Episodes

Have you ever considered running a marathon? For most of us just the thought of running 26.2 miles is intimidating. So intimidating in fact that only .01% of the world completes a marathon each year. Just getting to the finish line is an accomplishment that will last a lifetime. But some of us are looking for more of a challenge. Once you prove to yourself that you can finish a marathon, the next step is to see if you can do it a little faster, and somewhere down the line after days, weeks, mont...

What do you do to pass the time while you’re out on a run? Most of you are probably saying you listen to music and if you do this is the episode for you! At the intersection of music and running you’ll find Stray Local, a husband-and-wife indie alt-pop duo of Hannah and Jamie Rowen. If you’ve been around the Charlotte Running or Brewery scenes for a while we are sure you’ve run into them, or with them. Today on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast we are joined by Jamie & Hannah. We can’t wait ...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to host a marathon? How about what makes a good expo location? Or how all of those cups get cleaned up. Putting on a race for thousands of runners isn’t easy. Not by a long shot. But when you see the smiles of people crossing their first finish line or the families standing and walking for hours to see their runner; it’s all worth it! This week on the podcast we are talking to Alaina Williams from the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon. She’s here to answer so...

Finding time to train is never easy. We all know that training for any race, especially a long distance race, is not only difficult on your body, but it can also be very time consuming. Add in work, hobbies, and just living all of a sudden it might seem like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Now imagine all of that, but instead of training to finish the race you are training to win and your job is saving lives. No pressure! Today on the podcast we are joined by Hannah Wolkenhauer, the ...

We know running is an amazing sport! So why not just keep running? You start with a mile which turns into a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon, and then all of a sudden you are running even more than that. Running is pretty crazy like that. One day you are huffing and puffing after a mile and the next you are running an ultra marathon… of course there are a lot of years of blood, sweat, and tears between those two days. Today we are joined by Dr. Sophie McDonald and she is here to shed some light...

You’ve read the book, I’ve read the book, we’ve all read the book. Born to Run started many of us on our running journeys or for those of us already running reignited the fire. Learning about the Tarahumara tribe of ultra-athletes and gazing into the world of barefoot running changed the lives and workouts of runners all over the world. Today we are joined by Christopher McDougall, the author of Born to Run. And we can’t tell you how excited we are to talk to him about the book and some of the ...

Let Me Run is no stranger here on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast! Their mission to give young boys the tools they need to navigate the world and their emotions in a healthy and constructive way is one that we here on the podcast believe wholeheartedly. Today we are joined by a friend of ours from the organization, Jesse Smith. If that name sounds familiar you may have seen him running, volunteering, serving as an elder in the church, or during 2018 and 2019 as a member of the Charlotte Ma...

Nothing compares to a day enjoying the natural beauty of the Carolinas at the US National Whitewater Center. Whether you are a biker, runner, climber, hiker, kayaker, tuber, ice skater, SUPer, etc, the Whitewater Center is your place for adventures year round! Days at the Whitewater center are some of the best that you can spend with your friends and family. Today we are joined by Jesse Hyde from the Whitewater Center. Jesse is here to talk all things Whitewater including some of the new projec...

Pace, distance, cadence, water stops, bathroom breaks, nutrition intake… the list goes on. There are a lot of things that we expect to worry about when we are going running, especially if we are training for or running a race. One thing that we shouldn’t have to worry about is whether or not we will be safe on our runs. However, news story after new story tells us differently. Safety can be a big concern for runners of all ages, races, genders, and identities. Today we are joined by Laura Morro...

We love to run. The feeling of crossing the finish line, of getting a new PR, and just being around the running community is why we love our sport. But at the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon race day is just the beginning. Part of every race entry is a donation that goes to the Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital, and through your support, the marathon has been able to donate over $250,000 over the years to help the children and families receiving care. Today we are joined by Dr. Erin Trak...

We’re almost ready for the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, and it’s a good thing too because it is right around the corner. It takes a lot to put on a race of this size from closing down streets, to getting vendors, to making sure that we’ve got a fancy finish festival for you to sprint into. With just a couple weeks left it’s great to see everything coming together and we thought it would be great to get an update from Dr. Lisa Rentz the marathon medical director with everything you need to ...

Running is a great sport, there’s no getting around that! It’s a great way to meet people, it’s always a great feeling of accomplishment to reach your running goals, and among sports, it has a pretty low barrier to entry. No need to buy a bat or racket. If you had to, you could probably go for a run in the shoes you are wearing right now! Running is one of the few sports that can really meet you where you are and our next guest is a testament to that. Today on the podcast we are joined by Jaime...

How do you get out of your own head and start working towards your goals? Well, sometimes the first step is the hardest. And the longer you wait, the more time you have to build it up in your head until taking that one step turns into something much more difficult. But when should you take that first step? Well today’s guest would say that today is the best day to take that first step. This week on the podcast we are joined by Troy Gagliardo. Troy decided to take that one step about 1000 days a...

Have you ever been out for a run or in a race and seen someone carrying a backpack? You think to yourself… surely they aren’t carrying their computer, in the hopes that they can fire off a few emails mid-race. Well depending on where you were those people were probably rucking! Wondering what rucking is, who the people that do it are, and how you can join the fun? Well, you’ve come to the right place! This week’s podcast guest is Amy Petersen! Amy is here from Pathfinder Rucking and she is here...

We all remember 2020 as a year when everything changed. We had to stay in our homes, and words like social distancing and pandemic became a part of our everyday language. We traded happy hours at the bar for drinks in our pajamas over zoom and we all collectively forgot what the bottom half of a human face looks like. It’s safe to say that 2020 was a tough year for just about everyone, and if you or a loved one contracted Covid-19 we can only imagine. We aren’t afraid to say it. Covid was scary...

Isms… Racism, Sexism, Classism, Ableism, the list goes on. We are all affected by them even if it is not directly. But it is important to remember that even if something does not affect you or someone you love that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Our world needs to change and become more inclusive and though at times it seems like we are more divided than ever organizations like our next podcast guest give us hope that maybe we are not quite as divided as we think. This week on the podcast we a...

Have you ever wondered where all the technological innovations you see at the hospital come from? From x-ray machines to teledoc visits, to the machines that look straight out of a sci-fi comic book, modern medicine is at the cutting edge of technological advancement. But who thinks up all of those things? Well we’ve been wondering the same thing. So we are learning more about where some of the most fantastic technological innovations come from. Today on the podcast we are joined by Paula Kranz...

Running and then drinking a beer may not always sound like it goes together but if you live in the Queen City you know that it is a match made in heaven. In Charlotte, we have breweries and those breweries have run clubs. In Charlotte proper there are more than 30 breweries, and that number just past 50 when you start to include some of the surrounding areas. Starting with Noda Run Club the idea of having a run club meet at a brewery grew in popularity very quickly! Today we are joined by Vanes...

Having a baby can be the most wonderful, terrifying, stressful, and amazing thing someone can do. Individuals and couples that make this life-changing decision do not go into it lightly and it is not uncommon to fall in love with a baby that hasn’t even been born yet. Parents map out their lives, and can already see them being happy babies, toddlers, teenagers, adults, and parents to their own children. That’s why pregnancy loss can be so crushing and can feel like pulling yourself and your part...

Have you ever thought that there are just not enough hours in the day? There has to be some secret code to get more hours because in the same time that it takes some of us to wake up, work, come back home, and go to sleep some of us are doing a heck of a lot more! Today we are joined by Mattie King, a modern-day Renaissance Man that is somehow doing it all! When you think of a Renaissance Man what comes to mind? Painter, sculptor, poet. Well in 2022 we are talking Spartan Race Training, owning ...

We all know that runners and athletes can do some amazing things. It’s hard to go more than a week without hearing a new amazing story about someone pushing past their limits to achieve the impossible. The human body is amazing and even more so when it’s got a determined mind in the driver seat! However, this is not always the case. Sometimes we push too hard and things don’t just bend, they start to break. It doesn’t make for as sexy of a news story but injuries and setbacks are just as much a...

If you’ve ever had to take your child to the hospital — especially in an emergency — you know how scary it can be for you and for them. Novant Health Charlotte Marathon is proud that proceeds from the annual race help the most vulnerable members of our community – the children – find comfort at that unsettling time. The Charlotte Marathon has donated nearly $250,000 to Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital since 2013. This year, we’re upping our donation goals with the launch of Team Hemby. B...

It’s been said that fish can’t run, and swimmers don’t do land sports. Our next guest on the Running Around Charlotte Podcast doesn’t fit that standard definition, because she’s a former collegiate swimmer who now runs marathons. In fact, Lindsey McClelland is a marketing director, brand ambassador, former yoga instructor, mom, and yes – a Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassador. She’s a busy, energetic woman and we’re glad to have her as a guest on our show today.

One thing all runners dread is that feeling that something hurts – and not a “good hurt” either! If you’re in tune with your body, you know when something hurts the “wrong way.” You also have to be careful of external factors, like running in traffic, or other ways you can get injured. Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte is a pro at preventing the injuries – Kelly Moriarty is a Trauma Injury Prevention Coordinator for Novant Health. Kelly works with a broad range of people, trying to pre...