OnPace Podcast

Today Carrie Millerller and I welcome 1/6 of the Berens children to the latest On Pace Podcast as On Pace Run Coaching, LLC client Maggie Berens who was our guest in the second week of this series is back along with her brother, Charlie Berens. I'll paraphrase the story as best I can: a few years back, Charlie and a buddy or two decided to throw one of his dad's old hunting jackets on Charlie and pay tribute to some characteristics of a hard core Wisconsinite. They filmed a video, thought maybe a few people might get a kick out of the Manitowoc Minute and lo and beyond, a few years later he has over a million followers and is a household name around these parts. Beyond being hilarious, Charlie's driven to give back. One of the Manitowoc Minute's consistent charitable channels over time has been veterans and active military and with this weekend's final race in the Happy Space. Virtual Race Series, we travel to Dubuque, Iowa where we partake in Run4Troops. Started over a decade ago by the Hodge family, this race takes all profits and contributes them right back to those in the armed forces, last year generating over $50,000. Whatever we collect this week will go to the VFW of Wisconsin and we appreciate the chance to Keep 'er Movin to our finish line with Charlie and Maggie today.

Welcome to another OnPace Podcast! Today, Carrie Miller and I sit with Brandon and Callie Meisner, owners of the wellness company MOVE Fitness Studio. MOVE had opened their doors in November of 2018 and over the next 18 months had built a community that hit the nail right on the head. Everything Brandon and Callie wanted to accomplish was happening and, in fact, through 15 hours days/nights, in March 2020 they were about to realize their first profitable month. And then, stay-at-home, COVID, quarantine hit and their life and business was upside down. So much so that on May 19, they had to say goodbye to their business and this particular dream and shut it down. Callie and Brandon are tough cookies. Hard workers. Great athletes. Relationship focused. And natural leaders. This unfortunate turn of business events was some yucky lemons but they are going to make lemonade, maybe not today but in the future, as their attitude remains upbeat and their drive is unmistakable.

Welcome to another edition of the OnPace Podcast! Tonight we welcome back John Mortimer of Millennium Running. When the Citizens Bank Shamrock Half and Relay was cancelled in mid March for their March 29 event, we were super bummed! On Pace stars Sara Carter and Avi Kelley were set to lead the team and they were set to have quite the killer crew as we were prepared to embark on our second race in Manchester, NH. Since then? Millenium Running has gone straight up awesome trying to figure out new ways to engage their community and keep things moving. From the beginning of CoVid until now, they have done just that. John and his staff are extremely entrepreneurial and innovative in the running space and he shares some of the ways they have shifted gears with us tonight! I neglected to mention in our podcast our charity partner for this week is Holly Blanchard and the team at Children's Hospital of Dartmouth. I got to spend some time with Holly this morning and this dynamic woman will be joining us on Saturday at noon for the Zoom call. See you then and THANKS, John and Millenium!

Welcome to On Pace's latest podcast with co-host Carrie Miller and our guests Jill Steffek and Mike Steffek. As you'll find out in the cast, these two roadrunners became lovebirds after being introduced in 2012. What started off as a potential coach-student relationship never really developed into that. Instead a couple years later it was husband-and-wife and now it's their calling to be a kickin' Mom-and-Dad. Along the way it did eventually turn into coach-student - shaving an hour off a PR in the process - but for us, very gratefully, they eventually put less burden on themselves and became OnPacers. These two have paced the same races, independently paced and likely at some point will pace together. And every time we see them, we find people who embody everything On Pace tries to respresent - we are so grateful to have them a part of our community! The Steffeks reside in Appleton, Wisconsin, home to Dutrirun's 10 mile St. Patty's Day extravaganza and we are honored to hear some of their story and share it with you tonight. #onpace #happypacehappyrace #happyspacevirtualrace

Tonight we welcome Prevea Health's, Mike Lamere to On Pace's latest podcast. In the spirit of this week's hometown (to On Pace) race the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon! Beyond being an all around great guy, Mike brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the sport medicine world that is so fantastic for our community in Northeastern Wisconsin. His past includes a five-year stint with the Chicago Cubbies and his knowledge brings him to all the major sporting events that have come to this area. Since moving back to his hometown of Green Bay with his wife and two children in the early 2000's, the last two decades this time of year Mike has spent his time preparing the various teams for the Cellcom runners and all the different scenarios that might cross their path in a day. In addition, Mike coordinates the Prevea Training Runs and works closely with Carrie Miller to ensure these Saturday's leading up to race day build community and confidence on the runner's path to meeting their goals. #onpace #happypacehappyrace

Tonight we welcome Rick Wilson from Blue Raven Productions: Wisconsin Race Management to our On Pace Podcast. Rick by day is the President of Pukall Lumber, one of the larger employers in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, but his passions lie in the energy of race day! What started over a decade ago by getting involved with forming Tortoise and The Hare Timing has shifted over time to Blue Raven and event management. Through stout negotiations with his wife, Rick is no longer managing so many timing gigs and down to managing five events a year including the No Frills Marathon held around Labor Day every Summer. With our connection through the Happy Space. Virtual Race. Series to the Northern part of Wisconsin this weekend at Journeys Marathon 2019 Live Journeys Marathon, Powerwalk in Minocqua's neighboring town Eagle River, we had the chance to sit down with Rick and hear a little more about him, his companies and event management in the near future which - GASP! - it appears will NOT be affected by COVID and the race will go on! Details on the social distancing, race day precautions, etc will be figured out by Rick and his crew but MARK YOUR CALENDAR for Paws on the Run 5k on June 20 if you want to bring your favorite puppy, tie up your shoes and toe the line! Best of luck at Eagle River this weekend, On Pace, see you Saturday at the Zoom noon call! #onpace #happypacehappyrace #happyspacevirtualrace

When Carrie Miller and I first met Maggie Berens, she was a 19-year old sophomore at St. Norbert College. In a pre-OnPace life, Carrie and I both played college tennis and then for 16 years coached it and that's how we came to meet Maggie. Mags didn't say too much for those first couple days of tryouts, minding her P's and Q's and working her tail off. When I called her to tell her she made the team, she wanted to hang up on me so fast - like as soon as she heard the news - so she could call her Mom, Molly, and share that she was a Green Knight. The woman is one of 12 kids - YES, 12 - and Mags love for her family and by her family is something Carrie and I always looked up to. Anyway, she was a joy to work with for those three years on the tennis team. If you ever see pics of our kids on here, it'll date how long ago it was as the little man in the team picture that Maria Ann is holding is not Miles, our youngest, but Aaron (our middle child, now 8.75 years) at about four months old. Just to honor the entire 2011 team appropriately, Ariel, Nancy, Laura, Britty, etc are all pictured (TY, I'll tag them all after you post) - and it was one of our most fun teams ever. So, why the Marge for this podcast? So many reasons, really. First, Marge lives in Milwaukee! Which is darn close to Kenosha, Wisconsin, home to the Wisconsin Marathon where we will all be "running" this weekend. I asked Peg for some guidance on a local business that might be able to benefit from some help from OnPace given the CoVid situation we're in and she quickly came up with Chet Andrew Grant and Melissa Doring's business Nutrition Revolution. Beyond that - and other than we tried to convince Peg to not leave Green Bay after she graduated in 2014 but rather stick around and help us as coaches - Maggie's energy is infectious. About six months ago, Carrie told me, "You know who would be a great pacer? Maggie Berens." I kinda bristled a little! If you listen to the podcast, you'll hear why. At one point, I may have challenged Marge, who was bringing up the rear on a team two-mile warm up run, by saying she SOUNDED (not looked like) an overweight beagle. With that still this many years later in my memory banks, I wondered how she would do with 13.1 miles. Well, Carrie and OnPace Coaching took Maggie under their wings, and less than six months later, she is a half marathoner finishing the Milwaukee Marathon (virtually) in 2:13 last month. She's got more racing to do and, eventually, pacing. As we "travel" from city to city in this Series, we want to try and get as close to where we wish we were running as possible. So, if you're up for a podcast, or know a business that needs a little boost in this tough time, send me a message. We're all connected through running. Sometimes, the path to connect wasn't originated by miles and miles on our Saucony's. Sometimes, it was through Oshkosh, or in this case, yellow fuzzy balls. As we continue to grow On Pace, it's awesome to look back and see how all these people have come to know each other, from all places and walks of life. #onpace #happypacehappyrace #happyspacevirtualrace

Tonight, we are pumped to bring out some SERIOUS Boston Strong on what would have been the day of the 124th running of the Boston Marathon. Among the runners on this podcast, there have been 24 Bostons - and would have been 28 by the time this airs had CoVid not reared its head! With Carrie Miller (9), Reggie Thomas (8), Stephanie Kliethermes (5) and me (2), the crew recaps some of their favorite gear, years, parts of the course and reasons that Boston stands alone as a city that has its very own Q that runners across the globe shoot to beat. Based on some FB posts by other On Pacers, we know Jessica Rein, Kim Marchand, Jeannie Marchand, Kathy Derks, Debra Townsend and Chelsea Williams hearts were in New England this morning as well. This week starts the happy space. virtual race. Series and the sign up sheet went out earlier today. No cost to enter, we are just doing our part to kick an active lifestyle up a notch given our hunkered down world. Let's get 13.1 miles on our shoes this week "in Oshkosh, Wisconsin" and then join us on Saturday at noon on our first Zoom call where we talk about Garden to Doorstep Organics. Rocking it with our sponsor Nicolet National Bank, we are eager to do a little to help this awesome Oshkosh family business through this challenging time. #onpace #happypacehappyrace #happyspacevirtualrace

Hello running community! The question has come up over and over in the last month - what can On Pace do to help bridge the gap between the "old" normal and the proverbial "new normal"? Well, we gave it a lot of thought. A LOT. And tonight, On Pace founder Carrie Miller provides the answer in an interview with Paul Miller. The answer lies the Happy Space. Virtual Race series! In conjunction with our incredible sponsor Nicolet Bank, all our intended efforts are multifaceted. We aim to help keep an active lifestyle in this stay-at-home time, we want to continue to build this awesome On Pace community, we want to promote races that have been cancelled or made virtual that On Pace would have paced, and we want support those most adversely affected by the COVID pandemic. Hear more about it on this podcast and there will be updates and more communications in the upcoming days before our first event day on Saturday, April 25th. Get ready to lace up the shoes, team! Let's make this happen! #happyspacevirtualrace

Today we are soooo pumped to sit with John Mortimer from Millennium Running. In 1999 when John and his buddies were wet behind the ears and serious badass collegiate runners, they decided to embark on setting up the Millennium Mile to celebrate through running Y2K and the likely demise of the world. Well, the world didn't end and out of the lack of ashes was formed a vision that would keep John in the running world beyond his college years and immense talent. Fast forward 20 years and Millennium Running now puts on 27 events, owns a timing company which supports over 100 races, owns a retail run-focused activewear store yet still found time to come to *Stark Brewing* and have a couple beers when On Pace came to the *Manchester Marathon* to partner with the team at Millennium Running the first time last November. Since then? We are locked and loaded as Millennium's partner most notably this weekend at Run Clearwater, but also in upcoming events in March, October and likely some more things that John & Co will cook up as time goes on. Such a great guy to rap with - THANK YOU, John, we're soooo jazzed about the partnership with your awesome company!! *happypacehappyrace*

Happy 2020, On Pace!! What a blessed year we had in 2019 and what an awesome outlook we have for 2020! We are grateful for all the experiences, all the relationships and all the fun from this past year. Speaking of relationships from this past year, we'd like to introduce you to Catalina Costache. We met Catalina at Millenium Running's event the Manchester Marathon in November. This little spitfire from Romania was a ball of energy, literally hopping around the expo trying to keep her excitement for her first half marathon in check. There was just something about her amazing attitude that permeated to others and really captured the essence of our first experience with John Mortimer's rocking company. In the aftermath of the race, Catalina wrote OnPace and shared she had a life-changing experience in Manchester on that awesome day. Not just "in the moment" either - in the lead up to the race, during the race itself and in the aftermath of the race, she has noted a fundamental change in how she attacks life and recognizes the world around her. It was such a pleasure sitting down with Catalina to hear her story and thought on this philosophical change in life she has experienced through running. To our community at OnPace, again WELCOME TO 2020 and let's get after having the best year ever!

WE'RE BACK! This week on the OnPace Podcast, we're catching up on the last few weeks of pacing action! Mandi Heidebrink Wilke talks about the Snowdrop Foundation WI, and how a group of pacers took on 24 straight hours of running to help raise money for pediatric cancer, including her daughter! For every mile a pacer ran, more money was donated to help kids and their families. Mandi even mentions a couple that were each running all 24 hours! Paul Miller dives into the Manchester City Marathon put on by the fantastic folks at Millennium Running. OnPace might have found some new BFF's out on the east coast! Millennium put on a fantastic race in Manchester City on a beautiful New England race day, and our smaller-than normal team of pacers killed it (per usual). #happypacehappyrace

At what intersection does a 40-branch bank and a pacing community meet? When the end goal is to make it about others and boils down to one word: Relationship. Meet Jeff Gahnz, marketing whiz at Green Bay-based Nicolet Bank, and an early adopted of supporting On Pace. When Jeff got a call asking if Nicolet would sponsor On Pace before the 2017 Wausau Marathon, about "37 seconds" into the presentation he said YES. From that one race in Wausau, our relationship has coalesced to 10 races throughout Wisconsin in communities where Nicolet has a branch presence. Gahnz, an admitted non-runner, believes in the mission of On Pace. Of the five core values of Nicolet Bank - Be Real, Be Personable, Be Responsive, Be Entrepreneurial, and Be Memorable - Gahnz shares his thoughts on how OnPacers align with Nicolet's value system and what makes this partnership so right. #happypacehappyrace

We're switching things up a little bit this week, as Mandi Wilke hosts episode 13 and chats with OnPacer and all-star sweeper, Esther Sherman! A sweeper is, as Esther describes it, someone who finishes last on purpose and with a purpose. Esther is famous for pacing with a pack that includes just about anything a runner might need to finish a marathon. She is determined to remove all the obstacles for the people she's running with, in order to help them finish what they set out to do. Esther's evolution to becoming a sweeper was catalyzed by an experience she had running a marathon of her own. Certain she wasn't going to finish that race, the only thing that kept her going was a man who stayed back to run with her. The accountability, support and belonging she felt finishing that race with someone made her realize that there are other people out there who could find motivation in similar support. Ester's perspective and experience is invaluable to the OnPace community, as she highlights the feelings, fears and needs of runners that might fall closer to the back of the pack. Her determination to create a running community of greater belonging and support pushes all of us to be better OnPacers, and we're so lucky to have her as a part of the OnPace family! #happypacehappyrace

Chicago native turned Northeast Wisconsinite Tim Kowols joins us this week for his first podcast. Tim has been with us since the beginning, debuting in OnPace's first event ever at the 2017 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon and never slowing down since. In fact, Tim may just be getting faster! Although well on his way to completing his first board (after this year's Noodleini he will have his 12th and final magnet for his first board), Tim found time this summer to train for the 2019 Chicago Marathon. Hear about the Dr. Jecklyl / Mr. Hyde that we experienced at Chicago and how this nice young man became an absolute beast on the course en route to a 2:46, his second fastest time in his life. Thank you for joining us, Tim, for this podcast and for all the races you pace! We are so thankful for all you do! #happypacehappyrace

Who runs their first marathon at age 54? And then who runs minimally one every month thereafter for what projects to be 50 months so he can cover all 50 states? The answer: Hershey, Pennsylvania man Anthony Fitzgibbons. Tony met Mandi Wilke and Carrie Miller at the Wausau Marathon Expo in mid August and they asked him if he'd ever run with a pace team before. Tony's response? No, but sounds cool! The next day, Tony, Mike Hennin, Ken Fattmann and Paul Miller started out as the 5:00 team and it was friendship at first step. For five hours, Tony story told his way through the likes of Wausau, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, Schofield, Weston and Rothschild in completing his 24th state. Since then, he's knocked out Montana. But it was when Tony got a call from Ken and Paul that he showed how into this he is. Although only a week removed from running Big Sky, Tony agreed to come out to run with Ken and Paul at Community First Fox Cities in the 5:30 age group. After a last minute pacer injury? Tony agreed to become an OnPacer. Here how that turns out as we sit with Tony as he shares some of his story.

We introduced you to her yesterday, but meet Lisa Loughran! We met Lisa in Cape Cod this year at the ZOOMA Women's Race Series where she was celebrating her 50th birthday with some girlfriends. Lisa's birthday was actually on the 1st (Happy Belated Birthday)! When Carrie Miller and Lisa first met, she had mentioned that she wanted to finish the race in 1:55 (which was Carrie's pace time). They ran nearly the whole race together until Carrie kicked her forward at the very end! Running with a group of 15, Lisa got to talking and by mile 4 asked if she could share an inspirational story. She told the group about TeamNora, which was started for a young mom in Upstate, NY who battled with colon cancer and who Lisa actually didn't know all too well. However, being the wonderful person that she is, Lisa still felt inclined to help; driven by the saying "Do small things with great love." Nora unfortunately didn't have much time, as her cancer was only found at Stage 4, but Lisa knew her long enough to know that Nora lived by her same montra "Do small things with great love." Team Nora launched in honor of Nora's legacy, and on TeamNora.net the community helps any family in their area that needs assistance driving to appointments, house cleaning, preparing meals and countless other small acts of kindness. Team Nora is locally funded and is run by Nora's widower Ed. Lisa's kindness doesn't stop here. She also is a part of three different charity runs in her area including; Gold For Mac, TeamNora and Roger's Run (rogersrun4amc.com) which is held for Lisa's son Roger who was born with a physical ailment called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC). Within 2 minutes of hearing Lisa's story, we knew we wanted to help in supporting Team Nora and all of the great things it does for the community. Thank you Lisa so much for sharing your story! We know it wasn't a coincidence that our paths crossed! #happypacehappyrace

In the wake of OnPace's fearless leader Carrie Miller dominating our Social Media Director Mandi Heidebrink Wilke by a final score of 7-4 on their way to the Bismarck Marathon in BISMARCK Trivia, we sat down with another Bismarck pacer and marathon legend Ken Fattmann. Fattmann - YES, DON'T TRY AND GET CUTE THAT'S HOW YOU SAY HIS NAME HE'S HAD IT HIS WHOLE LIFE HE'S FINE WITH IT IT'S GROWN ON HIM LIKE CRAWFORD'S MOLE - first takes us through a weekend in the life of a man who doesn't ever stop. For Ken, whether he's racing or pacing - alone or with his world-record holding son Calix - Ken can be found on a course somewhere. In his 60's now, Ken dominated his first marathon in 1980 and then proceeded to go on quite the lengthy recovery. By the time he went back for Marathon #2, he was 28 years older than his first. That was 11 years - and 491 and counting - marathons ago. Ken is a wonderful OnPacer, selfless, smart, caring and a great mentor - not only to the racers on the course but as someone who had the pleasure to pace with Ken at the Wausau Marathon in August, a truly giving man who in a mere five hours, taught me so much about the science behind pacing. Thank you, Ken, and we look forward to seeing you at a race again soon! #happypacehappyrace

Welcome to our 8th podcast for OnPace! Carrie Miller and Mandi Heidebrink Wilke are known for their pacing prowess but today it is a battle of their brains as they train for the “Bismarck” part of the Bismarck Marathon. Top 10 questions you may never hear again about this killer part of the country we get to run around and through on Saturday! Special shout out to Nature's Way Brands for sponsoring OnPace at this awesome event and Dustin Erhardt - the fearless leader of this race - for inviting us to play in your great community event! Watch to the podcast here on our Facebook page!

On this seventh On Pace Podcast we sit with David Reich, a district judge in Bismarck, North Dakota who in 2014 started a local organization called RADD, which stands for Runners Against Destructive Decisions. Dave had seen the revolving door of an addicted lifestyle for years where the addiction ends in handcuffs. Following their arrest, the addicts would come in his courtroom, go through the process of conviction, go to jail or probation, get out and then start the cycle over again. Inspired by a woman out of Fargo named Leane Guerrero LeFrance who had started something similar called Radical Recovery, Dave started RADD to build community through running in hopes to create healthy lifestyle choices and change the behavioral patterns he was seeing. Five years later and RADD is going strong! Dave talks of one of his first members named Jack who worked his way to a 5k, then a 10k, then a half marathon and now will be setting off for Ecuador for his first marathon in October as part of the RADD team, along with Dave and another community like RADD from Los Angeles called the Skid Row Running Club. It's these kind of stories that get us all jacked up as we prepare to take on the Bismarck Marathon. We have Grateful Runners here in Northeastern Wisconsin, they have RADD. At the end, we weave these threads and connect these lives and communities through the simple process of one foot in front of the other until we finish what we started. Thanks, Dave, for your time tonight and what you give to the Bismarck running community and RADD members! #happypacehappyrace

After an incredible weekend at ReThink Addiction by Dutrirun, Carrie and the ladies prepare to embark on Lake Delavan for the Zooma - Great Lakes Half Marathon for our second visit to this great race. The week after that, though, Carrie and I break up with her heading West as I tackle the Community First Fox Cities Marathon. Carrie and a small band of NE Wisco-ers will be headed to beautiful Bismarck, North Dakota where OnPace will connect with a number of different runners from Minnesota and North Dakota as we are involved with helping the Bismarck Marathon and Half Marathon. The Race Director, Dustin Erhardt, has been so stinkin' cool to work with and we're full of gratitude for the chance to help out this great race in this neat little city. We didn't make a call to Dustin but were introduced by our Little Leprechaun pacing powerhouse from Chicago, Bob Strauss, so when Dustin called, we took the chance to skip Minnesota and expand right over to North Dakota! Because of the various charities that the Bismarck Marathon supports, we found there to be great symmetry with the recently completed ReThink Addiction run. One of the main charities is the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch which fosters a safe place for children coming from abusive backgrounds to recover, which often includes drug and alcohol addictions. Tonight we hear from Julie Bosch, one of the leaders of Team Kaizen out of Bismarck, who has played a large part over the last seven years in recovery and/or prevention for at-risk kids. Kaizen means "good change" and the group turns to running to keep kids surrounded by a healthy community. Many times, these kids in Team Kaizen have ties or will have future ties to Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch as they try and stay on a straight path in their formative years. Julie speaks passionately about her role and the organization and the 200+ kids they have had through the program since it began. Many thanks to Julie for sharing your story!

Welcome to OnPace’s 5th podcast in our series leading up to Dutrirun's Rethink Addiction Run which will be held on Sept 7 in Oshkosh. I got to meet Scott J. Bartels through Carrie Miller because he hired OnPace Coaching to propel his running ambitions forward. But what about before his running ambitions brought us together? What was that Scott like? The answer: very, very different. After serving our country for over 20 years including a couple of stints in Afghanistan, Scott retired and came back full time to civilian life. The challenge for Scott was he struggled to find purpose in his job and life and started abusing alcohol to fill a number of voids. Scott shares his story in this weeks podcast, recognizing alcohol had overtaken his life and he turned his attention to running to help overcome his drinking addiction. Today, Scott is a different man - confident, determined and purpose-driven and we appreciate his honesty in this all too common battle many face. Scott will be with OnPace at the event leading the 8:00 minute/mile team in the 5k.

WARNING: age appropriate content included on this podcast. We just don’t ever know someone’s story until we hear them tell it. Chris, like Senora P. Meyer, Tate Whitlinger, Juan De La Cruz and the rest of the Grateful Runners, all have a story. Their challenges and struggles are all so real to me, and they worked or are working their tails off to overcome. Just like we are all trying to overcome something in our life. This group? It’s drugs and alcohol addiction. You and me and your neighbor and the kid at school and that co-worker? Maybe they have the same addiction...but maybe theirs is something totally different. Likely most of us are fighting some ghosts in the closet. Because it’s life. It’s tough. But the fight is worth it and that’s why we persevere. And we can relate. Maybe not to being in jail like Chris, but fighting to get past our trouble and get ourselves into a more joyful state of mind. On Sept. 7 in Oshkosh, Dutrirun will host a 5k/10k race called Rethink Addiction, calling awareness to drug and alcohol addiction. We sure would love to see you all there. So, too, would the community that attends this event. Chris is no longer a story. He’s a real person who has suffered, hurt himself and others, is remorseful, and is trying to make something out of the hopefully long and cleaner life ahead of him. I’m encouraged by Chris and using Tate’s phrase Grateful - extremely grateful - that our paths have crossed. I see Chris as another brother in Life’s family of which we are all entwined. Along with Carrie Miller, we look forward to seeing you all in two weeks at the event in Oshkosh. We appreciate our sponsor, Nicolet Bank, for their endless support of what we do at OnPace.

When you have a loving husband, raise three healthy babies, a faithful upbringing that you’ve passed onto your kids, how does it feel when one loses the way? Do you turn your back? Do you even recognize he’s lost his way? On our third podcast we talk with Paula Meyer, a long time OnPacer, who has had just that happen with her son, Christopher. From an early age, Chris turned to a life of drugs that, by junior year in high school, had became an addiction. Chris is battling to get through the addiction now and has turned a corner in a positive way. Hear Paula’s story - the good, the bad and the ugly - about being a mother to an addicted son. All of these podcasts continue to be shared in anticipation of the Rethink Addiction Run on Sept. 7 put on by Dutrirun and Gloria West where we are sponsored by community leader Nicolet Bank. If you know someone who is suffering from similar things to what you are hearing in these podcasts, think about signing up for the 5k and walking it. I have a feeling the community that will be present on that day will embrace whoever attends at whatever stage they are at and there will be a lot of relatable stories. At OnPace, we feel honored to be part of this and help get the word out about this important event and rightful cause.

Welcome back to our 2nd On Pace Podcast! We had an awesome response from the community to last week's post and this week's is in the same vein! In talking with Juan De La Cruz, I met a man who had a genuine smile on his face. Although he "hit rock bottom" three years ago and there was no smiles to be found, since then he has recovered to not only forgive himself for past actions but to love the life he's living and the person he is. Juan is a testament to what Tate Whitlinger is trying to accomplish with Grateful Runners. With a chapter in Las Vegas and now two Grateful Runners chapters in Wisconsin, Juan is helping spur the Grateful Runner mission. Which is - in my own words - whatever we have done, wherever we have been, if we don't like it - we CAN overcome and there are those around who are eager to pitch in and help. In capturing a little of the favorite prayer of Carrie Miller, first is recognizing what we can control and what we can't. And when we realize that our choices are driving our negative results, we can often adjust. Doesn't mean it'll be easy. For Juan, it took a number of tries at kicking addictive habits to finally move forward. But IT CAN HAPPEN. A run like Dutrirun's Rethink Addiction is not your typical event. For most, this community event is not about how fast they crossed the finish line. It's that they crossed the finish line. OnPace's partner in this event, Nicolet Bank, remains an incredible support for us as we continue to extend our mission of building a running community to lift events just like this. On a personal note, Gloria West has been an amazing partner to OnPace over the last two years. Gloria, who directs this race, lost a son years ago to an overdose and her passion for the cause of this race is admirable. We are humbled to help however we can. Juan! You're a star! Taking a page out of your book, we're GRATEFUL that you are going to become an OnPacer! Who wouldn't want to follow your joyful attitude around for seven miles on Sept. 7 at 12 minutes/mile. I have a feeling those who finish with you will feel the same way, my man!

Tate Whitlinger from Grateful Runners joins host, Paul Miller, on our first ever OnPace Race Podcast. We hear a bit about Tate's journey to overcome a multi-decade long battle with drug and alcohol addiction through the integration of running. As part of his healing process, Tate led the formation of Grateful Runners and now leads that chapter out of Appleton. Grateful Runners encourages community members fighting through addictions to bring running into their recovery process. In conjunction with DuTriRun's event ReThink Addiction on Sept. 7 in Oshkosh, Tate will become an OnPacer and members of his chapter will be on the course for this race that brings awareness to those fighting addictions in their lives.