We Run This

Christine D’Ercole has lived many lives. After her original dream of becoming a ballerina was crushed because her legs and thighs were labeled “too big” she turned her focus towards acting. Unfortunately, her legs were again taking center stage. 

She attended a performing arts high school and then Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Christine accidentally stumbled upon a personal file that included paragraphs of positive notes but at the bottom of the page was the comment “a little heavy in the thigh.” 

Christine refused to let her body type stop her from pursuing her dream so she continued auditioning after college and worked as a bike messenger. It was during this time that Christine that her legs and thighs were an attribute as she regularly outraced her co-workers and took big hills with little effort.

A few of her colleagues were also racing cyclists who introduced Christine to the sport. Before long, she was racing competitively, had sponsorship deals, and traveled across the US racing against Olympians and world champions. 

A decorated competitive track cyclist, Masters World Champion and five-time National Champion, Christine is now a Senior Instructor at Peloton, and her classes are grounded in the science of cycling and the power of words. 

In this episode, Christine discusses her early setbacks with body image, finding her passion for cycling, the nerve-racking anxiety that comes with riding a bike through the streets of a major city, becoming a Masters World Champion, and returning to the sport after a long hiatus.

**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use  the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your  order.**

If the name James Breakwell sounds familiar, you probably follow one of his popular social media accounts. 

Best known for his family humor Twitter @XplodingUnicorn, James went viral in 2016 and transformed from a niche comedy writer into one of the most popular dad bloggers on social media.

The father of four is a former high school and collegiate runner who ran his first race in middle school - an ultra where runners did the same 5K loop as many times as possible in eight hours. 

“I didn’t train at all,” remembers James. “The longest I’d ever run before that was maybe seven miles. I did exactly 10 loops—31 miles. At the end, I just wanted to die.” 

In this episode, James talks about his new book “How To Be A Man (Whatever That Means)”, his approach to running in high school and college, his mentality of having “no mentality” when it comes to running, running as a way to combat writer’s block, and coaching his young daughters. 

**This episode is supported by Manscaped. Go to Manscaped.com and use the promo code WERUNTHIS20 to get 20% OFF and Free Shipping on your order.** 

Michelle Baxter started training to run a mile at the age of 10 and her love of running has never wavered. 

Born in Moorhead, Minnesota, fate and family moved her to Anchorage, Alaska to run through some of the most treacherous running conditions on a daily basis. Some runners won’t step foot outside to run in the cold weather but Michelle really has no choice. 

When Baxter isn’t coaching others on running or working in her local running store, she’s putting in the miles on Alaskan roads, sometimes in the pitch dark. 

“We can sometimes lose up to 30 minutes of daylight just in one week,” Baxter told us during the interview.  These long battles with the darkness don’t just make running more difficult but the constantly gloomy condition takes a toll on a person’s demeanor. 

Michelle’s love of running and running gear led her to launch a website and IG account - both called The Runner’s Plate - where she chronicles her life as a cold-weather runner, coach, and mom. 

In this episode, Michelle talks to us about life in “The Last Frontier”, running while pregnant, her quest for the sub-3 hour marathon, battling the elements and the darkness, and the fun of buying new running gear.  

Every fitness journey starts with a life-changing moment. For Brendan Carpenter, his life-changing moment happened at an unexpected place - an amusement park. 

During a high school class trip to Canada’s Wonderland amusement park, Brendan was escorted off a ride because the safety bar wouldn’t fit over his 350-pound frame. 

Almost a decade later, Carpenter is down over 160 pounds, completed numerous half and full marathons, and is now a Saucony Canada running team member. 

Not bad for a guy who initially hated running. 

In this episode, Brendan tells us about his journey to dropping all the weight, the awful eating habits that led to him ballooning up to 350 pounds, falling in love with running, running for 100 straight days during Covid lockdown, listening to differing approaches on how to run a race. 

And of course, we discuss Brendan’s recent TikTok video about running - and farting - that went insanely viral and led to his new online nickname, "Turdbo." 

Bethany Davis is a busy mom of five, a business owner, competitive marathon runner, and online fitness coach. 

As a kid, she pursued a career in equestrian vaulting. For those unfamiliar, the simplest way to explain the sport is “gymnastics while riding a horse.” 

After retiring from the sport and starting a family, Bethany still looked for ways to stay in shape and remain competitive, but when her oldest son developed a case of social anxiety every time the new mom dropped him off at the daycare inside the gym, the California native needed to find a new way to exercise. 

In this episode, we talk to Bethany about her transition from horses to helping others, her marathon training and CrossFit routines, her husband’s on-and-off love of exercise, being a busy mom of five, and running the most grueling marathon of her life.

Avery Collins and Sabrina Stanley are the power couple of ultra running for a reason - and not just because the name is catchy and helpful when promoting their coaching business - Power Couple Coaching. 

Their accomplishments in ultra running are legit. 

Since his rookie season in 2012, Avery has dedicated his life to being the top runner in his sport. In 2017, he won every race he entered, including the Georgia Death Race, Quest for the Crest 50k, Hahn's Peak Hill Climb, Continental Divide Trail Run 50k, and Grindstone 100 Miler and finished 6th at Western States. In 2019, Avery set a course record at Quest for the Crest 50k, he won the Fatdog 120-miler, and finished 3rd at Trail de Bourbon as the highest placing American male ever). 

Ultrarunner Magazine named Sabrina the 8th best American Female in 2018 and ranked her 5th in 2019. She's finished first female at the last 11-ultras she's entered.  In 2018, Sabrina won Hardrock 100. The following year, she won HURT 100 and recently became the first American (male or female) to win Diagonal Des Fous. It will become obvious early in this interview that Sabrina won't be happy until she's ranked number 1, and we don't doubt her for a second. 

In this episode, we talk to Sabrina and Avery about their goals to be the top ultra runners in the world. The couple recalls the horrific car crash that left Avery unable to race for six months, his painful rehab and struggle with the possibility that he might never run again. Sabrina shares her mental approach to the sport and striving to be the best and the ultra running community frowning upon runners who outwardly express a desire to win every time they step foot on a trail. 

And finally, we talk about weed. I mean, there's a reason Avery's Instagram handle is @runninghigh. Avery shares his thoughts on cannabis and its use for running, training, and recovery.  

Alex Jade is a classic example of what happens when you judge a book by its cover. A quick scroll through her popular Instagram feed - @bikinifitclub - and it’s easy to make the assumption that the Newport Beach, California native is just another attractive millennial living in - and working out in - the California sunshine. 

While it’s true that Alex is a SoCal beach babe at heart - she’ll even admit it - she’s more than just another pretty face on social media. Alex grew up participating in endurance sports; swimming and running. She lettered in track, cross-country, and swimming in high school and participated in several triathlons.  In her Junior year of high school, Alex won the Pacific Coast Triathlon. 

After a photo shoot for Seventeen magazine, she talked about her amazing experience with her dad. Bikini Fit Club was born. Alex wanted to create a California surfer girl brand centered on fitness, wellness, beauty, and female empowerment. 

Alex is now a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach and HIIT instructor. 

In this interview, Alex discusses her life growing up as a two-sport athlete, her willingness to try new things, finding inspiration and motivation in her DMs, being comfortable with your body, and getting comfortable with doing the uncomfortable. 

Justin True is just wired differently than the rest of us. 

He's an extreme athlete - though we think the term savage is much more appropriate - who feeds off people telling him he can't do something. 

Back in 2019, the Bend, Oregon, native set out to pull a truck strapped to his back for 26.2 miles - and that's not even the craziest part of his story. 

In this episode, Justin explains where he comes up with his insane feats of strength, determination, and will, his growing up in Oregon, all of the mistakes he made training for the truck pull, his diet, and fitness regimen, and the mental toughness necessary to even attempt these deranged tests of mettle.

Our guests on the show this week, we sit down with Wilkerson Given and James Perez, creators of Stoke Performance.  

During their collegiate running days at Furman University, Wilkerson and James noticed that just about every athlete they knew ate some form of peanut butter before training and races. 

Connecting this information with their knowledge that peanut butter inherently has inflammatory properties, the pair set out to make a nutritionally complete and effective pre-race fuel alternative to peanut butter during their post-collegiate running careers.

In this interview, Wilkerson and James discuss their time at Furman University and how a coaching change completely transformed the program in just one year. Both guys explain how changing the culture of the team affected not only the way they approached running but the way they lived their lives when they weren’t training or competing. 

This evolution in mindset led to the development of Stoke Performance. 

“People spend hundreds of dollars on running shoes that might give them a fraction of a second edge over the competition yet won’t take a second to think about the fuel they’re putting in their bodies,” explains James. 

When they’re not running a side business, both men still have full-time jobs and run competitively. Wilkerson is an Olympic hopeful and current member of the Atlanta Track Club while James won the 2018 Novant Health Charlotte Marathon in 2:31:37. 

James and Wilkerson talk to us about the product launch, juggling life, running, and career, where they see the product and company going and, perhaps most importantly, the proper way to say pecan. 

Our guest this week is a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and mom, Lindsey Bomgren. Lindsey is the creator of the popular workout website - Nourish Move Love. 

Lindsey started Nourish Move Love back in 2015. Her original idea was to sell 20 minute home workout DVDs - back when people bought DVDs - but quickly realized the evolution of working out at home was moving online. It didn’t take long for Lindsey to form a following online, and now close to 140K people follow her daily routines just on Instagram. 

The idea behind Lindsey’s workout videos is simple and written in bold type on her website - She doesn’t create videos to give people six-pack abs or a nice butt. She films workout videos because she knows exercise makes people a better spouse, parent, friend, and human. 

We wanted Lindsey as a guest because many of her videos focus on mobility and stretching, two areas many runners don’t pay enough attention to, especially before and after runs and on off days. 

Lindsey talks about the importance of mobility, using a foam roller or ball, and taking a few extra minutes every day to focus on these areas. 

She also preaches about strengthening and stretching the lower back, especially for women returning to running after having a baby. 

Lindsey also discusses the time she ran a marathon through the hills of Haiti with only ten miles of training prior to the event, being comfortable with your body type, how home gyms are the new speakeasy, and giving up a lucrative career to chase her dream of being a fitness entrepreneur.