SPEAKER_01: 0:32

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Hobby Jogger. I am your co-host, Mr. Casey Coza. I am once again joined by my co-host, Mr. Rob Myers. Rob, what are you up to today?

SPEAKER_00: 0:47

Oh, just another Monday. Looking forward to this podcast, hanging out with our buddy Grant Granville Johnson. The man needs tacos, so let's get right into it.

SPEAKER_01: 0:57

Yeah, he needs to go get his tacos. Tacos are very important. It is another manic Monday. Who sang that? Just a band from the 80s. Just a band from the 80s. Anyway, Grant Johnson, finisher of the Canal Corridor 100, my friend, Rob's friend, all of our friends here at the Hobby Jogger is joining us. And we're going to talk about his canal corridor experience, a great 100-mile race here in Akron, Ohio. I guess it was only in Akron, Ohio this year. Did not go up to Cleveland. So Grant, thanks for joining us today. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02: 1:30

I'm good. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01: 1:33

Yeah, yeah. Sorry we're keeping you from uh tacos. I know tacos are very important to the recovery process of a hundred-mile race, which I'm sure you are still recovering from. I know I am, and I was just crewing and some somewhat pacing, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 1:48

Oh, yeah. Definitely pacing. Still hurting. It's a long day out there.

SPEAKER_01: 1:54

Yeah, yeah, it was that was a real long day. So did the Canal Corridor 100 started. We talked to Jeremy Pope about this a little bit. Uh started pretty early there in the morning at uh our favorite brewery where we meet often for beers. Rob, you've been there.

SPEAKER_00: 2:10

Many times.

SPEAKER_01: 2:11

Yeah, great place for beer. Uh drank some Akron Rugby Ale, one of our favorites, as we are both former Akron Rugby players. But on to Canal Corridor 100 grand. Last year we DNF'd it. Uh, we threw in the bucket, the towel, the whatever. We threw it in early. We quit.

SPEAKER_02: 2:31

Yeah, it was uh it was the humble year. You had to give it one try and then go back at it and figure it out then a second time.

SPEAKER_01: 2:40

Yeah, and I uh you definitely figured it out for sure since you you finished in under 24 hours, well under 24 hours. So congratulations to you for that. What did you change from last year to I mean, other than maybe no bachelor party the week before or whatever it is you did last year?

SPEAKER_02: 2:59

That probably Yeah, yeah, that that helps. Um, no, really just learning how to eat. It was just kind of I felt good last year up until I didn't. And then then I started putting it all together and realized how much I haven't been eating and didn't want. And this year was just different. I just everything felt good. Yeah, I mean, I think I had a little bit better of a plan, even though it was the same pace, but I had a better plan of eating. And then this year, Casey, you'll know, is the aid stations were a heck of a lot easier because of the course. Yeah, we didn't run obviously south to Portage Lakes and then all the way to Cleveland in the flats. We did the what is it, the double out and backs for a total of 33 miles per lap. So that made it so much easier to have your own food. You didn't have to rely on what is the next aid station gonna have, um, whether it's fluids, gels, you know, you never knew what they were gonna have. And this year I think it was a little bit easier. I could have whatever I wanted that I packed and I could get it every about 16 miles or so at just one station. So it was enough to be able to carry what you want or take your big meal, I guess if you could say it that way, that you wanted to sit down, eat, take a good long aid station, and be on your way.

SPEAKER_01: 4:24

Yeah, that was you know, to run 100 miles, you know, the more I thought about this, it it I I think it'd be a little bit easier to do it how they had the course set up this year. I don't know, because it's it's not you know, 100 miles is a hundred miles, you still have to run it, but you didn't have to run up to Cleveland and back from Akron, which sounds a lot more, it's a lot more mentally challenging, I think, than oh, I just have to run down to the valley and back, and that's that's a loop. Like that that finishes up to Lou. How did you feel about that course change?

SPEAKER_02: 4:59

Uh I was nervous because you pass your car so many times, and you're just like, I could leave. Where you know, when you're out there, you're out there and your crew's only gonna be at so many spots heading up to Cleveland. So I was nervous about that mentally, but it ended up being better, I think, overall, which I was shocked by. So, all in all, ended up being a better experience. So I can't complain.

SPEAKER_00: 5:23

That's an important fact to consider, right? Because when you're out there heading to Cleveland, like you gotta keep going. And I guess you could call somebody to pick you up somewhere, but at out and back, you could play those mental games. Hey, if I just go another 10 miles, 20 miles, I'll be back at my car. I don't have to call anyone, right?

SPEAKER_02: 5:41

Yeah, absolutely. And it's you know, we run the tow path a lot around here, but at the same time, like I've never ran past Brexville, so you got another what 20-ish miles to get to Cleveland. And I know it's all flat, it's not like you don't need to know it, but just the area, you can't even tell somebody well, I don't know where to pick pick me up if I was to bail. Just kind of you go out there and suffer because you don't even know where to where I'm at.

SPEAKER_01: 6:08

Having that mental hurdle to get over every time you come back to the car, it's like, man, you know, I'm I'm what was it, 68 miles in, 66 miles in. I could just walk to my car right now, get in it, drive home, and have a have a beer at Missing Falls before you leave and grab your royale and on the way you go. That's that's pretty tough, tough situation mentally to overcome. It's not, you know, some of the races we do where well I'm I'm made it up to the top of this, you know, mountain. I I can either go down or I can just camp it out here. Like those are my only two options. Yeah. So just you have to walk it. And even if you don't finish, you still have to walk it in to the finish. So yeah, yeah, big, big hurdle to overcome. And eight stations were were really good this year. I think because they only had two, three of them, right?

SPEAKER_02: 7:01

Yeah, on the south side, north side, and in the middle.

SPEAKER_01: 7:03

Yeah, the the second soul, uh, which was was pretty good. And you never really seemed to hit a low spot that I saw uh throughout the day, right?

SPEAKER_02: 7:14

I think I did one time, but actually before we go on there, what did you think of the course layout as a spectator this time? And then you got to see Jeremy, Heath, and obviously their crews as well. Like before, now you see them and they're looking good, and then the next time, normally in a race, you see them 30 more miles, then you're like, Oh, they didn't look so good. But now you saw them every what hour and a half, maybe.

SPEAKER_01: 7:38

I I thought it was great. You know, I went down to the start to see you, uh, you Jeremy and Heath start the race, and then I hopped on my bike, went down to the valley and got some breakfast. That was pretty cool. And like I so I rode the towpath down there, pulled back out. I talked to I talked to about 20 people throughout you know my bike ride, just chatting with people. So I as a spectator, I thought it was great because you got to see everyone, and you got to see everyone multiple times and you could see how they're doing, you know, kind of give them some support where yeah, if we went up to Cleveland, I would have seen them once and maybe twice, and that would have been it.

SPEAKER_02: 8:13

Right. And I think that as a runner, I think I know Jeremy and I mentioned something to each other every time in passing, how you feeling, looking good, whatever. And it was, I don't know, it just helped keep you going, seeing somebody else doing really well, too.

SPEAKER_01: 8:27

So Rob Jeremy told us the story of Kim yelling at Grant that he went too fast at uh the first second soul stop. He that motivated him uh through that aid station, I feel that he he found that humorous.

SPEAKER_00: 8:41

I think there's some details there that Grant could add to the story.

SPEAKER_01: 8:44

Yeah, Kim, Kim, not happy with your pacing. Your your your wife to be here in a couple weeks. Great call on the on the wedding officiant, by the way. I would have hired him myself. Great guy. Great guy. Um, so yeah, to that's what I want to hear because I haven't even had a chance to ask you about that. Kim, Kim kind of blowing you up at the first aid or second aid station, third aid station.

SPEAKER_02: 9:06

Uh, I don't know. She just wanted to make sure I finished and didn't want to suffer. Like she was there for the last, I don't know, 13 miles of 2024. So she saw how bad it got, and it was just you know, miserable. So didn't want to end up in that same situation again. And I mean, I pretty much went out with the same tactics and until the wheels fall off, but they didn't fall off as bad as last year. They still fell off, and we did some walking towards the end, and all in all, got it done.

SPEAKER_01: 9:39

So we had a nice scenic stroll through South Akron is what we had, Grant.

SPEAKER_02: 9:45

We did.

SPEAKER_01: 9:45

We did some running. We you know, I I guess I could look it up and see what our pace was.

SPEAKER_02: 9:50

I don't I knew there was a stretch of probably like three, four miles that weren't great.

SPEAKER_01: 9:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 9:55

Uh bathroom situations that just, you know, uh kids destroyed porta potties, so you just Yeah, you gotta go and you had really nowhere to go.

SPEAKER_01: 10:07

That was unfortunate. The port-a potty situation, not good. But hey, nothing that race can do about it. It's just a public, public toilet on the side of the road.

SPEAKER_02: 10:15

Exactly. So you just deal with it and move away and keep going with however you can at whatever pace.

SPEAKER_01: 10:24

And we did. Rob, you'd be proud of us. We we kept it moving.

SPEAKER_00: 10:28

Yeah, that's what I've heard. I mean, this has got to be a pretty unique hundred-mile race. I mean, have you ever heard of another one? Now I know this is not the normal route and they had to make adjustments based on uh the government shutting down, but I mean I've never heard of another hundred-mile race that has this type of course.

SPEAKER_02: 11:06

No, I don't either. When people say flat, you know, they don't think that I might have to look it up because I'm actually curious now what the elevation was. Um, I got 2100 over 100 miles. So it's I don't think you could get much flatter than that.

SPEAKER_01: 11:23

No, but I I bet that's more than I'm sure it is. It's more than the other course.

SPEAKER_02: 11:30

You think going to Cleveland?

SPEAKER_01: 11:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 11:33

Just because the hill climbing back into Akron when you're heading south?

SPEAKER_01: 11:36

Well, and just going from the valley up. It doesn't feel like you're going up, but you're going up the whole time from the valley up to Memorial Parkway. Like it's you're going up the river. So you are going uphill. But I mean, you're gonna go up it either way, you're coming back, but to do that three times, that's seems to be like a steep, not a steep part, but a hillier part. I don't know. Yeah, we'll have to compare to to someone last year that that ran out.

SPEAKER_00: 12:02

So Casey, uh, I think we're doing what we typically do, which is get right into the meat of the race without describing the race to the listeners. So the the original course, correct me where I'm wrong, but you started out at the brewery in Akron, you go all the way to Cleveland and then back to Canal Corridor, or is it the other way around?

SPEAKER_02: 12:20

South, south first.

SPEAKER_00: 12:21

You go south first, then turn around and head to Cleveland and then back to Akron.

SPEAKER_02: 12:25

Eight and about eight and a half south, then north back to Missing Falls, and then we headed oh, what was that? Seven and a half, something like that.

SPEAKER_01: 12:36

Yeah. But the yes, Rob, so the the original course for people that didn't listen to the last episode, the original course goes from Missing Falls Brewery in downtown Akron on South Main Street. It goes down to Barberton, or just like right around Barberton, comes back to Akron and then goes up to Cleveland to the flats. I believe it's the flats, correct?

SPEAKER_02: 13:01

Yeah, I forget the name of the bridge that you're under, but it's it's like some shady broad bridge. Yeah, it's an old drawbridge.

SPEAKER_01: 13:08

And then you come back from Cleveland to Akron, and that was what the course was supposed to be, but due to the government shutting down, uh they couldn't get they didn't have the permits to run through uh CVNP, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is where a bulk of the race takes place. So yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 13:31

That's a good point, Casey. You did describe it in the previous episode. So anyone listening to this now that didn't listen to the prior episode, make sure you follow up and listen to that episode once you're done with this one.

SPEAKER_01: 13:42

Yeah, that was my fault. I I should never do that. Uh yeah, you know, assume a knowledge of uh situation. But yeah, so that was what the race was supposed to be. Race directors did a great job. They pivoted and made the race work so that you know people could uh get their 100 miles in. And grant you got you finished under 100 miles or 100 miles under 24 hours. Was your belt buckle different than the other just like the 24 to 30? Was there different belt buckles if I remember correctly, or no?

SPEAKER_02: 14:13

I don't know. Um, I just rolled through there and I was just kind of like right to the car, grabbed a beer, and that's where I was. So I didn't I didn't hang around the finish line. I mean, there was nobody there. It was 4 15 in the morning, I think it was, and it was you and Annie at the finish line there.

SPEAKER_01: 14:30

And hey, so someone's gotta do it. Now your your dad was there, he was there. Uh taking a little nap. He was getting a little nap in. It was it was late, it was cold, the car was warm. I certainly understand.

SPEAKER_02: 14:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 14:46

So, Grant, I heard you had quite a few friends like helping you out along the way, though.

SPEAKER_02: 14:50

I did.

SPEAKER_00: 14:51

Nathan was there for a little bit, you had Dave, obviously, Casey was there. What was that like?

SPEAKER_02: 14:57

Tell you actually, the best part about it all is that I never asked a single one of them. It was the the whole plan was just to go out with the cooler there, carrying up for the 33 miles. So the fact that they were just like, Yeah, man, we'll be there, and then took on the role of bringing the cooler out for every lap and hopping in for miles. I mean David ended up doing like 15, 820. Casey, what we do? We would did eight back, eight and a half.

SPEAKER_01: 15:25

Yeah, I was yeah, I I would have done more, but yeah, that brewery stop kind of it'll get you. Yeah, it got me a little bit there. I was cramping up a little bit. So yeah, but yeah, you had the you had the whole crew out there. Our friend Nate Reyes, friend of the show.

SPEAKER_02: 15:40

He went all out, and I couldn't believe he wanted to go like the full out and back in the last uh section there. Um had a lot of friends, family. Kim was out before her bachelorette party, so that was nice to have like all that support too. And then again, being able to see them all multiple times, and it was like at times like every four miles, you were able to hit them somewhere. So, again, it was just another boost of confidence there. And again, just having good people around you just to hop in and help was awesome.

SPEAKER_00: 16:11

That was the first time I saw Nate on Strava, and I don't know how long. I sent him a text straight away. I'm like, dude, what were you doing? Like I just saw him on Strava. So I was out there uh helping out Grant. Good for you, man.

SPEAKER_02: 16:21

Yeah, and he brought the snacks, and 20 miles later, it's like what probably ran 20 miles this year. Got them done, brought the snacks, made me happy. I'm good.

SPEAKER_01: 16:33

Great guy, great guy. That was yeah, it was it was a lot of fun. I don't know. I it it's one of the most fun I've had, you know, crewing a race. I won't I was more of a escort through South Akron than I was a pacer, but you know, but so didn't really pace as much as escorted you through the area. And yeah, it was I had a lot of fun. It was there was a ton of people there, met a lot of really cool people. Uh you you shared some miles with a a now friend of ours, and I think is going to be on the show next week or the week after, Matt Paxton.

SPEAKER_02: 17:09

Yeah, I think we probably the first close to 50, I think we were together. Yeah, great guy, chatting it up for hours. I mean, had nothing else to do, but we're going to the same place. It's just hey, we'll just hang right here and do the same pace. And yeah, he's a cross-country coach down at Rio Grande, so that was cool. Cool stories. He knows some friends of the show. He knew Pope, he knew Caleb Bowen, so it was kind of cool to conversate with people that we've met before and talk about previous races.

SPEAKER_01: 17:41

Heck yeah, yeah, super cool, dude. But that's kind of the the sport, you know. You yeah, you're gonna be out there for a long time suffering with people. You meet a lot of interesting people, you you talk to a lot of interesting people, and you see a lot of interesting things.

SPEAKER_02: 17:56

Yep, you do, and you cross over all these places at three different time periods of the day, so you see different characters all the time, and not even people in the race, just you know, you're on the public uh trails there, getting yelled at by a guy in a bike because we didn't say hello. Yeah, sorry, we we didn't we didn't see you.

SPEAKER_01: 18:16

Yeah, so quick story. Um I'm pacing grant, we're in South Akron. There was a gentleman that was finishing up his fishing activities for the evening, and it oh, it had to be late because what probably around midnight, 11, 11-ish, maybe. We'll see it was it was we'll say after 11. And I can kind of see like a glimmer of a handlebar, maybe a little bit ahead. And I I can't see anything at night.

SPEAKER_02: 18:45

Like, we have one headlamp between the two of us, yeah, and mine was dying, like yeah, a couple miles left, and it was just getting dim.

SPEAKER_01: 18:51

Yeah, your headlamp's dying. We only have one headlamp. I've been at the brewery for a bit, and I kind of see it. I'm in the middle of the tow path, and like 10 feet in front of him. I move over because there's a guy flying down on his bike, two fishing poles on. I think there were fishing poles. My part of my version of the story, they had fit he had fishing poles and is yelling at us, no one says hello anymore. Like, bud, like you almost just knocked me into the lake. Not real happy about that, but yeah, buddy was not happy that we did not say hello to him.

SPEAKER_02: 19:27

No, he wasn't, and he wasn't moving slow either. Like he was rolling.

SPEAKER_01: 19:31

He was he was rolling pretty good, yeah. Head on a swivel out there at the canal corridor 100 when you're after 11 o'clock.

SPEAKER_02: 19:39

So well, I'm just glad that you were on the inside because I wasn't jumping out of anybody's way at that point. No, close to 80 miles in, I think it was. I'm like, I'm not jumping anywhere.

SPEAKER_01: 19:50

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was a it was a fun day, and you know, it was it was for you know, it was a little bit different for you this year. You were you were running for a different reason. Well, I mean, you were running to finish 100 miles. This year you you lost someone very close to you, um, someone very important to you. Your your mother passed away, and that was one of the reasons you wanted to go back and run this race, I feel like, is you know, in kind of her honor.

unknown: 20:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 20:18

Uh so why don't you tell us a little bit about that, how how that came about, Grant?

SPEAKER_02: 20:22

Um, so I didn't know if I even wanted to run the hundred again because it just went so bad last year.

SPEAKER_01: 20:27

And then it went horrible, yes.

SPEAKER_02: 20:29

Yeah, like it just yeah, the weather didn't help. It it just it was a big spiral that just everything hit at once, and it was like nope, we're pulling it. But um I don't know, this year it was just kind of like something I could carry that into the race, like just more motivation or anything. And and it was it's tough. It wasn't just my mom. We lost my uncle Tom, uh, my aunt Linda. Uh Kim's grandma passed away. So we made shirts for the race. Thankfully, the weather held out and it was warm enough to wear them. So we had uh donation, QR codes made for uh cancer center for her, pink read of cancer for Linda, and another donation for Kim's dad as well, um, who passed away again from cancer. So it's kind of just uh just carry memories with you for people. Then of course we had to throw on the hobby jogger and uh weave use on there as well. You know, you guys always hook it up and always around you guys and having fun. So we like to do kind of the same bad ideas, I guess.

SPEAKER_01: 21:40

Yeah, yeah, that was I I thought it was really cool to see, you know, to see that for your mom, you know, Leslie Johnson, great woman, one of one of my favorite people to to to be around. It was always uh, you know, uh a shining positive light and from my time of knowing her. And yeah, very, very sad and pass from cancer. And you know, if you could just you know bring a little bit of awareness, I I always feel that that's good, a good thing to do. If something you can bring something good out of something bad, you know, a little bit of light, then that's good. I was I was happy that you did that and made it special, I guess, you know, more special of a uh of an event for you.

SPEAKER_02: 22:21

Yeah. And it made it just the grind um uh a little bit easier, you know. It's those people went through way more than uh they uh I forget how I put it, they basically they went through so much more, and it's like, all right, well let's go suffer for 24 hours or hopefully less, is what I felt like I could do, and I'll just go suffer and enjoy the day. I don't know how you can say that in the same sentence, but I don't know, that's kind of what ultrarunning is, and just something I want to do.

SPEAKER_01: 23:07

Yeah, yeah, it is. I mean, that is what ultrarunning is, especially the hundred-mile distance. You're gonna suffer everyone is from the the leader to to the back. And yeah, you're right. And it it it just it it makes you how realize how fortunate we are that you myself, Rob, we're we're healthy enough to go out and and and run a hundred miles or or 50k or 5k if that's what you go out and do. Like you're you're going out and doing something, you're accomplishing something, something great that you know a lot of people don't have the ability or the fortune to be able to do. And you know, those that are are suffering with cancer, pancreatic cancer, you know, lung cancer, and whatnot, that you know, they just it makes you realize how fortunate you are.

SPEAKER_00: 23:50

Yeah, there's no better way to remember a loved one than suffering out on the course. And if you remember what Andy Glaze said, you know, we get to do this, we're lucky enough to do this, we're lucky enough to go out there and hurt and remember and just be very grateful for the lives we have, you know. It's uh that that's awesome, Grant. I mean, that is a great way to put yourself out there, remember your mother and your other loved ones, and just suffer on the trail. Not all, well, non-runners will not understand that, but you know, go out and run a mile if you've never done it before and and you'll you'll get it. You'll get it pretty quick.

SPEAKER_02: 24:25

Oh, yeah. It doesn't take too much, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 24:29

We we've talked about that a lot, like loss and and and things. And again, just to you know reiterate Andy Glaze, yeah, we're very fortunate that we can we can do this. And awesome, awesome that we can. And I'm I'm so glad that you could do that. A little bit of something to to remember your mother by and an evening, I'll never forget. Nate will never forget, David will never forget. You know, certainly you won't, you know, running a hundred miles, it's not all the time that you you can get to tee that up, I guess.

SPEAKER_02: 24:58

No, I don't know if I really have plans to do another one or what, but hoping one of you guys sign up for next year so I can do the riding around on my bike, have a few beers, and enjoy that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:10

You're spoiling my next question. It was which which race is next, man. You got the 100 out of the way, like that's the hardest one.

SPEAKER_02: 25:18

Well, I can tell you it's not Moab or one of those 200s. I can for sure tell you that.

SPEAKER_00: 25:22

No, no, no, no. We'll settle for just a nice 100 mountain race. Maybe I don't know, pick one out west. There's plenty to choose from.

SPEAKER_02: 25:29

I love to the kids' schedule is so busy. Um, the only thing Casey and I were talking about just the other day was um Bigfoot. We always like going down to Salt Fork and hanging out at the lodge, it's always a good time. So that's really the only thing um even in mentions right now, other than that. I have you looked into next year. I know you guys got a lot coming up, but yeah, I have no plans.

SPEAKER_01: 25:53

Let me ask you this. Will you be now that you have one ticket to the Western States Lottery, will you be entering into the lottery?

SPEAKER_00: 26:02

No, you're not? You have to dude. You gotta throw your name in there. Casey and I will come babysit the kids, dude. Get it in there.

SPEAKER_01: 26:10

Oh my gosh, you guys babysit the kids. Oh yeah, you you have to put your name in the lottery.

SPEAKER_00: 26:16

We're gonna take them out there, but we'll babysit.

SPEAKER_01: 26:19

Yeah, definitely not next year. You have to. I mean, I'll just I'll get your password and enter you. So I mean just do it.

SPEAKER_00: 26:28

We'll shave Casey's head and he can run if it if you have to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 26:32

Nope. I think uh we had a busy year this year already.

SPEAKER_01: 26:36

So good thing it's next year.

SPEAKER_02: 26:39

What's yeah, yeah. No, we got plans with the kids definitely over the summer now, next year. So definitely not in the cards. But Casey, if you want to show up in my place, if I get it, it's all you, bud.

SPEAKER_01: 26:51

All right, all right. I'll I'll hold you to that. Uh, I don't know. Yeah, we could pull it off, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah. Sunglasses, bucket hat.

SPEAKER_02: 27:00

Looks yeah, maybe cut your hair a little bit. I don't know. Yeah, you can make it work.

SPEAKER_01: 27:04

Only if I get to use the Grant Johnskin.

SPEAKER_02: 27:08

I I got rid of that.

SPEAKER_01: 27:09

It's all oh yeah, you fix it all down in one now. Ultra sign up, fix you up. That's good.

SPEAKER_02: 27:13

Still missing a raise or two, but hey, it's all right.

SPEAKER_01: 27:16

I I I guess we kind of just ran over the last topic of what I was gonna talk about and what is coming up next for you. So do you Bigfoot 50k down in in Salt Fork? I think we talked about that. I didn't realize you had such a tough go, but I think last time.

SPEAKER_02: 27:32

Yeah, I forget what year. 2023, I think. I went last year. Yeah, uh was a rough one. Hospital was it's good. Good time. Turned out to be a pretty expensive race after that.

SPEAKER_01: 27:45

Yeah, I don't I'm sure I knew. Maybe I didn't know. Maybe you didn't tell me.

SPEAKER_02: 27:51

I don't know. I was just laid up on a couch for like a week, so yeah, I mean I don't even know what really caused the issue.

SPEAKER_01: 27:58

So underfueling, that seems to be the the the gist of it. So so that's it. You got Salt Fork, uh, the 50k. Maybe you'll get some redemption there. Any any other plans? Anything local? Nothing.

SPEAKER_02: 28:14

Is there anything left local around us for the year?

SPEAKER_01: 28:17

No, but like I'm talking next year, like into next year.

SPEAKER_02: 28:21

No plans. I wouldn't mind running Buckeye, although it's in July and I don't really feel like running in 90 degree heat, but other than that, I was actually fit and wanting to do a 50k like right around that time, but then they added the 25k. Oh, that's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 28:38

And I just I'm not doing that.

SPEAKER_02: 28:40

What about Mohican? I've never ran it, never even ran a trail down there.

SPEAKER_01: 28:43

Mohican's good.

SPEAKER_00: 28:44

I like Mohican.

SPEAKER_02: 28:45

What do they have? They have a marathon too, right? Yeah, bro.

SPEAKER_00: 28:48

Yeah, I ran it in 19 or 2020. I don't remember.

SPEAKER_02: 28:52

Then they have the 50 mile, not 50k, right?

SPEAKER_00: 28:56

I thought the marathon was the longest distance for the mile.

SPEAKER_01: 29:00

Oh, you're talking about the other company. Yeah, they have they have a 20, they have a like one loop, two loop, four loop, a hundred mile, fifty mile, twenty-five mile.

SPEAKER_02: 29:10

Yeah, so I guess I wouldn't mind the 50 if it lines up with the kids' schedules and soccer games and all that. So I wouldn't mind trying that out.

SPEAKER_01: 29:17

Oh, there we go. See, now we're down in Mohican, Rob. Sweet.

SPEAKER_02: 29:21

You just gotta pitch the bad ideas, and then that's how it always gets started.

SPEAKER_00: 29:25

I'll come up for that one. It's been too long since I've run that one. Rob's in for the 50 miler.

SPEAKER_02: 29:31

I do owe you a crew race, Casey. Maybe, maybe I'll just go down a crew you.

SPEAKER_01: 29:36

All right.

SPEAKER_02: 29:37

I owe you and you, David, and Nate one.

SPEAKER_01: 29:39

I think that one's the end of May. I don't know. I'll have to look it up. Could work. We'll see. It's like, well, it could snow. Last year was like snowing until the middle of May.

SPEAKER_02: 29:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 29:48

Yeah. Unfortunate. But yeah, we're back into snow now. But yeah, Grant, I you know, it was it was so much fun watching throughout the day. It was just cool to see everyone out there, like David and Nate coming out all day, riding the bike around. David's bike spent the night in the brewery. So that was that was pretty cool. Yeah, the brewery babysat David's bike for him. So that was nice of those guys at Missing Falls. And yeah, it was just a it was a lot of fun. Good, good day, great event. The race directors of of Canal, again, you know, do do such a an amazing job for only having a hundred-mile race, which I really respect out of them. They don't try and grab all the money from a relay and a marathon and a 50 mile. Not that there's anything wrong with that, Rob. Monetizing and maximizing all your profits. Should that be your goal, which is fine. I'm not upset by anyone that does that ever. But I do respect that they don't do that when they certainly could. And I'm sure there's a huge demand. I'm sure they get asked all the time, and they don't do it. So yeah, again, shout out to the canal corridor folks for. For running such an awesome event and in grade A race here in Akron, Ohio.

SPEAKER_02: 30:59

Yeah. And along with that, is it's so nice to know that every person on the course is out there doing the exact same thing. You know, we run Burning River, and it's like there's a relay, and all the hundred milers you know are so mad at you. It's like it's it's nice to know that those people are out there doing the same thing as you. They're just hitting a low spot at different times.

SPEAKER_01: 31:20

And yeah, like because I I just ran the fall classic at Laurel Highlands, and the second or the relay spot was at like mile 17. I only got passed by one relay guy or girl, and yeah, he went by me at like mile 18 and was just like like it's like such a defeating thing. Like you see someone that clearly they just started, like I don't think I'm someone's passing me looking like that at mile 17. Right. And yeah, I I get it. I you know, but it's fun. We have as someone who runs the relay, I can't my glass house isn't that strong because we do have a great time running the Burning River relay. So I I can't not casting that big of a stone, Rob.

SPEAKER_00: 32:04

No, not at all. No, I run the Laurel relay team every single year, passing people, apologizing every time I go by. Sorry. Yeah, I'm only running the relay. Don't feel bad.

SPEAKER_01: 32:14

No, but you shouldn't, and you shouldn't, because it is. It's getting, and I think the episode, you know, granted, I don't know if you listen to it or not. Uh, our neighbor, my neighbor, Grace, our friend, our running friend, you know, it was kind of a you know, a stepping stone for her to maybe run the 50k next year. Like it gets people out and sees these courses and sees these awesome things that we get to experience and suffer through, but they get a little bit shorter, less suffering experience. And I think it is ultimately good for the sport to have those.

SPEAKER_02: 32:45

Oh, yeah. I like how you put that the intro because you know, no one's gonna go run Laurel 50k, and then all you hear is, oh, at mile six, you're gonna hit this hill. And it's like, okay, we'll go do the relay the first year, and it's like you get that experience, and it's yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 33:00

I mean, that's what I did. I ran it, I ran the relay one year. I was like, Oh, this is really fun. We all went out there, we ran it, and yeah, then I ran the 50k. So, yeah, great introduction. I'm not that upset with people maximizing profit.

SPEAKER_00: 33:12

So, yeah, and then some of us run it every year and never get to the 50k. But on that note, I can tell somebody needs some tacos.

SPEAKER_01: 33:19

Yes, Grant just got back from tacos. Great to see you. We certainly appreciate it. Say hello to Kim for us. Hello, and thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate it, and uh, thank you for being a listener of the Hobby Jogger. We always appreciate our listeners.

SPEAKER_02: 33:39

Always listening. I always appreciate you guys helping out at every race or just hanging out, grabbing beers or runs, whatever it may be. That's it for the hobby jogger this week.

SPEAKER_00: 33:49

Thanks, guys.