Grab your sneakers and settle in for a deeply personal, soulful conversation on this week’s episode of Laps. For Season 2, Episode 2, Luca is joined by none other than his best friend Cassie Ponder for a beautifully candid look at what it means to walk—and run—by faith.

Cassie opens up completely about her unique faith journey, sharing the moments that shaped her relationship with God and the experiences that have anchored her through life's shifting seasons. With the effortless warmth and laughter that only exists between best friends, this conversation goes far beyond a typical interview. It is a heartfelt, vulnerable exploration of belief in the modern world.

Whether you are a lifelong believer looking for encouragement, someone navigating a season of doubt, or a curious non-believer seeking perspective, Cassie’s grounded wisdom and gentle advice offer something powerful for everyone.

Timestamps

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0:00 Intro

0:45 Meet Cassie!

2:25 Cassie’s Faith Background

5:00 Cassie’s Faith Journey

9:50 Worship music!

10:30 Cassie’s Faith Inspirations!

11:40 Charlie Kirk & Faith Revival

14:40 Importance of Family

19:20 Life’s Seasons

20:00 Faith Struggles

24:30 Social Media news??

28:45 Cassie’s 2026 Faith Goals

32:40 Cassie’s favorite Bible verses

32:55 1 Peter 5:7 ✝️

33:20 Jeremiah 29:11 ✝️

34:00 God’s Presence

34:43 Deuteronomy 6:5 ✝️

36:20 How to Grow in Faith

38:00 Power of the Tongue

41:00 Limitless Love

42:30 Luca’s recent faith

43:00 Bring a Friend to Church!

44:00 Final Reflections

46:30 Closing Remarks

46:50 Outro

Welcome to the Season 2 premiere episode of Laps! To start the new season, we are diving deep into the running and marathon journeys of 5x marathoner, assistant HS XC coach, and high school math teacher, Ally Gryzbinski!

Ally shares her inspiring evolution as a distance runner and her current pursuit of breaking the elusive 3-hour marathon barrier. Plus, she shares the coaching wisdom she instills in her high school athletes to help you master your next race. We talk heavy training, high school coaching, and, of course, a shared love for coffee and Disney. Hit play and let's rack up some laps!

Timestamps

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0:00 Intro

0:56 Meet Ally

2:38 Ally’s Running Story

3:00 HS Running w sisters

4:38 Ally’s Running Hiatus

5:10 RunDisney idea!

6:00 RunDisney half prep

6:20 Narragansett Half mems

7:20 Keeping it Private

8:03 Strava & The Comparison Trap

9:50 Avoiding Comparison

11:00 Not THAT deep

12:20 Ally’s Marathon Journey

12:50 ladies, check your iron!

13:50 Becoming well rounded

14:20 2023 Baystate Marathon training

17:10 2023 Baystate Marathon recap

18:20 Post 1st marathon feeling

19:30 Qualifying for Chicago 2024

20:10 Ally’s 1st Boston Marathon

20:20 Ally’s Marathon Timeline

20:48 2025 Baystate Marathon recap

21:10 2026 Boston Marathon recap

21:30 The Mental Game

21:50 2026 Boston Marathon

23:00 Race Day Photos

23:50 2026 RunDisney recap!

25:40 Race Day Fits!

26:10 Running Buddies

27:10 Ally’s Reflections

29:50 Ally’s coaching experiences

30:45 Building Self Trust

31:00 Coach Ally!

32:06 Self Doubt

32:30 Coach Ally’s motivation

33:20 Ally’s Future Goals!

34:10 Ally’s Future Running Goals

34:40 Commitment Issues!

35:20 Flat fall marathon + Boston #3

35:41 Ally’s BIG announcement

37:44 Ally’s advice to all runners

40:00 Closing Remarks

41:10 Outro

Season 1 of Laps comes to a close with a short reflection on what God did through each conversation! This episode features meaningful guest highlight clips and lessons learned around purpose, endurance, faith, joy, and perseverance.

Thank you to every guest and every listener who made Season 1 possible.

Season 2 coming soon— in the meantime, keep fueling your fitness and faith!

Timestamps

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0:00 Intro

1:26 Reilly Johnston

3:40 Fiona Galvin

4:50 Sydnie Rivas

5:40 John Romano

7:11 John Baker

9:16 Luca’s Reflections

10:30 Season 2!!

On S1 EP7 of Laps, I sit down with John Baker — a sub-elite, 6x marathoner — to talk about the journey behind the miles. We explore how running, faith, and purpose intersect through seasons of success, pressure, and personal loss, and what it looks like to keep showing up when the weight gets heavy.

This conversation is about more than race times — it’s about resilience, identity, and finding meaning both on and off the course.

Timestamps

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0:00 Intro

0:50 Meet John Baker

1:15 About John

2:30 John’s Childhood

4:00 Early Running Days

5:20 HS Running Growth

6:43 Meaning behind memories

9:00 Collegiate running mindset

9:35 Post collegiate running mindset

10:33 Oh the Places You’ll Run

11:08 Hometown Highlights

11:30 🇩🇪Running Abroad

13:51 🇰🇪 Iten, Kenya Service Trip

18:18 Becoming a Marathoner

20:06 Marathon #1: CA Intl 2019

22:58 Marathon #2: Houston 2022

28:10 Marathon #3: Boston 2022

36:48 Losses & Lessons

43:36 Marathon #4: Grandma’s 2024

46:42 John’s 2025 Marathons

47:02 Marathon #5: Boston 2025

48:44 Marathon #6: Chicago 2025

50:46 John’s Future Running Goals

55:14 John’s Advice for Runners

57:35 God is in Control

58:12 Finding Faith

59:08 John’s Favorite Verse (James 1:2-4)

59:40 Faith + Running parallels

1:00:20 Purpose Behind Challenge

1:01:14 Miracles in the Making

1:03:42 Bye, Comfort Zone!

1:04:37 Keeping the Faith

1:06:57 Defining Habits

1:07:24 Phone Addiction

1:08:48 Nourishing Your Soul

1:09:27 Closing Remarks

1:09:56 John’s Thank You’s!

1:10:32 PR for Laps Pod!

S1 EP6 of Laps features one of Luca’s running friends from Big 4 accounting, John Romano!!

At age 24, John is a seasoned 4x marathoner, dedicated runner, and most importantly a diehard Yankees fan ⚾️. Listen to and learn all about John’s running journey, memorable marathon moments, work life balance structure, future goals & meaningful advice to all runners!

Timestamps

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0:00 Intro

0:56 Meet John!

2:30 John’s First Race!

2:57 HS XC takeaways

3:32 Stages of John’s running journey

4:42 San Diego Sunrise

5:33 Oh the Places you’ll Run

6:54 Pace Pals

7:20 John’s Fav Race

8:10 John’s Marathon Memories

8:30 John’s 1st marathon! (2023 Baystate)

9:20 2023 Cambridge Half

10:18 Cambridge Half Race Recap

12:12 Back2back marathons! (2024)

12:20 2024 Chicago Marathon

15:35 1 World Major/7 ✅

16:08 Jersey Boy Upbringing

17:06 2024 Manchester Marathon

18:15 Digging Deep

19:50 SO to Baker the Pacer!

20:26 Work Life Balance

24:55 Running Reflections

25:50 RAGNAR !

26:36 Race a Half !

29:05 RAGNAR experience continued

31:00 Training techniques

32:16 John’s Future Running Goals

38:40 John’s Advice for listeners

43:34 Closing Remarks

Episode 5 of Laps features Sydnie Rivas, Luca’s friend from the Heartbreak Running store! Listen in and learn all about Sydnie, her running journey, accomplishments, funny stories, and best memories working at the Heartbreak store so far!

Timestamps

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(0:00) Intro

(0:47) Meet Sydnie

(1:42) Sydnie’s Running Journey

(3:24) Meaning of Running

(3:46) Heartbreak Mentality

(4:10) Heartbreak Community

(5:07) No I in Team

(5:40) Sydnie’s Race Memories

(6:05) HS State Championship Meet

(7:26) Cal Poly XC team

(8:10) Conf championship meet

(8:28) First 10k track race story

(9:45) Cal Poly championship victory

(10:25) Laugh About It

(10:50) Memories working @ Heartbreak

(11:15) Joining Sat Long Run!

(11:36) Boston Marathon wknd!

(13:11) Sydnie’s awesome co-workers

(13:56) Feeling the Love

(14:18) Sydnie’s Future Running Goals

(15:00) Running in Boston

(15:50) 4th of July 5k!

(16:46) Leisurely laps !

(17:10) College running burnout

(17:59) Marathoner Sydnie??

(19:10) Finding the Spark

(19:30) Enjoying the Process

(19:57) Sydnie’s Gratitude

(20:15) Metaphor for Life

(21:11) Closing Remarks

Today’s episode of Laps features Luca’s friend Fiona Galvin! Listen in to learn all about Fiona’s running journey, positive community impact, future running goals, faith life, family, gifts, and career!

Timestamps

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(0:00) Intro

(1:30) Fiona’s Running Story

(7:10) Fiona’s Favorite Race Memories

(10:12) Running Community

(11:00) Get Strava app!

(12:00) Fiona’s Positive Imapcts

(17:21) Fiona’s Future Running Goals

(22:33) Fiona’s Faith Journey

(28:00) Fiona’s Family, Talents, & Career

(31:00) Faith Friendship & Resurgence

(32:30) Freedom in Forgiveness

(34:40) Setting Realistic Goals

(36:15) Comparison is a Thief

(40:00) God’s Timing

(43:58) Music Heals

(46:32) God is Present

(48:03) Outro

Today’s episode of Laps features Reilly Johnston, a driven & successful 5-year Stonehill College XCTF alum & founder of the Backyard 5k non profit. Learn all about Reilly’s early running days, NCAA collegiate career, goals, and meaningful ways he impacts the world through his organization & faith!

FOLLOW Backyard 5k on IG!

https://www.instagram.com/backyard5k?igsh=ZWpmZXAyeTFreXd1&utm_source=qr

Timestamps

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(0:00) Intro

(1:00) Opening Prayer

(1:35) Meet Reilly

(1:50) Reilly’s Running Story

(3:45) Building Community

(5:15) Reilly’s Collegiate XCTF Career

(9:00) Reilly’s nonprofit, Backyard 5k

(16:43) Backyard 5k Future Goals

(18:30) Reilly’s Favorite Memories with B5K

(21:00) Backyard 5K Positive Impact

(23:20) B5K Behind the Scenes Work

(25:50) Reilly’s Future Running Goals

(29:45) Reilly’s College Running Schedule

(31:48) Qualifying for the Boston Marathon

(33:42) The Paces Keep Getting Faster

(35:11) Expectations We Place as Runners

(38:24) Reilly’s Faith & Its Importance in His Life

(39:39) Reilly’s Building Interest in Faith

(40:40) Reilly’s Favorite Faith Filled Memories

(43:27) Reilly’s Gratitude

(45:06) Reilly on the Importance of Giving Back

(46:38) Outro

On this second episode of “Laps,” Luca reveals why he chose the following name for his first ever podcast! Luca then delves into seasons of life in building his love for running, and discusses the importance of the process behind success.

Timestamps

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(0:00) Intro

(0:54) Why "Laps?"

(5:43) Seasons of Life Overview

(6:30) Season 1: Early Childhood

(7:16) Season 2: Elementary Days

(8:47) Season 3: Middle School

(9:34) Season 4: High School

(10:51) Season 5: College

(13:07) Season 6: The Present

(14:30) The Success Iceberg

(16:43) Ted Lasso on Success

(17:42) Appreciating the Process

(18:50) Mindset Shifts

(21:00) It's OK to Lose

(21:50) Counting Blessings

(22:27) Luca's Call To Action

(23:15) First Episode Guest!

(24:07) Outro

Greetings listeners! Tune in to Laps, a running podcast designed to fuel your fitness and faith. On this first episode, you will learn about the host, Luca, why he created this podcast, goals for the show, and his running story so far!

Timestamps

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(0:00) Intro

(3:44) The "Why" Behind Laps

(5:24) My Running Story

(14:26) Did I Run In College?

(16:23) High School XCTF Reflection

(17:05) Reflecting on Not Running in College

(18:57) God's Redirection

(28:26) Conclusion & Takeaways