jog  at  that.  Yes.  It  was 

148
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Rob: definitely  a  jolly  jog.  And  so  that  was  more  the 

149
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Rob: speed  I  took  on  that  one.  But  Alosha  Southern,  won 

150
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Rob: on  the  women's  side,  2217,  a  graduate  by  the  way 

151
00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,820
Rob: of  Wilton  High  School  up  the  road  from  where  I 

152
00:07:14,820 --> 00:07:17,820
Rob: live  in  Connecticut.  So  congrats  to  her.  The  non- binary 

153
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Rob: winner,  Adrian  McAfee,  2920.  And  on  the  men's  side,  it 

154
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Rob: was  Jaul El Jazulli.  We've  heard  of  him  before  and  he's  run 

155
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Rob: well  many  times.  1951,  United  Mexican  runners  of  New  York. 

156
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Rob: Congrats  to all the winners. All right,  Becs,  coming  up  on  today's  show,  an  awesome 

157
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Rob: conversation  with  a  woman  who  has  literally  changed  the  game 

158
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Rob: of  running  and  especially  coaching  in  the  sport  of  running. 

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Rob: Vanessa  Peralta  Mitchell,  founder  of  an  organization  called  Game  Changers, 

160
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Rob: which  began  as  a  personal  response  by  her  to  a 

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Rob: lack  of  diversity  in  running,  especially  in  the  coaching  space.


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Rob: She's  trying  to  get  more  women  of  color  to  become 

163
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Rob: coaches.  And  we  know  how  important  that  is.  You  certainly 

164
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Rob: know  Becs.  We  all  know  it  roadrunners,  how  important  that 

165
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Rob: representation  is  in  the  coaching  ranks  because  that's  what  gets 

166
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Rob: people  running.  You  need  people  you  can  look  up  to 

167
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Rob: who  look  like  you  for  so  many  folks  to  get 

168
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Rob: them  moving  and  running.  And  that's  what  Vanessa  has  done. 

169
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Rob: We've  got  a  great  partnership  at  New  York  Road  Runners 

170
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Rob: with  her  organization,  Game  Changers.  We're  excited  to  talk  about 

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Rob: that  as  well.  So  that-

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Becks: So good.

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Rob: ... is  coming  right  up.

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Becks: Peloton  is  taking  running  and  race  tech  to  the  next 

175
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Becks: level  with  the  new  Peloton  cross- training  series,  Tread  Plus 

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Becks: powered  by  Peloton  IQ.  Built  for  runners  who  want  top 

177
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Becks: tier  performance,  the  Tread  Plus  helps  you  train  smarter  and 

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Becks: get  race  ready  with  precision.  Peloton  IQ  offers  personalized insights  that 

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Becks: evolve  as  you  progress,  so  you  can  fine  tune  your 

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Becks: pacing  and  peak  at  the  right  moment.  And  with  strength 

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Becks: workouts,  designed  to  build  the  muscle  you  need  to  support 

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Becks: every  mile,  your  training  goes  beyond  the  run.  Plus  pace 

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Becks: target  classes  designed  to  build  consistency,  boost  speed,  and  improve 

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Becks: your  splits.  Every  single  run  supports  your  full  training  cycle, 

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Becks: from  recovery  miles  to  challenging  race- paced  intervals.  Experience  our 

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Becks: most  advanced  tread  yet  at  onepeloton. com.  Peloton,  the  official 

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Becks: digital  fitness  partner  of  New  York  Road  runners.

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Rob: Vanessa  Peralta  Mitchell  is  a  runner- turned  trailblazer  who  has 

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Rob: taken  it  upon  herself  to  transform  the  running  world  from 

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Rob: the  inside  out.  A  daughter  of  Ecuadorian  and  immigrants,  a 

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Rob: wife,  and  a  mother  of  three.  Vanessa  found  inspiration  in 

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Rob: an  HBO  documentary  about  women  in  sports,  which  spurred  her 

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Rob: to  start  running  as  a  tribute  to  the  trailblazers  before 

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Rob: her.  She  eventually  realized  that  very  few  running  coaches  and 

195
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Rob: experts  looked  like  her.  So  in  2020,  this  former  project 

196
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Rob: manager  founded  Game  Changers, a  program  to  help  women  of  color 

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Rob: become  certified  run  coaches.  Since  then,  Vanessa  has  guided  dozens 

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Rob: of  women  into  coaching.  She's  built  a  nationwide  community  of 

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Rob: diverse  runners  and  even  earned  a  major  industry  award  for 

200
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Rob: shaking  up  the  status  quo.  Vanessa  is  here  with  us 

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Rob: today  to  talk  about  how  her  personal  mission,  born  from 

202
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Rob: her  mother's  advice  and  from  her  own  experience,  is  changing 

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Rob: the  face  of  running.  Vanessa,  welcome.  Great  to  see  you.

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Vanessa: Yes,  great  to  see  you too. This is a  great  day  and  I  can't 

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Vanessa: wait  to  start  this  conversation.

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Becks: So  good  to  have  you  here.  And  thank  you,  first 

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Becks: of  all,  for  everything  that  you  do  for women of color and  for  women 

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Becks: in  the  sport  world  and  in  running.  It  is  truly, 

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Becks: truly  inspirational.  Let's  go  back  a  little  bit.  You've  been 

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Becks: doing  this  for  a  while,  as  Rob  said,  since  2020. 

211
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Becks: And  you've  spoken  about  walking  into  your  coaching  cert  course, 

212
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Becks: looking  around  the  room  and  realizing  that  it  was  just 

213
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Becks: you  who looked  like  you,  a  woman  of  color. There  was  nobody 

214
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Becks: else  representing  you  in  that.  What  did  you  feel  about 

215
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Becks: that  and  how  did  it  reveal  your  true  thoughts  about 

216
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Becks: the  industry  you  were  about  to  step  into?

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Vanessa: Oh  yeah.  Wow.  You  say  that  and  I'm  like  whisked 

218
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Vanessa: right  back  into  that  room.  But  I  felt  very ...  That 

219
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Vanessa: sense  of  do  I  belong  here?  That  first  feeling  about 

220
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Vanessa: how  I  felt  personally,  it  felt  that  maybe  I  wasn't 

221
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Vanessa: ready  for  this  step.  Maybe  I  was  in  over  my 

222
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Vanessa: head,  maybe  this  was  the  wrong  path  for  me.  But 

223
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Vanessa: in  that  same  essence,  I  think  what  kept  me  there 

224
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Vanessa: was  those  families  and  my  friends  that  really  had  that 

225
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Vanessa: belief  in  me,  which  got  me  into  that  room.  So 

226
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Vanessa: I  like  to  say  that  I  worked  up  the  funds 

227
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Vanessa: and  the  nerve  to  be  there.  And  even  though  I 

228
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Vanessa: feel  like  maybe  everyone  else  in  the  room  was  coming 

229
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Vanessa: from  a  different  place,  it  even  felt  like  they  knew 

230
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Vanessa: more  than  I  did,  but  it  was  the  fact  that 

231
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Vanessa: my  family  and  friends  saw  me  in  this  light  and 

232
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Vanessa: I  just  wanted  to  step  up  to  that  space  where 

233
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Vanessa: they  had  already  seen  me.
 So  at  first  it  was 

234
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Vanessa: very  personal,  right?  I  felt  that,  oh  my  goodness,  maybe 

235
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Vanessa: I  will  just  resort  to  what  feels  comfortable  and  that's 

236
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Vanessa: to  be  small  because  I  felt  small.  And  that  to 

237
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Vanessa: me  was  my  presence  and  my  voice  that  therefore  I 

238
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Vanessa: started  to  shrink.  And  what  I  resorted  to,  which  is 

239
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Vanessa: what  I  did  when  I  was  growing  up,  which  is 

240
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Vanessa: kind  of  like  fade  to  the  back.
 I  was  really 

241
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Vanessa: good  at  being  in  the  background.  And  so  that  was 

242
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Vanessa: the  first  feeling.  And  then  understanding  that  once  I  got 

243
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Vanessa: over  that,  I  did  pass  that  test.  I  did  become 

244
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Vanessa: a  coach,  understanding  that  that  feeling  in  that  room  was 

245
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Vanessa: something  that I  was  seeing  within  the  industry.  So  visibly  in 

246
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Vanessa: that  room,  I  was  the  one  of  two  people  of 

247
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Vanessa: color,  but  the  only  woman  of  color  and  understanding  that 

248
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Vanessa: in  the  industry  that  that  is  the  same  scenario  I 

249
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Vanessa: saw  in  every  room  and  every  space  and  every  leadership  co-

250
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Vanessa: branding  that  I  was  able  to  be  a  part  of. 

251
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Vanessa: And  it  started  to  reveal  to  me  that  that  room 

252
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Vanessa: was  really  an  example  of  what  the  industry  was  lacking 

253
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Vanessa: and  that  was  having  the  voice  of  women  of  color 

254
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Vanessa: in  that  expertise  and  in  that  leadership  space.

255
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Rob: Yeah,  absolutely.  Let's  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  your 

256
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Rob: running  journey,  Vanessa.  You  grew  up  in  Hackensack,  New  Jersey, 

257
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Rob: not  far  outside  the  city,  Billy  Joel  Song  who  needs 

258
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Rob: a  house  out in  Hackensack.  One  of  my  favorite  lines.  How 

259
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Rob: did  you  first  get  into  running?  Where  did  that  start?

260
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Vanessa: Yeah. I mean,  I  was  definitely  involved  in  sports.  When  I  think 

261
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Vanessa: about  literally  first  moments  of  running,  I'm  reminded  of  my 

262
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Vanessa: father  and  me  playing  soccer  and  Van  Saun  Park  and 

263
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Vanessa: Paramus  or  Foschini  Park  and  Hackensack.  And he would  not  take  it 

264
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Vanessa: easy  on  me.  I  mean,  he  was  throwing  bows  and 

265
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Vanessa: he  was  guarding  his  space  around  the  soccer  ball.  And 

266
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Vanessa: I  remember  always  fighting  and  always  feeling  like ...  I  never 

267
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Vanessa: felt  that  he  wasn't  being  unfair.  I  just  felt  like 

268
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Vanessa: I  wanted  to  beat  him.  So  that  was  the  first 

269
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Vanessa: moments  of  running.  When  it  came  to  the  sport  of 

270
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Vanessa: long  distance,  it  really  went ...  I  can  remember  one  time 

271
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Vanessa: specifically  that  a  friend  in  college  asked  me  to  go 

272
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Vanessa: for  a  run.  And  at  that  point,  going  through  high 

273
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Vanessa: school  sports  of  basketball,  soccer  and  softball,  running  just  to 

274
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Vanessa: run  without  a  ball  involved  wasn't  like  a  thing  for 

275
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Vanessa: me.
 I  kind  of asked her  why.  And she was like, " Oh,  let's  just  go 

276
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Vanessa: out."  And  we  went  to  around  the  block  and  I 

277
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Vanessa: remember  just  going to  the  corner  thinking  like, " Oh  my  goodness, 

278
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Vanessa: I'm  out  of  breath."  And  it  felt  a  little  bit 

279
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Vanessa: harder,  honestly,  than  I  thought  originally.  But  even  with  those 

280
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Vanessa: coming  from  sports  and  my  friend  kind  of  planting  a 

281
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Vanessa: small  seed  in  terms  of  like, " Hey,  you  can  do 

282
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Vanessa: this."  It  was  a  documentary  that  I  saw  that  really 

283
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Vanessa: catapulted  me  into the  running  space.  Unknowingly  to  me,  the  documentary 

284
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Vanessa: that  pretty  much  sent  me  on  a  totally  different  trajectory.

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Rob: What  was that? Just to show HBO some love. What was  the  documentary?

286
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Vanessa: It  was  a  woman  in  sports  documentary  that  I  saw, 

287
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Vanessa: I  want  to  say  circa  2002- ish,  maybe  give  or 

288
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Vanessa: take.  And  it  covered  a  whole  bunch  of  different  types 

289
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Vanessa: of  sports,  but  the  thing  that  got  me  the  most 

290
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Vanessa: is  whatever  sport  that  they  were  showing,  the  inequities  that 

291
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Vanessa: women  had  to  face  just  to  participate  in the  sports  was  mind-

292
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Vanessa: boggling  to  me.  Here  I  am,  I  remember  sitting  in 

293
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Vanessa: my  parents'  house  in  Jersey  at  the  time  and  really 

294
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Vanessa: not  being  aware  that  the  level  of  sports  and  the 

295
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Vanessa: professional  level,  I  didn't  realize  it  wasn't  accessible  to  women 

296
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Vanessa: and  that  women  really  had  to  literally  fight  to  have 

297
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Vanessa: the  same  type  of  access.  And  again,  they  showed  a 

298
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Vanessa: whole  bunch  of  different  types  of  sports,  but  the  one 

299
00:15:56,130 --> 00:16:00,540
Vanessa: that  spoke  to  me  was KV  Switzer's  story  and  seeing  what 

300
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Vanessa: she  had  to  go  through  and  understanding  that  maybe  I 

301
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Vanessa: can't  pick  up  and  be a part of the  WNBA  or  maybe  I  can't 

302
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Vanessa: play  professional  soccer  right  now,  but  running,  back  then  growing 

303
00:16:11,850 --> 00:16:14,070
Vanessa: up  in  North  Jersey,  like  New  York  City  Marathon  was 

304
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Vanessa: something that I  had  become  aware  of,  but  not  something  that  I 

305
00:16:18,150 --> 00:16:21,510
Vanessa: would  do,  more  something  that  I  would  witness.
 But  running 

306
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Vanessa: became,  her  story  made  it  that  more  realistic  or  maybe 

307
00:16:26,430 --> 00:16:28,980
Vanessa: even  curious,  I  would  say.  I  was  like,  maybe  I 

308
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Vanessa: could  do  that  too.  I  was  so  moved  by  the 

309
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Vanessa: documentary.  I  wanted  to  pay  homage  to  the  women  before 

310
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Vanessa: me.  What  could  I  do  to  show  that  solidarity  and 

311
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Vanessa: the  fact  that  I  was  grateful  to  them?  And  so 

312
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Vanessa: that's  the  day  right  in  the  living  room  of  my 

313
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Vanessa: Hackensack  New  Jersey  space.  But  I  promised  myself  that  I 

314
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Vanessa: was  going  to  run  a  marathon.

315
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Becks: I  mean,  Katherine's  story  is  just  something  that  changed  the 

316
00:16:54,210 --> 00:16:58,320
Becks: trajectory  for  so  many  women  who  have  heard  about  it. 

317
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Becks: There  might  be  somebody  out  there  today  who's  listening to  this 

318
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Becks: for  the  first  time  hearing  her  story  and are  going  to 

319
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Becks: go  and  research  it,  old  people  who  know  it  inside 

320
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Becks: out.  But  you're  right,  it  stirs  up  something  in  anyone. 

321
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Becks: If  it  doesn't  compel  you  to  make  a  change  somewhere, 

322
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Becks: I  worry  about  people.  So  let's  talk  about  what  it 

323
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Becks: compelled  you  to  do.  You  just  said  you  wanted  to 

324
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Becks: run  and  you  decided  to  run a ...  Well,  you  decided  you wanted 

325
00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:32,130
Becks: to  run  a  marathon  before  you'd  really  even  started  running. 

326
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Becks: Is  that  right?

327
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Vanessa: Yeah.  Yeah.  I  was  that crazy in that  moment.  I  mean,  that's  how 

328
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Vanessa: moved  I  was,  but  my  goal  was  to  run  the 

329
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Vanessa: New  York  City  Marathon.  And  I  remember  living  with  a 

330
00:17:42,210 --> 00:17:45,540
Vanessa: roommate  not  too  far  after  that.  And  I  literally  had 

331
00:17:45,540 --> 00:17:48,179
Vanessa: like  five  goals  that  I  taped  to  our  fridge  and 

332
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Vanessa: like  New  York  City  Marathon  was  like  number  one.  So 

333
00:17:52,050 --> 00:17:58,320
Vanessa: it  was  like  that  type  of  promise  that  you  make 

334
00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,630
Vanessa: to  yourself  that  you're  like, " One  day, this is  a  bucket  list. 

335
00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:02,910
Vanessa: This  is  what  I'm  going  to  do."  It  took  me 

336
00:18:02,910 --> 00:18:06,000
Vanessa: so  many  years  to  do  it,  but  I  eventually  ended 

337
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,970
Vanessa: up  moving  near  Philadelphia  is  where  I  live  now.  And 

338
00:18:08,970 --> 00:18:12,720
Vanessa: so  that  goal,  I  had  to  really  understand  that  it 

339
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,790
Vanessa: was  okay  that  that  first  time  was  going  to  be 

340
00:18:14,790 --> 00:18:17,820
Vanessa: the  Philadelphia  Marathon.  I  will  say  I  did  eventually  run 

341
00:18:17,820 --> 00:18:20,250
Vanessa: the  New  York  City  Marathon.
 That's  a  whole  nother  story. 

342
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Vanessa: But  yeah,  it  got  me  on  that  path.  I  set 

343
00:18:25,140 --> 00:18:27,359
Vanessa: a  goal  on  my  mind,  I  wrote  it  down,  and 

344
00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:30,389
Vanessa: then  I  started  to  tell  other  people.  Now,  I  don't 

345
00:18:30,390 --> 00:18:33,720
Vanessa: come  from  a  running  space,  no  family,  no  friends,  no 

346
00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,830
Vanessa: one in  our  circles  of  community,  no  one  ran.  So it  was 

347
00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:41,820
Vanessa: a  big  deal  to  hear  and  for  me  to  even  say, "

348
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,840
Vanessa: I  want  to  run  26. 2  miles."  Almost  didn't  even 

349
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,500
Vanessa: fathom  what  that  distance  actually  was,  but  I  started  to 

350
00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:52,530
Vanessa: get  the  training  once  I  found  a  community  of  people 

351
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Vanessa: that  were  training  for  it.

352
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Rob: That's  one  of  the  things  that  can  be  so  hard, 

353
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Rob: Vanessa,  for  people  where  there's  no  running  in  the  family, 

354
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Rob: you  don't  have  friends  doing  it,  right?  So  you  have 

355
00:19:04,170 --> 00:19:08,040
Rob: this  idea  and  you  don't  have  someone  accessible  to  you 

356
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,080
Rob: to  tell  you  how  to  do  it.  People  are  probably 

357
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,570
Rob: giving  you  strange  looks  like, " Wait,  what?  Why  do  you 

358
00:19:12,570 --> 00:19:14,129
Rob: want  to  do  this? "  I'm  sure  you  got  some  of 

359
00:19:14,130 --> 00:19:17,550
Rob: that.  What  did  you  do?  How  did  you  find  that 

360
00:19:17,550 --> 00:19:19,530
Rob: first  community?  Because  I'm  sure  a  lot  of  that  plays 

361
00:19:19,530 --> 00:19:22,500
Rob: into  what  you're  doing  with  game  changers,  right?  It's  like 

362
00:19:22,590 --> 00:19:25,680
Rob: having  those  folks  to  support  you  and  tell  you  how 

363
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,200
Rob: you  even  go  about  doing  something  like  running  26. 2 

364
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,990
Rob: miles.  So  who  guided  you  through  those  first  marathons?

365
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:36,990
Vanessa: Yeah.  It's  funny,  my  husband  and  our  firstborn  was  actually 

366
00:19:36,990 --> 00:19:41,280
Vanessa: my  first  support  system.  I  remember  running  around  our  nearby 

367
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,030
Vanessa: high  school  track  now that  I  live  closer  to  Philly,  which 

368
00:19:45,030 --> 00:19:47,550
Vanessa: that  track  no  longer  even  exists.  But  in  a  big 

369
00:19:47,550 --> 00:19:50,399
Vanessa: old  sweatshirt  and  some  big  sweatpants,  I  think I was  wearing  his 

370
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:56,399
Vanessa: sweatshirt,  some  shoes  from  college.  So  when  you  don't  have 

371
00:19:56,460 --> 00:20:00,570
Vanessa: that  sense  of  being  passed  down  that  knowledge  and  the support 

372
00:20:00,810 --> 00:20:04,290
Vanessa: of  long  distance  running,  sometimes  that  barrier  is  that  we 

373
00:20:04,290 --> 00:20:07,530
Vanessa: don't  have  that  generational  passing  of  the  baton,  so  to 

374
00:20:07,530 --> 00:20:10,740
Vanessa: speak,  you  end  up  fending  for  yourself  and  figuring  things out 

375
00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:12,990
Vanessa: on  your  own.  I  didn't  know  you're  not  supposed  to 

376
00:20:12,990 --> 00:20:16,020
Vanessa: wear  sneakers  that  are  like  years  old  and  that  I'm 

377
00:20:16,020 --> 00:20:19,379
Vanessa: wearing  cotton  hoodies  and  all  those  things,  but  my  husband 

378
00:20:19,380 --> 00:20:22,080
Vanessa: was  sitting  there  with  our  newborn  on  the  bench  cheering 

379
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,119
Vanessa: for  me  while  I'm  like  just  running  around  this  track.


380
00:20:25,770 --> 00:20:29,790
Vanessa: So  like  figuring  out  what to do  on  your  own  is  that 

381
00:20:29,790 --> 00:20:32,400
Vanessa: first  step  and  then  understanding  that  it's  okay  to  tell 

382
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,369
Vanessa: people  what  you  want  to  accomplish,  even  if  it  sounds 

383
00:20:35,369 --> 00:20:37,919
Vanessa: crazy  to  you.  And  that's  what  I  was  doing.  I 

384
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,440
Vanessa: started  telling  people  before  I  knew  it,  I  was  getting 

385
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,130
Vanessa: in  contact  with  different  groups  around  this  area  that  were 

386
00:20:44,130 --> 00:20:50,190
Vanessa: training  for  the  Philadelphia  Marathon  and  more  seeds  were  planted 

387
00:20:50,190 --> 00:20:52,740
Vanessa: now  that  I'm  looking  back,  but  in  the  moment  I 

388
00:20:52,740 --> 00:20:56,190
Vanessa: didn't  realize  that  not  only  the  people  in  charge of  that 

389
00:20:56,190 --> 00:20:59,129
Vanessa: group,  but  also  every  expert  and  leader  that  they  brought 

390
00:20:59,130 --> 00:21:02,550
Vanessa: in  to  kind  of  give  us  the  insight,  give  us 

391
00:21:02,550 --> 00:21:06,660
Vanessa: those  tips,  give  us  this  green  light  of  like, " Yes, 

392
00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:11,040
Vanessa: you  have  the  knowledge  now  to  keep  going."  All  the 

393
00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:13,380
Vanessa: people  that  they  brought  in  were  of  the  same  gender 

394
00:21:13,380 --> 00:21:16,290
Vanessa: and  the  same  race  and  I  didn't  know  it,  but 

395
00:21:16,290 --> 00:21:19,260
Vanessa: that  was  the  message  I  had  gotten  long  before  I 

396
00:21:19,260 --> 00:21:21,150
Vanessa: even  entered  that  certification  room.

397
00:21:22,830 --> 00:21:28,500
Becks: That's  incredible  though  that  just  the  whole  process  of  how 

398
00:21:28,500 --> 00:21:33,150
Becks: your  brain  has  taken  you  on  that  journey  from  kind 

399
00:21:33,150 --> 00:21:36,960
Becks: of  sitting  on  your  couch.  I  mean,  it  really  was, 

400
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,450
Becks: right?  You  were  sitting  on  your  couch  watching  a  documentary 

401
00:21:39,450 --> 00:21:43,679
Becks: on  HBO  to  that  point  of  like  huge  change.  And 

402
00:21:43,980 --> 00:21:47,520
Becks: we  see  these  like  couch  to  5K,  couch  to  whatever. 

403
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,990
Becks: And  this  is  like  a  whole  different  process  that  your 

404
00:21:51,990 --> 00:21:55,619
Becks: body  and  your  brain  were  kind  of  going  through  almost 

405
00:21:55,619 --> 00:21:58,920
Becks: separately  in  a  weird  way  because  you  like  made  that 

406
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,109
Becks: huge  decision  and  your  body  was  going  to  have  to 

407
00:22:01,109 --> 00:22:04,470
Becks: catch  up  to  your  brain's  decision  and ...  Oh,  I  love 

408
00:22:04,470 --> 00:22:10,109
Becks: it.  I  love  it.  It's  massively  inspirational.  Okay.  So  we've 

409
00:22:10,109 --> 00:22:14,700
Becks: got  the  marathon  training  underway  and  then  done  Philly,  which 

410
00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:16,890
Becks: I  hear,  I've  never  done  it,  but  my  partner's  from 

411
00:22:16,890 --> 00:22:19,680
Becks: Philly  and  he's  done  it.  And  a  lot  of  people 

412
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:21,300
Becks: say  it's  quite  a  tough  one  because  you  have  to 

413
00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:25,050
Becks: go  past  the  half- marathon  finish  line  and  then  kind 

414
00:22:25,050 --> 00:22:30,810
Becks: of  go  out  and  come  back.
 What  was  the  feeling 

415
00:22:30,810 --> 00:22:34,619
Becks: for  you  when  you  then  took  the  next  step  to 

416
00:22:34,619 --> 00:22:38,459
Becks: the  next  marathon  after  that?  I  guess  I'm  trying  to 

417
00:22:38,460 --> 00:22:42,720
Becks: ask,  did  something  feel  ticked  off  in  your  mind  or 

418
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,170
Becks: was there  like  another  door  was  opened?

419
00:22:46,470 --> 00:22:49,560
Vanessa: Yeah.  Well,  first,  whenever  you're  ready  to  come  to  Philly, 

420
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,771
Vanessa: let  me  know. I got you.  We  all  got  you  here.  Philly-

421
00:22:52,771 --> 00:22:52,772
Rob: We love Philly. It's a great event.

422
00:22:52,772 --> 00:22:58,500
Vanessa: Yeah. Philly  has  a  wonderful,  beautiful  running  community,  so  we  got 

423
00:22:58,500 --> 00:23:03,480
Vanessa: you  next.  Thank  you.  After  I  did  that,  I  became 

424
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,390
Vanessa: like  the  go  to  person  that  people  would  like  be 

425
00:23:06,420 --> 00:23:10,530
Vanessa: curious  about  or  interested  to  start  running.  Leading  up  to 

426
00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:14,190
Vanessa: the  marathon,  I'd  done  like  10Ks and 5Ks  and  half- marathons.  And 

427
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,119
Vanessa: I  think  when  I  turned  30,  my  husband  and  I 

428
00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,340
Vanessa: went  to  Madrid.  I  did  the  Madrid  marathon.  So  I 

429
00:23:20,340 --> 00:23:23,250
Vanessa: was  like,  I  had  gotten  the  bug  times  10,  you 

430
00:23:23,250 --> 00:23:29,490
Vanessa: know  what I mean?  So  I  was  really ...  I  infused  myself  into 

431
00:23:29,490 --> 00:23:32,250
Vanessa: the  sport.  I  went  from  like  this  green  unknowing  space 

432
00:23:32,250 --> 00:23:37,980
Vanessa: to  being  kind  of  propelled  into  this  almost  leadership  role 

433
00:23:37,980 --> 00:23:39,959
Vanessa: that  I  didn't  even  know  people  were  seeing  me  in, 

434
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:45,210
Vanessa: but  I  was  getting  constantly  those  questions. And  I  also  wanted 

435
00:23:45,210 --> 00:23:47,670
Vanessa: to  do  more.  And  then  I  was  being  seen  more 

436
00:23:47,670 --> 00:23:52,770
Vanessa: in  that  space  of  leadership  and  expertise.
 So  I  really 

437
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,570
Vanessa: don't  know  if  that  path  would  have  done  anything  more 

438
00:23:57,570 --> 00:24:00,210
Vanessa: than  just  keep  me  into  running  and  doing  the  things, 

439
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,869
Vanessa: but  I  will  say  it  circles  back  to  a  moment 

440
00:24:03,869 --> 00:24:08,070
Vanessa: I  had  with  my  mother  that  really  kind  of  changed 

441
00:24:08,070 --> 00:24:13,139
Vanessa: and  shift  things  for  me  a  bit.
 I  have  my 

442
00:24:13,140 --> 00:24:17,580
Vanessa: business  VCPM  Inc.  I'm  the  creator  of  the  Game  Changers 

443
00:24:17,580 --> 00:24:20,910
Vanessa: program,  but  I'm  also  the  daughter  of  Clay  and  Carmen 

444
00:24:20,910 --> 00:24:26,429
Vanessa: Peralta.  And  when  my  mom  had  a  very  heartfelt  conversation 

445
00:24:26,430 --> 00:24:29,909
Vanessa: with  me  when  I  was,  I  think,  near  40  years 

446
00:24:29,910 --> 00:24:34,859
Vanessa: old,  my  mom,  she's  the  strongest  person.  I  hope  y'all 

447
00:24:34,859 --> 00:24:37,830
Vanessa: meet  Carmencita  one  day, but  she  is  the  strongest  person  that 

448
00:24:37,830 --> 00:24:40,920
Vanessa: I've  known  in  my  entire  life.  And  she  had  come 

449
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,640
Vanessa: to  this  realization  that  when  she  came  to  this  country 

450
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,600
Vanessa: with  a  lot  of  her  hopes  and  dreams,  that  she 

451
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,980
Vanessa: chose  motherhood.  She  chose  matrimony  and  she  chose  to  put 

452
00:24:52,980 --> 00:24:57,180
Vanessa: those  dreams  on  the  side.  And  something  had  happened  within 

453
00:24:57,180 --> 00:25:00,149
Vanessa: our  family  that  in  that  moment  she  came  to  a 

454
00:25:00,150 --> 00:25:04,350
Vanessa: realization  that  she  had  never  actually  took  those  things  off 

455
00:25:04,350 --> 00:25:07,379
Vanessa: the  shelf,  right?  She  never  fulfilled  those  hopes  and  dreams 

456
00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:11,160
Vanessa: that  she  came  here  with.  And  in  that  moment,  in 

457
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,630
Vanessa: her  vulnerability,  we're  both  sharing  and  shedding  tears  at  that 

458
00:25:15,690 --> 00:25:19,590
Vanessa: moment,  but  it  was  as  if  she  was  pouring  that 

459
00:25:19,590 --> 00:25:23,520
Vanessa: all  back  into  me,  right?
 So  she  was  pouring  her 

460
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:28,320
Vanessa: hopes,  her  dreams,  her  aspirations,  and  her  desires.  So  when 

461
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,450
Vanessa: I  came  to  a  point  of  what  I  was  doing 

462
00:25:30,450 --> 00:25:33,840
Vanessa: and  understanding  that  there's  a  need  for  change  here,  my 

463
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,660
Vanessa: mom  really  gave  me  that  feeling  of  empowering  myself  to 

464
00:25:36,660 --> 00:25:40,139
Vanessa: do  something  about  it.  And  I  didn't  leave  that  moment 

465
00:25:40,140 --> 00:25:42,869
Vanessa: with  my  mom  thinking  I was going  to  start  a  business.  I 

466
00:25:42,869 --> 00:25:46,260
Vanessa: held  it  tight  to  my  chest  for  a  while,  but 

467
00:25:46,260 --> 00:25:49,199
Vanessa: I  can  look  back and know that  that  was  the  moment  that  I 

468
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,619
Vanessa: created  my  business.  I  became  an  entrepreneur  and  I  said, "

469
00:25:53,130 --> 00:25:55,530
Vanessa: There's  something  that  needs  to  be  done  here  and  this 

470
00:25:55,530 --> 00:25:58,109
Vanessa: girl  from  Jersey  is  going  to  do  something  about  it.

471
00:25:59,398 --> 00:26:05,399
Rob: I  love  that  moment and  these  entrepreneurial  kind  of  sparks,  they 

472
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,560
Rob: come  in  a  lot  of  different  places,  but  I  love 

473
00:26:07,950 --> 00:26:11,760
Rob: the  fact  that  it  came  from  your  immigrant  mother  and 

474
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,490
Rob: her  hopes  and  dreams  and  here  you  are  making  it 

475
00:26:14,490 --> 00:26:18,720
Rob: happen.  So  let's  talk  about  that  business.  Game  Changers,  a 

476
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:22,770
Rob: program  that  helps  women  of  color  become  certified  run  coaches. 

477
00:26:22,830 --> 00:26:26,790
Rob: What  was  the  moment  that  you  said, " Okay,  I'm  really 

478
00:26:26,790 --> 00:26:29,520
Rob: doing  this.  I'm  going  to  actually  start  this."  And  what's 

479
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,619
Rob: kind  of  the  origin  story  of  Game  Changers  itself?

480
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,750
Vanessa: Yeah.  So  in  being in  the  spaces  and  seeing  that  same 

481
00:26:36,750 --> 00:26:40,290
Vanessa: type  of  leader  and  wanting  to  do  something  different  about 

482
00:26:40,290 --> 00:26:42,840
Vanessa: it, I was like, "You know what?  I'm  going  to  do  something  on  my  own."  I 

483
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,090
Vanessa: had  been  working  with  brands  and  businesses  and  I  was  like, "

484
00:26:45,090 --> 00:26:47,490
Vanessa: I'm  going  to  do  something  on  my  own  that  showcases 

485
00:26:47,490 --> 00:26:51,510
Vanessa: only  women  of  color  as  certified  run  coaches  that  are 

486
00:26:51,630 --> 00:26:54,330
Vanessa: experts  in  this  space."  And  so  I  was  doing  something 

487
00:26:54,330 --> 00:26:56,399
Vanessa: locally,  it  was  going  to  be  a  free  event.  I 

488
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,770
Vanessa: called  it  the  All  Women's  Run  Panel.  And  when  I 

489
00:26:58,770 --> 00:27:01,200
Vanessa: went  to  go  look  for  those  certified  run  coaches  that 

490
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,530
Vanessa: were  women  of  color,  I  was  kind  of  surprised  that 

491
00:27:04,530 --> 00:27:08,970
Vanessa: I  couldn't  find  many.  Even  those  who  I  thought  maybe 

492
00:27:08,970 --> 00:27:13,859
Vanessa: had  those  credentials,  they  either  weren't  aware  of  the  opportunity 

493
00:27:13,859 --> 00:27:15,570
Vanessa: or  they  had  looked  into  it,  but  the  cost  of 

494
00:27:15,570 --> 00:27:16,678
Vanessa: it  was  just  a  bit  much.

495
00:27:16,888 --> 00:27:22,140
Rob: The  credentialing  you're  talking about is the RRCA,  the  Road  Runners  Club  of  America 

496
00:27:22,140 --> 00:27:23,100
Rob: coach  certification?

497
00:27:23,730 --> 00:27:26,910
Vanessa: Yes.  And  that's  definitely  one  of  the  most  well  known. 

498
00:27:26,910 --> 00:27:31,440
Vanessa: There  are  other  certifications  entities  as  well,  but  our  RRCA 

499
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:38,280
Vanessa: is  the  one  that  we  work  with.
So in seeing that  there  weren't  a 

500
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,250
Vanessa: lot  of  women  of  color  that  were  in  this  space, 

501
00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:43,770
Vanessa: I  still  had  my  panel.  I  still  had  two  out 

502
00:27:43,770 --> 00:27:46,170
Vanessa: of  the  five  panelists  as  women  of  color,  and it was  just 

503
00:27:46,470 --> 00:27:49,500
Vanessa: a  matter  of  putting  the  event  together.  It  was  going 

504
00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:52,350
Vanessa: to  be  at  this  free  space,  a  bra  fitting,  a 

505
00:27:52,350 --> 00:27:54,810
Vanessa: shoe  giveaway.  We  had  vendors  and  food.  We were  doing  a 

506
00:27:54,810 --> 00:27:57,390
Vanessa: group  run.  I  mean, Becs,  you  would  have  loved  it,  by 

507
00:27:57,390 --> 00:27:57,810
Vanessa: the  way.

508
00:27:59,280 --> 00:27:59,940
Becks: Sounds  amazing.

509
00:28:00,150 --> 00:28:03,840
Vanessa: You  too,  Rob.  It  was  open  for  everybody,  all  genders 

510
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,680
Vanessa: and  all  paces  and  faces.  But  two  weeks  before  the 

511
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,640
Vanessa: event  was  to  launch  in  2020  in  March,  I'm  sure 

512
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,750
Vanessa: we  all  can  remember  the feeling  of  everything  being  shut  down 

513
00:28:15,750 --> 00:28:20,609
Vanessa: and  so  was  my  event.  So  taking  those  couple  of 

514
00:28:20,609 --> 00:28:25,440
Vanessa: months  off,  it  was  really  something  so  simple.  We  went 

515
00:28:25,590 --> 00:28:28,830
Vanessa: down  the  shore  with  my  family  and  I  had  this 

516
00:28:28,830 --> 00:28:31,590
Vanessa: idea  to  create  a  buff  and  I  was  thinking  like, "

517
00:28:31,619 --> 00:28:34,560
Vanessa: Oh,  well,  maybe  I  will  make  this  as  swag  for 

518
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:36,780
Vanessa: the  All  Women's  Run  panel  and  maybe  I'll  make  the 

519
00:28:36,780 --> 00:28:41,489
Vanessa: event  virtual."  And  it  went  from  a  free  event  to  like, "

520
00:28:41,490 --> 00:28:44,550
Vanessa: Well,  maybe  I'll  charge  for  this  event  and  then  use 

521
00:28:44,550 --> 00:28:48,060
Vanessa: some  of  those  funds  and  change  what  I've  been  seeing, 

522
00:28:48,060 --> 00:28:51,150
Vanessa: right?"  Which  is,  how  do  we  get  more  women  of 

523
00:28:51,150 --> 00:28:53,850
Vanessa: color  to  become  certified?
 And  like  I  said,  some  people 

524
00:28:53,850 --> 00:28:56,490
Vanessa: just  didn't  have  their  awareness,  but  also  some  people  couldn't 

525
00:28:56,550 --> 00:28:59,490
Vanessa: afford  it.  So  I  was  like, " Well,  we  could  use 

526
00:28:59,490 --> 00:29:03,870
Vanessa: some  of  this  registration  costs  to  pay  for  five  women 

527
00:29:04,530 --> 00:29:08,190
Vanessa: to  get  certified."  And  that's  where  it  really  began,  was 

528
00:29:08,190 --> 00:29:12,180
Vanessa: using  that  event  and  making  it  more  virtual,  charging  for 

529
00:29:12,180 --> 00:29:14,460
Vanessa: that  event  and  then  using  some  of  those  funds  to 

530
00:29:14,820 --> 00:29:17,190
Vanessa: fund  a  couple  of  women,  but  it  wasn't  just  a 

531
00:29:17,190 --> 00:29:22,140
Vanessa: couple  of  women,  the  event  definitely  and  really  more  the 

532
00:29:22,140 --> 00:29:25,770
Vanessa: mission  of  with  Game  Changers,  we  provide  the  resources  and 

533
00:29:25,770 --> 00:29:28,740
Vanessa: funds  so  more  women  of  color  can  become  certified  run 

534
00:29:28,740 --> 00:29:32,070
Vanessa: coaches,  but  the  mission  there  is  redefining  who  people  see 

535
00:29:32,070 --> 00:29:35,520
Vanessa: as  the  expert  and  leader  in the  running  industry.  So  it 

536
00:29:35,550 --> 00:29:39,540
Vanessa: went  quickly  from  five,  that  first  cohort  actually  had  16 

537
00:29:40,410 --> 00:29:43,080
Vanessa: and  it  was  a  real  testimony  that  not  only  was 

538
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,870
Vanessa: this  something  that  I  saw  or  a  couple  people  saw, 

539
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,351
Vanessa: but  nationwide,  we  were  getting  the  interest  in  all  capacities.

540
00:29:49,351 --> 00:29:50,190
Rob: Wow.

541
00:29:51,090 --> 00:29:56,070
Becks: Wow,  that's  incredible.  And I love  your  brain  process  of  just  how 

542
00:29:56,070 --> 00:30:02,370
Becks: to  pivot  in  a  time  of  completely  Unprecedented  chaos  in 

543
00:30:02,370 --> 00:30:06,660
Becks: the  world  to  make  something  that  actually  probably  ended  up 

544
00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:10,590
Becks: being  bigger  and  better  for  all  of  the  women  out 

545
00:30:10,590 --> 00:30:15,360
Becks: there  who  were  looking  to  you.  Tell  me,  for  you 

546
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:20,610
Becks: when  you  see  those  five  to  16  to  hundreds  of 

547
00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:24,090
Becks: women  now,  when  you  see  them  get  their  run  certification, 

548
00:30:24,990 --> 00:30:31,860
Becks: return  to  their  running  communities  and  take  your  message  on 

549
00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:34,560
Becks: and  your  mission,  what  does  that  mean  to  you  to 

550
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:35,460
Becks: watch  them  do  that?

551
00:30:36,540 --> 00:30:41,760
Vanessa: It  feels like  a  blessing.  It  comes  from  a  very  emotional 

552
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:47,640
Vanessa: space.  No  one  tells  you  how  transformative  being  a  business 

553
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:53,970
Vanessa: owner  is.  My  levels  of  vulnerability  are  so  apparent.  It's 

554
00:30:53,970 --> 00:30:56,550
Vanessa: not  even  funny.  I  used  to  be  such  a  composed 

555
00:30:56,550 --> 00:30:59,220
Vanessa: person  and  if  you want  to  tap  into  emotion,  become  a 

556
00:30:59,220 --> 00:31:03,990
Vanessa: business  owner.  But  seeing  the  women  carry  on  the  mission 

557
00:31:03,990 --> 00:31:08,430
Vanessa: of  game  changers  and  in  essence,  taking  ownership  of  it 

558
00:31:08,430 --> 00:31:12,600
Vanessa: for  themselves  and  being  that  nucleus,  whether  that's  within  their 

559
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,640
Vanessa: family  or  their  communities  or  essentially  the  industry  has  been 

560
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:29,370
Vanessa: breathtaking.  It's  been  such  a  beautiful  blessing.  Understanding  that  the 

561
00:31:29,370 --> 00:31:34,080
Vanessa: reason  why  game  changers  exists  and  knowing  my  why  with 

562
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,440
Vanessa: what  I  do  and  knowing  that  each  game  changer  can 

563
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,700
Vanessa: take  that  why  and  really  formulate  it  into  their  version 

564
00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:45,600
Vanessa: of  it.  It  means  something  so  special  that  that  can 

565
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,300
Vanessa: be  passed  on.  And  not  that  we  are  keeping  it 

566
00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:53,340
Vanessa: for  ourselves,  but  we  are  using  coaching,  yes,  to  get 

567
00:31:53,340 --> 00:31:56,070
Vanessa: people  to  start  lines  and  finish  lines,  but  really  using 

568
00:31:56,070 --> 00:31:59,970
Vanessa: it  as  a  vehicle  for  impact.
 Going  back  to  that 

569
00:31:59,970 --> 00:32:03,690
Vanessa: certification  and  seeing  who's  in  front  of  the  room,  we're 

570
00:32:03,690 --> 00:32:07,170
Vanessa: using  coaching  to  change  who  that  person  is  in  front 

571
00:32:07,170 --> 00:32:09,900
Vanessa: of  the  room,  to  change  who's  seen  on  the  microphone, 

572
00:32:09,900 --> 00:32:13,290
Vanessa: to  change  who's  on  the  panels,  who's  being  cited  as 

573
00:32:13,290 --> 00:32:17,370
Vanessa: expert  sources,  who's  writing  books,  who's  paving  the  way.
 And 

574
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:22,320
Vanessa: we're  doing  that  through  this  vehicle  that  I'm  blessed  to 

575
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:27,180
Vanessa: say  that  everyone  is  taking  what  I  saw  as  really 

576
00:32:27,180 --> 00:32:30,660
Vanessa: as  a  young  girl  with  my  mom  and  everyone  taking 

577
00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:32,850
Vanessa: that  and  having  it  resonate  with  them  in  a  way 

578
00:32:32,850 --> 00:32:36,690
Vanessa: that  normalizes  to  everyone  else,  whether  that's  in  their  neighborhoods 

579
00:32:36,690 --> 00:32:40,410
Vanessa: or  whether  that's  the  running  space  at  large,  normalizing  that 

580
00:32:40,410 --> 00:32:43,530
Vanessa: we  are  the  leaders  and  experts  as  well  in  this  space.

581
00:32:44,010 --> 00:32:48,810
Rob: Vanessa,  are  there  any  stories,  people  who  have  come  through 

582
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,350
Rob: your  program  that  you  can  think  of  as  kind  of 

583
00:32:52,350 --> 00:32:55,050
Rob: doing  a  good  job  of  summing  up  the  impact  of 

584
00:32:55,050 --> 00:32:57,300
Rob: it?  Can  you  think  of  one  or  two  women  whose 

585
00:32:57,300 --> 00:33:01,380
Rob: stories  you  can  share  and  to  really  let  us  understand 

586
00:33:01,380 --> 00:33:03,960
Rob: what  it  really  means  to  have  people  like  this  in 

587
00:33:04,230 --> 00:33:04,920
Rob: this  space?

588
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:11,400
Vanessa: Yeah. So  Coach  Lee  out  of  Florida  comes  to  mind.  She 

589
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,870
Vanessa: came  into  the  Game  Changers  program and  it's  an  application  process. 

590
00:33:16,860 --> 00:33:19,800
Vanessa: So  when  she  came  into  the  program,  I  remember  her 

591
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,910
Vanessa: during  the  introduction  call  where  we  have  each  woman  talk 

592
00:33:23,910 --> 00:33:25,530
Vanessa: a  little  bit  about  who  they  are  and  what  they 

593
00:33:25,530 --> 00:33:27,750
Vanessa: do. And  I  remember  she  was  one  of  the  last  to 

594
00:33:27,750 --> 00:33:31,830
Vanessa: go  and  she  had  said  something  like, " I'm  just  blessed 

595
00:33:31,830 --> 00:33:34,200
Vanessa: to  be  here."  She's  like, " I'm  not  even  sure  how 

596
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,140
Vanessa: I  got  into  this  room  with  all  you  amazing  people." 

597
00:33:37,590 --> 00:33:43,590
Vanessa: And  it  was  like, " Press  pause  and  that,  you're  phenomenal. 

598
00:33:43,590 --> 00:33:47,220
Vanessa: You're  amazing  for  being  here."  And  a  lot  of  the 

599
00:33:47,220 --> 00:33:51,360
Vanessa: times,  it's  really  a  journey  to  find  that  confidence,  not 

600
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,240
Vanessa: just  to  say  like, " Hey,  I'm  a  coach,"  but  also  like, "

601
00:33:54,330 --> 00:33:56,910
Vanessa: Hey,  I'm  a  woman  of  color  and  I  have  value 

602
00:33:56,910 --> 00:34:00,840
Vanessa: to  bring  here  and  I'm  demanding  and  proclaiming  my  space so 

603
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:03,540
Vanessa: I  could  be  heard,  seen  and  valued."  And  so  when 

604
00:34:03,540 --> 00:34:07,500
Vanessa: she  entered  and  she  was  on  that  intro  call  and 

605
00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:10,500
Vanessa: going  through  the  nine- month  program,  it's  nine  months.
 So 

606
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:13,230
Vanessa: you  get  certified,  you  get  a  business  strategist  to  understand 

607
00:34:13,230 --> 00:34:15,390
Vanessa: what  you  want  to  do  with  that  certification,  and  then 

608
00:34:15,390 --> 00:34:18,150
Vanessa: you  get  a  structured  mentorship  from  another  fellow  woman  of 

609
00:34:18,150 --> 00:34:20,850
Vanessa: color  certified  run  coach  who's  just  been  in  the  game 

610
00:34:20,850 --> 00:34:21,780
Vanessa: a  little  bit  longer.

611
00:34:22,380 --> 00:34:22,469
Rob: Nice.

612
00:34:22,739 --> 00:34:26,760
Vanessa: Coach  Lee,  who  went  through  this  nine  month  program,  now 

613
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,390
Vanessa: she  turned  her  rucking  group  into  a  successful  running  group. 

614
00:34:31,230 --> 00:34:34,739
Vanessa: She  has  started  her  own  business,  R& D  Running,  and 

615
00:34:34,739 --> 00:34:38,400
Vanessa: she  has  really  infused  her  daughter.  So  when  we  do 

616
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:42,420
Vanessa: our  meetups  in  person,  her  daughter  Ruthia  is  along  and 

617
00:34:42,420 --> 00:34:45,839
Vanessa: her  daughter  now  is  also  in  like  golfing.  And  so 

618
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,660
Vanessa: it's  almost  like  this  version  of  maybe  future  game  changers 

619
00:34:48,660 --> 00:34:51,600
Vanessa: somewhere  in  golfing  because  just  from  her  being  around  us 

620
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,530
Vanessa: and  understanding  the  bigger  message  doesn't  just  lie  within  running, 

621
00:34:55,739 --> 00:34:59,969
Vanessa: but  lies  within  having  the  ability  to  amplify  those  voices 

622
00:34:59,969 --> 00:35:04,350
Vanessa: that  aren't  heard  in  the  room.  So  Coach  Lee  definitely 

623
00:35:04,350 --> 00:35:07,350
Vanessa: comes  to  mind  and  the  progress  that  she  has  made 

624
00:35:07,380 --> 00:35:10,230
Vanessa: by  being  in  the  Game  Changers  program.  And  another  one 

625
00:35:10,230 --> 00:35:14,640
Vanessa: that  really  hits  when  I  think  about  examples,  I  think 

626
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:20,790
Vanessa: of  Coach  Sianna  out  in  Washington.  She  went  through  the  nine-

627
00:35:20,790 --> 00:35:26,400
Vanessa: month  program  and  went  back  to  her  reservation  and  when 

628
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:31,170
Vanessa: they  go  to  the  clinic,  now  the  doctors  prescribe  her 

629
00:35:31,170 --> 00:35:36,630
Vanessa: running  program  as  a  way  to  combat  diabetes.
 And  so 

630
00:35:36,690 --> 00:35:40,170
Vanessa: now  she's  infused  in  her  reservation  in  her  community  as 

631
00:35:40,170 --> 00:35:43,860
Vanessa: not  only  a  business  person,  but  someone  that  can  give 

632
00:35:43,860 --> 00:35:46,650
Vanessa: back  to  the  community  in  a  way  that  is  not 

633
00:35:46,650 --> 00:35:49,230
Vanessa: only  true  to  being  a  game  changer,  but  also  true 

634
00:35:49,230 --> 00:35:51,870
Vanessa: to  her  and  her  values  and  the  people  that  she 

635
00:35:51,870 --> 00:35:59,250
Vanessa: wants  to  serve  and  coach.  Yes.  Yes,  yes,  exactly.  So 

636
00:35:59,430 --> 00:36:02,339
Vanessa: I  mean,  and  there's  stories  for  days  and  weeks  and 

637
00:36:02,610 --> 00:36:04,830
Vanessa: they  don't  have  to  be  big.  They  can  be  smaller 

638
00:36:04,830 --> 00:36:07,830
Vanessa: stories  of  someone  just  finding  the  confidence.  Our  own  data 

639
00:36:07,830 --> 00:36:11,250
Vanessa: shows  us  that  89.5%  of  Game  Changers  that  go  through 

640
00:36:11,250 --> 00:36:14,400
Vanessa: the  program  find  that  confidence  as  a  coach,  and  then 

641
00:36:14,489 --> 00:36:19,560
Vanessa: 68%  find  that  additional  confidence  in  life.  So  again,  it's 

642
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,069
Vanessa: just  a  beautiful,  beautiful  blessing  to  be  here.  And  when 

643
00:36:23,070 --> 00:36:27,270
Vanessa: I  think  about  the  stories,  it's  just  a  wonderful  example 

644
00:36:27,270 --> 00:36:30,660
Vanessa: and  testimony  to  what  Game  Changers  is  beyond  just  the  nine-

645
00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:31,739
Vanessa: month  program.

646
00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,219
Becks: So  let's  talk  about  the  changes  then  that  you've  seen 

647
00:36:35,790 --> 00:36:39,330
Becks: when  it  comes  to  women  of  color  in  the  running 

648
00:36:39,330 --> 00:36:43,710
Becks: world,  in  the  fitness  wellness  space.  Have  you  and  are 

649
00:36:43,710 --> 00:36:48,150
Becks: you  honestly  seeing  that  representation  and  change  moving  in  the 

650
00:36:48,150 --> 00:36:50,130
Becks: way  that  you  hoped  to  five  years  ago?

651
00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:55,890
Vanessa: Oh,  absolutely.  There's  so  much  change  that's  happening  within  the 

652
00:36:55,890 --> 00:36:58,620
Vanessa: industry,  and  it's  not  just  specific  to  women  of  color 

653
00:36:59,610 --> 00:37:03,540
Vanessa: or  even  diversity.  There  is  organizations  that  are  doing  a 

654
00:37:03,540 --> 00:37:06,270
Vanessa: lot  of  work  to  make  change  in  this  space.  I 

655
00:37:06,300 --> 00:37:10,830
Vanessa: automatically  think  of  the  Running  Industry  Diversity  Coalition,  RIDC.  They're 

656
00:37:10,830 --> 00:37:14,280
Vanessa: doing  such  wonderful  work  working  with  different  brands  and  organizations 

657
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:19,950
Vanessa: and  having  them  understand  the  importance  of  diversity  and  also 

658
00:37:19,950 --> 00:37:23,250
Vanessa: collecting  the  data  to  back  that  up.  I  think  of 

659
00:37:23,850 --> 00:37:27,600
Vanessa: organizations  like  Native  Women  Running and Verna and  her  team  that  ensure  that 

660
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,980
Vanessa: Native  women  have  that  not  only  participation  inclusion,  but  also 

661
00:37:31,980 --> 00:37:35,820
Vanessa: that  representation  of  being  at  these  major  races.  I  think 

662
00:37:35,820 --> 00:37:42,600
Vanessa: of  for  all  mothers,  the  understanding  importance  of  women  athletes, 

663
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,590
Vanessa: but  also  understanding  that  women  come  to the  sport,  especially  if 

664
00:37:46,590 --> 00:37:49,830
Vanessa: they  just  newly  had  a  baby  or  are  expecting  one 

665
00:37:49,830 --> 00:37:52,529
Vanessa: and  they  need  that  level  of  support  on  race  day 

666
00:37:52,530 --> 00:37:58,140
Vanessa: that's  a  little  bit  different.
 Just  so  many  wonderful  organizations 

667
00:37:58,140 --> 00:38:00,330
Vanessa: that  are  doing  the  work  to  change the industry.  I  think  of 

668
00:38:00,330 --> 00:38:02,850
Vanessa: New  York  Roadrunners.  I  know  you  have  a  big  push 

669
00:38:02,850 --> 00:38:06,000
Vanessa: for  sustainability  and  so  I  think  about  equity,  how  about 

670
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,690
Vanessa: equity  for  this  earth,  right?  So  there  are  so  many 

671
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,710
Vanessa: beautiful,  wonderful  things  that  are  happening  in  addition  to  what 

672
00:38:13,710 --> 00:38:16,890
Vanessa: Game  Changers  is  doing.  And  I  think  five  years  ago, 

673
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:20,580
Vanessa: that  looked  a  lot  different.  So  I  know  that  there 

674
00:38:20,580 --> 00:38:23,010
Vanessa: is  so  much  work  being  done  and  of  course,  so 

675
00:38:23,010 --> 00:38:26,250
Vanessa: much  work  that  needs  and  yet  to  be  done,  but 

676
00:38:26,250 --> 00:38:30,509
Vanessa: knowing  that there is  a  space  where  we  are  all  hopeful  and 

677
00:38:30,510 --> 00:38:35,310
Vanessa: believe  that  this  future  of  running,  long  distance,  the  sport, 

678
00:38:35,580 --> 00:38:38,189
Vanessa: health  and  wellness,  it  can  look  different.  And  the  fact 

679
00:38:38,190 --> 00:38:40,020
Vanessa: that  we  all  know  that  we  play  a  major  part 

680
00:38:40,020 --> 00:38:42,390
Vanessa: in  it,  I  think  that's  the  special  part  that  maybe 

681
00:38:42,390 --> 00:38:43,680
Vanessa: wasn't  there  five  years  ago.

682
00:38:44,070 --> 00:38:47,489
Rob: Yeah.  I  mean,  we  all  know  that  running  has  had 

683
00:38:47,489 --> 00:38:50,640
Rob: a  boom  in  the  last  five,  six  years,  right?  The 

684
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,870
Rob: pandemic  brought  so  many  people  to  running  and  we  see 

685
00:38:54,870 --> 00:38:58,230
Rob: it  at  New  York  Road  Runners,  of  course,  the  interest 

686
00:38:58,230 --> 00:39:00,630
Rob: in  getting  into  our  races  and  the  marathon  and  all 

687
00:39:00,630 --> 00:39:03,660
Rob: that,  but  what  you  and  people  like  you and  some  of 

688
00:39:03,660 --> 00:39:06,630
Rob: the  other  folks  you  just  mentioned  are  doing  is  making 

689
00:39:06,630 --> 00:39:10,380
Rob: sure  that  that  boom  is  not  just  isolated  to  one 

690
00:39:10,650 --> 00:39:14,430
Rob: type  of  person,  to  one  demographic,  to  one  income  level, 

691
00:39:14,430 --> 00:39:18,239
Rob: right? That  the  boom  is  spread  across  all  kinds  of  folks 

692
00:39:18,300 --> 00:39:22,020
Rob: because  we  know,  as  we  call  it  in  our  organization, 

693
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,680
Rob: in  our  mission  statement  about  the  transformative  power  of  running, 

694
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:29,580
Rob: right?  But  why  should  only  a  certain  set  of  people 

695
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,100
Rob: get  to  experience  that?  And  so  that's  what  you're  really 

696
00:39:32,100 --> 00:39:37,020
Rob: doing. It's  just  the  exposure,  right?
 Because  so  much  in  life 

697
00:39:37,020 --> 00:39:41,070
Rob: is  not  a  desire  to  do  something,  it's  the  knowledge 

698
00:39:41,070 --> 00:39:43,530
Rob: to  even  know  that  it's  a  thing  to  do.  And 

699
00:39:44,550 --> 00:39:47,520
Rob: you  need  to  see  someone  doing  it  and  say, " Oh 

700
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:49,980
Rob: wait,  maybe  I  could  do  that. "  Because  we  can't  all 

701
00:39:49,980 --> 00:39:52,739
Rob: just  imagine  things  out  of  thin  air.  We  need  to 

702
00:39:52,739 --> 00:39:55,530
Rob: see  it  sometimes  to  even  know  that  it's  something  we 

703
00:39:55,530 --> 00:39:56,759
Rob: could  aspire  to,  Vanessa.

704
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,989
Vanessa: Absolutely.  And  a  lot  of  times  with  the  Game  Changers 

705
00:40:00,989 --> 00:40:03,690
Vanessa: program,  I  like  to  think  about,  we're  not  just  giving 

706
00:40:03,690 --> 00:40:06,719
Vanessa: people  access  to  running,  but  we're  giving  people  access  to 

707
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:09,570
Vanessa: leadership.  And  just  like  you  said,  to  know  that  yes, 

708
00:40:09,570 --> 00:40:11,819
Vanessa: you  can  run  and  you  can  also  be  someone  in 

709
00:40:11,820 --> 00:40:14,550
Vanessa: this  space  that  is  knowledgeable  and  that  is  valued  for 

710
00:40:14,550 --> 00:40:17,190
Vanessa: what  you're  bringing  to  the  table.  And  for  game  changers 

711
00:40:17,190 --> 00:40:20,430
Vanessa: in  particular,  I  find  that  that  comes  from  our  lived 

712
00:40:20,430 --> 00:40:24,989
Vanessa: experiences,  right?  And  sometimes  we  downplay  that.  When  I  showed 

713
00:40:24,989 --> 00:40:27,150
Vanessa: up  to  a  certification  room,  all  I  had  was  my 

714
00:40:27,150 --> 00:40:30,930
Vanessa: family,  friends,  and  what  I  had  lived  through.  I  didn't 

715
00:40:30,930 --> 00:40:33,509
Vanessa: have  a  track  background.  I  didn't  find  running  till  I 

716
00:40:33,510 --> 00:40:38,160
Vanessa: was  like  25  years  old.  I  didn't  have  this  knowledge 

717
00:40:38,190 --> 00:40:43,200
Vanessa: of  the  sport,  but  I  had  this  lived  experience  of 

718
00:40:43,650 --> 00:40:45,600
Vanessa: what  it  felt  like  to  be  in  a  room  and 

719
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:49,410
Vanessa: not  be  heard,  to  figure  things  out  on  your  own, 

720
00:40:49,410 --> 00:40:53,640
Vanessa: to  rely  on  your  family  and  your  communities.
 And  sometimes 

721
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:59,010
Vanessa: we  don't  realize  that  when  you're  different,  that  that's  exactly 

722
00:40:59,010 --> 00:41:02,279
Vanessa: what's  needed  in  the  room  and  that's  what's  actually  needed 

723
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,730
Vanessa: in  the  space  like  the  industry  because  when  we  keep 

724
00:41:05,730 --> 00:41:08,879
Vanessa: doing  things  the  same,  we  can't  expect  anything  to  change. 

725
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,660
Vanessa: So the more that  we  have  these  different  people  and  these  different  ideas 

726
00:41:12,660 --> 00:41:17,340
Vanessa: and  perspectives  and  voices,  the  more  the  real  beauty  of 

727
00:41:17,340 --> 00:41:19,890
Vanessa: what  this  sport  represents  will  come  and  shine  through.

728
00:41:19,890 --> 00:41:26,250
Becks: Yeah.  Yeah.  Wonderfully  said.  Wonderfully  said.  Well,  let's  talk  about 

729
00:41:26,310 --> 00:41:31,230
Becks: a  little  bit  how  people  can,  literally  this  week,  the 

730
00:41:31,230 --> 00:41:36,719
Becks: day  this  podcast  comes  out,  actually,  how  people  can  apply 

731
00:41:36,750 --> 00:41:41,100
Becks: for  this  year's  Game  Changers  NYC  cohort  because  this  Thursday, 

732
00:41:41,100 --> 00:41:44,400
Becks: January the  8th  is  the  second  year  of  the  partnership  between 

733
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:48,779
Becks: Game  Changers  and  New  York  Roadrunners.  And  applications  are  going 

734
00:41:48,780 --> 00:41:51,960
Becks: to  be  coming  in,  I'm  sure,  like  flying  in.  Talk 

735
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,690
Becks: us  through  what  are  the  long- term  goals  for  this?

736
00:41:54,930 --> 00:41:57,989
Vanessa: Yes,  absolutely.  Thank  you  so  much  for  mentioning  that.  Yes, 

737
00:41:57,989 --> 00:42:01,590
Vanessa: applications  do  open  January  8th.  We're  really  excited  to  have 

738
00:42:01,590 --> 00:42:04,140
Vanessa: this  second  year  of  partnership  with  New  York  Road  Runners. 

739
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:06,779
Vanessa: And  for  the  New  York  City  cohort,  it  does  include 

740
00:42:06,780 --> 00:42:09,239
Vanessa: those  three  main  components,  like  I  said  before,  which  is 

741
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:13,290
Vanessa: the  certification  funding  and  also  the  business  strategists  and  the 

742
00:42:13,500 --> 00:42:16,469
Vanessa: mentorship.  But  with  New  York  Roadrunners,  we  also  have  a 

743
00:42:16,469 --> 00:42:20,549
Vanessa: fourth  component,  which  is  apprenticeship.  So  they'll  be  able  to 

744
00:42:20,550 --> 00:42:24,060
Vanessa: really  step  into  this  space.  They'll  be  able  to  kind 

745
00:42:24,060 --> 00:42:26,730
Vanessa: of  exercise  those  muscles  of  being  a  coach  by  joining 

746
00:42:26,730 --> 00:42:29,190
Vanessa: the  group  training  and  Ben  and  Gemma  and  their  team. 

747
00:42:29,250 --> 00:42:32,160
Vanessa: So  shout  out  to  Ben  and  Gemma,  of  course.  And 

748
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,950
Vanessa: it's  a  paid  internship.  And  so  that  really  sets  the 

749
00:42:34,950 --> 00:42:38,610
Vanessa: stage  because  as  we  come  into  this  space,  we  want 

750
00:42:38,610 --> 00:42:41,549
Vanessa: to  ensure  that  we  are  valued,  that  our  coaches  are 

751
00:42:41,550 --> 00:42:44,219
Vanessa: valued  and  with  New  York  Road  Runners,  we're  able  to 

752
00:42:44,219 --> 00:42:47,400
Vanessa: do  that.
 But  in  terms  of  long  term,  I  mean, 

753
00:42:47,580 --> 00:42:51,359
Vanessa: in  working  and  building  game  changers,  we've  seen  the  success 

754
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:55,830
Vanessa: of the  program.  That  goal  of  five  women  is  now  167 

755
00:42:56,070 --> 00:43:01,050
Vanessa: coaches in  29  states.  We  just  added  Louisiana  and  Alaska.  We're 

756
00:43:01,050 --> 00:43:05,400
Vanessa: also  in  Washington  D. C.  And  finding  the  success  nationwide, 

757
00:43:05,430 --> 00:43:08,040
Vanessa: it's  the  idea  of  like,  imagine  what  we  can  do 

758
00:43:08,100 --> 00:43:12,030
Vanessa: if  we  go  into  your  city,  right?  Imagine  the  pipeline 

759
00:43:12,030 --> 00:43:14,730
Vanessa: and  the  ecosystem  of  women  of  color  leaders  that  we 

760
00:43:14,730 --> 00:43:19,500
Vanessa: can  infuse  because  you  know  what?  They're  already  there.  They're 

761
00:43:19,500 --> 00:43:21,989
Vanessa: already  in  their  communities.  They're  already  doing  their  work.  They're 

762
00:43:21,989 --> 00:43:27,000
Vanessa: already  getting  their  families  and  their  neighbors  and  their  homeboy, 

763
00:43:27,030 --> 00:43:31,050
Vanessa: homegirl  from  high  school  coming  out.  There's  the  ones  that 

764
00:43:31,050 --> 00:43:33,029
Vanessa: the  run  clubs  and  crews,  and  Rob,  you  know  this. 

765
00:43:33,030 --> 00:43:37,170
Vanessa: They're  the  heartbeat  and  the  pulse  of  the  industry.  So 

766
00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:42,120
Vanessa: if  we  can  unify  the  women  of  color  leaders in  a 

767
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:46,440
Vanessa: space  and  again,  amplify  that  normalization  of  who's  seen  as 

768
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:50,310
Vanessa: ex  expertise,  not  only  in  our  neighborhoods  and  our  boroughs, 

769
00:43:50,580 --> 00:43:55,170
Vanessa: but  also  that  shining  light  up  industry  wise.
 So  that's 

770
00:43:55,170 --> 00:43:56,910
Vanessa: the  future.  That's  what  we  want  to  see  is  an 

771
00:43:56,910 --> 00:43:59,759
Vanessa: ecosystem  and  a  pipeline  of  leaders  that  are  coming  through 

772
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,300
Vanessa: the  Game  Changers  program  in  partnership  with  New  York  Road  Runners.

773
00:44:03,780 --> 00:44:07,920
Rob: Vanessa,  we  love  our  partnership  with  Game  Changers.  We're  so 

774
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:11,219
Rob: thrilled  to  continue  it  into  a  second  year  and  we 

775
00:44:11,219 --> 00:44:15,540
Rob: cannot  wait  to  see  who  applies,  who  comes  out  of 

776
00:44:15,540 --> 00:44:18,690
Rob: that.  And  then  yeah,  we can't  wait  to  have  them  actually 

777
00:44:19,590 --> 00:44:22,320
Rob: have  a  chance  to  coach  with  our  coaches.  You  mentioned 

778
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:25,860
Rob: Ben  Delaney,  Gemma  Ward,  our  incredible  coaching  team  at  New 

779
00:44:25,860 --> 00:44:28,320
Rob: York  Roadrunners.  So  yeah,  they're  going  to  get  that  opportunity 

780
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,410
Rob: to  work  with  some  of  the  best  coaches  in  the 

781
00:44:31,410 --> 00:44:33,630
Rob: business.  Okay.  So  what  do  they  actually  do?  If  they 

782
00:44:33,630 --> 00:44:36,210
Rob: want  to  apply,  where  do  they  go?  What's  the  process?

783
00:44:36,510 --> 00:44:40,680
Vanessa: Yes.  So  they  can  check  out  our  newly  established  handle. 

784
00:44:41,190 --> 00:44:45,239
Vanessa: So  we  started in 2020,  but  we  just  launched  a  handle.  Everything 

785
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:48,509
Vanessa: was  originally  from  my  VCPM  Inc,  but  now  it's  Game 

786
00:44:48,510 --> 00:44:54,480
Vanessa: Changers  Run.  So  on  Instagram  it's @ gamechangersrun  or  they  can 

787
00:44:54,480 --> 00:45:00,719
Vanessa: go  to  vcpm. com/ game- changers.  And  I'm  sure  we 

788
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:02,730
Vanessa: can  put  that  somewhere  where  someone  doesn't  have  to-

789
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,520
Rob: It'll  be  in  our  show  notes  for  sure.  Anybody  listening 

790
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,130
Rob: to  the  podcast  can  go  click  on  it,  absolutely,  to 

791
00:45:08,130 --> 00:45:10,620
Rob: make  it  easy  to  find.  And  yeah,  if  you're  listening 

792
00:45:10,620 --> 00:45:13,920
Rob: to  this  podcast,  you  can  literally  apply  right  now  because 

793
00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,190
Rob: it  opens  up  the  day  that  we  release  this  podcast. 

794
00:45:17,190 --> 00:45:19,950
Rob: So  it's  going  to  be  a  game  changing  opportunity,  I 

795
00:45:19,950 --> 00:45:21,719
Rob: think,  for  a  lot  of  people  out  there  listening  to 

796
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:22,560
Rob: this  podcast.

797
00:45:23,190 --> 00:45:26,040
Vanessa: Yes,  absolutely.  And  if  anyone  has  any  questions,  if  you're 

798
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,260
Vanessa: curious  about  what  it  is  to  be  a  run  coach 

799
00:45:28,500 --> 00:45:29,730
Vanessa: or  what  it  is  to  be  a  part  of  the 

800
00:45:29,730 --> 00:45:34,319
Vanessa: Game  Changers  program,  we  always  have  a Q&A  right  before  application 

801
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,710
Vanessa: closed.  So  the  application  will  be open the  8th  through  the  25th, 

802
00:45:38,219 --> 00:45:42,330
Vanessa: and  then  that Q&A  is  going  to  be  January 15th at 7: 30  PM. 

803
00:45:42,780 --> 00:45:46,230
Vanessa: So  you  can  apply,  register  for  that  Q& A,  whether 

804
00:45:46,230 --> 00:45:49,050
Vanessa: you  go  through  the  application  or  we'll  have  it  on 

805
00:45:50,340 --> 00:45:52,350
Vanessa: the  links  in  the  bio  on  IG.  We'll  have  a 

806
00:45:52,350 --> 00:45:54,360
Vanessa: way  for  you  to  register  that  way.  So  yeah, if you  have 

807
00:45:54,390 --> 00:45:56,489
Vanessa: any  questions  or  if  you're  curious  or  you  just want  to 

808
00:45:56,489 --> 00:45:59,760
Vanessa: meet  some  coaches  to  get  their  experience,  we  welcome  all 

809
00:45:59,940 --> 00:46:03,180
Vanessa: to  attend  that  Q& A.  We  can't  wait  to  meet 

810
00:46:03,180 --> 00:46:03,509
Vanessa: you  all.

811
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:07,200
Becks: That's  amazing.  I  love  that  there's  a  Q& A  because 

812
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:09,719
Becks: I'm  sure  there's  people  out  there  who  are  wondering  whether 

813
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:12,450
Becks: they  have  what  it  takes  or  whether  they  are  the 

814
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:16,620
Becks: right  fit.  For  those  who  are  listening  only,  I  was 

815
00:46:16,620 --> 00:46:22,020
Becks: air  quoting  fit  there,  but  it's  just  a  wonderful  space 

816
00:46:22,110 --> 00:46:25,380
Becks: then  to  meet  you,  to  meet  other  people  who  are 

817
00:46:25,380 --> 00:46:28,680
Becks: already  doing  it  and  their  potential  future  mentors,  which  is 

818
00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:32,550
Becks: so  cool.  So  yes,  everybody  apply  if  this  is  calling 

819
00:46:32,550 --> 00:46:33,029
Becks: to  you.

820
00:46:33,330 --> 00:46:36,120
Rob: Who  knows?  Maybe  we'll  get  some  future  Becs  out  of 

821
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:38,521
Rob: this  program.  Who  knows?  Maybe  somebody out there.

822
00:46:38,521 --> 00:46:38,522
Becks: There we go. Bring it on.

823
00:46:38,522 --> 00:46:41,790
Rob: Somebody  on  the  Peloton  tread  could  come  out  of  this. 

824
00:46:41,790 --> 00:46:42,390
Rob: What do you  think?

825
00:46:44,580 --> 00:46:49,080
Becks: We'd  love  it.  We'd  love  it.  Vanessa,  for  you  though, 

826
00:46:49,230 --> 00:46:51,089
Becks: I  mean,  we've  talked  a  lot  about  what  you  do 

827
00:46:51,090 --> 00:46:54,450
Becks: and  how  much  you'd  give  to  the  community  and  to 

828
00:46:54,450 --> 00:46:56,850
Becks: the  world  when  it  comes  to  running.  But  for  you 

829
00:46:56,850 --> 00:47:00,900
Becks: personally,  what  are  your  running  goals  right  now  as  we're 

830
00:47:00,900 --> 00:47:02,460
Becks: at  the  top  of  2026?

831
00:47:02,969 --> 00:47:08,190
Vanessa: Yeah.  So oh  my  goodness,  that's  such  a  big ...  If  you 

832
00:47:08,190 --> 00:47:10,529
Vanessa: would  have  asked  me  this  maybe  over  a  year  ago, 

833
00:47:10,530 --> 00:47:13,350
Vanessa: I  would  have  said  like  I'm  so  retired  from  marathons, but 

834
00:47:14,070 --> 00:47:17,190
Vanessa: I  came  out  of  retirement  about  a  year  and  change 

835
00:47:17,190 --> 00:47:20,609
Vanessa: ago and  I  hadn't  ran  a  marathon  since  11  years  before 

836
00:47:20,610 --> 00:47:26,489
Vanessa: that.  So  I'm  curious  whether  I  want  to  run  another 

837
00:47:26,489 --> 00:47:30,750
Vanessa: marathon and  kind  of  thinking  about  the  original  marathon  course.

838
00:47:30,750 --> 00:47:30,930
Becks: Athens.

839
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:37,620
Vanessa: Yes.  Yes.  Overseas  in  Athens.  So  I'm  kind  of  curious 

840
00:47:37,620 --> 00:47:41,130
Vanessa: about  that.  I'm  also  kind  of  curious  about,  I  did 

841
00:47:41,130 --> 00:47:47,130
Vanessa: run  NYC.  I  actually  was  supposed  to  run  in  2012, 

842
00:47:47,130 --> 00:47:49,440
Vanessa: but  Sandy  kind  of  changed  that.  So  I  ended  up 

843
00:47:49,440 --> 00:47:52,890
Vanessa: running  it  2013,  but  I  wonder  what  the  Vanessa  of 

844
00:47:52,890 --> 00:47:56,489
Vanessa: today  would  run  it  as. So I'm  kind  of  curious  about  that. 

845
00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,460
Vanessa: But  we  do  have  some  race  meetups  this  year.  So 

846
00:47:59,460 --> 00:48:03,390
Vanessa: we  are  going  to  be  headed  towards  Washington  and  Minnesota 

847
00:48:03,390 --> 00:48:05,969
Vanessa: with  our  game  changers.  So  I  have  some  half- marathons 

848
00:48:05,969 --> 00:48:08,339
Vanessa: that  are  coming  up  both  in  June  and  later  on 

849
00:48:08,340 --> 00:48:11,910
Vanessa: in  October.  And  we  also,  we  have  another  program,  it's 

850
00:48:11,910 --> 00:48:17,400
Vanessa: called  Powered.  So  I'll  be  running a  PDR,  Philadelphia  Distance  Run 

851
00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:21,510
Vanessa: later  this  year  in  September.  And  then  we  also  have 

852
00:48:21,510 --> 00:48:23,609
Vanessa: a  partnership  with  the  race  out  in  Atlanta.  So  those 

853
00:48:23,610 --> 00:48:27,270
Vanessa: are  some  races  I  have  that  are  coming  up.
 But 

854
00:48:27,540 --> 00:48:30,270
Vanessa: I  don't  know,  Becs, if  you  have  a  suggestion  for  me, 

855
00:48:30,270 --> 00:48:33,690
Vanessa: I'm always  looking  for  something  exciting  and  different.

856
00:48:34,830 --> 00:48:39,029
Becks: Well,  I  know  from  being  in  the  trail  world, the  women 

857
00:48:39,030 --> 00:48:42,660
Becks: of  color  in  the  trail  world  is  still  pretty  low. 

858
00:48:42,750 --> 00:48:46,950
Becks: And  we've  had  some  incredible  guests  on  the  podcast,  Alison 

859
00:48:46,950 --> 00:48:52,230
Becks: Desir,  for  example,  who's  a  real  advocate  in  that  world. 

860
00:48:52,230 --> 00:48:56,310
Becks: So  maybe  there  is  a  game  changers  on  the  trails, 

861
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:05,310
Becks: Trail  Changes. There  you  go.  Take  it  away.  We  can  get 

862
00:49:05,310 --> 00:49:06,060
Becks: our  heads  together.

863
00:49:06,450 --> 00:49:09,090
Vanessa: Yes,  absolutely.  I  love  that.  And  we  do  have  some 

864
00:49:09,090 --> 00:49:10,290
Vanessa: trail  coaches  too.

865
00:49:10,950 --> 00:49:10,951
Becks: Great.

866
00:49:10,950 --> 00:49:13,650
Vanessa: So  I'm  happy  you  said  that.  And  it's  funny  that 

867
00:49:13,650 --> 00:49:18,900
Vanessa: you  mentioned  Allison,  because  that's  the  run  that  we're  considering 

868
00:49:18,900 --> 00:49:20,940
Vanessa: to  do  our  meetup.  Actually,  that's  where  we  are  meeting 

869
00:49:20,940 --> 00:49:22,830
Vanessa: up.  I  just  haven't  put  the  word  out  yet,  but 

870
00:49:22,830 --> 00:49:27,002
Vanessa: we're  going  to  do  We  OutHere  Trail  Fest  in  June.  (inaudible) .

871
00:49:27,419 --> 00:49:28,141
Becks: We're  on  the  same  wavelength.

872
00:49:28,141 --> 00:49:33,750
Rob: I love it. I  love  it.  You're  all  over  it.  Vanessa,  thrilled  to 

873
00:49:33,750 --> 00:49:36,239
Rob: have  you  on.  I'm  so  excited  to  partner  with  you 

874
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:39,390
Rob: guys  again.  Can't  wait  to  see  where  this  all  goes, 

875
00:49:39,390 --> 00:49:43,950
Rob: but  you've  already  done  an  amazing  thing.  You've  created,  in 

876
00:49:43,950 --> 00:49:47,730
Rob: some  sports,  they  talk  about  a  coaching  tree,  and  each 

877
00:49:47,730 --> 00:49:51,480
Rob: coach  creates  a  tree  of  coaches  underneath  them,  right?  So 

878
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:54,630
Rob: think  about  it.  You've  spread  a  whole  bunch,  a  little 

879
00:49:54,630 --> 00:49:57,989
Rob: small  forest  of  coaching  trees  out  there  that  will  all 

880
00:49:57,989 --> 00:50:01,739
Rob: lead  to  more  and  more  and  more,  and  really  truly 

881
00:50:01,739 --> 00:50:03,570
Rob: have  changed  the  game  when  it  comes  to  the  sport 

882
00:50:03,570 --> 00:50:06,600
Rob: of  running  and  who's  out  there  leading  in  the  space. 

883
00:50:06,630 --> 00:50:10,020
Rob: So  congratulations  on  what  you've  done.  Can't  wait  to  keep 

884
00:50:10,020 --> 00:50:12,360
Rob: working  with  you  on  this  and  apply  out  there  if 

885
00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:14,189
Rob: you're  listening.  If  you've  got  a  friend  you  think  might 

886
00:50:14,190 --> 00:50:17,339
Rob: be  interested,  send  this  podcast  to  them  so  they  can 

887
00:50:17,340 --> 00:50:21,030
Rob: hear  Vanessa's  story  and  apply  themselves.
 That  way  the  word 

888
00:50:21,030 --> 00:50:24,180
Rob: gets  out  there.  Vanessa  Peralta  Mitchell,  thank  you  so  much.

889
00:50:24,810 --> 00:50:28,590
Vanessa: Yeah.  Thank  you,  Rob. Thank you, Becs, and  thank  you  everyone  listening.  The  support 

890
00:50:28,590 --> 00:50:32,009
Vanessa: for  Game  Changers  has  been  outstanding  and  just  really  feeling 

891
00:50:32,010 --> 00:50:33,930
Vanessa: blessed  to  be  here  with  you  both  to  get  the 

892
00:50:33,930 --> 00:50:35,880
Vanessa: word  out  even  more.  So  thank  you  again.

893
00:50:36,330 --> 00:50:39,330
Rob: New  York  Road  Runners  is  a  nonprofit  organization  with  a 

894
00:50:39,330 --> 00:50:42,750
Rob: vision  to  build  healthier  lives  and  stronger  communities  through  the 

895
00:50:42,750 --> 00:50:46,830
Rob: transformative  power  of  running.  The  support  of  members  and  donors 

896
00:50:46,830 --> 00:50:50,009
Rob: like  you  helps  us  achieve  our  mission  to  transform  the 

897
00:50:50,010 --> 00:50:53,910
Rob: health  and  wellbeing  of  our  communities  through  inclusive  and  accessible 

898
00:50:53,910 --> 00:50:58,529
Rob: running  experiences,  empowering  all  to  achieve  their  potential.  Learn  more 

899
00:50:58,530 --> 00:51:03,180
Rob: and  contribute  at  nyrr. org/ donate.  All  right.  If  you 

900
00:51:03,180 --> 00:51:06,840
Rob: like  this  episode,  folks,  make  sure  you  subscribe,  rate  it, 

901
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:09,570
Rob: leave  a  comment  so  we  can  hear  from  you.  Hope 

902
00:51:09,570 --> 00:51:13,500
Rob: you  enjoyed  it.  Enjoy  the  miles.  Enjoy  the  Joe  Kleinerman 10K 

903
00:51:13,500 --> 00:51:15,450
Rob: this  weekend.  We'll  see  you  next  week.

904
00:51:15,450 --> 00:51:15,509
Becks: Bye.