Buckle up, ladies & gentlemen, you're in for an amazing ride.
This week on the Keep Going podcast, we are joined by Paul Carrozza, the Godfather of Austin running. In our No Direction Home episode a few weeks ago (Episode 11, for reference) we mentioned how one of the three pillars holding up the foundations of Austin running was the mercurial & magical energy bottled up in RunTex, the original local running store that Paul & his wife Sheila owed & operated between 1988-2013. In its 25 year run, it fundamentally changed the entire city, not just the running scene. On any given day you might bump into governors - at least three Texas governors (Ann Richards, George W Bush & Rick Perry) were consistent drop ins, tech millionaires - Michael Dell trained with Carrozza & was a close friend, musical celebrities - Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker were New Balance junkies & spent time on the RunTex floor, but, in addition,  also all the rest of the wild & weird scene that made Austin such a vibrant & exciting place in the 90's & 00's. Those halcyon days are hinted at in this episode where we unpack where Paul started & how he made his way to Austin & the early days of RunTex where every employee was trained in the Trifecta of shoe sales, event production & coaching. Two of your hosts worked in this melting pot of creativity, inspiration & hard work & bring an insider's vibe to the conversation. Stories abound.
This is the first in a series of episodes we have planned with Paul as there is simply too much history to cover in an hour. So in honor of 1985, the year Paul & Shiela moved to Austin, as well the year Starship released their international hit smash, We Built This City, we bring to you the episode we call He Built This City: Paul Carrozza, the Godfather of Austin Running.
Godspeed, my friends, godspeed.