Running Around Charlotte

The numbers detailing America’s health can be staggering. According to the CDC, 42 percent of Americans are obese. You heard that right — 42 percent — a 12-point jump compared to 20 years ago. And the highest percentage of obesity when broken down by race is found in Black adults. Those are the kind of statistics that prompted the creation of Black Men Run — a running group especially designed to combat health problems common in the African-American community. High blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease are culprits that affect the longevity of Black men, and Gregory Washington is Charlotte’s captain for Black Men Run. We’re delighted to have him with us on Running Around Charlotte today to share the important message that running is for everyone and beneficial to all.

If you ever needed proof about how running changes lives, just look at the nonprofit RunningWorks. The programs are designed to promote healthy lifestyles for our neighbors experiencing homelessness and poverty. And RunningWorks acts like the BEST running buddy — not only fostering relationships through running, but helping connect its team members with community resources in healthcare, jobs, and housing… to name a few. RunningWorks also encourages rehabilitation and dignity for its members through volunteering. Serving others will get you on your feet to stand a little taller — and the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon is proud to say RunningWorks team members serve as volunteers on race day. Their Chief Operating Officer Matt Sharp is here with us today on Running Around Charlotte to bring us up to date on new programming since the group worked through the difficult times of COVID.

We love our ambassadors — the guys and girls who spread the word about the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, and train, and post about us all year. And they come from all walks of life, with the common threads of running and positivity. Joe Smith is one of those ambassadors, even though he looks more like a defensive lineman than a marathon runner. But he’s also an incredibly multi-faceted guy, business owner, entrepreneur, photographer … and runner. And he’s here with us on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast today to bring some of that energy into the room.

One of Charlotte’s largest Thanksgiving traditions has nothing to do with pumpkin pie or stuffing – and the only turkeys you’ll see will be on people’s heads – not plates. What could we be talking about? Why the Charlotte Turkey Trot, of course. That’s right – early Thanksgiving morning, thousands of people take to the streets and run off dinner before they eat it. Joining us today is David Jessey – one of the owners of the Charlotte Turkey Trot.

Runners love a challenge – and training for a marathon is a great way to push yourself a little further than you ever have. If you’ve run one and enjoyed it, you push yourself a little more to do a PR the next time around. But we’ve got a challenge only a few hardy souls sign up for…. Running the half-marathon with a weighted backpack. You may have heard of rucking – which is basically a form of military training where you run miles with a full backpack. The Novant Health Charlotte Marathon has a Rucking Division in the half-marathon race, and on today’s Running Around Charlotte Podcast, their fearless leader Mike Sweeting joins us to explain more about it.

We’re dedicated to making this year’s Novant Health Charlotte Marathon the best one yet! Whether you’re running virtually or in person, we’re stepping up our game after all runners have been through with postponements and cancellations in the last 18 months. That’s one reason we brought a pro on board to be our Event Experience Director. We first spoke to Alaina Williams last March on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast, and now we’re talking to her again about what kind of awesome experiences she has planned for the race.

We love our friends down at Novant Health and all of the support and guidance they give us here at the Charlotte Marathon. And we love turning over that big check to them after every race, with money we’ve earned, because we know it goes for a great cause — the Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital. There is a lot of good work going on there, and if you’ve ever had to make a hospital stay with your child, you know how important that is. Jessica Osborn is an Ambassador at Hemby Children’s Hospital, where she advocates for the non-medical needs of kids and families during their stay. And she joins us now on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast to tell us how your race entries help kids.

We all have our reasons for running — for some of us it starts with wanting to get more exercise and lose a few pounds, right? Our next guest on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast is definitely one of those folks — a Charlotte native who looked at his high school Senior photo, tipping the scales at 300 pounds — and decided to do better. For the next 16 years, Mike Cooke decided to do better every day, but the journey was not easy. Along the way he made changes in his food, his drinking, and himself, to get where he is now. We think a lot of you can identify with someone who makes the effort to go from less-than-perfect to better, without necessarily trying to be perfect along the way.

In just a few short weeks, our big race will be here! We couldn’t do it without a lot of help, and all of our enthusiastic friends we call Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors. Bekah Eljoundi is one of them, though you may know her as Run Coach Bekah. She has more than 13 years of running, coaching, and personal training experience to give you the boost you need for your fitness or racing goals.

It’s a diagnosis that no parent ever wants to hear — your sweet, bouncy, fun-loving, child has a terminal illness and there’s no cure. But if you found out that you could have slowed the illness — maybe even kept it at bay — with a blood screen when your baby was born, your grief then might turn to anger and then to action. Today we’re talking to a Mom taking action, about a scenario just like that. Sarah Penney McDonald’s son, Nash, had a seizure when he was 5, and shortly after that, doctors delivered a diagnosis of ALD – Adrenoleukodystrophy. A simple blood screen at birth would have prompted testing that might have slowed it down… and that’s what Sarah is trying to get for newborns in North Carolina. Stay up to date on Nash: https://mailchi.mp/f25bcf92b119/nashs-ray-of-light Run on Nash’s Team: runsignup.com/RaceGroups/109004/Groups/961500 Donate: www.gofundme.com/f/nashs-ray-of-light-ald

You could simply describe our next guest as a math teacher who also runs — but that would barely scratch the surface when it comes to Larry Frederick. Sure, he’s taught gifted math classes for the last 14 years, but before that, he was known to old-school Charlotte runners as the founder and owner of Run For Your Life stores (Hey, we know that place!) And before he even opened his first Charlotte store in 1989, Larry was a runner — a very GOOD runner. His hometown paper, the Utica Observer-Dispatch, called him “one of the best distance runners ever in the Mohawk Valley” of New York, citing that in his day, he was the most accomplished marathoner ever in Utica’s history. Pretty big accomplishment! And now he’s a Charlotte guy who led the running scene for years.

If you need a bit of cheer, a motivating word, or a great running route around Charlotte, ask any one of our Ambassadors. The Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors will make you want to run through a wall — (we don’t recommend that) — or at least get you out on the road putting one foot in front of the other on days your motivation falls short. And if you want your run to be full of colorful murals, we’ve got an Ambassador who knows that too. Laura Morrow is a runner whose Instagram alternates a post about where she ran that day with a positive, inspirational, or even just funny thoughts about life. And she REALLY likes food. (That’s why we run, right?)

In a traditional world, it is drilled into our heads that good nutrition is a balance of all food groups, which includes protein — most often lean meat. Nothing against a good piece of grilled chicken, but our next guest on the Running Around Charlotte podcast says you don’t need to eat more chicken, or even eat meat at all! Matt Frazier is the author of No Meat Athlete, and his blogs and books chronicle the basics of being an athlete on a vegan diet — namely, it can be done! In fact, Matt says your performance will not only, “not suffer” — it will be much better. He’s perfecting his diet every day, as an athlete and as a dad.

I hope you got a chance to watch the Olympics this year. It was a tough year for athletes — with an extra year of training — and less-than-ideal running conditions in Tokyo in July. We know YEARS of training go into getting to that level, to even qualify for Olympic Trials, so we thought you’d like some insight from someone who’s been there. Scott Dvorak is known to local runners as the owner of Charlotte Running Company, but he also has a long career in running at the highest level — including Trials for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He took a break from his own “running around Charlotte” to join us on our Running Around Charlotte podcast today.

We’re talking to another one of our amazing Novant health Charlotte Marathon! This ambassador is a runner, a banker, and dog mom! Meet Haley Heartley – and hear about everything she does when she’s NOT running!

It’s HOT outside! You might be exercising less, not drinking enough – and if you’re like us – don’t have much motivation to cook. Matt Dengler of RxRD Nutrition is here with us toay, with tips on eating (and drinking) healthy all summer long!

We’re lucky to be back with one of our Ambassadors, Arun You may remember his AAA plan and barefoot running – let’s see what he’s up to now!

You may have seen our next guests on Instagram as ThatCLTRunningCouple. They met while running, and now chronicle their runs through the Queen City. Magan Martignango & John Carriker cheer on each other and their friends. And we’re happy to have them as our guests on Running Around Charlotte.

Our Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors are some of the best! And while they all have running in common, they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Today on Running Around Charlotte, we get a glimpse into the life of a pharmacist who specializes in oncology pharmacy — and even rides in the popular bike fundraiser for cancer support here in Charlotte, in addition to her running. Meg’s 24 Foundation Fundraising Page

We’re blessed in our community to have a number of great colleges with sports programs, giving student-athletes a chance to excel at sports beyond the high school level. D-2 school Queens University of Charlotte is definitely one of those, with multiple sports like track & field, swimming, and lacrosse playing for, or even winning, national championships. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte is at the helm of the school’s successful running program. Jim Vahrenkamp is the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Queens-U, where teams racked up dozens of conference and regional cross-country and track & field championships, and Vahrenkamp has earned Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors nine times and South Atlantic Coach of the Year honors 10 times. Yeah he’s busy — and he also coaches the Queen City Track Club, which offers collegiate-level coaching for middle and high school students who want to reach the next level.

If you need a little extra motivation, go read the Instagram posts from our Ambassador C.J. Langley. He has every excuse in the book to not try as hard as he does – a busy job and a foot injury among them. But still, he runs – carefully at times – but he realizes reaching goals takes the right shoes, consistency, and no shortcuts. We’re glad he’s an Ambassador for the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon again this year, and even happier he’s here on Running Around Charlotte to share some positive vibes.

We know runners love the great outdoors — and our next guest on Running Around Charlotte not only runs in it, but DESIGNS outdoor spaces! Casey Cline is an artist, Landscape Architect, runner, and Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassador. She’s all about beautiful spaces as she explores — and she’s here today to share her positive vibes.

What’s your idea of a nice, long run? Ten miles? 20? A marathon? Awesome. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte, though, likes the Ultras. Chris Raulli was a member of Team USA for the 2018 World Trail Championships and other international races, and even more importantly — took 2nd at our 2018 Novant Health Charlotte Marathon! Last summer, he picked up a win at the One NY Challenge — the 1000k Virtual Race across New York… and has the US 50k Championship coming up. Welcome Chris!

We all know running is great exercise, but let’s be real — it feels different during every stage of our lives. Men also experience training differently from women. Any workout you do to be a better runner is not one-size-fits-all — so our guest today on Running Around Charlotte addresses some of the nuances for women runners. Wait, guys — you need to hear this too. If you’re married to a runner, or in a relationship with one, it’s a good idea to be familiar with the aches and pains women face as they age, or bear children, or face hormonal challenges that come with all of the above. And we have just the person to fill you in. Kerry McLaughlin is a Physical Therapist and runner who specializes in strengthening the pelvic muscles that life can really knock out of whack, especially in women.

When we think of strong, toned legs, we probably think of two types of athletes — runners, and dancers. They aren’t mutually exclusive, and our next guest on Running Around Charlotte is proof. Alessandra Ball James spent 15 seasons with the dance company at Charlotte Ballet, performing countless hours as a Sugar Plum Fairy and other incredible roles. She also runs. (It’s true!) And she’s an entrepreneur, retiring from the ballet company in 2020 to open everyBodies Ballet with fellow dancer, Sarah Hayes Harkins. Talk about a dynamic duo! I bet they can dance circles around almost anyone in Charlotte — but Alessandra is here, instead, to talk about her running life and her new life as an entrepreneur.

This is a time of year we LOVE — the cold finally breaks, but the heat hasn’t overtaken us. Of course it’s a great time to run, but it’s also a great time to enjoy patio dining at our favorite restaurant or brewery! And that means, we’d better get running or we’ll start packing on a few pounds. It doesn’t have to be that way though — Matt Dengler of RxRD Nutrition is here to help keep us honest in our meals with fresh, in-season choices that don’t crash our diets.

A road race is a great way to raise money and awareness for a cause. We love that proceeds from the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon go to Hemby Children’s Hospital. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte is not only an active runner and coach in the community, but he is the event director for a 5k with a great name — called “Get Your Rear in Gear.” The name makes a lot more sense when you hear what it’s for, and Philip Sanford will be happy to tell us all about it.

We always love talking to our ambassadors, especially about how they got into running. We also love that so many of our ambassadors aren’t lifelong marathoners, but regular folks who picked up running as adults and found a whole new way to grow from it. Ambassador Emily Richardson is like that — she started running her sophomore year at Michigan State and has grown with it ever since, even sharing the sport with kids as a Girls on the Run coach at her school.

If you are part of Charlotte’s huge running community, or have just wanted to be, you’ve probably tapped into the wealth of information at runCLTrun. It’s not a club, but a digital platform to get people connected — a hub for gathering information, finding out how, when, or where to train or race, and has answers to a multitude of other questions runners often have. Now its creator Lisa Landrum has found a way to help our youth runners who were disconnected from their schools and teammates during the pandemic. She created Forward Motion XC, a way for kids to keep running in small groups to prepare for high school cross country season, or just stay in shape. Lisa is with us on Running Around Charlotte to talk about Forward Motion XC and… as usual with runCLTrun, all things running.

Let’s talk for a minute about WHY we run. Of course, it’s great exercise. If we run in groups — we meet people, encourage each other, and get motivated to live our best, healthiest lives. That’s also the philosophy behind the group Black Girls RUN, whose goal it is to get African American women off the couch and connected to each other by running. We’re DELIGHTED to have two ambassadors from Black Girls RUN here with us today on Running Around Charlotte because their message is an important one — a message that says everyone CAN and SHOULD get out and live a fit and healthy life. Welcome, Katossa Glover and Wendy Berry!

Most of you have heard of Girls on the Run, that awesome learn-to-embrace-running (and yourself) program that started here in Charlotte and is now an international program. You may or may not know there is a similar program for boys — started by a Girls on the Run coach — that is celebrating 13 years as an organization. It’s called Let Me Run, and has more than 50 chapters around the country. Their Executive Director is here on the Running Around Charlotte podcast to tell us all about it — Welcome Emily Battle of Let Me Run!

There are a lot of challenges to getting out for your run — we know them all! Time, work energy, weather, family … you name it, they can all get in the way. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte also has a few things pulling at her schedule, but she’s met the challenge and even took 3rd place at our 2019 half marathon! Meet our busy mom, Anne Fechtel.

To say this year was a weird one, would be an understatement. But if you’re a runner — you already know that. So you probably know that presents some challenges to us at the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon. How do you get people involved in this great event while keeping them safe? What can we do to make race day special, even for runners who want to run virtually? We knew we needed to find someone who could do that — and we did. Alaina Williams is the new Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Event Experience Director, and she comes to Charlotte with an incredible wealth of experience in that arena, and ideas to match. Welcome to Charlotte, Alaina, and welcome to the team!

Running is a great way to stay healthy — and a great way to know if something just isn’t right. That’s exactly what happened to marathoner Tom Perri, who has run marathons in all 50 states — more than once! — and some ultras too. But in 2018, Tom sensed something wasn’t quite right and a visit to his doctor confirmed it. He had prostate cancer. And guess what else — the resulting surgeries and treatment didn’t stop him from running marathons. In fact, he’s completed more than 100 of them since his diagnosis! Tom is an Iron Man in the truest sense of the word, and he joins us on Running Around Charlotte to share how he kept going.

We all have good reasons to run…. And some days, we tell ourselves we have plenty of good reasons not to. Work, school, kids, fewer daylight hours… our list goes on and on. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte has all of those excuses, and still makes time to get out and get a few miles in before the sun comes up. Kerri Vardon is a busy marketing accounts manager and mom of 2 young kids, who calls herself an “average” runner, but has done 2 virtual half-marathons this year and one in-person relay down in Greenville, South Carolina. She’s also one of our Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors.

In a year with very few in-person marathons, one elites-only event allowed Charlotte’s Olympic Trials qualifier Paula Pridgen to hit the road with other runners. Only 50 men and 50 women were invited to take part in the Marathon Project on a closed course in Chandler, Arizona, in December. Pridgen has, of course, run a few marathons in her time, but this one was a little different — and Pridgen says she learned some things about herself along the way. She’s our guest today on Running Around Charlotte, and she’s going to explain what she learned at the end of this very strange year for marathoners.

Hopefully, we’ve all gotten off to a good start with our New Year’s Resolutions, right? The top resolutions, most of us know, have to do with diet and exercise — but for runners, there’s even better news. If you’re trying to burn fat, running is the best exercise because runners burn more calories per minute than other sports like swimming or riding a bike. As a result, dedicated runners are leaner than most other athletes. Congrats to you if you decided to lose weight this year with running. We thought we’d help out. Our guest on Running Around Charlotte today is Dr. Karan Shukla, a Family and Sports Medicine Physician at Novant Health Randolph Family Medicine. He is a GREAT resource for us about the science behind running and our continued good health.

We’ve heard it already a few times this year — one way to help you follow through on your New Year’s Resolutions is accountability! You have to set your goals, check off the steps, and measure progress along the way. Working out with a buddy also reminds you that you’d better not skip a day! Well, local public radio station WFAE is helping you with your resolution to get active by giving you a goal, and some accountability. The “Charlotte Walks” fundraiser wants you to check off some goals to support a great cause — operating one of the best newsrooms in our region and the radio programs that go with it on WFAE! Jeff Bundy is here to talk about the purpose behind this fundraiser — welcome!

We love running, but we also know our sport comes with occasional aches and pains. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte helps both people and animals recover from the inevitable soreness that come with training. Stephanie Pope can help. She started her business of Red Light Therapy because of her lifelong love of horses. After studying Animal Sciences, with a specialty in Equines, at the University of Florida, she furthered her education with studies of accupressure and other alternate therapies. She joins us now to tell us how both pets and people can benefit from her work. Welcome!

Two things can really make a runner want to smile – finishing a race, and a good dentist! (Get it?) Our next guest on the Running Around Charlotte podcast can relate to both of these things – she is a marathon and ultra-marathon runner, and also voted one of Charlotte’s Top Dentists from Charlotte Magazine for several years in a row! That makes us smile, too. Dr. Heather Dowlin is part of the Flying Biscuit Running Club and the Flying Biscuit Marathon, and she joins us now. Welcome!

We know a lot of our listeners are hard-core runners. You love the marathons, training on long runs, and you wear out a lot of shoes. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte has a slightly different point of view, as she calls it, because she fully admits to running at the back of the pack. Mandy Carter calls herself an “average runner” who started running later in life – she has 2 kids, a law degree, and several jobs; knows a thing or two about time management, and really just wants to be that person who encourages others to start moving. She’s also issuing a challenge for the new year, and joins us now to tell us what it is. Welcome Mandy!

If you’re a runner – or even if you’re not – chances are you’ve been around one of our next guest’s projects. There are 230 of them, encompassing more than 21,000 acres across the county. From greenways to playgrounds to pavilions to pickleball – Mecklenburg County Park and Rec has your recreation needs covered! Bert Lynn joins us today – he’s the Capital Planning Division Director – and will fill us in on what’s new and what’s coming up!

Happy New Year everyone, and why not kick it off with some new goals for 2021? Everyone has them.. and number one on the list of most popular is always, “Eat better and exercise more.” And of course we all want to lose that extra 10 or 20 pounds that made itself even better known this year, right? So how do we do that? We have just the guy to answer that question. Matt Dengler is a registered dietitian and owner of RxRD Nutrition, and what’s even better is…. he lays it all out in a way that’s easy to understand. Welcome to back the Running Around Charlotte podcast, Matt!

We don’t have to explain a runner’s relationship with food – we all have one. Marc Jacksina’s relationship with food goes several steps further, though, as an award-winning chef of some of the Charlotte area’s top restaurants. It can be a stressful business, but he’s overcome that, too – and some other major obstacles in life – by running. We’re excited to welcome Marc to today’s Running Around Charlotte podcast.

Now that there’s a chill in the air and winter is at hand, we get to see a popular feature come back to Charlotte’s Whitewater Center for the whole family to enjoy. The installation “Lights” takes you on a tour full of unusual and artistic lights on one of the Whitewater Center’s wooded trails. The trails are popular with runners year-round, and the lights were an even more popular touch — with 80,000 visitors last year. We have the artist, Meredith Connelly, and Jesse Hyde from the Whitewater Center to tell us more about the installation and partnership.

We were delighted to see how many runners got excited about the Novant Health virtual Charlotte Marathon and turned in some good runs in November. Usually joining us on that day is Dr. Keith Anderson, our marathon Medical Director, but he’s been busy nonetheless organizing some Ironman races. Dr. Anderson is a physician specializing in Family Sports Medicine at the Novant Health Cotswold Medical Clinic. Welcome back to Running Around Charlotte, Keith!

Running sometimes has us nursing our sore legs, but our next guest has the workouts and the after-care down pat. Meet Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassador Deanna Nichole — a Nurse, Marine, Mom of two Marines, Cross Fitter, and of course, runner. And she is bringing us that energy on today’s Running Around Charlotte!

It is always an honor and a pleasure to have an elite marathoner with us on Running Around Charlotte, and today is that day – as we welcome Charlotte’s ONLY female Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifier to our podcast. Paula Pridgen picked up running at a late age, by most standards… AFTER college. She has now run in not only Olympic Trials, but Boston and New York, and the upcoming elites-only Project Marathon in December in Arizona. Welcome Paula!

We know a marathon is a long run. We know training for a marathon involves a LOT of long runs. But in this era of canceled races, one man came up with a solution that went beyond virtual… to REALLY go the distance. Joshua Miller turned his annual St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon — which was canceled — into a 410-mile trek through the North Carolina mountains on his way from Charlotte to Nashville. He ran, he cycled, and most importantly, he raised money for St. Jude while his wife and kids followed along in an RV. And he’s here today on Running Around Charlotte to tell us more about his amazing trek.

IThe Turkey Trot is one of Charlotte runners’ oldest Thanksgiving Traditions. For the past 31 years, up to 10-thousand runners have gathered behind SouthPark Mall on Thanksgiving Morning to run a 5k or Fun Run with the whole family. Well, we know we can’t do that this year — but the 32nd Annual Turkey Trot is still alive and well… in your neighborhood, or along your favorite route. And there’s one other change this year — a new tradition — in that your registration will support a charity in Charlotte. This year’s Virtual Turkey Trot will help us reach our goal of providing shoes for 500 Charlotte-area children through Samaritan’s Feet. Great organization, and co-founder Tracie Ohonme is here with us today to share what they’re all about.