Karen Ellis: From Half-Marathons to Western States 100 w/ “The Active Joe” Sponsor Entry & Tips for How You Could Be Selected, Too!

Speaker 1: 0:00

Discover wrong. Inspiring stories from runners who've been right where you are. This is the Choose to Endure Ultra Running Podcast with your host he's English, not Australian Richard Gleave.

Speaker 2: 0:20

All right, welcome back and thanks for joining us again. This is the Choose to Endure podcast, where we are dedicated to the back of the pack Ultra Runners who are redefining possible one epic mile at a time. In this episode, we are welcoming local Houston runner, ms Karen Ellis. Karen started running at the end of 2018, but in 2020, when everything happened and the world shut down, the miles picked up and she went from half marathons to a 100K finisher in less than a year. She became group run coach for the Cyprus Run Club and spends time on both roads and trails with the Cyprus Wolf Pack. This year, after completing 312 months, she was awarded the Active Joe's Sponsorship Spot to run no less than Western States this summer, which, for those listening that may be unfamiliar, this is essentially the Super Bowl of trail running in the US and an extremely challenging race to get into. I think. A quick review on my part showed over 7,000 lottery entrants last year for around 380 actual runners. So unless you have a lot of lottery tickets, your chances of getting in via standard methods are relatively slim, I would say, which makes this a big deal. So, karen, welcome to the show. First of all, congratulations on being selected as the sponsor entry for Active Joe, which should definitely be giving you a kudos for that. But I think first of all we should be giving you another big cheer for your efforts this past weekend at Snowdrop Ultra, yourself and the Wolf Pack team. I think Maybe you can kick us off by telling us a little about your experience down there first before we dive into our main topic. So how was the Snowdrop event for you personally and, I suppose, for the Wolf Pack team?

Speaker 3: 2:26

Sure, yeah, the Snowdrop event has been a really fun event to do the Cypress Wolf Pack has. This is our third year with a team out there and actually our third year winning as a team out there. Three years ago we decided to start forming a team. Our captain, isaac Fox, had been doing it solo for many, many years and I think he decided he wanted to have a little more fun time with it as opposed to just loops.

Speaker 2: 2:54

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 2:55

So we did a team. We never thought we'd be competitive the first year. We have mixed bag of runners, we have different paces, things like that, but what we found is if you just are really, really consistent, always have someone going, you have a good shot. So this year was actually our most challenging year. This year we had a really steep competitive team against us and first day was kind of back and forth the whole time and just we're never quite sure if we were going to stay ahead or not. I think we got ahead overnight on the first night and through the next day and I know my big shift of running was New Year's Eve. I think I came in around 5 pm and at that point we were in the lead and I know I started running and all of a sudden some guy passed me and I was running for four miles and he passed me twice and I was like oh.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Wow, yeah, yeah, he's going, that guy is going.

Speaker 3: 4:03

Yeah, I think that guy ran about 18 miles at under a seven minute pace. It was amazing.

Speaker 2: 4:10

Oh, goodness me.

Speaker 3: 4:12

Yes, he was flying. So, needless to say, we had a little more pressure that night and I had a bunch of just the way it fell. We kind of do a sign up where we put up a Google sheet with 30 minute slots and people can go in there and populate it. So if you want to come in and run for an hour in the morning and then come back at 3 and run an hour, you can do that, or you can run half hour blocks, because what we found the other thing that helps us keep going and not get too tired is to run 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off, or have a couple of people to do short little blocks, so you can take a break and then reset and you can kind of run a little bit faster than you would if you were doing something longer. But so that's basic.

Speaker 2: 5:02

Given away all your secrets here, right For the second team? Was it Team Ultra?

Speaker 3: 5:07

Team Ultra was a team chasing.

Speaker 2: 5:09

You guys are all neck and neck the whole way.

Speaker 3: 5:12

Yes, and we were talking with. I mean, we knew some of them, we know each other.

Speaker 2: 5:18

Yeah, I was wondering about that. As the days and time passes, are you guys actively egging each other on, or are you aware of the other team and where they're at and who they've got?

Speaker 3: 5:29

Oh, very aware.

Speaker 2: 5:33

And do you actively. Ok, I know they've got a fast runner out. We need to get somebody quick, or do you stick to your half hour or your time slots?

Speaker 3: 5:40

Well, I mean we stuck to what we pretty much had for the most part. Yeah, there was a few things that changed, things like someone getting upset at stomach and swapping out stuff like that. But on the other team, team Ultra had PJ, who is one of the race directors for Teh House Trail, so I knew him, so we know people. So that's the best thing about Snowdrop is you end up knowing so many people out there anyway. So you're just out there kind of for a mini reunion every year, or people that you see at different races are out there. So that's that's one of the best things about that race is just its community. The whole time People come by the tent to say hi, come by to bring snacks, drinks, whatever. So I mean it's just a really fun event and I mean I spent basically at midnight I was running at midnight while the fireworks started going off and I actually really enjoy that. That's kind of fun because, yeah, that seems that seems pretty cool Because my kids are now teenagers and last year I tried staying home for the New Year's Eve, thinking that we'd like sit together and have like family time or watch the fireworks together, and it ended up being that I was sitting on the couch alone while my teenagers were doing their own thing. So I was like, well, I'd rather be running then at this time.

Speaker 2: 7:08

Yeah, and definitely not alone yeah.

Speaker 3: 7:12

Yeah, so that's what I did for New Year's. I had, I think. I think I had almost a nine hour span of doing a bunch of intervals. I'll call it that. There were four to six mile intervals and I think I got 30 miles that night. So I had my little almost 50 K at Snowdrop. So it was fun and excellent. Yeah, and the other thing is it's not just about like we have fun trying to win the most miles and like eating our, our time or our mileage from each year, but we also really try to be a big fundraising team. So when we make our team, our captain tries to have us all reach for the goal of each of us getting. $1,000 is not required, but we all have that goal, so we're all trying for it. We have raised already $11,683 without I know I have a Facebook fundraiser that hasn't been put into my account yet.

Speaker 2: 8:19

That's incredible. Yeah, well done.

Speaker 3: 8:21

The first year we did is we were actually the highest raising team and the highest ever raising team at that time. Oh, wow. But this year and last year there's there's another team, team Gabby, that has a really good fundraising and they they are currently edging us out on the fundraising, but it's all for a good reason. So if there's competition on the fundraising and to, that only helps the foundation. So we're still fundraising through the end of the month, so maybe we'll get a little bit more, but on average we've basically gotten our our goal for the team, even if each individual person didn't exactly get a thousand. Yeah on average, we did.

Speaker 2: 9:06

Where can folks go if they want to donate? So, can you point them to a site and we'll add it on the show notes here as well.

Speaker 3: 9:13

Yes, so there is a specific site through the Snowdrop and I'm sure we can find it by looking up the Snowdrop Foundation. It's through the driven as though is the website that manages it, and you can search for teams, you can search for individuals, you can just donate to the foundation through there as well, and that's that's how we do our fundraising. So each person can post their own link if they're on a team or if they're an individual, to fundraise under their, their name. And then we were also allowed to do things like you could create just a Facebook fundraiser under Snowdrop and then what you would do is, when your Facebook fundraiser ends, you just you send the total amounts to the person in charge of the fundraising at Snowdrop and she would just add that total into your account. So it went to your team, so they knew that those funds were yours, that you raised. So some people did that because it's a little faster to just press it on the Facebook fundraiser for some people, and you know it just goes straight to their card and people in these days like to check out real quick, and the one on the fundraising site makes you enter in some information. But the benefit with that site is for people who have company matching where they work, like if their companies will match who they who, whatever charity they donate to. So that's another way. Some people got more donations because they would donate $500. But then their work would match that, and so then they were donating $1,000 without having to donate all of it on their own.

Speaker 2: 10:57

Yeah, oh no. I think that's a great thing and lots of companies out there have a match and if you're listening and maybe your company has a match too, so definitely go out and check it out and see if that's the case and consider donating, if you want to, and consider perhaps I don't know maybe three times is too much. Maybe there is a team out there that wants to take you guys on next year, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3: 11:20

Well, and some of us might be wanting to do it individual at some point. So we'll see.

Speaker 2: 11:26

The team might change up.

Speaker 3: 11:27

You never know.

Speaker 2: 11:29

Brilliant. Well, we covered your own, very briefly covered your own journey into into running and then ultimately into ultra running. So how did you start in in running? Why did you start? And then, what inspires you to kind of take it up a notch into the ultra world?

Speaker 3: 11:48

Yeah, so yeah, that's the story. Well, I mean, first off, for just running. I think I started running for the same reason. A lot of people who are now middle aged and maybe just got, you know, have had kids recently and stuff like that. Yeah, I was just starting to feel a little unhealthy. Clothes were getting tighter and I used to be very active as a kid and I hadn't been active at all since I had my two girls and they were in elementary school by this point and I just felt kind of like blob and I needed a hobby and I needed something to do, and so it started off with getting a used treadmill which I think my husband was certain was going to become a coat rack.

Speaker 2: 12:34

So many do.

Speaker 3: 12:36

But it didn't. I mean, I was like, okay, I'm going to go online, I'll find a cheap, used one. You know, we're not going to go spend thousands of dollars on one, we'll just find one that someone else is using as a coat rack and try to make it work. Because I think at that point it was like August and I'm like, well, I'm not going to start running outside.

Speaker 2: 12:57

Yeah, that's hot for starting.

Speaker 3: 12:59

Yeah, so got the treadmill, you know, starting with just little bits and, like, my goal was to run a 5k on a New Year's Day, because there's one that happens at that time every year, at New Year's Day, and that was going to be my goal. So that's where I started and I think even then I was starting to watch some YouTube videos just on my phone on the treadmill, and when you look up running videos you eventually find ultra running videos and there's a lot of movies on that there. So I think, before I'd even had my eyes set on my half marathon, I was seeing stuff about Western States and Leadville and things and, you know, looked scary and cool. But it was in my head. So that's how it started. I was sure my knees were going to be terrible, because that was my excuse when I was younger, that I wasn't a distance runner as a teenager. I was actually a sprinter and I did not like running distance. I thought I was terrible about it when I tried to do cross country. I was the slowest. I just didn't get any better at it, so I was certain that that was not for me. But as someone now older, I'm like, well, I could try for five K's see what happens. And I remember I started off with wearing knee braces and stuff because my knees ached and things like that. But then I did join a boot camp gym and started working out there and doing some strength training and I slowly realized my knees weren't hurting anymore and I was like well, this is, this is good. Yeah, and then what started me building mileage was actually doing a tough mudder event with people at the gym, and that was going to be eight to 10 miles. So I was like, well, now I got to start running for real, I got to run more and also do some obstacles to obstacles in that one Right. Yeah. So I started training for that and someone at the gym had a Cyprus running club shirt on, and so I like basically just walked over to her. I was like, tell me about this I need to. I need to know something about this because I'd seen the shirts at at the local five K's Cyprus running club is huge.

Speaker 2: 15:32

I was gonna say they're quite big. You see their shirts, the green shirts, right? It depends on the year. It's different colors. Okay, every year it could be different colors.

Speaker 3: 15:39

So when a bunch of them are at a local race, it's just this massive color. But yeah, so I'd seen it at the five K and I was like, well, that's a big group and I live in Cyprus, so got to be somewhere around here. So that's how I got kind of like ready to be on the Cyprus running club. And that's kind of where it all started Join the club, started training for half marathons because, you know, I'd be talking at work and people were like, yeah, I've heard that people's toenails fall off when they run marathons. And I was just like that sounds terrible. So I was like, well, let's just see what happens with a half marathon first, like I don't know that I'm ready to destroy myself with a marathon. So that's what I did. The first year was I just signed up for there was a half marathon in November and then the ramp go half marathon that I did after that, and then I was doing some of the other local ones prior to COVID shutting down everything. So yeah. So we got to the time when that was starting to happen and I was kind of starting to find some different groups in the club. I found some of the trail runners that went on my first trail run, which led to my first trail fall.

Speaker 2: 17:17

Yes, you're not a true trail runner until you've tripped and fell and smack your knee or your nose or something.

Speaker 3: 17:22

Oh, I did.

Speaker 2: 17:23

I'm curious, did they hang out together? Do they cross, mingle the trail and road?

Speaker 3: 17:29

Yeah, there's some. So we have a lot of I'll call them the hybrid runners. We have some people that will do a little bit of both. And then there's some in our trail group that just do trails. But I mean, if you're running trails, you're also running road on occasion, just because you're not always able to get straight on the trail. But that group tends to have a different vibe. If you're just going to the trails, you know you go to the trail location and you have your meetup where you go run and then afterwards they hang out for post run hydration and snacks and things like that.

Speaker 2: 18:07

That's my favorite bit yeah.

Speaker 3: 18:09

Whereas if you're the run group it's usually people speeding off to different things right afterwards. So you get a lot more social with the trail group and some of the trail group would actually meet on Sundays for an actual road run, but it was because it was a coffee run, Because we meet by the coffee shop and we go run just an hour or easy run and then you know, go and have coffee and pastries or breakfast or whatever.

Speaker 2: 18:42

If there's one thing we like, it's well, two things really coffee and breakfast and beer, I think you've got maybe three things that we can cover all bases with that, I think. Pretty solid. So it looked like you went from there and then, just looking at your ultra sign-up, you kind of elevated to 50Ks. How did that come about? How did you sort of make that leap?

Speaker 3: 19:04

So that leap happened because of COVID and during that spring I had signed up because I was turning 40 that year of 2020. And I'd signed up from what was going to be my first marathon that year. It was supposed to be Marine Corps Marathon in the fall.

Speaker 2: 19:21

Oh, great marathon yeah.

Speaker 3: 19:22

Yeah, like I had just entered the lottery for that, like right before everything started canceling, so I've gotten into that, so I was looking forward to that. But then everything started like everything was shutting down, had no idea what was going to happen. So I was like, well, my birthday's in the summer, so it was in June. I was like, well, maybe I should do something fun for my birthday, just in case I don't get to do this marathon for my birthday year later. And at first I started telling some different people and some of the trail people and some of the road people. I was like, well, maybe I'll do 40K for my birthday. And then I'm like, well, 40k is basically a marathon, so why not just do a marathon? So that became the plan. So I basically trained to do a for fun marathon around the streets in the neighborhood on my birthday in June. And at that point, when it's 90 plus degrees and I think we also had it was Saharan dust cloud blowing through around that time.

Speaker 2: 20:28

Oh, I remember that. Yes, on top of COVID. Yes, yeah.

Speaker 3: 20:31

Yes. So we did that marathon with lots of popsicle, stops and things like that, but that's how I did my first marathon. And at that point we still weren't sure about the Marine Corps race. They kept saying they were trying to have it but nothing really was happening yet. And one of my other friends was also supposed to go to Marine Corps, that she was going to do the 50K. So we kept training as if it might happen and then as we got closer it became clear that it was not happening and then they canceled it. But when they canceled it they decided to say, well, if you want to, you can do the virtual, because it was supposed to be the 50th anniversary or so they all these special medals made and everything like that, so you could do the virtual. And then they offered this virtual trifecta and the trifecta was you could do the 10K, the marathon and the 50K and it was all. I don't remember if it was four weeks or six weeks that you had to do it in. And my friend was like, well, I just went ahead and signed up for the trifecta. And I was like, oh thanks, well, I'm going to be running with you anyway. So I guess that's what I'm doing. So that's how that started happening. So we, we did, obviously, the 10K we just could knock off whenever we did the marathon on the trails. And then I actually we we planned doing our 50K virtual at Brazos Bend and we planned it kind of using the route that they use for for their 50K when they have it. We set up our own aid station and we ran it like a race. She's significantly faster than me, but we had a small gaggle that went out there to do parts of it with us. I think there was one other guy that stayed with me the whole time. So that's how I did my first 50K. And around that time they were supposed to be having the Brazos Bend race that December. They had posted it and had people signing up and I was like, well, if I'm going to do a 50K virtually, then that means I'm trained basically to run a 50-miler right, and they had the 50, yeah, they had a 50-miler at the Brazos 100. So I had signed up for it and then they canceled it. So some other friends were running 100K at the Tejas Trails race to Nahas. I always say this one wrong. Tina Haas to Nahas, which is not a flat race like Brazos Bend.

Speaker 2: 23:24

No, no, that's definitely not flat out there in Hill Country. No.

Speaker 3: 23:30

Yes, and I'd actually already turned this one down previously because I was like I'm a baby trail runner, I'm not ready for that. That sounds great. You all go do that. I'm going to do this flat 50-mile race. But when they canceled it I was like, well, dang it, I want to go do something. So me and another one of the ones that was signed up for Brazos Bend jumped on the Tina Haas bandwagon. Because the way they had planned that race for COVID is, they had this staggered window where you could start on Friday or Saturday and then it was different times of the day you could start. So we were actually going to go and start on Friday and there was five of us going. So we went out there and I just told myself, well, I'm not perfectly trained for this, maybe mileage-wise, but not trail-wise. I've never done rocks, I've never done all this. So it's a hiking day and maybe I'm running some of it. And of the five of us that went out of it out there, two of us finished and I was one of them.

Speaker 2: 24:43

So brilliant.

Speaker 3: 24:45

And it was a. It was a hard day. It was nice in the day, we didn't start till close to one in the afternoon and so you didn't finish your first 50k loop till I think it was 8 pm and by that point it was below freezing. And you had to go back out for another 50k completely in the dark on a very difficult technical course. So that was a, I think, over 19 hour 100k for my first.

Speaker 2: 25:16

But what a way to do it. I mean, what an introduction right, that is the way to do it, just jump right in and go for it, just yeah, and this funny part about it was with the.

Speaker 3: 25:26

You know it was a 50k loop, so you did 50k of it and as us in our group straggled back in, the only really experienced trail runner that came with us was my friend, isaac, and he got done first. And so he got done with the first loop first and just sat down in a chair, curled up in a sleeping bag, because he decided that he was gonna wait and see if anyone else is gonna go back out, because he didn't want to go back out if all of us were quitting, because he got a ride with me and From the hotel. So it's like well, if everybody else is gonna quit, I don't know. Yeah, he's like probably thinking I don't know if these you know road runners are gonna make it out here. He didn't want to go back out if we weren't gonna go back out. So he curled up and waited for an hour until we got it was me and one other came straggling in and I was. I never had the attention of not Going back out because I was like, well, I paid for the race, so I'm gonna get my time out here. So I just changed and came back and he's like okay, well, I guess, guess we got a live one here, so we're gonna go back out. But everybody else Decided they were, they were done the 50k.

Speaker 2: 26:45

Yeah. Yeah, I love the attitude to. It's fun, but I like it and it's something not. You know you pay for the race. You might as well get your full money's worth right. Yeah whether it's a hundred miles or 10k or whatever like. Take as much time as you can get your full money's with. Yeah it's okay, you know.

Speaker 3: 27:00

Yeah, and especially since we started on Friday, I was like, well, I mean I don't have a cut off, and yeah, at this point, Go for it. Yeah, and I kind of knew it was gonna be difficult. Anyway, I'd looked up the previous times and there were some seasoned trail runners that were doing it in you know Well over 17 hours as well on history. So I knew it was definitely possible to be out there a while.

Speaker 2: 27:27

Yeah, proper technical stuff like hey, welcome to trail running, you know.

Speaker 3: 27:31

Yes, we did finish that and that loop was very interesting, like especially for our first time Ultra, like we were out in this field and there's like coyotes just Hackling in the distance and I'm you know, I went out with people, with Isaac, and we also had one other guy who came out as a pacer, but like I kept thinking if I had gone back out on this loop by myself, how would I have felt about this? Because they're just, you know, when the coyotes sound like they're like attacking something and Hackling off there and I'm like we're kind of walking that way and that park is very remote and like certain parts there's no cell signal at all and, especially since it was the COVID year and it was so staggered that night there was really only three of us out there. In the middle of the night there was one other lady who Nancy marks, who was running, I think, 150k, so she was gonna be out there all weekend but majority the people that were running this event were starting Saturday, so it was pretty isolated out there, but we did get through it. I remember Sometime after 40 miles my knee kind of started Locking up on me, just from all there's a lot of rocks and stepping down off things. There's a section where you have to hike down to Corman Falls and then climb back up with the guide rope and Like there's a lot of rocks on the trail and like I think I twisted my ankle. I like to tell people it was like 10,000 times, you know, like I felt like every step and my ankle was turning 90 degrees or something. So definitely way more technical than at that time that I was ready for, but we hiked through it. I was. We were finishing in the daylight as the new runners were coming up the trail, because there was a small two-way section. And I remember when I came through the finish line, because when you started the race you had to start and do this like tiny little out and back and start and then go back out again. So if you were just starting the race, you had to come back to the finish line after about a mile or so and then go back out. So I came through the finish line and the guys like no, go ahead and turn around, go back out. Like no, no, I'm done.

Speaker 2: 29:56

Yeah, I'm not doing anymore.

Speaker 3: 29:58

I'm not going back out, but yeah, because it was. It was then like Probably eight or nine in the morning, you know. So my first hundred K was basically Some similar feeling to a hundred miler, because we didn't start till the afternoon and went all night, but it it was definitely a test in being really stubborn.

Speaker 2: 30:21

Well, and that that is a quality that will come in very handy, I imagine, for your western states, for sure, as we get down there. Yeah, so you finished in ten hours? I don't know. I'm with you guys. It's hard to say. I'm sure I've, I've been told how to say it, I'm sure we're getting it wholly wrong, but sorry if to not have means something to anybody out there. So you graduate from there and then I think your last couple of hundreds really are where you get an introduction to the active Joe when you I think you've done a couple now Up at Dinosaur Valley, right at Dino Valley right.

Speaker 3: 30:55

So my first hundred ended up being Dinosaur Valley. Yeah, and how we kind of ended up spending a lot of time at Dinosaur Valley was actually the year before I did my hundred. So one of the Wolf pack runners, amanda Kelly, she had been going out there and doing some different distances and she Recommended the race and she was wanting to do her first hundred out there. And then of course, that means somebody else jumps on and signs up and, and One of my friends that I'd been running with he's like instantly sent me the message I signed up for Dino Valley hundred. Will you paste me? All right and that's basically how it starts. So we we took one year out, we took a group with some people doing the hundred, some people doing other events, and I was pacing that year. So I paced and then shortly after Libby posted the next year sign up and she was starting her initiative to try to make it a qualifier. So she, she wanted a lot of registrants. So she had this like huge registration deal. You know, seventy five dollars for a hundred miler. You had just had to register before New Year's.

Speaker 2: 32:09

So my goodness, how did I miss that one? I don't know how I missed that. That's a steal right there.

Speaker 3: 32:15

Yeah, yeah, it was a steal. It was like for a short time and then it went up a little bit, but it was still way cheaper than most. So we all started talking about it and, you know, people were like I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it, and I was like so, like the day that it's opening, I was like so, so we're doing this right, like I'm about to register. So I registered for it and I think I was one of the first people in, because one of the things she does is you can pick a number you might like as your bib number. You can put a couple choices. Oh cool, and I guess I must have put one as my one of my choices, maybe because I was thinking, well, it's the first hundred or whatever, and I ended up getting the number one For my bib, which attracts a lot of attention.

Speaker 2: 33:07

Yeah, that's gonna put a target right on your back, doesn't it?

Speaker 3: 33:10

Yeah, and I'm like, yeah, like everybody says hi to you with the bib number one. I mean, it doesn't mean that, it just meant I was the first person to get it. So that's how we ended going for year two of our group going out there and we had like 10 people or so signed up for the hundred miler the second year we went out there and it was her. She was really pushing for the, trying to get as many people to finish as possible so she could submit for a qualifier. So there was a lot more people out there but the weather was a little Hard for everybody. It was like the first cold snap of the year. So this was not this November but the previous, and it was at the start, I think below freezing, and I think it stayed at At freezing or below for the duration of the race and I think the next night it was somewhere around 26. So People started to drop just because the cold. Yeah, and I found that while I kept going, clothing management is what I called it became one of the biggest parts of that race. It was just Trying to find what would keep you warm and Since you're coming back every 10, 10 and a half miles. So you do have the opportunity to get more clothes if you need to. But I just remember in the middle night just got colder and colder and when it was in that kind of 4 am Window, I think me and my pacer went out with I think I had leggings on plus a second pair of pants, I think I might have had two long sleeve shirts, and then I put on like a full-on hoodie that I would never, ever think to run in, a couple of pairs of gloves, hand warmer packets. It was just everything you could do just to try to stay warm until the Sun would come up. But I think that how cold it was that year slowed a lot of people down and a lot of people dropped down to the 100k or out of the race. So, but I did finish it. So that was my first hundred mile, or I finished, I think, in 29 and a half hours or so. But she's got this huge cutoff. You got till like 5 or 6 pm that day and One of our other runners ended up being the, the DFL runner of the night. So we got done yeah so I got done, oh, and we cleaned up stuff, went back, showered and just kept watching the tracker for him because he was going out. I think he had either one loop or two loops when I finished left to do and was kind of in a rough shape with his knee, yeah. And so we came back and for the last finishers of the night. So that was kind of fun to see at the end of the night so many people still going and going for the rest of the day. But then this year I wasn't supposed to run Dino Valley. So I did Dino Valley last November and then I wanted to do Rocky Raccoon to get a qualifier.

Speaker 2: 36:35

And.

Speaker 3: 36:35

I kind of went into that saying if I finished Dino Valley and I'm not destroyed, and a couple weeks later I feel, okay, I'm going to get on the wait list for Rocky and see what happens. And I ended up getting in, so I got my qualifier there for Western States. And then this year my plan was just to go out and pace someone else who was going to Dinosaur Valley, but I ended up getting a free entry to the race.

Speaker 2: 37:03

Karen, you're like in free entries to races, the $75 sign up sponsorship deal, which I'm sure you will get into that in a moment. But yeah, I mean, if you've got any lottery number picks, I'll take them.

Speaker 3: 37:17

Well, I didn't win this free entry. Someone else actually did, they just didn't. They didn't, they had a different race to go to and so they gave it to me. But that one was from. I'm on a Facebook page called the Women's 100 Miler Project and that's where I got a lot of my training tips for doing the first 100 and things, and I've recruited friends to be in that group too to work towards their 100 Milers, and Libby promotes the race in there a lot because she's big on inclusivity and she wants more women to run. So she had some free entries that she gave to the people who run the page and they had a small contest where you had to submit that you had done a certain length run and I had submitted, but I didn't win the entry. But one of my friends did and she got it. But then she's like, but but I have this other race and I really had my heart set on that one and I can't do both. And she's like, why don't you have it? And I was like, okay, I guess I will. So I went back and I kind of just used it as well. I said I was going there to pace my friend Charlie and well, I guess I'm pacing him for the whole race instead of just part of it.

Speaker 2: 38:41

Full race pacing yeah for sure. Now, you touched on it a minute ago, karen, but I think you know we were chatting just before coming on air too. But just looking at active Joe and Libby, who's the race director over there, I mean they're not a huge race company, right? I think they only have maybe four races, with Dino Valley being the most, maybe arguably the most well known, certainly at the moment because of the Western states deal that they're going. But outside of that I think they're a really interesting and a little different as a race company. Can you tell us a little bit about active Joe and kind of what makes them that way?

Speaker 3: 39:21

Yeah. So I mean I think Libby, she's really wanted to bring more people into the sport and bring representation for different groups into the sport and by doing that she she does things to try to make sure it's not just that we're saying that you're welcome. She, like, is very open about it and inviting different groups there. So she has on her website a very nice like I mean it looks like a company would have their you know motto. In their statements she lists that her principles are inclusivity, equity, security, quality, eco friendly, communication, charitable. And then the last one is Joe focused, and what I take Joe focused to be is it's for the regular runner. She wants any regular person to feel welcome out there. She's not out there recruiting elite runners to come out there. She's not going to be the race director that's giving free entries to some top dog runner to come out there and set a big course record. She's more likely to give that free rent tree to somebody who might not otherwise make it out to the race. So, whether it's something like the women's 100 Miler project or I think she also does, let's see some stuff with, like, the trail mix fund to bring in more LGBTQ or BIPOC runners, she's very open about making sure she's welcoming the different groups.

Speaker 2: 40:55

Yeah, I love that out there and you can.

Speaker 3: 40:57

You can see that on the race course there. You really can. It's just the most diverse crowd you'll ever see on a course and since most of the course is two way traffic, you can see people the whole time.

Speaker 2: 41:12

Yeah, it's a lollipop, right? I think, dino, you're out round and back. Yep, yep, yeah, as you said, the 10 Miler. Yeah, I think that's really interesting. The way Libby approaches you know approaches race directing. I think that's quite unique among race companies out there. Really cool. So tell us about the sponsorship itself, since kind of really why we're here. So what motivated you to apply for the sponsorship and what was the submission process?

Speaker 3: 41:44

Yeah. So I did kind of know about it, like I'd seen it on our website and I've seen her post about it the year before. But really what happened was I was watching the live stream for Western States last year and you know, just watching the track and the stories and the people coming in, I saw clips of her posting on Facebook for the sponsored athlete for last year and just other people that she knew that were out there and I'd never really watched a live stream like that for a race before and I feel like watching it this year especially. It just really brings you there like you want to be there and seeing some of those last runners like the story of Ash Bertholmew and he's like just bent over struggling to walk to the track and you're just hoping he'll make it but he's like two minutes over. And then there's the one lady who's like coming in with like 20 seconds to spare. You watch all that and you're like I just I want to do this so bad, yeah, yeah. So I mean I literally was like there. I was like I'm going to apply. I was like I've only got one ticket. That's not even going to be one percent chance of getting in, so any other chance is is helpful. So I was like it's worth a shot. And so I basically just went to her website like that day and was reading over the, the application, like what she was looking for, and I was looking at and I was like, yeah, I feel like I fit in this profile, like she could pick me if she wants to. Like I check off boxes here without having to do too much different. And basically her application says you have to have a qualifying race and enter the race lottery. So you have to be in, you have to be eligible. She does state you're not getting anything paid for. So like I don't get a free entry or flights paid or anything like that, I still have to do that. I just get the, the entry ticket, yeah, yeah. You have to have a positive and, you know, real social media presence. You have to be involved in the ultra community. Whether it's running, volunteerism, trail stewardship, coaching, mentoring, journalism, whatever some, some way you have to be in the community and present. She also wants a history of some smart training and race records. So she wants to see that you're you're not like always DNFing or always injured. I mean, you could certainly have a bad race here and there, but she wants people who are able to get through the races. What else? was there and then just obviously having some kind of affinity to the active Joe brand and being able to represent it comfortably. So if you've never, never, raced an active Joe race, you could apply. But you probably less likely to get it than someone that she's seen at her races, that you use, that she's seen Volunteer, that she's seen run or that she, you know, has had some interaction with. So when I looked at that I was like I kind of feel like I've done these things. I just have to put together an application and be very present, make sure she knows I've done these things. Ah so I think I wrote that application Within a week of Western States and send it in so she doesn't start talking about the application until closer till the end. But I was like, oh, I'm just gonna send this off now If it's one of the first ones in the inbox and she knows to watch for me and be present. So Other things she just asked for on the application was just your general history. She asks what Western States would mean to you, how many tickets you have, and Then like a list of links to your socials and events you've done or things like that, so she can easily find you and check you out. So I Felt like I should give it a shot. Why not?

Speaker 2: 46:15

Yeah, so. So what were you doing when you found out you were selected? Everyone has that. Oh, I was just doing this moment. You know how did you feel, getting selected.

Speaker 3: 46:24

Yeah, so that was all the week after Dinosaur Valley. So Thanksgiving week and this week was actually that week was actually very roller coaster for me. The on Thanksgiving day I found out a friend of mine had passed away unexpectedly someone in our running community and so I'm up all over the place with emotions and that was just kind of devastating. And so I was somewhat aware that she was picking that week. Like I saw post Friday night before I went to bed where she she makes a comment on Facebook that she's narrowed it down to a couple finalists and that she'll would be announcing it soon, and so I'm getting ready to go to bed. I was like I feel like I would know maybe Something if she was picking me, like maybe she would have said something or hinted something. So I just went to bed not really thinking that there was a chance. The next morning is Saturday and I was getting ready for I get up to go for my group run and I was getting up at 4 30 in the morning and get my coffee, my cereal to eat. I sit down and I click on messenger and there's a message from Libby and it's like oh my Lee face, go check your email and I'm like.

Speaker 2: 47:42

Oh.

Speaker 3: 47:44

And suddenly your heart rate goes up a hundred beats higher and I'm like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. So I'm like, clicking over to the email, pull up this like official email, like inviting me to accept this, and I'm just like Like oh my goodness, yeah like how am I gonna function for the next hour to get ready for a group run?

Speaker 2: 48:10

How did you contain that like? Did you go right out until everyone like guess what? Like here is what here is like, or did you hang on to it for a bit?

Speaker 3: 48:18

I, there was a few people like there was one face, one Messenger group with a few close friends where I'm like, sorry, guys, it's 4 30 in the morning, you're either up getting ready or not. But like I just shared the info, I was like, oh my god, and. And then it was funny because a little bit later Libby messaged me and she's like, just make sure to be real Careful with posting anything or telling too many people, because I want to be able to. She wanted to be able to obviously post an official announcement before things leaked out. And what happened was is one of my close friends, who also has run all the Dino Valley races, to Instantly message her and was like, oh, you made a great choice, we're so happy, you know. And so I had to like kind of like, contain everybody, like please don't say anything. Not supposed to post it publicly yet. So but yeah, I, I couldn't contain it. I think when I got to the run group there was one other Friend of mine that I like, I think I ran up to and almost tackled and I'm not actually a very loud person, I'm not super Extravagantly outgoing, but I was bouncing off the walls that morning.

Speaker 2: 49:42

Fantastic, and rightly so. I mean, that's an incredible thing to be knowing that you're gonna go do.

Speaker 3: 49:48

Yes.

Speaker 2: 49:49

I have to. I have to ask to did Libby give you any info as to what it was About your application that drove her to select you, or do you have any idea what it might be that you did on that application?

Speaker 3: 50:03

No, and I guess I maybe should ask. I Didn't, I didn't think to ask At all, but then after she picked, after she picked, I felt like I then saw some signs that maybe she was gonna pick me because, or at least had it had me in her mind because when I was at the race, you know I, we talked a little bit at Volunteering and then, like I remember, when I was starting the race and you know she's out there and runners are going by, she said my name. So like I was like I knew she was aware of. There was a few times that we message like. She even messaged me at one point and asked you know If this was gonna double my buckle count, or something like that. So I guess I should have realized that we were chatting a little more than Maybe she was with other people, yeah, so I think there was some indications there that that maybe I was in the running for it. I did ask her, though, like what was the breakdown of applicants? Because I was kind of curious if there was more female or male runners that applied, and and Because I've always been curious on that and I do know that, in general, men are more likely to apply to things whether or not they check off all the boxes, and Women usually feel like they have to be fully qualified.

Speaker 2: 51:27

Well, that's interesting, isn't it?

Speaker 3: 51:28

before they apply for jobs. Yeah, this is like like a job type thing and I was wondering if it was carrying over to this and she said that it was still about 5050, which is comparable to her races. But she said what was interesting is the applicants that were female were more likely to have an actual connection to the active Joe in the race, Whereas more of the male applicants were just Applicants that didn't necessarily like like you know, didn't necessarily check off, you know that sense of being connected to her company. So I I'm wondering if that yeah. That maybe there are some more people out there that didn't feel like they totally Checked off everything but maybe were someone who could have applied. You know, a lot of people don't take that chance because they think they're they're not worthy or maybe they're not good enough for it. And it's not about your pace or anything. It's just about finishing and being a good member of the community, really, that she's looking for someone positive. So I think it would be nice to see more people like kind of Shoot their shot and take a chance on themselves. And because you I mean it, what it cost me Me an hour of my time to write up a, an essay and send it in, and the worst that was happening was that I'd get no answer. Yeah or no response or something like that. So why not?

Speaker 2: 53:05

Yeah, and I think it encourages that mindset of trying to be connected to the people who are putting on the races. You know, and that's something in future episodes of this show I want to get into some of the race directors and get their perspective on what's going on when they have to put on a race. But I do think this, this sort of shows that if you go out there and you interact and you kind of push yourself as part of the Community, then there's every chance that these awesome things like this Can can come around. And that's really why, you know, I wanted to chat with you, because I think there Now is the time of year when there are typically a lot of these sort of applications and submission process requests floating around, and I do think that people, generally speaking, you know, I think they're a little wary. It's there's especially our group of people, and I'm including you, but you may be way faster than me, I don't know, but my group of people for sure, oh, it can't be me, I'm just not worthy of doing that. And that's for somebody who's fast, like Western States is for pit fast people or elite people, and I think they do themselves a disservice because there's a lot at a time and again reason for the podcast. There's some absolutely amazing people out there going as far as you like Mileage wise, and all the efforts and spending all the time, hours and hours out on trails, you know, and I think they do themselves a disservice if they don't put themselves forwards for these kinds of Opportunities. So it's really interesting to get your perspective on. Okay, this is kind of how I approached it and I was successful doing it. This way. Maybe there is some things there for anybody else that's out there, maybe considering and applying right now, but has held off for a reason. Yeah, whatever that reason might be, just go ahead and put yourself out there, because, yeah, you know you can get in there as well.

Speaker 3: 54:54

I was just gonna say that, especially for this one I mean local Texas race director it's not like the ultra running magazine sponsorship slot, where you're like putting yourself in the pot with Thousands and thousands of runners around the world. I mean like you've got a chance of Knowing the, the race director here, knowing people around there and her knowing you. So All you have to do is like, look at the application and see the boxes and if you want that chance at some point and you don't feel like you fit all the spots now, you could, in a year, could fit that profile just by getting more involved with the community.

Speaker 2: 55:37

Absolutely, and it is the community that makes this space different than everything else, and so I think that's a great message to get out there in it and immerse yourself in it and get all the benefits, all the interpersonal benefits, yeah. But maybe there's something like this out there for you too. And I've got to ask you about Western States as well, like what are you doing for Western States? Now you know you're going right in June. What is your buildup for that look like? Is that just changed your spring race calendar? Yeah, what are you doing as a warm-up for Western States?

Speaker 3: 56:11

So well, funny, I do have to run a Bandera 100k next week.

Speaker 2: 56:17

Oh, I'll be out there too. Yeah, I'll be doing that one.

Speaker 3: 56:21

So that was originally my big race for 2024. And now that's just kind of like oh, we're going to go have fun now because I have a bunch of friends that are going for their first 100k there, so you know, we're going to get them their buckles. But yeah, I'm going to hire a coach for this one. I kind of have self-coached myself and I am, since I'm a group run coach, I have some coaching background. I've never coached people on an individual basis, but I've coached group and I've coached myself basically to what I've done so far. But I don't want to feel like I'm not sure if I did what I needed to do and I. The big thing was finding a coach that had some experience with Western States, and one of my friends knows some coaches out of Arizona and the coach I'm picking she's run Western States several times. She's been in the top 10. She's run it in several conditions. She's also run it where she didn't do so great for her. She's coached a Houston runner to run Western States. So I just decided that I feel like I'll feel better about this, because I feel like this is an investment. This is potentially my one shot at this, so I want to go there and show up with the best of my ability because I have no idea what's going to happen on a mountain course for me. I've never done one, so I want someone else telling me what to do for this one. If they want me to run on the treadmill at whatever percent incline for an hour, I want them to tell me, besides me guessing. If they want me in the sauna doing heat training, I want them telling me that Just because, even with self-coaching, I've gone to a race in like in the weeks just before it, I'm like did I do enough?

Speaker 2: 58:23

Yeah, am I ready? Self-doubt.

Speaker 3: 58:27

Yeah, stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 58:28

And you don't want to be doing that for a once in a lifetime shot.

Speaker 3: 58:32

For training races. The only thing I've looked at and picked for now is Spider Mountain, which is a Teahouse trails, race in May and it's a lot of up and down a hill.

Speaker 2: 58:44

It's all up and down. It's basically, that's it right. That's the whole race up and down.

Speaker 3: 58:48

So someone mentioned it to me because I hadn't done that one yet, and I went to the website to look it up and it, like the description is, are you training for a summer mountain race?

Speaker 2: 58:58

And I'm like, yes, yes, yes, I am, yes, actually I am.

Speaker 3: 59:04

So I'll let the coach decide how many hours they want me running up and down this hill, but that will probably be the peak race for prior to Western States for me, magnificent.

Speaker 2: 59:18

Well, we definitely all well, first off, pretty envious of you getting to go and run this, but absolutely wishing you the best of luck when you get out there and with all the other races. I'll be out at Bandera too next week doing that one, but if you get up onto Spider Mountain, that's a cracking race. That's a good one as well. So best of luck with that. As we like to do with each episode, we encourage you guys to choose a song to add to the free Spotify. Choose to Enjoy playlist that's floating around out there, something to lift you up, or you can get your butt shaken while you're out on the trail. Karen, did you have a song you wanted to add to this list and if so, what is it and why does it resonate with you?

Speaker 3: 1:00:01

So this was kind of funny, just because it's on my playlist and I like the top gun anthem, like the beginning of the movie, the whole instrumental thing.

Speaker 2: 1:00:13

Oh, all right, yeah, not the Danger Zone, or.

Speaker 3: 1:00:18

I like that one too, but no, this is the instrumental one, where you know right at the beginning, and I like it when it comes on my playlist because you know, sometimes you just feel like you could run and you're like airplane arms or where I'm doing it wrong type of thing, I don't know it, just I feel like I can like picture finishing a race with that.

Speaker 2: 1:00:41

Yes, I like to picture myself doing those kind of things in slow motion, like as if someone was recording me and I'm just kind of starting up in slow motion with sweat dripping off, and then it doesn't happen that way at all, but I like to think in my head that maybe it will. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 3: 1:00:59

Picture yourself in this glorious finish, coming onto the track at Western States, and I don't know that song comes in my head, but it's a good movie.

Speaker 2: 1:01:11

It's a fantastic movie. I'm trying to convince my kid like it's the best movie from the 80s. I mean that's a big ask because there's a lot of really good ones from back in the day. Yes, fantastic, so well. As we close out, another episode, definitely. I want to thank Karen again for thanks, karen, for your time and insights. As we were talking about, there are quite a few of these sponsorship and potentially ambassadorial opportunities out there, especially at this time of year. So if you are interested in submitting yourself for one of those, there is every chance you could get selected. If he follows on the tips that Karen has shared with us today, they are 100% looking just as much for everyday folks, if not more, like us as elites out there. So get out there and get those submissions underway, because the next one could be you. And if you'd like to find out more about the Active Joe organization and the races they have, you can head out to I think it's theactivejoecom. I'll put some of those notes. Sorry, put the link in the show notes as well. Go out and take a look at the races they've got. Dino Valley is awesome, but they do have one or two other races out there as well, I think it's just Northwest of Fort Worth somewhere. Yeah, in the meantime, don't forget to subscribe to the show, get notified each time a new episode comes out and, of course, follow, share and review. Doing any of those Really does assist with the algorithms that are out there and that, in turn, helps others find the show. So if you are already one of the Endurance Nation out there, maybe help a friend discover the show too. You can find us on social media, over at choose to endurecom, and now also on YouTube too for the video version. So be sure to head out over there and check us out if you have a moment. Until then, run long, run strong and keep choosing to endure.

Speaker 1: 1:03:10

Thanks for running with us at the Choose to Endure podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a blast. If you did, make sure to like, rate and review, and we'll be back soon. Keep racking up the miles and the stories and we'll catch you at the next Trailhead. Until then, remember to run long, run strong.