Stay ConnectedA podcast about New York City’s running culture, now being recorded out in the wild. Chris Chavez and Patryk Odedina pull up to random running hot spots of the five boroughs to talk with the luminaries, legends, and strangers who make NYC the world’s greatest running town. Untold stories, unscripted conversations, and the city itself as the third host.
▶ Follow us: twitter.com/RunnersOfNYC | Instagram.com/RunnersOfNYC
On Sunday, June 14th, hundreds of New York City runners gathered at the East River Amphitheatre for a two-mile protest run against racial injustice and police brutality in America. The run was organized by Coffey – who was recently a guest on our show and has emerged as one of the city's most vocal activists in the fight against racism. He called on all New York City runners to come together and run together as one community. He initially expected 40 to 60 people to show up but there were hundreds. It was further proof that everyone in the running community will take the time to run together, protest together, listen together and make change together.
After the run, there was a speaker series with crew leaders sharing personal stories of their encounters with racism, what it means to be Black in America and how you can help make a change. Coffey granted us permission to share the audio from the conversation.
The speakers are listed below with timestamps so that you can pick up on hearing everything they had to share because it's important. We have also included their respective Instagram handles so you can follow them.
Coffey of DeFine New York Run Club: 3:44 (@thatcoffeyboy)
Pastor Craig Holliday of the Brooklyn Tabernacle: 13:08
New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchel Silver: 17:50 (@mitchell_silver)
Cheryl Donald of Brooklyn Track Club: 23:56 (@blackpearlruns)
Dao-Yi Chow of Old Man Run Club: 32:54 (@alldaydaoyi)
Mike Saes of Bridge Runners: 43:40 (@mikesaes)
Jessie Zapo of Girls Run NYC: 47:48 (@jessiezapo)
Hector Espinal of We Run Uptown: 56:36 (@hecisdead)
Julissa Tejada of Wilpower Fitness: 1:01:09 (@mrs._wilpower_)
Jason Fulford of The Running Edge & the cousin of Eric Garner (@jayfuf15): 1:05:59
Steve Finley of Brooklyn Track Club: 1:14:21 (@steve__finley)
Nova Church of Bronx Sole: 1:19:11 (@nova.church)
Power Malu of Bridgerunners: 1:28:00 (@powermalu)
Cover photo provided Steven Rojas | @stevenrojas
"I saw that there was this lack of representation within this space. Even though I'm going it at a recreational level, I started to see the reactions and responses to people who were finding out that this is something I was actually doing. It is very normal for folks to just think, 'Oh you're in the sprinter category or you're you're more for short, fast distances or jumping' and that's the end of the road. Even my family and friends finding out that I am running these longer distances, my parents were even like, 'Oh my gosh. This is so wild and we're so excited to see you.' My little cousins were looking up to me and saying, 'Oh my God, Ameerah! This is so cool that you're doing this' and asking questions. For me, seeing that beginning to happen made me think there's something that's here. There's this sense of representation that's definitely lacking. Now that I have this opportunity to show up and be in this space, it's super important to stay there and continue moving forward. This is available to any and everybody...There's a lot of self-limiting beliefs but then we also have socioeconomic limitations that are set on certain groups of people. Speaking to this conversation and leaning into just showing up. I'm a huge advocate of just showing up. That's something that I always say. For me personally, it became this super important thing to just keep showing up and taking up space to a certain degree."
Ameerah Omar is a self-development coach and meditation teacher but also the mindset coach for Adidas Runners and one of the first members of Girls Run NYC. In this episode, Ameerah shares some advice for how we can all go about getting in the right headspace in such weird times, the importance of a routine and taking inventory of your well-being at the moment. We dive into her upbringing, her introduction to sport and how she went from a multi-sport athlete in college to frequently running marathons. Ameerah shares some insights into her involvement and the mission of Girls Run NYC as one of the city's groups using running as service and helping others. We also continue the discussion of race and running with Ameerah and how she's been grappling with the news of Ahmaud Arbery's death. Ameerah was another guest that was frequently requested from our listeners so we're happy to finally bring you her story.
Follow Ameerah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameerah_omar/
Check out Girls Run NYC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlsrunnyc/
❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.bonfire.com/runners-of-nyc-podcast/
"My grandfather told us from the jump, ‘Don’t ever let color separate you from anything. Don’t the color of green get you into any kind of trouble with another color but always accept another color besides your color and because we can all be a family together. Don’t worry about whoever it is that hates your color. You were born this color for a reason and wear it with pride.’ That’s what I’ve been doing since that day. I’m not afraid to speak my mind because I’m black. I just pay attention to my surroundings at all times at 110% level."
To start, we address the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man in Georgia who was fatally gunned down by two white men while jogging near his home. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23. A legal argument from a district attorney, who later recused himself from the case, follows and says that no one should be arrested. However, after the 36-second video footage of the shooting is made public, outrage follows and the two men are eventually arrested. Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault.
Harlem Run founder Alison Desir (who was a guest on this podcast) expressed her frustration with the lack of coverage by the sports and running media. Following her Instagram post, coverage ramped up and Arbery's face was posted everywhere. Desir wrote the following essay for Outside Magazine. You can read it here (https://www.outsideonline.com/2413115/ahmaud-arbery-murder-whiteness-running-community)
This is an issue that is certainly important and underscores that we could all do better about having and acting on these conversations.
Our guest for this episode is Coffey. He is a father, husband, filmmaker, Nike running pacer and the founder of Define New York Run Club. This conversation was on our schedule before the Arbery shooting but we take the first 30 minutes of our talk to address the story, its impact on him and how he relates to the likes of Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. We go back to his roots in North Carolina, how he got his start in fashion and filmmaking, why he got hooked on group running and then ultimately starting his own group.
You may have seen him on recent episodes of ‘For Life’ but his big project has been the short film “About the People” which hosts a very powerful and honest conversation about social justice and inequalities by black and brown men at the hands of police brutality. Coffey was one of the writers on the film and drew some inspiration from the conversations he’s had to have with his oldest son on police brutality.
Follow Coffey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ThatCoffeyBoy/
Follow Define New York Run Club: https://www.instagram.com/DefineNewYorkRunClub/
More on 'About The People': https://www.instagram.com/AboutThePeopleFilm/
❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.bonfire.com/runners-of-nyc-podcast/
"It's been pretty overwhelming and stressful at work. I am in the gastroenterology and hematology unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Every floor in the building specializes in a specific type of cancer. For now, I'm not working directly with COVID patients but we have about four to six floors exclusively for COVID patients. My floor is taking in cancer patients from all the other floors. It's a very stressful environment even though I'm not taking care of COVID patients. There were a lot of positive cases between patients and nurses in my unit. I have not tested positive, thank goodness. We all have to wear personal protective equipment even though we're not a COVID unit. My hospital has been amazing in protecting us with enough PPE, giving us support and implementing a lot of testing for COVID. All the nurses in my unit have to get swabbed every week and we're also swabbing our patients every two days. When the coronavirus started, we all didn't know much about it and so seeing my colleagues getting infected was so overwhelming. My biggest fear that I had – and I still have it – every time I go to work is to bring the virus to my apartment and my family, especially my mom. She's my primary caregiver. She's over 60 years old. It's pretty scary but I'm taking all the necessary precautions just before I enter my apartment to see them. I love my hospital. I love my job and helping people with cancer in emotional and physical aspects. They're very special to me. It is sad and feels like a different world when patients and their loved ones are suffering and struggling to survive. At the end of my shift, it makes me feel like a better person and I thank God for my life, my family and I just want to go home to hug my kids."
Today is National Nurses Day and we're super thankful to have amazing medical professionals working on the frontlines in hospitals combating the coronavirus pandemic. We're fortunate to share a conversation with Ana Johnson, an oncology nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a runner with Distance Project NYC who has shown resiliency and heroism in these devastating times. Our chat touches on the state of work at the moment but also sheds some positivity from her upbringing in Mexico, starting running at a young age, a made-for-Hollywood love story, being a mom to two kids and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Follow Ana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anajohnson8/
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❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.bonfire.com/runners-of-nyc-podcast/
"Around Labor Day of 2019, I had to go into the hospital for open-heart surgery. That was quite unexpected. Totally unexpected. Didn't realize that. I had no signs of anything going wrong with my body. I was actually training to do the Ragnar Napa with a bunch of friends. We were going to go out there and revisit our old ultra team. A bunch of old geezers were going to go out and run this race so I was training for that. I just happened to go into the doctors for a checkup. One thing led to another and I found out I had a major aneurysm on my aorta and that needed to be taken care of right away. I spent Labor Day weekend getting that tended to. When I got out of the hospital, I got back out to Montauk and started rehabbing and walking. My last visit to the doctor, which was around November maybe, they gave me a thumbs up that I could start training and running. So I have this big bodacious goal to run the 2020 marathon in New York."
After consulting with some of our listeners, we heard you want more uplifting and inspirational stories in these uncertain times so we decided to catch up with one of the most familiar and friendliest voices that New York City runners may be familiar with. Former New York Road Runners director of events and New York City Marathon race director Peter Ciaccia joins the show.
Ciaccia retired from his role with NYRR after 18 years following the 2018 New York City Marathon. Ciaccia started becoming a fixture at the start and finish of races when Mary Wittenberg left NYRR in May 2015 and he was promoted. His "Good morning, runners!' and "Do I have clearance on the roadways?" were staples at the start of races. In his time with the organization, he was a leader who helped innovate and improve races. We'll go back to his family's roots in Italy, his childhood in the Bronx, his introduction to sport, his love and passion for music and how he brought those talents to event planning.
Whether you were winning local races or among the final finishers, Peter was always one of the biggest cheerleaders for everyone's race experience.
We also ask him about how he's processing all the news regarding the coronavirus and what it would take for him to feel safe at a race.
▶ Follow Peter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peter_ciaccia/
Support for this episode comes from FICS NYC (206 West 23rd Street, 3rd Floor) a fitness recovery and wellness studio. FICS is among the many places that have had to close their doors due to the COVI-19 pandemic. The fitness inspired calibration recovery studio is still offering 15-minute virtual chiropractic consultations with Dr. Duma so that you can continue to stay healthy while you're at home. She's worked with runners of all levels and members of the U.S. Olympic fencing team so you're in good hands. To schedule your appointment, you can call them at 646-241-4948 or email info@ficsnyc.com. When they re-open you can use code RUNNERSOFNYC to get 20% off all services, packages and memberships (only for first month). First-time users also get their choice of one modality for free on their initial visit. | https://ficsnyc.com/
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❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: www.bonfire.com/store/citius-mag/
"I feel really lucky that I wasn't hurt in college but I’m definitely dealing with what a lot of injured college runners deal with. In some ways, it's a bit of an identity crisis. I've been injured now for about eight months at this point. I came back for a little bit but I'm still struggling right now. Even though deep down I know I'll run again and I'll be healthy, I think you do so grieve in a way of losing running – especially when it's a huge part of your community."
Kira Garry is a research coordinator at NYU Langone Health. She was a five-time academic All-American in college while competing for Yale and Michigan. She has her masters in public health from Michigan and her senior thesis was on the history, management and anthropological perspective of the Ebola epidemic in 2014.
In addition to her professional work, Kira is also a standout runner in the city with her eyes on the now-2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. She’s competed at U.S. Championships in the past so we wanted her thoughts on what the Olympic postponement means for her own hopes of competing at the trials. In addition to that, she's also attending medical school soon!
▶ Follow Kira on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiragarry/
Support for this episode comes from FICS NYC (206 West 23rd Street, 3rd Floor) a fitness recovery and wellness studio. FICS is among the many places that have had to close their doors due to the COVI-19 pandemic. The fitness inspired calibration recovery studio is still offering 15-minute virtual chiropractic consultations with Dr. Duma so that you can continue to stay healthy while you're at home. She's worked with runners of all levels and members of the U.S. Olympic fencing team so you're in good hands. To schedule your appointment, you can call them at 646-241-4948 or email info@ficsnyc.com. When they re-open you can use code RUNNERSOFNYC to get 20% off all services, packages and memberships (only for first month). First-time users also get their choice of one modality for free on their initial visit. | https://ficsnyc.com/
📧 NEWSLETTER SIGN UP - mailchi.mp/6cd793688a6d/runnersofnyc
❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: www.bonfire.com/store/citius-mag/
Caught up with past guest David Kilgore to recap and explain why he ran 100 miles in less than 18 hours on Friday. He raised more than $10,000 for gift cards from local running retailers in New York City, which would then be donated to NYC Health + Hospitals to provide medical workers with supportive footwear while they work long days to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
If you haven't listened to David's original appearance on the podcast for more crazy endurance stories, check it out. http://citiusmag.com/runners-of-nyc-podcast-david-kilgore/
You can donate to the GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/6s2cf-covid19-community-support
Photo by Brendan Clarke
Peter Walsh is one of the owners of Coogan's Bar and Grill on 169th and Broadway in Washington Heights. If you've ever run a race at the Armory, attended Millrose Games or bore witness to the 5th Avenue Mile afterparty there, you know that Coogan's is a runner's bar - and there's few of those that exist. However, Coogan's is among the many businesses that have closed its doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. This is a place that just three years ago was on the verge of closing for good when rent was nearly raised by $40,000 a month. Runners and the Washington Heights community – especially members of We Run Upton were among those that helped raise awareness and save the bar. Peter thought the bar was done for then. Now even in these unprecedented times, he has hope that the bar can survive this pandemic. We discuss some of the bar's history and the dystopian feeling of the last few weeks. You'll very quickly be able to tell that Peter's got lots of stories and this could've been a three-hour podcast filled with tales about track and field stars eating and drinking at Coogan's but maybe we can save those for another time over a beer at the bar.
Recommended Reading:
Welcome to Coogan’s, Where Everybody Knows the Runners’ Names (via LetsRun.com) https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/02/welcome-to-coogans-where-everybody-knows-the-runners-names/
A Washington Heights Bar Closes Down, with Echoes for All Small Businesses (via The New Yorker) https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-washington-heights-bar-closes-down-with-echoes-for-all-small-businesses
Support for this episode comes from FICS NYC (206 West 23rd Street, 3rd Floor) a fitness recovery and wellness studio. FICS is among the many places that have had to close their doors due to the COVI-19 pandemic. The fitness inspired calibration recovery studio is still offering 15-minute virtual chiropractic consultations with Dr. Duma so that you can continue to stay healthy while you're at home. She's worked with runners of all levels and members of the U.S. Olympic fencing team so you're in good hands. To schedule your appointment, you can call them at 646-241-4948 or email info@ficsnyc.com. When they re-open you can use code RUNNERSOFNYC to get 20% off all services, packages and memberships (only for first month). First-time users also get their choice of one modality for free on their initial visit. | https://ficsnyc.com/
📧 NEWSLETTER SIGN UP - mailchi.mp/6cd793688a6d/runnersofnyc
❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: www.bonfire.com/store/citius-mag/
Chris Chavez and Leigh Anne Sharek reconnect over Skype to discuss the uncertainty and odd feeling of running in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 15,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in New York State and people have been encouraged to stay indoors. However, you are permitted and some experts encourage still getting out for walks, hikes or runs as long as you remain six feet away from other people.
As an escape from the coronavirus chatter, we recap Leigh Anne's run at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials - where she ran 2:49:26 for 213th place among all women. How was she feeling in the leadup to the race? Did it live up to expectations? How bad were the hills that everyone was talking about? What comes next and how does she approach the next Olympic cycle.
Recommended reading
Exercising During Coronavirus: Can I Jog? Is That Water Fountain Safe? (via New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/well/move/coronavirus-covid-exercise-outdoors-infection-fitness.html
Running From Coronavirus: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/sports/running-exercise-coronavirus.html
Related listening; THE CITIUS MAG Podcast ft. Chris Chavez and Ryan Welsh discussing the impact coronavirus has taken on the world, sports and running. http://citiusmag.com/running-is-not-canceled-coronavirus-podcast/
Don Snellings is a runner for the Henwood Hounds and is one of the founders of FICS NYC. We sat down with Don to share his story of how he started running cross country as a high schooler and then went about a normal college experience without much athletics. He started drinking and partying, which led him down an abusive path with drugs and alcohol. He opens up about how bad those years got for him, which led him to seek professional help since his family saw him spiraling out of control. Don shares how he found the turning point and was able to channel his energy into a much healthier lifestyle.
Don also takes us through some of the struggles he's had with injuries and the preventive measures he's taking (and you can take) to get back to racing.
▶ Follow Don on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donsnellings/
Support for this episode comes from FICS NYC (206 West 23rd Street, 3rd Floor) a fitness recovery and wellness studio. They have curated the top fitness recovery and wellness machines and combined them with classic techniques to elevate each individual’s pursuit of natural performance and overall physical and mental wellbeing. FICS will concierge you through their modalities and provide you a space to relax, recover, and unwind at their modern-day athlete's spa. Use code RUNNERSOFNYC to get 20% off all services, packages and memberships (only for first month). First-time users also get their choice of one modality for free on their initial visit. | https://ficsnyc.com/
📧 NEWSLETTER SIGN UP - mailchi.mp/6cd793688a6d/runnersofnyc
❤️ Please consider supporting our work. We want to continue pushing out the podcast on a bi-weekly basis and bring you quality audio for our guests. we're simply asking for you to set aside a few dollars that might go toward a coffee or dollar slice to support our work. In return, we'll do our best to put together exclusive episodes, interviews and maybe some video for those supporters. The NYC running community is awesome and we'd appreciate the assistance: www.patreon.com/runnersofnyc
👕 MERCH NOW AVAILABLE HERE: www.bonfire.com/store/citius-mag/
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