The Extra Mile - The Official Charity Miles Podcast

Bob is an Ironman legend, founder of Competitor Magazine and founder of the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He's also an epic storyteller and I'm sure you'll love the stories he shares here.

I recorded this interview with Bob in 2017 at the Boston Marathon. It somehow got erased so I'm re-releasing it again now because it's a classic.

#EveryMileMatters

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This week I wanted to share with you my recent experience as a volunteer builder with Habitat for Humanity in Atlanta, GA. Aside from having a wonderful time, I took this opportunity to chat with some of the incredible people involved with this amazing organization, starting with the amazing the soon-to-be "homeowner," Krushetta Holt.

Krushetta's vision for her home goes beyond simply having a house. Sure, she has an idea of where her bed will be in the master bedroom. But what she really envisions is the future of her family, houseguests coming by for visits, and grandkids playing in the yard. I got goosebumps listening to her speak about her home, and I'm sure you will, too.

Following my chat with Krushetta you'll hear from some of the people who, without their passions and incredibly hard work for Habitat, these builds would not be possible: Gwen Cook (Skilled Supervisor), Mary Lynn Staley (Habitat Vice Chair of the Board), and Allison Green (Director of Cause Marketing & Workplace Giving). Thank you for sharing your work with us and the Atlanta community.

Aside from the busy noise of construction, I hope you're able to hear the extraordinary energy and spirit of the day.

A huge shout out to Aftershockz for their sponsorship and making this episode possible. Thank you!

Krushetta, we wish you the best of luck in your beautiful new home!

#HomeIsTheKey #EveryMileMatters

Des Linden is the first American woman in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon. She's also an awesome example of what can happen when you do things in service of others.

We recorded this episode in Boston, MA., 24 days and 16hrs before the 2019 Boston Marathon. You'll hear the hustle and bustle of Boylston Street as we make our way down that famous home stretch of the race.

Des' fascinating story goes back to 2011 where she came in second place (by only two seconds!) in a race she thought was hers. In this episode she takes us through feeling crushed in 2011, to taking fourth place in 2017, and finally her poetic win last year during a torrential downpour and horrible headwinds.

Listen in as she talks lessons learned, why she keeps showing up, and how you never really know how deep your well is.

A big thank you to Des for taking some time to walk with me and wishing her the best of luck at this year's race. We're all rooting for you, Des!

#EveryMileMatters!

Today's interview is with Charlie Engle at the Spartan World Championships in Lake Tahoe, California.

Charlie is one of the greatest endurance athletes of all time, perhaps best known for when he ran across the Sahara Desert. There's a great documentary on it on iTunes if you want to check it out.

But he's also faced and overcome a lot of obstacles in his life, including alcoholism, drug addiction and, even after he beat that, some time in jail.

These are REAL life obstacles. Not the types of obstacles we voluntarily seek out when we sign up for a Spartan race.

And to hear how Charlie faced and overcame these obstacles can provide us all with insight for how we can face the obstacles in our own life...

You'll also hear a sneak peak into Charlie's next adventure. I won't tell you what it is, but it's amazing. And he shows us how we can all go from the lowest point to the highest point in our lives.

Big thanks to Charlie for sharing his story and insight with all of us!

Bubba Wallace definitely goes the Extra Mile... in about 18 seconds. He's one of the top NASCAR drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, making his living at 200 mph!

Bubba gets a lot of attention for being the only African American NASCAR Driver. But he'd rather be defined by his racing than his race.

Last year, Bubba kicked off his rookie season by finishing in 2nd place at the Daytona 500-- one of the premier sporting events in the world.

This weekend, Bubba is headed back to Daytona to see if he can finish just one spot better.

Bubba drives the famous #43 car-- the King's car-- for Richard Petty who has 200 NASCAR wins, an untouchable NASCAR record.

Our partners at Aftershokz are sponsoring Bubba and #43 for the Daytona 500 this weekend. So, I had the great opportunity to meet Bubba before the qualifying rounds to record this interview.

We recorded the interview at the Daytona International Speedway, walking through the garages and pit, out onto Pit Road and around the track.

You'll hear the engines rev, the mechanics drilling, the fans approaching Bubba for autographs and the cars FLYING by.

You'll also hear what it's like to be a NASCAR driver at the top of the sport, how Bubba got into racing, and what drives him to be the best.

Huge thanks to Bubba for taking the time to walk with me. And huge thanks to our partners at Aftershokz for hooking this up!

#EveryMileMatters!

Terence Gerchberg is the Executive Director of the New York City Chapter of Back on My Feet, an incredible organization that combats homelessness and addiction through the power of running, community support and essential employment and housing resources.

Plus, he's an amazing all-around person.

I recorded this podcast with Terence on the Thursday before he was about to run his 16th consecutive New York City Marathon.

Terence started running as part of his own recovery from a gambling addiction he developed while working on Wall Street.

Over the years I've gotten to know Terence, I've always admired how warm and genuine he is. I'm sure you'll all be able to hear that in this podcast.

Big thanks to Terence for taking the time to share his story with all of us.

#EveryMileMatters

Shadrack Biwott is not just one of the most elite marathoners in the world; he is also an incredible person.

Shadrack was born and raised in Kenya. He ran barefoot for most of his life, until he received his first pair of running shoes as a gift from his older brothers.

Since then, Shadrack immigrated to the US where he was one of the top collegiate runners at the University of Oregon.

He now races for Team USA and the esteemed Hansons-Brooks team, as one of the top marathoners in the world.

He placed fifth in the NYC Marathon, fourth in the Boston Marathon and then third in the Boston Marathon.

I asked Shadrack what he thinks about when he's in the final miles of a marathon-- when it really hurts and anything can happen.

He said he thinks to "Run Happy" and to remember that he's running for something bigger than himself.

In this spirit, Shadrack has also become a strong supporter of the Brooks Booster Club which has given out over $1 million in free gear to underfunded high school track and cross-country teams.

Being involved with the Booster Club, getting to actually deliver the gear to students is especially meaningful to Shadrack-- especially as he remembers what it was like to receive his first pair of running shoes. Most of all, Shadrack radiates an incredible energy. You'll probably be able to hear his smile on this podcast.

I'm grateful to him for taking the time to walk with me and share his story with all of us. I'm sure you'll all be as inspired by him as I am.

#RunHappy #EveryMileMatters

Meet Bill Bucklew, a longtime friend, Charity Miler extraordinaire and Team Fox All Star.

Bill was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2012. But he has become another datapoint in my theory that Parkinson's Disease is a disease that makes you walk and run really, really far.

Last November, the day after Thanksgiving, Bill stood in Tybee, Georgia with his hands in the Atlantic Ocean. Just 67 days later, he stood in San Diego, California, with his hands in the Pacific Ocean.

How did he get from Tybee to San Diego? Naturally, he walked.

When Bill first told me about what he was going to do, I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure he could pull it off. I didn't doubt that he could cover the distance. But it was how fast he wanted to do it.

(He said he had to do it that fast because he couldn't take so much time off work- lol!)

But indeed, he did it. 2,503 miles in 67 days. If certified by Guiness, this will be the World Record for the fastest walk across the US.

Shortly after he finished his walk, Bill was in NYC for some press on the Today Show. (Well la de da!) I didn't want him to rest too much so I asked him to join me on a walk in Central Park, which is when we recorded this podcast.

That evening I tried to upload the podcast and somehow the file had been corrupted. I thought it was gone forever, but just learned how to recover it. Whew!

So this is a little late, but it's worth the wait. Bill is amazing. I hope you're all as inspired by him as I am. #EveryMileMatters!

The post Bill Bucklew – Walking Across the US with Parkinson's Disease appeared first on Charity Miles.

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Meet Kelly Roberts, run influencer, blogger and founder of She Can And She Did, a platform dedicated to redefining what strength looks and feels like.

Kelly rocks. And she's one of the most important voices in the running community.

I first met her a few years ago, when we collaborated on a campaign for HOKA. Back then, she had established herself as an influencer with her blog and podcast: Run, Selfie, Repeat, where she gave short weekly pep talks to all the runners who were taking their first step, setting scary goals, and enjoying the struggle.

However, through that journey, Kelly learned a lot about herself, the running community, female empowerment and more. Which is why she has grown her blog and podcast into a far more substantial platform.

I really enjoyed this run with Kelly. We ran from Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn where she gave me a tour of her stomping grounds.

I'm extra excited to release it too. Because after we first recorded it in January, I uploaded it to my computer and the file was somehow corrupted. I couldn't figure out how to repair it and thought it was lost forever.

But I just stumbled across an article that showed me how to do it. So I was able to recover the file and share it now with all of you.

Thank goodness for that!

And thanks to Kelly for sharing her story and insight with all of us. #EveryMileMatters!

The post Kelly Roberts: She Can And She Did… Plus a Couple Left Turns appeared first on Charity Miles.

Last week, I had the honor of attending the Spartan World Championships in Squaw Valley, California. I was invited out by Spartan founder, Joe De Sena to participate in their Spartan PodFest, where I interviewed a bunch of really cool people for our podcast.

The highlight of my weekend was getting to interview Spartan founder, Joe De Sena together with master storyteller, Cal Fussman who, as a writer for Esquire Magazine, has interviewed and written feature stories on people like Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Muhammad Ali and even Donald Trump.

Cal is also a sought after and captivating public speaker. One story he is most known for ties together his interviews of Gorbachev and Muhammad Ali with the power of ice cream.

It's a powerful story. But it's a point of contention for Joe, as you'll get to hear in this interview when he and Cal get into an interesting debate. The conversation between them took on a life of its own, so I just kinda held my mic between them and let them have at it.

Team, this interview was so much fun. Big thanks to Joe and Cal for taking the time to walk with me. Every Mile Matters.

P.S. Just want to give you a heads up… There's some editing in this episode, because there were a few places along the way that we stopped to do some of the Spartan obstacles. Also, towards the end, we saw the top elite racers pass through and Joe took off on a sprint down the mountain so that he could see them finish. I'll try to narrate you through all of that when it happens.

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The post Joe De Sena and Cal Fussman: Be Harder To Kill(?) appeared first on Charity Miles.