Runners of The Bay

Anh Bui joins the podcast to talk about her journey to becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy, starting her own run coach and PT business, Run Resiliently, and breaking 3 hours at CIM after DNFing at the Chicago Marathon. Some highlights from our conversation: 🔨 Breaking 3 hours in the marathon at her third marathon this year 🩺 Having to be her own PT mid-race 💎 Trusting lifetime fitness when tr...

Amy Leedham, professional trail runner, 2:48 marathoner, architect and sustainability consultant, wife, and mother to Aila, joins the podcast to talk about her postpartum journey and how she balances running at a high level with work and now motherhood. Some highlights from our conversation: ⚽️ Love for running started on the soccer field 🦄 Going to school in Boston inspired her to run the marat...

Holly Clarke of the Impala RacingTeam returns to talk about what she’s been up to since we last spoke to her in August of 2020. We recorded this episode before the USATF announced the new Olympic Trials Qualifying standard and before Holly ran CIM and (spoiler alert), saw that 2:37 and said, “hold my Negroni” and ran a 2:36:52. Holly is always a delight to talk to and we loved having her back on!...

Sophie Payne of the Impala RacingTeam joins to talk about how she found running after burning out on soccer, finding her running team, training for CIM and racing with some of her best friends, and going to the Tokyo Olympics for work. Some highlights from our conversation: ⚽️Loving team sports as a child 🇪🇸Signing up for her first half marathon while studying abroad in Spain 🔥How she reconnecte...

Pamela Iwaszewicz, winner of the Skyline to Sea 50k and member of David and Megan Roche’s SWAP team, joins the pod to talk about her running journey and switching from trails to the roads to train for CIM. Some highlights from our conversation: ❤️‍🔥How a race in the 3rd grade cemented her passion for running 🙌Why she walked on and then off the team at UC Davis 🏃‍♀️Starting a women’s running clu...

Imran Khoja, entrepreneur, Stanford Graduate School of Business alum, and sub 2:45 marathoner (and good friend of the Pod), joins the podcast to talk about training for CIM and how he balances working hard, training hard, and running fast. Some highlights from our conversation: 🏃🏾 Finding community in sports all over the world ☀️ Learning how to show up on the days when you’re not feeling good...

Lizzy Rountree (episode #53) returns to the pod to talk about her new coach and training for CIM, which will be her first marathon since the Olympic Trials. Lizzy shares how she’s evolved as an athlete since her last marathon and what will be different this time around at CIM. Some highlights from our conversation: 💃 Why an acute injury earlier this year was actually a blessing 🙌 Working with De...

Mimi Albert (now Kellogg) shares her experience at the 125th Boston Marathon, and spoiler alert: it was a hard day. We talk about the days before the race, her mindset going into the race, what it was like racing a marathon for the first time since the pandemic, and how quickly the fire to race again returns after she crossed the finish line. Some highlights from our conversation: 💊  Dealing...

Jenni Dubman, co-founder of Nth Degree Athletic Club and leader in the Bay Area running community joins the pod to talk about her running origin story, finding her people in the running community, and why she felt a responsibility to grow and preserve the running community that helped shape her. Some highlights from our conversation: 🌉 Her experience leading Take The Bridge in SF 🐢 Coming in dea...

Matt Forsman is back to the podcast to talk about the return to in-person racing and how his Haunted Bay Area Road Trip has evolved since last year. Matt discusses why this April was a breaking point for him and the challenges of figuring out the right mix of in-person and virtual events. We also hear how the Ninja Loop was the origin for his racing company Sasquatch Racing. Some highlights from o...

In today’s episode we’re chatting with Mike Olzinski, runner and coach at Purple Patch Fitness and Nth Degree. Mike shares his evolution as an athlete, and how his own running has shaped his coaching philosophy. Some highlights from our conversation: 💥 The power of the “fake it until you make it” philosophy 🧘“Dude, breathe” 🦷 Going from dental assistant to a career in athletics 🎽 Racing at ope...

In today’s episode we’re chatting with Jay Holder, the Director of Marketing & Communications for The Atlanta Track Club, runner, dad, and co-founder (alongside local legend and friend of the pod @cait.chris) of the Charlotte Run Club. Jay shares his experience as the host of the Marathon Olympic Trials in 2020 and working at the Tokyo Olympics. We learn about Jay’s own running, merging his pa...

In today’s episode we’re chatting with Dez Taylor-Douglas, a runner, scientist, SF captain at Midnight Runners, and dog dad. Dez shares how he grew up on the track and how his running started off as pure fun and how he got back to that place after getting burned out. Dez talks about how intuition, community, and solidarity have helped him find his path on the roads, trails, and life. Some highligh...

In today’s episode catch up with Deanna Kwong and Eric King to hear about their experience at Western States.  Eric was featured in our Western States series and shortly after our conversation he reached out to us looking for a pacer.  Enter returning guest Deanna, who jumped at the chance to help Eric.  In this episode we talk about how Eric and Deanna first started talking about a...

In today’s episode we’re chatting with Gabi Maudiere, a runner, personal trainer, run coach, intuitive eating counselor, and a passionate advocate for anti-diet athletes. Gabi shares how her relationship with running and disordered eating led her to ED recovery and ultimately her passion for intuitively eating and helping other athletes learn how to honor their own health with “gentle nutrition”....

In today’s episode we talk to Stanford athlete, Julia Heymach.  Julia recently capped off an amazing season of Cross-Country and Track with an incredible run at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, OR where she was the only female collegiate to make the 1500m final.  Julia set the PAC-12 Championship Record in her first 5,000m ever and now owns the Stanford Women’s 1500m reco...

In today’s episode we’re chatting with Michelle Chang, a runner, Googler, mother, traveler, and member of the Impalas. Michelle shares her thoughtful 7-phase running journey that began with her playful desire to chase boys and is currently in a recovery phase where she is finding balance with running and motherhood. Some highlights from our conversation: 🙅‍♀️ The downside of using running as a pa...

We welcome great friend of the pod, Jordan Kutzer back to talk all things USATF Olympic Trials.  Jordan, otherwise known as Boyfriends of Oiselle (he is the BF of Little Wing athlete and 1500 meter superstar, Rebecca Mehra).  In this episode we talk about what it was like to have a front row seat to the biggest meet of a track and field athlete’s career. Some highlights from our conversa...

In our third and final episode in our Western States local runner series we’re chatting with Donal Carroll! Donal was not an athlete in school but a friend convinced him to run a marathon and that race unlocked a desire to see what he was capable of. A desire that pushed him to run marathons for 20 years and now ultramarathons. We talk about overcoming challenges in training -- both mentally and p...

PK Karr ⁣ In our second episode in our Western States local runner series we’re chatting with 𝗣𝗞 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗿! PK is from Redwood City and got into Western States after 4 years of lottery tickets. PK shares how Fleet Feet Menlo Park got him into trail running in his 50s and it was the Western States plaque at Squaw Valley where he first learned about the race. PK shares how he shares his love of running w...

This week we’re kicking off a mini series featuring Western States runners, starting with Eric King. Eric is from Redwood City and got into Western States after 6 years of lottery tickets. Eric shares how he went from being indifferent about running as a kid to being pulled into the local trail running scene in 2013 and now having a goal to run in all 50 states. We talk honestly about the challeng...

This week we’re back with David Lam (episode #59) to talk about his race at the American River 50 Miler which leads us to a larger conversation about meditation, food, community, and AAPI representation. Some highlights from our conversation: 🥵 Combatting heat and severe cramps 🙌 How the volunteers and veteran racers kept him from dropping out 🧘🏻 His meditation practice 🍬 A fun idea for a nov...

This week we’re talking to Olivia Amber, a nordic skier turned trail running pro and strategic researcher at Uber. Olivia shares her journey from being an All-American nordric ski racer in college to finding her running crew and eventually joining Salomon’s trail running team. We chat about the Broken Arrow Sky Race, how she got the Ninja Loop CR on a workout based purely on effort, and her plans...

This week we’re talking to David Lam, a marketer for SFRC, runner, and self-proclaimed run gear nerd. We talk about how Dean Karnazes’s book inspired him to start running in 2017 and finding his people in the SF running community. David has an amazing perspective on never taking yourself too seriously and embracing race blow ups and “hoping to fail”. At the time of this interview David was putting...

This week we’re back with Deanna Kwong to talk about her experience as a proud member of the AAPI community, her work on representation and advocacy, and how current events have brought light to issues that have always been present but were being ignored by the non-AAPI community. Some highlights from our conversation: 🚩How the pandemic forced her identity as an asian woman to the forefront 🔺Fin...