The DFW Running Legend: Nick Polito's 19-Year Journey From Nike+ iPod to Western States 100

DFW Running Talk: Nick Polito
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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 Detzel, and today's special guest is the legend Nick Polito. Nick, how's it going, man?

Nick Polito: It's going good. Great.

Chris Detzel: We've been trying to get this together for some time now,

Nick Polito: yeah. I guess I'm just a little shy.

Chris Detzel: Doubt that. It's funny because you've been around for a really long time.

I almost wanna call you the OG, or one of the OGs, 'cause you, you've just... Y- you've influenced a lot of runners, y- you run a lot, you're always there. You're known as the guy that always shows up. I f- I'm really excited to, to have you on, and I would love to kinda get a little bit of back- your background before we just kinda st- get started.

When did you start getting into running? What... I don't even know. I feel like I've run with you a lot, but...

Nick Polito: around 2007 I had been doing pickup basketball leagues and softball leagues, and I was getting into my late 30s and getting injured all the time. My back would go out, this would go out, and [00:01:00] Nike+ and Nike and Apple had this little iPod Plus thing that would go in your shoe.

You'd buy a Nike shoe, it'd go inside your shoe, and it'd sync to a Nano, and that's how you would judge your distance. And I saw a couple neat commercials with that, and I'm like, "Yeah, I could lose some weight with doing that. I could start running." I hadn't really ever run more than a few miles in my entire life, and that's kinda what got me started, the spark.

Chris Detzel: You... So you didn't do any s- high school things, college things? You just kinda...

Nick Polito: yeah. In college I was in a physical fitness class where I'd run three miles every day. So every day we'd take off. I was at UTA, and I'd run hard for three miles, way out in front of everybody else. 90% of the class would just disappear to the frat houses, wait until I looped back around at mile three, all sweaty, and they're not sweaty.

They smell like beer and smokes, and I am just covered wet sweat, and I'd come running in, and they'd jump in right behind me. Sometimes in flip-flops.

Chris Detzel: That's a real story? That

Nick Polito: really

Chris Detzel: happened?

Nick Polito: I guess the coach didn't care. He just... they would just come in, and, we all got the same, probably the same grade in th- in that physical fitness [00:02:00] class.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty good, though. You would actually run the whole three miles, but,

Nick Polito: yeah. But aside from that, I'd never run more than three in my life until I started this journey.

Chris Detzel: So when you kinda started picking it up, did you have a lot of weight on you, or what was it j- it was just a little bit

Nick Polito: that you wanted- it's all relative.

I'm, I'm not a skinny runner to start with here, but, I'm, I was probably a good 20 pounds heavier than I am now.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Nick Polito: And so it was just something I... I was getting in my late 30s. As everybody knows, it's easy when you're in your teens and 20s. And as you go along- Your diet has to keep getting cleaner, and your exercise has to keep getting harder and- Yeah, that's right

so you just gotta figure out a way to... I think maybe my grandma called me chubby cheeks once or twice, and- ... and it's funny, I don't think of myself as ever getting heavy. But my kids- Yeah ... will look back at pictures back then and "Ooh, Dad, you used to have big cheeks." And so I guess I did have a little bit

Chris Detzel: of that, I guess you did have

Nick Polito: chubby cheeks.

Chris Detzel: All right. That's kinda funny. So 2007, '8, you kinda started- Yes ... running a little bit. What, did you just go run- Yeah, just- ... a few miles, what?

Nick Polito: Yeah, just kinda started. Had that little Nike+. And my goal each day was to run a little longer, and I had knew [00:03:00] nothing about running, hadn't read a book, hadn't talked to anybody.

And so I was trying to work up to where I could just run one kilometer, 'cause that's how that thing measured out of the box. It measured kilometers, and I didn't know you were supposed to go to miles, and so I'd run in kilometers even though, I'm in the States. And then my master plan of how I was gonna get more fit is every day I was gonna go a quarter of a K further and just keep building, with no plan of a speed day or a long run day.

Just every day would get longer than the day before. I'm sure at some point I reached a maximum where I'm like, "Can't go any further."

Chris Detzel: To some degree, that's, when you're first, when you run first, just getting the miles is important. But going more miles every day the next day is- yeah ... probably not

Nick Polito: the right way. Exactly. It runs to an end. I remember my wife asking me, she goes, "What do you wanna do with this? Do you wanna run half marathons or marathons?" And I'm like, at the time I was like, "Oh, no. Those are people that don't have lives. I don't ever wanna do that. I never wanna-" I can't ever foresee myself running a half or a full."

So that was just- That's

Chris Detzel: hilarious, man ... way

Nick Polito: Over-thought. And

Chris Detzel: All right, you ran several times, and-

Nick Polito: Yeah. So then I joined the [00:04:00] DRC.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Nick Polito: And I think I was in the DRC maybe one year. I was actually with Chris Stratton in the DRC. Yeah. We were like the, I can't remember if it was the 9:30 or 8, 8:30 group, and was just training for the DRC half.

My goal was just so arbitrary. It's "I'm gonna run a 1:45 half." And so- Just 1:45 ... we just started training. Yeah. I don't know where I came up with that, why I came up with that, but we started training and that was the start with that.

Chris Detzel: All right. So you started training. You got to... I'm sure you get to know a lot more people and then started getting better at running?

Nick Polito: Yeah, and I think I told you this before, but we got to, after about a year of the DRC they just- They had different rules and regulations, and back then, you didn't... I don't know how they messaged people then back now, but back then we had some early form of social media, something that doesn't exist anymore, and we would message through that to our group.

And they would get on us if we tried to meet any other day of the week other than Wednesday and Saturday. Those were the des- designated days. And both St- Stratton and I at that point kinda spun off, [00:05:00] and he spun off the WRRC, which was very successful, for many years, and then I spun off Dallas Running Project was like a semi precursor to Pegasus, that flavor of- kind of the higher end runners. But there's not as many of, at least back then. Yeah ... and so that's where we went from there.

Chris Detzel: So tell me about that, like the this little project you started. Was it

Nick Polito: just a- Yeah, so it was a friend of mine, Jana Hinstorff, that I used to always run with, and so we just kinda spun that off and just got a lot of similar runners that were faster.

I was probably on the tail end of there. We'd have some, some very fast runners, like they'd start off with a long run and they'd be down seven flat right off the bat. And even, back in the day when I was faster, they would drop me instantly. But it was a fun group. We kinda met at Starnox a lot.

We'd do those tempo runs down the Katy Trail. A lot of the routes that Pegasus does today are routes that we started back then, in and out of that area. And so it was a real fun thing, but it was a group that was kinda limited because no one that ran a nine-minute mile would wanna join because they're like- Yeah

"I can't. I'd get dropped [00:06:00] instantly." So that was the thing there. I also, interestingly back in that period of time I was trying to learn about running, getting books and stuff, and so I got on Runner's World, and they used to have these forums.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. And I

Nick Polito: started this forum, which was kinda spurred on by the Boston qualifier.

At that age, I guess I was just getting 40, right around 40, and my qualifier was a 3:20. And back then you didn't have all this sliding scale, it may be four minutes. It was exactly 3:20 and 59 seconds. They always give you 59 seconds over that time, and that's your qualifier. Wow. And you knew when you crossed the finish line, you were going to Boston if you made that time.

There was no "I wonder if-" Yeah ... "my friend John or Jeff or Kieran is gonna be faster than me and I'm not gonna make it," and like a cutoff. Yeah. So anyway, I started a forum group called 3:20 or Bust. Met a ton of people all around- That's right ... the country with that. It was a really neat kind of thing, and to this day, I still talk on social media with those guys.

I've met them- Really? ... runs. We actually all met at Boston in I think it was 2010. We all made it to Boston and ran together. I say ran [00:07:00] together, we all ran our different paces, but-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: we had a party the day before, and so it was just a lot of fun.

Chris Detzel: A party right before?

Nick Polito: Yeah, we met somebody who lives up there in Concord.

Yeah. My wife's in Concord. We met at his house, and he threw a big party, and we, all met each other for the first time physically.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty awesome. Like-

Nick Polito: Yeah. It was just a-

Chris Detzel: Let's back up a little. I love that story. It's a little different and not anything I knew about that, but- When you first started running, you mentioned that you started r- with the group DRC.

I assume you ran your first half or marathon or whatever it was during that year.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Or- First year was like a, I'm not ready for a marathon, so I ran the DRC half that year- ... off of DRC training and ran right at 1:45 and like a second. So apparently the mind- That's- ... is a strong thing. It's like you're, you're determined and you wi- everything you...

You know how it is with some races. You give everything you can and it gets you to that exact second, and you kinda wonder w- how strong is the mind? Could I have told the mind- ... I wanted 1:43 or... Anyway, but yeah that's kinda where it started. We started [00:08:00] there and then it kinda built off that.

Chris Detzel: That's pretty cool. Did you run any 5Ks or 10Ks before that or-

Nick Polito: Yeah ... was it just- you know- Okay ... during the training, we, I think one of those Too Cold to Hold 5Ks- Yeah ... it was crazy cold. And then back then the DRC was awesome. They had I don't know, eight or nine free races with the membership a year.

Yeah. And so we would do all of those. They had a lot of 15Ks, 'cause the lake was 15K around.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Nick Polito: And so there was like a Tao Morrison, there was a couple others there were 15Ks years. And I used to love those races. I remember the first time I ran one of those, I'd never run more than eight miles, and I'm running a 15K that's 9.3.

And in my mind, a new runner, I'm like, "I don't know if I can run 9.3. I can run eight. I don't know if I can run nine." And that's just, And that with new runners sometimes, they like can't fathom a longer distance they'd run before, but you're like, it's really kinda the same thing, it's just mind over matter to a large extent.

Chris Detzel: I started with DRC when I first started running.

Back in 2013, '14. Yeah. That's where Lee and I met. But the cool thing was is that I remember the same thing. I never ran a 15K before. [00:09:00] And I remember seeing... Do you remember Leslie? Les- the redhead, Leslie? Yeah,

Nick Polito: yeah, I know her.

Chris Detzel: I remember seeing her, and I tried to stay with her and for the next two or three races, she was kinda my rabbit, and then Lee became my rabbit at some point, because I started beating Leslie. And anyways, I just have fond memories of those races too. Oh,

Nick Polito: yeah. So it's pretty cool.

You always knew who was the faster people than you and who was the slower people than you. Yeah. Like Francis and people like that. Yeah. There was always these, Bob Smeby. You had these people, you're like- Yeah ... "Man, I'm never gonna catch them." And someday you eventually would. Some of them. Some of them- Yeah

would get older or maybe they had a baby, or maybe they had a injury, and when they're coming back you'd catch them or something. And there's always a few people I never did catch but yeah. It happens. I can remember, like when you first get in there, you're like, "I just want a place in an age group."

And then- Yeah ... you finally build up to that. It's just motivating. It's not demotivating. It's not like I want Chris to fail so I can beat him this race. No. It's like I wanna beat him on his best day. I mean- Yeah ... and you've done that. We've gone back and forth sometimes in races where you're usually faster on shorter stuff, and I'm, I have a better chance with you on longer stuff, and that's just how it is.

Yeah. [00:10:00]

Chris Detzel: Yeah, now, for sure, if I see you, my goal is to try to beat you. Like-

Nick Polito: Yeah, and I'm good with that. I'm all good with that. I

Chris Detzel: mean, it's fine if I don't. Yeah. Who cares at the end of the day, but it helped me to just take fast or faster. One of the things that you mentioned was DRC used to having all these races.

I remember that. It was pretty cool. I don't really do their races much anymore, but One, one place I found, and you've been around, you've been running with them a long time, Plano Pacers. I love it. It's slightly further, but, 15K- Yeah ... 5Ks, 10K, sometimes 10-milers. It's a little different every time.

I love it. Yeah. It's pretty cool.

Nick Polito: Yeah they're very much what the DRC used to be. I don't know about the training. That's a different thing, but- Yeah ... just the races they would throw in, 'cause they still throw on almost every month. You know- Yeah ... they probably have 10 a year that are like that, and they're awesome.

They're easy. They're the same park. They're pretty flat and fast for the most part. That park's not completely flat, but it's pretty flat. And so I just enjoy it and they have the snacks afterward and the awards and yeah. Yeah. Just a really good way to test your speed and see where you're at in your training.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. There's a lot of competitive people [00:11:00] there. So it's not like- Yeah ... you're gonna probably win, most likely. Some might,

Nick Polito: but- no, Jose's gonna show up or someone like that that's-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: gonna do, so much faster. Jim Dietz, who's older than I- Yeah, that's- ... I am, but still will just smoke me double.

He'll be on his cool down, and I'm still struggling to get done.

Chris Detzel: I was talking to him yesterday, and he introduced me to this guy. He's "Hey Chris, you gotta talk to this guy. His name is Peter Johnson." He's like this 23, 24-year-old kid that is from Dallas, and I guess he went to college, and he's back.

He's running like a 105 half marathon and-

Nick Polito: Oh my gosh ...

Chris Detzel: and I did. I stopped after he ran the 15K and smoked everybody. So I stopped him. I think he had 53 or 54 minutes, the 15K. So I stopped and I say, "Hey man," I was like, "You need to come on the podcast." I go, "What are you gonna try to run for the marathon?"

He goes I've never ran one, but I'm gonna try for C- CIM this year, and my goal is two hours and 15 or 16," whatever the... I was like, "Really? Like your first?" That's his first?

Nick Polito: Wow. "You w-"

Chris Detzel: So we'll see. Bold,

Nick Polito: bold time. 105, who knows?

Chris Detzel: I don't know. We'll see. I, But anyways, that was a...

But fast people run. Like that [00:12:00] dude- Oh, yeah ... came yesterday and ran like a 105, or a 53, 54 minute 15K, and he said he's been injured, so he just kinda took it slightly easy.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Yeah, his jogging is our PR plus, minus 6 minutes or something, yeah.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, mine's I don't know what I've run a 15K in, probably like a 103 or 104 is my best.

I don't know- Yeah ... exactly, but it certainly isn't 53 or

Nick Polito: 54. Yeah. I think I'm right over one, one hour. I tried to break it one time, and I was giving it all I could. It was actually a f- a 15K at Bob Woodruff Park with Plano Pacers. And I'm going around that lake, if you know the Bob Woodruff course.

I do. And I'm a few seconds off, I'm not gonna make it, and this guy goes rolling by with a stroller. I'm like, "Come on, man." Your mind's already fading. You already know you're not gonna make it. You're about 30 seconds off, and then someone pushing a stroller goes rolling by you. But that's the, the funny stories.

At the time you didn't really enjoy it, but later on you're like, "That's kinda funny."

Chris Detzel: Yeah. That actually happened. He- This guy was running- ... pushing

Nick Polito: his kid and coming by me. So-

Chris Detzel: That happened yesterday at the Plano Pacers. There was a guy with the stroller with two kids, and- I'm running the 5K in, about seven [00:13:00] minutes, and he just comes passing me, and come to find out he ran the 15K and two kids- Oh, wow

in a stroller.

Nick Polito: Yeah. That could be a tight course, I would think, for the stroller too.

Chris Detzel: It was a tight course. That's right. It w- it was

Nick Polito: very tight Bridges that are tight. Around, it's usually wide on a bridge, and yeah.

Chris Detzel: People were talking about it. "Did y'all see that guy with the stroller? One kid's face was out, and, and so- Yeah ... he had to go in the grass because he'd go over on... He almost hit somebody.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Stuff like that. Yeah I could see the pros and the cons. But as long as they start in the back, if they can beat you, if you don't want them to catch you, run fast.

Chris Detzel: Exactly.

Nick Polito: I probably would think- All right, so-

about that myself when it happened to me, but

Chris Detzel: So you start this group, and how long did you, did it last? What happened?

Nick Polito: Even honestly remember. It was a good, I don't know, four or five years. Okay. People come and go. And I think for me personally, I just kinda s- kinda started stepping away at some point.

Maybe it was, like, an injury. I've had back surgery at one time. I had, we've all had injuries where you're out for six months with a hip or this. And I think at some point I just tried to come back, and it just, it wasn't my people anymore. And not- ... personally, [00:14:00] but just, like I said- Yeah

you start and you're trying to run a 9:31 mile, and they're doing a 7:15 flat, and you're like, "This isn't any fun. I came all the way to Starbucks and I am alone every time." And so- Yeah ... I think at that point I kinda folded myself back into WRC and kinda let whoever was in the, D- DRP at the time, as we call it, Dallas Running Project, just let it go.

And they kinda ran for a few handful more years, and then I think they kinda spun off in different things as well at this point, 'cause I don't think that's- Yeah ... really a group anymore.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, I think all these groups kinda either spin out or kinda wanna do something slightly different or get really fast or...

Nick Polito: It's hard to last long. It really is. Yeah. It's, there's so many groups now. There's so many- It's crazy ... these young groups, these smaller short groups and... So yeah, there, there's, we've talked about it before. We start talking about a group, I'm like, "I've never even heard of them," and someone's "They have hundreds of people."

Chris Detzel: Yeah. But it, man I did a little research for a little while about running groups within DFW and recently and man, I was gonna try to interview a lot of them. And I tried, to get some of them on, and they said yes, and [00:15:00] then they wouldn't, just flaked out and stuff, and I'm like, "Okay."

But the point is that there's a ton.

Nick Polito: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: And there's no way I can get them all on. I could, but it'd take

Nick Polito: a while. And I think there's a large social aspect to those groups now. These are people that are much younger than me. They're, like, my kids' age. They're in their 20s. Yeah.

They run- That's right ... three miles. They're very fit Because they can, they have a metabolism and they're young and that's a, and that's a, and it's an area. My- I love it ... running is social, but it's just longer social. It's two and a half hours of talking together on a Saturday or Sunday.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, exactly. It's-

Nick Polito: And, but- ... a little longer ... there, there's nothing wr- there's one size does not fit alls. ... Which I can kinda turn into my philosophy on running's always been run more mileage, and we're not all that way, but I've always thought mileage was king.

I've seen, heard a couple of your guys recently, some of the faster people in there. And I've always kinda said this, not that I'm an elite, but I'm like when my, some of my friends would say, "Oh, 40 or 50 is the best I can do." And that's fine if that's what you wanna do. But competitively, you can't argue with the fact that, the people that are winning races are not [00:16:00] running 40 or 50 miles a week.

Yeah. People that are elite, that are making a living, are obviously not running that. And some of us are limited physically. Our bodies may not- Yeah ... hold up to that. But I've always been a big proponent of miles. When I was, in my 40s, I could handle 80, 90, then occasionally 100 mile weeks.

Now that seems a little more difficult, the body just doesn't wanna hold up as, as much to that kind of mileage. I'm a more of a 60 to 70 mile when I'm going at my peak at this point, and that's fine. But I've always been a big proponent of mileage is the king. I don't think there's any magical training.

There's no magical track workout that's gonna make you better at a marathon. It's just building that engine.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, I agree. Joe Hill was a big... I don't know if you heard

Nick Polito: that

Chris Detzel: one,

Nick Polito: but- Yeah. Yeah, I listened to him and, I don't know how long his journey's been, but it sound like he's kinda figured that out too, that, he's gotta put in the mileage,

Chris Detzel: yeah, but he's winning marathons and things too, so it's

Nick Polito: different.

Yeah. He's, there, there's obviously crazy talent that's involved. Yeah. I think I've, a- according to my age, have worked as hard as anybody in what I do, but I'm, at these days I'd be hard-pressed to break a six-minute mile flat, just one [00:17:00] mile, more or less, a whole half marathon or a marathon in sub-six,

Chris Detzel: dude, I, I remember when I could run the seasons, you know- Yeah ... for a mile, and I ran that mile in July with those guys. I think I ran like a 5:50. I thought, "Man, that's rough."

Nick Polito: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: I, of course I'm not trained for that. Maybe I could do better if I trained for a mile. But I mean- Dude it's...

That's a- Yeah ... young man's game,

Nick Polito: yeah, no, my, my legs don't like that. We did it last summer, not this last summer, the summer before, we tried to break six minute, and Plato Pacers has that one mile race.

Chris Detzel: Oh, yeah. That's

Nick Polito: right. And Karen Nyholm and I went out and we got really close. We started a little slow, and so we had to make up a lot around that lake.

This was still at Bob Woodruff. And I think by our watches we both clicked around six minutes, but we came in officially 6:05 and 6:07, and I'm like, "Wow, there's people that run marathons at this." It's all relative,

Chris Detzel: yeah, if you look at-

Nick Polito: As you age too, you start seeing stuff.

My 5K pace now would be what my marathon pace was five or six years ago- Yeah ... when I was in my prime, so you know it's relative to us, so you have to live with it. You have to accept where you are [00:18:00] and then, but enjoy it. I can still enjoy running. I don't... It doesn't have to say a six on the front for me to enjoy running,

Chris Detzel: I agree. I'm getting older. I'm still able to kinda run somewhat fast and, but I can feel it, Yeah ... over the years. I feel it more today than I did six years ago or seven years ago, I think it, when you hit 50, there's something that kinda, and I'm sure as you get older, you're a little older than I am, but-

Nick Polito: Right

Chris Detzel: probably every year after that is just-

Nick Polito: Yeah ... getting a

Chris Detzel: little bit of dog

Nick Polito: years. And some people grave, some people handle it quicker than others, and some people- Yeah ... like in their 40s and stuff. Greg Rankin just broke three hours in, in a marathon, and I'm like, "Wow." And he's a couple years, I think he's 59, so he's- Yeah

a couple years older than me, and he's still cranking it out fast, and I'm like, "All to you, man." Well- I'm definitely fading a little faster than he is. Not that I was ever his speed.

Chris Detzel: I think that he's like a Jim Dietz, right? They had some tal- extreme talent when- ... they were younger. So if you talk to Greg, he was running the 15s in 5Ks in late high school into college, right?

And they're already talented. I'm not saying [00:19:00] even today. So that kinda helps. I think, you know- Yeah,

Nick Polito: yeah. They're probably faster back then, and so now- Yeah ... it just looks, because they can still do very impressive times- Yeah ... even though they're older than some of us,

Chris Detzel: no, it's impressive.

I mean-

Nick Polito: Yeah, no- ...

Chris Detzel: Greg's almost 60. Don't get me wrong, like what he's doing today and what Jim's doing today is crazy.

Nick Polito: Yeah. You

Chris Detzel: know? Yeah.

Nick Polito: Yeah, Jim's crazy quick.

Chris Detzel: So when... Let's go back. So you get in, you get into WRC, can you talk about, was it there where you... you mentioned you did Boston and you had some fun there.

How many times have you done Boston?

Nick Polito: So I've done Boston a couple times.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Nick Polito: So the 2010 was the first time I did it with all my friends. And then a couple years, is it, yeah, two years later, I think I went back, and that was the year... I don't wanna go too much detail of this, but this is my PR year. I did 2:58 flat there.

But I banded it. They caught me. I got suspended, and so I can't run Boston again. And that's just is, it's just a cautionary tale for people that think that banding is cool. And not that I thought banding was cool, but I, for whatever reason at the time, it seemed like a [00:20:00] good idea. Obviously, in hindsight, it was not a good idea.

And so I'm always on people now, the father time of "You shouldn't band it." It's fine if it's at the lake and you wanna run, and you're not taking their aid, and you wanna run at the lake. The lake's a free place to run. We always run there.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Nick Polito: Yeah. But, don't get on a course and put on a bib or get in a corral, even if you don't have a bib or whatever it is.

There's reasons. And for the most point, you don't wanna ... You also don't wanna get in the way of people that have paid, or in the case of Boston, done a lot to get there sometimes. So I don't belabor that. But anyway, so I've run Boston a couple times. And then after that, after about 2:58 I knew I was at my...

unless I wanted to be full-time runner, I couldn't really... I saw the headlights that I can't go any faster. So I started doing ultras at that point just- ... for kind of fun. So I've run maybe 30 ultras over my career since then, and got real lucky. I ran a qualifier, and I got into Western States in 2012 and got to run Western States.

Wow. Which is, for those who know- 100 miles ... it's almost impossible to get into. At the time, you could qualify for a 50-miler at under 11... If you could get a 50-miler in under 11 [00:21:00] hours. And I ran Cactus Rose, and I got a qualifier. First year, oh, my friends were not happy with me because it's supposed to take you forever to get in.

And obviously it's much harder now mathematically than it was back then. Yeah. But still, it was still hard back then, and I got very lucky to get in.

Chris Detzel: But you got in. How'd you do?

Nick Polito: I finished. It was, like, 28 hours. It wasn't anything great to speak of. But it, I was happy with it. I mean-

Chris Detzel: Yeah

Nick Polito: It's just a legendary race for those that have d- Done hundreds. It's the legendary- That is the legend ... i've done- That is ... I've done Rocky Raccoon, and I- I've DNF'd at Leadville a couple times. But Western States is just the legendary original 100-miler. You're, you go up in the mountains, you go these canyons- that are hot. You go, it, it's a net down, so it sounds like it very fast. It goes across the river, which is really cool. It's just an amazing race. So I was very excited and very happy to finish that,

Chris Detzel: yeah, that's, yeah, you get into trails, and one of the folks, I've had her on, Nicole Bitter, she said you heavily influenced her into running a race or two, or, you know- Yeah

or to get heavily into races or-

Nick Polito: Yeah ... trail,

Chris Detzel: I forget. I don't, I

Nick Polito: don't [00:22:00] wanna give myself too much credit. I think at the time I was probably fast enough to run with Nicole. So I was running with her a few times. And I think, I can't remember if she was doing her first 50K or 50-miler. I remember at Palo Duro Canyon, which I think maybe I was doing the same one, or maybe I went a year later.

But anyway, we're on like one of our last long runs before she's getting ready to go, and I go, Nicole's just super nice person, super nice. Yeah,

Chris Detzel: she is.

Nick Polito: Is down to earth. You're like, "What's the pace?" "I don't know." She always rode, wore like a Timex, no GPS, never GPS. I'd go, "Nicole, we're going this fast."

She's "Okay." She could care less. We're, all the rest of us are like, "We're 10 seconds too slow. We're 10 seconds too fast." Yeah. She was just so laid back. But anyway, we're getting about the week before her race, and I go, "So what's your nutrition plan?" She had no nutrition plan. She was like, "I don't know.

Am I supposed to have something?" And I'm like, "Yes, you're gonna need some nutrition." I think it was a 50-miler. I think she came back two weeks later after winning the thing and setting a course record eight hours in the 50-miler at Palo Duro, which is no small feat, 'cause it gets hot in the canyons in the afternoon.

Yeah. And I [00:23:00] asked her, I said, "How many gels did you have?" I think her answer was two. Oh. I was like, "I don't understand you." I'm like, "I probably take 10 gels in a 50-miler in Palo Duro Canyon." So she was definitely a talented young lady.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Yeah, and she's still very

Nick Polito: talented. I don't know about influencing her.

I gave her some pointers, and we talked trail, and we went, ran some trails together, so that was about the extent of it.

Chris Detzel: Your name came up, so-

Nick Polito: Yeah. No ...

Chris Detzel: I thought that was pretty awesome.

Nick Polito: Yeah. No, it is.

Chris Detzel: You're an influence either way,

Nick Polito: yeah.

Chris Detzel: I think you've influenced a lot of people.

Nick Polito: You, you just never know. You never know, 'cause I remember we used to post our stuff on I don't know if it was Facebook or something. Maybe it was Facebook. Something you would post someone something keeper or something, and it would post to Facebook. And half of my friends would be like, "Nick, you're just being a bragger and stuff."

But then you'd occasionally get a friend that was like, "You know what? I was in bed, and your thing, my phone di- dinged, and it was you, already finished an eight-mile run. And so I got up and went." So you never know. Sometimes you can also motivate people, that could be a slippery slope. I don't wanna be the person that's always tooting my horn, but I do wanna motivate people.

I want [00:24:00] to help people. And I think that's later probably why I got into pacing. I've paced, I don't know, 40 or 50 races. Maybe 10 fulls, and most of them halves. And it's just a, it can be a lot of fun. And for some reason it becomes easier. A 140 half pacing is a lot easier than racing one.

For sure. It's just something about the responsibility, you know- I love

Chris Detzel: pacing ...

Nick Polito: to get it done and stuff. So I, I do enjoy pacing. It's a little more nerve-wracking now that I'm not quite as talented as when I was younger, so I'm like- ... I get more nervous about it. I'm like, "I'm not sure if I'm gonna make this."

I've had a couple, like recently, the Dallas half I just barely made it, and it took everything in me. And I was like, "Oh, my gosh." It's '

Chris Detzel: cause you're running

Nick Polito: 140.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Like, why don't you do 150 or something, you'll be fine.

Nick Polito: I think Mimi, with the DRC, I think she kinda set me up.

That was a, her joke to me, is she put me in a group... I think I cautiously said I may be a 140 shape if lightning strikes or something, and so she put me in that group as a joke. But somehow, we had a very cold day. I got lucky it wasn't a hot day, and made it, yeah.

Chris Detzel: I agree, pacing is a ton of fun.

All right. Boston was your, kinda your fastest, [00:25:00] was the 258- Yeah ... is that your-

Okay. Is that the first time or only time you've ever run under three or?

Nick Polito: Yeah, so I ran Houston one year. I ran three hours and 11 seconds on a hot, 65-degree- Oh, damn ... rainy day. That's pretty good ... I ran Lakefront Marathon in Lakefront's in Milwaukee.

I ran just, 2:59 and 30 seconds.

Chris Detzel: Okay.

Nick Polito: So those are pretty much my only, sub-three or right around there, but not much else.

Chris Detzel: I think, Nick you tell me if I'm wrong, but to me, whenever, I was thinking, I don't know if that was around 2013, '14 or whatever, and- I remember there wasn't a ton of people, especially in DFW, running under threes.

I'm not saying there wasn't any

Nick Polito: Yeah, math- mathematically it was a... And I don't know if it still is the same or maybe it's changed, but it seemed like there's, seemed like there's a million people in Pegasus and, and- Yeah ... and around that can run sub-three now. But yeah, my recollection was that. We definitely didn't have special shoes or, I think we had very clunky trainers is what we ran- That's right

everything in. I guess when I first started running, they didn't have any stack, stack height 19 years ago, and it was [00:26:00] starting to get lighter and lighter. They had the Vibrams, the FiveFinger, whatever. Yeah. Looked like socks, basically. And even the shoes we ran in were very minimalist-type things.

It, things have changed. Back then, you would never see a stack height in a shoe 'cause they just wanted to get them light as possible. And now they're just, better foams, better rubber on the bottom that can last even though it's very light and small. So anyway. But then also there's been a price.

These shoes are so expensive these days. When I started, I had a sponsorship with Brooks, and I could get shoes for $50. And now you can't find a $50 shoe unless you're in Academy or, you know- Yeah ... maybe lucky there's something that's second generation or you have a really weird size. I'm thankful if I can run a trainer at $150 these days,

Chris Detzel: same. Same.

Nick Polito: Racing shoes are 200 up to 3. A- I saw

Chris Detzel: some for 400 and something dollars-

Nick Polito: Yeah ...

Chris Detzel: from, what is it? What are they Adidas?

Nick Polito: Yeah. Put

Chris Detzel: these 499 shoes out.

Nick Polito: Yeah, no, I've seen some. I was like- I think Puma may have one too, and I was like- Yeah ... I guess I'm just a cheapskate."

My, my wife- I mean- ... would be-- My wife had to talk me [00:27:00] into buying a $300 pair of racing shoes. What's what's it gonna do for me? I don't know.

Chris Detzel: Look, as old as I am, I feel like the $150 shoe is good for me. I don't even need the, ... the the plate shoe.

Now, what do you think of that? Like when it-- those plates first came out, did you think it-- because everybody was, "Oh that's cheating and whatever," and then all of a sudden

Nick Polito: everybody's doing it. At first, my recollection was it was the Nike top-end $250 shoe, and they were-- And the rumors were, I never got one of those 'cause I can't run in Nikes.

My shoes, my feet are too wide. But the, they were getting s- 50 to 75 miles in these shoes, and they were- Yeah ... towed. And I was like, "Oh, my gosh." But now, more than half the shoes have some form of plate in them. I have some shoes, like the s- endurance speeds that are, it's not a nylon plate, but it's some other kinda plate, and then I think Adidas has rods now and they have something called a wedge or something like that. So they have different variations of them. I know at one point I started having some foot issues, and I looked down and looked at my, all my shoes, and I usually run in [00:28:00] five to six pair, different types.

I have a speed shoe. I have a race shoe. I have a recovery day shoe, a trail shoe. Yeah. And I looked down at one day and I was like, "Every single shoe I have is plated." And I'm like, "I might need to find something in my repertoire at least a couple days a week that is not a plated shoe." So I think we-- There's probably a large mental aspect to that.

It's probably a big, "Wow, everybody's breaking the world records in these. I need to get plated shoes too." And I know I've thought about some people that are, like, mid-packers-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: and I'm like, "I'm not sure it's worth it for us to get a plated shoe." But if you want to, and it gives you that mental confidence, that confidence to go for it- That's-

then all be it. Whatever gets you out the door.

Chris Detzel: I think it's, I think-- Look, if you think about it, when you're in your 30s, 40s, fift- even 50s, you're trying to hit PRs in certain things and whether it's not like you think you're gonna be an Olympic, runner. But, y- if you're a 135 runner and a half, maybe you can get to a 130 or whatever.

If you're- Oh, yeah ... 125, maybe you can get down to 120, 119, 118, whatever. So I think that's really-- we all wanna get it as fast as we can, it's just- [00:29:00] Sure ... eventually that ends, n- now, now- Yeah ... I'm getting to a point where I just wanna win my age group, if that's possible.

Nick Polito: Right.

Yeah. And you'll, yeah, you'll get up that morning and go to the race and you're like I know Chris is gonna be there, and he's a little faster than me, so I'm gonna pull out all the stops. I'm gonna pull out my top of the line shoe." Yeah. "I'm gonna give myself every opportunity. I'm gonna..." Yeah, so yeah whatever gets you out the door, gets you motivated, whether it's real or not, I don't know.

I can't say for sure, but...

Chris Detzel: I think it's, some of it real for sure. But so what, out of all these marathons you've done and whatever, what's what couples stand out? What are some of the races, let's just say, whether it's marathon, half, full?

Nick Polito: Yeah. And so I've- What

Chris Detzel: you running?

Nick Polito: done about, yeah, 60 marathons. Yeah. I think, I thought Lakefront was real cool. I loved, and I've done it a couple times, St. George, which is a net down, which I don't know if, Boston recognizes anymore, maybe they did with a penalty or something. But that was a really well-run r- race, fast race, fun race.

I've done that a couple times. This last year I did Indy, and I've always heard great things about Indy, and [00:30:00] ran it this year, and it is a wonderful… it's not pancake flat like they make it out to be. It definitely undulates a little bit. Yeah. But it's a fast course, and they had great weather.

The town was awesome. We stayed in a hotel right by the start, so it was very efficient. I hate these races that I get too cheap and I get the hotel out of town, and now, then I'm waking up at 4:30 in the morning so I can make it to the starting line. And this wasn't like that. We could sleep in a little bit and just walk out the door and get in the starting block.

Chris Detzel: That's nice.

Nick Polito: Indy was a great one. Yeah, there, there's a lot of good ones. I've done Houston like six times just 'cause it's close.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. It

Nick Polito: was my hometown as a kid. I grew up in Houston, and And it's a fast course. And the Texas courses, good luck on the weather. Yeah.

You never know. Like California, they sometimes usually got good weather. Today was not what I would call good running weather for anything longer than a 5K,

Chris Detzel: houston is probably, over the years, one of the most well-run races, especially the last few years-

Nick Polito: Yeah ...

Chris Detzel: that I've seen in the US, period.

I mean- Yeah ... look, weather you can't, but, but the way it's run, the way, like I said, their what do you [00:31:00] call it the day before you go to their,

Nick Polito: Expo? Yeah, I know.

Chris Detzel: Expo. And it's weird 'cause you used to not say this because all expos were like this, but this year, Houston's expo was amazing.

And when I say amazing, I just mean that they had shoe places there, they had running stores there, they had all things running, right? Yeah. Isn't that what, expos used to be about? Yeah.

Nick Polito: Sometimes they get silly. Sometimes they have plastic surgery and beds they're

Chris Detzel: selling. That's right. The last- Sometimes it's silly

five to 10 years, I don't know, seven years, if you go to Dallas Marathon, you go to even Boston, you go to Chicago, any of those, they have the shitty doing your hair, all this other sh- stuff. And I'm like- Where was the running place? I understand what happened, those the sponsors take over them.

And then they have other shitty kind of things that aren't running related.

Nick Polito: And it's ridiculous Merchandising kind of things. They're like this is kinda like what a runner would like." But yeah, I get in there and sometimes I'm like, "I just wanna buy a pair of socks and some gels," and, and-

Chris Detzel: You can't find gels, or socks- Yeah. I was- ... or shoes- All you run is sleeping ... or whatever, unless it's just that one [00:32:00] sponsor. It's ridiculous, Nick. That- Yeah ... so anyway, the point is you give me a... I can't help it. I just, you go to an expo and it's just like you expect to see running gear and running things.

I don't know, not back massagers and stuff. Maybe back massagers, but, but Houston's well done.

Nick Polito: Yeah.

Definitely ...

Chris Detzel: and not just the expo. Everything about Houston to me, just during the race, before the race, everything that they do is just A, give an A+ for most

Nick Polito: of the- Yeah

stuff. And I always like the races that have that inside venue that you can be in before the race. Yes. When it's really cold. Houston does it. Cowtown does it. Lakefront Milwaukee did it.

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: I'm sure quite a few others. If it is a really, like Dallas' year was ideally cold, but it, when it's like that, you'd love to have a place which you could go inside.

Especially with these big ones, it takes a long time to get there, and there's a lot of hoopla and- That's right. Yeah ... so I really enjoy that, not having to wear 74 layers outside for, but that's we signed up for,

Chris Detzel: yeah. Over, look, I'm not complaining too much, but, I know what really good looks like or what [00:33:00] I li- think is really good anyways, and so- like Cowtown's a very well run, it's probably-

Nick Polito: Oh, yeah.

Chris Detzel: Excellent ... one of my... It's an excellent race. The only thing I dislike about Cowtown is the parking. Like- Got it ... the last three years it's like we get there and we park, and then they shut down roads, and you can't leave. Yeah. And so you're like, "Okay, why can't we leave?"

Nick Polito: Yeah. La- last I finally, I've, like I said, I've been there three or four times. Last year, I parked at that stadium that's about a half mile away. Yeah. So you gotta good walk. But y- when you get there, when you walk back to it, you're out. 'Cause I've done- Yeah ... the U- I've done the UNT across the street kind of parking where you're-

Two blocks from it. But yeah, that's exactly, when you get done, you're like- You'll

Chris Detzel: never get

Nick Polito: out ... "How do I get to it?" I, it's hard to even get across the marathon course to get over there, and then, yeah. But that's- You gotta

Chris Detzel: be strategic ...

Nick Polito: it's 29,000 people, so- It's a lot ... you're gonna pay the price, 100%. And I've gone that way as I've gotten older, I'm like, "Can I find a marathon that's 2,000 people, not 20,000?"

Chris Detzel: Exactly.

Nick Polito: If you're not so dependent on the crowds, because you're obviously- Yeah ... gonna have less crowds with less people. [00:34:00] But if you're not dependent on that- Then that makes it easier

Chris Detzel: I ran that race today, the half, and so Cowtown Half or the full and 50K were today, and the crowd was support-- the crowd support was phenomenal.

Like- Oh, yeah ... it was better than I- I've done 12 or 13 times. I can't remember a time where it was this good.

Nick Polito: It was 60 degrees, so-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: I always say that my wife's a great supporter, comes out to almost every race. Just comes out, supports me. Things like Western States, she was a- awake- Yeah

for over 30 hours- Ugh ... driving through mountains and stuff, staying awake the whole time- She's my partner ... my crew. But I always say there's a point where it's perfect running weather. It's 42 degrees. Yeah. It's not great for the supporters. That's right. When it hits 60 degrees, I don't wanna run in 60 degrees at a marathon, but it's great cheering weather, yeah. You don't need gloves, a light jacket at best. So that's-- today was their day.

Chris Detzel: That today was, it was phenomenal. I just couldn't- Yeah ... remember a time that I've been at a race that's not-- it's a big race, right? But usually the Dallas races aren't, and Fort Worth races aren't that-- they're [00:35:00] supported, but not- yeah, depending,

Nick Polito: yeah, depending parts of it, sure ...

Chris Detzel: not everywhere, this was everywhere. It was crazy. Yeah. It was awesome. So all right. I wanna talk more about-- Sorry to get off a little bit, but- No ... I kinda enjoy just kinda talking shop here. But when you started WRC, tell me about what that was like.

White Rock Running Club, you and I are both big members or admins of the group, and I'm kinda interested to see what success looked like and how it got so big and things.

Nick Polito: I wasn't in the early years. Like I said, I was over on the DRP, so that was more- Yeah ... of this thing.

They achieved their stardom before I ever got there. By that time I was there, I was on the tail end, just trying to figure out how we're gonna rework it for now. So I really wasn't on the front end. That was Chris Stratton and, all his group of people that were doing that.

Kevin Roberts I think may have been involved. There was a lot of old-timers that aren't there anymore that, that were involved with that. But they definitely had a wide range. I think maybe early on they didn't have the quick people, and then at some point, they got the Brett Woodle's and people like that came out, and they had a f- fast top end as well.

But yeah, I think that's just where they thrived. It's hard [00:36:00] because these big pay groups are generally the f- Lower end, first-time runners. And then once you kinda get past that, you want the next step is kinda the WRC, where there's a little more flexibility. And they had some great ideas too.

They used to... And a- a lot of those have kinda struggled recently, but they would have the summer run where you'd Run My Hood, where people would host parties, and that was good for the s- You

Chris Detzel: go to

Nick Polito: those? I'd go sometimes. Sometimes they were, like, in the middle of summer, and I don't wanna do a 20-mile neighbor- run in someone's odds neighborhood, and they really didn't start till late.

They were more about pool parties than- Yeah ... my type of running. I was always so serious at that point that I was like I'm..." If I would've rethought it, I would've said, "Just move my long run to Sunday, and then go do a middle long run that day." I should've done that.

Yeah. But anyway, be that at what it was. Maybe it was church or something, I couldn't do long runs on Sunday or something at that point, But yeah, they did those kinda things. They've had a lot of success with their, the Wednesday night group that Josh does, yeah. And I think they've always had something there, their s- it was more of their social night run.

So anyway, I wasn't part of it. But you've been

Chris Detzel: running with them for a while, right? Since- [00:37:00] Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Polito: I mean- I can't-- I don't know the timeline, but yeah, probably a good 10 years I've been-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: running with them, so yeah.

Chris Detzel: And today there's four, five, six, I don't know, admins or whatever group now, and, we're-- I think we're st- Julie and Javier left to Puerto Rico, and I know they did a really good job over the years just kinda keeping that going and just doing a lot of stuff. I know they used to travel and things like that, and-

...

Chris Detzel: It's, it is starting to kinda kick back up. I'm starting to see some newer people showing up, starting to be consistent, so it's really fun to see.

We're not-- we're just there just to meet, maybe hang out a little bit after, it's pretty hardcore that way, but still we meet what? Four, five times a week.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think we're still trying to find our foothold because it's changed. Yeah. It's definitely changed.

People like you and Josh and some of the newer runners are kinda, a newer idea of social media. That wasn't really a thing when this first started. Yeah. Are not the way it is now. Now social media seems to be every foothold in how you do this. But, you know- Yeah ... we still have some strong, de- depending on the year, [00:38:00] time of the year, Holy Hills can get pretty-

Chris Detzel: Yeah

Nick Polito: full, and Tuesday track can-

Chris Detzel: We had 15 people two weeks ago at Holy Hills.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Especially when Boston comes around, it seems like- Yeah ... all of a sudden everybody starts showing up. We'll have a front-end fast group, and we'll have a slower group, so we really have a good mix there too. If you wanna run a 9:30 pace, we have people to run with.

If you wanna run a eight-minute pace, we have people to run with. That Holy Hills can be good. I think the Wednesday night group is more of a shorter social, but it's a good way for people that wanna run evenings. And you can start earlier, you can go later. It's like a quick 5K

Keep going if you wanted. Do a whole loop of the lake, you could. And then they have a, dinner time or happy hour afterwards, so I think that's really beneficial. So there's a lot going. And even there are Sundays, I thought maybe I'd be running all alone today, and there was about eight or nine of us, on Cowtown day.

I was like, "All the r- all the regulars aren't here," but we had, a lot of different people show up,

Chris Detzel: yeah, and you're seeing Saturdays, 15, 20, 25 sometimes people show up. If Tegus just shows up, then it looks like way more.

Nick Polito: Yeah. Yeah. Depending on who, what other groups show up there too,

Chris Detzel: no, it's... I think it's growing in a different way. [00:39:00] There are so many groups out there. I won't tell you who it was, but one person told me, he goes, "Chris, WRC people just get old,

Nick Polito: yeah, no. And- Then, I think that's true with every s- situation like that. That's right. You have to continue to recruit new people.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Nick Polito: I've-- Dallas-Fort Worth is littered with people that I've run with in the past that don't hardly run anymore. People just, I'm really kinda lucky that I've stayed healthy and motivated for roughly 19 years- Yeah ... at running, pretty high relative mileage, r- running, six or seven days a week on average.

We all get injured, we all get nicked up, but like I said I have a ton of running partners that I ran with crazy miles with, and then, have kinda moved on in life, and that happens.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Nick Polito: And so I think that with every group, they have to constantly bring in new blood, 'cause people-

Chris Detzel: Always ...

Nick Polito: people move on to, "I can't run anymore," or, "I run less," or different seasons of life with kids and stuff.

So yeah, and seasons will change and

Chris Detzel: I think that something you mentioned is how important social is today for some of these running groups. It is the key. I think showing up is the key. Consistent, showing up, some of the same people over and over, I think that's number one. [00:40:00] Yeah. Relationship building, things like that.

But two is really getting out there on the socials to show, several times, 'cause I do pretty big on the social on, on our Instagram and on WRC- ... just to show how you were running with groups, we're all together. And I think it's important, but I've had several times people sending messages, "Hey Chris, when do y'all meet?"

Or-

...

Chris Detzel: Even on Strava-

Nick Polito: Yeah ... sending

Chris Detzel: me messages It's

Nick Polito: listed in our group, and they don't, yeah.

Chris Detzel: So it's like-

Nick Polito: And I know we used to have, and a lot of groups still do this to some extent, and maybe it's something that we're missing, is, "Hey, let's all sign up for a half six months from now." And-

Chris Detzel: Yes

Nick Polito: here's gonna be a racing plan. I don't know how to get that rolling again, but I think those can be good. 'Cause that's a lot of times when people come to groups, they're like- Yeah ... "I'm gonna join that group 'cause I really don't know what I'm doing." Yeah. "But I'm gonna go run with Chris or Nick or whoever-" Yeah

and they're gonna impart wisdom. And I know I do a fair amount of that, on the days that I can hang- A lot ... with the Kevins and the, Chets of the world, I'm-

Chris Detzel: Yeah ...

Nick Polito: I'm trying to impart, because I've run so many marathons and I've done so many d- trainings. I've done Fitzinger, I've [00:41:00] done Hanson, I've done Jack Daniels, and kinda learned all those different types of running styles and running training styles.

And you try to impart this wisdom to these new people,

Chris Detzel: 100%. 100%. You know- You've been running for a long-- What keeps you going? What, what-- Why do you love running so much? What's the... you've run, you still run a lot- Yeah ... 60, 70, 80 miles a week. It's crazy.

Nick Polito: Yeah, I think there's a competitive piece in my own self, trying to be competitive.

There's part of it where that's really my only social. I have three kids. I have a wife. Yeah. I have a family. I have a job. And so I really don't have time for any other-- and I need to stay fit. So for whatever reason, I make friends. I-- Pretty much most days of the week, I'm meeting somebody-

For a run, and so it's kinda like my social outlet as well, but, it kinda doubles because I get exercise.

Chris Detzel: Yeah.

Nick Polito: And I enjoy it. For whatever reason, I stay motivated with it. There's very rarely-- it happens at times. At times I'm like, "I need to back off a little bit for a week or two or something," but for the most point, I'm usually always kinda motivated to get out there and run.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Literally, you're one of the most consistent folks I know. And [00:42:00] it's funny because this last Friday I was like, "You know what? I've been meaning to go to a Pegasus run," and so I was like, I don't go to, I work from home on Fridays.

Nick Polito: Right.

Chris Detzel: So I thought, "Okay, I can just go over there.

What-- Won't miss any time at work or anything, and just..." And you showed up. Andy showed up. I was like, "Oh, so- Yeah. It's

Nick Polito: like a DRP thing

Chris Detzel: too. Yeah, we've started doing

Nick Polito: that kind of regular-- We don't always run the route that Pegasus runs. Yeah. But Christie and Andy and I kinda meet out there just to do a kinda little six-mile or easy Friday before we get going, and it's a low-key.

Sometimes we go over to that Foxtrot or Knox to get a coffee afterward or whatever, breakfast-

Chris Detzel: Okay ...

Nick Polito: drink or something. Yeah.

Chris Detzel: No, I just thought that was cool. I was like, "Oh." I didn't even know you guys showed up on Fridays or... Yeah and there you were. So I think I might try to do that more often,

Nick Polito: Yeah, it's a semi-new thing. It's a little bit of a drive, but-

Chris Detzel: Yeah, it is ...

Nick Polito: but yeah. It's fun.

Chris Detzel: But I think it's important to kinda to see what others are doing and how are they being so successful and, and getting to know them, because I think for us- ... pegasus is a really good group to at times team up with,

Nick Polito: yeah. Yeah. They're a brotherhood. I've [00:43:00] known Fons forever. I knew Fons- Yeah ... before he was l- lightning-fast. He was one of the, one of the DRPers a million years ago, and, he's, over the years, has gotten faster and faster.

Like, where some of us- He has ... are slowing down, he doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. He seems to be getting faster and faster,

Chris Detzel: dude, talk about running like two or three, four marathons in a year and still hit- ... 2:40s, like it's nothing. And I'm like, "You know you just hit a couple of 2:40s something, 2:44s or whatever?"

And he's yeah,

Nick Polito: yeah. And then- He's

Chris Detzel: kinda laid back ...

Nick Polito: he'll show up and pace- About it ... a 3:05 or, I think maybe today he-

Chris Detzel: Yeah, he's gonna go pace 3:05.

Nick Polito: Yeah.

Chris Detzel: He paced 1:35- Yeah ... today at the Cowtown. Obviously, that's nothing for him

Nick Polito: yeah. No, yeah. I think I paced Cowtown.

I paced a 3:31 time, and I'm like, "That's probably a little quick for me at Cowtown." It's not a-- It's not the s- easiest of courses.

Chris Detzel: For a marathon, for sure.

Is there anything that- We missed that you're like, "Man, we should've talked about this thing."

Nick Polito: No, I think that's most of the stuff that, that has gone on my journey.

It's nothing crazy weird, but it's very long and, a- as we talked about doing this, I [00:44:00] kinda went back and did a little homework to look at, all these marathons where I've done stuff and, it's just... Yeah, I enjoy the trails, but I seem not to-- lately I haven't really been hitting them as much as I'd like to, but I like a good-- Like I, I can't really train on trails, but I like going out there.

So if anybody's looking for just a... Man, try one, try a short distance first, and if you like it, maybe try something different. It's a different sport to some extent. It's an eating contest one s- one person told me one time.

Chris Detzel: There's this new trail that this company called Rise Racing.

I've seen

Nick Polito: their name. I've seen their name. I don't know if they're a spin-off of somebody or...

Chris Detzel: No, this guy-

Nick Polito: A lot of trail companies will buy out another trail company, and they'll start taking over their races.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, Rob Goyan is kinda the race director. Oh,

Nick Polito: Rob Goyan. Yeah, 'cause Rob retired from whatever company he had before, and I guess-

Chris Detzel: That's right

Nick Polito: for whatever reason, and now he's back. So yeah, I know Rob.

Chris Detzel: Yeah, so there's this little trail on April 4th called Panther City, so it's called Marion s- it's at Marion Samson Park in Fort Worth.

Nick Polito: Oh, yeah.

Chris Detzel: So it's gonna-- So there's [00:45:00] a 5K, I think, I don't know, 25K, 10K, 5K, whatever. So-

Nick Polito: When is that?

Chris Detzel: It's April 4th. It's on Leah's birthday, so- Oh, okay ... we're going.

Nick Polito: Yeah, I've always wanted to run Samson Park. I heard it's fairly technical, not crazy. It's Texas. Yeah. So it's only so technical, but I've always heard good things about Samson, but I've never run there. Just try

Chris Detzel: it out, man.

Nick Polito: I might. Might look at it.

I

Chris Detzel: mean, I'm-- Leah's gonna do,

Nick Polito: I think, the tri- Not close, I know I have Oklahoma City that month, but that's probably far enough out that I can survive. It's

Chris Detzel: just the next weekend after, so I'm doing Oklahoma City as well. But then the next weekend is Sams- is the Panther City Ultra- Okay

is what it's called. I'm just doing the 5K, and Leah's doing the 25K, I think so.

Nick Polito: Yeah, I always like the 25K distance. It's just enough to you went out there, but not enough to kill you.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Are you gonna race Oklahoma?

Nick Polito: That's the plan, as long as we have good weather. I'm trying to get back into- Oh

135 shape, so I'm getting there.

Chris Detzel: Ooh. I'm gonna try to race you then. All

I think that- Just stay on my- ... there's a lot of us going at WRC,

Nick Polito: so that's good. Yeah, I know. It's gonna be a fun group. There's a lot of people going.

Chris Detzel: So I like that. We'll all have to get together and do-

Nick Polito: Yeah, and it's a [00:46:00] great little city.

There's a great little downtown, bricktown, whatever, lots of great restaurants. So I'm really looking forward to it. My son goes to school not too far from there, Ok-

Chris Detzel: Okay ...

Nick Polito: Oklahoma State, so he'll come in town as well.

Chris Detzel: Have you ever done that one before, icing?

Nick Polito: I've done the, I've paced the full.

Okay. I've paced like the 340 maybe two times back when it used to go to the lake. I think it's changed a little bit, and I've done a little scouting. It's got little hills to it. We can always, I can share what I have. I've done a little scouting on some hills. I knew Gorilla Hill was, like, the famous one at mile seven or eight.

They have this gorilla hill with people in in gorilla costumes that are handing out bananas. But, and it's a couple blocks of uphill that's not too bad. But there's some other hills as well, so it's not a-

Chris Detzel: 130?

Nick Polito: Yeah. You got it. Okay.

Chris Detzel: Yeah. We'll see. I don't-

Nick Polito: Long as the weather's not crazy like this and l- get lucky.

The couple times I've done Oklahoma, it's been, like, in the upper 40s. It's been really nice, so we'll see.

Chris Detzel: Really?

Nick Polito: Can be windy up there at Oklahoma. Can be windy. So we'll see.

Chris Detzel: We'll just see what- All

Nick Polito: I can do is get in shape and see what happens.

Chris Detzel: That's what you get. Yeah.

Nick Polito: Cottonwood?

Big Cottonwood?

Chris Detzel: Yeah. Big Cot- Yeah. You tag

Nick Polito: one or two people on. Yeah, that sounds [00:47:00] fun. If I could get the resources, the finances to get down there, I might look at it, yeah.

Chris Detzel: Look, I love downhills though.

Nick Polito: Downhill's good for me. Yeah. I think- I can run it downhill. Do it. Downhill's a good strength of mine.

Uphill not so much. Downhill, yes. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Hope you gained something or something here out there, so thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Bye.