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Runners of the Corn
Runners of the Corn
The Gristmill Grind and Beyond: Conversations with Ultra Runner Dan Stumpenhorst
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Join us as we chat with Dan Stumpenhorst, an ultra runner passionate about nature, farming, and trail running. Listen in as Dan shares his journey into ultra running, how he was introduced to trail running by the Coyote Group, and how this led to creating the Gristmill Grind Race in September.
We discuss the incredible impact that the running community has had on Dan and his wife, Sandy. From the camaraderie of the Yeti group to the Frozen Toe Challenge and the 10-mile Fat Ass event on Thanksgiving day, we delve into the importance of consistency and motivation for running. Don't miss this inspiring conversation with Dan Stumpenhorst, and get ready to feel motivated to lace up your running shoes and hit the trails!
Be sure to follow us at facebook.com/RunnersOfTheCorn or instagram.com/runnersofthecorn
Ultra Running and Upcoming Races
Speaker 1All right, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2Hi Dan.
Speaker 1Hello, we have Dan Stumpenhorst with us and my co-host is here today.
Speaker 2I finally made it again.
Speaker 1Yes, this time. So we still have no updates, because I just recorded last week and there hasn't been anything.
Speaker 2No, not really.
Speaker 1No, it's quiet, But it's what's coming up? We have Kettle coming up this weekend.
Speaker 2Kettlebrain 100. That's coming up. We got a couple of our runners doing that.
Speaker 1Yes, doing the hundred.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1We have somebody doing their first time, hundred.
Speaker 2Yep. So good luck to Willie Mangram When he hears this. it'll be done in after, but we wish him good luck. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1Yep, this will be out after afterwards, but like right after.
Speaker 2No, no, because it's this weekend.
Speaker 1Yeah, this will be out in two weeks.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 1Today So.
Speaker 2So it'll be a week and a half after.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2And then after that, we've got.
Speaker 1I don't want to talk about it.
Speaker 2Shoots a nine. Yeah Well, three of us will be, at that one Yeah we will.
Speaker 4All three of us will be there, yes.
Speaker 1You guys are talking about. Oh, it's just a training run for me and I'm going for fun And I'm over here biting my nails off down to the knobs. Good, It's not for me.
Speaker 4It's just the ambiance. I go for the ambiance.
Speaker 2There you go, i'm just getting my spanker. I'm going to go wave it around.
Speaker 1I'm going to hit you with mine upside the head And I get it.
Speaker 2Hey, if you weren't, you deserve it, i deserve it.
Speaker 1Excuse you when I earn it, not if when That's right, yeah, there you go. Yeah, i'm going to eat a steak on mine.
Speaker 2There you go, i'm going to eat steak on it.
Speaker 4You're not going to cut the steak out of it, though.
Speaker 1I don't know. I'm going to hit Scott with it a couple of times.
Speaker 4There you go. It's a good equalizer, yeah.
Speaker 1I'm just so excited I'm going to yeah, that thing is going everywhere with me.
Speaker 4Next year's kayak trip. You'll be paddling it with it.
Speaker 1I'm going to put on the chain where it I don't know, It's pretty big. Okay, That's what she said. Okay, All right. So one note I want to say about the podcast is we need reviews. I've never asked for it, We need them. So if you could like leave a little review a star, I think, on Spotify and review on Apple, and I don't think I don't know if Google does reviews but if you could leave review, that'd be great. That helps us get seen. I saw reviews. I just looked at the Apple ones and I saw one from Jason Zimmerman. He said I appreciate the coverage of the Illinois Trail and Ultra scene. So thank you, Jason, for leaving that. If I see some more that are nice, I'll read them, And if they're not nice but make me laugh, I might read those too. Let's try. So we appreciate feedback.
Speaker 1Another thing I did say is honest feedback honest feedback, even um, like, i'll put a post on Facebook and people just like it and I'm like I has to question and you guys just like. So come on, we appreciate feedback. What do you want from us? So?
Speaker 4yeah, be careful with that, Yeah, that could be a who knows where they could go, right, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1I have had some interesting things go into the inbox a few times and I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't want that. We're going to jump into stuff, which is always. The first question Always is how did you get into running, specifically Ultra running?
Speaker 4Well, ultra running obviously was a progressive, a progression right, so it started trying to run a mile around the well, basically a mile around the block where I lived. So I worked on that first and, um, i was training at work. We had a really nice setup there where I could go to the gym in the morning when I would be in the office and one of my friends there that would be with the workout group. He was an ultra runner and, uh, he kind of pressed me along on various things over time. I think it was 2013. I signed up for a half marathon every month. So I did that for the whole year And then he said I think it's time you did a marathon. This half marathon stuff isn't enough, so we need to do a marathon.
Speaker 4So then I, he forced me, or didn't force me, but he kind of pushed me. Well, as friends, do they? yeah, Yeah, Yeah Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, they feed you the Kool-Aid and say, yeah, you can definitely do that and everything And uh.
Speaker 4So that kind of pushed me. And then I started signing up for these races in Florida when we would go down there in the winter. Uh called the Gasparilla series It's in Tampa and uh, that was a series of four races in two days. So you ran two day, two races each day. It was like a five K and a K, a half marathon, and then I think it was a 15 K, so it was like a short and a long each day. So when I said, oh, i can kind of put a lot of miles in.
Speaker 4So, hanging with the coyote group who's the group that first introduced me basically to running with the trails, are running on trails Um, they were totally training for alt trust. They were in the 50 K rank and doing 50 milers and 100 milers, um, so I hung with those guys for a few years and then, um, they had a fat ass race for a 50 K And I did it and I did fairly well on it and that was kind of the start. So that's how I got pushed, is the coyote group kind of pushed me. And then in the meantime, uh, the Yeti group was starting to gain, um, momentum And then I started to hang around with Keith and and those guys. So because they started in 2013.
Speaker 1Yeah, That was around the time frame.
Speaker 4Yep, So how did you? Yeah, actually we just had this in this last podcast.
Speaker 1It was June 1st of 2013. Well, Michelle would know right? Yeah, She was one of the original.
Speaker 4It was the first time. Right, she was one of the original folks.
Speaker 1It was Keith's birthday that they decided to Yeah. So well, how did you find the coyotes though? So there's another running group who is located kind of out of the Rockford Illinois area, right.
Speaker 4Right, they're, they're home bases, pretty much Rockcutt State Park, so they run there. Um, how I learned about those folks. So I always ran by myself up until 2011. And then I was like God, you know, i need to run with some people I don't have anybody to run with. So they started searching online, and of course, that was about the start of Facebook and stuff too. You know all that stuff was coming online.
Speaker 4And then I searched out a group and I found a group in DeKalb. I thought, well, they're fairly close, okay, cause at the time the Yetis weren't really here. So then I started running in DeKalb with the squirrels, the Nitro group, okay, that's the Northern Illinois Trail Runners group, and they sponsored a few races that they had and they were, they were actually a 501C and all of that stuff, So they were doing like fundraising and all kinds of things. But their big trail was the great Western trail, which is a flat, 1% grade limestone, crushed limestone trail. So exciting. It was like running on a treadmill. But it did improve my running immensely because they would run an eight mile. So they'd run out four and back and they would cram it good. So then you know we were working hard. That was probably for me. It was great because I was like in the eight minute mile range at that point, You know so it was a good pace and I was doing pretty well then.
Speaker 4Okay, so they. But then there was a small subgroup in that group made up of, like, brian Drendle he might know Yep, okay, so Brian was a member of that group. Another guy, mark Schmers you know Tony favor, maybe you don't, of course Jim Risco. Jim was there. So we all were running in that group and we all tended to migrate. Then, on the weekends, we started going to Rockcut and meeting up at the coyotes. They met every Saturday morning at the lion's shelter at seven o'clock in the morning And then they ran the eight mile coyote loop every Saturday. So then we started doing that and that's kind of how we evolved from pretty much a road runner before that to a trail runner right around the 2011 timeframe. Nice, So I started running in like 2005.
Speaker 1So you've been running a while.
Speaker 4Yeah. For quite a while actually, And but those first six years was pretty much roads.
Speaker 2Yeah, by yourself pretty much too.
Speaker 4Pretty much by myself. We moved, we were living in the country when we I first started with all treadmill in the basement In the morning, three miles on a treadmill every day, you know, not every day but three times a week or some crazy thing, trying to be at a six mile an hour pace, you know. And doing all that and just just grinding it out, and then I would go to the gym at work and I'd get on a stupid. I did 10 miles on a treadmill one time I may thought I was going to kill myself.
Speaker 2Luckily there was a.
Speaker 3TV in front of me and I watched a whole movie Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4But I remember that and, yeah, that was crazy stuff. I used to do like that.
Speaker 1So, but what made you decide? I'm going to start running, though What?
Speaker 4Oh well, you know you go through life and things happen. Things maybe don't go exactly well the way you want and you know there's always stress or there's not stress and there's all that, and it was a way for me to deal with stressful things that might be occurring When you're raising four teenagers there's stress.
Speaker 1Yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 4When you're raising a teenage daughter, that can be stressful.
Speaker 1I started running when my girls were teenagers.
Speaker 4Yes, Yeah, so it's not uncommon? I don't think.
Speaker 1No For people to do that.
Speaker 4It was a way to get out a little bit, spend an hour kind of straighten your head out, think about how you might respond or deal with some issue, and so it was a good way to deal with the stress. So that's what started me, plus the fact that I was gaining weight. I mean I have an IT job, so I'm sitting at a desk, i'm at a, and I've been doing that job for 40 years, so you know I've a lot of desk sitting but I needed to do something. So that's the other thing that forced me into doing something. And I really wasn't like a weightlifter or anything. I never really cared for that too much. Look at me. No, upper body at all.
Speaker 4Spaghetti arms. You know spaghetti arms. You know nothing really, so anyways, so that's how I got going, oh okay, okay, kind of a late bloomer, though.
Speaker 2Yeah, i was mid-40s.
Speaker 4Yeah, i didn't start running until I was pretty much 45 years old. Okay, i think that's about it. So I've been running 21 years And the last two years I really haven't been running, And you guys know that I'm more of a fast walker. Right.
Speaker 2I've got a lot going. Yeah, still moving.
Speaker 4That's exactly my point. You know, it's like you get to a certain point and you're like okay, I could really kill myself or I could just keep moving and doing things, And I have a lot of other adventures that I still want to do, mm-hmm. So I love running and I wish I could still knock out 7-hour 50K, you know or whatever, mm-hmm. But I don't think I can do that so much anymore. It's more like 10 hours.
Speaker 2Well, you've put a lot on your plate at home too. Yeah, I have a lot going on.
Speaker 4I have ultra gardening Mm-hmm Yeah.
Speaker 1I actually have questions about Yeah, okay. Yeah, i mean, yeah, it's pretty much the.
Speaker 4It's pretty much the I pretty much have three jobs. I have a full-time job, then I have a lawn maintenance job and then I have the CSA gardening.
Speaker 1Oh, and you have a family.
Speaker 4And I have a family. I have 10 grandchildren. Yeah, that's a lot And you know every night is like you could be somewhere, so there's very little time for So, leading up to this, my question is how do you manage to balance your full-time work, farming and running?
Speaker 1Any tips for individuals struggling to find time for their passion? Well, juggling multiple responsibilities, because you've done it, you've done it, you've multiple.
Speaker 4Yeah, the only way that it works for me is if, when it comes to running or exercise personally, I have to do it first thing in the morning, before anything else gets in the way, Because as soon as something else gets in the way, I have a tendency to go. I gotta get that done.
Speaker 4I really need to get that done, and so I kind of put that as the secondary. So I need to in order for me to be successful. I have to put it primary. So we're gonna go to Colorado in August. I'm going with my son and my grandson actually two grandsons and we're gonna climb Greys and Tories. So, that's a 14, twin 14. So we're playing and doing that, And so I'm on the treadmill in the morning at a 10% grade hiking, And for 30 minutes every morning I'm trying to get that done And then, I'm trying to do like squats and pushups and a few things.
Speaker 4I've had some stuff respiratory wise the last couple of years. I don't know if COVID did something to all of us. I have no idea. I never was ever tested positive for COVID through that whole period. I'm sure I had it, but I've suffered some things that I've now got to deal with. Plus, our dog is giving me allergy issues. Oh no. Well, we never had a dog in the house our whole life. And now we got Rudy and he's like. You know, there's tumbleweeds. Every time you open the garage door It's like it's rolling down the hall And you're like holy crap.
Speaker 4No wonder I'm sneezing congested and everything. So I think I got a handle on it all. Now I'm feeling better, So feeling good.
Speaker 2Yep, just prioritizing it then.
Speaker 4Yeah, i mean, i love running and I love the running community and the group. Some of my best friends are from that group And so I really enjoy it. I really still want to be around it, but I just have to take a little bit of a more low key approach to it. You know, at this point. So everyone will get there eventually. Some of us get there at different times, but you'll get to a point where you'll just say, yeah, i want to go there and hang out, and then I want to do something, and then you'll just do it. Yeah, i think about my dad at this age. No way.
Speaker 1So you're doing better than. That's an accomplishment.
Speaker 4My dad was a pretty healthy specimen for most of his life, but then the last part of his life was not so healthy. So, but it was a different time too.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, i think we know more now like we need to keep moving. We need to just walking something Yeah this is important, so living on a farm and growing vegetables sounds like a fulfilling lifestyle. How has your connection with nature and farming influenced your running and overall well-being?
Speaker 4Okay, let me start by. I'll start by first saying that I grew up gardening. I grew up in a very small at the time of very small town, town of Warrenville, So that's by Naperville, And when I grew up there it was a population of about 1500. So pretty small. Everyone knew everybody. My mom's family, the roots of our family on my mom's side kind of start there, since they came to the country. My great grandfather was the first fire chief of Warrenville, So it's like that kind of connection.
Speaker 4But, anyways, my dad was a gardener. My dad was born on a farm and he always loved it, So he kind of always. I don't know if he pushed me, but it seemed like something I always enjoyed helping him with. So I started that way And I've kind of carried it forward through my life forever. And then probably early on when our kids were little and you didn't have any money, we did gardening to can and do all those things.
Speaker 4So I had that connection And then I just have kept it up and it was just a great hobby And I really enjoyed sharing it with people. So I used to bring in literally bushels of groceries to AT&T when I was working there. People would come and they would get them, you know. And then I started making pickles and everyone wanted to damn pickles, So that became a crazy thing.
Speaker 1Is that how you got your trail nickname?
Speaker 4That is how I got my trail nickname, so that was given to me by Carol Bingley from the Coyotes.
Speaker 4Because you were bringing so many pickles. I would bring pickles to the runs. I would bring fresh pickles to the runs, and then the whole CSA thing came out. Of God you know, people would say to me you should just sell these things. What is wrong with you? So then the one year I started it, it was basically seven people from Rockford I would deliver to. So I would go up there and run on Wednesday nights and bring them vegetables. They would do their pickup And then we'd do a run. They would do Wednesday night runs And we would do a run and I come home. So that's how the CSA started.
Speaker 1Okay, and what does that stand for?
Speaker 4Community supported agriculture.
Speaker 1Thank you.
Speaker 4Yes, So, and if you know what it is, it's basically a subscription. So I do for mine. I do 15 weeks. People subscribe for 15 weeks, They pay upfront and then they get a bag of vegetables every week for 15 weeks.
Speaker 1And they just get whatever's in, what's growing, whatever's in season.
Speaker 4Yes, So kind of evolves throughout the year. So it works out pretty good So, but I've always been a hands in the dirt guy.
Speaker 1So you would say that their connection with farming and ultra running kind of goes together Hands in the dirt, feet in the dirt.
Speaker 4Feet in the dirt. The other thing was nutrition. So I know you guys talk about nutrition a lot, but good food, clean food A lot of people talk about that And that's basically what I grow. And so for the running community that's how this started with the CSA was they wanted good, clean food, So I was giving them kale and all sorts of stuff, everything, And so that's how the connection between running and the growing and the CSA that all kind of came together as like one big thing supporting each other. That's pretty cool, yeah, neat Yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's been a great experience. I'm pretty. It's one thing people know me for is vegetables.
Speaker 1So I'm gonna jump away from the questions. I did read this, jesus, and when I say this, i'm holding up the morning run to a continuation of Run. Inspired Ramblings by Dan Stompman Horse. You wrote a book. It's published, you're published.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, okay, I didn't know that.
Speaker 4It's on Amazon.
Speaker 1Yep, oh, wow, and so, and here's what sad is, and here's the sad part is I read it We had something happen in our group and we had a loss and I lost my notes. So I mean, so I had some favorites and I'm like, I don't know, I'm gonna blame Scott because they were in the living room and I'm gonna say he threw them away. Okay, But I had yeah, I had my favorites all written down and I had it on top of this.
Speaker 1And it's not there. So I went and grabbed it and went where's my notes? So, but I had favorites picked out.
Speaker 4You did. Yeah, oh, that's nice.
Speaker 1I liked your face. Oh, that's nice. Thanks a lot, scott.
Speaker 4No no, i mean it's. I did it for one reason I did it. So here's how that evolved. See if I can find one of my favorites and read it. So when I would run, i used to run on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings from my house in Ashton And I did an eight mile run twice a week, tried to always do it under an hour. I was always like an hour, that was my deal, and it was on the road. The only hill was over the tollway and back. So it's like, yeah, whoa, out and back. So what I would do is on the runs you know how you do things to keep your mind off of the pain or whatever you're going on The mundane clatter of your feet, Oh yeah.
Speaker 4You know you do mind games right. You either do math, which I can do for a while, but then it falls apart But I would come up with phrases And I would repeat them constantly in my head. So I would put them all And literally as soon as I got back in the house I would have to jump on my computer Hopefully I didn't have to go to the bathroom And I would write it all down. Oh wow, and that's how I did the poems. So I would do two a week And I did them for like a long time. There's like 50 some of them.
Speaker 4So that's how that evolved. And then I said, ok, i'm going to die someday. Wouldn't it be nice if the grandkids could pull this out and laugh about it? So let me put them in a book. I'll put it on Amazon, and then they could get one if they ever wanted one. That's cool. So that's why I did it.
Speaker 1That was the whole reason. So here's one, the first mile, first mile. Wait can.
Speaker 4I read it.
Speaker 1Well, maybe because I don't have my glasses.
Speaker 2Oh boy.
Speaker 1First mile a bite as I deal with no light. A wind from the north chills straight to the core. A train in the distance signals the start. The sun peeking up, clouds scatter about. I glide through the run. The pace is my master, praying to God, can I be a bit faster? I finish the mile and head for the next. The sun now awake, i'm feeling quite blessed. I thank God again for letting me run And I pray once again there's more years to come. The morning run, i like that.
Speaker 4Thanks, jen, i do appreciate that.
Speaker 1I like it And it's how I think. a lot of us think that when we're on a run or we should pray once again, there's more years to come. I like it. So he's got a lot of these in here. He's wanted to take a glance at this.
Speaker 4Yeah, I put one together. Of course, I save them all. I put one together when Jim passed And I read that It just kind of came to me when I was sitting there thinking about them and I was like geez, i need to capture this. So I wrote it down and kept it.
Speaker 1Well, I didn't know your traveling with pickles until I read your book.
Speaker 4Yes.
Speaker 1I was like pickles His name's Pickles. I can't unsee this.
Speaker 4Yeah, there's a. I don't know if there's a pitcher in there. There's a pitcher of Carol.
Speaker 1I think there's a pitcher with you and the pickles Yes.
Speaker 4Yes, I know there's one from the literacy where I have the pickles and I'm holding them out like this.
Speaker 1What a great thing to bring to a run Pickles and sodium.
Speaker 4Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1Nature's salt pill. Yep, exactly, so I'd like to hear something about your hiking experiences. You've done some epic hiking experiences, and so are you able to incorporate your hiking experiences into your training for running.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's more like my yes. Yes, i would say that like that's what I'm doing now. Right, i'm trying to.
Speaker 1Or train. Put your running into to get ready for your hike.
Speaker 4Running for hiking is more the way it's going now. Okay, and plus, i think, with my wife Sandy. You know, with Sandy starting to walk more over the last couple of years now, she's really appreciative that I'm walking with her, so that's important because that motivates her and she really appreciates that I'm with her. So that's a big thing too, and I like doing that and seeing her be able to do that too, and it's good that we can walk together.
Speaker 1We're also proud of her. She has been doing so awesome.
Speaker 4Literally. Quite not that long ago we went on a trip to Chicago and she had to be in a wheelchair because her arthritis was so bad, oh my gosh. So for her to be doing the things she's doing now is so unbelievable And she's. I'm so happy for her. It's really a blessing that she's able to do that, because you know we want to do more trips and more things because we're of that retirement age. You know I don't know what I'm going to retire. I know I'm not going to retire for at least a few more years, but my job itself is not taxing, so why not keep doing it? It's the other stuff that's driving me nuts.
Speaker 1Well, you talk about like. So when we he's talking about like Oh yeah, i liked to grow vegetables, you know a garden, because my my, you know my family same, you know I came from a family, my grandfather was, was a farmer, and then my grandmother actually garden, and so my mother garden, and so it's just in my nature that that's what I do, because that's what we did, you know.
Speaker 1But, um, and then I did not quite a dance, i didn't pull a dance stumping horse, i didn't pull a pickles by expanding to your size. But you know, i'm like, hey, why not, let's not have 20, let's have 25 tomato plants this year? And then I wonder why I'm so exhausted, right?
Speaker 2now, oh yeah.
Speaker 1You know, i'm like Oh the you know. Oh, let's have a drought Cause um. my watering system is not ideal, so I'm hauling buckets.
Speaker 4Oh, no, yeah, yeah. So um I have a lot of hose. That's a very peculiar face, i was like. I won't.
Speaker 1So I, you, you went from like yeah, i like to garden, to I've seen a drone picture of your. Let me quote, unquote garden, that is not a garden, That is a bridge of gardening, like that's massive.
Speaker 4Yeah, my garden in town was 30 by 60.
Speaker 1And this that you have now is six plots, 30 by 100. How do you weed that?
Speaker 4Oh, with awesome equipment that I restore over the winter. That's my other hobby is I love to take old crap and make it useful again, and so I have several pieces of old crap that is very useful.
Speaker 2So old walk behind tractors, things like that yeah, yeah, i have some pretty cool stuff.
Speaker 1My steel little cultivator broke today. So it's in the garage and I told the husband I am not weeding that garden by hand, That needs to get fixed. So he's like all I got was shit Like.
Speaker 4I grow everything I've learned over the years, You know I'm pretty familiar with how stuff grows. So I'm like, okay, this has got to be a four foot space row So I can get my tiller or my equipment down that and I don't have to do much hand weeding. Now I will say, though, so last year I took off from doing the CSA. Alls I did was garlic.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4And I didn't even get to pickles because the cucumbers just it was a bad season for them last year.
Speaker 1It was a bad season for gardening last year.
Speaker 2For a lot of things, yeah.
Speaker 1We'll get rain is going to do the same.
Speaker 4Yeah, i know, i'm irrigating every day.
Speaker 1Well, farmers don't have that.
Speaker 4No, I know Guy next to me does Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, the thighs knows Yeah.
Speaker 4So, anyways, i took off last year because I didn't really want to do the CSA because, there's a certain level of stress with it. Yeah, like I'm always very stressed out And if you talk to Sandy she'll tell you Jesus, i used to worried. It works out every year. But I really freak out the first few weeks because I'm not sure what's going to be ready.
Speaker 1And I'm sure probably all your customers like it's fine, it's fine, it all works out in the end, i'm sure. Like you don't get any in this week, you'll get probably too much next week.
Speaker 4That's what kind of happens usually.
Speaker 1Yeah, the season I'm carrying like 25 pounds in each arm into the building, remember that one week I was kind of like it's kind of skimping here made up for it. So I mean.
Speaker 2Take it all at once.
Speaker 1If you know gardening at all as a customer, you would know that it's just going to all pan out.
Speaker 4Yeah, it does. Yeah, So, yeah, it's a lot of stuff. There's a lot of stuff there, And you know there's the saying, you know you go from zero to 11, you know there's the same Yep.
Speaker 2So yeah, this is 11.
Speaker 1You went to 100. Yeah, it's probably the best If there was a. you know you drink the Kool-Aid for Ultras. you did it for gardening.
Speaker 4Yes, yes, totally did.
Speaker 1So, going back to your hiking adventures, can you tell me about your most memorable hike? What's your biggest? like your most? like whoa, that was so cool.
Speaker 4So I've gone to Isle Royale several times.
Speaker 1Is that the one you just went with Keith last year?
Speaker 4Yeah, keith came with us last year, my son, Those stories were hilarious hearing Yeah. He, I think he had awesome time And there was a group of six or eight of us.
Speaker 1Preach it brother.
Speaker 4Reaching from the choir. My grandson says that all the time. That's cute. Preach it, brother. I'm sitting in the front row, yeah.
Speaker 1Preach it, brother. Don't worry, I'm sitting in the front row.
Speaker 4If there's one thing that Cole, my grandson, learned from Keith was that particular phrase. So but so I've been to Isle Royale started the very first year I went there.
Speaker 1And where is this located?
Speaker 4So it's in Lake Superior. It's kind of off the coast. It's considered Michigan but it's closer to the Minnesota side And it's. you can see Thunder Bay, canada, when you're on the island up on the high peak. So, you can see Thunder Bay. So it's way up there. It's roughly 60 miles long And I think it's 11 miles wide, something like that. It's the biggest island in the biggest lake, in the biggest freshwater lake in the world.
Speaker 1Go bang huh.
Speaker 4And when you're on the island. There's the biggest lake on the biggest island, on the biggest lake. I showed it to Keith. We recorded it. I told him the story. He's like man, that's just awesome. I can hear him saying it too Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, all the way. I had to slow him down Like Keith. Stop, look Right, Enjoy this. You don't know if you're gonna ever come back here.
Speaker 4We're not in a race, Keith, Yeah this is not a race and it wasn't, but anyways, that trip is memorable. but the most memorable trip was from a backpacking, hiking standpoint was we went to film at Scout Ranch when my boys were in Boy Scouts.
Speaker 2Where's that?
Speaker 4That is, in Simera, new Mexico. So it's the southernmost portion of the Rockies. Okay. Okay. so we went there and we trekked for 11 days. There was, i think we had, five or six boys went and then there was four adults, so it was like 11 of us, 10 of 11. And we were there for 11 days on the trail. We got replenished halfway through the trip And the biggest thing that we did there was we started. Base Camp was 8,000 feet. Oh, wow, and that's where we started.
Speaker 4So when you first get there, you get off the train. We took a train from Naperville to there. That was a nightmare.
Speaker 2From all the way in Naperville Illinois.
Speaker 4Naperville, illinois, to Simera, new Mexico on the. NAMM track Oh, wow, and of course it's With all your equipment. Yeah, the equipment gets thrown in the baggage and you're in a seat and you're gonna, and it's overnight. you leave late in the afternoon and you get there the next day about noon And it's full of Boy Scouts.
Speaker 2Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4And they're all wound up and God only knows what they've been eating, and it's like I bet that smells so good.
Speaker 1I'm just gonna say No one sleeps.
Speaker 4No one's. You can't get any sleep. They're running up and down the aisles. It's just ridiculous.
Speaker 1I'm gonna hard. No, i was like this sounds amazing.
Speaker 4No, But anyways, we got there and the biggest thing that we did there was we climbed Mount Baldy, which is 13,000 feet. Okay.
Speaker 4So we did that, oh nice, and my friend, mike, who was the scout master I was the assistant, mike had been there before with his older son and he's like, okay, guys, we're gonna the base camp. We were at 10,000 feet at this one camp and that's at the base of Mount Baldy And we were staying there and the next day we were gonna day hike Baldy. So we were gonna get up real early and head up. And he's like we have two ways. We can go the front, which is a lot of switchback, it's a lot longer hike, or we can go up the back. Now the back is a little bit different.
Speaker 4Yeah, there's hardly any switchbacks.
Speaker 2Right, so it goes straight up.
Speaker 4It was pretty much straight up And the other thing about it was it was all loose gravel rock about that big, you know, like four inch rock, just marbley kind of trying to walk. You take a step and you're slipping back, oh my goodness And it was just. The trail was basically just that was packed, loosely packed. So, anyways, we went up the. Thing.
Speaker 2I'm sure you guys took the back route. We took the back route.
Speaker 4Of course we did And we went up there, we made it up there And it was the most awesome is I got some pictures of my two sons and me up there And that's neat. It's. Some of the views were great And you can see the Rockies, like go into the north. You're pretty much at the end of it And it was really awesome trip, and then that was the day we were going to get a shower. So we'd already been on a trail for quite a while.
Speaker 1Pretty ripe, huh.
Speaker 4Six days. Yeah, everyone smelled pretty good And so we needed to get down and there's a place there It's a camp called Baldi town And you get you can get a dollar, you can get your dollar bills stamped for climbing. So it has Mount Baldi, 13,000 feet, And they stamp it on a dollar for you. So I have my dollar at home. I have the picture of all the crew. But we were rushing down and we went down the front.
Speaker 4So, we're just and I'm like 40 years old, 41 out of shape, And I did this And never felt really bad until we were coming down at about 11,000 feet, which is what Baldi town was at.
Speaker 1That downhill will get you.
Speaker 4I got the altitude sickness.
Speaker 4Oh, really, yeah, I started getting real nauseous and just feeling like this. I felt like 28 miles and a 50K where you're just like your body's depleting And if you weren't smart or didn't know about salt tabs or anything like that, like I never did in the beginning, my body, with just my stomach, would go sour And I would just I'd have to walk for quite a while to get things back in order, and that's the way it was. But we got there, we made it in time, we were able to get a shower, we used all the water And the crew that came down behind us couldn't get a shower.
Speaker 1Oh no, Got to be quicker than that, Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4yeah, We had a very competitive group of boys.
Speaker 2Yeah, oh yeah, that can make it a little bit fun.
Speaker 4Oh yeah, it was always fun. Mike and I got to the point where when we were hiking with these guys, we would just let them go. We'd say, you know where to go, you guys know, get there, get the best campsite. So that's how we always worked it When we went to Isle Royale, then the next time next year, which was the first time. that's exactly how we worked it.
Speaker 2Oh yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah, we would hike our pace and we'd let those 15 and 16-year-old boys they're carrying like 45 pounds and they don't even feel it And they're hiking like crazy We'd say go get the site, get the best one. And they would Nice Save us a good spot for our tent. That's the way to do it, so my running has led into my hiking, and my hiking has led into my running.
Speaker 4It's a relationship, Yeah it is, and I think it's more of a hiking one now than it was a running one. When I start to run now, things just really start to hurt bad. So I'm like, ok, dan, you're a little bit older, you need to just maybe just walk really fast.
Speaker 1But you're still moving. That's what's really.
Speaker 4So I know this is a runner's podcast, but it's a moving podcast. It's a moving podcast.
Speaker 2Right, there you go.
Speaker 4Well, I'm a senior member.
Speaker 2But you have running accomplishments though.
Speaker 4Yeah, I've done a lot of them.
Speaker 1Yeah, and we're going to lead into another question that's going to talk about running And that's I'm going to tell you congratulations. This is going to be your third year as race director for the Grismill Grind 10K, which is located in Franklin, well outside of Franklin Grove, illinois, at the Franklin Creek State Park. Can you tell us more about that race And what inspired you to take on that role? Why there? What?
Grismill Trail Race and Conservation Efforts
Speaker 4OK, so the Grismill Grind. First of all, the name comes from a friend of mine, Matt Kirby. He is a running friend from the Nitro Group. We talked off and on when we used to run together back in the day. He loves Franklin Creek. He said, yeah, we should have a run here. We should have a run here. We should do that, We should have a run here. He was big into coffee. We should call it the Grismo grind and then we should serve really good coffee at the end.
Speaker 1Hey, why isn't there been coffee? You're missing out yeah, so this year there net better should be some coffee. Now that it's on the podcast People are gonna expect it that's kind of where the the name and the idea. I know who to get it hold up. We can get special made coffee and they'll put the name logo on it.
Speaker 4Oh, there you go. That would be awesome.
Speaker 1Oh, i've got a person, all right, yes, on it. Yep. Okay, Yeah we're gonna get some grismo coffee. They offered to put make a coffee for Ranges the corn and I was like But this would be.
Speaker 4This is you know even as a name, that's really relatable.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, let's relate coffee.
Speaker 4Oh, there you go, mm-hmm Nice.
Speaker 4Yeah, okay, i'll reach out to him so, oh, that kind of got to thought. And then that was my training ground, franklin Creek, because I live about 10 minutes from there, mm-hmm, so I would run there a lot and over time I was going to rock cut, but then it started Time-wise I couldn't get there all the time. So then I started running at Franklin Creek more and I would say, when it got into about 2014 or so, that was mostly my place to run. And I ran into a guy who's on the board for Franklin Creek, who's also a runner, was also involved with the Reagan run right here in town, and He kept saying yeah, you should do a run, you should do a run. Everyone always says you should do a run, mm-hmm, do a run.
Speaker 4So then when I became a member of the board, it then became possible to kind of push that agenda and get it started and so, yeah, the grismill grind was born three years ago and And it's basically All the funds and everything goes to the Franklin Creek Conservation Association, which is considered a friends of the park group, so it's not DNR or whatever, but the money that we Take in gets used to do Education programs at the park, like for students and things like that It gets used for helping to fund the procurement of more land, because they keep trying to grow the park. We just added an additional 80 acres here this fall, so in fact we would like to get a trail established through there before it becomes DNR property, because when it becomes DNR property they won't do any infrastructure. So if we Design and develop a trail like a loop through that section at least, then we'll have a trail that we can then use for other things that We like to run out there and extend mileage.
Speaker 1You mean like potentially a bigger race someday.
Speaker 4Yeah, well, we did a 50k there, right.
Speaker 1Yeah, but that was a like a fat ass. It was a fat ass, but maybe official someday, like yeah, yeah, i think that place would be a terrible place to do a 50k and I say that with a smile like Terribly fun, terribly hard and challenging. I think it needs to happen.
Speaker 4Yes.
Speaker 1I will volunteer.
Speaker 4Well, that was the idea behind the f-series.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4So the f-series was. I didn't miss out on that, i know so upset that was an idea to see if people would be interested in doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1I mean you had a good turnout.
Speaker 4Yeah, there was. I still have 17 people in the running to get their plaques. They just gotta make it to the Grismill grind. You gotta make it to the Grismill grind and they'll get their f-series plaque. They're all made nice.
Speaker 2Yep, i better make sure I make it to that grind.
Speaker 4Yes, you better.
Speaker 1Oh, it'll be after Leadville, though, won't it? Oh yeah, I can walk you could walk it and get it. Yeah, you walk a race 21.
Speaker 4I'll. I'll start putting some posts up about that, so anyways, yeah, third year, grismill grind and I know, jen, you've been involved, you've been helping me on it and A lot of the trail runners have helped with trail clearing and stuff like that, and that's actually a big project on going right now because of all the wind damage that we suffered here in the spring.
Speaker 1Trees went down.
Speaker 4Yeah, there's a group right now of guys that are going out on Fridays and working with the DNR. They've got one section. They worked on this last week and there'll be there again this weekend. So very good.
Speaker 1One of the girls said well, we can go out, and I said oh no, i can't. I said that requires a large chainsaw. I can't do what they need.
Speaker 4I'm like, yeah, we need to get out there. I'm hoping I've been very busy that I haven't been able to get out there. But I need to get out there and have a couple days and get some more people to come out And we can have another chainsaw day and get through the section.
Speaker 1There's been a lot of tree death. I noticed in all the parks.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, it's so bad?
Speaker 1I don't know. I'm sure there's some kind of fungus a lot of them are ash trees. Yeah yeah, ashboards getting them. Yeah.
Speaker 2And they've been dead for a while.
Speaker 1And if I mean if you've been in Loudoun Miller, any of you know which is in our area by Oregon. It looks like pickup sticks in there. It's just the carnage you know from the windstorms.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's. It's sad, yeah, the section of Franklin Creek on the north end Where the pine tree forest is. Oh yeah that looks like pickup sticks up there. I think, it's all cleared now. The the equine folks went through there and cleared that all out in spring. So they've got that mostly cleared Yeah that's my favorite part.
Speaker 1It was my favorite part too, and it got just right. Yes, yes So.
Speaker 4I did put the Grislyle grind on an ultra sign up. I saw that. So before this we've been on webscorer, so anybody that there hasn't been a lot of people signed up yet. But I'm not too worried because it typically happens this way. Those people that have signed up already will just get migrated over the ultra sign-up side. They're pretty good support. The person I've been talking to there just said give me there, just export them and give it to me and I'll import it for you and get it all set up, oh nice.
Speaker 1You can put somebody in on ultra sign up.
Speaker 2Yeah it's very easy.
Speaker 4Yeah, cuz. I added somebody.
Speaker 1Because they had a free entry or something. Yeah, we'll just put your name and oh no, i sent them a free something. Yeah, it's really easy.
Speaker 4Yeah, we have. So I I moved there because it seems like Mostly trail people use ultra, sign up, no matter, and then reading their stuff, they're like you know, 60% of our runs aren't ultras, because I always figured they had to be an ultra to go there.
Speaker 2But they said no, it doesn't have to be, it's just known for that, really.
Speaker 4Yeah, but it's the go-to for any trail races. Yeah, for the most part. Yeah, that's what?
Speaker 1so it's there now and majority of us already have count there.
Speaker 4Yep right. So now you'll see your history there. If you do the grind, you'll see.
Speaker 1Being your stats now.
Speaker 2I'll say it'll show up in my stats.
Speaker 1Yes, Yes that'll make people want to or not want to, but I don't want that in my stat. Or do I want it in my?
Speaker 4stat Yeah well, as you know, it's a hard 10k. Yeah. so, even though it's just a 10k, it's a it's challenging. It's challenging, Yes it'll push you, it never ends. It never ends. The hills never end, they never Yeah. So I'm hoping we see some people that we haven't seen yet come out.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm. Well, you'll see me, i haven't done that race yet. No, you haven't have you know, I have not always had something else going on that day.
Speaker 4I think um Josh Sun said he was coming he sent me a message, Oh nice signed up yet, but he said he was interested.
Speaker 1So Hopefully he signs up and you tell him, if he gets good weather I'll pay his entry fee or something for nine. You make that weather workout for us at nine.
Speaker 2He is you're in. He's given us nine weather.
Speaker 1He's turning the volume up is what he's doing. He's like oh, I thought it's gonna be cool. Oh, wait, wait, It's gonna be 90. Whoa.
Speaker 2Oh, that is good. nine weather Yeah.
Speaker 1So I said, oh good, can't wait to run Satan's playground.
Speaker 4Yeah, i said 90 and humid. I remember the one year I did that it rained Like terrible rain.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm, oh my god, yeah, nathan was telling me about that.
Speaker 4I've done it several times But I've never got a spanker. No, i never. I'll tell you the first time I did it, so I was like doing pretty good torture, torture. I was a pretty decent runner at that time, and it was probably like 2015 or 16. It's like I could do this, but every time he came to the top of that hill there'd be all these yeti sitting there drinking big.
Speaker 4Yep, right in front of you and I come up and I'd be like you know what? I just think I want to drink beer. So I don't remember how many loose I did It was in the 20s somewhere and I just said I'm done with this.
Speaker 2That's, that's the hard part with that race.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's the mind game, yeah it's the.
Speaker 2There'll be some spectators sitting there.
Speaker 3Damn running group With their flip flops on. Yeah, we talked about.
Speaker 2Under the shade because it's nice and cool at the top too. Yes, the rest of the course? Yeah, the rest of the course is horrible, but where the start, finish is.
Speaker 1So we talk about get a good running group, because they'll help motivate you until Yeah. Until certain, oh, i think you even said for Pottawatomie. Oh yeah, When you're coming in for your loops and you're like I got to go back out and you're looking at your entire group in a big circle seeing kumbaya with cheers and like, yeah, cheers. And you're like, oh, yeah, go get your next loop. See you in about three hours.
Speaker 4Totally.
Speaker 2And you hear that beer crack and you're like and they're around the campfire laughing it up and I'm like, yeah, it's like, yeah, i'm like, yeah, it's like, yeah, it's like yeah, it's like, yeah, it's like, yeah, it's like yeah.
Speaker 1It's like yeah, it's like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, whatever. So, runners interested in this area, listeners who are in this area, if you want to come to to our little town, you, come on over, but if they're interested in participating in your 10 K trail race, Chris McGrein. what are some unique features or highlights of the course that they should look forward to, or anything other little tidbits My hand, thanks to you.
Speaker 2I can think of a good one off top of my head.
Speaker 4So there's some, some key places, right Yeah, there's the wall.
Speaker 1Is that what we call it?
Speaker 4I always call it the wall because it kind of feels like a wall when you hit it.
Speaker 1That's where we're hitting a little mountain climb.
Speaker 4Yup, yup.
Speaker 2Is that the gravel one?
Speaker 4Yeah, when? no, it's the one when you come out of that ravine.
Speaker 2Okay, go by the glory Yeah.
Speaker 4And that's usually a hand and feet kind of a motion going up that, thing, you know. Cause it's, the footing is not great, especially when it's snowy, snowy and oh my gosh.
Speaker 1So funny story about this real quick is when you're taking people on tours. I remember I did a lot of frozen tow tours and I said I'm done, Like I lost track how many times I did that And somebody was going up and then they would slide back down.
Speaker 4Slide back down.
Speaker 1They'd go up, and then they'd slide back And I'm at the top trying not to laugh Oh yeah, and I'm like hands and knees. hands and knees No, i've got it.
Speaker 2Back down they go.
Speaker 1No, you do not.
Speaker 4Yeah, that's a doozy. So that's one nice feature. The other feature, obviously, is you go through the creek four times.
Speaker 2Four times Four water crossings.
Speaker 4Yes, one you go through twice out and back, but then the other ones are unique ones.
Speaker 2Yeah, yes, And that one you go through twice is pretty shallow.
Speaker 1Yes. The fourth one is can be deep And I went there this spring and little mountain, or whatever you call it, the wall actually had water flowing through there, yep. And I was like, if there's water flowing through here, this fourth creek crossing is going to scare me. Yeah. And I got there and I looked, I started to go and I bet you it would have been I stopped because I knew it was going to be up to my waist, probably.
Speaker 4Oh really.
Speaker 2Yeah, it was so bad And I was like I turned around. Well, you got to be careful there, because you can get yourself in a hole pretty quick.
Speaker 4Yeah, there is the Tony hole, uh-huh, as we all call it.
Speaker 1So I try and tell people about the Tony hole, but you want to tell people what happens to the Tony hole.
Speaker 4Okay, so you want to know how I got named that.
Winter Hiking Challenge
Speaker 1Yeah, first let me just explain to our listeners. this is how sick you can be. You're a very nice man. Everyone's like Dan's so sweet, but you are kind of like a little Keith on some things. So, Keith, Iran likes to do like little evil things to us and dance stuff, and I was like I want to be like Keith, like that. So Dan's like I'm going to do so. this course is a 10 cake course And it's the Christmas grind done in September, Yes, But also Dan's like hey, but I want you to run it in the winter too. So I've got a challenge for you guys. I'm going to call it the frozen toe challenge. You run that same exact course in the winter, but you only get a sticker if you run the cold course. Well, it's under 32 degrees. You have to go through four Cree crossings under 32 degrees. You got to prove that you were out there in the cold. So, people, we had one person get frostbite because walking and she got frostbite on her poor toe. but yeah.
Speaker 1So it's cold and some of us are like idiots And we're like how cold, can we go?
Speaker 4Oh yeah, I've done it several times. Yeah, i've done it, at least 15 below.
Speaker 1I don't know what my lowest is. I'd have to look at my things. I know I've gone pretty low. The worst actually was when the snow was deep and I was trudging to the snow first And I was like that was really a lot harder, that's hard.
Speaker 4Yeah, frozen toe has been in existence before the snow grind.
Speaker 1Let to, but that leads to what we were going to say is the Tony hole, the Tony hole. He was doing the frozen toe challenge.
Speaker 4No, no, just got with you. We were doing the 10 mile fat ass. Oh thanksgiving. You know how we have that on the. Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1That's the first time I met you.
Speaker 4Yep. So we were doing the fat ass and Tony was there and he couldn't stay the full time, so he kind of cut out and headed back And he didn't realize. When you come down that trail, you know the court, the course, the route. There it looks like you need to go straight, but you really need to turn. Well, actually, three or four years ago the trail did go right there and kind of skirted along the edge, but now the shoreline's been eroded.
Speaker 2OK.
Speaker 4So the trail is gone.
Speaker 2OK.
Speaker 4That's why there's the earlier turn to the right.
Speaker 1It does make it look like you turn right there.
Speaker 2So it looks like there's a fork there and you can go straight or turn Yeah.
Speaker 4So Tony went straight.
Speaker 2Oh no.
Speaker 4Not realizing, he jumped off the bank and there literally is a hole there. It's about six feet Now he went up to his armpits and he's a tall man, he's like six three, six two, so he went up to his armpits in November, in November, oh my goodness. He was freezing. He let me know that.
Speaker 1Thankfully this is towards the end. There's like maybe half mile. You could cut it. He probably could cut it. Yeah, you can cut there.
Speaker 4You cut that seven times out at the end Yeah, yeah You could go straight up to the parking lot.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 1Yep.
Speaker 4Which I'm sure.
Speaker 1I would hope you did. I wouldn't take that one Prairie section and then just cut. You know. Right Yeah. So that's the Tony hole. The Tony hole, i mean, i tell him like that's the Tony hole And they're like what happened there? He cut the, he went the wrong way.
Speaker 4Well, but Yeah, that's a deep hole. It is. And you can see where you cross. If you just go to the left a little bit more, you can see where it's.
Speaker 2It just drops off. Yeah, it's all of a sudden.
Speaker 1You can't see the bottom There's been people in the summer who just walked that way And they're like it doesn't that bad. And you see him just.
Speaker 4I think Melissa Erdmeyer's son was swimming in it last year or the year before.
Speaker 2Oh, yeah, yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1Yeah, That's a fun course. I mean the 10 K course is fun And it's very challenging. I did a lot of it.
Speaker 4The 10 mile course is challenging.
Speaker 1I like that one. Yeah, i did that this spring.
Speaker 2Because all the fun happens at the end of that one.
Speaker 4Yes, Because you're constantly climbing again. Right, it's all those hills, yeah.
Speaker 1First time I did it. I'm my to custom name out. A few times I'm like why are we climbing here? Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, i did that with Andrea first time.
Speaker 4Yeah, there's a couple other parts I could add in there to make it even more interesting and get it really close to 11 miles.
Speaker 1See, yeah Close. Now People think you're really nice, but there's a little there's a few little horses.
Speaker 2So I have a course you got to make it good.
Speaker 4See, i have this. When I was a kid thing, we had a wooded area behind my house And, like Dan Dissel, i raced motocross And I had my own track behind my house. So I was always into making courses, No, and doing stuff like that. And how can we make it harder And so running and running on the trails is a natural extension of like playing in the dirt, like I used to with the motorcycles.
Speaker 2So, yep, i get that.
Speaker 4Yep A lot of fun times.
Impact of Ultra Running Community
Speaker 1So, as an experienced, seasoned runner you've been running for a long time What advice do you have to give to someone new to ultra running or trail running?
Speaker 4Don't get all caught up with the pace. It's my advice. It's more important to be consistent And just keep doing it, which will make it better for you to carry on. You know, you just got to keep going And don't over train. I think a lot of people do over train, i under train, there's no mistake there.
Speaker 1But What do they say? it's better to be under than over. Yeah, so you're injured, right?
Speaker 4I think once you've done something like once you know you can go some distance personally, me, i find that okay. I know I can do 50 miles, so I know I've done it. I can go slow and do it. It's the mental part of it that I have a better accomplishment with than the physical part at this point.
Speaker 4So, now it's more of a just be healthy, be strong enough to do it, to keep moving, to be able to keep moving, keep going, keep, just keep going. And that's kind of what my goal is right now is to keep moving and keep strong enough to keep. you know, so I could go and do 30 miles and not even really have to train for it, just kind of be able to do that. And I kind of proved that to myself at pot this year. I did 30 miles and well, i did 20 miles. Then that damn heat got me.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 4And I had to go take a nap. But I finished the 30 miles in that day So I was like, okay, that's good, i'm good.
Speaker 1I'm happy.
Speaker 4I had planned on doing 100, but I realized when I did the skunk cape that it was probably not a wise decision to try to do 100. Let's just cut the distance and just do what we can accomplish, and I don't have anything to really prove.
Speaker 2So you've done it before.
Speaker 4I've done it before. Yeah. I mean I wish that I would have started doing some of the longer distance a couple of years earlier, like around 2015,. 16, i was in much better physical shape. My runs were really pretty good They were. I was always a middle pack person. I was never a leader, but I had pretty what I thought were really good runs and strong runs, and I probably could have amped up the distance back then, but I just didn't have the time.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 4And so it was the thing that brisco and I talked about. We were sitting in my pool, him and Vivian and Sandy and I were swimming in our pool and Jim's like you know what, we need to do 100 miles. He says to me he's like we need to do 100 miles, we should do 100 miles. I'm like, are you freaking nuts? Let's do 50 miles first. No, yeah, okay, we'll do 50 miles first and then we could do 100., but we need to do 100 miles. He was always on that always on that with me.
Speaker 4He's the one that pushed me to do the 100 miles And I know I did it in a way that is not you know. I mean I took a break. I took breaks, but I had to. I was not that accomplished to be able to do that, but I got the distance in and I'm happy with it.
Speaker 1Is that where the famous pictures comes from, with Jim behind you?
Speaker 4Yes, That was the last loop. We were coming up that last hill before the finish.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 4And I of course I didn't know he did that And I was actually feeling really good. It looks like I'm like. I look like I'm like I was not dead. I was like probably my fastest loop. Of course the barn was there. I could see the barn right.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 4You're going for it And doing that hunt, because we did two loops, then four and four, that's how. I did it, i broke it up, that way to do it.
Speaker 2Okay, yep.
Speaker 4And so was two ultras and a 20 mile chaser. you know, that's kind of the way it was, And so I felt pretty good and I was not bad for doing it. But yeah, that's the picture.
Speaker 2Everybody loves that picture. Everybody loves that picture.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's just, it captures it Yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah, everything It captures, it Sure does.
Speaker 4It's totally Jim, There's no doubt about that When him and I would run and we ran a lot of stuff together- for a lot of years before you know.
Speaker 4then in the latter years he started running a lot with Bob because I was busy all the time too. He would always be like, Hey, we need to go, we need to go. And I really feel bad now that I didn't go out more with him, because now I can't. But um, yeah, we did a lot of stuff We. we ran all the driftless races up in Wisconsin in the driftless area. Yeah, those were hard. that 50k up there They ran out of water. at the last age station We got there There was no water. We still had like four miles to go and it was hot.
Speaker 4That's brutal and you know in that area of Wisconsin It's hilly is that it is hilly, man, it's like this silly kind of stuff. You know, and I remember we come over the hill and You can see the finish line. You can even hear the music at the finish line. But you still had like three miles to go and you're weaving around, weaving around it.
Speaker 2Oh, that's torture. That is torture, yeah.
Speaker 4Yeah, but we did some good races together, him and I. We had some good times, so I have this. So one of the things I do on my farm is I grow hops Mm-hmm. To make beer, right. So I have a friend in town that makes the beer, so he comes and harvests the hops and then he makes the beer.
Speaker 4Okay so Jim and I always talked about a bottle of beer called Genius, and a bottle because Jim's big thing was the three stooge's which these pins. Okay, so we did that one year and then I Thought, you know, it'd be nice to make a bottle of beer for Jim this year. So now we have the brisco.
Speaker 1The brisco beer. Oh, that's cool great for in his honor.
Speaker 4Me so. I had the things made up and I'm gonna bear in the picture. I. I get a case of beer for my friend. I think I've drank two of them, so I have 20, some bottles. I'm gonna bring these to the beer mile, oh.
Speaker 4Oh so anybody that would like to enjoy one. Hopefully, hopefully. I need to save a couple for Bob McCrory Cuz. He was really close to Jim and I told him I've got a couple set aside for him, but then the rest of them From anybody in the Yeti crew there, whoever's at the beer mile.
Speaker 1Don't give it to the ones running it, cuz all they do is throw it up.
Speaker 4Yeah. Yeah, there you go for whatever. So yeah, there's. You know, like I said I was, i really miss him, my friend.
Speaker 1Yeah, for our listeners who probably not you know, not from stereo He was. He was a big person in our ultra community that we lost and a big personality. Oh Yeah, so much personality. the trails just are not gonna be the same.
Speaker 4No Well, I miss his his texts, the randomized texts that I would go, Oh yeah. That were just usually so off the wall and hilarious, i've gotten a couple of those.
Speaker 1I actually had a few, yeah.
Speaker 4The last one I have is just like the week before, is Yeah, i'm reading this book. This was when he got out of the out of the hospital and he was reading this book baby's first recession And it looks like a child's book.
Speaker 2It says baby's first recession, says I'm reading this, so I could always count on that, so I know something to make you go from. Yeah.
Speaker 4So that's, that's me, i guess.
Speaker 1yeah, yeah, the more questions for I got one more to wrap it up, okay, all right. How has running and being involved in the running community impacted your life? You have been a part of all these running groups. How do you? think it has impacted your life being in this ultra community.
The Positive Impact of Running Communities
Speaker 4Oh, it's definitely been a positive impact. For sure, i Think it has had a positive impact on my health overall because, like I said, before I started running it, you know I Had already been in it. I teach out for quite a while and I noticed. You know, you get in your 40s and it's hard to keep weight off. Katches up to you fast catches up to you, you know.
Speaker 4Mm-hmm and then so the whole running thing and then just the personalities that I've been able to meet and the friends that I've been able to cultivate over the years, i mean that's been really special, and I mean I don't see everybody every day or talk to everybody every day, but when at least I go somewhere There's people that I know and that appreciate the things I do and I appreciate the things they do, and it's great. Mm-hmm. So I really it's You never. I don't know of any other community quite like it.
Speaker 4I try and explain it to people who aren't, and I'm just like yeah, well, sandy never got it Okay for the longest time right, and it really wasn't until the kite art She didn't get to coyote group. That was kind of she never really could get into those guys because she wasn't really running much and And or she wasn't. but then I think the Yeti group has really helped her get out of her shell and so She gets it now she understands kind of how that is so positive on your mind.
Speaker 4Mm-hmm and I mean she's to the point now. You know with with walking, you know she walks. I know with Matthias's wife, mm-hmm Stephanie, a lot with Grace from here, they. They're gonna be walking tomorrow and She feels bad if she doesn't go walking. I love it.
Speaker 4She said the other day She goes. I haven't walked in like a week and a half because You know we've been really busy and so she hasn't been able to get there And she hasn't been able to get to her bar class, which is the other thing that she likes to go do so.
Speaker 2Yeah, the the positive impact on Sandy has been amazing.
Speaker 4Yeah, it is it is, it is, and she just loves everybody too. She just thinks it's great. Yeah and she is so appreciative of What you guys all did for her when she did the Yeti.
Speaker 2Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 4I mean she's yeah, she was crying. She basically was crying on that. That was Sandy's not an overly emotional person, but she has gotten more emotional as she's aged, i think we do that.
Speaker 1She gave me a damn it, dang it or something like yeah, yeah, yeah but it's funny to see her around you. Oh, mm-hmm, oh, really.
Speaker 4Oh yeah, because Sandy's, I would you know she's gonna hear this, she's gonna listen to this. For sure She was words carefully right, love you hun and I'm not gonna say anything bad, but she has come out of her like I don't want to say shell, but she's more open with this group.
Speaker 4Literally never. I mean never. We've been married 40, 44 years, yeah, okay, so we've been married a lot of years and She never took a shot. She doesn't drink. She ever took a shot ever. I mean the biggest thing she ever had were such a good influence.
Speaker 4Strawberry, daiquiri, you know when we would go to like Rosita's, you know, or something like that. So Sandy's never been that way, ever, ever, and even me pretty much never really. But she comes in here, she goes over to a alehouse, you guys are giving her a shot, and she's just like oh, that's good, i love it.
Speaker 2It's hilarious.
Speaker 4It's super hilarious, yeah right so now Her brother, she, she has Sadie, has seven brothers, oh my. So she is the only girl and she raised a bunch of them. And So, anyways, her one brother, joe, who we're fairly close with. He's always all about the, the party, he's always about the party. So now she's like, hey, joey, you got any Zambuca? He looks at her. What?
Speaker 2is going on.
Speaker 1What are?
Speaker 4you talking about? How do you even know about this stuff? It's Tim Dang Yeti's. She's like oh, i had some of that What.
Speaker 2That's hilarious.
Speaker 4So she has um, i love it because she works so hard for everything and works very hard for the grandkids and takes care of a lot of stuff and She needs to let her hair down. Yeah and enjoy a little bit Have a little fun, yeah, yeah so for me The Yeti group and the running group and the people have been a blessing For both of us because it's allowed her to have a more Fun activity thing to go let loose a little bit.
Speaker 4Yeah, let it loose and not worry so much about Detaching is important, you know everybody. You know she's always got to be there and she's in a hands-on. You probably know that. You've seen her. I know Grace knows that because Grace mentioned it from the Hennepin When Sandy was there. She's got away. See knows what to do.
Speaker 2She's gonna organize Yeah. Have at it, girl, just get out of the way.
Speaker 4No, she's that way So, but anyways yep, very nice.
Speaker 1I like it, although, like you know, we're not all about shots.
Speaker 2No, don't take that the wrong way.
Speaker 4No, what I? what I, what I mean by that is that it's allowed her to Experience some things that she probably would have never, ever.
Speaker 1Yeah, but we do know how to have fun We run and we have fun, we have good fun. Yeah, yeah, we're a great group, we're a great family. I feel like this whole entire Yeti group is just a big family. That just I know. I feel really comfortable with that and I know that we'll be there too, like if something's going on.
Speaker 4They're just, they're just there. Well, look at With with Jim's passing. Yeah there was a lot of people there. Yeah, it was really awesome and it wasn't a convenient thing. People had to take work off to do that. Yeah right. So that just shows how much people care and think about other people, mm-hmm, so that that's really important.
Grismill Sign-Up and Trail Race Pride
Speaker 1So if you're new to running You you know one of the big things that we keep saying and this just goes back to it is join a group. If you're in this area, join our group. If you're not in this area, find a group. They don't have a group. Create a group. You know It. Just having a group to run with is, it's huge. So it is. All right. Well, i think that's a wrap, anything else? I'm doing sign up for Grismill.
Speaker 4Yeah, sign up for Grismill, please. Yes, um, this will be the third year and we hope we have a good turnout and We've had good turnouts. Yeah, and I'm hoping, with the change Moving it, that one week earlier, that will get some more people from some of the surrounding groups. Mm-hmm, so that'll be good. And Yeah, do the Grismill for sure. I don't think you'll regret it, maybe at the time.
Speaker 1Maybe during, but you'll love it afterwards.
Speaker 2A lot of trail races are like that. It's a lot of pride.
Speaker 1Yes, to have after you're done, to be like yes, i did that So that's a good way to put it Yep, yep, all right until next time. Bye.
Speaker 4Bye.
Speaker 1Runners of the Corn is brought to you by Stonebridge running, now with two locations in Dixon and Sterling Illinois. Stop by either store for everything you need to keep you moving all day, whether it's running, walking or working. Stonebridge staff are there to help you.
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