Michigan Runner Girl

Kevin Fowler had an idea for a very different kind of team trail racing experience--a race that would allow four runners with varying distance preferences to race together who might not normally have the opportunity to race together. Strategizing pace, as a team, also would be a key component of his race. The end result: the Mid-Michigan Ultra Team Trail Race, also known as MUTT, that takes place each June in Harrison, Mich. Kevin joins Heather on the show to talk about this race that takes place on trails and starts and finishes at Mid-Michigan Community College. Kevin, who started running a decade ago, is a marathoner and triathlete -- his first marathon was in Grand Rapids in 2007 and he's completed 30 triathlons, including an Ironman. This trail lover at heart talks about what led him to start the Mid-Michigan Ultra Team Trail Race in 2014, how exactly it works (hint: it's NOT a relay), how it quadrupled in participation in 2015, and what runners can expect for the 2017 event, which is set for June 17. Kevin also shares a special race discount code for listeners, and offers up details on another race he's involved with, the Snow Moon Trail Run, an evening race in February, 2017 on Midland City Forest trails.    Link:  Mid-Michigan Ultra Team Trail Race: muttrace.com 

 

Heather and co-host Mike Moran are on-site at last weekend's Great Beerd Run 5K for this show. The event, held Saturday, Nov. 12 on the grounds of the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, celebrates all things beards (natural and otherwise) and Michigan beer. Runners show up donning beards of their own making -- and beards that they carefully crafted themselves (race swag includes your own knit beard cap and a bottle opener finisher medal). Three breweries are featured at this untimed fun run: Right Brain Brewery in Traverse City, Shorts Brewing Company in Bellaire and Beards Brewery in Petoskey. This Michigan craft beer makers not only part of the post-run festivities, they also offer up tastings on the course. Heather and Mike talk with race director Kelly Yauk pre-run, sharing the race atmosphere and vibe, and then post-run, runner and brewer Jeff Houser joins in the conversation to talk about his love of the Great Beerd Run (he's won it a couple of times in the past, though this year he took a different approach to the event). The guys' interest in wooden ships also comes up...hear how they all try to bring it back to running and beer. It's an interesting and fun show, to say the least -- and there's even some live music in the background.   Links: Great Beerd Run: http://thegreatbeerdrun.com Right Brain Brewery: http://www.rightbrainbrewery.com Shorts Brewing Company: https://www.shortsbrewing.com Beards Brewery: http://www.beardsbrewery.com

 

Thanksgiving is just a couple of weeks away, which means delicious food and family time--and racing! Turkey trots and Thanksgiving-themed runs take place all across Michigan, with some starting this weekend and many others happening on Thanksgiving morning. Heather shares her family's tradition of running their local turkey trot, the Traverse City Turkey Trot 5K (there's also a 5-mile option), and is joined by northern Michigan runner and race director Michelle Elliott to talk about this year's event that starts and ends at Thirlby Field. You'll also hear from Jenae Schultheiss, race director of the Gobble Wobble, a fun run now in its 9th year that raises funds for area children. The show's regular upcoming race segment highlights turkey trots and includes a few race discount codes. Also featured on this show: an upcoming pre-order holiday sale on MRG clothing AND save-the-date info on the 2nd annual Michigan Runner Girl Weekend taking place up north this coming spring.       Links: Traverse City Turkey Trot: http://www.tcturkeytrot.com Gobble Wobble: http://gazellesports.com/wp/gobblewobble/
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As we near the holidays and the end of 2016, you might be thinking about your race calendar in the coming year -- and making plans for a race in another city or state. Heather is joined by Michigan Runner Girls Kelly Yauk (a regular on the show) and Coryn Briggs, both of whom enjoy traveling for running events, to talk about destination racing. Kelly is fresh off her latest destination racing adventure -- running a half marathon through California's majestic redwoods! -- and she talks about the planning that went into this 10-day trip out west with her husband Chris, who ran the race's 5K. Coryn, who happened to be out in California with Kelly for a few days (they attended an industry conference together) talks about finding some time to run the hills of San Francisco together. Coryn goes on to share her experiences traveling to Chicago for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon this past July (things got interesting when a storm came rolling in) and to Grand Rapids for Gazelle Girl Half Marathon earlier in the year. All three runners offer up been-there, done-that advice, tips and tricks for making the most of your race trip, including the importance of making restaurant reservations ahead of time, finding the best lodging, and pre-planning (don't forget your race fuel and go-to pre-race breakfast!) to ensure a memorable and seamless destination race experience. Also on this week's show: news about next week's Great Beerd Run at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, and the different ways to enjoy Traverse City Beer Week, which kicks off the day before this race and continues through Nov. 17, 2016.   Links: Great Beerd Run: thegreatbeerdrun.com Traverse City Beer Week: https://www.traversecity.com/tcbw/

 

 

Heather introduces Amy Bailey, a mother runner in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on this week's show. Amy, who previously lived in the Lansing area for six years as an Associated Press reporter, is among the essayists who contributed to the book Tales from Another Mother: Triumphs, Trials, Tips and Tricks from the Road. This is actually how Heather and Amy met last year -- Heather contributed an essay to this 2015 book as well -- and the two became fast friends given their multiple running and writing connections. As a reporter and then editor for 15 years, Amy has always been a writer, but she didn't write about running until 2009. She only started running a year before that -- a few months after her son was born. Since then, though, she has done a handful of half marathons in each of the past several years. She's regularly running 4 to 5 miles a day on some of the nearby trails. Amy, who is a member of the Oiselle Volee ambassador program, talks with Heather about her love of running in Wisconsin and the midwest. Our neighboring states -- with a shared Great Lake -- are home to a growing number of awesome races and running communities, and Amy and Heather talk about how it's an exciting time to be a runner in the midwest. As the newest contributor to MichiganRunnerGirl.com, Amy will be exploring this very topic as she shares the races and places she loves running here in our beautiful region of the country.    Links:   Follow Amy Bailey ... Twitter: @Amy_Bailey Instagram: amy_bailey   Tales from Another Mother: Triumphs, Trials, Tips and Tricks from the Road: http://anothermotherrunner.com/2015/04/01/tales-from-another-mother-runner-thurday-amy-bailey/

 

Thousands of women across Michigan, the midwest and beyond have taken to wearing a bright-colored flower in their hair while racing -- a symbol of what running has come to mean to them. Each flower -- 13 varying colors -- represent "different reasons, stories and purposes behind why we run." This community and movement, which began four years ago in Marquette, Michigan, is known as Fellow Flowers. Longtime friends Tori Sager and Mel Charbonneau are the co-founders of Fellow Flowers and join Heather on the show to talk about their running journeys and how their passion for women and running led them to become business partners and creators of a community that has touched more than 25,000 women across the country. Mel and Tori are both former collegiate athletes who came to running later in life. They ran their first half marathon together in Green Bay, Wis. "We always say, I think the universe knew something we didn't that day," Tori says of that race experience with Mel. A seed was planted when they crossed that finish line, they say, and years later, to celebrate her birthday, Tori and 13 of her friends (including Mel) "ran with flowers in our hair -- it was the 'infamous flower race.' There were amazing stories that came out of that day ... the flower was a symbol of connection and of our 12-week journey and what that meant to us." Mel, Tori and Heather talk about the reasons women run and how our individual "why I run" stories ultimately connect us to one another. Mel and Tori also share what it's like to operate a business together while living in two different cities -- Tori lives with her family in Marquette while Mel and her family reside in Madison, Wis. -- the growth Fellow Flowers has experienced since its inception, and the exciting plans for future adventures within their community.    Link: fellowflowers.com   

 

Some 250,000 people participate in runDisney events in Orlando, Fla. each year (more than half of these runners are women), and most make the journey to Walt Disney World not just to race but to also enjoy a fun-filled vacation at Disney theme parks. Michigan runner and writer Megan Biller is one of the many who share a passion for these races. In addition, Megan is the author of Magical Miles: the Runner's Guide to Walt Disney World, a tour book that guides families through all the aspects of a runDisney event, including resorts, restaurants, the races and more. Megan joins Heather on the show to talk about how she started running within the past 10 years, why she loves Disney races so much, and why she decided to write a book to help other runners make the most of their race experience in "the most magical place on Earth." Megan has run numerous runDisney events, including the Dopey Challenge, an event featuring four race distances totaling 46 miles in one weekend. Megan also co-hosts a Disney-themed podcast, Let's Run Disney.    Links: runndersguidetoWDW.com facebook.com/runnersguidetoWDW

 

Well, we did it! Team MRG -- 12 women from Traverse City, Northville, East Lansing and Kalamazoo -- crossed the finish line (all together!) of the first-ever Reebok Ragnar Michigan this past Saturday at the Open Space in downtown Traverse City -- 29 hours and 40 minutes after starting this12-person relay race 200ish miles away in Muskegon. What an adventure! Heather is joined by five of her teammates in re-living this epic running experience. The girls give all the details (well, most of them anyway -- "what happens in the van, stays in the van," after all!) of their two-day trek on the west side of Michigan, on country roads and along the Lake Michigan shoreline. More than 150 teams participated in this inaugural Michigan race. Team MRG talks through the logistics of accomplishing such a feat, and also offers tips,  tricks and reflections on what it was like to be in a van together, cheer one another on (cowbells and lots of "woos!"), run during the night, and complete three different legs of running on little sleep. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to try a Ragnar -- and become a "Ragnarian" -- you'll definitely want to tune into this show. Heather also makes a call-out for listener experiences -- we'd love to share your Ragnar story on an upcoming podcast.    Link: runragnar.com 

 

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Farmland 5K Run and Free For All Bike event held each December on the east side of Traverse City. Lisa Taylor, high school cross country coach, frequent podcast guest/co-host  and founder of this race, joins Heather in the studio to talk about Farmland, which takes place on Saturday, Dec. 3. Together, they talk through the top 5 reasons for signing up for this race. These touch on the time of year it takes place (no matter the weather -- lots of snow or extremely cold -- it still goes on), the cool swag and post-race party runners and cyclists get to experience, the unique cross country terrain and cycling-run combo components, and lots more. Come north this early-winter (lodging rates in the Traverse City area this time of year are lower) and join Heather and Lisa at this super-fun December race. (Heather might even be giving the run-bike combo a try...just maybe.)

 

Link: FarmlandTC.com 

Kona Running Co. is known for its numerous races held throughout the year in Michigan, and two upcoming events are featured on this week's show. Marathoner and longtime runner Alan Whitehead, owner of Kona Running Company, joins Heather on the show to talk about the Wicked Halloween Run 10K, 5K & Monster Mile on Sunday, Oct. 30 in Plymouth -- billed as the "largest Halloween run in the state" -- and the Kona Chocolate Run 10K, 5K & Cocoa Mile on November 20 in Plymouth, an event now in its fourth year and known as "Michigan's largest chocolate party." Heather and Alan also talk about Kona Running Co.'s two running speciality stores, in Canton and West Bloomfield; Alan operates these in partnership with Road Runner Sports. Thousands of runners come out for both of these fall racing events -- some 3,800 at the Wicked Halloween Run, many in costumes, an about 5,500 runners at the Chocolate Run. Alan shares what runners can expect to experience at both of these races (sweet swag and delicious post-race food are things Kona Running Co. races are known for).   Links: Kona Running Company: http://konarunningcompany.com Kona Chocolate Run: http://www.konachocolaterun.com Wicked Halloween Run: http://www.wickedhalloweenrun.com