Pace the Nation

In this episode of Pace the Nation, we are joined by the duo Chris Chavez and Kyle Merber who have teamed up to promote the sport while supporting other athletes. Although coming from different perspectives, their genuine friendship and combined experience encourage others to have fun and keep moving forward.

Hosts Chris Farley and Julie Culley are joined by Sarah Attar, Saudi Arabia’s first Olympic female runner, to talk about the incredible events that led up to her representing Saudi Arabia in the 2012 (and 2016) Olympics, what it was like to run in an Olympic event, and how her competition in the games sparked a cultural movement in Saudi Arabia. Plus, how did Sarah’s passion for both running and photography lead her to a cross-country roadtrip?

Hosts Chris Farley and Julie Culley sit down with legendary track coach Vin Lananna (President, USA Track & Field/Director of Track & Field, University of Virginia) to talk about UVA hosting the 2023 NCAA Cross Country championships, the Tokyo Olympic Games, TrackTown USA's newly renovated Hayward Field, and more!

At 2:00 we talk about Chris going out to Albany and breaking 3 hours in the marathon to keep his streak alive.

At 8:55 we welcome Josh Merlis to the show.

At 10:50 We talk to Josh about The Albany Running Exchange and the history of his company.

At 15:20 we talk about Josh’s own running

At 16:15 we talk about a number of the big events he has worked on all over the world.

At 20:00 we talk about how 2020 has been for Josh and the ARE team.

At 20:51 we talk about the Upstate Classic and how the idea came about.

At 23:27 we talk about the venue and the capability of the Altamont Fairgrounds

At 25:10 we talk about the permit process Josh had to go through.

At 28:00 we talk about the start of the race and precautions he made on the course.

At 33:45 Josh talks about nervousness leading up to the event

At 35:40 We talk about the response from the people who gave ARE the permission to put on the event.

At 36:37 Julie asks about the emotional side of the event

At 38:04 We read an email from a participate of the race

At 40:00 Josh shares his reaction to the email and talks more about what the race meant to many.

At 46:00 we come back from talking to Josh and sum up the interview

At 51:11 we talk Keira D’Amato going after the American Record in the women’s 10 miler

At 1:00 Halloween is our topic of discussion

At 3:54 we talk about the in person race that Farley is going to run on Nov. 15th

At 7:00 we bring in Matt Taylor CEO and Founder of Tracksmith

At 9:05 Matt tells us about how Tracksmith was started and describes the brand

At 12:00 why is running so important to Matt and why Tracksmith is so focused

At 13:01 Matt talks about the Fellowship that he and Tracksmith have created.

At 17:55 We talk about what Matt and Tracksmith is doing for college Track and Cross Country programs.

At 22:05 Matt talks about Brown losing their Track and XC and how Russell Dinkins played a role in helping reverse that decision

At 24:20 Matt talks more about Russell Dinkins

At 27:05 How has Tracksmith been during Covid-19?

At 29:30 Matt talks about signing Nick Willis and Mary Cain

At 31:33 We speculate when some of the major marathons will be in 2021

At 32:45 we close the conversation with Matt

At 33:33 we come back and sum up the interview with Matt and talk about the Big East and ACC

At 36:12 We talk about the London Marathon.

At 41:00 We talk about all the marathons that will be happening next fall.

At 42:45 We talk about the University of Virginia hosting the NCAA championships in 2023

At 2:00 We set up the show.

At 3:42 Kathy is tasked to come up with “witty banter” to start the show.

At 5:37 Kathy tells us that she is a former “Girls Stater”.

At 7:45 We set up the interview and the last time Kathy saw Jess and Sarah.

At 9:37 We intro our 4 guests.

At 11:00 We talk to Sarah and Jess about Empowerun.

At 12:27 Erin tells us about She Should Run.

At 13:09 We bring in Pamela to talk about Prinkshop.

At 14:08 Pamela tells us how the collaboration with Saucony and She Should Run came about and more information about Prinkshop.

At 15:54 Pamela talks about why She should ru was a good fit for the Colab.

At 17:05 Erin talks about women running for office.

At 19:57 We talk about the possibility of Wendy Davis moment for Saucony.

At 20:45 Sarah and Jess talk about how they were able to get this moved forward with Saucony.

At 24:00 we talk about the Hero logo for the colab.

At 26:00 we talk about the timing of the launch of the colab.

At 28:15 How do you run for a political position?

At 31:38 Erin talks about how many women are in elected offices.

At 33:00 We ask the question if there are less barriers for women now to run for office.

At 34:47 How do we get women to believe that “if you care, you are qualified”.

At 36:31 Pamela comments on where we are as a society on some of the issues she is trying to push forward.

At 38:07 We talk about the feedback from Saucony and others from the project.

At 39:27 Erin and Pamela talk about their personal experience running/walking in the shoes.

At 40:56 Jess talks about Saucony’s “Shop for a Cause”.

At 42:04 We close out with our guests.

At 43:23 We come back and quickly recap the conversation.

At 46:50 We talk about Run Jam.

At 49:31 We close out the show.

0-5:00 We set up the show and talk about our guest, Neil Lawson

5:01- 9:57 We talk about working from home

At 10:20 we bring on Neal Lawson.

At 12:10 Neal takes us through the tragic event that took his wives life

At 13:00 Neal talks about how he and his late wife came up with the idea for the foundation

At 15:30 Neal talks about where all the money the foundation raises goes

At 19:05 we talk about what the JBLF road race looks like for this year.

At 22:30 we talk about the DC Dancing with the stars Gala

At 23:40 Neal talks how fundraising is going for the foundation.

At 27:00 We talk about why Neal decided to dance in the Dancing with the Stars event

At 28:40 we put Neal on the spot and talk about #Docs2021

At 30:00 Neal talks about Kelly who is the new Executive director for the foundation

At 31:00 Neal talks about his new venture “Two Plates”

At 36:00 Neal talks about his family life

At 40:00 We talk about both in person and virtual options for the JBLF races

At 44:02 We discuss the 2 social media phenomenons happening including a Mr. Brightside reference and the Ocean Spray challenge

At 53:00 we talk about the decision to cut the Minnesota Mens track program

At 1:01:04 We announce that Pacers Running is opening in Georgetown in November

At 1:03:20 Docs gives us our latest rendition of “Tails from the Trails”

At 1:06:25 we close out the show

We start off the show diagnosing the bandwagon abandoned at the end of Farleys street and Docs talks about how he dodged a bullet by not being invited to the presidential debate (and that was before he knew he really dodged a bullet). At (16:36) we are joined by three time Olympic Trials qualifier and 2013 Marine Corps Marathon Champ Kelly Calway. We open up talking about her Northern Virginia ties, running 2 years at West Potomac High School, and her experience balancing collegiate running with ROTC at NC State. At (23:06) Kelly talks about how she always wanted to run the marathon and how she did all the wrong things in her first race at that distance. We then ask Kelly about her best marathon effort and her experience winning the 2013 Marine Corps Marathon as a member of the All Army team. At (31:06) we learn about her craziest 2020 story, being seriously injured after getting hit by a large falling log on a trail. We are back at (52:35) to wrap up the interview and issue a few corrections. At (55:53) Farley talks about an emotional video about Eldersburg Rogue Runners Club Francis Moats, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive and terminal brain cancer. With the support from his friends at the running club, Moats completed the virtual Marine Corps marathon from a wheelchair. At (57:52) we preview the London Marathon that already happened and at (1:01:35) Docs has another tale from the trail.

We start off asking Julie and Docs to guess how many miles our guest has raced during the Quarantine period, a little bit about the weather and then how we disappointed our fans with another time and location switch-a-roo. At (12:31) we are joined by local ultra runner Mike Wardian. At (17:20) we ask Mike about being a vegetarian over the last 20 years. AT (21:20) we start the heavy raceload conversation finding out who won the PTN guessing game. At (25:30) we talk about the Back Yard Ultra, at (39:14) the Delaware State Run and at (45:00) the Shenandoah National Park self supported ultra. At (53:36) we talk dogs. At (1:01:35) we talk about one of Mikes sponsors Hoka. We are back at (1:06:03) to wrap up the interview and weigh in on which of our guests 2020 challenges we think was toughest. At (1:09:09) we start off a lot of Docs topics with an update on last weeks Bridges of Arlington County story. At (1:11:50) Docs talks about the social media marketing of the Gritty 5k, which he seems to enjoy. We close out at (1:17:28) with some more social media positivity with the Dave Grohl vs Nandi competition.

We start off talking about birthday etiquette because it just might be one of our hosts birthdays today (well not anymore, on the day we recorded), which naturally leads into an extended discussion about Kevin Bacon. We are joined at (12:26) by EX2 Adventures owner Andy Bacon who tells us that he has heard the Kevin Bacon question before (which should not be shocking for a guy named Chris Farley but what can we say). At (15:26) we ask about the history of EX2 and the journey that lead Andy to that position. At (20:29) we talk about how 2020 changed things for their company and at (23:58) we asked how their customers responded to these forced changes and then discuss the unfortunate circumstances some of their vendors found themselves in. At (28:23) we talk about the virtual races this spring and then the recent in person Rosaryville Half Marathon/10k, the safety measures that they had to put in place and the feedback response from the race participants. At (42:30) we hear about their upcoming race schedule which includes two more in-person events. We are back at (47:25) to wrap the interview and at (51:10) we announce the elimination of the Mens Track and Field programs at William and Mary. At (52:37) former PTN guest John Kelly completes an amazing feat, a Grand Round Project and at (54:40) Ryan Hall runs his first ultra-marathon. At (57:22) we have a couple of Arlington stories, the Arlington biker who mooned people on the Custis trail is finally apprehended, and then at (1:02:37) Docs takes us on a journey with the Bridges of Arlington County. At (1:09:09) Docs takes us off agenda to tell a story about a recent run in Arlington County. We close out at (1:17:38) with a couple of PTNish stories, a woman who runs with dogs ran every street in the Florida Keys and then we revisit the Bear story from last week for Docs.