RunChats with @RonRunsNYC Ron Romano

Kate's remarkable journey is powerful and inspiring.

Kate was bullied as a child and battled crippling anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts. While in college, in an unhealthy relationship, she was searching for an outlet and had been running 3 miles a few days per week. She decided to run 11 miles—to try to literally run away from her troubles—and was flooded with emotions when she finished.

From that moment everything changed.

12 miles the next day. 27 miles a couple of days later.

She searched for an Ultra in the spring and her unhealthy boyfriend at the time said it was too soon—she'd get injured or never finish.

This was the first of many times Kate would use a challenge as fuel to her fire and she moved the timeline up—signing up for the McNaughton 50M race. She showed up in cotton clothes and sneakers from TJ Maxx, met her future husband, Mike, on the course (he gave her lifesavers on her 3rd loop), and went on to finish 2nd that day—in her very 1st race!

Kate's as old-school as they come. Paper logs over Strava. Lives for the grind. The tougher the course and weather, the better—as was the case at the 2018 JFK 50M, where the AT was covered in snow and footing was a serious challenge. She came from over 20 minutes down and rallied to take the win!

Kate takes greater pride in grinding out a crazy tough workout on the treadmill with no fan than she does from breaking the tape. Even the amazing JFK50 Silver Cup she received for winning the 2018 race can be found in a closet.

Kate homeschools their three beautiful children and makes many sacrifices to ensure family always comes first.

When one of their best friends, Oz Pearlman, broke the FKT record for running 116M in Central Park (and fundraised over 100K for children in Ukraine!), she encouraged me to have Oz on RunChats to help spread the word because she knows how much impact community events like this can have.

Mike was out there running all day and night and Kate—only 4 weeks removed from delivering Goldie—ran 19M with Oz at 7:30 pace, because she would do anything for a friend.

This is a transformative journey of overcoming demons, fear, and anxiety—from feeling weak and powerless, to becoming strong, powerful, and a force of nature.

I'm deeply grateful to Kate for opening up and sharing her journey on RunChats to help others and I'm so proud and beyond excited to read her upcoming novel!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Kate:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katepallardy/



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnyc/

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnyc/

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com

Social: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai/



© 2022 Ron Romano

Meet Dani Moreno, 3rd place woman at UTMB OCC, the FIRST American to make the podium! Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (OCC-Orsières-Champex-Chamonix) is a 55km race with 3500M+ of climbing and is one of seven races featured in the event that takes place annually at Chamonix in France.

Dani found herself in 20th place in the first half as she began the climb up Champex & moved into 15th place when she crested the top. Despite being so far back at this point, Dani never lost faith, kept grinding, and battled her way all the way to the podium!



"It's one thing to have the race plan, but to actually be on the starting line and trust the plan. The plan was to build confidence throughout the race because I race more ferociously and fierce when I’m building confidence."



Dani's inspiring story is one of patience, self-belief, trusting the process, and having huge gratitude for family, friends, and sponsors who love and support her journey.

It began 5 years ago when she met and formed a powerful partnership with her coach, Terry Howell, who believed in her from their 1st meeting.

I'm so excited to continue following Dani's ascent in the world of Ultra running!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Dani:

Instagram: @dan_yell_a

All other links: https://linktr.ee/danimoreno



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com

Social: @_margittai



© 2022 Ron Romano

Meet Claudia Becque Johnston, radiation oncology nurse by day, and one of a handful of women to qualify and complete three (2008/2012/2016) Olympic Trials Marathons! Claudia also qualified and repped the USA in the 2016 50K World Championships.

It takes a serious commitment to your craft to compete at this level, many times having to run at 4:30AM before seeing patients. Whenever a workout didn't go as well as planned, the positive attitude and determination of her cancer patients would immediately help provide much needed perspective.

We took a deep dive into her favorite races and she shared some wonderful and inspiring stories. A journey of learning self-belief from her key coaches, Tom McGlynn, Brad Hudson, and a fellow OTQ runner and friend, Dana Coons Thiele, who encouraged her that she too could make that dream come true.

The journey from imposter syndrome to 'I belong.'

The epic chase to nail a sub-2:40!

Her husband, key teammates, athletes that inspire her, and therapists that have supported her on this amazing ride.

Claudia suffered a triple femur break in June 2021 and is working hard to get back.

I'm so inspired by her amazing journey and looking forward to watching her #stayinthefight and grind her way back!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Claudia:

Instagram: @clauds712



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com

Social: @_margittai



© 2022 Ron Romano

I'm honored to introduce four-time Australian Olympian, Lisa Weightman, to the RunChats pod!

Professional runner for Asics Running, associate partner at IBM where she oversees a team of 236 consultants, and mom to 7-year-old Pete, Lisa could write a book on how she juggles it all, but is quick to credit her incredibly supportive family, running community & colleagues at IBM.

Her running journey is truly inspiring and nothing short of remarkable. Time and time again, Lisa was told she wasn't good enough or couldn't do something and has used that to fuel her enormous competitive fire! Lisa has a personal best of 2:25:15 in the marathon, 1:08:43 in the half marathon, 31:20 in the 10k, and was a bronze medalist in the 2008 World CrossCountry Championships. Lisa recently placed 2nd at the Gold Coast Marathon in early July, running 2:25:55 at age 43! Can you say #fasterasamaster??

Lisa grew up in an athletic family and enjoyed netball as a kid until one too many crashes with the concrete caused her to shift her focus to running. In her teens, Lisa would run sessions with her dad's Aussie footy team, the Fitzroy Lions, so he could keep an eye on her. No doubt trying to keep up or outrun Dad's athletes helped forge her competitive fire. It was also a full-circle moment, as she used to sneak into the locker room with her sister to try and listen to the halftime speeches from her dad who coached the Fitzroy Lions in Australian rules football.

Topics: managing her training, her IBM team, and family during the pandemic; youth sports, netball, finding running; trying to stay healthy, finding orthotics, persisting through stress fractures; meaningful race moments—Gold Coast, 8th place at NYC, 5th at London Marathon, 2022 Sydney 10K 31:20 (the fastest time ever run in Australia), World Cross Country team medal in Edinburgh; athletes who inspired—Lisa Ondiecki, Benita Willis; mindset, her darkest hole; impactful coaches—Jeff Hawkins (junior coach), Pam Turney (coach in her 20s), Dr. Richard Telford (her mentor since 2000 and coach from 2009, who coached Lisa’'s dad in Australian Rules Football; community service—being an ambassador for Running Mums Australia and for a sustainability company called ZeroCo.

I'm stoked to meet Lisa and Lachlan at the Berlin Marathon and am rooting hard for her to chase down a new PR! It was truly a privilege to host this convo and share Lisa's incredibly INSPIRING journey!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Lisa:

Instagram: @lisaweightman



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com



© 2022 Ron Romano

Emily Durgin has always been driven, set big goals, and dreamed of earning a scholarship to run in college while in middle school. Her love affair with distance running was forged in the 4th grade when she won a 1500M race and she can still remember that amazing feeling today. How it inspires her to run from the front today as a professional runner for Adidas Running.

Emily has a bunch of 2nd place finishes and is fearlessly chasing her 1st big victory. She ran a 67:54 at Houston this winter—the 6th fastest Half Marathon for American women—and is excited to be building for her NYC Marathon debut in November.

Topics: coaches who've had an impact—Andrea Grove, Amy Begley, JJ Clark, Terrence Mahon—her collegiate running experience, working with Mark Coogan and the New Balance Boston team, transitioning to a professional runner, key race highlights, meaningful moments that shaped her, where her drive comes from, community service—running to inspire aspiring pro's—speaking to high school/college runners to help them navigate the landscape.

We also discuss the unique approach Emily and Terrence are taking with her build for the NYC Marathon.



I'm so excited to follow Emily's inspiring journey and am rooting for her to rock it in November!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Emily:

Instagram: @em_durgin



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com

Social: @_margittai



© 2022 Ron Romano

Eoin Everard is a long-time listener of RunChats, who hails from Kilkenny, Ireland, and reached out to collaborate on this episode. I'm so stoked to share his inspiring running journey and lessons learned as a sub-4 minute miler, sub-14 5K, sub-30 10K, and 5X Irish National Champion. Eoin (pronounced Owen) is currently the 3K European Indoor Masters Champion and in his professional life is a chartered physio, who holds a PhD in Biomechanics.

Part One: We discuss his amazing running journey. His sporty, competitive, turbo-fast family. With an older brother who ran for the National cross-country team, Eoin shared a funny story how he regularly razzed him about it. His sister ran the 800m in the Rio Olympics—can you say FAST FAMILY?! How he took a year off to fully dedicate himself to being his best, chasing an Olympic dream, worked on his mindset, and in his words, "ran like a donkey." He then had an epiphany that nobody gives a sh*t what times he was running. If he was happy, his family and closest friends were happy. He went on to become a 5X Irish National Champ after letting go of that self-imposed pressure.

Part Two: Eoin has spent his life focused on how runners move and how to try and help them to move better, get stronger, and faster through his Pilates practice. We discuss muscle activation, running mechanics, injury prevention, carbon shoes, and varying training intensities. We took a deeper dive on how trying to improve one's running stride can be a cautionary tale and lead to injuries and on keys to avoiding injury long-term.

I hope you will be inspired by Eoin's running journey, lessons learned and shared, and enjoy his proper Irish accent as much as my mom (née McCabe)!



If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.



Connect With Eoin:

Eoin's Book 'Get To the Line in the Best Shape Possible': https://everardpilates.com/book

Get a free trial of Sports Pilates: https://everardpilates.com/sportfreetrial

Instagram: @everardpilatesphysio



YouTube Clips From Our Episode: 

Why trying to improve your running stride can cause injury: https://youtu.be/ZK5FW_z2Zlc

Keys to avoiding injury long-term: https://youtu.be/KDErC4YTLeE



Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com



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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media

Website: https://www.inpostmedia.com

Email: david@inpostmedia.com

Social: @_margittai



© 2022 Ron Romano