Stay ConnectedListen as Dana Giordano, a professional middle-distance runner, sits down and talks with some of the most inspirational and insightful women in running. Whether they’re doing amazing things on the track or working tirelessly to promote the sport as industry leaders and entrepreneurs, hear how they’ve found success.
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This week, we tell you everything you need to know about the upcoming U.S. Indoor National Championships in a very special crossover episode with Run Your Mouth with David Melly, our sibling podcast in the Citius Mag network.
This episode is essential listening before this weekend’s meet, and we cover it all - who’s been hot, who’s on the comeback train, and who’s not competing at all. We give you detailed insight and analysis into the meet, including our not-so-expert picks for every track and field event. D
ana also gives her expert perspective on the “straight final” format for the U.S. indoors, having competed in the mile and 2 mile at Staten Island in 2019.
We’d love to hear your feedback on our picks – good, bad, or somewhere in between – and let us know on Twitter and Instagram what events and storylines you’re most excited to see in Spokane this weekend. Enjoy the episode and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review both Run Your Mouth and More Than Running if you haven’t already. Thanks for listening!
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We're taking a small step out of the running realm and into the basketball space for a bit – although our guest did run in college. Hannah O'Flynn is an incredible content creator, video producer, social media manager, saxophone player, women's sports advocate so much more. She was also my freshman trip leader at Dartmouth so we've known each other for a long time. Our careers have paralleled as she's now at ESPN W creating content that's women's sports-focused. Her career is so interesting. Learn more about Hannah, how she balances her content creation personally with her profession, going viral and how she uses running to blow off steam. I've really been enjoying these conversations with guests who are running adjacent and I think Hannah has a great story. We can all learn something from how she wears so many different hats and is a really diverse-minded individual.
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Samantha Hanson is paving her own path in the sport of Track and Field. As the daughter of Kevin Hanson, one of the head coaches of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, Sam was essentially born and raised in track & field. After a collegiate career of her own at Michigan State and Oakland, Sam is now working with Hawi management as a certified track agent. In this episode, we discuss what it was like growing up in a track family, the challenges of being a female agent in a male-dominated space, and her goals for the future.
Listen to a young voice with big dreams in the sport and learn about what it takes to be an agent. Samantha was born into our sport. She saw her first cross country meet at 9 days old; her first of six Olympic Trials as a two-year-old. She has been to three Olympics, five World Championships & more than 40 World Marathon Majors. It makes me incredibly happy that these experiences were so positive that she wants to use her MBA in our sport.
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"Honestly, it was a dream come true. I can't tell you how much younger Anna would be freaking out right now like, 'Woah! You're a professional athlete!' Once it really hit me, I thought this is amazing. Not only that but with a brand that I absolutely love."
This week's guest is Anna Camp-Bennett. She just graduated from BYU and recently signed a professional contract with Adidas. She won the NCAA title in the women's 1,500 meters in June 2021. She also won an NCAA cross country team title in 2020. In this episode, she shares her interesting backstory of how she came from a small town in Utah to the highest levels of success in the sport. She brings a great perspective on discovering the sport while you're in it, ways to stay happy and healthy + what she's looking forward to in the future. I hope you all enjoy learning about a very talented, young athlete getting ready to step out onto the pro stage for the first time in the women's Wanamaker Mile at the upcoming Millrose Games (Jan. 29).
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"My immediate feeling afterward was a little bit of disappointment in myself. Now I think back on it and realize I created this goal at the trials. I was an underdog making it to the Olympics in the first place and I created this goal for myself after I qualified for the Olympic team. To think about how far I've come, it's hard to think about that right after the here and now. You think about it later down the road. I'm trying to remind myself now about all the things I overcame in order to make it to that point...It's good to reflect on all the things people have overcome in their lives because it puts your life into perspective. For me, it helps me get through the day-to-day and helps me be so grateful for all the opportunities I have now and what I want to achieve in the future."
New Balance Boston star and 2021 Olympian Heather MacLean rejoins the show to discuss how she's handled the post-Olympics comedown and the attention that came with it. She ran her personal best of 4:02.09 when she took third in the U.S. Olympic Trials, competed at the Monaco Diamond League and then reached the semifinals of the women's 1,500m at the Tokyo Olympics. Now, she's in Flagstaff preparing for another indoor season with her sights set on the women's Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games.
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"I never thought I would inspire anybody in life. I quit everything. I was never an inspiring person. To see me now, by just sharing my story of going from really sad to really glad and that being able to inspire somebody is a dream come true. I love making videos. I love sharing my story. I love oversharing, as my husband would say. The fact that it can help people is like, 'Are you kidding this is amazing?!" It is just more motivation to keep going, keep making videos and keep running because there are so many benefits that it's brought to me. Seeing the change that it brings other people is addicting and it never gets old."
We welcome back Erin Azar – also known as Mrs. Space Cadet. She’s a rapidly-growing social media star with 720,000 TikTok followers and 70,000 Instagram followers. She describes herself as an "expert struggle runner and struggle lifer making running more approachable for beginners." I first learned of her in Dec. 2020 when she was a guest on this podcast in Dec. 2020. She is one of the people who really picked up the sport during the pandemic and chronicled her journey on Tiktok to millions of viewers. The sport is growing right now and there are thousands of people like Erin. In this episode, we recap her experience in this running journey including running the NYC Marathon and also how we can get someone like her to connect with track and field since there’s typically that disconnect. This is a fun conversation and I hope you all enjoy it as we wrap up the year and start an epic 2022.
▶ Follow Erin: @immrsspacecadet
"Coming out of college, I tried running for a little bit and got injured. Then I gave up on myself. I let go of that dream and I forgave myself for not hitting those dreams. Then, I gave myself permission to try again and to dream of that again. To be able to come here – I’m just getting so emotional – what a ride. I’m just so happy and proud of myself that I allowed myself to give it another shot to see what I can do. To finally win this 25-year-old-plus goal of mine is just really emotional for me to think about.”
This week's guest is Keira D'Amato, who says running professionally is her "side hustle." One of America's fastest realtors, D'Amato just won her first national title at the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in 1:07:55. Learn why this title was so special to Keira, why it's made her emotional this week and her plans for the future.
In this episode, Keira announces her next upcoming race. Hint...Hint...It's a marathon, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out which one. She also shares her goals for the track season, what her family means to her and much more. Keira really is kind of the essence of "More Than Running" so I was so happy to have this conversation.
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If you enjoy this podcast, women's sports or marketing, then Liz Dolan has maybe had some sort of impact on your life. She has worked as the Chief Marketing Office at NIKE, The Oprah Winfrey Network, National Geographic and Fox Sports International. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. She also serves as the co-host and co-creator of Satellite Sisters, which is a long-time show that she does with her sisters and is now published by Wondery/Amazon Music. In this episode, you'll hear about her professional experience while also getting her thoughts on how she's working to push the sport of track and field forward at this crucial time. She is an inspiration to me and someone I'd like to emulate in my lifetime.
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Join WHOOP, the No. 1 fitness wearable, to help monitor your health, improve your sleep, track your body's metrics 24/7. The new WHOOP 4.0 features a robust sensor upgrade that allows you to monitor blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and more. Join now for free at the following link: https://join.whoop.com/morethanrunning
▶ Follow Liz: Twitter | Instagram | Listen to Satelite Sisters
This week's guest is Colleen Quigley for the first-ever "More Than Running" podcast live show at WHOOP's pop-up in New York City. We talked a lot about all of the recent changes in her life, which I related to a lot because I've made big changes and moved within the past year. We have a lot in common. She's so fun, honest and open talking about her injuries, the decision not to compete at the Olympic Trials, dealing with the disappointment, moving forward, getting healthy and setting lofty goals for 2022. I hope you all enjoy this conversation since it was super fun being in front of a live audience and I hope to do it again soon.
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Join WHOOP, the No. 1 fitness wearable, to help monitor your health, improve your sleep, track your body's metrics 24/7. The new WHOOP 4.0 features a robust sensor upgrade that allows you to monitor blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and more. Join now for free at the following link: https://join.whoop.com/morethanrunning
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"I feel like if we could parallel in sports with Paralympics and marathons and wheelchair racing, we can also help parallel disabilities in communities. A lot of our idols come from sports figures. We can really give back to our own communities and make sure people with disabilities have that chance to get an education and hold a job. A lot of athletes who compete in the Paralympics go home and try to get a job and they can't. That's not only a U.S. issue. It's a global issue. That's the important part. I feel like if we can make that change in sport, we can make that change in the community. It's an important responsibility, especially if you're a current athlete, to give back to the sport. Previous athletes, who were once my competitors but then retired, they did the same thing. They pushed the sport along the way."
I had the opportunity to record with Tatyana McFadden the day before she won her 24th major marathon at the Chicago Marathon. She got on a plane and headed to compete at the Boston Marathon, where she made the podium with a runner-up finish. In our pre-race conversation, we talked about all things Paralympics, her role as a producer and star in the Netflix documentary "Rising Phoenix" and her advocacy work to change the way people think about disability, diversity and human potential.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: Join WHOOP, the No. 1 fitness wearable, to help monitor your health, improve your sleep, track your body's metrics 24/7. The new WHOOP 4.0 features a robust sensor upgrade that allows you to monitor blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and more. Join now for free at the following link: https://join.whoop.com/morethanrunning
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