E72: Talk about Running Safe and Sound with Dena Lewis from Running Mate

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I am joined by Dena Lewis, who shared insights about her innovative app, Running Mate. They discussed the app's purpose of providing verified running partners to ensure safety, inspired by Dena's personal experiences of harassment while running. The conversation covered the app's launch in cities like Austin and its upcoming launch in Tampa, the cost structure, and its safety features including background checks for all users. They also touched on community building, positive user feedback, and future plans for expanding services and partnerships. Dena highlighted the app's goal of fostering a safe, connected, and health-conscious running community.

Dena Lewis is the founder and CEO of Running Mate. After experiencing two assaults while running, she embarked on a mission to provide a safer running experience, leading to the creation of Running Mate. This run-share app offers real-time, on-demand, and verified safe running "mates" whenever a runner needs them. Both runners and mates undergo thorough background checks to ensure safety, and mates are compensated for their services.

Dena's health tips emphasize the importance of rest days and sleep management. As a long-distance and ultra-marathon runner, she runs six days a week, pushing her body to its limits. To avoid injury, she incorporates rest days, foam-rolling, YouTube yoga classes, and naps when necessary. She highlights that the body recovers during sleep, which is crucial for muscle recuperation and stress reduction. Without adequate sleep and rest, she finds herself lacking the energy to run and feeling stressed.

Running Mate can be found online at getrunningmate.com and on social media under @getrunningmate on Facebook and Instagram. Dena can be reached directly at dena@getrunningmate.com. Information Page with direct links to all their social media channels is available as well.

0:28 Introduction to Dena Lewis and Running Mate
1:04 Background and Inspiration
4:47 Why Tampa
7:08 Launch and Beta Testing
8:54 Cost and Usage
10:12 Safety and Features
14:27 Community and Feedback
19:10 Future Goals
21:21 How to Get Involved
22:00 Closing Remarks

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Transcript

Kerry: 0:28

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have a very special guest, Dena Lewis. Welcome to the podcast.

Dena: 0:39

Thank you. It's great to be here.

Kerry: 0:41

Now, I was just telling you before that typically, you know, I'm interviewing other doctors about a medical topic, but today we have something super interesting that is going to be welcoming to our whole Tampa Bay community. So I'm excited to hear about what you have in store for us and who you are and You know, how did it all come about? So if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself and saying hi to everybody.

Dena: 1:04

Yeah, definitely. So I'm Dena Lewis, and our paths do cross a little bit. I spent 15 years in medical device space in and around the Tampa area. So Tampa, Orlando, kind of that corridor in Florida was where I started my journey. Industry took me to Texas. And then back to Florida I'm up in the panhandle area, but through the course of all of this, I've been a runner. So for over 20 years, I've been a runner and about 10 years ago, I became a long distance runner. So I started running ultras about 10 years ago. Loved everything about it. It just was, for me, it was kind of my stress relief. Especially during COVID, when I was still in the operating room and the rest of the world was on lockdown, things got even, you know, more intricate and involved in the healthcare space. But the journey I'm on now with Running Mate is because in the course of my 20 years like a lot of women, a lot of female runners, I've been harassed multiple times, but I've actually been assaulted twice. So, I realized that Other than letting my family know where I was or carrying maybe a mace or a whistle or something like that, I just didn't really find a lot of proactive approaches to try to help keep myself safe. And at the end of the day, as much as I love to run it was more important for me to come home to my family. So I started RunningMate about three years ago. It was during a run that I thought to myself, you know, I would literally pay someone to run with me right now. And why don't we have something like that? Other than, you know, running groups or going to a gym. Those are kind of our options. But for me, being outside is part of the health and well being of why I do it. Why I enjoy running so much is because I like being outdoors. I like being outdoors. And so RunningMate is a real time, on demand app, and we match verified safe mates with runners when the runner is ready to go. So the easiest way to think of it is we're Uber for runners. So we background check mates and runners. Everyone on our platform has to be background checked. And then you get matched up with the mate based on your skills and abilities. You get to choose who you run with, and the mates make a little money on the side. So it's kind of a win win for everybody.

Kerry: 3:19

Yeah, that's super cool and interesting. And I should share. I run as well. And I never really wanted to call myself a runner cause I'm not very fast, but I've been running for a very long time as well. Who knows how many years, but I remember also, you know, definitely being harassed, definitely verbally, right. And in Baltimore, I also remember being thrown quarters at by kids and things like that. And it didn't feel very good and actually I think rocks too, but I haven't been assaulted, but I've definitely been having that fear of it too. And I think every Christmas, my mom is always providing me things that I could carry, you know, like the mace and things like that. And I often used to carry a key in a certain way, just in case something happened always that fear. And, you know, sometimes I run early because I'm avoiding the sun on purpose, right? Because, you know, Florida's skin and everything too. So. I mean, I can see where this is so helpful and can really give that like a security, right, you can feel relaxation when you're running, like, that's the kind of the point of doing it right to release that stress. And you don't want to be having more stress when you're running. So I really, you know, commend you for creating this. I think it's wonderful. And. I asked you earlier, you know, why, why Tampa? I mean, I can kind of see why now, but what's particularly because you're launching a product. I know Tampa is a good place to start a business, but why, why do you pick Tampa for launching running mate?

Dena: 4:47

Yeah, so first of all, I'm sorry to hear about your experiences, because as I've been on this journey, the more women I've spoken to, the more women I realize have had some sort of incident occur, and the stats are pretty staggering. 92 percent of women are concerned for their safety. Adidas launched a whole campaign around it. So it is something we all live with. We just don't talk about it, I think, enough. And doing things like this brings awareness and it also allows women, I feel like, to talk more about it and understand that they're not alone on that. But to your question specifically, why Tampa? I mean, why not? Tampa's a beautiful city. It's growing at a very rapid pace. There's amazing running in Tampa. I run along the Bayshore area there quite a bit when I'm in town, but having lived in Florida and having worked in the Tampa area it's a very welcoming environment I think for outdoor exercise and fitness, there's a strong running presence. And a couple of the things we look for in our launch cities is where can we have a huge impact? Where people are willing to partner with us and we partner with running clubs specifically to bring these mates on board because with running clubs typically, they're running certain days of the week at certain times, and those people make great mates because they might want to run at 5 a. m. in the morning, but their running club is not meeting at that time. So, we look for areas that do have this strong running presence, but that's also close, you know, in proximity to the downtown area. Because again, that's where safety can a lot of times be a big issue for women, women who travel to the cities that don't know the area and they want to go for a run. They want to enjoy the city, but they just don't maybe feel safe. Alot of times, people who live in suburbs, they aren't going to utilize our service as much because they feel safe. They feel safe in their neighborhood. So major metropolitan cities with a strong running presence is where we're launching. And there's three of them so far, Austin, Boston, and Tampa, and we've had really good reception in all three markets as we're building those mate markets. And then of course, personally, I have a close personal connection to Tampa, so it's always good to be in a city where you know people and it feels like home.

Kerry: 7:02

Absolutely. Have you launched already in another city and how has been the community like outreach?

Dena: 7:08

So we have officially launched in Austin. We came out of beta testing this week, so the timing for this is perfect. We now are live. We are considered a live app, which means money is changing hands. People can go on the platform and look for mates to run with. One of the big things that's been important to me that the reason why I have stayed in beta testing as long as I have is because we want to make sure we have enough mates in a market to fit the need. So if I were to travel to Tampa, and I want to go for a run with somebody, I want women to be able to open that and see that there are people that they can actually run with. And we do give you the option and you get to choose who you run with. So if you think of Uber, you know, you say you need a car, a car shows up and you verify a license plate. With us, we actually show you all the mates that are in your area that are going to be about the same pace, distance, and some of the same characteristics that you may have entered in your profile. And then you get to choose who you run with. So the runner always has control of who their actual running mate is. And then the mate, on the other hand, also gets to decide whether or not they accept the run. So, we are launched in Austin. We have about 96 mates currently. We look for about 75 in a market before we go live in that market. And Tampa is a little bit short of that right now. So, we're looking for mates if anyone's interested in signing up. They can go on the app and create their profile and set themselves up now. So, we are looking for more mates in the Tampa market so that we can, in fact, fit that need.

Kerry: 8:49

So I'm sure some people want to know like, what is the cost of it?

Dena: 8:54

So, right now we're a pay as you use model. It's 25. No matter what distance you go, one miles to five miles is 25. And then if it's more than five miles, it's 35. The mates make a flat rate off of those runs. So the one to five mile, the mate makes 10 and anything above five miles, they make 15. Now we're in the process of putting together a class pass model that you can pay for, you know, X amount of runs up front. And it's going to obviously be a little bit more cost efficient than a pay as you use But we like doing the pay as you use because then people can use it one time and figure out, is this something we'd like, do we want to do, you know, like a package deal kind of thing? And also, we don't expect people to use this every single day. This is maybe a three to four time a month usage. For people in, especially in larger cities, if they're traveling. So that price point kind of is in a point that would be competitive with maybe a day pass to a gym or a yoga class or something like that.

Kerry: 9:59

Yeah, no, I like that. I like how other services do offer those kinds of day passes too. So that's a really good model to bring in. So are there any benefits to the runners and mates who participate other than, you know, the obvious?

Dena: 10:12

The biggest benefit is obviously the mates get paid which is great. The other really big benefit is since we are doing background checks on everybody on the platform, you know, that who you're running with is going to be safe. You also, like I said earlier, you have the ability, whenever a runner creates a run, on every run that they create, they choose their pace, their distance, and whether or not they're going to wear headphones, which sounds kind of crazy, but that's code word to the mate that they probably don't want to talk. They literally just need a body. They need someone to be there with them to make sure that they're safe. One of the other things we're doing is we're working on a situational awareness program with our mates. Where we're doing some situational awareness training because statistically when two or more people come together everyone's awareness drops which still puts you at risk. So we want our mates to at least be situationally aware so they know they can be looking for things that as the runner you might just naturally want to let your guard down because now you've got someone with you. So if at least the mate is aware of their surroundings and might be able to head off situation before it happens. Being with another person makes you safer but it still doesn't make you 100 percent safe.

Kerry: 11:23

Yeah, very true. Where does Running Mate, like, how do they do it? you said it's an app, like, you kind of download that, or how does that work?

Dena: 11:31

Right now we're on the app store. We will be on android. Hopefully here pretty soon. You can download the app. Yeah. We are on, on the app store. Android users, just stand by. We're we're coming. We're just not there yet. You go on the, on the app store. You download the app, you create your profile. There are a couple of things that I always like to tell people. You are gonna go through a background check. We are partnered with Checker, which is the world's largest background check provider. I did that intentionally because we don't want to be responsible for that data. I don't want to hold people's data. We don't want to know their information. So when you're on our platform, you are redirected to Checker's website and you fill out your information there. From there you get, it's a pass fail. We aren't looking for speeding tickets and things like that. What we're mostly concerned about is anyone that might have a criminal history that could put them at risk of being someone that would be safe to run with. And same for the runners, you know, initially we set out only looking to background check our mates. So our mates would be equivalent to like, say, an Uber driver. And then the runner would be equivalent maybe to the rider. We initially started out only looking to background check our mates. But realized very quickly, I myself am going to be a mate where I live. Because I know the area. I know how to navigate the area. I know where all the good running is. But I have to be concerned again as a woman who is gonna request me to run with them. And so I need to make sure that both parties are background checked so we can make sure that everyone is safe, our runners and our rebates. Once you get your approval, then you're ready to go. So basically you're just waiting for someone to Basically, hail you, so to speak like an Uber driver, and you can go for a run. If you're not within a 15 minute radius of where that person is, you won't show up as an available mate, which again, we're, we're focusing on kind of the city, downtown areas, which is great for people who live in apartment complexes. University students are, are great target markets. Anywhere where there's a densely populated area is, is where we see a lot of usage. Then, the mate gets notified, they accept the run, they come to the runner. So at no time does the runner need to leave where they are to meet up with the mate. Just like an Uber driver, the mate comes to you, they pick you up basically wherever you are, you go for your run, the app will track in real time, so you'll see yourself on a map, kind of like if you were in a car with Uber, you'll, you can see where you are, And then when the run is complete, the mate takes you back to where you started from. And you can leave a tip or review as the runner.

Kerry: 14:11

Nice.

Dena: 14:12

no money ever changes hands. Your credit card is on file. It gets charged. And then the mate makes their, their flat rate off of that run.

Kerry: 14:21

Have you had any feedback? Like I was inspirational from people that have used it elsewhere yet.

Dena: 14:27

Yeah. So what's been really great. We're building a community. I mean, for me, this is not about just developing an app and sticking it out there for people to use. The running community, first of all, is a very tight knit community and we're A part of that community. We want to be what people think about when the articles come out about someone being, you know, attacked or what can we do to keep ourselves safe besides carrying a mace and a whistle and notifying our family like we want running mate to be something that people think about as one of those offerings that they can utilize to help keep themselves safe. Some of the feedback we've gotten so far, which has been really great for me, is while I'm out there in the community running with people, because I've literally been Out there with these running groups as we've been building our May market, and I always have a story. Someone always comes up to me and tells me their story or tells me their situation and to hear them say, you know, we're so grateful you're here. We're so glad you're doing this. You know, we're glad that you're making this an issue. It is an issue. I tell people all the time when the headlines are gone. You know, after the Lake and Riley story, we heard about it in the news every day for a couple of weeks, and then the next thing happened, and now it's gone. When those headlines are gone, we still have to remember that it is always an issue for women every day when they wake up to go for a run. We are always thinking about this. We can't relax and enjoy our run the way we want to because we have all these other things we have to think about when we're running. So to hear from women that this is something they really find value in, that we can actually make a difference that's the best feedback we could ever get. And the nice part, is we're bringing people together. I mean, we've had some people in the Austin market that, I've become really good friends. They've, they've been new in the Austin area. They didn't have any, you know, any friends or anyone to connect with they were part of our beta test and now they've become really good friends, you know, so it's a good way to meet people especially if you're new in an area.

Kerry: 16:34

What do you think about do the males have any like issues or risk like anybody?

Dena: 16:39

Yeah. We see right now about 40 percent of our usage on the app is men, which was a higher number than we expected. A lot of men are signing up to be mates, and we love that because, you know, again, this is a good way for people to connect and meet. By no means are we saying men cannot be on our platform. What, where we see men utilizing our platform in a positive way is number one, they're signing up as mates. And they just want to be available to help. Number two a lot of men are signing up for, I've heard stories, men that travel to cities and they get lost. And they're, you know, they've got a meeting and they're late or they can't find their way back because they're lost. Or they just want a running buddy. They just want somebody to run with. Not everybody likes to run alone. So this has been a great platform for people, for men specifically, that they, they do. They just want a running buddy. They want someone to chat with or they want a tour guide. You know, they want someone who lives in that city that might know all the great landmarks to see when they're on a run. And they, you know, they hail a running mate and they get to run by things that they may not have seen otherwise.

Kerry: 17:44

You know what? That reminds me, I had the similar idea to this actually of like a running tour, like if someone visited the area but I never did anything with it clearly. But that's something because like when I go to like a conference or something or wherever I go, I'm trying to like see the area a little bit. And I think, you know, running is a great way to do that. So, you know, I was in a conference in New York last year, went for a run in the park, definitely got lost a little bit. So you know, ended up being a little longer than I intended. And then, you know, I'm going to another place soon. And I also plan on running, but you don't have running mate there. Otherwise I think it would have been a good

Dena: 18:21

Yeah.

Kerry: 18:22

Yeah, but that's

Dena: 18:24

of our target, this is one of our target markets actually is we've been working with some of the convention centers in certain cities and targeting some of the larger conferences that come into town because if we can provide a certain number of mates when that conference is in town for people to, exactly like you just said. If you want to get out and go for a run, it takes all the other things you have to think about. Am I going to be safe? Where am I going to run? Am I going to see anything interesting? You know, those things are all handled. You just have someone there available to, to do it with you.

Kerry: 18:55

Yeah. That's a great idea to be targeting like the big conference centers and things like that, because they could put it in there, you know, Oh, come to the conference and like a brochure or something like that too. So that's neat. Great. So any long term goals for running mate?

Dena: 19:10

yeah, so we are growing. We've just added a couple of ambassadors into our program, which is amazing. With these ambassadors, we're hoping to do some big partnerships with some of the larger companies. We're also hoping to do some integration with the app with some of the larger users out there. Then as from a growth perspective, we are looking already at RunningMate Pro, although we're not even fully launched with RunningMate. We want to do something called RunningMate Pro, which is where influencers, athletes, celebrities within certain cities that want to show people their city or go for a run or even a walk, that they can set their own rate. And people can pay to go tour the city with them. And then our goal is that we join with nonprofit. And if they want to donate a certain amount of proceeds. And then, at that point in time, running mate will match whatever proceeds that they donate to a charity of their liking. So that's that's 1 of the things we have coming down the pipeline probably within the next year to 2 years. And then we're looking at adding some other forms of exercise. So stay tuned. It's not just going to be running and walking. We're looking at adding some other things. Our goal, again, we, we're very specific in what we want to accomplish. Safety for all, not just women, but for everybody. Community. We want this to be a community type of app where people think about us and, and think about running, you know, together. It's all, all as one. And then at the end of the day we just want to do good. We want to make things safer for people. We want to get people out, get them exercising. Being outdoors and exercising, I mean, the statistics are, they're there. The stats are there to support how important it is for a healthy lifestyle to be outdoors doing things. And so, those are some of the main things we try to accomplish through Running Mate.

Kerry: 20:59

I love it. I think I was going to also say like, it's not just the running part, but for the exercise, right? It was also being outdoors and enjoying the environment, you know, and definitely improving overall health. So I'm all for it. I think it sounds great. Definitely, I guess, stay tuned on the additions that you were speaking of here. And is there anything else you'd like to add or share?

Dena: 21:21

Yeah, if anyone's interested, you can go to our website, which is GetRunningMate. com. There are submission forms there to sign up as a mate or a runner. Again, we're still a little short in Tampa, so the quicker people sign up the quicker we can launch live in, in Tampa. You can follow us on social media. All of our social media is at GetRunningMate. And send us a message. I mean, again, it's, it's a community. We want to do this together. So send us a message if there's anything you think we need to be doing or you have ideas. Believe it or not, we do actually have a team of people, me included, that reads all this that comes in cause it's very important to us. So

Kerry: 22:00

Yeah, I love it. I appreciate you so much for coming on the podcast and for doing what you're doing. So I, you know, as a fellow runner, I think it's, I think it's a great idea and super important. So thank you. And thank you for bringing it to Tampa. So if anybody's interested, obviously check out, get running mate.

Dena: 22:16

Awesome. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Kerry: 22:18

Yes. Thank you.