Mark Olateju the Picture Guy: How One Runner's Camera Became White Rock Lake's Memory Keeper

DFW Running Talk: Mark Olateju
===

Chris Detzel: [00:00:00] All right. Welcome to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Detzel, and today we have a special guest. Mark. Ola. Mark. How are you? I'm good. You nailed it by the way. You know you got it. So during the pre-show, we can call it a pre-show. I was asking Mark, how do you say your last name? And he told me a couple times and I tried it and generally we call Mark Marco.

He didn't know that, but that's pretty much what we call him. 'cause nobody knows how to say his last name. How you doing today?

You've been around the running community as long, way longer than I have especially here in Dallas. I've known you or at least seen you around the lake, in my first years of, I think back in 2013, 14, when I started running, you're also known as the picture guy. You take a lot of pictures of people, post 'em on Facebook, tag 'em, you.

I appreciate that. Most of the time until I see some, I'm like, oh my gosh, what do you just take a video of me? Move. You've been around for a long time and you've run [00:01:00] a lot and I would love to hear your story. You've been very much of a positive influence, in the running community and I know others want to hear it.

I know I do. So I was excited to get you on first of all. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for having me. Yeah, of course. So do I start from where? From the beginning. Yeah, let's just kinda start from what you started running. What got kinda got you interested in the running piece of it?

Mark Olateju: When I think of road races I was working at a school called Travis McKinney, and the principal wanted the staff to run a race.

Eight strange race distance. I'm like an eight K. And she said she was gonna open up the building and whoever ran it was gonna get free breakfast that she was gonna cook it like from scratch. And I'm like, and that was my first world.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty long.

Mark Olateju: They don't even have it in, it literally went right by the school Line Academy.

Chris Detzel: Okay. How long ago was that? Was in,

Mark Olateju: oh wow. Probably now you got me thinking it was in, in five. Okay. 2004. 2005.

Chris Detzel: [00:02:00] Yeah. It was your first time into running. First time during

Mark Olateju: a race.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Mark Olateju: During a race, I would say yes. First time running, because prior to that it was, I was only running on a treadmill.

Chris Detzel: Were you working out and stuff like that? Did, were you in sports and like back when you were a kid?

Mark Olateju: Stuff like that, or, yeah, I've been active my whole life. Basketball handball, actually a European handball, which is like a cross between field hockey, soccer, and basketball.

Chris Detzel: I've heard of it, and I think I've seen it on TV once or twice, but I don't, it is an Olympic sport.

Yeah. It's a, it's an Olympic sport. That's cool. So you must have really liked it, because I know just from your history, you've run a lot. So what happened? What, how'd you just start getting into running more often and races and things like that?

Mark Olateju: When I first started running, I was running teaching and finishing grad school.

Once I finished grad school, I told myself, Hey, I'm gonna be, totally dedicated to running. So the running took off from there.

Chris Detzel: Wait, where'd you get your master's? Where

Mark Olateju: or in what?

Chris Detzel: Yeah, in what and where? In what?

Mark Olateju: I got my [00:03:00] master's in curriculum and instruction from Texas a m Commerce.

Chris Detzel: Okay. That's impressive that

Mark Olateju: that itself was a journey that took me like eight or nine years because I started, I stopped and I picked it up again and I started losing credit.

So yeah. I'm glad I got that over with.

Chris Detzel: That sounds like my bachelor's degrees anyways. Got it. I was 37 when I got my bachelor's degrees. That's another story. So I, you get into running a little bit. After grad school, you got more to it. Did you run like a half marathon or anything before, during grad school or

Mark Olateju: I would say I was a 5K expert for the longest.

And then my, my wife at the time. Told I was running five Ks and then I just decided to run like the DRC half and my wife at the time said something like, you, you can't run a half. I probably told her like two or three weeks before the run, she said, people train for months for this, you had to come up with a plan and a program and put in the work.

And I said I'm gonna run a half. And she said you can't run a half. Neither say I ran the half and I probably ran maybe a one, I dunno, maybe 1 48, 1 49 basketball [00:04:00] shorts. Durag and some basketball sneakers or something like that. And she said, I can't believe you finished the half with no training.

I said, ignorance is bliss sometime, there were no preconceived notions that just went out and ran. No expectations, no time go just ran it.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. How would you know what time you were gonna get anyways? Did you feel like crap afterwards? What was the, did you like, oh my God, I gotta, no, I felt okay.

That's okay.

Mark Olateju: Yeah,

Chris Detzel: that's great. That's

Mark Olateju: okay.

Chris Detzel: My first half I ran the same time. It was about a 1 47. I did a little trick. So it's so interesting to think maybe we have some of the same abilities back then. I don't know what so you get, you did that half and then what was next? What was the, you were dedicated, that was during college though, right?

Grad school. What? Was that during grad school? No, that was after grad

Mark Olateju: school. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: So what happened after that? Like you just got big time into it or? I became that half,

Mark Olateju: it was probably some time before I did another half. I was really like a 5K expert 'cause I could run those every week.

And then it is funny [00:05:00] how I'm looked at as an OG because to me the OGs are like. James, Ted France, McKissick Linda Kelly. And so I would run these races, these five Ks, and I would always see the same people. And then maybe I'll do a 10 K, 15 K. It'll be Francis, it'll be Linda. So Francis really stuck in my mind 'cause I'll be doing a 10 k, I'll take off.

I'll be ahead of her for the first, six, seven miles and then she would just pick me up 'cause she negative split. I was a positive split runner. And so maybe one time I was either talk I was probably complaining to Linda or Francis. I said, why complaining to Linda about Francis? I said, why does Francis always get me late in the race?

And then. There was some guys that always beat me in a 5K, John, I can't remember his name now. John is like in the seventies, early eighties. He would always get me in a 5K towards the end. And then Linda said you gotta train Mark. You gotta hit the track. You gotta do speed work.

I'm like, what? He said, yeah, that's how you get faster. And so there was a guy named Chris failing that would have speed work Wednesday evenings year round. It was right [00:06:00] across from the street that I worked in. In fact, it was our field. It was Franklin Field, it was on the Hillcrest side.

And so I'm like, I don't even have to go outta my way after work. I can literally just stay a bit later and just walk there and start doing speed work and then the rest of this, yeah, I started dropping. Yeah. Yeah. I started beating these people. They weren't catching up with me, even though it still took me about six or seven years to actually beat bra, at least in the distance one.

Yeah. And then still see them all the

Chris Detzel: time actually.

Mark Olateju: Yeah. Either at that lake or she also does, she's been doing, she's been running at Bachman for at least 30 years. She leaves Bachman not just White Rock.

Chris Detzel: What I've been doing those Bachman five Ks over the summer, this summer, the first time.

Of course, they're all there. They're the ones that put up this 5K thing on Wednesday nights. Yes. And yes they've been doing it for years and years, and so it's pretty cool. Yes, they have. It's pretty awesome. It's really

Mark Olateju: cool.

Chris Detzel: Literally yeah. There's a hundred plus people there every time.

You can go every week and it's free. It's pretty cool. Anyways, [00:07:00] it's a side note, but I love it.

Mark Olateju: I believe if you do seven races, you get a t-shirt, you do nine, you get your name engraved on a plaque with your fastest time. I've done it a few times.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty fun. I like, I took my kids out at, I took Tegan out and his cousin and a couple times over the summer.

They loved it. They were like, we wanting to go more. It's okay. We can go any anytime. But, all right you get faster and then, eventually you started kinda getting into the marathons, but what went on there as you're thinking

Mark Olateju: the marathons were still,

Chris Detzel: still that

Mark Olateju: a little way off because Okay.

Then the coach he reached out to me one time. He either sent me a message or called me and he said, 'cause I was racing every week. Like I said, I was like a 5K expert. I do five Ks, 10 Ks still keeping it short, yeah. And he said something like he was training people on the side and he said, he tells people you train hard and you do a goal race, maybe two half the year, or, maybe three, five Ks, but spread 'em out, and he said some of the people he was [00:08:00] training were complaining that I was racing every weekend and pring. So he was saying that contradicts what you're saying, coach you saying spend several months to train for a goal race. Our goal was pring every week.

So I don't know if he was trying to tell me to cut down or race less. I said, lemme tell you something. You are doing what you do as a coach. Yeah. I'm doing what I do because I like to run, yeah. I said, I don't care what you're doing about your coaching, but I'm not gonna cut back because it's making your words of wisdom uncomfortable or whatever.

I said nah. You do you I do me. Let's keep it moving.

Chris Detzel: You think that's what he was thinking, or do you think he was just trying to help you?

Mark Olateju: Trying to help? Who

Chris Detzel: do you think that's what he was thinking? Hey he's contradicting my words of wisdom, or do you think he was just trying to help you?

Help me. What? Let's get

Mark Olateju: better. I don't know. Maybe he thought he was helping you by, my goal was just to run. I didn't have any specific, if I prd fine, but if I didn't, that was fine too. I was not running to pr, I was racing because I actually enjoyed it. Yeah and so there was no goal race for me.

Okay? If I prd fine. [00:09:00] Of course, after a while the PR stopped. That didn't stop me from running. In fact, my first 10 years, I think average about 50 races a year because on ATH links, I believe I have about 640 races total. So I was not racing. For specific time goal. Yeah. If they came fine, but I was actually racing 'cause I like to run.

Yeah. So we, that's pretty interesting. We talked about the marathon and I could tell you exactly how I slipped into that one. I was a DRC PACE leader probably for the 1 35 half. I was with Jose Lopez's group now the 1 35 half, and I think the 3 35 or three 40 full, they trained together,

Chris Detzel: yeah,

Mark Olateju: they were making sick guys. We were all males, by the way. There was no females with us. There was six guys. Maybe for the 3 35 full, or 3 34. I was the only one for the one 40 half. No, nobody came for the one 40 half. So after doing and initially we do the same distances, so after a couple of weeks when I didn't have anybody, I said, you know what?

I might as well just train for a fool. Oh, geez. And [00:10:00] that's how I trained for my first full accidentally, because I always told people I would never do a full, I never planned to do a full, so

Chris Detzel: I, I've done three and I've decided for the last 10 years, I, 10 years ago, I've decided, you know what, I'm not gonna do this again.

Leo was like, you're always mad after these really long runs, after 20 miles or 17 miles. And she goes, you don't have to run full marathons. She goes, that's correct. Just do whatever you want. Nobody cares. Just, and I said. That's a good idea. I haven't run a full officially since, but let's go back 'cause I'm interested.

Like how did you, so how did you start thinking about getting into even a half marathon training? Because before you weren't really running with a group, right? Like a community of people like DRC or whatever.

Mark Olateju: I would say my first running partner was my, my, my lab, I had a golden lab and I didn't start running with people till I had to, give my dog to another owner.

That's when the people came in and yeah. DRC, the crack work, gosh, I've had so many journeys [00:11:00] running with people. I remember really, I started getting into distance running consistently when I was training with Shaheen.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Mark Olateju: Shaheen. Satar. Yeah. And I started running with her because. At that time she was recovering.

She actually got, she got hit. She got hit by a car, okay. And she was recovering and I remember maybe three months after she got hit by a car, she had a broken rib and some other injuries. She still ran like a two hour half. And I'm like, how? Yeah, how were you even walking? So I just wanted to know more about her and that story, and then boom, that's how my consistent distance training started because Okay, we used to run at four in the morning, so I'm getting up at three, yeah. And we are doing distance every time, and we're doing, we probably start off at 10 minute miles, but somewhere in there we drop to eights and sub eights. She also is a negative split runner. Yeah. But I remember telling her, I said, I train hard and race easy, because she was asking me, how do you race so much?

I said, racing is easier to run with you. I said, [00:12:00] the ac, the racing thing was the relaxing part after running with her at four in the morning. Shoot, I think we were doing it probably three days a week and we did it for many years at that. But training with her made all the distance running at one point I could do like A one.

I was like, I was doing a one 30, a 1, 1 35, half consistently between one 30 and one 30 half consistently, just with the base that, that I had. So I stayed half ready just doing all those miles with her early the morning,

Chris Detzel: you started to really enjoy running the long runs. Was it like, okay, this is fun, I enjoy it, that kind of stuff, or did you kinda struggle?

Have to

Mark Olateju: define long runs because our runs were anywhere from, I would say seven to maybe 10 miles. I was not doing 15, 20. Yeah. I was not doing that. So I did enjoy six to 10 miles long runs, seven

Chris Detzel: to 10. I like that too. Like I'm not a big even to this day, like I can probably go run 13 to 15, but in general, I run 10 to 11 miles is my long run right now.

And it's [00:13:00] been for a long time. For a while. I guess to me, running long, this could be seven to 10 miles. For you, you were just running five Ks before. Now you're running seven to 10 miles at that time. But it sounds like it was fun because you're running with the front.

Mark Olateju: I I like the company and of course you would solve all the world's issues as we ran, as runners do.

Chris Detzel: That's right.

Mark Olateju: But. Yeah, that, that made a lot of the races easy because like I said, I stayed half ready. It's probably around maybe 40, 45 miles a week for many years, yeah. Yeah.

That's a good number. Yes. And yes, I would run with groups on the weekends, but really I would only, most of my running the training part was just with one or two people. After Shaheen, I started running with Susanna in and Allen. So I ran with her for several years as well. Also, how at four in the morning?

Yeah, I was still waking up at three. I don't know how I did it. I must have run at three in the morning for at least a decade, between those two ladies, and I don't know how I did it. I can't even [00:14:00] get up at three in the morning, not talk about running. That's rough, man. That's rough that time.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, but you do it, you, you just make yourself do it.

And eventually I would say, get used to it. Th three in the morning still really early. It's no matter what, how many times you've done it. And you're running with Suzanne and now, and then you, she, I think she's still running. I've ran a couple of I've paced with her quite a bit in the past.

Okay. Matt, pace with you a couple times? Mostly of the one 50 is usually what I pace do. Oh, got it. All right, let's get to your marathons. And you're running with DRC decided to run your first marathon. Which one was it?

Mark Olateju: It was it was a Dallas marathon. Okay. But getting back to that marathon, by the way.

Yeah. So three weeks before the marathon, there's a race in Fort Worth called the Fort Worth Marathon, not affiliated with Cowtown. The one in November. Yep. And I had missed I think I had missed a final 20 miler with DRC and I needed one more. 20 miler and Fort Worth had a 20 mile, so they had a half.

Yeah, that's right. A 20 miler. I think for what I was supposed to run, I think I need to keep like [00:15:00] a 7 25, a seven 30 pace. So I'm going this 20 miler. I'm thinking of keeping race pace, but I'm thinking who cares? I'm just gonna do what the body does. And so I ended up running like a seven flat for 20 miles.

And I even won masters at that 20 miles. So I'm thinking, you know what, when the marathon comes around, forget all the race pace we did during training. I'm just gonna run, and of course I'm never gonna do a marathon again. That was my mindset. So I'm gonna put everything in this marathon 'cause I'm gonna do one marathon and I'll never run it again.

So I'm running this marathon and my friends are out there, Shahin's out there cheering her boyfriend now her husband, Steve Henderson and Steve was ahead of me for most of this race. But towards the end, I forgot what Mile line passed 'em had to be in the 20. So they're cheering people coming through.

And I go right by her, and she just looks at me. No, no cheering, no. Good job. This is by the finish line. So later on I'm like, Shaheed I'm your training partner. I come through to shoot and you don't even say anything. She said [00:16:00] we didn't think you were gonna come through that soon. We were in shock because I ran up running I ran like a a 3 0 8 59, something like that.

No way. You know your first one? Yeah, first one because I was never gonna do it again. Remember? So every time I was hurting, I'm like, it's okay because I'm not doing this again.

Chris Detzel: Still your first one. That's pretty amazing. And you weren't even wearing, timber shoes back then. Think about it. I was wearing super shoes.

I said they didn't even have sink shoes back then oh, super shoes. Yeah. No, there were no super shoes. Yeah. That's amazing, dude. I love that. Yes.

Mark Olateju: Yeah, I told myself I was done with Marathon. So then I went to the trail world and I started doing 50 days instead.

Chris Detzel: Did you? I didn't. I don't think I knew that for some reason.

I didn't know you were a trail runner. What was that? I didn't know you were a trail runner. Oh yeah.

Mark Olateju: Oh yeah. Possum kingdom. The one in Huntsville. Oh yeah. Rocky Racon. In fact, Rocky Raccoon. I did the 50 miler out there, but the 50 Ks weren't so bad. But when I did that 50 miler, that's when I knew I hit my limit.

That said, at mile [00:17:00] 30, I was like, I was done. Byron Benoit, he said, you know what, you can do this, you can do this. And that one is, was such a difficult race 'cause it was three loops to get the 50 mile. Yeah. And when you complete the loop, you're back at the start finish, you're back by your car, you're back by your supplies.

So you could just say, you know what, I'm done. And so to go out another two times after that, that is really a mental beatdown, so

Chris Detzel: I remember, yeah. So Leah ran tempted the a hundred miler out there. She got through 75. But yeah, it's, it is a mental beat down, especially the last loop that we ran.

I was running with her just to, and she walked pretty much the whole loop. It literally took us seven hours plus to do that one last loop. And she was like, yeah, I'm done. We got to one of the eight stations. It's like, all right, we're done. But yeah, it is definitely a mental toughness there.

What's your favorite, interesting,

Mark Olateju: interesting fact. When I was doing that 50 miler back then, the 50 mile [00:18:00] and a hundred mile were run at on the same weekend. It wasn't separate like it is now. So I'm doing my 50 mile and I'm struggling a lot of walking out of a lot of cursing swollen ankles and all that, and Nicole is doing the hundred.

I can't even, I don't even know how many times she laughed me. And that's when, that was the same time she stepped the, like the national record for fastest a hundred. There were WRC people pacing her, maybe Brett Oodle and gosh I forgot who else. I don't know if the Pacers kept up with her, but I was like, these running a hundred significantly faster than I'm running the 50.

But that was just interesting.

Chris Detzel: I think. I remember when Nicole did that and as a matter of fact, she's married to now a guy named Zach Bidder, which is also well known in the, in, in the, ultra industry. So he is correct. Awesome. Po Yep. He's got a big time podcast and he's very well known in that space, perfect match, yes, I would say. So if you were to look [00:19:00] at your favorite. Kinda racing distance. When you look back, what would you think? It is out of 5K, 10 marathon, half, et cetera. Anything specific? When I

Mark Olateju: was in shape and not hurting before I knew better, I would say half for sure. I've done a lot of halfs.

I've paced a lot of half

Chris Detzel: the half. Yeah.

Mark Olateju: Yeah, that's an easy one. Towards the end before I shut it down completely. 10 K. So you shut it down after 10

Chris Detzel: K. So let's talk about that. What's when did you shut it down and what happened?

Mark Olateju: I shut

Chris Detzel: it down

Mark Olateju: probably two, two and a half years ago. My body just broke down.

I had to have a complete knee replacement. I put it off as long as I could, getting the, cor cortisone shots and gel shots and all that. No, my time was up, yeah. That's all she wrote. What,

Chris Detzel: what do you do know? I remember all. So also the other things that I remember is, you were this buff dude running did you do a lot of working out weights and stuff like that?

Or do you do that now? What? Why are you always so buffed? I did a

Mark Olateju: lot of weight. I did weights before I started running. Okay. So maybe that build [00:20:00] was maybe some of the remnants of when I used to lift. Okay. I do lift again. I lift more than I run. I lift about five days a week.

Chris Detzel: Today

Mark Olateju: I do the elliptical and I do a stationary.

Yeah. Right now. And I do the stationary bike. I don't do any kind of. Aerobic activity that has impact. So not impact. 'cause I don't want the other need to go out or hips or anything like that. So I do not impact stuff. But yes, I'm back in the gym. During the times I was pring and doing my fastest times, I had completely stopped gym work.

And to me, if I look back, that wa that was a mistake I made, yeah. Because, I didn't have. I didn't have the tone anymore. I didn't have the muscle. I see a lot of runners these day. They do the cross training, which I think is brilliant. You should still lift or ride a bike or swim, do something else other than run.

If all you do is run, most likely you're gonna come up with some kind of overuse injury. Some of my healthiest friends that I know they're triathletes, because they're just doing the three disciplines. And so they're not overuse, [00:21:00] overusing any they don't suffer as many overuse injuries as the people that exclusively run.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I think that's always good advice is cross training, doing something a little bit different than just running know. It's hard though. If you're running for, I've talked to people on this podcast that are doing a hundred miles a week, during their peak. Kind of training. Right?

Like sometimes 110. And I was like, okay. It seems a little bit obsessive. But they die by it, right? Like this high mileage, they think, and if they are running two thirties, two forties, fair enough. But I just wonder how long that will last. You know what I mean?

Mark Olateju: They, you hit the nail right on the head.

What's your goal? If you wanna continue running in your seventies and eighties? You have to do something different. But if you just wanna maximize your prime years and peak and you don't really care what's happening down the road,

Chris Detzel: then hey,

Mark Olateju: Like when you look at professional athletes they don't really focus on what's gonna happen when they're 70 and 80.

Now is the time. Maximize their [00:22:00] potential, maximize their sponsors, get their record, and then be done with it.

Chris Detzel: That's fair enough the, with the professional athletes, but most of us, even if you're running a two thirties or forties for a marathon or really fast, you're still not an elite athlete.

You're fast, you're not elite. And I think the other thing is that if you're your thirties, you're not, you don't really know what you don't know, but you and I are old enough to kinda say, Hey, look, you should. Think about cross training or think about something different.

Not always running, but it's difficult 'cause we don't, when you're, we're in our thirties, we don't think of what it's gonna be like in our fifties. We don't give a shit.

Mark Olateju: So I've been looking because I see the SMU pony girl at the lake on Sunday and when I saw them a decade ago, maybe even eight years.

They were all lean, skinny, almost on the anorexic side. Yeah. I see them these days. I see muscle. So they're doing more than just running e even at the collegiate level, those coaches are having their athletes lift now and they're eating better. Absolutely. And they're tripping.

Chris Detzel: You have way better coaching today.

'cause they, we know a lot more [00:23:00] than we did 30 years ago. So that, I agree with you. I think you are starting to see some, think about if you're running. A hundred miles a week. You're probably not gonna do a lot of lifting, most likely. I don't know, maybe. But that's to me kinda hard to think about, to do, if you have kids or you have family and a job and all, what are you gonna have time to, to do that?

But what else, what have I missed? I'm sure I've missed a lot. Like I had, I never asked you like, what was your best marathon? Was it the 3 0 8, or did you do better than that ever? Yeah, that was the best. Yeah. Wow.

Mark Olateju: I ran probably three or four marathons after that because I wanted to hit a BQ time again.

Yeah. And I know I hit a BQ in Houston and I had, I hit a BQ at mountain of Beach, which was in in California. Okay. Did you ever run Boston? I did not. Okay. Some of my friends even trying to sign me up for that. Here's my problem with Boston. If running Boston is what makes me a quote unquote runner, then hell with it.

[00:24:00] I'm a runner 'cause I run. I don't have to run Boston to be considered a runner. And so I, I just rebelled like that. No,

Chris Detzel: no. Absolutely not. I agree. I'm never gonna run Boston 'cause I don't wanna run marathons. I have no, I like to go to Boston and Leah goes every year. So I love the atmosphere.

I love watching my friends do it. I love watching her do it. It's her thing. But I don't give, I don't care, 'cause I'm not gonna, I did like the fact

Mark Olateju: that I bq three times. Yeah. But then after, while I'm like. Who cares?

Chris Detzel: I think

Mark Olateju: you Okay.

Chris Detzel: What's your favorite race that you've ever done that you really liked?

Maybe you did several times.

Mark Olateju: I don't really look at races like that. Okay. No, I just like the fact that I'm out there to say Favorite races? No,

Chris Detzel: no. Favorite race

Mark Olateju: I've had, no, I've had interesting races, but favorite, I can't say I had a favorite one. What's the man, there's the race. I did. It was at the lake.

I was trying to ask Linda Kelly about it, but she didn't remember. It was like a Twilight Zone race. We're running around the lake. Had to be like a 10 K, 15 [00:25:00] K, something like that. It was not a half marathon and we're running. Yeah. And I see these runners ahead of me. And there was a patch.

Maybe it, it could have been like. 20 meters, 20, 20, 30 meters. And these people are walking and I'm not thinking anything of it. And then they start running again. And I think Linda was right next to me. We hit this same patch. We're walking, right? We're walking. We didn't even say let's walk. We literally could not run.

And then after we, we cleared that 20, 30 meter area, we started running again. And I'm looking at her, I'm like, what was that? What just happened, and we don't know. Yeah. Ev and then I'm running and I look back. And the runners that hit that same spot, they're walking. They're, and that's why I'm saying that's like a Twilight Zone experience.

Yeah. Why did we walk during that stretch? And I've never experienced that before then or since. So that was my most interesting rate, was

Chris Detzel: it a nighttime run? Obviously it was nighttime, right? No, it in the,

Mark Olateju: oh, okay. It was in the morning. Yeah, that'd be even spookier if it was at night. But if it was at night, I couldn't tell that the people ahead of me were [00:26:00] walking or that the ones behind me were, I could clearly see them walking.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Mark Olateju: Yeah. So she doesn't remember it though when you ask her? No, I try to, I brought it up maybe a few weeks ago and she didn't remember it, but I remember it like it was yesterday because I've never experienced that since.

Chris Detzel: That's weird. It's it was just a walking kind of twilight zone place.

And by the way. That's probably dating you. So most of the people that listen to this, if they don't know what Twilight Zone is, it's just a show back in the day. That was just spooky always, and it had this weird music to it every time.

Mark Olateju: I think they're in the process of rebooting it, but of course, many people think that's the original ones.

They see it, but yeah, they're bringing it back with.

Chris Detzel: Different notes, but yes. Good. I like it'll see, you're right, they wouldn't know which one, but maybe not, but it's just kinda a spooky thing, kinda like Halloween. No, it's

Mark Olateju: funny you asked me about, I don't have favorite races. Yeah.

But I have interesting events during a race. Like for instance, there are people that I used to like just destroy running. Like they won't even see my shadow so [00:27:00] far ahead. And then I'm running and then they're closing a gap. And then we're going neck and then it became significantly faster than me.

So just seeing that transition, because I remember Andy Wang does a lot of race out in Fort Worth. When he first started running, he was like a triathlete. He didn't really take it seriously. He was significantly heavier than he was now. And I would just, I would finish a race, come and take pictures of Andy finishing, and then he locked in 'cause he had a daughter.

That was old enough to do a high school track, and he wanted to keep up with his daughter and his dau, his daughter was quick, so he just transformed his whole diet training locked into running. And so Andy started to close the gap and then at one point I said, Andy, you got it, Neil. I used to be a lot faster than Anil and Neil.

I just wave at him now, yeah. So to see people that I used to be faster than catch me and surpass me, I found that very interesting. And I have a lot of running friends. Once that happens to them, a lot of them, they're done. They stop running. If they couldn't meet the times they met [00:28:00] in their prime I think their egos can't deal with it.

Me, I just looked at it like it's a changing of the guard. It is what it is. I need to worry about me. Not what they're doing, but what am my reasons for running.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I love that. By the way, Andy Wang is now the race director at Fort Worth Marathon. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. But.

Yeah, Andy Wang's great. And it is, I think it's fun to watch, these DI remember like at DRC, I don't know if you remember Lexi, I forgot her last name, she was this she was running with the one 40 half and she's done really great things. But I knew like you could tell some of these runners that.

One, they just need confidence. That's one. Two is you need the experience of running and things like that. But I told her, I was like, man, you're an easily one 30. If you ever care to get faster and that's your thing, which most of us do, you're easily gonna be able to run a one 30 or below because you could see some of those talent, those people, the talent in some of these people.

And and she did eventually, she hit like a 1 25 1, like a few years [00:29:00] later. It just, it takes. One, it's a mindset. I think definitely you have to run and get in shape for it. If you're running with a one 40, you never think you can hit a 1 35. Or if you're running with a one 50, you never think you're gonna hit a one 40 or whatever the things are.

And you sound like you were never cared about the times to me, like we were talked before. The we talked during the pre-show. You go

Mark Olateju: that remember, that's not entirely true. That's not I did, but I did. There were times I did care about the the times, but. So many thoughts run through my head right now.

I know Lexi well, we used to, we ran trails for years. Okay. I now, we used to do trail running. Was it, I think it was every Sunday. It was Kyle Wills, there was

Chris Detzel: Lexi

Mark Olateju: Paul at, so I knew Lexi from trail running before she even started running those fast times. So I didn't know her like DRC running, but I knew her from trail.

Yeah. And it's funny because do you know Chantel? Yeah. Very well. I remember I used to be Chantel. We're doing this mountain to beef race and maybe [00:30:00] we're on mile 23, something like that. It's the first time Chantelle ever be cute. It's over a decade ago. So she passes me and mentally she's thinking, come on, mark.

What's wrong? You're faster. I said, Chantelle, you got me today. No excuses. There's also a two hot to handle 15 k and I'm running. And maybe miles six, seven. Here comes Shaheen, reeling me in and she says, come on Marco, are you hurt? And she's just, you tell little girl, boy, hey Mark, are you hurt? I said, it's all I could do to not cut at her.

I said, Shaheen, you know I'm doing my best. You're just faster. I'm not, it's okay. You're just faster. And the funny thing is she won that 15 k. She was the first female that day. We did a double that night. We went and did Elcho and when she was the second female. Okay, so we did a double that day.

And I'm like, I took a nap. I said, Shaheen, did you sleep before the 11:00 PM Raceway? Nah, I was too wide. I just stayed up. I'm [00:31:00] thinking how that's a different story there.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. I think, I love naps, so I'm would've taken a nap as well. And that's a great story. Yeah, people just, I think it's great to see people get better as, as they grow as a runner.

People, you'll see 'em for the first time just starting to run, and then you'll see 'em for in a couple years. Or, you run with them for a couple years or they're at, running into a group and they just get better and better, and sometimes, it's really remarkable.

But I, kinda going back to that confidence thing to me is the key at the end of the day is to really kinda, if you wanna get better, you just have to know that you can do a certain month and you gotta go try for it sometimes. Like you just did that 3 0 8, which you weren't thinking about a 3 0 8, which is crazy.

With some

Mark Olateju: of the ladies you mentioned. What's also awesome to me is how much faster they ran after having kids. Yeah. Yeah. I saw Chantel, she has three kids. She has That's right. Instead of twins in there, I saw her win the Fort Worth the Cowtown marathon. I was just taking pictures and I saw Winnet.

And then within [00:32:00] a year after that, I think she ran like a sub three full. Yeah. And this is after having her kids.

Chris Detzel: And I'm like, what?

Mark Olateju: No, she hit two 50.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. So I had her on the podcast actually, and we talked about that. Oh, okay. Two things. Yeah. So I'm gonna, I think she's done amazing things.

It's pretty awesome to see. 'cause she used to run DRCA little bit as well. She did? Yeah. Yeah, I ran with her. Something that, you seem to love to do is be out and about, even now, you're out taking pictures and of runners and things like that. Do you just love the atmosphere?

What's the kind of draw to you still?

Mark Olateju: I don't, I do, I love the atmosphere. I love capturing moments, and I'm telling you it, it hasn't always been easy, especially with the photographs, like you said. And I used to take Slowmo video and I did it so people could see their gates and to see their football.

And to see, their stride. That's not how they took it. That's not how they took it. They said, mark you up there highlighting all my jiggly parts. [00:33:00] Oh yeah, that's right. And then some of my friends have to explain me, I'm taking pictures and they say, oh no, mark, he's okay. Because they'll be like, what do you wanna do with the pictures?

What do you do with the pictures? Because not everyone would know me. They just see a random black guy out there taking pictures with his phone. What? What's she up to? Lee fans, I don't know what they were thinking. And then once again, a lot of them, I would capture them because I'm not gonna put filters on your pictures or, yeah.

Beautify. It's gonna be point and click, however you look, is how you look. And a lot of them, if your pring. You're, you're exerting more energy than you ever have before. You're gonna be making an ugly face. You're not gonna be looking good like hydrate. So now they complain to me, why you always taking ugly pictures of me?

I said, that's how you look all out there. I just put, and it took a lot of people years to finally embrace that, and so what I like now is all these running groups, to me, I'm just capturing moments. Most of these running groups, they'll take before [00:34:00] pictures. They'll take after pictures. I see all these groups.

Consistently taking pictures of the people that showed up. Yeah. Because you can never tell what training session is going to be your last, when you're gonna be done running, when you won't be able to run that distance again. So these will become memories, yeah. And then some people have actually thanked me for the videos.

'cause now they can see their football or overstriding or dragging their feet. But at first it was just complaint on top of complaint before they realized that maybe there is a positive spin to this. I don't see

Chris Detzel: you doing as many slow modes. I think every now and then I'll see one in there.

That you do of me, but I've stopped. Oh, I've stopped. I got tired of it. I'm like, you know what? It's okay. For the most part, how as much time as you you take the pictures, but what's funny is, I think this week, this last, what was it, Saturday, you went for a walk or whatever. 6:00 AM at the White rock lake. And then I saw you later at the Plano racing thing, and I was like, oh, you were at both places. It's you [00:35:00] just seem to really enjoy, but how do you doesn't it take a lot of time to upload those photos and things like that, tag people. I see.

I used to do that running too.

Mark Olateju: Would meet one group at five or four, whatever, meet another group at seven and do double. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: Wow. And me taking pictures was easier Yeah. Than doing a double running. Yeah. That's a piece of cake. Yeah, man you're still all over the place. Look, I appreciate it.

I got some really great photos of you welcome from you just from this weekend. I was like, damn, that looks really good. I was telling Leah, I was like, that's a great picture of me and you together. I really like that one. Or whatever, and so if I don't like one, I'll just don't tag yourself.

No, I don't really, I don't ever untag myself, like I just, don't do anything with it. A lot of times you'll tag me, right? And it's weird because Facebook sometimes doesn't let me see it, and I'm like, I don't know. He tagged me in something. But then five days later, I'll see the tag.

I'm like, okay, why couldn't I see it when you actually do it? [00:36:00] Anyways? That's a Facebook app, but it's just weird how it works. Facebook is changing its things all the time, but. Now you send 'em to me on Instagram, so I get 'em all the time. So problem solve. Problem solve. But no man. Did I miss anything?

I'm sure I missed a ton of things and stories and things like that, anything that you wish I would've asked or that you wanted to bring up that I missed? Like most typical situations like this, I remember it after we stopped talking.

Mark Olateju: ~Yeah, let do it again. Nothing. Nothing comes to me right now.~

~Oh, other than, no,~ something has come back to me when you talked about I never cared about time. That's exactly true. See I ran, I was once I was once part of Luke's locker's run team. Yeah. I was also part of the run on run team. But back there in Luke's locker they had a certain criteria you had to meet.

So you had to run a sub 20 minute 5K, you had to run a sub 40 minute 10 K and you had to run that tough, I think a sub one 30 half to be part of their run team. And at that time, I couldn't get under 20 into 5k. And I was concerned about Tom. I hit all those goals [00:37:00] by the way, I did the sub 20 five KI did the sub 40 10 K, and I did the sub one 30 half.

So those were the times I was concerned with running fast times. And then after a while, once again I was looking at Luke's and then run-on, had a run team. But they didn't have that criteria for that run team. Their criteria was different. Up at a certain event. So just, promoting the brand, but not having to be a fast runner per se.

And I'm like, you know what? I'm going to them now because I didn't like that time thing that,

Chris Detzel: it's a lot of pressure. Those are pretty hard times too for, under 40 minute 10 K is not easy, and certainly under a one 30 is somewhat doable, but it's really hard. But under 20 minutes.

It's tough. Those are tough ones

Mark Olateju: for sure. Yeah. It's funny you asked me about races and me, not races, but events. So there was one time I was teaching the seventh grader. He was a soccer phenom, but he liked to run as well, yeah.

Chris Detzel: Soccer players are the best runners, by the way, a lot of times.

Mark Olateju: And so we did a half a DRC half. It was the [00:38:00] hilly course that you ran through the neighborhood, so he's one of my students and he's out there. His mom ran a bit too. So he said, I'll just run with you Mr. O. So we're doing this half right? Yeah. And he's all of 13. Yeah. So I'm think he's gonna, he's gonna fiz out maybe mile five, mile six.

No, all three of us ended up running a sub one 30 that day. And this guy, he ran probably like a 1 27 or something like that at 13. And he never, he was having fun the whole time talking, ran backwards a little bit. Geez. I'm like, what? That I remember. Yeah. That's awesome though. Having one of my, that wasn't even a former student, that's a current student.

One of having one of my students run a half with me and run it that fast. That is a memory right there.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. That's a great memory. That's really cool. Yeah. You said his mom ran with you too, because you said all three of you. No. His mom,

Mark Olateju: No. It was me a friend of mine, Marius. Okay.

And and then him. His name was Ben, and then we're just running together. And Marius and I are talking because Arian said, [00:39:00] who's this? I said he's one of my students, blah, blah, blah, Marius. And I out there joking as to what mile this 13-year-old is gonna drop. Yeah. Because he, there's no way he can finish it.

And definitely, not at our pace because we, we're running sub seven. Yeah, so there's no way he can keep this up, mile 10 or 11, both the Mariot side look at each other nah, this guy, he's the real dude. Yeah. We're the ones that are just trying to hold on.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Did he beat y'all at the end or though?

Oh

Mark Olateju: yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. At least by two minutes.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Mark Olateju: That's awesome. Hey, that's great. That's a great story. I it's like at mile it's like at mile 11 he got bored instead. Something like, okay. It was nice running with you all. He just dropped the gear.

Chris Detzel: You're 13 years old, just kicking ass. Yes. Taking names, leaving you guys in the dust.

Yeah. I love it. It's been great man. This has been really I don't think you and I have had a conversation. We've had conversations, but not like this. I never knew all of this about Journey that is. I like it. So I appreciate you coming on. Talking to us about your story.

I think a [00:40:00] lot of people will enjoy this, you

Mark Olateju: know? But yeah, I was reading the Farrell story and looking at that earlier and that, yeah, that was real interesting, the whole LSU connection and him losing all that weight and leaving corporate America now. Yeah, that was real fascinating.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, just, I. People love running so much that they'll quit their a hundred thousand, $120,000 job to do running stuff. I think that's awesome. Do what you love, why not? And so good for him. Hopefully he'll be successful at fleet. Something I was gonna say, mark is all these programs that, you know, back in the day at looks and, run on and others have some of that's, it's funny because it died down, but some of that's coming back. So you're starting to see Luke's have more things come on and now we have literally 40 or 50 running groups in DFW. So it's more or more, it's insane, but I feel like running is just really starting to become extremely popular again.

Like it used to be, it seems back in 2006, [00:41:00] 7, 8, 9, 10 or whatever, but then I wanna say died down but now there's this huge kind of. Jump in it again. Maybe it's kinda after the COVID thing and whatever. I don't know, but it just seems like it's taken off. I don't know what you think about that, but it's pretty you're right.

Oak Cliff Running Club. Run it up. Yeah. Wrc. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Hey, run it up. Geez, dude. You see them on Instagram, they're partying and all kinds of stuff. I'm like, these guys are dancing. It's I'm a, they're but it's fun to watch. It's, whatever it takes, I think, to get healthy and to stay healthy and running does that for people.

And I like that it's taking off, it's fun to watch, so I love it. I'm excited, but Mark, it's been good. Thanks, man, for coming on. And this will be coming out in the next few weeks, three or four weeks. Again, thanks everyone for tuning into another DFW Running Talk.

Please subscribe to our newsletter at DFW running talk to substack.com. I'm Chris Detzel, and again, Marco. Thanks man for [00:42:00] coming on. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate it. Of course.