Ordinary Marathoner

Inspired by our recent trip to Chattanooga, where we met up with over a dozen Team Ordinaries and participated in the Ironman Chattanooga 70.3, the podcast returns! That’s right! We’re back!

It’s been about 5 months since our last podcast. It took an incredible weekend with incredible people to bring it back. Let’s get started by recapping the incredible week in Chattanooga. Some people came to add a IM70.3 medal to their medal rack. Some were doing it for the first time. Some were participating in relay-fashion, doing one of the three legs of the race. Others traveled just to cheer on their teammates. What a great week of racing!

If you remember our podcast with Noah Cass, you’ll know of Kevin Coughlin. Kevin tagged along on the 145-mile run with Noah from Somers, CT to Lake George, NY. The excitement of that run lit a spark, and Kevin has been seeking bigger and better challenges ever since.

He ran the 250 mile border of Connecticut. He has designs on a 500-mile run in his future. But it doesn’t end there. Kevin and his family sold their home and went mobile. He travels the country, homeschooling the kids and keeping up with training all along the way. He also set up his own non-profit, 2Feet4Good.

An interesting character with a great story, check out our podcast with Kevin Coughlin.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

When you build a non-profit, your first concern is always “How do I help people?” Scott Frasard had an idea. He developed our Actually Autistic Athletes program and began searching for a participant.

Jonah Papovich is a 15 year old who loves art and music. Exercise was never a main focus, but his mother Maureen thought it would expose him to something new and might help. We matched Jonah up with Coach Brianna Roehling of Seigga Multisport, and let them train for 5 months. Jonah didn’t just embrace it, he excelled.

This past Thanksgiving, Jonah finished his goal race – a 5k – in a blistering 26 minutes. CONGRATULATIONS JONAH!!!

This week we have three special guests on the podcast. Scott Frasard is back, along with Jonah Papovich and his mother, Maureen. We’ll discuss the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation’s Actually Autistic Athletes program.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! Special thank you to all who participated in this weekend’s Ordinary Half Marathon – our informal fall race. We had more participants in this year’s half than last year. We love when we see our community growing. Especially now that everything benefits the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

While you were all out getting your Turkey Trot races in, the Foundation was seeing the fruition of one of our programs. Jonah Papovich, the first participant in our Running For Autism (now Actually Autistic Athletes) program, finished his goal race! Jonah crushed a 5k in a speedy 26 minutes! He was also featured in a local news report in Austin, TX, done by Jake Garcia. What an incredible story! Jonah will be a guest on an upcoming podcast with his mother, Maureen and Scott Frasard.

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday – a special day each year that celebrates non-profits. Our goal this Giving Tuesday is to raise $3,000! Help us by donation at www.ordinarymarathonerfoundation.org or by spreading the word on your social media networks!

Lastly, tonight we begin yet another epic adventure. We will be attempting to ride EVERY Zwift course this winter. Tonight is course #1 of 100. Wish us luck, and reach out to me if you would like an invitation to our group rides.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Thank you for your patience as we work through a bit of a hiatus on the podcasting front. We have a bunch to catch up on including a number of big races that have taken place these past few weeks.

We also discuss the incredible first year for the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation! This year we rolled out two programs and have more to come as we look forward to 2022! We are excited about the future of our non-profit.

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! Make sure to register for the Ordinary Marathon – our 10-day Spring race – and get free entry to our informal “Ordinary Half Marathon.” The half will take place from 11/25 – 11/28, includes a personalized pdf bib and a slideshow.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Greg Rajkovic is one of the more interesting characters I’ve come across while doing this podcast. He’s based near Seattle, but our virtual paths crossed on a USA Triathlon Zwift ride. We invited him to our weekly trivia ride, and his quick answers and near-perfect attendance made him a fixture there.

Greg was a quiet guy at first. As we got to know him, we learned some of that shyness was due to autism. But as he rode, he came out of his shell. And now, we can’t shut him up (in a good way).

An avid bike rider, Covid forced Greg to ride less outdoors and turn to the indoor platform Zwift. He rides almost constantly – at all hours of the day, while working, whenever. And he has reached the pinnacle of Zwift – Level 50.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Noah Cass is a US Marine. When his friend Eddie Ryan was shot twice in the head leaving him paralyzed, Noah decided he wanted to help. Along with two friends, he decided to run from his home in Somers, CT, to Lake George, NY. The 145-mile journey would take more than two days. It was all captured on film in the documentary, Tougher Than a Tank.

Noah resides only two towns away from Ordinary HQ, so we were able to get him into our new home studio and chat about his experiences from the documentary. We’d like to thank him for his service, and beyond. He has done amazing things for his friend Eddie, and certainly brought awareness to some issues within the VA and the treatment of our wounded veterans.

You can find Tougher Than a Tank on Amazon Prime and iTunes.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

PRE-ORDER ORDINARY MARATHONER FOUNDATION HOODIES BY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10!

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Meet the McCollum twins, Karla and Konnie. Both have been active members of the Ordinary Marathoner community for years and have run many long-distance races. In one of those races, Konnie suffered a heart attack… and still finished!

Ever since then, the twins have always run together. And it has been their dream to qualify and run the Boston Marathon. After achieving a qualifying time a few times, but without cushion enough to get an invite, their dream finally came true. And when they were ready to head to Boston and toe the line at the most prestigious race in the world, Covid hit.

Not only did it hit by canceling the race, but it hit the McCollums even more personally. Both of them contracted Covid over the past year and a half. For Konnie, it almost ended her running career. Even though they both ran the 2020 Boston Marathon virtually, they still hoped to run the race in-person one day, but with the field being further narrowed from Covid precautions, they didn’t make the 2021 cutoff.

That is… until recently.

The field was recently expanded as Covid restrictions eased, and the McCollums got the call. Which means that in less than 2 weeks, they will finally get their opportunity to run the Boston Marathon!!!! We will all be cheering them on!

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

Around 10 years ago, Stu Weiner discovered the sport of running. Like many others who discover the sport, he climbed the distance ladder – culminating in some finishes at the Boston Marathon as a charity runner.

Stu loves racing, and is approaching an incredible milestone – FIFTY half marathons! At his current pace, Stu thinks he will accomplish this late 2021, or 2022. We can’t wait to see him cross that 50th finish line!

Stu stumbled upon the Ordinary Marathoner group in our beginning stages and has been an active participant and supporter for a long time. Today we decided to bring him on as our guest and discuss his running story.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.

After a little podcasting hiatus, we are back with a recap of the Ironman 70.3 Maine Relay event. Matt Schorer, Jacob Polzin and I went up to Old Orchard Beach last weekend for our first chance to participate in a relay-format half-Ironman event.

All of us performed to the better side of our own expectations and we had a blast doing it! Matt crushed the bike, Jacob PR’d the run, and I… well I didn’t get bitten by a shark.

Looking to improve with a triathlon or running coach? Reach out to Coach Scott at [email protected] and set up a free consultation.

DONATE to our nonprofit, The Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.

Become a Patron and help support the podcast! Check out our Patreon Page.

Join the Official Ordinary Marathoner team at TEAM ORDINARY!

Check out our homepage at www.ordinarymarathoner.com.

Or join the conversation at our Ordinary Marathoners Facebook Discussion Group.

I’ll also follow you back on Twitter if you follow me @OrdMarathoner.