"At my best, I was trying to be competitive with myself to get the best out of what I could do."

-Alan Ruben

Alan Ruben is an icon in the NYC running community—a paragon of consistency and an inspiration to so many in the masters running world for his remarkable running resume.

Alan has completed 35 straight NYCs, with 25 consecutive sub 3s from 1989-2014, and—the most astounding of all—15 consecutive sub 2:40s from 1991-2005! Alan ran his fastest marathon 2:29:54 at age 41 and placed 48th overall in the 1998 Boston Marathon.

Alan gives a lot of credit for his success to joining Central Park Track Club in 1990, where he enjoyed grinding twice-weekly workouts with fast teammates that helped push him. In the storied 100th Boston in 1996, he ran 2:30:30 with teammates Peter Allen and Andreas Nolte and they captured the Team Masters Title.

Key coaches/mentors who helped guide him: George Wisniewski & Tony Ruiz of Central Park Track Club.

Alan has run 704 races—100 half marathons, 67 marathons, and about 95,000 lifetime recorded miles—but the most inspiring thing about Alan is that he is still going strong and out there every day. I'm so proud to be his teammate and I thoroughly enjoyed discussing his epic running 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 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

© 2024 Ron Romano

"You just have to be so grateful for the races that go according to plan and where you do set a dream goal and achieve that dream goal. Nobody's written anybody's future—it's not scripted, so you have to make the most of the moments that you have in running. That can be true in any era, at any age, at any stage, and any talent level and accomplishment level. It's one of the great lessons of running."

-Gordon Bakoulis

Gordon Bakoulis is a 5-time Olympic Trials marathoner and one of the most accomplished runners I've had the pleasure of speaking with.

Gordon qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, & 2004 and was a finalist in the 1992 U.S. Olympic 10,000m Trials. She has represented the U.S. internationally at the 10K, half-marathon, & marathon distances, and has run a 1:11 half-marathon and a 2:33 marathon.

We discussed the enormous growth in women's running, the runners who inspired her, and how much the sport has evolved.

Gordon's most memorable race was the 2001 NYC Marathon, which was held less than 8 weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Gordon won the masters division in 2:41 and it was really emotional hearing her reflect on what it felt like running through her beloved, broken, yet resilient city.

Gordon has also been coaching since 1985 and has worked in the media and for NYRR since 2002—which affords her a really unique perspective. I'm so grateful to Gordon for sharing so many great lessons!

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 Gordon:

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

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

© 2024 Ron Romano

It was a HUGE honor to host and share this live convo from Grandma's with rockstar Olympian and 2X Grandma's Champ, Dakotah Lindwurm!

We discussed Dakotah manifesting her Paris Olympic dream, what it means to be called an Olympian, her buildup for Orlando & plan for Paris, and why Grandma's is so special and will ALWAYS be on her race calendar!

Dakotah shared tips on the course and we finished with Q&A from the Destination Marathons dinner crowd.

Thanks for sharing your INSPIRING journey and time with us, Dakotah! We are all rooting for you in Paris!!

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 Dakotah:

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

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

© 2024 Ron Romano