Finish Lines and Milestones

Michele Pettinger and I were introduced by a former boss of mine. She's on a big comeback and aiming to qualify for Boston at CIM and have her name drawn in the lottery for Western States this December.

During this episode, sponsored by Previnex, we talk about:

• How we connected through someone I used to work for that she grew up with - thank you, Scott Miller!

• The fact that she grew up in a house with runners which is how she found the sport

• Making her way from the Midwest to California

• Training for and running her first marathon in San Diego after college

• How she ran a marathon before running a half marathon 

• Starting P3Running in 2009 to coach other runners 

• Deciding to do her first ultra marathon 

• Her Western States journey and how many tickets she’s racked up without getting her name drawn for the race 

• Getting hit by a car during a 20 mile run 

• Chasing a BQ for every decade she can - next attempt is CIM in December

  
  

  Sponsor Details:

  - Previnex - Use code ALLYB for 15% off your first order

  
  

  Other Links:

  - Michele's book, The Young Runner's Guide to Nutrition

  - THAT 5K Info and Registration (8/9 in Avon, IN)

Sarah Overpeck and I were connected by the Founder of the CNO Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Carlton Ray.

During this episode, sponsored by Relay Active, we talk about:

• How she's Indiana through and through - grew up here, went to high school here, and went to Indiana University before working for the NCAA in downtown Indianapolis

• The sports she was around growing up including her mom’s “race walking”

• Losing her sister suddenly in 2017 and her dad to cancer 

• How she found running and ran AND rowed in college

• Her role in High School Review at the NCAA where she’s worked for 16 years

• 2007 when she ran her first marathon in Little Rock Arkansas

• Other races she's done and the “train story” where she and other runners climbed through a stopped train to continue in a race 

• Moving into the world of ultramarathons and Ironman races (70.3)

• How she became part of the first all female team to win The Speed Project, a 340 mile race through Death Valley (watch the video)

• Working with Back on my Feet Indianapolis

• Her next trip abroad to go on a Wilder Retreat for runners and writers hosted by Lauren Fleshman

Links:

• Lauren Fleshman’s Good for a Girl

• The Speed Project Documentary with Cameron Balser

• Oiselle Bird Strike Video

Sponsor Details:

• Relay Active - Use ALLYB for 15% off
• Athlete Bouquets - Use PODCAST for 10% off

Amy Haas and I met thanks to the internet and her incredible content. She has a community of nearly 150K on Instagram and is a strength and running coach through Run With AIM .

During this episode, sponsored by Previnex and Cure Hydration, we talk about:

• The race she’s gearing up for this weekend 

• Running a half marathon in every single state and now going after all of the national parks (63!)

• The PowerPoint her mom and husband made for her after this giant achievement 

• How she met her husband, Jared, and why he started running for this amazing adventure on their honeymoon 

• What got her into running 

• Siblings and growing up playing sports How we both went to undergrad in Ohio 

• What made her sign up for her first half marathon

• The progression of a 2+ hour half marathon to winning races

• Her crazy race stories like the time she had to go to the ER for stitches 48 hours before a race in Hawaii or the one where she set out to run her fastest marathon but ran her slowest instead 

• What it feels like to break the tape (a feeling the majority of us won’t ever get to experience)

• How life as an influencer started, her “inventory room”, and her side of the “Advil story”

  
  

  Sponsor Details:

  - Previnex - Use code ALLYB for 15% off your first order

  - Cure Hydration - Use code ALLYB for 20% off your first order

  
  

Bill Bradford and I literally met on a plane coming home to Indianapolis from Las Vegas. And then - I ran into him while running the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas half marathon.

During this episode, sponsored by Relay Active, we talk about:

• How we met

• His six year weight loss journey and how he found CrossFit

• Starting his running journey with the Colts 5K

• Finding his running coach, Tracie Hunter @indianarunnergirl and getting more serious about improving his speed

• Surfing in the lake and his friend who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for endurance surfing

• Spartan Races and Team Carrie 

• The Indy Mini event at Bottleworks with Lindsey Hein in May

• HYROX - what it is and why we’re seeing it everywhere 

• Cross training and running form - how Bill surrounds himself with people who can show him new tips and tricks

• The goals he’s chasing

  
  

  Sponsor Details:

  - Relay Active - Use code ALLYB for 15% off

  
  

  This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.

Jason Bahamundi and I know each other from the internet. Jason is the founder of Run Tri Bike, the Premiere Voice of the Everyday Athlete proving there is a spot at the starting line for everybody and every body.

During this episode, sponsored by Previnex, we talk about:

• How we know each other 

• Moving four times in the last four years

• How Run Tri Bike started 

• Getting into endurance sports - running and then triathlons 

• His relationship with food and sobriety 

• Building community and what community means to Jason and Run Tri Bike

• Working as a business law lecturer at a local university  

• All about Run Tri Bike

Johanna Kitchell is a RUN(317) Ambassador and a middle school music teacher by day. I've seen Johanna at various races but finally got to sit down and get to know her. If you want a comeback story, this woman has THREE.

During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:

• What summer feels like as a teacher

• Growing up in Albany, NY and how she ended up in Indiana (and then how her sister also ended up in Indiana)

• Running in college at Butler University 

• Becoming an ambassador for Run(317) and even running one on her wedding day as part of the festivities

• How her husband, Joe, won the Boston Marathon Kuwait Edition in 2018

• The fact that the Indy Mini needs to bring back the double medals for the top 500 finishers

• Healthy Hawks - the running club at the school where she teaches

• The half marathons and marathons she’s run

• Her - not one - but THREE comeback stories

• Christmas Eve 2023 when she was attacked while running

  
  

  Sponsor Details:

  - Athlete Bouquets - Use code PODCAST for 10% off your order

Mike Brydges and I met via Instagram and I was immediately drawn to how kind and authentic he is.

During this conversation, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talked about:

• Becoming @mikerunsmarathons 

• His Uber driver getting into a car accident on his way to pick up his bib for the 2025 Brooklyn Half Marathon 

• Running the Boston Marathon with a kidney stone 

• How he started running in the first place and what got him into marathons

• Finishing his first marathon at the 2021 NYC Marathon and the one marathon he did not like that he ran in 2022

• Starting his Six Star journey - Berlin, Chicago, NYC all back-to-back in the same year 

• Races in New York City besides the marathon 

• Deciding to tackle Six Stars AGAIN

• The Run Down and telling stories of everyday runners 

• Why he says he’s the Anti-Matt Choi

• Being part of the Peloton community (he’s #weareresilient on the leaderboard)  and the Positive Peloton Group

  Sponsor Details:

  - Athlete Bouquets - Use code PODCAST for 10% off your order

Janice Martin and I got to meet at the Carmel Marathon expo after I saw she had run the race every single year and had completed over 200 half marathons (and the 50 states)!

During this episode, sponsored by Pure Fuel, we talk about:

• Her incredible wall of hundreds of race medals

• Chasing 50 states for the SECOND time and the clubs she’s a part of 

• Her two brain surgeries in two months around the time she turned 40 due to cavernous angiomas

• Marriage advice since she’s been married to her husband, Patrick, for almost 40 years

• Some of her race stories among the 200+ races she’s done - finish line food, the ducks at the hotel in Memphis for St. Jude, running in the Grand Tetons and Black Hills, 

• Running races with each of her kids 

• The 50 States Half Marathon Club community and the remaining states she has for round two of running all 50 

• Her race medals and shirts - which ones are her most favorite and why

• Seven half marathons in seven days in seven states

  
  

Sponsor Details:

- Giveaway post link

- Pure Fuel - Use code FUEL20 for 20% off

Alan Errichiello is the President of the Fishers Running Club, one of the largest running clubs in Indiana. He's now completed multiple ultramarathons, but once said he would "never run a marathon".

During this conversation, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, Alan and I talk about:

• How - despite the meaning of his last name - he does not have “little ears”

• Joining the Fishers Running Club

• Why he ended up running an ultramarathon and a marathon after saying he would never do it  

• The year of all of the ultras - The Full Mo, Prairie on Fire, Hennepin 50K, 8 Hour Dream 

• His crazy ankle injury and he STILL ran an ultra 

• What the flags in his Instagram profile stand for 

• His weight loss journey and losing 75 pounds 

• How Madison from the latest season of Love is Blind is HIS DAUGHTER

• Other random facts like how he used to have long hair, how he once survived a tornado, how he was a juror in a murder for hire case , and how he was a model for a national jump rope brand...

  
  

  Sponsor Details:

  - Athlete Bouquets - Use code PODCAST for 10% off your order

Amanda Luper and I met years ago via Instagram and I've been asking her to come on this podcast for what feels like forever. She finally agreed.

During this episode, sponsored by Previnex, we talk about:

• Why she didn’t want to come on this podcast
• The dangers of comparing yourself to others on social media
• Why she went to the Pacers vs. Cavs game and didn’t cheer for the Pacers
• Her job working security of the pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• How she went to school to be a physical therapist and then didn’t want to be a physical therapist (she’s an Occupational Therapist)
• Walking on the track team at UIndy and going to high school with an Olympian
• Finding endurance running after becoming a mom
• Working as an ICU therapist during COVID while training for her first marathon
• Disney races and ZOO races (I had no idea this was a thing)
• How the New York City Marathon “changed everything” and regrounded her into why she runs

Sponsor Details:

• Previnex - Use code ALLY15 for 15% off your first order

Links I promised:

• Donate to my Ainsley's Angel's Fundraiser for MCM
• Taylor Swift 5K (shoot, it's this weekend, 5/31)
• Lindsey Hein (EP100)
• Jennifer Conner (EP57)
• Jason Noel (EP62)