The Dailey Edge Podcast
Join hosts Trent, TJ, and Todd Dailey as they explore the intersections of technology, culture, fitness, and personal growth. Through engaging discussions and personal anecdotes, the trio dives into topics ranging from childhood gaming nostalgia and cutting-edge fitness tech to the pursuit of happiness and lifestyle choices. Whether reminiscing about epic gaming marathons, sharing tips for staying on the forefront of fitness trends, or unraveling the complexities of modern life, The Dailey Edge delivers thoughtful insights, lively debates, and relatable stories for listeners of all walks of life.
The Dailey Edge Podcast
Episode 52: The Full Mo 50K Race Preview
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The Full Mo is back, and if you’ve ever thought, “A marathon hurts… how do I go six more miles?” we’re answering that head-on. We sit down with the crew to preview the Full Mo 50K and share what actually changes when you step into ultrarunning: the pace, the mindset, the culture, and the small decisions that keep your day from unraveling.
We get practical fast. We talk fueling strategy for a 50K, why a hand bottle makes life easier, how gels and drink mix can still work, and why practicing your plan matters more than finding the perfect product. We also cover real-world logistics like restroom spacing, road crossings, and what to watch for with detours and signage so you don’t waste energy second-guessing the course when your brain is already tired.
Then we zoom out to what makes Full Mo feel like a true community event: running clubs owning aid stations, more volunteers than ever, new stops added to help runners late in the day, and a finish line experience built to celebrate everyone. We also hit packet pickup, shuttle options, shoe choices on a paved, slightly downhill route, and partner details like Never Second fueling and a Mount to Coast discount code.
If you’re training for your first 50K, coming from road racing, or just curious why so many people keep coming back, this is your roadmap. Subscribe for more race-day prep and community stories, share this with a friend who’s on the fence, and leave a review with your best fueling tip or your biggest Full Mo question.
Why Full Mo Keeps Growing
SPEAKER_02All right. Welcome back to the Daily Edge uh special episode. Um, here with TJ and Todd and the Full Mo. It's back. We're here right around the corner. Um, if you don't know, if you're a new listener, TJ is the executive director for two different races put on by Machine Gamesha Track Club, MTC. Uh, the full mo, which is the day or the weekend after memorial, and then Prairie on Fire, which is the week after Labor Day. So both have become iconic races within the the running communities. Um, both sell out now. Uh it's been fun seeing that journey over the years. And uh so today let's give some previews. Let's let's talk about the race, let's get people excited. Um I'll kick it over to you, TJ.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'd love to do that. Uh, I know a lot of people out there have questions as race has grown, and this has become a kind of a broken record thing with me and our races, but um, both races started out very, very similarly in a sense that they were the the majority of the races were filled by people who were members of the track club who showed up and either ran for free or ran for a highly discounted rate with probably anywhere from five to ten others. I think the first year we had less than 30 people finish. Um this year we're slated. I I would say we will have 250 registrants. Um we'll probably start 225 or 230. Last year we started 150. So it's considerably bigger this year. Um, but there are some challenges this year. We have some detours, uh, we have some different things we're doing that we've never done before. So I'd like to, I guess, spend the next 20, 25 minutes talking about um, you know, both of you have run this. Uh you'll be running it again this year. You've run it two or three times at this point. I've run it once first year. So, you know, there are some big questions that often pop up uh that I'd like you guys to address and just on how you dealt with it. I think first and foremost would be the approach to this. I've heard you both talk about it a little bit um and how it varies as it relates to. We have a lot of people probably coming over from road races that are petrified because their perspective is I know what it feels like to hurt racing a marathon. How can I do that for six more miles? Um, why don't you talk a little bit about your approach as it relates to that?
Marathon Mindset Vs 50K Mindset
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, I'll jump in. Um the mini and the full marathon are uh what I would call like high RPM races. I mean, we just did the mini, and you go as pretty much as hard as you can, low fuel, high octane, and it's just it's a different type of uh burn for me. I would consider it to like being on an F1 course and the amount of energy it takes to stay at high RPMs and just hang on if you're trying to really go for time. Uh the 50k, the the longer races are much different, uh, much more enjoyable. They're more about kind of long-term tenacity fighting through some of the ailments you would fight through, or kind of be potentially chafing, or you know, your toes rubbing, or because really it's about your your legs will start hurting at some point, unless you're doing 90 mile weeks, you're gonna have it's it's a different type of fatigue, it's a different type of pain, it's a different type of mentality, but I find it more enjoyable. You're stopping every five or six miles, you're um as long as you've learned how to fuel, um, you're you're getting your fuel and you're going at a much slower pace, and uh it's just an incredible course um from beginning to to end.
SPEAKER_01I I think what's interesting about ultra marathons in general, and and this one's no different, it's just a completely different culture and vibe. Like I would say the culture is much closer to your local 5k than it is to like a marathon. And the reason I say that is just because people are there to enjoy it and everyone's celebrating each other, everyone's doing their own thing. It just doesn't have that competitive edge that your half marathons and your marathons have. And and I even being a very competitive person, I know we're all competitive people, uh, in in something like this, they're just it's just about finishing, you're stopping at the aid stations, you're refueling, you know, they've got much different food and uh drink options, and people take a lot of pride in this race in particular, in those aid stations, having unique uh great uh options, um, very different than you know, you are you beelining at whatever pace you're running at and grabbing a cup on the go. I mean, people are stopping. Yeah, and just enjoying it. And and again, that's why I kind of draw the comparison back to the to the local 5k, uh, because it feels more like that. It it's kind of interesting how that uh competitiveness changes because I think you know, as you get into the half and the full, you're that that's your very serious runners, your competitive runners, and then it it kind of tails back off again. So that that's what I love about it.
SPEAKER_02One of the other cool things that that you guys have done when how this running community is formed is the other running clubs participate. They like they take pride when you go through their their location, they're running the aid station, and a lot of times they're running in the races too. It's just been really cool because to your point, Todd, is everyone is like kind of come together and they're like, it doesn't matter which running club you're with, it's like everyone is like just gung ho and and so positive and so energetic. It's really cool.
SPEAKER_01No, no offense to the winners. Uh and you know, some people are competitive in this environment, but when you get done with something like this, no one's asking about the winners, no one's generally asking about what the time was, no one's asking about the course record. I mean, every there, it's just like, oh my, everyone's celebrating each other, uh, which is a really unique thing.
Fueling And Hydration That Works
SPEAKER_00You guys both mentioned fuel. Um, this is something I always call out as it relates to uh that, because we do have runners coming over from the road racing world. And I think that will be going forward a big target for us, is because um, with all of the races popping up, I think that that road running and road racing can not necessarily, you know, is something that needs to be broke potentially for people needs to be broken up. You know, doing two marathon builds a year for a decade can get boring. This is something that breaks it up. So fueling is a little bit different. You both touched a little bit, but talk about what you do to prepare to fuel yourself. The the approach here, like you said, this isn't uh, we do not have aid stations every mile and a half um with bottles. Uh so talk a little bit about fueling, and then at the same time, you know, there may be, and I'm trying to resolve this, um, the other side of fueling, the exit side of it. Uh, there is a there there is a potential this year that we will have a 12-mile stretch with no restrooms. Um, so we're we're working on that. But why don't you guys talk a little bit about the fueling approach, how to prepare and what to have and on you, and then um how you've dealt with restroom issues if you've had them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I would first say have a hand bottle. Yeah, you just have to. We've had a couple of people make this uh with try attempt this without the hand bottle. And even if it's not excruciatingly hot, it's just there's not you have to have a hand bottle. And ideally, you've got some sort of mix that you're putting in there that gives you some amount of carbs. Um, that's just that's kind of the no-brainer uh there, which you know, in a marathon, because there are aid stations every mile, you can you can get away with that. I in my last marathon, I didn't carry one. This is one where you gotta carry one, and it's okay, it might slow you down a little bit, and that's not a big deal. Um, otherwise, you know, I think the nice thing about the 50k is from a fueling perspective, you can kind of continue a fueling strategy from your marathon or even your half. You know, I will typically stay with gels, SIS Gels in something like this. That's what I did last year uh when I was running this. But depending on what pace and how you're taking it, there's a lot more creative options. I think the preparation there, I think this holds true to any race, is just make sure you try it before you do it on race day. Even for a race like this, you know, don't grab the peanut butter crackers or whatever else if you've never tried that on race day, you know, in the middle of the race. But um, those are the things I would say from a feeling perspective.
SPEAKER_02I'd 100% on the hand bottle. I remember coming into maybe the last four mile stretch, and I filled my bottle up completely and I ran like a mile and a half and I'd cached it. And I'm like, oh dear God, I hope TJ had one more aid station. There was one like two miles out or something like that. Um, definitely go hand bottle. And and then it's probably too late by the time you're watching this, but but Todd nailed it. Um, you know, my runs over the last several weeks, I've all my long runs, I'm doing a hand bottle with tailwind in it, trying to get used to it, trying to get used to having something while while you're moving. Um, if you're used to gels, great. Uh, I found good luck with regular food too. Like if you want to bring, I mean, they have all different types of carbs and sugar that you can put in uh your system. Now it really depends also how long you're gonna be out there. Like if you're gonna be out there four or five hours, it's different than eight hours, right? And and we have eight people come in at the eight eight-hour market, it doesn't really matter when you finish, it's just about making sure you have the right fuel. Don't leave yourself um in a
Restroom Planning And What Changed
SPEAKER_02in a spot where you could be three or four miles without anything. As far as the restrooms are concerned, is it the front half or the back half? I assume it's the back half because of that one out and back. There's a restroom there, correct?
SPEAKER_00It's the front half. And the reason it's the front half is this year we've got so what we've done this year. So last year, as you both remember, um we had to delay the start because of the just the overwhelming number of people using the restroom prior to the race. We had three three bathrooms at Greeks and they were just completely overrun. So I think we started at 6.15 instead of six. We're getting three porta potties dropped um closer to the Monon itself. So Greeks is uh call it northeast, um, and these will be dropped a block southwest. So the cool thing about that is not only will they have three three extra porta potties pre-race, you'll be able to hit them at mile three. With because you're gonna have to go north to county line and then loop it and come back this year because they've added more north of the Monon and we can't really start out there because it's in the middle of a cornfield.
SPEAKER_02Um So you're saying we're gonna have three miles before we even get on the trail.
SPEAKER_00No, you'll you'll you'll do what you did last year, where you go up the road, and then you're gonna turn right.
SPEAKER_02Oh, because there's more there's more north.
SPEAKER_00You'll go out a mile north, then you loop around a yellow pole, and then you'll head back down south.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um so does that cut into any other out and backs?
SPEAKER_00Like the the Westfield out and back is completely gone.
SPEAKER_02Where you would go around that neighborhood?
SPEAKER_00Where you yes, it's gone. So we read Quaker Park, which was our restroom, it's gone. So instead of going out and then right and then back, you're gonna hate that hard left where you go down and then continue on the monot. And then so there will be no restroom from mile three all the way until you get to 100 and rural road. That breaks like right after 146 is rural road.
SPEAKER_01That's good to know. I I think it's just a communication thing. I mean, generally you if you can't get it moving before the race about a few miles in is when you feel it anyway.
SPEAKER_00I feel like there shouldn't, you know, if there is a stretch to have that, if you don't get it solved for that if we do solve for it for anybody listening, it will be probably where the first aid station is, which is on the backside of Chatham. Um I've emailed the city to see if we can get that rectified. We will get it rectified for next year for sure, but it was kind of a last minute with that um detour popping up.
Detours, Road Crossings, And Signage
SPEAKER_00Speaking of detours, another thing, it's pretty straightforward course, but I'd like for you guys to talk about two things. Number one is road crossings and how it is early versus late and where to worry or where not to worry, or best practices for crossing roads. And then B, um signage, if anybody's confused, what to look for, what helped you at some certain because when we did have the out and back, that was pretty heavily signed. Um, we do have the detour this year. I'm still trying to determine whether we're gonna go right at 156 and cone that like short section, or if we're gonna go all the way around to past target and greyhound. But I'd love to talk about intersections, how to cross them, um, what traffic looks like across those intersections early versus late, and then signage and what to look for if you get confused.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, just some some general thoughts there. Uh the two intersections that jump out to me, I mean, like you said, very early on, there's very, very little traffic. You'll cross some intersections up in the Sheridan Northwestfield area. The first intersection that typically jumps out to me is the dangerous one, and he even is not as bad at that time in the morning as 169th.
SPEAKER_00And I believe we won't be running 161st, and we won't be running it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. One uh 161st, yes.
SPEAKER_00But we will have to go around that roundabout.
SPEAKER_01Um okay. Yeah, so uh yeah, that would be you know, 161st uh jumps out. Um, and certainly 86th Street is kind of the other big one that jumps out to me if I had to pick two. There are others, obviously 146, it goes over the top, um, 32 goes over the top. So your other major thoroughways or through fares, that that is not as much of an issue uh from a road crossing perspective. From a signage perspective, uh, you know, I I think the more the the more the better. Sometimes just having the straight sign to let me know that I'm on the right path is a good thing. I think depending on how late you are into the race, your mind starts to go in different directions and can uh make up its own idea of uh, you know, I wonder if I'm on the right course and and create its own sense of panic. So those would be some just general thoughts.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the first time that I did it last year was nice to have the arrows on the ground when you were off trail. Um and having people when we did that, because there's like, oh, you come here and then you come back and you go this way. Um, very beneficial. Anytime that you're doing a detour, I'd have somebody at the place where the detour is with things on the ground and then consistent every quarter, half mile, like if they're gonna be on something until they get back on the trail. Generally, when you're on the trail, um, I think it got a little slight confusing in Broad Ripple. It's like a station, and then there's like a cross, and you kind of like shoot diagonal across and back on.
SPEAKER_00There's a diagonal, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, that I was just lucky to see some people and kind of figure that out. But that that would have been the only spot outside of the um detoured areas that but the detoured areas were marked very well, even when you did the roundabouts, you know, it was like you had the arrow, and then I think I may help pick some of them up afterwards, and then it was like here, and then you kind of come back on the roundabout. Most people will know that, um, just knowing where the trail is. But I think some of those ground arrows are good.
SPEAKER_00So we will have arrows on the ground this year. So look down. They're typically like a neon, so neon pink, neon orange, neon yellow. Um, but you'll look down, we will have the typical FOLMO signs, and then at the 160, well, it starts at 169th Street detour. Um, we will have signs, arrows, and we will have some uh volunteers out there, especially around that roundabout. Again, we're trying to determine what makes the most sense at that at the tail end of that detour. There's a couple of different ways. One of them you have to run on the road for probably 20 meters, which we'd probably cone off. The other one you have to cross, you don't have to run on the road, but then you'd have to cross the road two times. Uh so we're gonna figure that out um in the next week.
SPEAKER_01It's been kind of a fun uh tradition, though, right? We always joke this uh renaming the race the almost full mo, because I don't know that we've we've ran the entire thing every year. There's some sort of construction detour. It's just been kind of a fun tradition, which uh doesn't make it easy on you all to plan exactly what the course is gonna look like. I know you spend a lot of time, you know, biking the course and making sure the distance is right and figuring out the optimal way to navigate the the closures, which can be difficult because a lot of times there's not a lot of I think generally we're getting better at knowing and learning about them in advance, but I'll never forget the first year when we got down to the finish line, uh, those that were setting up, and the day of the race, we get down to the finish line and you can't get through the mow. They had just blocked it off, and we had no idea, we just didn't know. And we had to navigate the finish line, we had to change the finish line and to make it the exact same distance. And I must have ran the first six people in from the the point where there was a detour. I literally had to run because it was not, I mean, it was like left and right and left and right and you know, over top of railroad track uh just to get to the finish. It was wild.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, in year two, I think it was worse because year two, they were on we had people we had done our signs, we didn't have road uh arrows that year, and people were stealing the signs because that was year we had to go all over the place into into actual Carmel, then back down Carmel Drive, and and it was a complete disaster there. Yeah, we we've never this will be the first year that we ever go to the actual end of the Monon.
SPEAKER_02We've never been to say, is the finish is still in the same spot?
SPEAKER_00It's in the same spot, but it's different. So so in the years past, we've taken the monon loop because 70 construction up until last year. Last year we could have done it. Uh, we take the monon loop around and then down and then back. And um this year we're going all the way to the end of the monon, and then you'll take a ride, a right, and then you'll be in the same spot. It's just a little bit different, it's a little shorter because we had to make up uh for that extra distance. We had to we had to make it a little shorter because of the extra distance that you gather during the detour. So when the detour is done next year, um we'll either be we'll we'll either be able to put Quaker Park back in, or we will uh you know, go back to the original finish. But you will finish in the same spot.
SPEAKER_02So go ahead. I was just gonna say, like they've extended the moan on another mile north north. Is there plans for that to continue? And once everything's done, if you start at the actual start and end at the actual end, what's the distance?
SPEAKER_00Like 28. 28, 20, 27 and a half.
SPEAKER_02So you need another three miles. Got some breathing room for them to go north.
SPEAKER_00And and I think they may. I mean, it's at county line right now, but I know if you if you look at there's a tree line where the railroad originally was, it continues up.
SPEAKER_01So let's shift a little bit and just some sneak peeks, some previews from your
New Aid Stations And More Volunteers
SPEAKER_01perspective. Uh, what are you most excited about this year? Maybe something that you guys are doing that's different than you've done in years past.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, we're we're really expanding the team. Uh, I was talking to somebody the other day, and I feel like this year we will have twice as many volunteers as we originally had runners. So we'll probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 volunteers this year, I would think. Um this year we have two new aid stations. Uh CRC Carmel Runners Club is doing their first uh official aid station. So it's kind of funny when when Fisher started theirs, um, they they kind of just, I mean, both clubs, all clubs have so so the evolution of this is Westfield Running Club was kind of the first one to officially start um through Angie Fraser and a lot of the different people over there. They were the first ones to kind of be uh our aid station um partners. You know, we we had them the first year as well, some other Orange Theory and some of these other partners. And over time it's evolved. Uh a couple years ago, Fisher's decided to do their own kind of pop-up uh party zone, if you will, down by the Monon Center. And then that became an official thing. Uh they've been a huge help. They've they've not only done that, but we also have Ray and Peter who uh are our sweepers. So every year they will follow at the end and make sure everything is uh that nobody falls behind, nobody gets lost there. Um Angie Fraser's back this year on lead bike, so that'll be really cool. Uh so, anyways, Fisher's did the same. Well, then Carmel did the same thing the year later. They kind of had their official fan zone. Well, now it's an official aid station. And then we also have uh the Horizon School. Um, we've had some complaints, or not complaints, suggestions that we have an aid station after 38th Street. Because it is for those people out there for seven hours, that last for them could be 40 minutes from the bridge to it. It's brutally hot. Um and so we're gonna have uh another aid station there. So they've joined us. We have nine aid stations this year. Uh the first aid station that in the past has always been water only will be a full aid, so that's cool. Um, we've brought some other people onto the operational team that are um working with the aid stations to enhance their experiences, you know, maybe add some pieces to the puzzle there. Um just a ton. Partners this year, uh over the top, you know, number of partners. We're doing another new metal in the metal series. So last year was Sheridan this year, will be Westfield. Um and then we were bringing back the not the same material, but I love them. We're you've you've had the pleasure of trying them on. We're bringing back the full mo long sleeves. Um, and they are phenomenal this year. So those will be here. Uh, we're doing a custom uh hat this year. Um it is a uh a good friend of ours um has started uh splits, uh running hats, Logan Turner, and we're doing a collab this year with Full Mo. So it's it's branded uh Full Mo, um his company, and IMG, believe it or not. Thanks, guys. Um, and it they're really, really, really dope hats. Uh I've had two or three hats from him um that I've either purchased or gotten. So that will be available this year. Uh, I think we're gonna do those at a super discounted rate so you can buy them. They're typically 30 bucks and they're worth every penny. These will be for ten dollars. Uh so these can be purchased post-race um or or pre-race. So super excited for that.
What Makes This Race Different
SPEAKER_01Man, um having founded this race, I mean, we talked a little bit about the difference in competitive atmosphere, the aid stations. Is there anything else you'd call out for people that may have done some other ultra marathons, maybe people who have done some half or full road races? Like, what's the draw? What are you trying to do? What have you tried to do? And and where, yeah, just what what's what can they what can people expect who are considering this or who are doing this for the first time? What can they expect compared to other races?
SPEAKER_00It's everything we do is very um intentional to provide on ramps for people to enjoy different aspects of the sport. That's the thing I'm most passionate about. Every time we get to talk about running, I talk about all the different things we've been able to participate in collectively. We've done all of the different aspects of it. And I think that's what it is. You know, I've had a lot of people who have done uh we have a runner this year who's done 70 half marathons, and this is her first ultra. Um, and she's like, I'm petrified. I'm terrified. But again, listening to what you guys said at the beginning of the podcast, like there's no reason to be. So, you know, we just spend all of our time trying to encourage people to explore different things to ensure that they have um other opportunities to continue to keep themselves motivated and excited and to continue to inspire other people alongside them. You tell the story about me running my first hundred, and you're like, well, I can do a marathon if you can do a hundred. Well, I look at it the same way. If your friend goes and runs 50K, you can go run 5K. And so we're gonna continue to do those kind of things. We have something happening this year. Um it's a little bit underground that we're excited about. I will mention it here, uh, but it's it's very Barclay marathon-esque. Um, you need to know who to get a hold of to do this particular thing and participate in this. But um, this first year we're calling it midnight on the Monon. Some people have called it the double mo. It is a bandit-style race where we will have um in the neighborhood of 20 to 2 dozen people uh starting on the south end of the Monon at midnight, running to the start and then running back to the finish. So that may become something um over the years. There's obviously a lot of challenges as it relates to that. Uh, but I'm I'm super excited about it. So, and we're gonna keep doing things like that, make things that are accessible, that are super well supported, and that um cater to people trying to find something a little different.
Bigger Vision And Town Support
SPEAKER_01Talk talk a little bit about where where you'd like to go with this race. And you may uh I mean part of this may be something you kind of do as the years go on, but is there a a a broader vision here that you're hoping to achieve? Do you feel like you've achieved that vision? And at this point, it's just kind of fine-tuning things each year, adding bells and whistles, like where I want this to be an event, a true event.
SPEAKER_00This is the first year that we've gotten big enough that we've really needed to engage with the municipalities along the way. Uh, the first couple of years, it was really pretty bandit style because you know, you put 30 to 50 to even 100 runners on a course, it's gonna take seven hours. You won't you don't even notice the traffic. And and this was the very first year that we've worked with Carmel. We've worked with Westfield, we've worked with Sheridan. I'm actually attending a City Hall, City Council meeting for Sheridan on the 19th, which is what, Tuesday, uh, to talk a little bit about the race. But they're the first ones to really embrace this as an event. They're welcome to uh Sheridan commit uh community or committee will be out there handing things out at the start of the race. Um, they want to make this a big deal on Main Street. I would love to see people coming through Carmel and Westfield and having those communities aware that of what's going on. And I'd love to see a thousand people do this. I don't think we can support much more than that. We'll see how 250 feels this year. Um, but I think that would be the coolest thing is having every community involved, celebrate, and out there uh you know, helping facilitate the effort.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you've seen it from a running club perspective. You got Westfield Run Club, you got Fisher's Run Club, you got these different run clubs, but to see that expand is really interesting. Talk a little bit. Um, one of the things that's fascinated me about this race, and I I've run many other five case, ten case marathons, the repeat uh participants in this race seems to be, and this may be by perception, but seems to be extremely high relative to other races. I mean, you just continue to see the same faces coming back over and over and over every year. Why do you think that is?
SPEAKER_00From my understanding, we're about double. This race is about double the normal uh retention rate of a standard road race, and I think prairie is about triple. Um and and I think it really is like we just think I'll give you an example. Um I ordered bibs the other day, you know, and we don't even make it an optional thing, right? When you run the menu, you run other ones, you can enter a name if you if you get registered in enough time to get your name and to put it on your bib. These ones we just do. I think if you remember last year, we're gonna do it a little differently this year. We talk about, we put on your bib how many times you finish. Because if you run with somebody who's this is their first time, maybe it's a topic of conversation. So you get a 2x or a 3x or we have three people that have finished every single one of them. Um you know, a lot of multiple finishers, three, four, five. But I think it's it's that um it's a continual desire to improve upon. Um I don't know, it's like a boutique running experience, you know. I I say this a lot. It's like when everybody else is uh cutting back, you know, when everybody else is making your packet pickup experience less cool, when everybody else is like, you know, I'll give you an example. You go to any of these races nowadays, and if you subtract things made out of paper and sample packets, you get a bag and a shirt, and that's it. Um, you don't get any other benefits, you get a walk through a very narrow uh offering of goods at exorbitant prices for the most part, versus the way we've worked it, is you've got a great partner in Athletic Annex. You get a discount on site if you want to buy anything in the store while you're there picking up packets, so you get that experience. We're giving you not we're giving you a premium shirt because we we're with runners. We listen to every day about how awful a product is, or or how how you know, I don't need another shirt that I can only wear to run or whatever, whatever, whatever. So we're trying to provide things that complement the endeavor itself. We want to, you alluded to the aid stations, and we're constantly working with them because we ask a lot of of those volunteers, you know, you're when you're at scale, um, you're they're plugging you into a system, right? So they're delivering uh water and cups and all of these things, and you're just a cog in the wheel. We want party poppers and streamers and all that other kind of stuff going on. So, you know, we're always gonna do stuff to make it better.
SPEAKER_02Uh packet pickup and transportation. Yeah.
Packet Pickup And Shuttle Logistics
SPEAKER_00You want to touch on yeah, packet pickup will be the night before at Carmel uh Athletic Annex, which is in um that outdoor mall there. Clay Terrace. Clay Terrace, thanks. Uh and we'll have those there. Um, I think it's four to seven or four to eight. If you need to make special arrangements day of, that's fine. Um, this year, finally, we've brought back the shuttle. Uh, in the years past, we've we've helped people get from the finish back to the start line. This year we will have a shuttle pickup. We have a uh uh 50 passenger bus, um, which is full uh at this point that we'll be taking picking people up at 4:30 and taking them to the start so you can finish right where your car is. And in the email, uh, that's been outlined. So it's the pickup uh right there at the um the parking lot south of the Bottomworks hotel.
SPEAKER_01Just wanted to briefly mention one of the things Trent and I uh give TJ a hard time about. Um we'll pick on him. Uh one of the things that you know you mentioned a lot of these other races, a lot of these other races are businesses, right? And there's people that do this full time. TJ is one of the worst business owners. He couldn't care less. And it's one of Trent's uh frustrations with TJ. So that's to your advantage. Uh he is horrible, and the idea of a profit margin uh is I don't think anything he's ever considered as he's founded and put on these races. So um that that certainly works in your favor. Uh anything else as we're going into this uh this race here that you would say um people should know about or any questions?
SPEAKER_00No, I think we've covered everything you you talked about. Um you know, one thing we didn't touch on, but I don't think it's super relevant because by the time you're through it, it it's you know, is is the crosswalk laws in Hamilton County being strange. But really, if you've ever crossed a crosswalk, you're gonna be careful because you don't want to get hit by a car. So just be careful and don't get hit by a car. Um, you guys said it bring hand bottle waste pack bladder vest of some kind. We will have uh Never Second is our partner this year for energy. So we shifted from Tailwind um to their drink mix. They are a huge uh partner in this. Um Mount to Coast, again, uh they're our shoe partner this year. Code MeshTC1 gets you a discount on Mount to Coast shoes. And if you've ever watched the elite people at our races, um, especially Prairie, you look at that top 10, probably eight people will have Mount to Coast shoes.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, here's a question. So, like if you have performance high-end shoes that you use to race in, would you recommend not wearing those for this?
SPEAKER_00And I mean, unless you're truly racing it and there's a handful of people, and if you guys want to know what truly racing it means, um we're talking like guys that are that are entertaining sub three for 50k. So um, like that's where the front end of this race will be this year. Um, we have two or three people I think are capable of something close to that. So those guys, sure. Um, I think you've worn your super shoes. Yeah, I did last year.
SPEAKER_01Um I did last year. I mean, the the course that for the course, I mean, this is the unique part of a lot of altars are on trails and things. The course is totally fine for that. It's a slight decline, right? All the way, I don't know that we've we've mentioned that. Most know that it's a slight decline, it's on a paved path. So you can get away with wearing your shoes. Uh, I cramped up, I wore mine last year and cramped up. So if you're not used to wearing those, a lot of times I like to train in my normal shoes and then kind of have it as a bonus on the day of. But if your muscles, I mean, they put stress on different muscles. And at 26 and a half, I completely locked up and had to like took me about a like two minutes just to get moving again and kind of uh stumbled my way into the finish. But I I would say be careful if you're if you do wear those. Obviously, you're if you're spending a two or three hundred dollars on a pair of shoes, you you probably know what you're doing there, but uh you you can, you absolutely can, but it's silly per se.
SPEAKER_02I have one final question. Is Thaddeus registered?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Thad Lindsay and and NIE are both re are all three registered this year. They finished every single year. Um fantastic people. Lindsay's coming back. She moved to Colorado, so she's coming back for this. We have a couple people.
Finish Line Perks And Recovery Help
SPEAKER_00Uh Faust moved to North Carolina. Faust will be back for this. We will have Ruth's. Is he running? No, but we will have Ruth's Chris Sliders at the finish line again. Come on. Um, we're the only people that have that.
SPEAKER_01So talk to Mike Stevens. I believe he'll be talking about all the things down at the finish line.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, down at the finish line. So we will have Mike and Tyler uh both there. They're physical therapists. They'll be so in the past, we've had stretch lab, they've been a great partner, but they can be a little bit aggressive when it comes to marketing. And so we'd heard some negative feedback about, well, I signed up and got a free stretch. And of course, they have to do this. This is their business, this is how they survive. So we're not down talking stretch lab at all. They they offer a really phenomenal service um if it fits your budget. Um, but with Mike and Tyler have been phenomenal people. They were out at Prairie on Fire last year. They provide physical therapy to a large portion of our our contingent, which is something that becomes uh necessary really throughout a runner's life, uh or an athlete's life in general. And so they'll be there at the finish line helping people out, um, work out any of the kinks that they have after the race. We will have the sliders there. Uh Corey is planning a huge uh kind of a tent setup down there. Um, I think Mount Decoast may be on site with some different things. Uh we'll have some fuel there at the end. We're looking at creating a uh refueling station there. So kind of a uh, you know, we'll see, but kind of like a bar for with somebody serving kind of refueling drinks at the end, which could be kind of unique and kind of fun. So um are you are you running on that?
SPEAKER_01Uh I'm probably gonna run the first half. I would midnight, but then I'm not I'm gonna try and help unless unless there,
Training Baselines And Final Reminders
SPEAKER_01but yeah.
SPEAKER_00I know I would say that the one thing I want to like reinforce here is just you know, I said earlier about the 70 half marathons, do not be afraid of this race. Um, we will get you through it. We have uh a kid I want to call out Colin Howard this year, who's 16. Um, he'll be the first person. Uh Henry was our youngest last year at 18. Um Colin be running it this year at 16 years old. Uh, he'll be running with his mom, who is a monster and has done um prairie last year and will be going for epic things at the end of that this year. So uh a lot of really cool things happening.
SPEAKER_01And the cutoff time, very generous. Like for some people who are like, you know, gosh, I we have people that come in seven, seven and a half hours uh, you know, every year. It's it's just I don't know how to encourage people to not consider performance as a barrier.
SPEAKER_00No, and and we will we will um normally keep the finish line open um because we know what it takes to get there. We know what it takes to get if you're 28 miles down the you know, I think I I think in the past we've had our cutoff at like six and a half hours or something like that. And if you're 28 miles down the path at six and a half hours, like we're gonna keep it open. A guy that works for you guys was one of our last finishers, Rick Kane. He's phenomenal. Um, and and you know, made it through. Um, so like you know, we're gonna do everything we can to accommodate you and get you through it, and and uh we'll be there.
SPEAKER_02You know, uh just real quick base mileage, like I feel like you got to get at least to the 40s, and if you can get into the 50s, it's gonna be a really fun day. Um so for those of you that are considering it or maybe didn't sign up this year, creeping your miles up into the forties and and closer to the 50s as the race comes has been um last year really put me in a good position, and that's where I'm trying to get. Not probably where I was because I haven't been doing the heat training, but um I'm looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_01You said Tailwind, and what was the sponsor this year? This year's never second, so we'll have never second. Is there anything else? I mean, people who are people who are typically not putting stuff in their drinks or powders, is there any like others that are good or anything to like keep in mind or think about when you're trying to figure out how to how to do that if that's brand new for people?
SPEAKER_00No, I mean I would say you're you're sp most of the people like our elite elite guys are gonna be taking in a ton of carbs per hour, like 120 grams, I think is what Henry said he was doing the other day. Um and I think Mark's very, very similar. That's a ton of food. I would not uh attempt that. And most people don't need that because they're not they're not operating at that high of a level of of of effort. Um, but you know, you said, I mean, you know, we will have prep peanut butter pretzels and we will have, you know, candy and we will have chips and we will have the the never second drink mix at every aid station. We'll have some never second gels at every aid station. So um, you know, if you get to the aid stations on the hour or relatively close to that, you could probably survive from a fuel perspective off of what we have for you. But I would say find a drink mix that works for you. Again, you can find it at Athletic Annex, you can get whatever on the feed. Um, probably pretty late in the game because you'll hear probably be hearing this within within a week to 10 days prior to the race. Um but I would I would recommend that and just just practice, you know, running it in effort where your body can digest food.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, great. And I I will also say during that, like when I take the food or the drink or whatever it is, my belly will slosh for a couple miles. Yeah, like and that's normal. You just kind of keep it together and then it'll start to digest, and then and you should always eat before you think you should. So I think we start at the 30 to 45 minutes of starting to take stuff and then staying consistent, even when you don't feel like you're hungry because you don't want to get behind.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, I last thing I would say is just as if you are participating in this, thank the volunteers as you're going through. They've honestly made this race what it is. The the run clubs have done an unbelievable job with the aid stations, as you'll see. People behind the scenes. Obviously, you know, TJ's doing an unbelievable amount, but Christy D does insane amount and keeps us organized throughout the year. She's always texting and organizing. Corey obviously does a ton. Uh Angie, uh, Angela, like there's just uh Dakota, uh Keegan, John Keegan. Yeah, he's he's played Faust. Um, there's just a there it's it's crazy because even at a obviously this is this year. Ricardo, yeah. Is Ricardo gonna run?
SPEAKER_00No, he'll be helping.
SPEAKER_01Grandma, uh yeah, I mean Wendy, yeah. Wendy. Uh, there's just there's an unbelievable amount of people. The amount of coordination it takes to do a point-to-point race like this and do it well. Uh, there's just a lot of people that are devoting a lot of time and energy months prior to the race. So shout out to them. It's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
Why Full Mo Is A Great First 50K
SPEAKER_02Well, if you can't tell, we're really excited. These are fun podcasts. Uh, we do, we normally do one um for prairie as well before that. But uh TJ's built an incredible race, incredible culture. Um, not only does he bring that intentionality, I think a lot of the aid stations embody intentionality because they make it their own little party. Uh, you've never experienced anything like it. I tell I've been telling everybody if you're gonna do your first 50k, you should do the full mow. It's slightly downhill. Generally, the weather is somewhat forgiving, um, depending on we may have started at 5 a.m. if it keeps going.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be, it looks like the 15 day, we know you can't trust a 15 day, it's like high of 82 and low of 60. So it was since we start at 6 a.m., you know, it probably won't get rough until about 11. Yeah, until like, you know, towards the end of the race for most people. So if you stay ahead of it, stay hydrated. If it was going to be in the 90s, like it was the very first year, I think got to 95, that's when it gets kind of ugly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So excited to see you guys out there and look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks.