Run The Race

Hope you had a great Fourth of July! We're not flashing back 250 years, but two friends who host the "Sermons on the Side" podcast interviewed me in the summer of 2025. That conversation is this week's "Run the Race" episode - an opportunity to get to know your host better. (4:25) I talk about being authentic, how/why I got into TV news (reporting/anchoring almost 3 decades now), using that platfo...

As we get ready to celebrate America's 250th birthday, it's a great time for an in-depth chat with Keni Thomas, who is coming back home to Columbus GA and Fort Benning to be the headline performer on the 4th of July. He's a combat veteran and famous Ranger who fought in the Battle of Mogadishu that left 19 Americans dead, as recounted in the movie "Black Hawk Down." He details what it was like in...

With Father's Day weekend here, I'm talking on this special edition of "Run The Race" about fatherhood, fitness, and faith. Much of this solo episode of the podcast is a recap of my latest marathons (2 in 2 days) and my trip out West that included the first ever National Park. I ran 26.2 mile races earlier this month in Wyoming and Idaho on consecutive days as part of the "Bear Lake Trifecta." You...

Timothygabriel is a Christian hip hop music producer and recording artist that has organized a special event for the last 6 years in Columbus GA called Parking Lot Praise Music Festival that I'll be emcee for this month. We also talk in this episode about his up-and-down music and faith journey...changes over the decades in Christian music...what people can expect at that event on Saturday June 20...

Globally, 1 in 100 people are on the autism spectrum. In the US, it's 1 in 31 children or 1 in 45 adults (8.5 million in America with autism). This week's guests on "Run The Race" are parents who have faced it for nearly two decades, with their son Drew diagnosed at age 2. Now, they're helping to start a new program in Columbus GA through an established ministry. And they're very open in this conv...

She's one of the youngest people to hold a General Manager position in US Soccer history. Now, the Columbus United FC (Football Club) GM, in West Georgia, Eleni Hitchcock is promoting the game and her squad ahead of one of the biggest sporting events anywhere: The World Cup starting in the USA on June 11. We talk about the fitness needed for soccer/football, as she watches intense training. She al...

This week's "Run The Race" guest wears a lot of hats. Retired Army Sgt. Nico Jay Moyer is a Ranger veteran, ordained minister, ultramarathon runner who just completed his first 100 miler, certified professional coach, and now founder of a new coaching community called "The Arena." (2:03) We start with experiences and lessons from his 7 years in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, including combat in A...

Having now run a marathon in 39 states, here's a recap of my latest one: Derby Festival race in Louisville KY, alongside cheering TV friends and others running across America. Thanks for listening to the "Run the Race" podcast. The course included the iconic Churchill Downs, a week before the recent dramatic Kentucky Derby race. I gives the ins and outs of the race, plus the ups and downs of...

The largest selling comedy-recording artist ever, Jeff Foxworthy, joins the "Run The Race" podcast, days before he performs in Columbus GA - to talk about clean comedy, Georgia roots, his faith walk and new/old parts of his standup routine.   (4:14) Foxworthy, who mostly lives in Atlanta, also has a farm in Pine Mountain where he loves to mow/plow. He talks about the pros of performing c...

He's back home in East Alabama and West Georgia now as the President and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Columbus with 3 locations. And it's a good time to get in shape before summer! (2:22) Scott Balkcum talks about getting into shape in this Spring season, (8:16) how he got started in the "Y" business and life after sports like basketball (he got college scholarships), (13:28) also competition b...

The Boston Marathon is this Monday! 30,000 people will run it - most of them having to run a fast time or BQ to get there. Why is the race such a big deal? What's the history behind it? What are the options for getting into Boston? And who are some of the "celebrities" running it this time? We have some answers about the legendary sporting event. And you'll hear from 8 previous "Run The Race" podc...

Winning on and off the field, Head Baseball Coach Tim Fanning has led the Glenwood Gators in East Alabama to 11 State HS Championships in his 22 years at the helm. He's also been the Athletic Director more than 2 decades. We talk about his love for the game...playing college and pro baseball...using the sport as a vehicle to point people to Jesus...the foundations for his coaching...a different ki...

This episode comes out on GOOD FRIDAY, as we mark the death of Jesus, sacrificing himself on the Cross. And on Easter, we celebrate God's Son rising from the grave, conquering death as a Savior for our sin. I asked a diversity of faith leaders across Georgia (many in Columbus) and Alabama - who have been previous podcast guests over the 5+ years of "Run The Race" - to share about the significance...

What happens to a warrior's soul when he/she takes a life? In a new video series, world renown Army combat vet and chaplain MAJ (Ret) Jeff Struecker answers that question and more, about military service members and law enforcement pulling the trigger and killing someone, to protect others. The Pastor at 2 Cities Church in Columbus and US Army Ranger Hall of Famer - who had 17 war deployments, inc...

“March Madness” is here! My favorite sporting event is the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. And on this week’s podcast, we’re talking basketball and staying fit in March with a coach and player, a pair of Army veterans. One of them created a league that’s helping to save service members’ lives. We dig into the MBA (not the NBA), how sports help the milita...

Enjoy playing games with family and friends? This week's podcast guest loves it and has some insight on some card and board games you may or may not know. This pastor in West Georgia and his wife also created a website "One Board Family" a decade ago dedicated to their passion for tabletop gaming, hosting a special event THIS weekend! He talks about that, how playing games create opportunities for...

It can be a delicate balance between exercise - like long distance running - and nutrition. Are you eating enough? A lot of endurance athletes do not. This week's "Run The Race" guest has some sound advice to help you with food and training plans for your next race, whatever distance it is. (2:44) Registered dietician nutritionist (RDN) and personal trainer and certified ultramarathon running coac...

He was a police officer in East Alabama, where he grew up, then Mack Ballard got a new call from God. Now, for more than four decades, he's been a minister and missionary and chaplain for the Opelika Police Department. And he just wrote his first book - helping us better be able to witness to others - called "One Heart At A Time: Simplifying Outreach For the Body of Christ." https://www.amazon.com...

I am now 50 years old, proud of it! And I just ran marathon in state #38, which was Michigan - in the snow! I talk about both those monumental moments in this shorter personal and solo episode of the "Run The Race" podcast. I give my thoughts on these markers in my life, from God's faithfulness and celebrating the past/future on this landmark birthday...to the extra clothes/food for the 26.2 miles...

Being a parent is difficult, at times, but imagine if your 19-year-old daughter was a victim of sex crimes. That's what faced this week's podcast guest, a father who talks about how crucial his faith in God was in this disturbing situation, theirs being the 1st human trafficking case prosecuted in Georgia/USA involving an adult survivor. I will be moderating a special panel discussion on Thursday,...

The 54th running of one of the biggest sports events in the world, The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (54th running), begins with a ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 7, led by this week's guest on the "Run The Race" podcast. Jeff King is known as the "winningest musher in the world," having won the 1,049-mile very challenging Iditarod four times (1993, 1996, 1998, 2006). Now he and his family l...

An Army officer on Fort Benning, who's seen plenty of difficult things during his almost 15 years of deployments and training, has been writing poems for the last few years and has now released a more than 100-page book of that poetry called "The Spurs of Service," hoping to inspire others to share their emotions, and save lives after he experienced two friends killed in Afghanistan and one soldie...

After 20 years in the US Army, our latest guest on the "Run the Race" podcast continues to be an avid long distance runner and is now a life coach - helping you meet your small and big goals, maybe ones you made for 2026.  (2:12) Retired Staff Sgt. Laurie Miorana in Columbus GA - who has a civilian job on Fort Benning - talks about those New Year's "resolutions," why people fail and how you c...

He's been on the radio for more than 40 years, many of those in the Columbus GA area! His voice and name (and face) make him a local celebrity. And he's outspoken about his love for Jesus! Back on air after a scary battle with cancer and open heart surgery, Bear O'Brian (real name is Wade Collier) opens up about his struggles and tells radio/life stories as the latest guest on the "Run The Race" p...

With this episode coming out on New Year's Eve, time to start working on those 2026 goals! This week's "Run the Race" podcast guests, a couple in Columbus GA, can help you with those "resolutions" or whatever you want to call them. They are the leaders and race directors for REVOLUTION RUNNING, that puts on around 10 races eacg year in different parts of Georgia. (4:20) John (JP) and Jenna Pollard...