128 | ASICS LA Marathon Recap with the #LA100

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Hi, this sounds for Believe in the Run.

This is Megan with Believe in the Run.

This is Megan with Featherstone Nutrition.

AKA Feathers from Los Angeles, coming to you live from the race that looked so incredible with 100 women.

Yeah, we are fresh off of the LA marathon with A6 and our LA100 ladies, and I'm a little tired.

When you say we, I'm going to exclude myself from this one.

This was a Megan-Meg production.

Yeah, everyone knows you weren't there.

Not everybody.

You're dude, you weren't allowed.

Yeah, this is a lady's jam.

What?

Ladies only.

What, I want equality.

Men like running too.

Yeah, we saw that out there.

Yeah.

Plenty of dudes out there running.

Dude, it looked like the Wild West out there between the finish and then seeing that lady jump onto the course and lead the guy off the course.

Was this an unruly spot?

Yes.

It quite literally was.

Like, the...

Megan and I were talking, like, I haven't seen a race of this size.

Have this much, I would say, chaos around spectating.

Is it Los Angeles, you think?

Like, do you think it's like...

Like, people there just like is lawless?

I don't know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

That's what I wondered.

Like, it just has to be the vibe of the city, right?

Like, wilds would it be so much crazier than other races.

But when we were spectating at mile, we were like right before mile 26.

And that they just started the barricades there.

And that's where the leader went the wrong way.

Like, around that barrier is exactly where we were later in the race.

And there was a woman standing there that was screaming at all the bandits.

And she would identify the bandit.

And then she would scream to these two, like, huge, like, ex-bouncer dudes

that were, like, probably 100 yards up the hill.

They don't have a bib.

And they would literally physically remove these people off the court.

Okay.

And, I mean, I think we saw hundreds of police from the court.

Oh, yeah.

You guys had a good job.

Like, you guys were there, you know, uplifting women, uplifting the sport,

doing all kinds of good.

But honestly, I want to be the ladies showing up.

With her cowbell.

Yeah, I think I would love that job.

Yeah, but she was like wearing a sign.

And she was in direct sunlight all day.

Okay, so I dress a little better.

And I'd have a paint gun and shoot the people who don't have bibs

so that they, like, they would be marked.

Yeah, there was some people that you could...

There were some people that were clearly pacing a friend

and were, like, glad to get off the course.

But there were some people that were very upset

that they were not going to be crossing the finish line.

But they didn't have a bib.

And I was like, what would you do then?

And they also steal the medals.

That's what happened.

Yeah, one of the...

I think that banded to Boston.

We're one of the reasons one year they were short on medals.

That's wild.

I just don't remember seeing this many bandits in every race.

It was just wild.

Right.

I think I blame bandit running.

They're encouraging.

They're encouraging.

They are to behave.

Yeah.

Matt West, get your stuff together, man.

You're ruining Los Angeles.

All right.

Before we get too deep in the weeds here,

because we are going to...

This is going to be a full LA100 recap.

We're going to hear from some of the ladies.

We have some voice memos here.

We're going to kind of talk through some of the stats,

some of the fun things that we did.

Do I get to interview you guys about it at all?

Was there time for that?

Oh, no.

Well, I meant no.

It just saw Meg's face and I said sure.

And she did not say sure with her non-verbal.

I mean, you guys got to let me ask you.

Because I think it's an emotional thing.

Like, I can tell how much it meant to you guys.

And I know that you guys put a ton of work into it,

because I got to see the BTS behind the scenes.

That's the word for that.

Is that what the kids use these days?

That's what the kids are saying.

Yeah.

Maybe.

And it was chopped, you know.

Okay, wait, but I paused there,

because I wanted us to just chat about our sponsor runway

before we get too deep into this topic.

Okay, but can I go back to this?

Yeah.

All right.

Let's talk about salty carbs.

So this episode is again sponsored by Runway,

which they do have salty carbs among...

I used it on the treadmill yesterday.

Several other products.

I used it on my workout this morning.

I mean...

We had similar workouts, too.

Yeah.

Maori pizza.

And you were outside and it was in the 54-degree area.

Weirdly warm in Baltimore.

And it was going to get cold again.

But I was sweating out there.

Yeah.

I just fill up a big bottle when I'm on the treadmill.

And it's nice to sit on it while I'm doing my workout.

Yeah.

I'm just a little flabbergast because it was hotter

and Ohio this morning than it was in Baltimore.

It was 65 here this morning.

It was pretty gross.

So I have a feeling it's going to be a rough summer

and salty carbs are going to be very important.

Well, we actually have a quote from someone

from our LA group, Natalie.

And this is what she said.

She said, salty carbs was a game changer for me

this training cycle.

I mean, can't get a better endorsement than that.

It's everything that feathers has always advocated for, though.

Yeah.

Like I kind of feel like...

Does runway deserve the credit or does feathers deserve the credit?

I don't know.

But you know what you could do is you could use feathers

to get a discount on salty carbs.

So...

That is true.

You can go to Runway.life.

That's R-N-W-Y.life and use the code Feathers15

and you can get 15% off your salty carbs if you want to get some.

And I have to say now that we got through that.

There's something that you're doing wrong with market.

You're calling yourselves the Megs, which is confusing

because you both are Megs.

But it's the Meg and Feathers show.

Like we're trying to brand feathers.

You can't...

I think it's just a lot easier

for people to say the Megs.

That is true, because it's just one entity.

You guys are like an amoeba.

Throwing into a bucket of Megs.

Yeah.

There had to be more Megs there too in the group, but...

Oh, we didn't want.

We didn't want.

Oh, we did.

Obviously, Megan.

Yeah, we didn't want to make a vote.

So I want to get back to my question that I was getting to.

You guys put a ton of work into.

This was months of work.

You were training them.

You were giving them nutrition advice.

You were doing weekly calls.

You went through and picked...

You know, out of 5,000 applications.

Got these people together.

There was so much that went into this.

You put it together.

And you get to see them at the LA marathon.

First off, it looked like...

Just seeing the pre-stuff.

That everybody was so excited to be there.

So pumped up.

So, like, feeling so much love to be part of this group.

And then...

Obviously, you get to watch the race.

And you get to see these people finish up.

You get into some of the results.

But on a personal note, what was it like for you guys to witness all this that you guys built?

It was pretty surreal.

I'm not going to lie.

Like, we had put a ton of work into this as we've been brainstorming about doing something like this for a couple of years.

So to actually be like, oh, we are doing this now.

Like, there was a lot of prep for us getting started.

And then we started with the lady 16 weeks ago.

And you just never know, right?

Like, you don't know what's going to come of something.

And I would honestly say I think this exceeded my expectations of what would happen within this group.

The group dynamic was absolutely unbelievable.

The way they all supported each other and came together and became friends.

And did, I mean, I think like 30 of them went to get dumplings after the marathon.

Like, they just were like all becoming friends all weekend.

And I can honestly say in the best way possible.

I'm not sure I've ever been this entire from an event in my entire life.

And I think a lot of it is that I was like rushed with adrenaline.

And like, mothering nature to 100 women all weekend.

And I just like, it was incredibly, unbelievably incredible.

And I think just my utter fatigue level posted this event just shows like how like,

hi, this was the entire weekend.

There was just never a dull moment in the best way possible.

And it was just really cool to see it all come together.

And then of course, like you guys know the high after a marathon and how excited you are.

So to get to share that with all these women, they become friends.

It was just, I just kind of sit back and watch it all like transpires.

It was just so meaningful.

May.

Yeah, I mean, I echo pretty much everything that Megan just said.

It's like, we didn't really have expectations because this was such a brand new project for us.

But it like Megan was saying, it's something we wanted to do for so long.

And meeting all the women was just like, it was really fun.

And like Megan saying, the dynamic that they had as a group,

they were all supportive.

They were of each other.

I don't even know how you like mimic that or recreate that because they did it on their own.

Like this was just such a wonderful group of women.

And I'm like, I don't know how we could even try and do that again because it was just incredible.

Yeah.

All right.

Let me ask one follow up question.

Then we can get into the show.

You guys have both been really successful in the marathon.

And you've hit goals and you've continued to break new PRs along the way.

And you've had really special moments doing it.

Watching these people, that 100 people that you trained in seeing their success on that day,

versus your own personal success in the marathon, which one left you with a bigger high?

I mean, I think, well, it's so they're different, right?

I think you get the high and we were talking about like spectating.

You don't get those like endorphins and that like excitement exhaustion.

But having, I mean, we had how many PRs, like over 13 or something.

Like there was so many incredible performances, first time marathoners, PRs on what was maybe the most challenging possible day.

Of course, and day.

Right.

And we were able to see and to see the end and hills.

And knowing that we were a part of it for them and help them get to that is got to be one of the best feelings in the world.

I mean, it was just such a successful day for all of them.

I think it's different.

I think it's different when you train yourself and push yourself and prove to yourself that you can do something that you didn't never believed you could do.

there's a high in that and there's gratitude and confidence that comes with that.

But then on the flip side, seeing this amount of women come together and do something so epic

was just a totally different kind of gratitude experience. Hi, if you will.

Which I mean, you know, as we get older, like it's wonderful to be able to experience the sport

in all the different ways. So it was just really cool to experience it from like a different

vantage point throughout this whole experience. I've spectated and I've run marathon.

And I have to say, for the most part, I'd rather just be running than spectating.

Not because I don't want to give to other people, but I'm telling spectating, I think, is almost

more exhausting. They're standing in one place. You're not moving forward. Your feet start swelling.

You're out there and there's no metal or like you don't finish and go, oh, that was great. I did

something today. You're like, okay, I'm just broken now. Well, I think from

Megan and my perspective of being the coaches of these women, you're like slightly more invested

in the performances and just how they're doing in general because, you know, we work together

with them for 16 weeks. So yeah. Yeah. Well, the images and stuff we're incredible on. I guess,

I don't know if you're going to put them in the podcast here, but you can definitely check them

out on Instagram. It's on both your hand feathers account and even a six reposts of some of the

photos, but it just looked like a blast. So let's get into it. Yeah. It was incredible.

We kind of already talked about the structure of this program, which was brand new, but it was so

16 weeks. They got run coaching and nutrition education from Megan and I. We talked. We had zoom

meetings. So that was also the craziest thing is like, we hadn't really met everyone in person

until the Friday of race weekend. But you would have thought that these women were had been best

friends for like years. So you're all going on a trip to the Bahamas or something. They really

are planning the next trip. Well, they're trying to get Asics to do this again at a different location.

So they're going from that vantage and then they're all planning their own trips. They're going

to do grandma's 27. There's a huge group. I'm already talking about that. Yeah. And just in case

people don't know, it's not like you just decided you'll coach because you've run a bunch of

marathons. You actually do have certifications. Yes. Can't recertified this year. USATF and

you see a. In the past, you've been my coach. I know that you're a good coach. So these

ladies were pretty lucky. And then of course, feathers. If you're listening to this podcast,

you don't know you actually have some credentials. A couple. You weren't just like Eta Sandwich.

I mean, I might say that, but. Yeah. All right. Let's get into it, guys. Let's hear

hear some of these pieces you got. Yeah. So we were 100 ladies were selected. And they were

everywhere from age 22 to 68 from 5,000 applications. Yes. From 27 states, three countries,

and they varied with PRs from 249 to 635. Okay. And you said the age group was from 20 what to. 22

to 68. That's insane. Yeah. And Carol, our 68 year old was so proud that she was our oldest

lady out there. And she was just a gem all weekend. I heard you saw the next day after. And she

looked fine. She's running. Yeah. She's looking great. Big smile on her face. Yeah. As her coach,

would you recommend to be running after after the marriage? I'm hoping she was just doing a little

shake out. So, you know, yeah, it's okay. Yeah. But yeah, we do have some voice memos from these

ladies that we are going to play throughout this. Should we start with some of these initial ones here?

I want to hear. I want to hear. I even think you guys would want us to talk the entire time

about this experience. So we wanted the ladies to have a voice in it too. So we have some different

messages from them. All right. So Allison has one here. Hey, Migs. This is Allison from Sandee.

One of your LA 100 women calling in to say, wow, and thank you for the experience of a lifetime.

I learned so much from the 16 week program. It really helped me fine tune my pre-workout

fueling and pre-race carb load. And I absolutely enjoyed the training plan. It added a lot of fun

variety and challenge to my training. And that set me up well for the LA marathon and future races,

too. I also can't say enough about the amazing community of women and how special you and A6

made marathon race weekend. Being out there on that course, doing what I love,

receiving encouragement from the other women and being cheered for by A6 made it unforgettable.

I truly cannot think of a better way to spend international women's day than empowering

women to chase big goals and running and to have fun doing it. Thanks again to you and A6 for

creating something so meaningful and for always supporting us all. Yeah, we did forget to

mention that it is international women's day when these ladies were running. Yeah. All right,

we have another one here from Kate, so we will play that. It's so hard to adequately put into words

just how incredible this experience has been. The support, encouragement, inspiration and

motivation. The women of the LA 100 provided each other not only on race day, but every single day

of the last 16 weeks has been nothing short of a gift. To this incredible group of women,

I am so proud of each of you and so thankful for sharing this experience with you.

My endless gratitude, of course, also goes out to our amazing coaches, the Megs,

to believe in the run and to every single member of the A6 team. Meg and Meg, you did far more than

simply prepare us to run a marathon. You created a force of a community built on the support and

unending encouragement you provided to us. It will never feel like thank you is enough, but it is

all that I've got. So thank you, thank you, thank you. And Kate's a local. She's a Baltimore and joins

us for Run Club all the time. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. See, I'm still not putting on names and faces together.

I love it because during her training, I would see her out every once well, like, my morning runs

and stuff like that. And I knew what she was doing. I knew what she was up to. That's fun. And I

think like to piggyback off what she said about the community, we have another comment here that

will read that was in a voice memo, but you know, when you put a 100 women together, you never

know what's going to happen, right? And we had a communication. That would be a good TV show.

You just, you're right. Like, you can't force a community, right? It has to kind of be built

naturally. So, um, I mean, just the communication channel that they had, they were so supportive.

Yeah. You've seen how's the live show? They don't get along. There's only like 10 of them.

Right. So the fact that you're able to get on it, that's amazing. And you know what is crazy?

And I should probably wait till the end when you read all these, but the thing is that these guys got

such a cool opportunity to have a community, get the training, get the nutrition, all this.

And then VIP treatment at the L.A. Marathon. Like, how do you go to a regular marathon?

That's what we were joking about. It's like, for the first time, I was like, this is pretty epic.

Yeah. They're going to be like, wait, what? I got a bus to the, to the start. I got it.

Yeah. Yeah. And I won't read it all, but Abby commented on this too. And she said the coolest part

of the program for me was how supportive all the women were from the first day. Um, and kind of

goes on to talk more about how supportive they were. So thank you for all the women that are out there

that are listening. They were a part of it for being so supportive for each other throughout the

whole journey. See, and I think this goes back to runners in general. And why this is such a good

community, because to your point, Thomas or Megan, I, who said it, but like putting a hundred random

women into a bucket feels chaotic, but runners, yeah, that's like, it's like a different breed.

It's just like we're do you also generally happier humans. I think that's part of it.

I think that I would feel very special knowing that there was 5,000 people who applied and I was

one of the 100. So I'd have some gratitude for sure. And be coming into this, like, I feel lucky.

And not only they got that, I mean, these people were taken to Los Angeles. Like, that's,

that's insane. You just don't get that. Yeah. And fit it out with clothes and gear and

train like everything you possibly need. Was there anything that you felt like you didn't provide

them for for this to be prepared? The only thing they wish they would have had was a bus to the

Expo. I think that was something that some people wanted because it was kind of hard to get there.

But other than that, I mean, little detail. Yeah, more like a helicopter with LA traffic. Yeah.

Or teleporting machines. Private Expo. They just, you get to the hotel and there's a mini A6 Expo for

for you. So we talked a little bit about the weather. This was the hottest LA marathon on record.

Oh, on record. Yeah. 64th the start 88 at the finish and the real feel was in the 90s. Yes.

Okay. So at what point are you starting to feel because 64 I'm like, okay, that's uncomfortable.

It's, it's warm. But if you're a two hour or so marathon or you're probably going to be feeling

it towards the end, but you're, you're still probably pretty good. At what point did it start

really getting warm? So the race started at seven and originally Megan and I were thinking like

330 and under we're going to be pretty okay. I think anyone over three hours, it got very warm

at the end. And you were exposed, right? It wasn't like completely no shade and sunshine. Yes.

So two other things with this, they've done some research to look at marathon performance. And

as soon as it's over 60 degrees is where performance starts to decrease. So I mean, these women didn't

run a step of that race without it being in a place with which performance is not optimized, right?

So I'm just like, kudos to them for all of that. But then the other thing Sarah, the dietician

that works with me ran it. And she got a postpartum PR of 312, which is absolutely incredible,

with three little kids at home. She said the first price 17 or 18 miles had enough shade that she

was hot, but she was a little bit under control. And then I guess they call the last eight miles

of that race concrete hellscape because it's totally exposed and just blazing sun and really

hilly. And she said the last eight miles were absolutely brutal. You bring up a good point. You

were able to LA marathon made a decision with the heat that if you wanted to cut out at 18,

you could and get a medal and get a medal. And there's there's debate on whether that's kosher or

not. But you know, that's I don't I don't really care about that argument. But were did some of the

women in the group take advantage of that or did most two? Was there more than? Okay, there was two.

I knew the one, but like I mentioned this on the drop, like Ali had run a marathon the day before.

Yeah, Ali sounds nuts. Yeah, yeah. And then she also went out a little too hot with one of her

friends. And okay, that's that's just what happens, right? Yeah, it looked like Florida at first,

but the timer was a little off for some of the women. And so we found out that two of them actually

did finish. We saw them in the VIP. We were like super excited because one of them was the first time

marathoner and the other one had a great day. So it was wonderful. I can't I you know me in

heat and marathon. So my head goes off to all. Oh gosh, yeah, I don't know that I would have started

this marathon. I think I would have just said I'll save this race for another event. I mean,

if I'm there with a hundred other people with the same mission, I'm probably going out,

but I know it's going to be a rough day. Yeah, right. They were supporting each other. They were like,

if they can do it, I can do it. And two, we had talked a lot about the weather, what to do. Meg told

them how to pace it. I told them all the tricks for nutrition, both before the race during the race

towards the end of the race when you can't take gels. So I think they felt confident that yes,

this is going to have to be adjusted, but here's all the tools that we have to stay safe and healthy

out there. Hey, Meg, this is Ashley. This thing I keep coming back to as I reflect on LA 100

is really how prepared I felt coming into race day. And a huge portion of that is obviously the

training that we did. And then the fueling and the recovery nutrition that we learned along the

way. But as the weather forecast came out and it became clear, it would be very warm. That's

something I normally would struggle with and get very in my head about. And with the help of

you both. And then this group of women, I really felt like I had such a solid plan going into

the day. And I knew myself and I knew that I'm a heavy, salty sweater. And that not only was I going

to need to adjust my expectations for pacing and goals on race day, but I was going to need to

really focus on hydration and getting electrolytes in. And I just don't think that I would have had

the day that I had or even had a day out there if it had not been for this group and everything

that I've learned being a part of it, as well as the support that I got along the way. So just

want to say thank you. And this has been a fantastic experience.

Including this extra bit just for reference, my goal pre-weather forecast going into race day was

to run under a 345. I ended up running a 35350 with basically even splits in the first and second half.

And like I said, I'm really affected by the heat. So I am incredibly happy and proud with how the day

went and kind of silly disbelief. I managed to run even splits. So again, just want to say thank you.

I felt super prepared out there. And I think it showed.

That's rad. We got one of the like things I couldn't believe is I told people, you know,

it's going to be warm and like to adjust their pacing and like how to do it. But a lot of people

are like, yeah, okay, whatever. And just go out. But so many of these women adjusted their

paces and then had a great day. And I was like, wait, you coached. But do you know what I mean?

Like when people are just set. Exactly. When people are set in their minds about a time,

it's like really hard to mentally be like, let me restructure this and take into account the weather.

But they they did. Well, what's also great is that you guys coached for this and you you told

them about the hydration and everything like that. Those resources are available to anybody on

feathers website. So if you want to know what she's talking about, it's not like you have to

join this 100 women's group. These resources are out there on the on the site. You can go check

them out. And we talk about it here on the show all the time. We do. Exactly. I thought we just did

not. Well, a little bit of both. Okay, actually another tidbit. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Okay, one more thing for me, which I'm sure you cannot use this on the pod. But I hope you get

a smile or laugh out of it. So the last 10k was I basically carnage out there in the heat.

But I cannot tell you how many men I passed who were done today walking on their phones,

calling people to tell them how much it sucked. And I just got so much satisfaction running by them,

especially on International Women's Day. So I just also want you guys to have that mental picture

of us ladies out there just crushing it as we're running past all of these guys.

Okay, the funniest part about that is we're recording the recap on the drop yesterday. And

Robbie made a point to be like, if this was 100 dudes, you would have had a lot more DNFs.

Hell yeah. That's like no doubt. Yeah. That was it for that women. I would argue with her, but I know

that I'd be one of those guys calling screw it. I know, man. Like it's that is so I don't know.

Maybe it's just me and he but that those conditions. I'm so proud of these ladies, man. That's

sorry. That is insane that like to go out there and be smiling. Like I could understand if

you suffered through it, but like I saw pictures and they're all having a great time.

A bunch of psychos. So the times for the day were everything from 250, 36 to 845, 52.

And it's great that you can run a 250 and you probably felt great and she was well prepared

to be out there in that heat on that pavement for eight hours and still be determined to finish

over eight hours and determined to finish. That's a different kind of strength that people

don't talk about. Like we all talk about like, hey, if someone's physically fit and how they do it,

but to be mentally there to say, I'm not quitting. I'm not going to stop until I reach there.

Even if you're like crawling, like that's that's that's impressive. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely.

All right. Let's hear from Gina.

Hey, Megs and Thomas. This is Gina making my way back up to Seattle from LA. If I could describe

the LA-100 group in one word, it would be transformational. I ran my first marathon in 2023

at New York City and the entire process from training through race day was still miserable.

I basically stopped running at all for over a year afterwards. When I threw my hat in the ring

for the LA-100 group, I figured if it was meant to be, it would happen and I'm so glad it did.

The power of community and strength and guidance of the Megs changed my life.

Even after a death march through the LA heat, I felt so strong and happy at the end of the race

and truly can't wait to keep training and fueling right for years to come. I'm so thankful to

Meg and Meg A6 and the whole LA-100 community for giving me back the gift of running in my life.

Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah. That makes me so happy.

I mean, that's life-changing, like, to get somebody excited about being in the sport again.

It's one thing to get someone started because we all start off desiastic, but when you have a

break from it, you may never come back and to bring somebody back into the sport and

make them feel positive about it, that's a real gift.

And for these women to trust us, right? Like she said, she was pretty much done with

this, and then she was like, okay, if it's meant to be, let's give it a whirl, and here she had

the heck of a time and is back to wanting to run marathons again. And that takes a lot of trust

from all these women to jump in with the Megs over here, and we really appreciate that as well.

Yeah. You know, you don't think about it, but I do think it makes a difference. It was two women

leading this whole thing. It wasn't like two guys that were like, let's get 100 women together.

Well, no, that would have been married. I mean, that's, that's put it, that is the typical,

that would have been the typical model 10 years ago, five years ago. You would have taken two

professional coaches that most likely at that time would have been male. Like think about the

different running programs that we watched as we were when we started, they were all headed up.

There was no female coaching in some of the major groups that we saw. You're starting to see

a change, but like this really is kind of a little bit, you guys are like, oh, I'd be weird if it

wasn't. I think a few years ago, it wouldn't have been considered weird. You would have been like,

no, those are the pros. Well, this whole, I don't think 100 ladies and focus on International Women's

Day. I don't think any of that would have been a big thing either. So it's 2026. Yeah.

Here we go. It took this long. All right, let's hear from Mary Kate.

Hey, Megs, this is Mary Kate from the LA 100 group. I just wanted to thank you both again

for all of your hard work and everything you put into this group over the 16 weeks.

This weekend was one of the best weekends in my life. It was just incredible.

And along with A6, you guys all made this really special for us. I loved meeting with and connecting

with all these other women who are like-minded and just strong and powerful and have big goals.

And it was just really, really great. My favorite part of the weekend I think was, well,

it wasn't my favorite that I was dying at mile 25, but when I was dying at mile 25,

I looked over and you were both cheering me on by name. And that was really special.

So I just wanted to say thank you for that. I really appreciate everything you guys have done

and I'm really thankful for this opportunity. It's feathers crying. Are you crying? No, my eyes have

been watering. You've heard these methods just before. I have heard them. I did tear up. She's one

of them when I heard it. No, I can't remember which one it was, but no, my eyes. I mean, these are

emotional. I would understand if you were getting a little choked up. It made me just as happy, I think,

when we were cheering for one of the women on the course and they heard us and made eye contact,

because we were really close to mile 26. So everyone at that point is just done for and just

trying to get to the finish line. And so there was several people that, you know, they didn't,

like we were screaming. They couldn't hear us. But when we did finally, like make eye contact

with someone or they saw us and you just, they're whole demeanor change and it just, it made me so

happy. I've got up some videos that I'm trying to put together. It won't be the most epic real,

but some of that, like I want to, some of their reactions when they see us as just, they're just

adorable. That was the one thing I, the one thing that I wish and I think you guys need to consider

this next time is having somebody there that's posting stuff live because I was like, what's going

on? Like I, the excitement and the buildup and everything I'm seeing on, I'm like, I want to see

these ladies running and I was like, yeah, I was like, make, are you getting, are you posting any

stuff? And she's like, I'm too busy trying to track them and, and follow them. I'm like, okay, but

the tracker topped out at 50. So Megan, I each had 50. So we're standing there going, who's next

for you? Who's next for you? Who's, what's their name? Who is it? So we're like trying to put a

face with it and then find that person. And I mean, it was like a full-time job standing there,

trying to make sure we didn't miss any. Yeah, positive. Well, then Megan was trying to

record a video of someone if they were coming. And so I was like, had the tracker up and then I

would be like, okay, they're point one. But then the tracker was like off. The tracker's ever been

right. It was, yeah, it really was like a mental like, I think you guys need like that bridge over

the course. And then you have a camera down and you could be up and you, yeah, we just need

clones so that we can be multiple places multiple times. Yeah. Yeah. And then we'll do cardboard

cutouts. We joked about that. Someone said do a hologram so that we could be at the party and

spectating. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So good. So another stat. We had 16 first-time

marathoners. We had 16% within that group. There was a 305 and a 316. Whoa, a first-timer

to 305. Yeah. On that course. Yeah. Yeah. Dude. Uh-huh. They're going to be pretty, pretty good.

And Michelle, who went sub four, who left us a little message here.

Hello to the world's best coaches. I couldn't have asked for a better first marathon experience.

And even though the weather was brutal and I looked like I had rolled around in a pile of salt

by the time I finished, I still managed to get across the line in under four hours. And that

definitely only happened because of the training and nutrition guidance you both gave me.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the tools to believe in myself

and officially become a marathoner. Peas and carrots.

Yeah. Do you know that what Megan's, uh, not, not feathers, but Megan's first marathon time was?

They were like the same. Like two or three, 57. Yeah. I think I was three, 56.

So when she's talking about her first marathon being under this guy's the limit.

I know. That's what I always think. sub three up neck out.

Powered to chop off. Yeah. That's that's the fun time when you have time to chop. Like if you

that first one who ran the three or four or three or five. Yeah. That's hard to chop off a lot of time.

The four hour just sub under four or a little over four, you get to chop, chop off time. And

that's exciting. I will say though, these ladies were very better prepared than Megan and I were

going into our first marathon. Yeah. Well, you were eating like granola. Yeah. I was very

underfuels. Yeah, but that thing is how much was it fun though? Like when you saw you did,

then you went to three 40 and then you dropped it to 20. Yeah. Yeah. Like those big chunks of time.

It's like you equate them like I'm like you, especially in this heat, if she ran that there,

she knocks off another 10, 15 flat cores cool day. Right. And you're like you start to think about

that in your brain. That's two miles. I just cut off two miles of the marathon in time. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It gets me excited. All right. We have a note here from Jenna.

Hi, this is Jenna from Austin, Texas. And I was in the LA 100 and it is honestly really hard to put

into words what this experience meant and how empowering it was. You know, I was coming in as a

first time marathoner, actually also coming off of injury. So I was really nervous about if I was

going to be able to pull through. But the megs were beyond helpful in how to do so safely and make

adjustments so that it was doable for me. And then just having the support of the ladies in the

group was incredible. And then having that all kind of come together in that final weekend together,

it was just, it was amazing. There just aren't words to describe it. It was, you know, it was

empowering. It was humbling. It was hard. It helped me dig into parts of me that I did not know

existed. And I just, you know, as I am back home and thinking through the whole experience,

I'm just kind of overwhelmed by it. So thank you to the megs. Thank you to A6. Thank you to the LA

marathon for a life-changing experience that has changed me in a way that nothing else can.

I love that. Do you guys feel like this experience has changed you?

I think the biggest thing that I would say is there's like a high and a lure of breaking into

the running community. And we have been in it long enough that Jay did is not the right word.

But you get just kind of maybe agnostic about how exciting it is. And I feel like this group

reignited. Oh, the running community is epic. You know what I mean? Because it's easy in the day-to-day

to kind of forget how incredible, especially because I don't train with people. I like

here alone, you know what I mean? And yes, I'm working with runners. But it kind of reignited

just how special this community is for me. Yeah, I agree with that. It's funny too,

because Dina Caster was at the finish line party that we had at True Kitchen. And you know,

we get to see Dina all the time. And because she's such like, she acts like such a normal person,

you forget that she's this Olympian huge deal. And to see the girls get so excited that

she was there and take photos like to your point, it's kind of like, oh, this is really cool

what we're doing. Like sometimes you forget. So it's not so much changed you guys as like

may help you remember that what you're doing is special.

Absolutely. And I'm really good at putting my head down and grinding and getting work done.

And sometimes I forget to take a step back and look at the magic, right? So this weekend was like,

oh my gosh, wow, this is magical. So it's a good reminder.

All right, I know we only have 10 minutes here. So maybe we could. Okay, PRs, we had 10.

They were all over the lot. Whitney's was an hour and 14 minutes.

What? Yeah. Yeah. That's a chunk of time.

14 minute PR like, that's just incredible. So and then we had some other people,

the PR after their 15th marathon, Vivian did at 53 years old. I mean, just incredible stories

and Ellen also PR. I think the people of PR in these conditions. That's what I know.

And on this course, the fact that there was a single PR is incredible. Yeah, let alone 10.

Yeah. Yeah. And then a few other notes here of age groups, the women crush. So Abby got third

in 25 to 29. Lydia got second in 30 to 34. Brittany got second in 35 to 39. Allie Lewis got

fourth in 40 to 44. And we had four of the top eight in 45 to 49. First, third, fourth and eighth.

Geez. And then our oldest competitor, Carol, took 11th in 65 through 69 age group.

That's just sick. That is insane. You know, you skipped because you had so many in that one group.

You didn't give names out. You should give the names. It was Megan, Kim, Victoria,

Burrana and Kim or Carrie. Yeah. I mean, that's so impressive. Like age grouping is like,

in that many, like I know, like I literally can't express enough how like proud I am of the group

in general, like just such determination and support and still this doesn't make you want to

coach. No, I literally, it's funny because several of the women asked if I did any one on one or

coaching plans or anything like that. And in my core, like, I would love to do this full time.

And that's it. But in what we've built right now, I wear too many hats and I cannot. But it is

something that I think about. And I'm like, this is something I would love to pursue at some point

when I'm not doing a thousand other things. Exactly. When's that going to be?

Oh, and clear. Okay. Should we close out with Victoria's message?

Yeah. At the bottom here. Okay. All right. So Victoria said, this LA 100 experience was completely

magical. 100 women of different ages, paces, backgrounds, fitness levels coming together to run a

marathon. The love and support, encouragement and friendships made was top tier. Being a part of

this program was such an honor and privilege. Shout out to the Megs and everyone involved in making

this magical moment possible for us. We definitely were treated like royalty for anyone thinking of

doing a marathon. Just do it. It was so rewarding. And remember, we are women and we can do hard

things. Just put one foot in front of the other. Love that. I do too. And we be remiss to not express

our gratitude to ASICs for sponsoring this whole program, taking on, mechanize, wildest ideas,

and trusting us to run with it and do something epic with it. And obviously, without these 100

women, there would have been nothing epic. So we're thankful for them as well. And always thankful

for my partner in crime over here so that we can do fun things. Yeah. I echo all of that. There

is one little quick story that I forgot that is when we were talking about grateful for ASICs,

one of the women on our bus lost her shoes at the start before she left them on the bus,

and then she went through security and then realized she didn't have her shoes,

and then someone had taken them off of the bus. And so there was this chaotic scramble for how do we

find Maddie shoes? And Karen was working with someone else from ASICs and they eventually,

they had planned to take shoes off of one of the women who worked for ASICs because she was the

right size that she just had shoes to wear. But anyway, they ended up finding them through all

of their hard work and stuff. But it just goes to show like how epic and wonderful the ASICs

team is. That's a good example of how great the ASICs seem. I got it. I got to say though,

who leaves her freaking shoes? And it was like she was, it was not her first marathon. She was

very experienced. It's just, you know, it's early morning. Okay. So next year, are you going to be like,

hey, make sure you have your shoes? Yes. And she was absolutely hilarious. Like I hadn't gotten

over too much over the weekend until then. And I was like, this trick is hilarious.

So she's handled it well. And yeah, that was great.

So yeah, we'll keep everyone posted on our next big adventure. But yeah,

this one, this one was pretty epic. And I'm not sure where we go from here. I know the team

really hard to stop this. The team in the background was really proud of you guys. And like what

you guys did, like was so much fun for us to watch and to kind of kind of see it from the

beginning and kind of like roll out and be so successful. And really had the results that we

couldn't even imagine. So it was like really fun. Like you guys are spectating. But we were also

spectating and checking it out. So big, big kudos to both of you guys. This was amazing lift.

Thank you. So next week or in two weeks, we will go back to our traditional

format of answering listener questions. So if you have a question that we haven't answered,

you can send us an email at fuel for the sole podcast at gmail.com. And we will answer it here

on the show. You can also send us an audio message. And isn't the audio stuff better than the

written? It's fun. We like to hear your voices. It does. It puts it puts personality to it.

These women all sounded really professional today. Like they had scripted out. They were

written. You know, had it nailed down. There was no arms or a group. It was him. These ladies

are top notch. Yeah. Right. Is it time? Peace and carrots. Bye.

Cool. Leg stance. You have going on over there. Good afternoon and welcome to Fuel for the Soul.

I am Thomas Newberg with Lean in the Run. What you do is you take the nutmaning and rub it gently.

Okay. My, my, my, my, my, my, me. All right. We got me.

I said, we won. Yeah.