16 Straight Boston Marathons: Tre Montigue's Legacy on the Road to Boylston | Road to Boylston Ep. 1

DFW Running Talk: Tats Arai
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Chris Detzel: [00:00:00] Welcome to DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel, so let's get started.

Welcome to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Deel. And before we get started, we have a special going on with the Boston Marathon. So 10 days, 10 guests, 15, 20 minutes. And we're gonna get to learn more about some of these. Some are in DFW, most of 'em are, and some have been in DFW and some haven't, or moved off.

But in this case, tots array. Tots.

Tats Ari: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: How are you doing?

Tats Ari: Cool. Yeah. Thank you for having me, Chris.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I'm excited to have you for sure. And we were talking a little bit before you've run about 10 marathons. Yeah. Boston marathons. That is,

Tats Ari: yeah. I did 10 Boston Marathon already

Chris Detzel: and I wanna get into it.

Let's talk about your very first Boston Marathon and what that meant. How'd you get there and that kind of stuff. Let's do that first.

Tats Ari: I, the first Boston Marathon for me was the a just a very [00:01:00] serendipity. I just got in I had a first. Half marathon back in the day, I dunno, probably like a 2008 time that got me a like a New York City marathon qualifying time and I run New York City Marathon 2009.

That got me my first Boston Marathon qualifying time. And so my first Boston Marathon was 2011. Yeah.

Okay. But

Chris Detzel: then, but tell me about the, tell me about the marathon itself. Like when you first went, were you like, oh my gosh, this is amazing, or this is really hard, or anything that stood out or

Tats Ari: Actually not really. Yeah. It was just it seemed like I, I was just, I. It, yeah.

Able to be qualified for it. I knew it, that was like a big deal. I was able to make it, but my time was just around the time, it's more than 10 years ago. Qualifying time was much easier like my time was three old. I dunno. 4, 3 0 2. So [00:02:00] that, yeah, I, I always want to, that I, yeah I wanted to make it like sub three, but that, that was there and then around that time I was in the graduate school, yeah.

The marathon wasn't necessarily be my first priority, but

Chris Detzel: I

Tats Ari: Was it, yeah. No I was the wrong like without,

Chris Detzel: yeah, first marathon. That's pretty good though. Not bad.

Tats Ari: But then. Once I defended my dissertation and then it's, yeah I dunno, lost my like physical ability around that time.

It's toward the end of my graduate school and then of course, like I was, and then like I, I lost the ability to magically being horrifying for Boston. And then so I missed the Boston qualifying time between 2015 to 2015. So that's when I actually like seriously, that, that engaged to running more.

Yeah. And 2014 is the [00:03:00] time that I moved to dollars and then I immediately start to. Like working with folks in surrounding club as well as a corp. And then, yeah, around that time, like I, I was like a staple member at Core and like running with folks like. Brent, RO James.

Yeah. And those folks.

Chris Detzel: Javier.

Tats Ari: Yeah. And then, yeah. And yeah, running was that my way to build my community, meet friends, I get the like, interesting folks and then. And then 2016 or that the race in 2015 got the Dallas Marathon and then that got me like another quarter point time.

I came back to Boston like at 2016, first time in, I dunno, three, four years. So yeah, I, I feel good. I at that time it just, the marathon became like my passion. And then the Boston became my. That sort of thing.

Chris Detzel: Anything that, all right. This time around, did anything stand out around [00:04:00] Boston Marathon? That was fun.

Oh my gosh, this part was amazing.

Tats Ari: So this time, yeah this is why I wanna talk to my that I wanna reach out to my old friends in Dallas and then folks in running community. I'm running the unique format of a marathon. It's dual This time. I'm I'm running a friend.

I'm running with a friend from graduate school. And who has the like a physical disability? A LS Okay. And, his name is Scott, and the Scott is on wheelchair, and then I'm pushing him and then they're they're running of Boston. So I dunno, like what Boston mean to me or mean to us.

This is a different one, like first of course able to challenge for me to be qualifying. It's just that, that showing up there is important thing. But

Chris Detzel: yeah,

Tats Ari: When I get there, it's 10 times. The opportunity itself becomes something like. Kinda reunion with friends. Like when I go [00:05:00] there, someone from Dallas is there.

And also, I used to live a lot of different places. Like someone from San Diego is there and then, yeah, so this guy Scott is the one of like important person that get me Boston here in year out. Scott Durman it's a good friend of mine from graduate school after he graduated from uc, San Diego, and that's where we went to school together.

He moved to Boston and yeah, we are good friend, but basically lives like separate, right?

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Tats Ari: Whenever I go to the Boston Marathon, I see him. I just hang out and then I hang out his, him, I hang out with his friend, Ike and his wife and kids. And that became also like my part of a Boston trip.

A Boston Marathon trip. Yeah. And like 2024. Okay, so I learned that Scott has a disease in 2023. [00:06:00]

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Tats Ari: Yeah, that was. That was like more than three years ago. And then I actually missed my qualifying time for 2024.

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Tats Ari: Yeah. I didn't handle COVID well, so my training wasn't too good. It was like the same thing as the time between like 20.

2015 that I was doing well. And so 2024, it's the first time many years. I'm not going to Boston in April. And I realized that, oh my God, I'm not gonna see Scott. And then he has a disease that like a no from the cure. And then I felt okay, so we need to do something. And I reached out to Scott.

Hey, there are like a crazy group of people that. Running a marathon while pushing wheelchair. And then there's a famous father and son du called Ho. And they're the ones who started in Boston and we should do that. And Scott, you live in Boston. And then as far as I [00:07:00] know, back in the day, Scott is, actually one of the very sort of active human being.

I know we built a bond through hiking and skiing, that kind of thing. My favorite joke is always that. Given your talent that you'll be running marathon some of these days, right? And

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Tats Ari: And you gonna run Boston because you live in Boston, you love sports, you gonna run Boston?

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Tats Ari: But then, yeah, life is another plan. But dude, you know I'll get you there. I'll get you there. Yeah. And then 2025. So we run Marine Corps Marathon together.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Tats Ari: We rent a chair from this organization called Ry the Angel, and then we run a Marine Corps marathon together. I push him behind and I push his wheelchair, and then we run, and then our time was 3 0 8.

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Tats Ari: And yeah.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty

Tats Ari: darn

Chris Detzel: good that

Tats Ari: That's the thing I, and I need to tell like [00:08:00] ev everyone, and if you are like, I dunno if you like, if someone like my story and if you want to do this thing that the things I have done right.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Tats Ari: Yeah. You are qualifying time regardless or that you push with you or not.

It's the same. It's the same.

Chris Detzel: It doesn't matter.

Tats Ari: It doesn't matter. So actually that helps, like me being a 45-year-old, because my, I have a, the coine time at 3 0 8 and my qualifying time for my age group was three 10, which is a three 15 minus cutoff, like three 10. I did it, so

Chris Detzel: you're fine.

Okay. Yeah,

Tats Ari: IM fine. Yeah. So now I was like yeah, we are we're showing up and it was, it'll be an inter interesting competition. There are like usually 20 teams, 20 duo teams starting like at nine 30, which is like 30 minutes before everyone. And then, yeah. And there's another kind of competition going on.

And then and then we'll represent the it's like a adaptive running community [00:09:00] as well. There are there are different kind of market marathon out there. I'm yeah. I will race with a friend of mine as well as along the way. We need to learn how to get into the DO community and how to participate the race, blah, blah, blah.

There's so many folks like helping me and there are so many folks that get. Way for us to make it available. I, as far, as much as possible. I like to talk like a, their story as well. That's why I run this.

Chris Detzel: I love it. And certainly obviously a good cause. And I'm sure your friend Scott is super excited or, when you're running the marathon, at least the first time, were you talking back and forth at all?

Is he saying anything, is that go faster or anything like that? Or what?

Tats Ari: He doesn't say that. Like a motivational thanks to me. Yeah. But OO of course he know he does not dislike it, yeah.

Chris Detzel: Good.

Tats Ari: So that kind of thing.

Chris Detzel: How does he think about Boston?

Is [00:10:00] he super excited about getting to do this with you?

Tats Ari: Yeah, so and then that's something I not like at like energy that we feel, not only him also like his family, his friends they're all excited and then yeah, they prepare like t-shirts, that kind of thing.

Chris Detzel: Sweet.

Tats Ari: Yeah. It's a huge money responsibility, but I can handle that.

Can I talk about one like that I, yeah that, go

Chris Detzel: ahead.

Tats Ari: So MCM Marine Corps Marathon was Sunday, right? And then we spent, Scott and I, like I spend one more day in, in, in DC and then we all came back to Boston to, to Scott House. I spend their family praise, the over a week.

After MCM, so this interesting happened, right? It's like a morning time. I need to help like a Scott family and stuff. I came to his daughter's [00:11:00] school with Scott's wife, Laura, and, in the morning to, to, to drop. Her off at the school. So when I get there, school, all the teachers and the parents immediately identify who I am.

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Tats Ari: Basically what happened is that a Laura's parents already talked to the folks in the neighborhood on Monday, so everybody talked to me like,

Chris Detzel: oh, you gonna run Boston?

Tats Ari: Boston. I just felt the. That, that, that sort of a positive sense from community, then that's. That that, that was great.

And then that that, yeah. So this a positive sort of energy. It's got like a, that sort of feeling that we in the valley brought to like community and then that was, yeah, that was something big that, that really get got me that, okay, I really need to perform well in Boston, that sort of thing.

Chris Detzel: And I [00:12:00] believe you will.

Tats Ari: Thanks. Thanks.

Chris Detzel: I think that's awesome. Todds, this has been inspiring and, it wasn't really a story I was thinking about and I'm really glad that you brought this up because this is gonna be inspiring to many. It was for me, and I'm sure you and your friend Scott are gonna do an amazing job and, I can't wait to, I'll be out there, so I'll be cheering and I hope to see you guys, at the very least, at the finish line.

Sure. Hopefully I'll get a front row seat at the very least. At some point we'll get to see each other. Todd, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.

Tats Ari: Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. I thank you for having me. It's it's, yeah I know like I'm doing a type of marathon that like, some of the, like a DFW runners, I aspire that.

I don't think Kiran does it. I don't think Jose does it. So that's why I feel like I. I I need to talk about this. And then maybe like a one or two listeners of you's a good runner, and I happen to have a friend who get disabled, maybe interested, just, now they know who to reach out.

So

Chris Detzel: Hundred percent. Hundred percent. Yeah. Thank you everyone [00:13:00] for tuning into another d DFW Running Talk. The Boston Special is what I'm gonna call it. Make sure you rate and review us and subscribe to our newsletter at DFW Running Talk Substack. Com and Todds, thank you so much.

Tats Ari: Thank you, Chris.

Bye.