AJ and Erika: There is one voice that we hear at a Run Disney race above all other voices, and that voice is here on the show with us this week. We are so excited and honored to have Run Disney Race announcer Carissa Galloway on the podcast. Hey there, friends. Welcome to one more run. Podcast. My name is AJ. And I'm Erica. And this is episode 53. And if you're joining us for the first time, this is the launch of season three. Yeah. For us, which is kind of a big deal. We started this podcast exactly a year ago. Literally, Erica, the first episode published one year ago, 365 days to the day from today. Awesome. ⁓ what have you enjoyed about doing this whole thing for the last year? ⁓ my gosh. I've loved that we do it together. It's kind of become like our weekly little At home date. Yes. ⁓ and I love that we've gotten to encourage and inspire so many people along the way. Like that's our goal. We just want to encourage people and and have them realize that they can do hard things. 100%. We've been doing Run Disney and running now for a few years. And ⁓ in the beginning it was kind of about can we survive? Can we get to the finish line? And then we did and we proved that, ⁓ my gosh, I can do something I didn't think I could do. And then we would see other people who were going through the struggle that maybe we had in the beginning or Maybe they really are just having a hard time. And we just really wanted a place where we could provide encouragement, but then also provide helpful resources, right? Like, hey, here's where you can find this. Here's a an encouraging ⁓ conversation with whoever today is Carissa Galloway. Yeah, it's amazing. Like, how crazy is that? Yeah. And that that for me is crazy. Authentic moment here. We're literally talking to Carissa Galloway on our podcast a year into this whole thing. Never would have thought we were being. And she was awesome. Like it's fantastic. I can't wait for you guys to hear it. So we're gonna stop. This whole intro thing just to get right into it, you know, we'll move like all of our housekeeping stuff to the end. But I just want to say, like up front and whatever, we are so excited to have her, but this is meant to be encouraging. Right. Like she encourages us from the stage. We want you to be encouraged. We believe you are gonna be from this episode. Absolutely. If you have not done a Ren Disney race yet, Carissa is the person who gets us across the start line at every Ren Disney race. She announces a wide variety of races all over the world, including Iron Man. She is a registered dietitian, author, mom, and a marathon runner herself. We are honored to have Run Disney Race announcer Carissa Galloway here with us today. ⁓ Carissa, I don't even like all I have to say is just like welcome. Like we're so excited to have you. Thanks for being here. Thank you. It's like giving me a little like off season magic. So it's fun to kind of like step into the the zone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've been encouraging Erica and I and thousands and thousands and thousands of runners, but Erica and I. We've done 20 Run Disney races now, right? So we just want to like first and foremost say thank you like for that and for being here, but thank you for that. Well, thank you for listening. I think sometimes we feel and we know we're up there and you you're not, we're not listening the whole time, but like when people say they listen or they say something I said like resonated with them, like that's really cool because that's sort of our goal and that's what we want. And we love that when it when it hits, it's great. Totally. Chris, ⁓ as a race announcer, how would you explain your job description? Like what are you and the other announcers there to do? ⁓ that's a great question. And I think in like Disney world, it's a little bit different than like sort of like your local 5K. But at the end of the day, your race announcer is essentially there to the number one thing we're there to do is to tell you when you can go and two to keep you safe. Like if anything crazy goes on, like we're that voice. So that's the baseline of what we're supposed to do. But I think with that comes along the ability to engage, inspire, like take you through your start line experience. And then at the end, obviously we're You're a cheerleader. We're saying your name. We're celebrating you in, all that kind of stuff. So I think the end of the day, a race announcer is the person that starts and finishes the race, but there's so much blank space in between that. And I think that's why you get across the country, I know all your listeners have done so many different races. You get a wide variety of what a race announcer is because there isn't a cookie cutter. It's not like a job application. You don't go to school for it. You just have people that fall into it or love the sport and and it grows from there and you can kind of, as you've seen with your Run Disney crew, like make it your own. ⁓ I'm sure we'll end up like comparing and contrasting, you know, Run Disney to not Run Disney because a lot of our folks love Run Disney, but like, is that like blank space you talked about, is it wider? You know, like is it do you have more freedom at a Run Disney race or or is it like tighter, tighter for you? Well I thought you said we were going to compare and contrast announcers. So then we were going to have like a bull. That's next. That's next. Stand by. It's in the notes. so at Rent Disney, I think we just have sort of more defined roles that we've grown into. And you know, Riley, Tracy, John, and I were only like a quartet, if you will, after COVID is when Tracy came on, sort of sort of this full-time John and I have been there a very long time. Things have evolved greatly since the beginning. So I think. We're just kind of, you know, put in our spots, whether it's on stage or interviewing, and it's up to that person to be their own personality and to bring their strengths to the table. We're not really told, hey, do this or given a very loose sort of bullet point. Here's how to keep everything moving. and here's your moment. So we kind of have sort of yeah, grown into that. I've been every single role when I started, I was always the Tracy. I was never the onstage person. Then once we evolved to sort of the interviews and things like that, when Princess came around, I was the Tracy. And then I would go to the finish line first. And then eventually it sort of switched. And I was given the opportunity to be up on stage. And then I clung to it like a tiny child and never wanted to leave. That's awesome. It's definitely the right place for you. ⁓ 100%. Look, you want to talk about comparing announcers. Nobody else's voice in my head. On the race course or at home, except for yours. So you're in you're encouraging me from home. That's right. ⁓ Krista, what do you love about the Run Disney races that you can't find anywhere else? I mean, I love the community. I love the people. ⁓ when COVID happened and we weren't we really didn't know if Run Disney was gonna come back. You know, we don't work for Run Disney, we're contractors, so we're not in meetings, you know. And Wes and I remember having the conversations of like this race. No other race the world changes people's lives. Like we have seen it happen. We have watched humans grow from someone who's terrified to do a 5K to the leader of pace groups and running, you know, all the world major marathons. And everybody listening that's a runner knows that like the empowerment you get through running changes who you are. It builds your confidence, it builds your resilience. There's not a time that you can't be in a tough place and go, okay, but remember that time I was at like mile 18 and I want it to sit on the side of the road. You know, it it changes you. And so I think that Run Disney gives a friendly gateway for people to come into a space that they already love, that they already feel safe in, that they want to succeed in and can change their lives. So I think that's what makes it special. And then the people make it special. The FOMO makes it special. The people everybody keeps coming back year after year because they don't want to miss things. Right. And I think when John spoke with you, he gave a lot of credit to Riley for sort of helping develop not just the community aspect, but like the vulnerability aspect of the athletes. And I remembered this moment and it was on when the races used to start at World Drive. Now everything starts in Epcot parking lot. But I don't know if you ever guys ever started out on World Drive. Yeah, we did one time. Yep. ⁓ my God. During Princess we could look out and we would just be like, I can't see the end. So awesome. How long is this gonna take? But there was a woman that ⁓ Riley went up to was having an interview with and I think she started speaking about like I want to say her husband had passed away and she broke down in tears, holding him, like weeping. And he came back in the trailer and he was like, ⁓ my God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And our director, to his credit, was like, Riley, that was that was beautiful. That was gorgeous. Like what you did, you like leaned into it. And from there, it sort of opened the door that it doesn't all have to be magic and pixie dust. Like for people that have had challenges and struggles, like that's okay. Let's just blend everything in. And I think that kind of just made the community tighter because when you hear a story of struggle, especially with something you identify with, you connect with that person and you connect with people like that. And I think that's nice to know out in the course that we all have been through things and we're still out here pushing because we still believe, you know, in getting to that happy, happily ever after, if you will. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. We've said it a lot on on our show that we signed up for the metal looked cool or we signed up for what we thought the experience was gonna be like and then we all came back and stayed and stick around for something totally different, right? Like it's exactly what you're talking about. It's overcoming, it's supporting those that are overcoming. Like it's it's a totally different thing. It's a it's it's impossible. Like you did a really good job of describing it. Like you almost can't describe the feeling of being out there, you know? It's absolutely true. Like you go to a local 5K and you're standing there and then you go and you're done and maybe you have a drink or something. But like Run Disney is just a different vibe and the friend I mean the friends that come from under me I think is one of the the best parts of all but you know we try to be sort of like that that start level of like this is a community. And I think after COVID it became a community and more than just like a happy fundraise. It really became a community. Yeah. It's awesome. So one of the things I want to ask about if you're cool is your energy because we all come kind of off the bus and we're excited to do the thing, but but we don't really get like that full like ⁓ my gosh, I'm about to do this thing until we hear your voice, right? Like you're the thing that was like all pumped up and hyped up. So my question is, is that your normal operating mode? Right. Like, is that like a stage thing for you? Are you like like bubbly and fun and loud all the time? Or is that just the a stage thing for you? I don't think I should let my husband hear this question because he might have a different call Weston in. We'd like to get we'd like to get a ⁓ what do you call it? A witness. Can we get a witness? ⁓ I don't think don't I think we all have multiple personalities, right? In life. Like we're all we're all different people at different times. But I think with Friend Disney, it's just I'm so excited to be there. Like I'm generally thrilled and grateful to be there. And I'm really excited. I love running. So I'm so excited that you guys are gonna get to run, you know? So I'm just kind of transferring that on to you guys. But it is, it's the whole package, is it's the DJ, it's the music, it's everything. It's seeing, I mean. seeing everybody out there, how can you not be excited when you're there? So I think in real life I'm a little more OCD. Like I don't have to like worry about like if someone left toys on the Run Disney stage, then you might see me a little more like, wait, hold on. ⁓ this needs to be cleaned up and Bobby spilt his goo. So I'm gonna clean that up and then I'm gonna come right that's right. You might have more like mom life, but up there you just get to be like a fun version of yourself because it that's the place to do it. And and the energy ⁓ Tracy and I sit in the trailer before we'll do the pre-ray show, you know, 3:30-ish, and then we'll have like a 30-minute break. And Tracy and I sit in the there's a mattress because it's an RV silently. Like we don't, like we need so we're like That's funny, you know, kind of like reserving the energy. John and Riley are talking about some football game or some very artsy Oscar-worthy movie that's like seven hours long. ⁓ and they're debating the merits of that. But I think, you know. So it there's a lot of energy, but not a hundred percent all the time. So we answered Well, I love the visual of you and Tracy just sitting there in silence, not saying a thing on an RV mattress. Like that, that is now ingrained in And in the front of the mattress are all of like our costume bags. So we have to like climb over them or like lean in the back ⁓ of it, like on our phones. And one time I was playing some brain game because I try to not mindlessly scroll Instagram and it like repeats words, but it does it out loud. And the words are so weird. It was like roop, tone, bone, and shit. Like after like a minute, she's like, What are you doing? ⁓ my gosh. No idea. ⁓ I'm just doing my brain game. Yeah, of course. For you know, fun things at at 3:45 a.m. ⁓ yeah, for sure. So well, on the per on like the big personality thing, like on stage thing or whatever. Here's my here's a question. So we just finished up a series. We did three episodes in a row on on personality types, right? And how that impacts. Us as runners, right? We use the Enneagram. Do you possibly know like your type and all that? I don't and I meant to look it up and then being the goldfish that I am. I don't love things like that because I I'm not a big self-reflection person because then it makes me feel self-conscious, like in a weird way. But I will I will look it up and I will let you know later and you can add in the show notes. Do you have guesses of what I am? ⁓ can we get back to you at the end of the episode after all the questions? Yeah. Especially when we ask you about the other announcers and all that stuff. I'm gonna start like taking notes about okay, well maybe there's like a three and a seven, but I just like those numbers also. So I don't Well, three is me, that's the achiever, right? The person that wants to get stuff done and look good doing it. That's that's the three. And the seven is the enthusiast, which is I wanna have fun and suppress all the hard feelings. So I think that that's it. I think that I did somewhere back here that would That makes me feel like I'm on like it's not the introvert, it's not the like right. I don't know. So we can we can go with three and seven. That feels that feels like it fits a little bit. I would I would say seven. If I was if I was looking if I was seven. If I hadn't asked her the question and then someone said, What do you think Chris is? I would have said she's an enthusiast. But I don't know what you're like when you're cleaning up your kids' toys at home either. You know, so ⁓ I only see the stage carissa. I'm just like I'm pictured just like Snow White, like the birds are there. I'm just ⁓ ⁓ my gosh. Krista, do you have a favorite Ren Disney race weekend? yes, I do. Like weekend would be Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. Disneyland is my heart and soul. I love the Disneyland races. I love those parks. I love the closeness that you get to see people. ⁓ my favorite race weekend ever was Avengers Half Marathon Weekend in Disneyland because I love Marvel and it was such a fun departure. From what we normally do. I mean, to be on stage with literally Hawkeyes, Captain America, Thor, like on stage interacting with the performers was like like a life highlight for me. I my husband doesn't like how much I liked being on stage with Captain America. Well, that makes a lot of sense because of how ⁓ you know, ⁓ the the Disneyland race is wrapped up and how you wrapped that up for us all with a nice little bow. That makes sense that it would be your favorite. Favorite racing began. It's just like it's where everything started, right? It's that like original magic. And I think there's something to me like I got asked to f they flew me from Florida to California to announce those races for so many years. And it was always such an honor that you have tons of people out there that are amazing and talented. So for them to sort of like want me there felt special. And just when you were in those hotels, you know, you're walking to everything. So you would see runners so many places. So I actually got to know so many athletes so much more out there. And then for a couple of years. ⁓ my mom would fly out when she lived in Virginia. And so we get to spend those race weekends together and I didn't always get to see her. So there's just a lot of like happy memories to be out there. And not that there's not happy memories in Walt Disney World, but ⁓ it was just always very, very special to me. And so I hopefully they'll come back. But I just soaked up and appreciated like every moment of being there. Yeah. A hundred percent. We grew up at Disneyland. That was our park. We didn't go to Disney World till we were married, you know, and we literally grew up both of us grew up in California, went as kids. I mean, we have pictures of us as, you know, three years old. You know, going all the way up through college. We met, you know, worked at Disneyland. Yeah, we were cast members. Yeah. So it Disneyland means a lot to us too. So it's so much better. No offense. Well, Disney World is just like, and I'm in this park and then I'm in this park. Yeah. And then I'm gonna go to this park and I'm just gonna walk. Yeah. And I I I love that about it. Yep. Us too. ⁓ okay. So I have an important question for you. ⁓ we ask everybody that comes on our podcast this question. And Erica and I are divided. We're on we're on two separate teams here. And so this, your answer is gonna gonna create some waves. I just know it is because we have created two teams and now we we're asking the the Carissa Galloway the question. Right. So here's what we ask everybody is on a Disney half marathon, if you could only choose between getting the chance to run down Main Street or get a finisher medal for that half, which would you have? You could only have one from that race, what would you choose? It's a very easy answer for me. Okay. Main Street. Like come off Main Street. Like it is The thing like being on Main Street at any time like is a goosebump inducing moment, right? Yes. Running down Main Street, like I've got to do it twice, which is amazing for I think I am Tracy might have because she's run princess. But I've been able to run down it twice and the screams and the cheers and the Christmas decorations were up. And it was so amazing. Can I tell you a Main Street story? Yes, please. I'm a Like an average runner, happy average runner. Sometimes I like to run for time. So one of the years that I was doing the half, I was like, let me try to run sub two. It was beautiful weather. Like I'm that right like that half marathon where like sub two is the thing. Yeah. So we started out and I just like felt like not amazing, but I was like, we're still trying. Okay. You know, you start on a run and you just doubt yourself the whole time. I'll never make this time. So I around like mile before we got in the main street, I was like, babe, let's just no stress. Let's just have fun. I don't want to spend the whole time like not having fun. Weson and I were running together. So we got to Main Street and there was the Christmas tree. And I was like, let's take a selfie. And he did that thing where he kept turning the camera off instead of like taking the selfie. We were there for like my point is we were there for longer than we needed to be there. Got the selfie. Yay, happy, happy fun. 10 or so miles later, mile, like 10 or so, we're at ⁓ on some, you know, some street, and we're talking to the runners. And I said, ⁓ I wanted to run sub two. And this guy next to me is like, No, you still could and I was like no I'd have to run like a 22 minute 5K like I can't run that on my best day and I don't know I cannot tell you who this man was but he was like but what if you tried and I was like okay like let's go so I jumped in I got behind Weston's feet like I I had like a seven minute mile through Epcot and I was 30 seconds over two hours. ⁓ no No, I blame West. The Christmas tree. Yeah. But I was still really it was really proud of the effort. Like it wasn't mad, but it was just funny that like how it all worked out at the end. ⁓ that he like just didn't and I wanted the picture in front of the castle. So we had a great picture, but I just wanted the picture. ⁓ so but running down Main Street is is is where it's at. But you also have to take with a grain of salt that like I come from a family that has like seven hundred Disney medals upstairs. Right, right. Right. You know, my husband's been going to run Disney races since 1994. Right, right, right. Yeah. You know, Jeff and Barb have run every race. So we have a a plethora of medals. And my son actually, even today, we were watching The Emperor's New Groove has a TV series. Yeah, okay. ⁓ and then so he went to the wall and found the Isma medal and was asked. Then he wanted to know what were the other characters for the other races this race weekend? So the medals are ⁓ a part of our our home culture. Right. But you still choose Main Street. Well, how can you not choose Main Street? ⁓ a piece of cake. I can choose I'll choose ⁓ I'll choose the metal, no problem. Every day. I mean, but does your medal like give you core memories? ⁓ I but the here's what I do. Chris, I come down here into the studio and I look at the metal and I stare at it for like sixty seconds and I just remember all the things about that race. And then it makes me happy. I mean so then there's no wrong answer if either answer brings happiness. That no, there is not a wrong answer. You're right. We like we've said that before, but ⁓ you know, we've we've literally divided our podcast listeners. I would love to say in half. Really, we've divided them like 80-20. It's 80% Main Street and 20% me. ⁓ so you mentioned the like tension on the on the ⁓ taking the photo, you know what I mean on on the course. Yeah. So yes, ⁓ we know that you test your marriage when you run with your with your spouse. We know that very well. And so Erica always says we should take a picture. And but she says I should take the picture. And then I would inevitably do something like that. Or she didn't like the way her hair looked and that, whatever. And now I'm retaking the picture. And then she'll get kind of like short where she's just take the picture. I'm like, I did just take the picture. And like, I'll hand her the phone and say, You take the picture. And she's like, I'm not taking it. Just take a better one. And I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. So there we are trying to, you know, finish a race, but our marriage is falling apart. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. I know. I think. There's a lot when we Wes and I first started dating and running together, I'd be like, he's Weson's a very fast runner, right? He's run a two fifty eight marathon. I again I'm trying to just run two half, right? Yeah. And you'd be running together and he'd exhale. But I guess that's just his breathing. But I would be like, If my pace is so boring to you, you can just leave. Like I still that's totally something that would happen to us. Going too slow, just go. I'm boring you. ⁓ but We ran all of New York City together this fall. And I think it I felt really I I kept saying that we didn't get in a fight and they didn't appreciate that that was a good thing. And you guys appreciate like that was a victory. Yeah. Absolutely. ⁓ yeah. We love each other. We've been married for almost twenty five years. Like we're we're we're in it for the long haul, but there are some moments on the marathon where it's questionable. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with you. So I was thrilled that we we were okay. Totally, totally finished together. Yeah. Okay, so you mentioned your other race announcers. So we want to ask you about that. You and John Pelke have been announcing races together for so long. What's something that's true about Pelkey that we may not know? I think at the end of the day, if we think about ⁓ Pumba in the Lion King, he's a sensitive soul. So he seems thick skinned. Like John is the kindest, like sweetest person, and he really like as grumpy as he can come across, or like. He's just a very wonderful kind human, like one of the nicest people that I that I know. And he, you know, years ago we had that real curmudgeony sort of that was his vibe. Like, why are you doing this? This is silly. Like, this is not a good idea. But ⁓ he really cares. Yeah. ⁓ and he really is, you know, the person that would give you his shirt off his back in the middle of a race. He's that guy that like a viral video of them giving you their shoes, so like they could f you could finish, like, that's that's who who John is. So He comes across sort of like funny and sarcastic and he is all those things too, but he's really a a kind of pretty humble good guy. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, we got to interact with him just a little bit, ⁓ whatever race weekend that was, in person and just had the best five minutes ever. You know, like exactly what you're talking about. You know, I was like, This is I mean, I'm glad, but this is not what I expected. Like I expected stage John and I'm like, This is I like I could talk to him forever. You know, probably not about like Civil War move movies and all the old stuff. He would talk to you forever. I know that. Yeah, yeah. But But yeah. Just lay down and his wife is fantastic too as well. ⁓ my gosh. We like her better than so nice. Yeah, we like her better. Yep, I've extended the the invite. I told her anytime you're ready. And then ⁓ yeah, I told him straight to their faces. I was like, Yeah, Jody's better. Yeah, we like we like her a lot better. You can do a spouses episode with Weston and Jody. ⁓ that would be fun. That's actually a great idea. Weston would be in for that. ⁓ yeah, he does. He's great. All right. Cool. ⁓ so speaking of people coming on, we've got Riley coming on the podcast soon. Anything we should know about him before we chat with him? Don't try to bully him into running a race. Okay. He's not gonna run a race. It's not his journey. And he's confident that that's not his journey. And we love him for that awareness. Yeah. ⁓ Riley is just such an intellectual, such an artistic, like intellectual human. ⁓ he's an amazing father. So ask him a little bit about being a dad. Cause I don't think a lot of people kind of get to see that side of him. Like he's gotten up early in the morning after races because you know he lives in North Carolina, rushed home, like just so we can pick up his daughter from school. So that's kind of like a side of him that that people don't really see. ⁓ and then I think there's so many interesting stories about, you know, digging into like you're asking like what was the role as a race announcer? You know, we are were hired originally because we were sports hosts. status at ESPN Wide World of Sports and John and Mark, one of our directors, and Riley were like legends at ESPN Wide World of Sports. I mean there used to be pictures of them of out in the wall of the place that is now Cake Bake. So there's some, there's a lot of lore there that that Riley can can go through. Perfect. Awesome. We'll have to ask him about it. Yeah. So you mentioned Tracy earlier. ⁓ do you have any other like ⁓ the like the again the visual of you guys sitting in the RV just cracks me up. Any funny stories? Cause I can imagine the two of you in the same room when you're like on not not chilling, you know what I mean? Like not not in conserving mode, but when the two of you are on, I can only imagine. Like, do you have any funny stories? ⁓ the one that comes to mind is that two years ago after springtime, ⁓ I had concierge level at Animal Kingdom because my in-laws got concierge level at Animal Kingdom, so I got concierge level at Animal Kingdom because they gave me a key. Anyway, so we were like, let's have a mimosa to celebrate, you know, like the end of the season. And then like hours later we were still We were talking about how we have FOMO because we'll see all of you guys like doing all this stuff on social media and all the groups and it looks so fun. And like nobody ever invites us. And I don't know if it's because they don't think we'll come or like don't want to invite us. Yeah. We're like, let's go do something. Let's text people. And then we're gonna go to karaoke and jelly rolls and da-da-da. And then we fell asleep and woke up the next day. Yeah. So now anything. That's hilarious. That's just very fun. And the jungle juice mimosas were delightful. Yeah. Have to try one of those next time. Yeah. Con concierge level. It could be dangerous. Yeah. It is dangerous. Let me let me tell you. What do you love about working alongside the other Ren Disney race announcers? That they're all such talented performers and that you can learn things ⁓ from all of them. And I think all of us, you know, it's an interesting dynamic. Most times when you're talking with race announcers or you're a race announcer, you're not also like someone who's been an actor, someone who's been on stage, someone who has improv. And I'm like not their amazing, you know, actors, truly like Tracy's been on ABC, she's been on all kinds of great things. ⁓ so I learned from them their like quick wittedness, some of their replies and things like that. So I actually learn performance things from them. And then I think in turn I teach them like running things. ⁓ But that's kind of the cool thing is that everybody, you know, you kind of may only see us in this one light, but extremely talented. Performers, you know, worked really hard to be who they are. And I think any three of them, John Riley or Tracy, could have like humongous TV movie stars, you know, in another another life, had the path gone a different way for them. Yeah. You and John are kind of well, not kind of, y'all are famous for the three-two-one-go announcement at the start line of the Run Disney races. For our friends who haven't heard you tell that story before, where did that countdown originally come from? Yeah, well, the short story is. Voice preservation. But the long story is we had another announcer and he had a very, you know, he had his own iconic way of starting the races. ⁓ so when it transitioned, that it was gonna be John and I, we wanted to do something that one, like wasn't taxing on your voice because we say it a lot. We say it for every crowd. You ever stood around and said, Go, it can get to like a really high level. And so The other side of that is for Disney, we need to say it the same way every single time so that the fireworks team can hear our cue. We can't say runner set or all right, let's go. Like it has to be the same thing every time. And I didn't want to count from five at Disneyland, as you know, we count from five. ⁓ I have I have questions. We have stories. We have questions about that. Let me start at three. And it it's in this range where like it works really well and then we're like, ⁓ we kinda like this. So it just kinda kinda stuck. And so I'm glad that that that's the way it worked out. And that's something that we can like kinda do and truly like not blow out our voice. Cause you do I work for another race and they make me count down from 10. And they know that I roll my eyes, but they want me to count down from 10. So I count down from 10. But it feels it feels laborious. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Disneyland. This last time. Yeah. So you were talking about how you love Disneyland races. So we have two funny three two one stories from Disneyland. So the last race, well, first of all, our hotel room was three twenty one. But of course we saw it, we were like, three two one, it's perfect for us. Exactly. But ⁓ no, we were just cracking up in the corrals about how in our mind join in until it got to three two one. You just told us it was for voice preservation, but I like the way that we had it in our mind. It's just like, no, Chris only says three two one. No, we did we made that conscious choice. Yeah. Okay. At Disneyland, Matt Matt. And he's fantastic. I loved working with him. And I think part of it came down to so with Disneyland as like a little behind the scenes. You would have to cue, like, all right, we're ready to go. And then they'd play the video and you'd have to wait for the video to get to five. And so it was just easier for Matt to cue the video and then start the five four. Uh-huh. And then I'd like you joined. I think I'd let him say three, two, one a couple of times with me. He had to earn it, right? I that it's also out of respect for John. Like, look, this guy's new. He doesn't get to show up year one and say three, two, one, go, John. I was kind of like saving a space for Pel Girls. That's y'all's yeah, that's y'all's thing. We're still holding it in our hearts that you refuse to say five and four though. That's how we're gonna bullet. That had nothing to do with voice preservation. They're all the numbers are all in the same range. Like five, four. Right. Yeah. Okay, good. Yeah. Good. It just cracked us up. It did. It did for sure. ⁓ okay, so last question on announcer stuff is when you guys get to the end of a race weekend or end of a race, like you know, the marathon, whatever it is, what is what how how do you define success, right? Like your team is together, you're hanging out afterwards, drinking, you know, at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, concierge level. Like, how do you define success as a team? Nobody got fired. Perfect. No, I just kidding. ⁓ I don't I think it's all individual, possibly. You and I think sometimes like I think to just like in terms of like a start line, like John Riley and I, you know, go through a whole start line show and it's it's a roller coaster, right? Like I don't know if you ever guys have ever been in the back of the corral and no one's listening the whole time, but like it's a long time where we have nothing scripted to say. We're just ding ding ding ding ding, you making sure it's fun houses going. And we'll get back there and sometimes I'll ⁓ that one got a little got a little roof there, you know, the 30 minute mark. Or sometimes I'll be like, Man, that was a great one. So we kinda like, you know, Monday morning quarterback, you know. how it goes. And it I think just for me personally, it's how many like personal connections did I make? How many times did I like either say something and I knew that it connected with somebody or saw somebody at the finish line and whether or not I even said anything, like saw that that moment mattered to him. So that's sort of what I define success. Like were there moments of real human connection and not just talking above you, but talking to you. Yeah. ⁓ I will say we've gone out of the front and the back. Right. And ⁓ It's kind of like this sounds really weird, but it's kind of a bummer when you go out too far in the front because you miss all the entertainment. Like there would be stuff that happens and you're posting reels and whatever. And I didn't see any of that. Like I didn't experience any of the pre-show, you know, like any of that stuff. But in the back, then you to your point, I have thought poor Carissa and John have to come up with something else to say. But like you'd be surprised at the times where it's just like my favorite is when it just goes completely off the rails. Like we are saying nonsense, like it's absolutely nonsensical, but it's hilarious. Like the Creepy clown is singing a song, like all of that good stuff. ⁓ years ago, Riley, right after COVID, did like a raise your hand and he did like a raise your hand for like who got which vaccine. And I was so uncomfortable that I like curled up on stage and I was like, John, just tell me when this is over because this feels like a terrible idea. And even today, I'll be like, Riley, I just died inside. Cause I was like, how is he gonna do this? Well, but he made his work. But he was like, Team Pfizer, who's Team Jen? I was just ⁓ gosh. I would have been dying too. ⁓ yeah. And then the one time we like made a cocoon out of Mylar, that was years ago. Like I had like we had like a bunch of Mylar, we threw hard candy at people one time. Choice. ⁓ so it's just fun to never know what's what's gonna happen. And the best ones are when like we never look at our watch. Sometimes you'll look at your watch and it's like five fifteen and you're like, And we don't we don't like we like doing it. It just it is, it's like Thinking of what to say. And I think I've said before, if you ever hear us going like, anybody's birthday coming up, that's like we had nothing to say. Yeah, right. The low hanging, hanging fruits. Like we don't want to do the birthday questions. We don't want to ask who's who came the farthest. Like we don't want to tell people. But if it gets there, you know, it's okay. But plus Riley. Riley makes it so much easier because we can just throw to him and he's gonna fill that space. And it just gives us, it makes it more of a conversation. And so he does an amazing, amazing job of that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we love Riley. Let's talk a little behind the scenes. Is there anything that's part of your race weekends that would surprise us to know? I mean, I think people know for me it's a lot of DoorDash, like a lot of not going anywhere. Yeah. ⁓ maybe that we just really don't like we work and then we are just like kind of a little bit of hobbits. ⁓ but yeah, I don't think I try to share a lot on my social media. We love it. So it's like not as glamorous as like maybe one. Think it is. It's just normal people doing their job. You know, we do our job, we go back and we, you know, relax and hang out. And it just happens to be a really fun job. We don't hang out together during the race league and I don't know if that would surprise people. ⁓ that actually does surprise me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like maybe we'll eat a meal, like somebody will go. Like if John has a Pelkie Run Club meetup, like we'll we'll kind of all go to that. Yeah. ⁓ but otherwise we just maybe we just are tired of each other. Good. Yeah. What time do you try to go to bed? ⁓ I think I'm the earliest in a best case it's like five thirty-six. Whoa. Like and you can fall asleep that early? Yeah, I can. Yeah. A little melatonin. I try to eat at like four, four thirty. ⁓ the first night is always the hardest, but that's like yeah, that's my goal. Yeah. I feel best when I can do that. I have an unscripted question. Please just take it. Have you ever like a not like clearly not totally overslept, but have you ever accidentally like slightly overslept or like snoozed on accident? It was embarrassing and it was terrible. And I cried. ⁓ I should not have asked you this question. Trauma. You brought up some TT. I just did it on screen. So we have this thing that happens at ⁓ wine and dine with daylight savings time. ⁓ yes. We've done that. So we're picked up at like, it's very close to like one, it's like one thirty now. But as you know, when it becomes two o'clock, it becomes one o'clock again. Right. So we're picked up at the second one thirty. ⁓ So if you set your alarm for the first 130, you're woken up an hour early. So we have come to the conclusion that you set like a timer of like I'm going to bed and I have to get up. Well, I let my husband tell me what time to set the timer. Okay. And it was wrong. ⁓ no. So I it goes off and I have like 45 calls, all these messages. And like they left me. ⁓ no. They knew my they knew. Usually like in a row, like no one knocked on my door. I had no clue. But like they left me. I woke up. Somebody came back and got me, but I was mortified. I was so just embarrassed. Like that I was like, I cried a little bit. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ totally, just knock on my door. They were like, we didn't know what you were doing. I'm like, what do you think I'm doing? We want to interrupt you. Like So it has happened to me. It happened to another announcer we had ⁓ he just overslept and I think we ended up calling his room from the hotel, which is the logical thing thing to do. But no, they just left me. So I'm sure that John really enjoyed that. Gosh. Yeah. We had a would you rather or ⁓ fun question on when he on one of the episodes we had him on, which we didn't know this story, but we said, What would you do? You know, what would John Pelkie do if if Carissa ⁓ wasn't answering her phone or we totally just came up with that of the air. Like it was just a a fun question. Yeah. And he like, ⁓ I'd leave her. You know, he's like He said. Yeah, he's like, I'd send Tracy to go get her. And so I guess this in I always sit in the front seat of the van. Okay. ⁓ our old announcer, Cree, who was the first announcer, did. And then when Cree left, I took over the seat. I also get a little car sick, but I'm guarantee you he probably sat in the front seat that day. ⁓ okay Before you ask the next question, I would like to mark down the score tally. against Weston for one, slowing down her PR race or whatever, that race. Yeah. And setting the wrong timer. So that's two strikes so far. He's gonna probably say that he didn't say the timer wrong, but he totally did. Okay. I'm just n just noting for those interested. Yeah. Okay. And he comes on. He can ⁓ he can dispute it. Love you, babe. What's it like to look out on the thousands of faces in the crawls staring back at you? ⁓ it's beautiful. It's so it's amazing. Just To see them, to see all the costumes and the colors and everything come forward and just to see, I think the more beautiful one is the finish line. ⁓ you guys have probably never done this because you're probably not allowed to. ⁓ especially marathon, if you stand like 10 feet back from the finish line and just watch faces, ⁓ it's you can't not like cry and like get a cry thinking about it. Cause you'll see the people, the people that we see finishing and the arms are up and then yay, and then you see that moment of like realization of what they've done. And it's a moment like they're not it's not a moment for a photo, right? They're not trying to take a good picture, it's just like their true reaction to what they've just done. And that is like gives me goosebumps, like the coolest thing to see people realize like that dream or that that longtime goal. And so it's fun. But the start line, like I said, on World Drive, we could see farther, we could see all the way down. We'd be like, Is that Coral? And then they come forward and forward and it's pretty remarkable. ⁓ have you guys seen the drone shot from Marathon Weekend that showed the parking lot? Like Even for us to see that and be like, wow, we bring all of those people in, you know, and we see them all go by. It's it's cool. It's really just a cool thing that we get to do. Yeah. ⁓ you have another question? Unscripted? No, no, no, no. I was just gonna say, and then I thought you probably were gonna bring it up. You were talking about watching people at the finish line. We ⁓ have had the opportunity to just like cheer and spectate for a couple of the races this year. One of them was at Disneyland and Totally. Like we we've positioned ourselves sort of like in the last curve, you know, where they take the photo pass or whatever before the finish line. But seeing people like you just said, like that you can tell on their face they didn't think they were gonna be able to do it. ⁓ you know, and they're crying and then I'm crying, like I'm sure that's a really special thing to see. So yeah. I mean, I do say all the time, like, please cry when you finish. It makes me very happy. Like, weirdly makes me happy when people cry at the finish. Cause it I know that it matters, right? And I also say this like men in the 30 to 45 age group, you just are terrible because you finish and you're like, like, give me more. I need more. I need excitement. I either need excitement or tears or a cartwheel. Like you need something. Right, right, right. Yeah, it's fun. ⁓ is there anything that still makes you nervous about announcing races? You've done it for a long time. So I'm guessing not. But is there like a secret thing where like, ⁓ yeah, I I still get nervous about this? This is like a weird question, so I was like, no, and then I stop. No, I'm perfect. Yeah. And we have a bunch of pro races and live broadcasts. And so that's like a different element where it's like I am in a different type of like nerves and stuff. ⁓ I think the only things that make us nervous, and I would say the same for John, is like when we're bringing up people or there's moving parts, just making sure that like we're doing that properly and timing. I think always like it's not a nervousness, but it's a acknowledgement of timing. Because we don't want to start the race long because we said too many comments about like goofy or something like that. So but I don't I I I'm some person that does get nervous. ⁓ and I did used to like before my interviews. But I think now it just feels so familiar and so much like home that we're just like there kind of, you know, doing what we were we were meant to do. Yeah. That's awesome. If you could add or or change something about the Run Disney experience, even if it's not realistic, you know, like that that would never work. Like even if it's not realistic, is there something you would add or change to to the Run Disney experience? Disneyland races are coming back. ⁓ more races. Yes. ⁓ you know, I've I would love that if John and I could do more things off stage and off race time to like enhance the race experience. So like course preview videos or like I would love to do more stuff like that. With John and be able to do maybe more like motivational things throughout the year to sort of keep the community connected ⁓ when races aren't happening. That's always been like something that I wanted to do. But ⁓ yeah, that was you need to film more advent health videos. I think that's what we need. The door, man. That was a that was a good one. It was. ⁓ I miss that video. We we kind of do too. It's weird how like your first time you watch it, you're like, you know, you're like, okay, we've seen this before. You know, and then you're like, wait a minute, why'd they take it away? It wasn't intended to be a funny video. It was intended to be a very serious Yeah. But somehow it just we can't miss, you know, I do miss it. I need to I need a copy of that. Yeah, for sure. For sure. It became it came a Ren Disney cult classic. It did. It really did. I would cry every time thinking about the door situation. That's so good. ⁓ my gosh. Chris, can we ask you about your themed outfits? They are always so much fun. What is the wardrobe process like for that? It's very easy for us. We show up and then it's there. ⁓ they tell you what to wear. ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah. We have an amazing team of costumers. Like that that that's what they do. They help create all these things. And they've done it for years. Seneca is the one who's been with us for forever. She is there in the morning. Like she sets out all of our costumes for us. For Tracy and I, she like hangs everything in the closet and she puts our shoes below it. And then I am always cold. ⁓ one, I live in Florida, but like I'm just A woman that's always cold. And so even on the races where you guys are like sweating, I'll be like in re in the fitting, I'll be like, Seneca, don't forget my layers. And she'll always have like extra layers in case I get cold. And then she gives me gloves for the finish line to like high five everybody. If you ever wonder, like, why is it 80 and she's wearing gloves? Yeah. It's because you guys are really sweaty. ⁓ yeah. So we are so lucky to have to kind of get to tap into the Disney costuming. And the coolest thing was at Disneyland and the my favorite, one of my like all of my pants. They sew in like Run Disney Carissa like labels. ⁓ my gosh, how cute is that? And they just go somewhere and they're still, they're still all there. Like all my pants. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ my gosh. That's awesome. That is awesome. I wonder if they're in cast costuming. Yeah, no, that big warehouse where we used to get our costumes. They have a label. Yeah. Yeah. What's I have another question. Is there like one specific outfit that's been like your all-time favorite? I always feel like I say I'll have one like I'm gonna remember this one as my favorite, but the one I always say is my favorite because it was my favorite is Hella from Thor. People might not have even seen this because it's so long ago. But like I had a wig, I had on makeup, like it was really like aggressively like amazing. When I was Kevin from Up, that was was a favorite. I really like that one. And there's been one recently and I always forget, but there's been a couple ones that were like really, really fun. And even like today looking at pictures with Elliot, I was like the evil queen from Snow White, and I was like, wow, that looked really good. It's interesting sometimes like we'll puts them on and they look good and then on stage you're like, wow, that looks but they know you know what you're doing, right? Like it looks really good from on stage. Yes. And I like when we are all the same theme. Like I like when we're a group. Yeah. Totally. A lot of times they'll try to have like one of us the challenge and then, you know, depending on how the costuming and everything goes out. ⁓ but I like when we're all one cohesive theme, which I think is why I like springtime, 'cause we get more nuanced little themes that get to like ebb and flow in there. But ⁓ Disneyland is ⁓ when I ⁓ Gomorrah at Disneyland, that was also Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I just think I like to feel like I like a superhero by. Yeah, we can tell. We can tell. That's awesome. ⁓ okay, so that's any other behind-the-scenes questions. Okay. So we want to talk about encouraging others, right? And we believe genuinely that like a race, ⁓ Run Disney race is not the same without you, John, Riley, Tracy, like sending us off because of the energy and all that, but also the encouragement because you tell us. From the stage, even if we've done our training or maybe we didn't finish our training, whatever it is, you tell us that we can do this, right? Like you are encouraging us from the minute we arrive, right? No matter what our goal is, right? Just cross the finish line, go in for a PR, whatever it is. Like you tell us, yes, you can, right? Why is that so important for you guys to do that? Because that's I don't experience that at any other race, you know? Yeah, I don't know why it's important for us to do it. I think that we just genuinely, that's what we want. Like, and because you're not just empty people out there that are running a race. Like we care about you. We want you guys to succeed. We want you to get what you came for. And that's that feeling of self-worth and self-validation. We want you to realize that you're you're capable of this, you know? So I think we just genuinely believe that and we want that for you. And we also want to remind people, I think a lot of what I, you know, I kind of the more mothering is like if you don't make it like I want to remind you that you're okay. I want to remind you that you're still worthy and you're still valid. And It was years ago I got a lot of flack because I said to people, like, if it's not your day, that's okay. And somebody on social media, and this is why I don't, I'm not in any of the Facebook groups anymore. They were like, She wants us to fail. She doesn't believe in us. That was really hurtful to me. And Riley defended me because that's not what I want. I just want to make sure like we know that people aren't going to finish. Right. And the last thing I want you to do is think you're a failure and think you're not worth it. Like that would break my heart because that's absolutely not it. You had the courage to do something that is extremely scary. No matter how many times you've done it. Totally. ⁓ so yeah, I think we all none of what we do on stage is is fake. Like we would have the same conversation backstage about runners or about the race and everything. So it's just kind of who we all for are at our core. Yeah. I love it. It shines through a hundred percent. Like I feel more believed in and encouraged and whatever because I know you mean it. You know? And so yeah, I love it. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. You seem to remember everyone who comes through the start line. How do you remember all those names? It was much easier 20 years ago, like anybody that's getting older, like into the people that there's some people that it's so easy. And there's one guy, his name is Robert or Danny. I can't tell you. Sometimes he'll be like, Good job, Robert. Good job, Danny. I try to remember, you know what makes it really hard is people's Instagram names. So if I see you at a race and then I only know your Instagram name, like I'm like, I don't, I might not know your actual name. And then I don't know what to call people, then I feel awkward. Also, I have good vision, so I can read a lot of names off BIPs. ⁓ But not from the start line. The start line we can't see everything. Yeah. Like there are so many times at the start line where like I have like my actual like best friend in the world running and I do not see her start. Wow. And I know she's there. She's on the side closest to me and I just don't see her. Or there's some people you always see. So start line, you always have to give us a little bit of grace because we sometimes the trees are there. But I thank you for thinking that I do know everybody's name. I read it. It seems like it. And I can't believe you can read a bib of somebody on the race course because I'm so old now. I have my bib our two bibs in the room and I'm looking at it in front of my face going, is this mine, Erica, or is this yours? And so I can't believe you can see it from a distance. I'm really good at like letter shape recognition. So like it's it's more that. But like sometimes it's you'll see somebody and they're struggling and you wanna like, you know, connect. Yeah. Make sure that you can like see that person. Cause a normal, you know, a normal race. We are at the computer. We're reading the names a lot more than we are at Run Disney. At Run Disney and that it lasts a little bit, but at some point it's completely futile. ⁓ yeah. I'm sure. You know. So tell us what's it like getting to encourage the last athlete that crosses the finish line? It's such a privilege, like, cause it's It's it's an interesting line to walk because I want to always make sure that we are encouraging, never patronizing and supportive in the right way. And you have to kind of like make a decision as that person's coming up like, how do I approach this? And it's such a privilege when people allow us to be there for that moment and let them feel lifted and supportive in a moment that, like sometimes people are embarrassed of, but sometimes they're victorious of. So it's so many different ways that. The person can be feeling. ⁓ and so I love that we get to be able to come in and help them and support them and just cheer them on and give them that sort of celebration that they that they deserve in the most Disney fashion. And, you know, I there's so many memorable ones, but like princess from this year, who I think was like Princess 10K, was the who was like, I didn't think I could do this. And she just started crying. And it was just this most beautiful feeling of this woman that like was achieving something she even up to like five minutes before this, like literally wasn't sure. it was gonna happen. And I don't think people realize like there are people out there on the course for five Ks, like not sure if they're gonna finish, if they're gonna be allowed to finish. They are literally fighting for every single step. And so to when people wait around, like I love that people wait around now to let those people like feel seen and validated because it is such a beautiful thing to be able to to celebrate them. Because I mean we've had we had a woman in Disneyland one time who like relearned to walk just so she could Like come across that finish line and we take so much for granted. Yes. And so I always want to make sure that we take that moment to give them everything. So it's a really special thing that that we kind of get to do with the little confetti and all of that. It's it's great. Totally. We love that. We've ⁓ kind of just reminded folks that like everybody's doing a different race, right? And so if your 5K is dressing up and walking and stopping for every character and whatever, please enjoy that, right? But somebody to exactly your point is fighting for their life. And this race is going to be the biggest deal of their of their decade. And so yeah, we do. When we anytime we have the chance to cheer, we are the not this isn't about us, but like we're the last people off that cheering line because we know what that last group of people is is probably struggling through. So we love that you're that you ⁓ make a big deal out of that too. And appropriately, right? Like it's not like you said, it's not always the same thing. You know, we love that. Yeah. No, it's it's I mean, the courage that these people have is is remarkable. And that's What inspires me when I'm out running, when I'm doing things is truly, I think about so many of the stories that we've heard. And it just inspires me to keep moving and keep fighting. It's awesome. so it's up to you, but is it okay if we ask you some questions about Jeff? And if you don't want to talk about Jeff, that's totally fine. But is it okay to ask you a couple of questions about Jeff? No, I mean, I would love to. I would like to think that like it's gotten not so sad, but it's still sad. But yes, we we always want to talk about Jeff. I think everybody knows the impact he had on so many people and Our family's goal is to keep that going. Like every day we're talking about how can we keep letting people know that they can do it like Jeff did and there's the turant there we can't. ⁓ but I would love to keep talking about him and sharing about him. Awesome. ⁓ well, my my initial question is kind of where you even just started us, right? It's just ⁓ what what in in your mind, what's the most important thing that you want people to know about Jeff and the impact that he's had, right? And he continues to have that. But like the impact that he's had on the running community, what do you want people to always remember? It was said in one of the pieces about him that like he made the feeling that you could finish like a longer distance race accessible. And so I want people to remember like that you can do it and that there was somebody out there that before this was ever thought of, that the people who are finishing marathons and have marathons, myself included, would have never had the courage to try because they thought it was this elitist sport that you had to be. super fit and super fast and run until you, you know, you feel like you were going to puke. And Jeff changed all of that because he simply believed in you and believed you could do it. And he found a method that made it attainable, that made it possible, that made it more injury free. So he changed the endurance running world completely. He is in, you know, in our opinion, the most influential person in running that has ever lived. And so how we want to keep everything going is just having people remember like Hey, somebody out there believed in you and and this is possible for you no matter where you're starting from. Like you can do this. That's awesome. Krista, we were so encouraged to see you holding a microphone at Princess Weekend after Jeff's passing. Sorry, and now I'm gonna cry. sorry. Would you be willing to share why you and Weston showed up that weekend and still provided encouragement for all of us? What we thought was gonna be harder to go through the weekend having lost him. was actually the best comfort because we were surrounded by so much love and so much support. And it was difficult, but like, where else would Jeff have wanted us to be? You know what I totally ⁓ and so I knew that it was I was going to be there and the team was amazing. They were like, you can do whatever you don't need to if you don't if you can't do anything, you know, that's absolutely okay. ⁓ and then Wesson and Elliot were always going to run the five K. Elliot really loves the metals and did more he wasn't sure he was gonna do And I don't I think for a long time he was like, I'm not not a long time because I I can't do it. And then in the end he just the same thing. Like, I want Elliot to know that like he was there. He wanted Elliot to be able to see the tribute ⁓ that the Run Disney team put together. So it truly was the only place that we I mean it would have felt completely inauthentic, you know, to not be there. And the start line was pretty you know, it was okay. Everybody's seen it, you know, the video was was tough. It got easier each day. Yeah. Pretty tough, but then I got to the finish line of the 5K and I went out to pick up the mic and I was like, I can't I didn't I just felt so inauthentic jeering on people in that moment because I was so so broken and so brokenhearted. And so I just I went to the back of the stage and I was like trying to get myself together. And then I heard John talking to D DW and I was like, Okay, well if I'm gonna come out, it's gonna be to see DW and just having a run Disney community there kind of helped me. realized that what Jeff's whole mission was was to this to get these people across this finish line. And he helped bring, you know, run Disney when it started and helped grow it. And he used those training plans changed my life. They changed millions of people's lives. You know, that's why we were there because that was the only place in the world that we should be. Yeah. I get emotional because like you just said, like we wouldn't I mean AJ might, but I would never be runner if it wasn't for Jeff. And ⁓ And I remember very vividly we were driving to Florida and we were talking and and AG's we were trying to figure out if you would be there that weekend. And ultimately it came down to what you just said. Like, where else would she be? Like this is like this is where Jeff would want you to be. You know what I mean? Like surrounded by the Ren Disney community. And so I just you were so brave for doing that. And I just was like I was just sending you all like a thoughts and love from the corral. But ⁓ Anyway, it meant a lot to us that you were still there and that you encouraged us like Jeff would have if he was there. So it was very special. But have you had any really encouraging moments since February that confirmed for you that Jeff's legacy is living on? I mean, every day I see my husband work so hard, like in this office, making sure that he's continuing to build and to grow what Jeff created. And, you know, it's just a weird winding road that we got to a place where Weston was working for Jeff, you know, when this happened because he had worked for ASICs for a long time and he's able to do that. ⁓ But you know, the sort of moment that was like the more surreal, like, yep, Jeff's still there moment is that Elliot ran his first kids' race ⁓ in March. So after he had passed, and he obviously would have been there to watch this. ⁓ but Elliot had never run a race like on his own before. It was a kid's race where he was a hundred percent good at be his own. Elliot's done five Ks, but he's done fifteen minutes five Ks, right? Like it's just for fun. Right. Never talked to our son about running fast, about winning because we want him to like run. Yeah. So it's always a very like happy go lucky, whatever pace he wants it done. And he'd done some training runs. He'd done five half mile training runs because he was told if he did that, he got to pick a toy. So I was the announcer for the start of the race, and there was probably like 40 or 50 like five year olds in this half mile race. We send him off. I they let me run to the finish to see him. We have absolutely no expectation that our son is going to like be at the front of his race. Yeah, sure. Lead I say the lead kid. And then my kid is second. Like my son out there who I've never seen, like, say, I want to win, I'm gonna do is like fighting. And it just I could just think of Jeff like smiling down on him, like watching finish that race. No, I was the worst race announcer in the world because I was like, here's the winner, and this is my kid. I am I'm literally I apologize to the kid. I am so embarrassed for my actions. But it just was that moment where it's like he's he's you know, he's out there watching. Yeah. That's great. ⁓ last question related to Jeff, if you don't mind, is what's something that Jeff taught you that you n that you'll never forget? Right. Something that that will stay with you forever. I think for me, I have the I of so I, you know, was a runner in high school. And then when I started working for Run Disney, I didn't know anything. I didn't have family members that ran marathons. Distance running was like foreign to me. And I saw the people finishing and then I met Jeff. And so I was this is I don't even I mean, I don't know Wesson at this point, right? I'm 19 years old. And I was like, I want to run a marathon. And I used his his training plan to run the Donna marathon in 2006. ⁓ saw him at the finish and chased him down to get a picture with him because that was I was like, I'm a fan, I was a f Jeff Galloway, you know, fangirl too. And a couple of years after I started running, you know, marathons, somebody at Run Disney said, like, you running that marathon changed the trajectory of your career. And I would have never had that, you know, without Jeff. So that's similar to what you guys know of Jeff is that like you can do it, making it accessible, giving you a gift, basically finishing. But I have like the Jeff Galloway at home and just the most patient, like wonderful man, like devoted to his family. And we would do we do story time with our kids. And there was never a time he wasn't sitting there engaged, like reading and listening. Like he was so Present in home as he was with you guys at the expo. And so I'm grateful that, you know, we got we got that. And my daughter was so impacted by him. You know, Elliot's a little younger, but in her room, she has like a little, a little Jeff shrine. Pictures of her and him. And then he had a a real-time pain reliever bottle with his face on it. So that's and then for her birthday, she asked for like a stuffed pillow made of her and Jeff. So His legacy definitely lives ⁓ on here and in our home. And I think I'm I'm very grateful that my kids will grow up sort of with that kindness belief ⁓ first system. Yeah. It's amazing. Thanks for being willing to talk a little bit about him. Thank you. ⁓ we really, we really appreciate that. ⁓ so to kind of wrap up, ⁓ we you usually talk a lot of Run Disney, right? But you announce other stuff, right? Whether people realize that or not, like you do other things, right? What what what's your favorite experience or you know, set of races or thing that you look forward to, like no Ren Disney, right? What what what what else do you love to do? Racers. ⁓ well, I I just I love to announce races. I do love, I actually really love West and I are complete track nerds. Like I love elite racing. Like I love an elite field ⁓ of athletes when I get to kind of do bios. I announced the Falmouth Road race, which is a legendary race ⁓ in Massachusetts. In the summer, and I get to ride on the back of the women's lead truck and I have the headset and I'm like calling back a commentary. so I love that. I got to announce the Olympic marathon team trials when they were in Orlando, and I always wanted to be an Olympic announcer. So that was one of my favorite things. But I think my favorite like non-Disney race is the indie mini, which a lot of Run Disney family actually started coming to. ⁓ so it's become a very fun race that they have like a Fun vibe, you know, there's fun stuff out there on the course. So it's always good when I get to see the Run Disney family, but nothing is like Run Disney, like with the music and the DJs, you know, me by my with my I have like a clipboard. You maybe wouldn't even rec people be like, ⁓ I didn't know that was you. I've tried to wear the glitter lips and it just doesn't always hit right. At other races, sometimes we'll have like a bow. I'll do a glitter bow or like a sparkle skirt. Yes. ⁓ but they they ain't ready for the whole thing. You know, I'm by myself, you know. Yes. Who's this lady over here? I have to kind of play a more serious role too, because I have like more hats on at that point. ⁓ but ⁓ I just love I love the run community. And if you're ever in Orlando, all the track shack races are absolutely fabulous. And I'll be at Beach to Beacon, which is Joan Benoit Samuelson's race this year. It's my first time announcing it. I'll be the first woman ⁓ announcer that they've ever had. So cool up in Maine in the summer. So ⁓ anytime that I a race brings on a woman that hasn't had one before, which I guess unfortunately for me has like almost every race I've ever done. Okay. ⁓ I've been the first woman, so ⁓ it's important for me to be able to keep keep doing that and adding, you know, female voices to this. That's super awesome. You're are you are you right? You're running stuff still, right? Like what do you have coming up that you're gonna run? I'm running the Berlin Marathon. So cool. We got in. ⁓ we didn't want to run another marathon in the fall, and here we are, cause the allure of the world marathon majors looms large. And I mentioned we're obsessed with. were obsessed with distance running. So Elliot Kipchogee, who was the world record holder and was the only person to run under two hours, ⁓ Berlin is where he set one of his world records. And so I have this very strong visual of him running under that arch. And so I've always wanted to do that. And our son is obviously named partly after him. His my son's name is Elliot. Yeah. After him. So I'm excited to be able to go out there and run. ⁓ Wesley are not gonna run together this time. I hope that he goes and has his own great race and I can I hope I have a great race too. Awesome. Very cool. Okay. So you can also find me at Iron Man races all summer long, but that's a different that's like a whole different world. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Does that is that 'cause Run Disney, I'm sure, is a job, but it's like a fun, you know what I mean? Like you just get to be goofy and you know, where glitter lips and things like that, right? Like when you go to an Iron Man and whatever, do you have just put on like full on just like work mode? You know what I mean? Or or can you still have fun at those things? Like with me, what you see is what you get. So I do bring a little bit more authentic like fun to Iron Man. Good. Good. Good. May not always be what they're looking for. But it is, you're right. It's definitely a lot of work. I mean we're swimming, we're biking, we're running, we like for a full day of a full Iron Man, we just had the inaugural one in Jacksonville. We start at like five AM and swim. send everybody into the water, then we go to swim exit, call the names as they get out of the water. Then we'll go to a hot corner where like maybe they're running by, do that. And then once the finish line opens, we're there from like three PM until one AM. So and So that's it's a day. Like we'll maybe take a little nap. Like maybe or like I don't think I even took a nap on that day because we just had so many different moving parts. ⁓ so they're very different worlds. So I maybe that's why I'm so energetic when I get to run to the girl, Mickey Mouse. Yes, yes, yes. ⁓ wow, that's awesome. People finishing with two beers and an ice cream. Yes. Wow. That's awesome. ⁓ man. Okay, so Krista, the number one topic our listeners have been asking for from us lately is to talk about healthy eating. We are not experts in that at all, but you are. Can you tell us a little bit about your nutrition course, A Healthier You? Yes. So I am a registered dietitian. John mocks me for saying it on stage, but I'm just trying to make sure people know I'm not making stuff up. ⁓ this is, you know, like being a race now, is probably like half my full-time job and being a registered dietitian is. So I became a dietitian. My first Degree was in sports, was in broadcasting, you know, worked in sports broadcasting. And as I was traveling for football and everything, I realized like I wasn't feeling good. I had gained weight, I didn't feel good. And for me, it's like, well, how do I fix this? Let me learn about it. So I started learning about nutrition and I was like, wow, I love this. Why sh I should just go back to school, get another degree and become a dietitian? But I wanted to do it the right way. So The reason I'm saying all that is because when I work with people with nutrition, my whole goal is to educate them on the why of making different food choices. Because I can write anybody a diet plan, hand it to them, but they're not gonna do it for more than let's say two, three weeks. But if I can have you look at a menu and go, okay, Bri, I need protein for satiety, that's gonna help make sure I feel full and help my muscles recover. And then, ⁓ I want a little bit of fiber because I'm traveling and I want this, like understanding the why of different food choices, that's basically we do at healthier you it's nutrition education based never a restrictive diet but just really understanding your your fullness cues understanding why you're eating certain foods and then the same way I am with like running making sure like you acknowledge like every little baby victory like we do that as well like hey like maybe you got off track this week but did you eat more fruit and vegetables? Okay good we're celebrating that it's always very positive. Like a 12 week course yeah it's a 12 week course where you have like 12 weeks of education modules. Then you access it for a year. And then we do monthly chats, which are also like monthly. I do like a mini master class on something different. So we've done omega 3s, we've done creatine. We just did iron ⁓ this last Monday. And then everybody that's in the course like emails me questions that I answer anonymously usually. So you can ask like a question about like, hey, I'm this and this and this. And then that you kind of get all your questions answered by me in a nice group setting. And we have some fun group conversations. Krista, that is so good. When we were chatting before we started recording, you were telling us about your run like magic course. Can you give us the lowdown on that as well? So I work closely in my real life job in nutrition with another Run Disney runner. And when we were kind of talking one day about Run Disney and runners, we were like, Run Disney is so unique in how you have to treat your nutrition. You know, most of the time you're not getting up at two AM and running. You you're doing things differently for your body. And we have so many first timers at Run Disney that They need this education to be able to complete them at their best, right? What we say is the only thing you can control on race day, and you've you've run, you've heard me say this, is your nutrition. You have control over nothing else. But like you taking a gel, you getting enough water, you getting electrolytes is the only thing you can control. So Jamie Lee and I made a course called Run Like Magic, which is specifically designed for Run Disney athletes for teaching them when to back time your food. To think about, ⁓ hey, I'm gonna be in the crowd for 45 minutes and I was there 45 minutes earlier. If I ate at the hotel, that's is does that work for me? And the answer is no. ⁓ so Run Like Magic is a self-paced web course that you can go through to answer all those questions, get you on the right track with how much should I be eating, how much should I be drinking? Spoiler alert is you're not doing enough of either. So we're really proud of the course. And I was thinking about it on a long run, listening to you guys, like, ⁓ wow, this is the perfect time to sort of share that. And so for your anniversary, we're gonna do 50% off the course for all of your listeners, which we've never done before. That's so cool. I told Samuel I was like, Hey, I'm giving away it's half off, okay, bye. So the quote is one more run, obviously. So they can sign up. They'll have the self-paced course to be able to go through everything. And hopefully as their training goes on, they're gonna feel confident in their ability to fuel their bodies the way they need to. ⁓ that's so cool. Thanks for doing that. How do we find that? Or should I just put a link in the show notes? Is that the easiest way, or is there an easy like URL? It's on News Dindler with it's called Run Like Magic. So you guys go to the link and then I'm gonna have it ⁓ I'm gonna share it on the same date. This comes out on the Instagram. So you can find myself, you can find Jamie Lee. We're both dietitian moms who just love Disney. Awesome. We love having both those, like all these resources, right? Like healthier you and this. So thanks for all these resources. That's awesome. And thanks for that discount code. That's that rocks. That's so cool. Thank you. ⁓ okay, Erica, do you have any other questions before I ask the final question? No, no, go ahead. Okay, Krista, what are you excited about right now that you don't ever really get the opportunity to talk about, right? Nobody ever asks you about it. It doesn't have to be Disney, it doesn't have to be running, it can be anything. You're just so excited and no one seems to know to ask you about it. I'm actually really excited about running Berlin because I I am in the camp and this is probably a very small camp that likes the race training better than the race itself. ⁓ I actually enjoy, I'm excited to be in marathon training and be healthy. ⁓ and able to go and do that. And I don't know any parents out there, but I'm I used to not like summer and I love summer now as a mom because I get more time with my kids and everything's more relaxed. So I'm excited that it's summertime. That's awesome. Cool. Krissa, seriously, like from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for not just being on the podcast, but for everything you do for this entire community. Like this, we don't I don't even know. Like I can't even put into words how much you mean to us. So thank you for being on the podcast, but thank you for being you. Thank you guys. And to everybody that after the races that even after Jeff's passing reached out and said wonderful things, it was it's it's like absorbed and it's appreciated in you guys too. So thank you. And I hope this was interesting for everybody. ⁓ I always everybody's gonna love it. Especially the two strikes against Weston. He'll give me back, I'm sure. Awesome. Thanks for being on the podcast, Krista. We appreciate it. See you soon. AJ, this was such an honor. Totally. Carissa, thank you so much for being our guest today. But even more than that, thank you for inspiring and encouraging all of us at the start and finish line. Yeah. If you want even more bonus content from our time with Carissa, definitely check out our Patreon after show, which you can find at AJNEririca.com. ⁓ their little ⁓ surprise guest joins us with Carissa. So ⁓ Patreon bonus bonus. Uh-huh. Patreon members, you are going to love that. ⁓ we've had some incredible guests on the podcast, Erica, in the last year. They've all been Amazing, authentic, like they are what you think they are, you know. And and they we've just been so blessed. And we've been blessed that so many people have said yes. Yeah. And really, and you and I, this was our this was intentional. We said we want to bring people on that are a helpful resource but also encouraging. Yeah. Right. And I think next week is gonna be good. Next week is like the epitome of encouraging. We are so excited for y'all to hear next week's guest. We have Riley Claremont on the podcast. Riley is an announcer. Yes. ⁓ there's kind of the core four. Right. Yeah you know? And ⁓ we've now had John and Carissa and now Riley is joining us. And it is so good. ⁓ we don't just ⁓ you know a little insight here. We pre-record this stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. And we've already done it. And it's so good. Just killing me to like wait. We laughed, we cried. ⁓ we did all the we did all the things. Yep. So join us next week for sure. We don't want to miss Riley is on the podcast and it is fantastic. ⁓ we generally wrap up our episodes with some ⁓ personal training updates. If we have any, we talk Run Disney news, things like that. We're like in the middle of not Run Disney season, although training starts right now, this week for Marathon weekend. So if you're running Dopey or Goofy or the Marathon, your training started. Which means our training started. We got a little bit of a head start. Yeah. ⁓ a smidge. And so we've kind of already been building up and all that stuff. But do you have any new like anything in terms of ⁓ training to to share on your side of things? Yeah, I did my first ⁓ hill hill drills the other day. I don't know what they're actually called. That's what I'm calling them. And you waited for the hottest day of the year, right? I mean, I literally was thinking when I was out there sweating to death, we tell our listeners to Train for anything, be prepared for every situation. I just thought, well, if we were going to run springtime this upcoming year, I'll be ready. Yeah. You got that tolerance heat training. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, but it was good. I ⁓ I was a little bit concerned about my hip, but it it held in there. It was fine. And they were intense, let me tell you. I what I did is I had to do six of them. And so I just picked a different person to think about as I was charging up this hill at 90%. ⁓ cool. And so I did one for all of our kids, but then number six was for our listeners. And as I was Pushing myself just dead tired. I thought I would tell them, like, you can do this. Dig deep. You're stronger than you think you are. Awesome. And so I did that last one for for all of them. But it's good. It's so good to be out on the road again. It's it's funny when you are doing it, some days you like don't want to do it. But then when you can't do it, you're like, man, I wish I was out there. And so it was good to be back. We try and tell ourselves, like, there's gonna be a day that I can't do this. And you try to like pre assess that, yeah. Yeah, be ahead of that. But it's really hard to like imagine when you can't. But then when you can't, and then you actually. get to like it really does feel good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. How's your training going? Good. I had a prediction run. Yeah. I've never done this before. have you ever done a prediction run? No. So I did not know what this was. It was on my schedule. Bottom line is you're not allowed to look at your watch or your pace or anything like that. You run 30 minutes away and you try and do what you've already been practicing, which is your goal pace for your race. Yeah. Right. And so or at least my current pace based off my magic mile. Yada yada yada. No watch. And I'm like, ⁓ dang. Okay. And so I set a 30 minute timer on my phone. Yeah. You run 30 minutes out, turn around and come back at the same pace. Yeah. Run walk interval, all that stuff. If you get back too early, then that means that you held back, you know, in the on the front half or whatever. If you get back too late, then you went too fast. ⁓ you went out too fast. Yeah, like there's there's there's reasons, but the bottom line is you're trying to keep the pace the whole time, right? Yeah. I got back early. Yeah, but by like forty seconds or something. Yeah, but I sort of four seconds. Yeah. I feel like you would probably be the best at this than anybody that I know because you do have this insane ability to be able to like pinpoint down to the second. So I was five seconds off. Five seconds off my target pace. Okay. Right? Yeah. And so ⁓ we you know, we don't talk paces on the podcast usually, but like I I was just five seconds per mile off. But here's what I think. I think I was actually too slow on the front half. Yeah. And on the back half, I was I'm doing quotes chasing the finish line. Correct. Because when you're finishing a race, what do you do? You give it whatever you have left. Right, right, right, yeah. And then I'm like going, going, going. And I can see where I started, but my my alarm hasn't gone off yet. And so I'm like, ⁓ shoot, like what do I do now? Like so I'm like kind of slowing down, slowing down, but that's that's totally against my nature. Right, yeah. Because I like I can see the finish line in the school parking lot where I started. And I'm like, ⁓ no, ⁓ no, ⁓ no. And I'm like, please alarm, please go off. Please go off. And it never did. And so I crossed, you know, and I pull my phone out and I got forty-four seconds left. ⁓ jeez. And I'm like, that was I think, but I also then looked at my stats. Yeah. You know what I mean? And ⁓ on my like I had my watch running, but I didn't look at it. You know what I mean? I put it on a different screen where you couldn't see the time or anything. And so it I still tracked my stats. And I really I was too fast at the end. But I think it's because I'm just so used to that. Like yeah. Where we're last half mile. Give it whatever you've got. Give it all you got, Erica. Yeah. The Guire's right there. You know? No, they're not. So anyway, prediction run. It was my first time. I think I might get better at that. Yeah. You know, or at least know what to expect now. Yeah. ⁓ running without looking at my watch, miserable. I bet. Miserable. Yeah. Yeah. But the point is, do you know how fast you're going? Right. So anyway, that's the only update I have on training. And and ⁓ welcome to Atlanta where the heat is. The worst thing of all time. That's right. I know Florida people are like, ⁓ please hold my beer. You know, but like it's ⁓ it it's hot right now. It is and so muggy. Yeah. And ⁓ I'm excited that training now is officially kicking off for everybody. So whether you started early or you started this week, I'm excited. People are gonna start being on hauler hype talking about their races and stuff like that. So yeah, super exciting. ⁓ let's wrap up the episode with we ⁓ we read reviews on the episode. We're ⁓ move the housekeeping stuff here to the end today. Yeah. This one is called Hooked on Every Episode, and it comes from Castle Run Cindy. She says, I recently discovered one more run with AJ and Erica and I'm officially hooked. I've now gone back and listened to every single episode and it's been such a great experience from start to finish. As someone who's been running Run Disney since 2022, I didn't expect to still be learning new things, but you guys prove me wrong every episode in a good way. The insights, tips, and personal experiences you share are incredibly valuable, whether you're new to Run Disney or a seasoned runner. Beyond that, your demeanors and the way you connect with each other and your listeners make the podcast genuinely enjoyable to listen to. It feels like running with friends who just get it. Highly recommend to anyone who's new to running, new to Run Disney, or anyone who just loves running and great conversation. Keep it up. That was so nice, Cindy. Thank you so much for the sweet long review. It's it helps being married, right? Yes, totally. We ⁓ we've got 27 years of knowing each other. Yep. You know, to when we sit down behind these microphones, we don't have to fake it. You know, like we've got the relationship to do that. So ⁓ awesome. Thank you for leaving a review. That really helps us ⁓ know what we're doing well. We say that a lot and it helps other people find the show. Yeah. And so we ⁓ we remember we said we were hoping to pass a hundred re ratings and reviews or whatever. By this launch of season three, and y'all got us there. Yes, thank you. It's sitting at like 102 or something now. You got us just in the nick of time. Perfect. And so thank you. It's not about the numbers, it's not about any of that for us. But the more you know people see that the show is a positive thing, you know, the more people can find it and give it a listen. Yeah. And hopefully they love too. And if they don't love it, that's okay. ⁓ we're gonna still keep creating it. That's right. Awesome. ⁓ there's three easy ways to support the show. I obviously just talked about leaving a review, that's super helpful. If you guys don't mind, follow and subscribe on all the things. We push out content on the po on the whatever the ⁓ podcast player, you know. But then also we have Facebook and Instagram and all that stuff. So if you want ⁓ encouragement throughout the week, we do that. And then ⁓ we mentioned the after show that we do for our Patreon. We call that the support crew. They're the people making this whole thing possible. Yeah. Right. ⁓ they're supporting the show, they're getting bonus content and stuff in the mail. So ⁓ if you want to support the show that way, we would love that as well. Friends, you do not want to miss next week's episode with Riley Claremont. It is so good. We'll catch you then for another episode of One More Run. Thanks for joining us for this episode of One More Run, the Podcast. If you like what we're up to, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Instagram. You can find links to all of that at ajnerrica.com.