AJ and Erika: Friends, we have such a huge treat for you this week. We are so excited to have Run Disney Race announcer Tracy Woo on the podcast. Hey there, friends. Welcome to one more run the podcast. This is episode number fifty-five. Erica, my mind is blown by that. My name's AJ. This is Erica. We host this thing for you to feel confident, prepared, inspired for your next Run Disney race or whatever race you're signed up for. ⁓ we ⁓ had a plan. We did. Right? Like I've got a great kind of like ⁓ spreadsheet of things, you know. Here's the upcoming episodes, here's the plan. Let's make sure it fits with ⁓ like the race schedule or a schedule of ⁓ what you should be knowing right about now. Yeah. And then I ⁓ sent a text message or a ⁓ Instagram message yesterday that threw a wrench in that hole. That's right. Yeah. And so ⁓ I I reached out to because we've had three of the four race announcers on. And I wasn't planning on it being this week. Right. I was planning on it being some point. Right. Well, let's complete the the right the four star challenge. You know, let's see if we can get all four Run Disney race announcers on the podcast. Yeah. And I was texting Or ⁓ instant messaging, Tracy Woo. I don't know Tracy. Right. We've never met her in person. No. And I said, Would you like to be on the podcast? And she was like, It's about time you asked. I know. You know? It was so funny when I read that part. And I was like, no, no, no, no. Like, like we're, you know, we like genuinely, like you guys are such a big deal to us. You know, we didn't know if you'd say yes. Right. Anyway, so we're trying to figure out the logistics of it. And I'm getting to the point of the story, is let's push back everything and have Tracy right now. Right. And so We're pivoting a smidge. Yes. And ⁓ yeah, like that that's the point of the story. As we said last week, we were gonna do, hey, here's some basics of Run Disney for those of you that are new to it. We're gonna call it Welcome to Run Disney. We're gonna cover the basics. Nope. Not this week. Nope. Instead, we're having a party with Tracy. That's exactly right. ⁓ what'd you we just recorded with her and so we're kinda doing the recording out of order, right? What'd you enjoy about this conversation we're about to have? What didn't I enjoy about this conversation? ⁓ she's so sweet and so much fun. And we have a lot of things in common, I've discovered. Yes, you do. I feel like we could actually be friends in real life. Yes. Yep. Yes. Yeah. It's a really good conversation. We're gonna dive right into it. We'll do our housekeeping and ⁓ we are gonna continue ⁓ the stories we started last week. ⁓ we call them the journey may be hard. Yes. Right. ⁓ we're adding in a few more stories. Awesome. From here, it'll be the same. We'll we'll follow the same people. every few weeks. Yeah. But we couldn't get everybody in last week, right? So we're gonna add in a couple more and we got really positive feedback on sharing that you enjoyed it. I did. I had not heard it all sort of come together until I heard it on the podcast. I was listening to the podcast while I was running, which I don't normally do. Yeah. And I was literally like crying running down the side of the road. I don't remember who said it, but someone said something about like they're gonna get this race done. And I literally yelled out loud, Yeah you are like So I'm so excited to just Follow along with our training journey and see how it goes. Yep. So we'll continue that at the end of this episode as well. We're really excited about that. We hope you get a lot of encouragement from it. Erica, introduce who Tracy is. We've kind of like teed up that she's on the podcast and you guys would be besties, you know, when you meet in person. But how would you describe for the person who either Doesn't know who she is, they've never done Run Disney or they weren't paying attention. Right. So I would say that Tracy and Riley have very similar jobs. Yeah. Except that he usually covers like the inspiring stories. And Tracy has like the fun stuff. So she's like wants to hear about like what crazy costume someone's wearing. Or, you know, like maybe stirring up some drama about, you know, like the husband who's really fast that left his wife in the back corral, but he didn't stay with her, you know? So ⁓ I mean she does inspiring stuff too, but she I love her because she does like the fun stuff. So she brings energy, ⁓ sarcasm. Totally. She she toes the line between appropriate and not appropriate. Love it. ⁓ or or she's really good at, in my opinion, having seen her so many times at a race weekend. She's really good at like setting something up and putting her toes right up against the line and then leaving it silent. Yep. For the re for us to assume what what she would have said, but she but she doesn't say it. And that's really good comedy. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, yep, y'all, y'all can just think whatever you want to think about that. Right, right, right. So she's so good. She brings a lot of energy. She does. And she brings a lot of energy to this conversation too. Love it. Awesome. You guys are gonna enjoy it. Here we go. This is our conversation with Ram Disney Race announcer, Tracy Wu. ⁓ Erica, this is really exciting because now we're completing the ⁓ what do you call it? Quartet? I don't know. The four racing actors we have invited. And it was a wild circumstance where I just sent a text and she said yes. And now we have Tracy Wu on the podcast, which is so exciting. Tracy, welcome to one more run of the podcast. Awesome. Hi guys. Thank you for having me. I'm so stoked to be here. Yeah, this is this is so good. ⁓ were you okay with just like the wild text that I sent you yesterday or Instagram message yesterday? Like, or like tell me how you how you received that yesterday. Well, it was actually funny because I was listening to your podcast with Riley on my way to work and I was like, why haven't they called me? Sorry. So I was very excited when I got the message. I'm like, finally, they haven't forgotten me. ⁓ no. We saving the best for last. That's what we were doing. ⁓ good answer. Good answer. You can tell you you're married and happily married because you're doing the right thing. Yeah. Yep. Tell us, tell us about you. How'd you get involved with Run Disney? I was a performer at Disney from I don't know, eight, nine years full time. so I was ⁓ I did Who Wants to be a Millionaire was my first job ever. I I was original cast of that show. Original cast of Playhouse Disney Live on Stage. This is back in 2000. Yeah. 2001. Cool. I'm very old. Not as old as Riley and John, but old. ⁓ Lightsmotters Action, Finding Nemo Musical. I danced with the Luau, blah, blah, blah. ⁓ a a few other things. And then I had left the company, but Disney and Entertainment were all everyone knows everybody. And one of my friends, Carol Sara Goose, she was ⁓ Streetmosphere. She messaged me and said that they were Doing auditions for Spanish speaking ⁓ hosts at ESBN Wild World Sports. so I speak fluent Spanish. So I went and I it was funny because when I did the audition, the two people at the audition room were ⁓ John Phelan, who was my show director at Millionaire, and then this other guy, Brian, who was the writer for Millionaire. And I walked in and ⁓ and they're like, ⁓ Tracy, what's up? And then we just started talking and they just started explaining the ESPN job. This isn't Run Disney. And then like we're just talking for like 10 minutes and they're like, Cool. So you want to do it? I'm like, are you even gonna audition me? And they're like, ⁓ yeah, here's a script. Do it. So I got that job and it was just doing random, you know, there's like track meets or softball or whatever at ESPN. And then one of the an award ceremony, I worked with Riley. ⁓ so I give a lot of kudos to Riley for this. And he he complimented me and said, It's interesting because a lot of ⁓ hosts turn on their host voice when they're working. So suddenly it's like, and now the winner, you know? Yeah. And he's like, you're very natural. I'm like, think. So then I guess he told Run Disney about me. And then that's how I got the gig. Awesome. It's awesome. Yeah. It was a darn dream come true. When was that? How long has it been since you've been doing Run Disney? I think I started the first time, either 2016 or 2017. I'm not really sure. But I was like a one-off. So the first time I did it is because Riley had just had his kid. Okay. So they needed someone to come in. ⁓ so he didn't want to be there, obviously, because he had a brand new baby. And so I would just come in for, you know, one one one of the races in the race weekend or whatnot. And I was just in the corrals. ⁓ and that was it. I didn't have a Run Disney contract. I just walked in. I had no idea what was going on. And then they slowly started bringing me in one at a time. And then there was a gentleman who was ⁓ an announcer, one of the their core and then he had left and that's when they offered me the job. And I think it was twenty nineteen was my first full year. Either that or twenty twenty. And because I remember like I had a finally a contract and then COVID happened. ⁓ jeez. Yeah. And like I had a full year contract and then right before princess they're like, psych. ⁓ no man. But it came back. It is well I'm I was still here. Let's see what happens in the fall. Okay. Yeah, I think Riley made comment about that last week too, where it's like you get your contract whatever every summer or whatever and you just don't know what the next year holds, right? Right. I mean, you're in the industry, you know. I don't believe anything until I've signed something and half the time I don't believe anything until I'm on set. Yeah. So ⁓ yeah, I've had that a million times without my video shoots and whatever. I'm like, you know, packing up and you know, you get a call that something happened or whatever, and I tell Erica the same thing. I'm like, I actually like until I have the footage in the in the edit bay, like I don't believe like we're fully, you know, engaged here. So exactly. I get it. Well, we know you've got ⁓ run, you know, a lot of Run Disney history. We want to get to know you all that stuff, but we also do need to clear the air of smidge on one thing if you're willing to ⁓ help us clear the air on it. I posted a reel and John had, you know, made a claim, you know, that or well, Riley made a claim that that ⁓ Carissa sleeps in, you know, has missed rehearsal. you know, before. And then I used an old clip of John saying the same thing. So she felt the need to defend herself. And so we kind of wanted to get your perspective. But I also think we need a little, you know, we need a little help, you know, with this as well. And so I'm bringing in someone that can help us clear the air on this. Yep. Here to clear the air. Hey John, welcome to the podcast, my friend. John's here. Thank you. Yep. Thank you for having me. And I I I will say, Tracy, you'll be very, very proud of me. ⁓ while I was waiting to come in, I learned how to change the background on my ⁓ on my camera so you don't see how messy our gym ⁓ gym office looks right now. So John had a technical breakthrough, everyone. Please, it's July tenth. Put that. I love the background. It looks good. I actually just cleared this whole table. Just for this because it was I was gonna do the whole thing and I went, you know, I'm pretty sure there's a background change. Tracy knows how technically ⁓ challenged I am. But well, John, we want to clear the air on something, which is Riley made the comment that ⁓ Carissa has missed rehearsal. You made the comment that she's missed rehearsal a few times. I think she's ⁓ needing to defend herself. You know, of course, she's on a cruise ship right now, so she can't, you know, defend herself because she's out in the middle of the ocean, right? So we're hoping that you guys. Well well actually maybe she can just maybe she can just clear the air right here. Well she Chris is on a cruise ship, or as we call it, ⁓ any day she's not working. I mean she lives on a cruise ship. Honestly, you're like a naval commander. You know, hi Tracy. This is so weird. I'm like, what is happening? What it what what things has John said about me? Okay, no, for the record. Because I wanna I I would get for the record, I do not think I said that you missed rehearsal numerous times. I think what I said is that you overslept on more than one occasion. That is true. ⁓ we only left you once. And I will also say if anybody thinks that any of this of the ⁓ race announcers have anything to say about whether or not that ⁓ that car leaves in the morning, you are sorely mistaken. That is the completely the production assistant's choice. ⁓ but we didn't want to get out of the car and go knock on your door though, I will admit that. It was it was one time that I actually overslept. There was another announcer that overslept another time. ⁓ I will say one of that I overslept. It was only once. And John said it was multiple times. It was once that Carissa's done, at least since I've been on the team. I honestly I honestly thought there were I've honestly thought I remembered other times. I will admit that I do get there early. I'm that guy. I wake up. If I set the alarm for like 1230, I'm gonna wake up at 1205. So I generally do end up being the first one out there. So you may have simply been on time and I was running on what what old men like me call Lombardy time and I just assumed you were late. Because if you're on time, Lombardy time, you're five minutes late if you're not there. Yeah, if you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. That's how we operate how we operate. That's it. That's it. Exactly. Does Lombardy time qualify at one AM? Because I feel like at one AM we throw that away. I do stand corrected. I and ⁓ at least ⁓ Explained in that I don't I don't believe you've ever missed a rehearsal completely. And I honestly don't know that the day they had to go back and get you if we'd even started rehearsing before you got there. So I cried, John. It was very exciting. Yeah, I'm sure you did. I'm sure that I'm sure that my opinion will drive you to tears. No, I was embarrassed. ⁓ Did we talk about Tracy and the costume question? We have a special guest who is wanting to join in now. ⁓ my buddies. Good to be back. Good to be back. Hi, Tracy. I miss your face. So good. It's good to see your face. Yay. The question we wanted to ask you was your comment about the ⁓ of the announcing team who has the strongest opinion about wardrobe. And you without a without a beat said, Tracy, period. And we moved on. You know what I mean? Like that was period. So I wanted to clear the air here. Is that true, Tracy? Absolutely, it is true. An adorable goat. An adorable goat. I look like the Michelin man. Let's be honest. It's cute. John and Tracy, ⁓ and it's almost every race now, will go at it. And again, kidding, joking. We all just give each other call the time because we're family. ⁓ but yeah, it's become a running thing where John and Tracy just go at each other. You know, it all starts to spark as the wardrobe. You know, you're gonna complain about the wardrobe this man this morning, woo. And then Tracy will come back with both barrels with something really You know, just so personal about John's health or his age or something. Usually it's age. But it's great. It's awesome. Probably. Or and then we go out on stage with that energy and it's it it really is. It's an age thing. All right. I'm gonna go ⁓ see my six year old rock client. Yes. Please do that. Thank you for clearing the air ⁓ and joining us, Krista. We really appreciate it. So crazy. All right. Bye. Gotta give gotta gotta give her credit. I don't if I was on a cruise, I probably wouldn't have done it. Yeah. ⁓ make sure you ask Tracy a lot about her film and television work. She's very proud of As well, she should We certainly will Thanks, John. All right. Thank you, John, for this fun surprise. Bye, John. Thanks. Take care, guys. It's so good. What I'm loving about this whole thing is that you guys are exactly what we imagine you being like. Yeah. You know, like just watching you interact even here is just exactly what we see at a race, and it's and it's totally true. So if we got nothing else from the interactions here, that they are who they are. Yes. Which is which is totally good. Hey, Ryan. I don't drink. What are you talking about? I don't drink before noon is the thing. There you go. Hey, Riley, we don't want to keep you long. Is there anything we need to ask Tracy while we have her? Is there any or anything we need to know about her before we let you go? ⁓ just ask her how she has developed so many friendships, so many people that come running by that know her. And the thing is that, you know, ⁓ with with Carissa, the people that know her mainly are from Yeah, she's got friends obviously from outside the running community, but the vast majority of them seem to be people from the running community. Whereas Tracy has, you know, merchant marines and Vietnam veterans and ⁓ people that vote on the Emmys and all just this huge collection, this wide diaspora of people who ⁓ who love her, who can't wait to see her and get a picture taken with her. So I I would like to know just how do you know that many people? Cause you're you're you're not that old. Perfect. Can I just say one thing before Riley leaves? ⁓ yeah. Browse. I just told them how I got my job with Run Disney. And a lot of it was due to you telling them that I was. I think you said like I was natural and I didn't turn on my announcer voice. So thank you. I forgot about that until they asked me. So we we touched on that a little bit in my episode where we just talked about that one of the keys to this whole thing is authenticity. You know, that don't be one way in the trailer and then all of a sudden get out there in front of the mic and go. Hey everybody, welcome to Run Disney. You know, none of that. People would that would repel people. People would push away to shun to push away. So yeah, you're a natural. We love you. I love you back. I'll see you in a couple months. Hi Annie. Thanks, buddy. You got it. You guys are crazy. That was awesome. Good. Good. ⁓ now no more interruptions. I absolutely promise. There is nothing else coming. That's right. I like surprises. Tracy, how would you describe your role as a race announcer? ⁓ I think I'm the comedy to the whole thing. I mean, I John is John's John and Riley are pretty funny too. Carissa can be funny here and there. But I'm the I'm the I'm the one that says things that everyone thinks and nobody wants to say. How's that? I love it. I love it. But you you're given the freedom to do that. I yes. I mean I I think I teeter on that line very carefully. Or not very carefully, but it's funny. I don't know, you guys know DW? Mm-hmm. Yes. ⁓ they once described me as the the random cousin who's in the back of the barbecue party drinking tequila on the side while everyone's like taking care of everyone else at the barbecue. Yes. Yeah. And I think that's a great description of me as a race host. Yeah. That's awesome. ⁓ what do you love about the Run Disney races that you can't find anywhere else? ⁓ my gosh. I mean, everyone has said this, but it's all about community. The the friendships and the the encouragement. ⁓ I've run Disney way before I became an announcer. Okay. I got I watched one of my friends do the first wine and dine, I believe. And then I was like, wow. And just watching people mostly towards the end, I'm like, if they can do this, I can do this. So I did it. And then I just kept doing it. and I just love the friendships. And I just remember watching people just helping each other out constantly. And like, if you're struggling, someone's gonna be there to pick you up. Yeah. And and I love that. I also love the fact that like people, even people who don't finish, that they are still celebrated. And I think everyone around them still celebrates them. And I love that because whether you run a mile or half a mile or 26.2, you're still out there and you're doing something hard. And I think you should be celebrated for that. Yeah. It's not about always finishing. Sometimes it's just about trying, man. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you ⁓ you said you've run Run Disney races. Can you tell us ⁓ what what have you done? ⁓ I can't tell you how many. I actually thought about trying to count them, but I don't know how to go back and count them. That's just way too hard. So it's a lot my first one was Princess 2011. Okay. I'm I'm eighty percent sure it was twenty eleven. So princess half was my first half, and then I did Princess multiple times and then I did the challenge a few times. ⁓ I have two coast to coast medals. I did both Tinkerbell and Disneyland half. ⁓ and so I ran around Disney pretty much every year from the second I started until the first Star Wars half. That was my last Disney World half. Okay. I had a really hard time at that race and vowed to never run a race again. I don't train the way I should. Okay. And I usually start in the back and I there was I it was their first year doing it, but there was a lot of traffic. Yeah. Around boardwalk and stuff. And I was like, I can't, I can't do this. And I also don't really like Star Wars. Don't hate me. so I was like, yay, there's a boba, whatever, fat thingy. You just alienated seventy percent of the people who didn't like that. I'll win them back by saying I go to Comic Con every year. Anyway, and then but then I I hadn't ran since that first Star Wars half, which I think was like I don't know when it was 2015, 16. I don't know. We missed it entirely. We never got to do it. ⁓ really? Yeah. It's it's been a while. I don't know when, but it's been a while. But then I started working for Run Disney and got that itch back. And then so I ran Disneyland twice, the last two times, and I ran the Disneyland, the Halloween one this past year. So I did two two Disneyland races last year and then the Dis the one the year before. Wow, I'm so not eloquent at my speaking. Words. It's perfect. I honestly words. You like that? Yeah. Yeah. Words are hard. I did not know you had so much Run Disney experience, like running experience. I really didn't. I thought I in my in my mind, you'd done princess before or something. I didn't realize you had such a history. I've done all of them. I've never done a full. Okay. ⁓ and I am not a great runner. ⁓ I do it because it's fun and there's people and there's characters. My my first race was really crappy. It was like a 3.5. And so my goal for my second race was to do a sub three. Yeah. Which I did. I did two fifty eight. Great. And then after that I just didn't care anymore because I'm like, well, I've a sub three, I'm done. Okay. So everything after that was like over three hours and fifteen minutes. And I didn't care because I just wanted to be out there. No, yeah. If you yeah, if you're doing what you want to do, right? You're having fun, you're being safe, you're meeting people, you're encouraging others, all that stuff, the time doesn't matter. No. Exactly. And but now it's Saint Jude. ⁓ yes. St. Jude, I said I would never run again. And then there's a whole story. I'm sorry, I'm pivoting, but ⁓ the day of the Saint Jude registration, I was at work, I'm totally not looking at my socials, just working, working, working. It's about four o'clock. I decided to check my socials. And there's like seven messages on Instagram, about 10 messages on Facebook, random texts from people I've never. met in my life. I'm like, what is happening? And they're like, are you registering? Are you registering? Are you registering? I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah. Settle down, people. And then I go back to work and I I check socials again like an hour later. They're like, you haven't registered. You haven't registered. I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. Okay. I'm done. I'll do it. Right. And that's the pokey running club that was pushing you hard, right? ⁓ yeah. I think they sent out just a thing to everybody, like message her. Everyone hit up Tracy. And it worked. 'Cause I'm all about peer pressure and they peer pressured me. Perfect. So the Pelky Running Club has talked you into doing the St. Jude half marathon. Yeah. To play train for that. ⁓ yes. Question mark. Question mark. I would really like to. Yeah. ⁓ I the weather is like 175 degrees in Florida right now. But I am team treadmill. Yeah. So but I also work like five jobs. So I I will try my best. But I did tell ⁓ one of the Pelkie Running Club members has become my trainer, even though we haven't really done anything. Okay. But I told him I'd like to do a 245. Awesome. Is it possible? Sure, if I put my mind to it. Put your mind to it. You can do it, Tracy. We believe you can. You've done a sub three, you can do this. Yeah, I was also 15 years younger. Hey, no excuses. You've got this. Right. Totally. Yep. That's awesome. ⁓ my gosh. Tracy, we know that you announce Run Disney races, obviously, but you do a lot more than just that. What other things are you involved in? You mean like performance-wise? You said you have like five jobs. Like we just want to know the the the Tracy that's out, you know, not a Run Disney. Okay. So I have a nine to five. I work at a university in Florida and I work in their in-house creative department. I do analysis, like budget analysis, very fun. Strategy, projections, all that wonderful stuff. That's my next Totally. But I told you I used to run a video I used to work in video production and that was a lot of fun. But you know, I decided to become smarter apparently and then got better jobs. So ⁓ so that's my normal job that gives me my four ⁓ one K and my health insurance. Thank goodness. ⁓ huh. ⁓ I've been very fortunate to be doing Ren Disney. I bartend on the weekends. ⁓ cool. I bar ten on the weekends and then sometimes I pick up at night, which I did last night and the night before, which is why I'm exhausted. Yeah. I'll ⁓ I host karaoke at a bar down the street. Fun. What else do I do? It seems more in line with the Tracy that I see at a Run Disney event. Yes. What are the I have so many jobs. I forget now. ⁓ and I'm an actor, but the industry has been really not great. So I haven't been on set in over two years. ⁓ I'm sorry. John told us, John told us to ask you about that. Like you, you've got quite the quite the the sheet of ⁓ accomplishments. Can you tell us a little? I know it's gonna feel like bragging, but we want to know what you've been on. That's so sweet. It's actually funny. My boss at my day job, she's a really good friend of mine. Every time she introduces me to clients, she's like, She was on homeland. ⁓ awesome. And I'm always like, ⁓ but I have a brain too. It's just funny because she'll be like, Tracy does this, this, this, this. And she was on homeland. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. I started TV film, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago. And I've been very, very lucky. I've been on, I don't know. I was on Homeland. That was my biggest one. Cool. Vampire Diaries, except I got cut, but for some reason they still give me residuals. Don't know why. Queen of the South. Will Trent was my last one. Erica loves Will Trent. I was in it. Season two. Season two? I'll I'll I'll I'll text you once I figure. I don't remember well, you can look at my IMDB too. Yeah. You don't even have to. Erica's Erica's gonna be so committed to finding it by the time we have lunch today, like she'll have already found it. Yeah. It's so funny because I only had like two lines, but I was actually in a whole storyline and I didn't realize it because they don't give you the whole script. Yeah. Yeah. They just give you bits and pieces. Yep. And I when I watched it, I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. Yeah. I was the yeah, I'm not gonna I can't believe I don't know which which episode this is. Yeah. I'm gonna have to drive it crazy the whole rest of this interview. Is it film and TV only for you or do you do commercial work too? Or do you are you? No, I do commercials. Yeah. I've done I haven't done one in a while, but I've done a bunch. Like I couldn't even name how many. Yeah. A lot. Right. A lot. That's so cool. That's super. Yeah, and I it's so sad because I've actually like I've been debating telling my agent, like, should I just quit now? But then I hear everyone else in the industry is struggling too. So I'm like, okay, maybe it's not me. Cause I'm like, is it over? Is my career over? No. Well, we we told you we live in Atlanta where the film industry came, you know, and and and they moved from LA and now all of and they built all these studios. There's one down the street from our house. I mean it's just like ⁓ like the the movie industry's in Georgia now, right? And now they've all gone home because and we have these empty buildings and whatever because the film industry is just getting hit from every different strike and AI and all the things, right? And so yeah, we we it doesn't impact us, but like we feel it in our area. Yeah. Yeah. So many actors from Orlando moved to Atlanta when it all started. And like all those friends of mine now are like, should we come back to Florida? Where do we go? It's heartbreaking. And I just hope it comes back. But you never know. Yeah. Or maybe I'll just do reality TV and ruin my entire career, but at least I'll make a little bit of money. As long as you keep doing Run Disney. That's what we really care about. That's all we care about. Well, trust me, I would love to, but it's not up to me. ⁓ well, that's awesome. Thanks for telling us a little bit about that. Back back to the Disney thing, and then we we ⁓ literally want to ask you about the other announcers. But we ask everyone that comes on our podcast a question. And now that you've run down multiple main streets multiple times, you get to answer our question that we ask everybody. And the question is Main Street. Yes. Okay, I won't ask the question. Yes. I listened to you guys. Okay, she knew the question. Great. Of course it's Main Street. That is the dumbest thing I've ever like. It's not going be a question. Thank you. It's not even a question. Right. Right? Okay. So you're not afraid to offend people either. Like you'll just say that's the dumbest thing ever. Okay. Have you heard me talk? No. ⁓ It's the drunk cousin in the back of the bar what what did what did you say? The barbecue doing shots of tequila in the back so the kids don't see her. That's right. Yeah. No. I'm also an experienced girl. Like I like making core memories. I don't care about things. I care about experiences. Cause I'm not taking my stuff with me when I die. Right. Right. ⁓ that's so good. I'm so like I actually don't even know where my medal is for my last race. I have no idea where it is. ⁓ wow. Of the announcing team, I think that was four to zero. Main Street to I don't tell me why you like the metal so much. I said this to Carissa. The race is all the memories, but the metal is the symbol I can look at and and like hold in my hand. And it reminds me of all of the things from that race, not just the one Main Street moment wherever remember how hard it was to get past mile 12 when I thought I was gonna, you know, poop my pants, right? Like that, like that, like the metal reminds me of that race, right? And all the things that come with that race. That's why I like it, right? It's not the actual metal itself. It's what it represents. And you know, I remember, you know, our first whiny dine when we ran together for the first time. I don't like the look of that metal, but I love that metal because it was the first time you and I ever ran together. So that's why I like it. That's a nice answer, but I still think Main Street is the correct I thought it was a great answer. It was a great answer. Most people are actually gonna be like, Well, you I hadn't thought of it that way. Okay, we need to cut that then. Erica thinks she has final cut on this and she does not. I do not know. ⁓ yeah, she does. Happy wife, happy life. right. That's right. That's right. All right. Welcome to Team Team Maitre. There's no wrong answer there, but but you're on Erica's team. There's a right answer. All right. So we can take the next question. ⁓ okay. Yeah, you can you can move us forward. All right. What do you love about working alongside the other Ren Disney raise announcers? I think the main thing I love is that I'm part of it, which is very selfish. But I learn so much from those guys. When I okay, so let me go back a little bit. When I was running Disney, I remember watching them mostly Carissa being female. I would look at them and be like, How do you get that job? I want that job. Yeah. And I just got lucky and got that job. But mostly with Carissa, I look at her and she's so good. Yeah. Yeah. And I have so much admiration for her. She knows her sport. She's also such a good speaker. Like when I was listening to her on your podcast. I was like, holy cow, she's so eloquent. And then, like, with John and Riley, those two as well are so intelligent, not just in the in the sport and in our job, but like they they know things that no one should know. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I just I just love hanging out with those guys. I I feel so blessed to be a part of that club that I never thought I wanted to be part of. I mean, I knew I wanted to, but you know what I mean? Like, yeah. Such an exclusive thing, and I'm so grateful. And I just love that we all get along and we're all friends and we just have such a good time together. Yeah, it's obvious. And I said it earlier, like right here on the podcast, you guys. It was awesome to watch interact. Mm-hmm. Riley said that you're one of the announcers that's most likely to ⁓ refuse a break, you know, because you're having so much fun. Right. And I imagine that being at the finish line, you know. Yes. do you would you agree with that statement? Absolutely. Because I want to see everybody and it's so much. Fun and I want to see my friends. And even if you're not my friend, let's be friends. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it's it's really cool. I don't know. I just like being out there. So I'll save my voice and I'll just sit there and keep my voice. But but I'll definitely stay out there. What else am I gonna do? Sit in the trailer or what? Eat keto? Like, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is a good spot to put John's question in. ⁓ I'm sorry, Riley's question in about how do you know so many people, right? From different walks of life and whatever. How do you know so many people? Well, I am a massive extrovert. Yes. Massive. Like I did a someone did a a test on me once for a job and I escort 99% extrovert, which they said they'd never seen before. Yeah. I've also I and again, because I'm an extrovert and I do so many things, like I, you know, my day job and then I bartend, I this. Yeah. I tend to meet a lot of people. And when I meet people, I'm I'm not a acquaintance person. Like I really want to hang out all the time. So even with people with Run Disney, like if I Stephanie, for example, she owns ⁓ Tomorrowland Productions. She does the skirts. Yeah. I met her randomly at Epcot one day and we were just talking. And like she's a great friend now. Like we hang out all the time. And whenever she's in town, we go out and all this stuff. And so I just I tend to make really good connections with people. I just love people. Yeah. Riley said he doesn't like the acquaintance type relationship thing either. He goes deep with people too. So it's probably why you guys are I'm I'm assuming why you guys are probably such good buddies, even though he's an introvert and you're an extrovert. Yes. But it's so funny because John gives me crap all the time because he's like, I just want to sit at home and not talk to anyone forever with my dogs. And I'm like, all I want to do is be outside and all the time with every this this is why I work seven days a week because I just I don't know how to sit at home and do nothing. So yeah. Do you know your Enneagram number? Do you know that personality typing whatever, or do you not know yours? Number one. Number one. Really? Okay. Perfectionist. That's that's ⁓ wow. Totally surprising. That's not what I would have guessed. I'm very OCD about a lot of things. ⁓ I think the way the reason I can work five, six, seven jobs seven days a week is because I'm instanely organized. Yeah. So everything in my life is in a spreadsheet. Okay. Okay. Which is sad that I just admitted that. It's just that I did not picture that. You know what I mean? I pictured you just like. Sure to be fine, and then just walking out the door, like assume that that's what I picture, which which is a really good example of just because someone's an extrovert doesn't mean that they're an enthusiast or whatever. Like those are not necessarily the same thing, but it does surprise me still. No, I plan absolutely everything. I'm fine with weighing things as well, but I choose not to. Yeah. Yeah. Like if we're traveling and there's an itinerary and something goes wrong, I can adjust. Yeah. I'm fine. Well, I again I also worked in video production, so you have to learn because nothing ever turns out the way you planned it. So you have to learn how to figure things out. And I'm so I love problem solving. I think that's one of my biggest assets is if something goes wrong, I will find a solution for it. But yeah, I mean everything is planned. My calendar is gorgeous. You Erica would be friends on that. Then she's got multiple calendars around the house, we're all color-coded. And whenever somebody says something about I didn't know, she goes, it was in your color. It was in your color. My boyfriend and I have that conversation all the time. It's like, ⁓ I didn't you were doing this. I'm like, it's on the calendar. Right. I'm like, that's right. Why didn't you look at it? I even set you up a little reminder to go off to remind you. I know. Yeah. ⁓ let's get this focus off of me because I feel the the heat coming from Erica right now. Do you have any fun stories about John, Carissa, or Riley. Something we wouldn't know. Something that we didn't see on, you know, happen on stage or whatever. Anything fun that you're allowed to share? ⁓ my. You do edit though, right? Because everyone's answers on your podcast are always so fast. Are they thinking or do they just No, everybody's been perfect so far. He's like, I guess this is I guess it must just be you. He makes everybody sound better, except he doesn't take out my 17 like, like, likes. Yeah, you can think, think as long as you like. I'll clean it up. ⁓ my goodness. Fun stories. Well, see, now it's bad because I've listened to everyone else's, but Yeah, but they told us stories we knew. You know what I mean? Like for the most part. Well, except for when Krista was talking about how they sit in the trailer and she plays Brave. That's a good point. That's a good point. Or the jungle juice over at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We didn't know that. Concierge. Yep. That jungle juice day was let's just say I had a hard time getting back to my hotel room because there's a lot of jungle juice. And we don't have concierge anymore. Well, we never had it, but yeah. I don't know. Can we go back to that question? Yes, totally. Because if not, we're just gonna be here till two AM. No, it's all good. Can you tell us ⁓ what does race morning look like for you? We've asked some of the other announcers and whatever, but what what's the process like behind the scenes? We don't wanna know what it's like talking to people. We see you do that. We wanna know what race morning is like. ⁓ race morning for me, I get up about an hour before our pickup time, which they all give me crap for, but I'll take a shower before I go to bed at like five or six. Yeah. But then I take a shower again just because it wakes me up. Yeah. Yeah. And then I I do full makeup in the hotel before I go because the trailer is this big and Carissa takes over the whole back bathroom. And there's not enough room. And also there's a lot of other people in the trailer. Yeah. So I just try to do it all in the hotel. And I'm usually ready to go. I'm I'm John's usually first and Riley's second, waiting, and then I'm third. And then Carissa shows up right on time. And then race morning, I'm usually like pumped up and ready to go. And then the boys give me crap for being so loud. Well, mostly John. John just gives me crap because he's like, why are you so happy and energetic? I'm like, sorry. So then I've learned to calm down and then I go sit in the back with Carissa while she does brain games. Yes. Has all her Instagrams and all that. And I'm usually just texting random people who are awake because I'm like, no one's talking to me. So there's a lot of parallels here between you and and John and Erica and I because I'm not as extroverted as you. But I wake up in the morning, like this morning, I got up at 5 15, just ready to start my day. You know what I mean? Like, let's do this day, you know? And I'm like ready to talk about it, ready to do all the things like. Sure, you know, like I'll be tired later, but like I started my day big time, and Erica needs like a good two-hour on-ramp of like, yes, like I need quiet. Let me ease into this. Don't even speak to me till I have coffee. Right. I'm not speaking out of turn, yeah, right. You're correct. And so on a race morning, that is like conflict because she's trying to get ready, and I am so excited. It's the best, it's Christmas morning, you know, like it's race day. And I'm ready to talk about all this stuff. And she's just no, no thing. So one of our daughters. ⁓ she's a lot like you, Tracy. She's very extroverted. We'll like we'll get home from like a seven day vacation and sh like 20 minutes into being home. She's like, What are gonna do? And we're like, we just got home. Like she just loves to like be doing things and be around people, you know, she feeds off of that. And so we took her for Princess weekend for the first time. And so everything AJ just said about me, like he knows, like, you know, I don't, I just I'm kind of irritated. Like it's really early in the morning. And Taylor's over there like bouncing around. And he like finally pulls her side and goes, We don't talk to mom this early. Like you just need to be quiet. How old is she? She was 16 at the time. She's 19 now. ⁓ but she's 16. I had a pull up. I said, if you want to talk, we can go outside and talk all you want. Or don't look at mom. Like mom, mom might kill you. I mean, I'm the same, like it takes me a while to ramp up, which is why I wake up an hour earlier. Right, right, right. But but yeah, as soon as I, as soon as there's people, I'm like, Hi, let's commence. Yes. What do you want to talk about? What'd you do yesterday? Right. Right. And John's always like, Please stop talking. That's so funny. But the sign language interpreters usually are very ecstatic to talk to. So I usually talk to them. Yeah. ⁓ that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. Have they ever had a hard time interpreting what you've said, like in the car on a on mic? ⁓ in rehearsals we try to mess with I try to mess with them sometimes and just say soup, you know, really dumb things really fast. Yes. But no. No not No, they're so good. They are. Yeah. Yeah. But then again, if they mess up, do we know? Wow, they're really good at And we don't even know. They can be like these announcers, they're crazy. That's right. ⁓ my gosh. ⁓ my gosh. Tracy, how do you find potential stories ⁓ to share on screen? Do people like come up to you or do you approach them? How does that work? ⁓ I usually approach them because I'm usually in Corral A when I'm doing that. ⁓ So I usually approach them. What's interesting about Corral A is I would say 50% of the people up there have been there before. So I've gotten to know a lot of them. Yeah. ⁓ so a lot of my friends up there will give me stories or they'll tell me. But a lot of times once it starts moving, then I'll just go find people. Yeah. Some some people will approach me, but for the most part, I just try again, extrovert. I'll literally run. I'm like, hi, hi, you wanna? You you want to be camera? What's going on? Where are you found? And I liked, I'm sure you've noticed, I like to go a little off the script. Like Riley's always like the heartfelt of this. And I'm like, I want the funnier stuff. Right. Like, why'd you leave your wife in the back corral and you're up here? You know, stuff like that. But somebody would do that. ⁓ my God, people do it all the time. I'm like, really? And they're like, well, I want my time. And I'm like, But what about your wife who's running for the first time? Right. That's right. Way to go, buddy. And I'll be well, Coral's G and then they're like, F and I'll be like, everyone in F support her because her husband socks. Yes. Yes. I do that. Or, you know, like the two two guys, when they show up with no shirt, the first time I met them, they're walking. I'm like, ⁓ my God. And I couldn't contain myself. Okay. I literally put the mic to them and I was like, Thank you. Yes. On behalf of everyone here, thank you. Was that Possibly when was our first race? I feel like we saw you interact with them for the first time ever. Was it like 2023, maybe? Do you think? Very possible. Yeah. I remember you being just taken with them. You know what I mean? On on camera. Do you remember that? ⁓ I remember. There was like I feel like there was body glitter or something involved the first time. Probably. And the first time I talked to them, I couldn't even come up with a question. I was just like, hi. Thank you so much. But like last race, ⁓ I don't know if you guys were there, Milo. I don't even know, was it springtime or the one before? There's this gentleman, Milo, who ended up winning the 5K. Okay. So one there's a guy, Scott, who runs all the time. He won Disneyland 5K years ago. He's a friend of mine. Yep. He was like, ⁓ there's this guy over here who beat me yesterday or whatever. So I was like, where, ⁓ somebody be you. Because I was like, Scott, you didn't win the 5K yesterday. He's like, I know this other guy won. I'm like, well, that sucks. Da da da. And then everyone's like, ⁓ here's the guy who won. So then I brought him and he was from Germany. This kid's like nineteen. ⁓ gosh. And we did a whole thing for the whole race weekend about is Milo or Scott gonna win. And now they're like buddies. That's awesome. And they just convinced Milo to come back, I believe, either for Princess or Marathon weekend. And he wasn't gonna come. And everyone rallied around him and convinced his mom to get him back. And now he's coming back. And they're like besties now. That's so cool. That's that's what I love about Ron Disney. A hundred percent. Yeah. Do you have any interviews or whatever that you would classify as like a favorite, right? Like a like a bookmark in your history of Ren Disney? There are a few. I think one of my favorite ones was ⁓ with Kyle and Brett Pease from the Kyle Peace Foundation. ⁓ I've gotten to know them pretty well. And ⁓ that just really the their story melts my heart. And for those who don't know, Kyle has ⁓ Cerebral palsy. Yes. And and he's confined to a chair. And he wanted to run a race. And his brother's like, let's go. And now they run constantly. They do Ironmans. They do all this. And what I didn't realize is as a chair athlete, sometimes, like at first with my ignorance, I thought they were just being pushed and they just sit there. There's a lot more to it. Like they're actually going through a lot of physical strain and all that stuff as well. So to me, I'm like They are athletes. That's amazing. They're not just sitting in a chair. And the fact that Kyle wants to keep going and doing that. And Brett is constantly working out and raising money for this foundation and giving people opportunities to be able to participate in the sport is fascinating to me. And I think I've learned a lot from that. So that was probably one of my favorite interviews. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. That's good. Yeah. ⁓ which do you enjoy more? The experience announcing the start line or the experience with the finish line? ⁓ finish line, no question. The finish line is just magical. Yeah. Absolutely magical. And watching people who are really struggling. Yeah. Not that I enjoy watching people struggle. That's terrible. But you know what I mean. There's just a hundred percent beauty to it. And and I I always say at the finish, whether it's your first race or your hundredth, it's still hard. Totally. Totally. Even if you're an elite athlete, it is hard. Yeah. And Everyone should be proud of themselves for doing it. And I just love being out there. Yeah. Yeah. We've we've talked before and someone said it on the podcast. Like you can like you can be trained and good and whatever. And then you wake up that day and it's not your day. Like you you know what I mean? Like you just don't know what's going on. We ⁓ I've said it before, we've gotten news from home or whatever that the morning of a race, and now that's on our mind and that impacts you, you know, when you're dealing with stuff. So you just have ⁓ No idea. Right. Like it what should be easy or you easier, you know, fine that day could potentially not be, you know. So yeah, we we totally get that. ⁓ what's a common thing that you like of all your announcing and all your running and all your time around around Disney, what's like the common thing that you just keep that just shows up every time, right? Like the common thread or theme that just i exists throughout the whole community. I think it's it's community. It's exactly that. It's everyone is excited to be there. Everyone's excited to be with each other. it's Disney. So there's such ev most people who run Disney love Disney. Yeah. And where else are you gonna go for a run and wake up at ungodly hours in the morning? But then there's, you know, Mickey cheering you on, and then you get a picture with whoever. Like it's just so fun. ⁓ yeah. And and I love that. And again, the encouragement, people are so encouraging with each other. And I've done other races. I've never done a half anywhere else, but I've done you know other 10Ks and five Ks locally and and yeah, great. Yay, I'm doing sports. But yeah, yeah, you know, there's just I don't know. It's it's yeah, there's something so beautiful about it. And running down Main Street is so wonderful, AJ. Is it? ⁓ okay. I I hadn't noticed. Yes, pixie dust everywhere. And that's right. And the pixie dust is not just on the course, it's before and after and the DJs. I mean Who has DJs like this? Right, right. Our DJs are insane. Yeah. Insane. Let me ask you a Main Street question. Because you've done both and most people haven't. Yes. Main Street at Disneyland running it or Main Street at Disney World. Which one do you prefer? I'm gonna get fired for this answer. ⁓ but I'm gonna say Disney World because Disneyland is not a castle, it's a condo. Right. Yes. ⁓ Every time I go to Disneyland, I'm like, I feel like my house is taller than that. It probably isn't, but yeah. So we grew up in California, Tracy. We we worked at Disneyland when we were in college. And you know, it was home. And then we moved to Atlanta and we went to Disney World for years. And the first time we went back, I was like, Wait, what? That's it? Like that castle is so tiny. Yeah. And it's like you don't realize until you come to Disney World. But yeah, when we did Disneyland last year. Yeah. For the half, I was like, every time we come back, I'm like, this castle is so tiny. Yes. Right. Yeah. Right. I will say I do like Disneyland better than Disney World. They I feel like there's just it's the OG. So there's a magic. I agree with that. In terms of like the parks and the attractions or whatever. I like I do prefer ⁓ running down either Main Street, even though I'm a metal guy. If I was choosing one of the main streets, I'd choose Magic Kingdom because of the spectators. Right. Like that's what's missing it at Disneyland, even even with the And also there's a you know, as you're coming up to the castle and seeing how grandiose the one at Disney World is, that's what makes it awesome. But if I was just hanging in the park, I'd choose Disneyland any day. Right. Yep. Yeah. Well, side question, what's your favorite Disneyland snack? There is a right answer to this. You're gonna say churros, I'm gonna say Dole Whip. Okay. You think the Dole Whip there is better than the Dole Whip here? I think it's the same. I think so too. But the churros there are better than the churros here. So I'm not a churro fan. Okay. Is Chiro your answer? Nope. Chocolate covered dipped dipped ⁓ chocolate covered bananas. They don't have them here. I've never had that. They're frozen. ⁓ it's so good. Yeah. Okay. It's ⁓ you it's like the cart, you know, where they open the top and they reach in and grab it like an eye like a. We don't have that here? Not that I've found. Have you found it? I don't know. I go up to the cart and it's Mickey bars and like a sorbet bar thing or whatever. I'm like, where's the chocolate covered banana? Used to. I agree with Tracy. I feel like they used to have them, but I Think if I'm remembering correctly, I feel like the Disneyland ones taste better than the Disney World ones. Really? But I don't think they have them anymore. Well, hopefully they still have them in California. I'm sure they do. Let's find out. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, let's do it. Right now? Okay. Yeah. Yeah, but it's not on your spreadsheet of your plan for today. So you probably can't remember. ⁓ my gosh. ⁓ all right. I got us off topic. Yeah, no, it's good. I want to talk, Tracy, about costumes. So clearly we talked about the goat costume. But what have been like some of your favorite costumes that you've gotten to wear? I love my costumes. That's honestly like one of the best things about the job is that I was taffiti one year. Fucking and it was the coolest costume ever. Like I was just draped in greenery. Yeah. And I loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. I also I've been ⁓ what's her face? Mulan? What's her face? I'm the worst. And that Actually, it brought me a lot of joy because when I worked at Disney, I always wanted to be a princess. Yeah. And I there were no stage shows with princesses. So I was never unless I became a character, but that never happened. I never tried. So that was really cool for me to be Milan. But that was more of an emotional thing than than the costume. But all of our costumes are insane. Yeah. We're so beautiful and just this so creative. And people would always be like, the the guests, the runners are always like. ⁓ my God, you did so well. I'm like, I don't do any of this. I live in sweatpants and t-shirts and jeans. Right, right, right, right. And I just love that they dress us up. But Tafiti is definitely number one in my book. Yeah. What about like costumes that you've seen on people that you're interviewing? Like, do you have any favorite memories of those? They're so crazy. All the boys with six packs. Yes, they do. ⁓ she likes the costumes they're not wearing. Right. ⁓ Valerie Ferris is the most insane human being on the planet who dresses as all these Disney things. ⁓ she actually lives near me, I think. Do you guys know Valerie? No, but I'm gonna throw in a story really fast. So ⁓ she and I don't know who she is, right? And so on the Princess Half Marathon, we see this girl wearing this unbelievable dress with the mis massive headpiece, and we see her, we pass her a couple times, and every time I'm like, how does she still have that on? You know I mean? Like, and I'm like blown away by it. And at one point I think I did say, like, that's incredible. You know, like I have no idea how you're running in that, you know, but I don't know who that is. I don't I I don't know her personally. Yeah. Anyway, so then she's insane. So then the other day, she comments on a ⁓ post or whatever that we posted about Riley. Right. And she she made a comment enough that I clicked on her thing and I'm like, why did she say that? I look and her first picture on her thing is the picture of her wearing that big headpiece. So then now I'm being totally creepy and I'm like, ⁓ my gosh. We know well and I go in this whole thing. The number of times we've referenced her on the podcast, probably like twenty times, but we didn't know her name or who she was, or whatever. So now I know who she is, but only like digitally, you know, whatever through social. But she's amazing. And and the stuff she does is so accurate. Yeah. Like I think you're talking I don't know which one you're talking about, but she she did like one of the beauty and the beasts. Yes. But if you look at the costume on stage, it's almost exact. Yeah. And she did like one year, she did all like the Lion King dancers. Yeah. Her and her friends were like the animals. And it you're like, how on earth did you do that? Right, right. Yes. And she works for Disney, but I know she doesn't work in costuming. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, you know, and and I know Disney, they're not gonna loan her things. Right, right, right, right. Yeah. So I'm just like, I have so much admiration for that. It just crazy. And then Stephanie, ⁓ who does Tomorrowland Productions, yeah, she does group. Costumes all the time with a bunch of her friends. That too. I'm like the dedication of multiple people getting dressed up is insane. Yes. And she made me wear a skirt and made me a shirt for Disneyland because I was like, I don't dress up. I love you. I want to support your business. But and she's like, I'm making you a skirt. I'm making you the shirt and you're wearing it. I'm like, Okay. That's cool. Okay. But that's awesome. ⁓ when a race morning is over, how do you like to spend the rest of the day? Are you like tired? Are you still like, let's go? So race morning ends, we all get dropped off, we all hug each other, and we all leave each other, which is actually one of the saddest things for me. Because I'm like, Don't you guys want to do something? And nobody ever wants to hang out with me, which makes me really sad. Use me that concierge level jungle juice, and then you can get people to hang, right? Well, that's usually on the last day because everyone's trying to conserve their energy. But I usually have to so if it's a if it's a Thursday or Friday, I have to work. So I usually try to take like an hour nap and then I get online and I start working. ⁓ my gosh. Yeah. So it's it's tough. ⁓ but you know, someone's gotta get a 401k. Yeah. So that's what I do. But then like a weekend comes and I usually I I try to do stuff. Yeah. I won't go to the park. So that's the one thing. I try to do that and it's really exhausting. Yeah. But I'll usually go to the pool or I'll I I will hit the bar every night right before bed. That's my big thing. I just ramble. I'm sorry. You're good. ⁓ I will always go grab a bite to eat at like five. Uh-huh. And I'll have two drinks because one drink is fine. Two drinks, you get sleepy. Right. Yeah. You have three drinks, you're ready to party. Yeah. Well, I usually try to eat, have two glasses of whatever, and then go to bed. But I'm like, whenever I'm at the bar, I'm like, does someone want to join me? And 90% of the time, none of them respond. All the runners are like trying to get a good night's sleep, right? All the announcers are already in bed, all that stuff. Well, yeah. Usually then like John will sometimes have a drink with me, but Carissa Riley won't. And then all my runner friends are like, We're going to jelly rolls. I'm like, I can't do that. You guys are crazy. Okay. Or they're like, Meet us at Epcot. And I'm like, Yeah. What time Once in a while I'll go grab lunch with somebody, but that's about it. Okay. Yeah. Tracy, what time do you like to go to bed for announcing? Usually around six or seven. ⁓ my gosh. This blows my mind. I know. Wow. But I mean they do get up an hour or two before us. So that is an hour or two before we go to bed. That's true. Yeah. So I'm up at midnight. So I try to go to bed like six or seven. Yeah. Wow. That's craziness. Yeah. ⁓ is there ⁓ anything about being a race announcer for Ren Disney that ⁓ we wouldn't know that would surprise us to know that you're allowed to share? You guys have tough questions. That's right. And had we not done this so last minute, I would have Prepped. ⁓ yeah, and I sent you the questions at like 11 30. Sorry. ⁓ you sent me questions? I didn't even know you sent me questions. I did. ⁓ yeah. I sent you a spiritual. I was bartending last night. I gotta be honest with you, you're doing real good for having not seen the questions. Wow. No, I was bartending last night. So then I got home and I took a nap. And I don't know if you looked at my Instagram, but my cat pooped on my bed. ⁓ no. I d yeah, I wasn't really I just checked the link and I was like, Okay, I'm good. Yeah. So anyway, and I ended up sleeping on the couch last night. ⁓ no. I'm sorry. But what we want to know about an hour that we're more that we're chill, that we're normal. It it actually I find it so weird yet kind of flattering that you guys thought it was intimidating to approach. Absolutely. Mostly me of all people, because all I want to do is make friends. Right. That's all. We a hundred percent get that vibe, but it's still like, ⁓ and let me say on a much smaller scale, we're starting to experience that a little bit with the podcast where people are afraid to approach us and we're like, Right, that's ridiculous. Absolutely zero reason why you would need to be nervous about sitting on us at a race. You know what I mean? But people are. So we understand like that's how we are with you, but you couldn't possibly have been a nicer person to be hanging out with today. So you just it's just that fear of, you know, putting yourself out there. But it's like it's not, you know, I'm not Taylor Swift for crying out loud. I wish I was. I wouldn't work five jobs if I was I yeah, but I think that's it. I think it is that that we are so n real and the fact that we are really good friends is crazy. Yeah, I think that's about it. Mm-hmm. That Carissa parties more than most people think she does. ⁓ that does surprise me. No. I ran Carissa and I live about a mile from each other and I ran into her once, her and Weston once. My boyfriend and I were out drinking and then she and Weston were out on a date night and then it suddenly we're closing the bar down and we're playing darts till you know two in the morning. I'm like, who would have thought that Carissa Galloway is doing shots with me? Right. She might not have done a shot, but she was out partying with me. She was she was there. She was present. She was present. Yep. ⁓ I wanna ask you, ⁓ because we, you know, it's been very light or whatever. One of the things I did want to, I just don't want to missed the opportunity to ask you about is the impact of Jeff on on you, if there is an impact ⁓ that you're willing to share any stories or any anything about Jeff, right? We've asked everybody about him. ⁓ and he had a big impact on us. Is there anything any stories or anything you want to share about the impact he had on you? Sure. After Jeff passed, Carissa sent me a picture of me and Jeff chatting. And it's not the best picture. I'm like laughing and my face is all wonky. And but it's so funny because I remember talking to Jeff and at this point we'd become friends. And I was like, I drink too much, I party too much, blah, blah, blah. But he goes, It doesn't matter, you're still out there. Yeah. And he never judged me. And I think that's one of the things that I love that he never judges anybody. He will just encourage you. And that's the legacy he leaves. And I think that's beautiful. And I'm so grateful that I got to know him as an actual person, not just the Jeff Galloway, you know? Sure. That's good. Really wonderful human. And it's also interesting because getting to know Weston, you know, he's definitely got a lot of Jeff's traits. Yes. Just good human and and and he's passing that on to the next generation. So they're just good, they're good people. They're great people, actually. So go Galloways. Go Galloways. That's perfect. Awesome. Thanks for talking about that. Okay. So we usually give you opportunity to, you know, is there anything you ⁓ are excited about, right? Is our last question. Is there anything you're excited about in your life that you don't normally get asked about? Right. Like nobody everyone assumes, you know, your work thing or your Run Disney thing or whatever. Is there anything you're just excited about? You don't ever get to talk about? I my biggest thing in life is I love to travel. Part of the reason I work so much is because I save money so I can travel. Yeah. ⁓ and in two weeks I'm going to San Diego Comic Con, which I'm stoked about. I'm really not a Comic Con fan. The boyfriend is, and I get in I I have a pro pass so I can get tickets, whereas he can't get tickets. So I'm excited about that. What what I'm most excited about, this is so shallow though. I'm so shallow. ⁓ we're going to Vegas after. Cool. Because I want to go see the Backstreet Boys. Yes. I love it. Yes, that's awesome. I was such a pop culture girl. And I was like, We're going to Comic Con for you. Now we're going to the sphere for me so I can see the Backstreet Boys. And then we're going to go see Kelly Clarkson after. Awesome. Which wasn't part of the plan on my spreadsheet. It was just Backstreet. And then Kelly Clarkson, I guess, changed dates. So now she's there the day after Baxter Boys. I'm like, gotta change our flights. We're gonna go see Kelly Clarkson next. Totally. And then in September, I'm doing Oktoberfest for the very first time in Munich. Fucking. So that I'm about. So that's really what drives me is what's next in my travel plans. Yeah. ⁓ I just want to see the entire world. So that's what that's awesome. Slightly shallow, but great. ⁓ love it. ⁓ Can I go back? I know you were asking about funny stories with people. Yeah. And I know I didn't answer it because I didn't read questions. It's all good. This is not quite Ron Disney, but I was working ESPN one day and I went back and John and I were working together with Mark Ferreira, who's our show director, and we went and had a drink after. And Mark the and Riley is kind of involved with this, even though he wasn't there. Mark, Riley, and John like to talk politics. And they're very passionate about their political views. Yes. And so we go to wherever Fridays or wherever it was, because it was two for ones or whatever. And I'm literally we're sitting at the bar. It's me, John, and then Mark. And Mark and John, who've been friends for 30 plus years, just start yelling at each other. And then they look at me, they're like, what do you think? I'm like, I don't know. Chug my beer, paid my bill, walked out. Yeah. Like not dealing with this. Right. So And a lot of that happens in the trailer too. A lot of political commentary. And as much as Carissa and I agree with them, we're just not that crazy. Right. So we will be like, Gotcha, we're going back in the back. So Right. Yeah. We we ⁓ in life have our opinions and we stay we our relationships with people are so much more important than what what I have to say about that. That I that we just you never hear us say anything. You know what I mean? Like we I don't want to have a conversation. What's funny with those guys is they're all best friends and they all have the same point of view for the most part. Right. But they'll argue about the little nuances. But but they're very smart about, but they're they'll like yell at each other, and two minutes later they're like, Hey, bud, love you. Yeah. And but it's so bizarre how passionate they are. And I love it, though. Yeah, it's so but anyway. Awesome. Tracy, thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you for saying for saying yes yesterday. ⁓ we were shifting, you know, the plan of whatever because having you on the podcast was way more important than our our spreadsheet of episodes, you know, that we have planned out. So thank you for for jumping in last minute. And sorry we asked you last. That was not ⁓ a slight or anything. That was that was not we were we were nervous to ask. I'm really not that sensitive, but I like attention and I wasn't getting I'm like, do they not love me? We do Don't you wanna be my friend? Yes. Well, we want to meet you at Marathon Weekend. We'll stop at the finish line or somewhere. We'll make sure that we have an opportunity to meet you at Marathon Weekend. How about let's grab a drink before a race? As long as you can be in bed by ⁓ what what time do you go to bed? Six o'clock. Six seven. Yeah, six seven. Do we drink? Do we drink? ⁓ yeah. Well, he doesn't before a race, but I will. Yeah, okay, cool. All right. I will after the race. How about that? Yeah. All right. Awesome. Thank you, Tracy. We really appreciate you being on the podcast. Thank you guys. Friends, we hope you enjoyed that conversation with Tracy. It was so much fun to have the surprise. Yes. You know, ⁓ there at the beginning. And just crazy that we're looking at our monitor. Right. And we have the like entire announcing team staring back at us. Yes. Even on a race weekend, I don't know that you'd ever get that on. Right. No. You know what I mean? Because they're all spread out. So what a joy for us. It was so much fun. AJ, we're gonna do something that I'm so excited about. We have this new ⁓ section that we're doing called The Journey Maybe Hard, where we are hearing stories from Just normal friends like us that are training for races. ⁓ and so we heard from them last week a little bit, and ⁓ that was just really inspiring and encouraging, and I'm just really excited to hear about their journey. So let's hear a few more stories. Hi everyone, my name is Nancy Pacheco, and I am training for the Chicago Marathon on October 11th, 2026. My biggest goal is simple, cross that finish line healthy, but if I can finish. In under six hours, I'll be over the moon. I've got 13 weeks to go and honestly, life has been life in. I work full-time, I'm a wife, I'm a mom, and a caregiver to my mom, so finding time for training isn't always easy. But one thing I'm learning is that consistency matters more than perfection. I just keep reminding myself that forward is a pace. My name is Renee and I am training for the 2027 Dopey Challenge. I started my race journey with Ren Disney in 2025 when I ran my very first half marathon. I was injured in mile six and by mile nine I was walking and dragging my legs across the finish line. It was brutal. ⁓ I came back from that race and decided I needed to do things smarter. I needed to do things differently. I signed up for the Princess Challenge and I completed that in February of 2026 and I exceeded my goals. once I saw I could conquer that, I decided it was time for dopey. I am training with Coach Twiggs in the customized program and so far it is going really well. One of the things that I am learning is to slow down. I need to learn to do that overall in all aspects of my life. My goals for the Dopey Challenge are number one, finish pain free. My second goal for the Dopey Challenge is to complete the marathon in about five hours. And then my third goal, which would be icing on the cake, would be to finish it in four and a half. ⁓ I know I'm capable of doing these things and hopefully every mile will be magical as we go to 48.6. Jeff from New York here. Just reminded check in, say hi to everyone. Got a goal of ⁓ completing a marathon, which I have sent like ⁓ for myself like ten years ago on my health journey. I'm also including doing getting Adobe done. I tried in January twenty sixth here, but Due to a medical issue, I had to bow out. So here we are once again. I'm gonna call up my ⁓ my gnarly second attempt at my first marathon and my first dopey. Let's see let's see where this takes me. Hi, I'm Julie. I'm training for the Walt Disney World Marathon in January 2027. I don't necessarily have a time goal because it is my first marathon and I just wanna be able to finish. I am currently battling patella issues, runners-nee, ⁓ and IT band. So for the last three weeks, I've not been able to run. I have been able to walk. And it's been very, very frustrating. And it's just it's been hard. However, I keep trying to remind myself that I can do hard things. This is just part of the story, and it'll get better. I love Disney. And Jeff Galloway. He inspires so many people with the run walk run method. And when he was alive, he would say, You can do it. I keep telling myself, I will be able to accomplish my marathon. So excited about this series. Yeah. Being able to follow everyday runners who have set big goals. Yeah. Right. So we're so proud of you guys for doing that. And thanks for sharing your stories with us. ⁓ I don't have any personal training updates other than I had a long run this weekend. ⁓ just you know, training. Very fortunate. Let me find a knock on wood somewhere, knock, knock, knock, that nothing's going wrong. Yes. You know, I would love for it to be about 40 degrees cooler actually. Correct. But but nothing's gone terribly wrong for me. How are you? Training wise, any updates or no training's going good. I have somehow slowly started to become a morning runner, which I never thought I would say. I'm now doing like you, waking up before the alarm goes goes off and getting up and going out. So what's next? ⁓ you're gonna start enjoying the treadmill? No. Then what's after that? You're gonna switch over to team main? I mean, hopefully after that is ⁓ I can run without pain. But you know, probably not. So it's all good. Okay. But ⁓ But you are becoming a morning runner. I am becoming a morning morning runner. It's too hot to be. Out of necessity. That's right. Yeah. Once it cools off, you'll be like, okay, good. Back to three. Going back to my evening runs. That's right. That's right. Thank you guys for joining us for this episode. We like to close out with a review. Yep. And so, Erica, you're gonna love who today's review is from. Who's that? Our review is from our friend Candace. fun because I'm wearing one of Candace's hats. This was not planned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So we have talked about she's been on the show. Our good friend Candace with Magic Hatterco on Etsy. Yep. She makes these adorable hats. And so she had posted one the other day. It was for like the fourth. And I was like, ⁓ my gosh, I love the glitter. And so I had to order one. So ⁓ so that was like an impulse buy? Correct. I mean I had I actually have on my phone a ⁓ an album of all the hats of Candices that I'd like to have at one point. I see. ⁓ but yeah, I was like, well, this is I mean, I was about to say neutral. This is neutral for me. But like but it I mean, it's I could wear it with a lot of different yeah, it's not race specific or yeah, I could wear it in the parks or you know, yeah on any given Sunday. So we love Candace in her shop and we have several things from and she's we're not sponsored or anything like that. J she's just awesome. Yes. Right? Makes a great thing, she's a great person. And I'm really excited because this morning I discovered this hat has one of those little fun, like ponytail. Holes, which you probably don't even know what I'm talking about, but I could have like a fun high ponytail with this hat. So, anyways, let me read her review. Yeah, I got another point. Got it. Here we go. Candace says, I have now listened to every episode of the podcast, and it is one of my favorites. I discovered their podcast after communicating with Erica about some hats they ordered for me. I'm so glad she mentioned their podcast. Otherwise, I don't know how long it would have been before I became aware of these amazing people. That's so sweet. I've now seen them at two separate race weekends, and let me tell you. AJ and Erica are absolute gems. I've never felt more supported or appreciated. They were the first to call me by name on the course after six. I cannot read this without crying. Okay, here we go. It's okay, she's a good friend now. ⁓ they were the first to call me by name on the course after six previous Run Disney races. It completely changed the experience. This podcast even has me cautiously considering doing a full marathon, and I know if/slash when I sign up. This podcast and their friendship will be crucial to keep me going. Their positivity and encouragement is unmatched. Thank you for putting yourselves out there and helping those of us without a huge inner circle of Rent Disney participants feel like we are in your inner circle, which is a privilege. Candace, you are in our inner circle. ⁓ yeah, for sure. Awesome. Thank you for that really nice and generous review of the podcast. That's very sweet. We're grateful. We're grateful for your friendship above the review, of course. A thousand percent. You know what's interesting, Erica's like everyone's like, ⁓ the internet's the worst or whatever. But like Etsy shop. She's selling the physical good we need we need ⁓ said thing for a race or whatever. And then just through just a natural course of you know, just say like she says, thank you for your order. And we said, Thank you for an amazing hat. Yes. You know what I mean? Like like then just nice people. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like all that. And then now there's friendship. Totally. You know what I We meet in real life. Yes. You know what I mean? And so I know the internet's kind of like a get off your phone. Right. But the same time, you know, yeah, treat it well and responsibly. Amazing friends, yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. Awesome. And ⁓ she was on our Enneag Enneagram series. Yes, she was. Enneagram three. T metal. All right. I still love you, Candace. ⁓ thank you guys for joining us for the podcast. Erica, I don't have anything else unless you do. Nope. There's no more race announcers next week. We'll actually get back on schedule. Right. ⁓ and so ⁓ hopefully you enjoyed the kickoff to this season where we literally ⁓ had three the three we were we hadn't had yet. We had the three racing answers on, plus John from last season. What a joy for us. We hope y'all enjoyed that. And we'll catch you next week 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.