The Runners Reunion Podcast

As a Newton, MA native Bob Fitzgerald was no stranger to the Boston Marathon.  Each year his parents would take him to watch the race on the famed HeartBreak Hill.  It wasn’t until he graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in English and focus on journalism that he started running to lose “beer weight”.  The former defensive lineman from Newton North quickly caught the running bug and fit righ...

When Julie Peterson-Menosky was in grade school at St. Mary’s Catholic, girls did not have gym class, were limited to only a ¼ of the playground and allowed only to skip during recess (no running)!  Fortunately times were changing quickly with the advent of Title Nine and the emergence of the running boom.  Despite some notable success in high school Julie went off to UMass Amherst without ever vi...

Fewer than 115 men can call themselves Boston Marathon champion. Even fewer boast a 50 year connection to the race:  athlete; elite athlete talent manager; coach; and catalyzing force linking the marathon to fundraising efforts to make the world a better place. Add a dash of decades of collegiate sports psychology instruction and buckle up for a wide ranging conversation with the always interestin...

Our guest this week is four time Olympic Trials qualifier and coach Greg Lautenslager.  After a 20 year award winning career coaching in New Zealand Greg is back home in his native state of Texas coaching at Hill College.  As many of you know Boston was one of Greg’s stops during his 12 year quest to make the Olympic Team.  As with many of the runners in the 70’s and 80’s Boston holds a special pl...

This week’s guest is Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame Coach Julie Collins.  Julie’s first experience with competitive track and cross country growing up in Smithfield, RI was in middle school in one of the first organized programs in the state for middle school girls in the 1970’s. She also ran with the Ocean State Track Club all women’s team organized by legendary coach...

This week’s episode features Rhode Island’s own version of the “Chairman of the Boards” and Northeastern standout Tom Mortimer.  Tom’s first exposure to track was a visit to the famed Cranston Street Armory to watch his brother Frank compete for Pilgrim High School.  When he entered through the heavy wooden doors to the Gothic Medieval structure the unmistakable scent of Atomic Balm dominated the...

Our final episode for 2022 features Fitchburg State and North Shore legend Paul McGovern.  Growing up in Lynn, MA Paul’s endless energy was channeled through sports.  In his neighborhood baseball was king with several of the local youth of Paul’s generation eventually making it to the major leagues.  That career path changed when a college track coach saw something in this young man that eventuall...

Our guest this week is Rhode Island running legend Hollie Walton.  As fate would have it Hollie just happened to be a freshman at Hope High School where Bobby Doyle and Ted McLaughlin were beginning their legendary careers.  Before the two began to influence his stellar career, Hollie somehow missed the running portion of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test and was about to flunk gym class his...

With over 67 state championships in cross country, indoor and outdoor track Jim Doyle is one of the most successful high school coaches in any sport in the United States.  In 2017 Jim was inducted into the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame and in 2018 was honored by the National High School Coaches Association as the National High School Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year!  In th...

As a high energy 7th grader, Cathy O’Brien found herself on the Dover NH high cross-country team. Her coach predicted that Cathy would be “fantabulous” if she worked at her craft. Any running chronicle of the 80’s and 90’s shows she did. At 16 she ran the inaugural 1984 women’s Olympic marathon trials, and within months, closed out her high school career as a 5-time state cross-country, and Kinney...

During this time “Hodgiesan” traveled to Japan four times to compete in several iconic marathons and road races.  His Olympic dreams stayed alive as he competed in the ‘84 and ‘88 marathon trials.  He planned for his last race as a journeyman pro to be the ‘88 track trials.  After that the plan was to finish school and get a “real” job.  After the ‘88 track trials however Bob had one more offer to...

This week we are “On The Road” with Bob Hodge as he discusses his competitive running career that spanned the pre-running boom days growing up in gritty streets of Lowell through the early 1990s .  During his youth Lowell’s famous textile mills were closing at an alarming rate with its population dropping just as quickly.  Bob’s brother Billy went to Vietnam and never returned. It was a turbulent...

This week’s episode features Scott Mason who was one of the many runners influenced by the running boom in the late 70’s.  Having never competed in high school or college, Scott rose through the ranks to become a top regional runner and one of the few Rhode Islanders to clock sub 50 minutes for 10 miles. Scott combined his passion for the sport with his love for photography to provide us with a vi...

Our latest episode features Portsmouth Abbey (RI) and Harvard standout John Murphy.  At times John’s running career provided him solace from the challenges of daily life but also great frustration due to injuries.  At Harvard John was mentored by the legendary Bill McCurdy who helped him develop a resolve to persevere through injuries to compete against some of the very best the NCAA had to offer....

From the slopes of Ski Valley in Cumberland, RI to the foothills of Denali Tom Egan recounts his running adventures from his early days competing on the Cumberland High track team to a 15 mile run on sea ice in the Arctic Circle navigating through a dangerous ice fog.  100,000 Mile Journey

Our latest episode features Ironman Triathlon champion Karen Smyers.  Karen recounts her early days as a competitive swimmer through her dominance in the world as a professional triathlete and how the sport became a lifestyle that continues to this day.  For a full bio on Karen you can visit https://www.karensmyers.com/

Legendary Bates College track legend, and fixture in New England Running scene for more than forty years, discusses his early days of racing and training in Maine and competing with some of New England's best runners during the height of the running boom in the early 80's.