Boston Marathon 2026: Joel Mays on Loss, Purpose & the Journey to Hopkinton

DFW Running Talk: Joel Mays - Boston
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Chris Detzel: [00:00:00] Welcome to DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Zel, so let's get started.

All right. Welcome to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel. And before we get started with the next guest is that we are doing quick hit videos and audio podcast for 10 people, 11 people maybe ~get about the,~ to get their Boston Journeys and how they got to Boston and what they're looking for to the most.

And today's special guest is Joel Mays. Joel, how's it going?

Joel Mays: What's going on? Good evening.

Chris Detzel: I appreciate getting on, man. This is exciting.

Joel Mays: No, definitely very exciting. Two weeks out.

Chris Detzel: It's two weeks out to Boston and you've run, you were telling me a little bit about yourself, about running seven marathons.

Tell me a little bit about kinda your marathon journey and, do you run with a group and all that kind of stuff.

Joel Mays: The marathon journey started for me in 2022. I literally went to a run group to. On global running day, not knowing what to expect. I got passed by everybody. I don't think I was like one of the last runners to finish.

'cause I realized that

Chris Detzel: happens.

Joel Mays: You don't have to run so [00:01:00] fast. To start off, everybody was taking their time and you built into your time. I'm like, what do you say? What's everybody doing? But after a while, I got my first 5K. By that September, by that December I ran my first marathon. That was BMW

Chris Detzel: Damn.

Joel Mays: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: How'd you train for that? What was that like?

Joel Mays: The run group I was a part of, they actually had a training plan. So I went with them for every long run, for every tempo day, for every fart like run. I would just pretty much yield to whatever the training plan was. Then the following year I realized that I needed more coaching because I'm not built like the average runner.

So I had to really put on the work and then put the effort in. So I ran my second year, I ran New York City and Chicago Marathon.

Chris Detzel: Okay that's pretty awesome. What's your best marathon time?

Joel Mays: My best marathon time right now is a 4 38.

Chris Detzel: Okay. That's really awesome. And who do you run with?

Like what group?

Joel Mays: Right now I am the I'm the run captain for Black Men Run Dallas.

Chris Detzel: Okay. Black Men Run Dallas. I have not heard of the group.

That's good to know. I'm gonna [00:02:00] look you guys up. We're not here to talk about your running group, but most people like to run with community, right? And

Joel Mays: yes.

Chris Detzel: Is there anybody else that you're going with to, I know you we'll hear about your story here in Boston anymore here shortly, but are you taking anybody there with you?

Joel Mays: Yes. My close friends are like my brothers are going, my friend. Chris and then my other friend Isaiah, they're both coming with me.

Awesome.

Joel Mays: So I have some people to make sure I go to bed, make sure I got my carbs in me. My friend Zay has already mapped out all the restaurants we're gonna eat at that are in walking distance to the hotel. Hundred percent I think. Yeah. I think we're like really close to the finish area, which is great.

So that way I can get off my feet once I'm done.

Chris Detzel: Sweet. Now, tell me a little bit how you get into Boston and we'll go from there.

Joel Mays: A friend of mine in New York sent me a link to iFit. iFit was doing a road to Boston 2026. You had to submit a video le it had to be less than three minutes, and they really wanted you, right?

You had to pretty much sell yourself in three minutes. So talk about what your running journey is, why a team iFit would be a great fit or outlook for you, but then [00:03:00] also being able to understand what does Boston mean to you. Once I did that, I just waited and one day I was literally sitting on my computer and all of a sudden I just saw this email pop up and I said, congratulations, you made it.

The team I fit they selected 10 runners.

Chris Detzel: Wow. How many people apply for that?

Joel Mays: I'm really curious, but I definitely want to ask, I wanna ask the the race director once we get to Boston. I'm like, Hey, when we have our shakeout, I'm like, how many people applied for this? I'm curious.

Chris Detzel: What'd you say?

I'm curious.

Joel Mays: So that's

Chris Detzel: pretty awesome. Maybe I'll do it.

Joel Mays: So for me, I talked about how team how one team outfit has always helped me with my training, because obviously in Dallas our weather is very, it fluctuates, it's rain or it's hot. So for me, all the rain, sometimes I had to run inside.

Having a Nordic track treadmill, if it was the app that was able to help me utilize some of the training programs and actually simulate the Berlin Marathon and also the Chicago Marathon. So I trained and I actually did my 22 mile run on the treadmill, like towels all around the [00:04:00] treadmill, sweat.

Crazy work. I watched Creative Potter, definitely Hollows one and two. Yeah. Just to really get through this run. It was like just maintain. But iFit was always that cornerstone that supported me, so I pretty much told them that they've helped me for two marathons. And I also talked about my daughter who had passed away because, oh

Chris Detzel: no,

Joel Mays: she's the reason I started really getting into running and I know my purpose behind my runs, so that way.

When I have those tough moments around mile 21, 22, I always ask the same question. I hope I'm making you proud, I'm talking to her. So during the run I smile and start thinking about conversations with her, and then I keep saying I can do hard things, so I just continue to run on, like with her strength on me, and I write her name all over my running shoes for my race day.

Chris Detzel: I've got some questions now because I didn't know we were gonna, and if you don't mind, is that okay? Okay, what's her name and what happened?

Joel Mays: So her name was Peyton. Leslie May. And Peyton, her heart was too big.

Chris Detzel: Oh no.

Joel Mays: So she was born with her twin brother, Preston. This is after they [00:05:00] said she wasn't gonna make it past the first trimester.

She kept growing. She said, I'm strong, I can do this. And she kept. Evolving and growing each trimester. And when she was born, she had a lot of complications, couldn't keep her food down. And one day it was, yeah, it was July 4th, they said, oh my gosh, she's eating, she's doing well. But then on July 5th, she was on life support.

Chris Detzel: Wow.

Joel Mays: So we had to make a hard decision and kind of just. Really decided for once, let's not hold her with cords. Let's not hold her with wires or anything else. So the doctors took everything off and I held her and she pretty much, grabbed my finger and she was calm, she was relaxed, and then I just held her till she went cold.

Wow.

Chris Detzel: I'm speechless and I'm little tearing up a little bit, so I can't imagine what that was like. And I love that, you have a, why you're doing this and things like that, and so that's pretty cool. And what are you looking forward to the most of Boston?

Joel Mays: In Boston? I'm looking forward to the network, the networking of all of these different runners, the history behind it. It's, it's the mecca of all [00:06:00] races. It's people wanna always catch that unicorn. And me going to college in New England is so weird to go back to New England.

But now in its capacity, going to school in Rhode Island, but going to Boston, the weekend of the Boston Marathon, not even realizing what a marathon was when I was in college, I was like, why all these streets blocked off? We just wanted to go get food and we can't even get to where we wanna get to because all this.

Because in my head I'm like, who are all these people and why are they here? Yeah. What is the problem? Yeah. That's when I realized, oh, it's a marathon, and I kept looking. I said, what is a marathon? And somebody explained it to me. I said, oh, I'll never do that. 20. Who's doing that? I was mad people actually.

I was like, I'm not doing this. I played sports and I always get pissed when Coach says, oh, go run a lap a mile high, and then I'm adding 25.2 more. So it's a different idea. It's a different, process, but. It's also realizing that people always want to get to this race and to be blessed to be here and feel like it's a combination of everything that I wanted to do, [00:07:00] and also the growth within who I am as a runner.

All that's gonna be represented between how my coach trained me, how he's pushed me each month since we started. He helped me train for the Marine Corps marathon, and now he's helping me with this one actually for two, for Boston and for London.

Chris Detzel: Who's your coach?

Joel Mays: His name is Ryan Smith. Yes, he was. He runs with a, he runs with D?

No, what was it? Run, DFW. He runs with, he's one of the pacers for DRC. He's pretty much all over the map. And he's also a cross country coach too.

Chris Detzel: I think I, I might know him or I might know who he is. I don't know. That's cool. You got a coach in and you're running London.

Joel Mays: Yes, sir.

Chris Detzel: That's not that far from Boston.

Joel Mays: No, not at all.

Chris Detzel: So you're gonna do two in a row that's gonna be insane.

Joel Mays: Finish Boston rest and then not run again into the shakeout. When I get to London.

Chris Detzel: Are you doing a shakeout with anyone? New friends or people you might know there, or what's the, what's that

Joel Mays: so there's so rural shakeouts that I wanted attend, but obviously just to show face.

I know Brooks is gonna be doing a shakeout run. Then I know if FIT is doing a shakeout run. Abbott's doing a shakeout run as [00:08:00] well. So those are three I definitely wanna make sure I tap into. But other locations I just wanna pop up and just see different runners, people that'd be probably seen online and never met in person.

So being able to just have those conversations and just say, Hey, I followed you for years. And honestly just ask questions and then hopefully be able to connect with some local brands like Pioneers to go support their events. Obviously Brooks is gonna have the Hyperion house out there, so I wanna go support that as well.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, it's cool because. Like during the expo, the expo, now I've mentioned this in other podcasts, but is just branded specifically for that one and it's not great. You wanna go to the expo 'cause if you've never been, but it's the popup stores that they have. Outside of the expo.

They're all over the place and that's where you need to be is, Nike has a store, all these other places, Brooks and every everyone else has these pop-up places that you need to go to and go in and just hang out. So make sure you do that. It's a lot of fun. Absolutely. Where you stand, where's what?

A hotel or Airbnb or what [00:09:00] friends?

Joel Mays: I know we're gonna be in a hotel in Cambridge.

Chris Detzel: Okay. Okay. You're going, you're gonna be in Cambridge. So what have you heard about Boston that, does anything not scare you, but as in the race itself? What is it that you know about the race and kinda you're looking forward to?

And then a little bit, oh my gosh, anything?

Joel Mays: From living here that Dallas is not flat. So all of the hills that we train on, a lot of people keep saying that Boston Hills are tough. And I say, okay, yeah. So for the first six miles they say Don't get too excited because that first 10 feet that's right is a net downhill.

See you, whatever. We wanna relax your legs

Chris Detzel: first three miles is, yeah,

Joel Mays: right? So don't overwork your quads, but really just take your time. So what me and my coach have worked on is really being able to just pace really easy for the first half of like my long runs to really see how I can assess my legs and on the back half kind of kick.

Like today I had a 16 miler and the first half was zone two, and then I kicked to a zone three on the last eight miles. Just being able to see how all I can hold, but pretty much attaching each hill, but knowing [00:10:00] that after the hill is completed to be able to relax and just like gravity do its work.

Chris Detzel: Do you have a goal for Boston Marathon as it time-wise? Finish? Yeah.

Joel Mays: Finish. But my, but this training block is probably my strongest training block. We just finished a 200 mile month last month. Okay. And I know that just based on my performance on other smaller races, half marathons, I got a sub to an Indie last year.

I'm stronger than what I was then. And even from Marine Corps, I've lost. Some more weight. So my body's definitely in a better position. I just know recovery and tapering is serious this week. Chiropractor appointments, fast therapy. I did a cold plunge this afternoon after work, so

Chris Detzel: awesome.

Joel Mays: It's just all of the things to make sure that I know that I'm ready.

I did an hour and my compression boost before I talked to you, so I really put forth the effort of eating clean. No fast foods, no drive-throughs.

Chris Detzel: Smart.

Joel Mays: And as a chef, it's okay for me to just cook my own food.

Chris Detzel: Oh, you're a chef. Yeah. Tell me about that a minute. For a minute. I'm interested. What do you.

Joel Mays: I've been cooking since I was like four years old. I fell in love with [00:11:00] it and it was two patches football and it was cooking. Yeah. Yeah. So going to culinary school was a no brainer for me. So I went to Johnson and Wales in Providence and I started cooking. I got outta school, I cooked in the military, so I cooked in the Army and I've been a private chef now for 16 years for NFL players.

I also teach at Tarrant County College as a culinary instructor.

Chris Detzel: Wow, that's awesome. What's the name? A player of the, in, in NFL that everybody would know that you cooked for or are cooking for? I don't,

Joel Mays: I cook he's retired now, but I used to cook for Brandon Marshall, linebacker of the Denver Broncos.

Chris Detzel: Okay, wow. Yeah, I've heard of him. Wow, man that's pretty awesome. All. So anything that you would say, that we didn't talk about that you might would wanna say? Any kind of thoughts before we end?

Joel Mays: The biggest thing I would tell anybody when it comes to running, don't ever let somebody else's journey dictate yours.

Running is, I love

Chris Detzel: that.

Joel Mays: Freedom. Running is therapy, running is healing, but also running is joy. So it doesn't matter what your pace is from an 18 minute pace all the way [00:12:00] to a four minute pace. If you are moving, you're out there for a reason and every race you go through, just take it one mile at a time and just smile through the process because the journey is beautiful.

I always tell everybody, you gotta get into it because it's just something about how it does. What it does to your body, what it does for your mental, but also just what you feel emotionally like that dopamine hit is nothing like it. 'cause for a brief moment, no matter what, you just feel like you're flying.

Chris Detzel: Hell yeah, man. I loved that. That was awesome. Thank you. Thank you. That was great. Joel, thank you so much for coming on to DFW Running Talk and to our audience, make sure you go to DFW Running talk dot sub stack.com. Subscribe to the newsletter. Joel, what a story. That's really awesome.

I will see you in Boston and I can't wait. So thanks so much for coming on. Thank you.