37 episodes

Human Race is a podcast from Runner's World. Hosted by Rachel Swaby, Human Race focuses on long-form storytelling. It brings the depth and reporting you’ve come to expect from ambitious features in the magazine—but with the intimate and immersive aspects only audio can provide. Each week, we share a story about runners and the world of running.

Human Race Runner's World / Panoply

    • Sports
    • 4.8 • 247 Ratings

Human Race is a podcast from Runner's World. Hosted by Rachel Swaby, Human Race focuses on long-form storytelling. It brings the depth and reporting you’ve come to expect from ambitious features in the magazine—but with the intimate and immersive aspects only audio can provide. Each week, we share a story about runners and the world of running.

    Episode 29: See You on the Road

    Episode 29: See You on the Road

    For Human Race's final episode, we share several of your stories.
    This episode of Human Race is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.
    Credits:
    Host: Rachel Swaby
    Producers: Rachel Swaby, Brian Dalek, Christine Fennessy
    Theme music: Danny Cocke
    Human Race is a proud part of Panoply
    Special thanks to:
    David Willey, Christine Fennessy, Brian Dalek, Sylvia Ryerson, Audrey Quinn, Mervyn Deganos, David Weinberg, Danielle Thomsen, Kit Fox, Casey Martin, Willow Belden, Tennessee Watson, Scott Carrier, Karen Given, and Cindy Kuzma. 
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 53 min
    Episode 28: Crash & Return

    Episode 28: Crash & Return

    In his 20s, after running cross country in high school and college, Tim Manzer swore off running completely. Then, in his early 40s, his doctor told him that running would not be a part of his future. “I wasn’t running anyway!” Tim laughed.
    In 2010, Tim was trimming some apple trees in a little orchard right next to his front yard, when he backed up into a wasp’s nest. “They're after me. I'm zigzagging across my yard and over in the neighbor's yard.” After 10 or so stings, Tim finally loses them. As he recovers on his front porch, he thinks to himself, “You can run. You just need the right motivation, but you can run!”
    Tim’s is an unbelievable tale: it has a summer camp, a motorcycle club, poop, and wasps, of course. Oh, and love.
    This episode of Human Race is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.

    Episode Credits:
    Host & producer: Rachel Swaby
    Editing help: Brian Dalek
    Theme Music: Danny Cocke
    Human Race is a proud part of Panoply. 
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 32 min
    Episode 27: From The Rubble

    Episode 27: From The Rubble

    ​When Amy Downs thinks about her life, it splits into two distinct sections: before the bombing and after the bombing.
    Before the bombing, Amy’s life had fallen into a predictable pattern. She went to work, came home, ate dinner, watched TV and went to bed. After she moved away from her hometown and gotten married a few years earlier, she’d gained weight quickly—100 pounds in one year. “And I was too embarrassed to come home,” says Downs. “This was before cell phones and email and all of that.” Relationships with her friends and family suffered.
    But then, one spring day, when Amy was 28, a tragedy ripped Amy’s life in half. She vowed to change her life completely.
    This episode of Human Race is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.

    Credits:
    Host and Producer: Rachel Swaby
    Editing help: Christine Fennessy, Brian Dalek
    Theme Music: Danny Cocke
    Human Race is proud part of Panoply
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 37 min
    Episode 26: Pacers

    Episode 26: Pacers

    In 2011, at the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, Noe Castanon Mendez was a pacer in need of a runner. Thomas Wong was a runner in need of a pacer. They were strangers when they met and decided to pair up with more than 30 miles still to go.

    But the meeting got off to a tense start. Thomas was in pain and exhausted, close to the cut off time, and uncertain he could finish on his own. Noe, on the other hand, still had fresh legs. He was cheering on runners with a cowbell and excited about the prospect of hopping onto the course. They weren't on the same page, and it wasn’t clear that they’d get there.
    This is the story of a self-professed odd couple. It’s the story of what happens in the dark of night, through pain and doubt, when a runner is at their worst. And the unique relationship formed in extremely challenging circumstances.
    Episode credits:

    Host & producer: Rachel Swaby
    Editing help: Christine Fennessy, Brian Dalek, Kit Fox
    Theme music: Danny Cocke
    Human Race is a proud part of Panoply
    This episode of Human Race is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 45 min
    New episode coming next week

    New episode coming next week

    I'm taking this week off. But you'll get a new episode of Human Race next Tuesday (8/8). In the mean time, I want to hear from you. Email me stories about why you started running and you could be included in a future episode. You can email me at RWaudio@rodale.com.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 43 sec
    Episode 25: Rosco's Runners

    Episode 25: Rosco's Runners

    Earlier this year, Human Race asked listeners to send in stories about their run clubs. We got inspiring, motivating, and touching stories from all over the country—exactly what we were hoping for.
    But then we got a story so unexpected, so charming, so zany, that we couldn’t possibly pass it up. This week, Human Race goes to Colorado Springs to run with donkeys. That’s right. Donkeys. 
    And what we found there wasn’t just a novelty club. When “you teach someone else not only how to [run with donkeys] but why to do it,” says Shaw, “That forms a more unique bond between people.” Rosco’s Runners is a club that’s had a powerful effect on the local community—as well as the people who run it.
    Rosco’s Runners Videos:
    Rosco's Th@nksgiving
    Rosco likes Human Race
    Episode Credits:

    Host & producer: Rachel Swaby

    Editing help: Sylvia Ryerson and Brian Dalek

    Special thanks to Kevin Shaw, Suzanne Shaw, and Tony White.

    Thanks to Sam White for donkey running recording help.

    Theme music: Danny Cocke

    Human Race is a proud part of Panoply

    This episode of Human Race is brought to you by Brooks. Sign up for the Brooks Big Endorsement and become a sponsored athlete at www.BrooksAthlete.com/rw.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 48 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
247 Ratings

247 Ratings

DorthyBird ,

PLEASE MAKE MORE EPISODES!!!!!!!!!!!

I love love love this podcast please bring it back!!!! I don’t want it to end!!!

MMR fan ,

I Want More!

This is a great series. Very inspiring. I just wish there were more episodes!

Theslimrunner ,

Great podcast. Hope not gone forever

I really enjoyed this podcast. Lots of great, heartwarming stories that brought us into the lives and runs of ordinary people. I hope it can make a comeback.

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