Neely Gracey: runDisney Princess Champion to the Olympic Trials

Neely Gracey is a marathoner who's not just breaking the tape at finish lines but shattering world records with a stroller. Our conversation meanders through the mental landscapes that elite runners like Neely traverse as they chase down personal bests and the stories that keep their feet moving when their bodies scream for reprieve. 

Imagine setting out on a marathon training run and finding the perfect rhythm between pushing your limits and nurturing your resilience—this is the art and science of running we explore,  as Neely draws from her own storied family history of athletic pursuits. Neely's coaching philosophy unfolds, grounded in the wisdom passed down from her father, Steve Spence (Olympic Marathoner 1992), and the personal toolkit shes assembled over a lifetime in the sport. Together with Neely, we delve into the importance of patience, the strategic embrace of hydration and nutrition, and the lesser-known tips for conquering back-to-back race events.

What do icebergs, lettuces, and strollers have in common? They all make a feature in our ranking of vegetables and the fascination with Guinness World Records as we discuss the lighter side of running culture. Between laughs and sage advice, from staying motivated mid-race to navigating the quirks of race timing, this episode is a tapestry of tales and tactics. Join us on this marathon of an episode – no running shoes required, just the curiosity and spirit of an athlete.

Transcript

John Pelkey: 0:04

Welcome to 321 Go the Podcast. I'm John Pelkey.

Carissa Galloway: 0:08

And I'm Carissa Galloway, and we're bringing you stories from start to finish to keep the everyday athlete motivated to keep moving towards the next finish. We want to take a moment to thank today's sponsor, pillar. They are a sports micro nutrition company who have developed products that intersect between pharmaceutical intervention and sports supplements for athletes. Their mission is simple, and I love it to get athletes to the start line in the best condition over and over again. So, john and I have been using Pillar's triple magnesium and it's been great. Why? Because it focuses on sleep. Yes, folks, sleep and recovery. You have heard me talk about magnesium, and this isn't your run of the mill magnesium. It is a high dose of magnesium glycinate, which is a powerhouse ingredient that can help with so many areas, specifically as we're talking about sleep and recovery, and it's not just me who's been using it Top names in the sports endurance world, like Jan Frodeno, ben Canute and Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen.

Carissa Galloway: 1:12

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John Pelkey: 2:14

All right, Carissa, we're wrapping up our series of episodes leading into the U S Olympic team trials marathon, which you will be announcing here in Orlando, and this is a bit of a crossover episode. You had an opportunity to chat with marathonner Neely Gracey, who won both the 10 K and was the first overall finisher at the 2023 Princess half marathon. I was there for that. Nealey was the top American finisher of the 2016 Boston Marathon and an eight time division 2 NCAA champion.

Carissa Galloway: 2:45

You know I love talking to Neely. I love when our worlds collide, when we're getting like elite running and we're getting run Disney. We've got magic, we've got all kinds of fun things together and Nealey has just that. You know what else she has, john? She has a world record. That's right. We talk a little Guinness, talk about her shoulder mile record, and the time will blow your mind. She also shares a really moving story about what inspires her to honor a fellow teammate In healthier. You were going to talk about vegetables that I could tell you that you could skip on and we've got a listener question just for John. So thank you guys, so much for listening. Thank you for hitting that subscribe button, adding us to your library for the great five star ratings for being social. We love it all. Let's do it.

John Pelkey: 3:50

The we thought was worthy of starting the podcast with, and it certainly is. This came from our three to one go podcast Instagram from Reese Marie. It's so simple and poignant that it really feels like a great way to start.

Carissa Galloway: 4:03

Yeah, a lot of times we start with chats. We have a lot of fun. If you are loving chats, I promise you they're always there. But this was just such a simple story that I thought was something that all of us could take something away from, and I think if you're listening to this on a run or in a middle of a training cycle, sometimes we need that grounding. So Morris Rissa Marie says she was listening to our Disneyland episode that talked about the runner with Parkinson's, which was Missy, hi Missy, and she also mentioned Tracy, who did the Disneyland 10 K on her Robo leg, as she called it.

Carissa Galloway: 4:33

And Rissa says this is why I run because I can. I got started medical volunteering at Disney when I was in nursing school. And she says she saw so many finishers of different ages, shapes and capabilities and she says I have no reason to not run. I may not be the best, but I have nothing setting with me that I can't. She says now she is an oncology nurse and every day she sees so many people who would just love to walk a few feet. So she takes that thought into her runs the thing when the run gets tough, and I think that's a really important place to put ourselves in, not just on a run but in our whole life. When the little daily stresses and frustrations get to us, you can say Well, there's so many people that can't walk a few feet, that can't do X, y, z. So thank you, rissa Marie, for the perspective.

John Pelkey: 5:24

I will say yeah, I think it's great too, because it's really is kind of the reason that we started this, even though we have opportunity to talk to world record holders, olympians, Olympic hopefuls, people, you know, at the cheek of athletic performance. But we also really, really want to focus on those people overcoming obstacles and it's why we always ask the questions what's the most inspiring thing you've ever seen? And I am, you know I am as guilty. I always quote the Homer Simpson, the great Homer Simpson quote about son if something is difficult to do, it's not worth doing. I think if you do the opposite of Homer Simpson at any point in time, it's a good idea.

John Pelkey: 6:06

But you see what these people have overcome. You see what people do simply to challenge themselves. Not, you know, we have so many people. It's great, you're setting a time goal, you're setting a I'm going to run marathon in every continent this year and all of these sort of goals. But so many people at the races that we do, at Disney particularly, just just want to challenge themselves. And when you see the other challenges people overcome, that is a great way to get into mindset of. If they can do this, I can do it too.

Carissa Galloway: 6:38

Yeah, this wasn't supposed to turn into a chat. At least I can put forth the effort to do it. It was a full chat. But I do want to comment back. There was an email that we got recently and I don't know who it was from, because I have it sort of transferred over to Excel sheet, but this I think it was a woman said I like how John has shared his training or they didn't say, for better word, lack of training, but that he's been so transparent and that it is hard to train for long runs or it's hard to do it. And I really appreciate that because that's how I feel, that's how a lot of people feel, and it's easy to have the people that run seven marathons and seven continents.

Carissa Galloway: 7:10

And, yes, we're always going to bring you up, michael Gabriel, at some way, shape or form. But a 5k is tough, a 10k can be tough for some people. Walking to the other edge of the room is tough. So, wherever you are in that journey, you know what do we say there may come a day when we can't do this, but today is not that day. So it's okay if you're in the struggle, just keep trying and keep thinking of what, what you can do, and that's what that's. That's our talk for today. That's our don't go anywhere, though we're not done. We got lots of our motivation coming your way before we get to nearly as great interview. We do want to give a special three to one. Go shout out, right.

John Pelkey: 7:47

Absolutely Special. Three to one. Go shout out to our friends Sarah Acres with runs on magic If you want to experience some extra special magic during those run Disney weekends. Or if you're just looking to get away and given what the weather is in a lot of the lower 48 right now I know there are a lot of people looking to get away, maybe on a cruise. Wherever Sarah Acres with runs on magic can help.

Carissa Galloway: 8:11

That's right. Sarah can help you play in just the right experience for you. So complimentary travel planning services, personalized itinerary specializing in red, disney universal and cruise vacation, and she's got a special promo code. So mention three to one go when you request your vacation quote and you could be entered to win a $200 Disney gift card or a booking credit. So find her at Instagram, at runs on magic, where she shares special offers, and then, to get your vacation started, email her at runs on magic travel at gmailcom.

Beatle Juice: 8:43

Okay, civilians, it's time for the goods. Let's get on to the interview.

Carissa Galloway: 8:48

Today I'm excited to be chatting with Neely Gracie, a beloved princess, half marathon champ and athlete racing at the 2024 Olympic marathon team trials. We are so excited to have you on three, two, one go. First of all, how are you and where are you?

Neely Gracey: 9:05

Hi, thank you so much. I'm excited to. So I live near Boulder, colorado, and yeah, we're doing really good and you know it's just a fun, busy time of year and training for the Olympic trials, so you know just lots of stuff happening in lots of directions.

Carissa Galloway: 9:27

It's fine. Yeah, as you and I are chatting, this is going to come out closer to trials. It is right before Christmas. We are five days away from Christmas, so offline we're talking about how fun that is. As as moms, how is trials training going for you?

Neely Gracey: 10:58

It's going okay and you know, I am not injured, which is amazing because my track record for the last three Olympic trials wasn't great. So I was very committed to this Olympic trials build up being a successful one. So, yeah, you know it's going okay. I feel like I've stayed very far away from the red line, so, if anything, I feel under trained, but I'd rather it be that way. So here we are. We'll find out.

Carissa Galloway: 11:33

It's interesting. You said far away from the red line, there's a lot of different training strategies and you're a coach too. How would you describe your philosophy in terms of training yourself to a marathon? You know, there's the 29 mile people, there's the Brooks Hansen, the cumulative fatigue I did, there's the people that let's call them the pre-fontains. They've got one speed and one speed only. How would you characterize your training style or what you're doing this time?

Neely Gracey: 11:57

Yeah. So I'm definitely I would say a bit on the more conservative side. I definitely prefer to be healthy at the start line and so obviously, you know, I've been running for 20 years. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way and it's just kind of fine tuning, like learning who you are as a person and what you respond best to. And so you know, as a coach, that's kind of my task is to learn that about each person.

Neely Gracey: 12:28

But then also, it's like you know I would say if I had to like pick a philosophy, I would say that I definitely look at more of like a regret, and so I tend to do longer buildups and just slowly progress the intensity, progress the miles and progress the focus, so that it kind of comes down to okay, you have, you know, eight weeks left until you know your big goal and now we're really going to go all in and commit to, you know, every, all the little details that come with training. And I don't think that it's. I think it just can create burnout If you do that for too long in a training cycle.

Carissa Galloway: 13:29

So right now we're what I do. Yeah, you can probably tell me seven weeks from trials, six weeks.

Neely Gracey: 13:35

So right now and this is when it's like starting to dial in, you know, and so it's like exciting I feel like I hit this part pretty fresh mentally, pretty fresh physically. So I'm excited to see what, like, my final weeks will bring. And like, as I kind of bring all of that fitness together, you know, and I kind of explain it to my athletes, like I start off the season and my toolbox is empty, and then, as I progress through the season, it's like you're just slowly adding more and more tools into the toolbox so that, ideally, on race day you have the full set and everything you need. And that's what my goal would be for the trials this year.

Carissa Galloway: 14:22

I love that. Yeah, we're going to talk more about trials later. I got a whole section because I'm actually going to be announcing at the trials here in Orlando, so I am excited to be able to celebrate some familiar faces. You've had an amazing running career and people might not realize that you have a running pedigree. Your dad was a fantastic athlete. Can you tell us a little bit about him?

Neely Gracey: 14:41

Yeah, so for those of you who don't know, my dad, steve Spence, was in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the marathon. He won the 92 trials that year and then he had also competed in the World Championships in 91, where he came out with a bronze medal. So I was an infant one and two during those years, so I don't remember that, but he did go on the train for the 96 Olympic trials and I do remember some of that phase. He retired in 98 and started coaching at Shippensburg University and then he started coaching me in middle school. I then went to Shippensburg and he pushed me off of her college. So obviously, you know, there's some influence there and he and my mom are going to be at the Olympic trials. So that's pretty exciting. But yeah, you know, I grew up in a running family and I would say that having him as my dad definitely helped me realize that you know this is possible and there is, you know, something very special about pushing your body to see what you're capable of doing.

Carissa Galloway: 16:01

Yeah, barcelona was the first Olympics that I remember, so that's really cool. I ran the Barcelona Marathon so we saw the stadium there. It was really cool.

Neely Gracey: 16:07

And my husband.

Carissa Galloway: 16:09

You know his dad was the 72 Olympian but he got dragged around to a lot of races by team Galloway. Did you, you know, go to races with your dad? Do you have memories of like kind of being there and just being enveloped in the endurance industry?

Neely Gracey: 16:23

You know I do. I remember going to some big races with him and then it was actually kind of neat because whenever I first started running in like middle school and early high school, my dad had switched over to the masters category and so we actually went to some like races like the Philadelphia Marathon and different things where he was competing as a masters and then I would run you know the 5k or whatever. So that was pretty special. We had a couple races where, like he would win overall and I'd win for the women or whatnot. So we actually got to have I got to be in like kind of a latter phase of his career. He had set some like American masters records and whatnot. So that was kind of special.

Neely Gracey: 17:07

But yeah, I mean, you know, I'm sure similar to what your husband experienced, having an Olympian dad, and you know it worked really well for me it was a lot of fun and I kind of fully embraced the sport and the culture of endurance running. But it actually, my sister, it felt like there was a ton of pressure on them and, like you know, they had pressure not only from you know, my dad and what he had done, but then from what I was doing and so it actually kind of deterred them from being competitive in the sport, and so it's interesting how it can like kind of impact people currently.

Carissa Galloway: 17:48

Yeah, weston and his brother Brandon. They both ran in college. But my husband has actually said and he edits a podcast so he'll listen to this to hold, no, I said it, but that he was a better soccer player and he probably should have played soccer in college. But he felt like he was never told by his dad, like no, you need to run, but you, just you do you feel that pressure while it's so cool I mean, I don't know, my dad was an Olympian but while he feels so cool there is a little bit of pressure, but for you it definitely seemed to work out. Now, this is a random question. I always asked Jeff about his nutrition for marathons in the seventies. Do you remember like what your dad did? Does he ever talk about? Like well, when I ran in 92, I only had a, you know, a power eight or anything Like what did he do in 92 for nutrition?

Neely Gracey: 18:27

I know it's so funny talking to them, right? So like yeah, when Jeff was running like they didn't even know that you had to fuel for the marathon.

Neely Gracey: 18:35

They had no idea. And so my dad was like the very first generation where they were like kind of starting to figure it out but it was like 100% trial and error, so they were still doing the like flat coke and he actually had a nutrition sponsor kind of towards the later end of his career and he said that that was like one of the biggest things that like helped him successfully get through those last couple of marathons that he did, because he said his first five marathons he walked because he bunked, yeah, and you have. No, if you have, as we know now, you have to take in sugar like, but they, they did.

Carissa Galloway: 19:16

It's just crazy. So Jeff and his wife Barb still do the D-Fizz soda to this day and my husband always says I guess Power Bar was one of Jeff's like sponsors in the beginning. Their rule of vacation was like if you want to go, you have to eat a Power Bar for any meal because it might get busy. So like there was a lot of Power Bars, did you guys have any Power Bars in your house back in the day?

Neely Gracey: 19:37

Oh, yes, so that's kind of a cool story. So my dad was one of like the first Power Bars and sponsored athletes. So he they like had him wear this bright yellow Power Bar headband in a lot of races and every race that he ran the Power Bar headband, they give him $1000. That was like. And so he was like this is awesome, easy money. So we grew up with like tons of Power Bars.

Neely Gracey: 20:04

I always loved that apple cinnamon flavor. That was just always like my favorite, which is funny looking back. So, anyways, power Bar sold and this past year Jenny raced out to me and Jenny is the original creator of Power Bar and she created a new bar called Jam Bar and she sent me a free box and I tried them out and I was like, yeah, these are great. Like I can, I can see, like I can kind of tell that they were Power Bar esque and but now they're organic ingredients and you know, gluten free and different things. And she also like gives proceeds to a charity and different stuff and so anyway, it's just really cool. So I'm now sponsored by Jam Bar. So my dad had Power Bar and I get Jam Bar.

Carissa Galloway: 21:06

Oh, that is super cool. That's the second time today I've heard about Jam Bar. I hadn't heard about them before, so I'm going to have to go and take a look. And I'm always I'm in, I joke in real life I'm a dietitian so I'm always looking for good gluten free things, so I'm going to have to check those out. So a lot of fun similarities there. A lot of our listeners probably know you from your. We're going to call it overall win at princess and we're going to talk about that from an educational standpoint for people. But what was it like your run Disney experience this year?

Neely Gracey: 21:37

Well, it was very cool meeting you there and pop highlight Absolutely.

Carissa Galloway: 21:43

The castle meeting the announcers. It's pretty much the same thing.

Neely Gracey: 21:49

I will say I had so much fun. I loved coming to Florida last February and running in my first run Disney race and doing the 10 K and then following up with the half marathon, and you know the whole thing was just super special. I've coached athletes who have done these races for years and you know, and to get the opportunity to actually come in and compete myself was was really cool. I will say running in a tootie was awesome. I had so much fun doing that and I, you know, broke a world record this summer pushing my kid in the stroller for the fastest stroller mile and I'm like, hmm, I should look up like what are the world records racing in a tootie, because that could be another fun thing to chase.

Neely Gracey: 22:41

Did you find them? No, but that's kind of a. You could submit for it. Maybe I don't know. I ran a 34 minute 10 K and a tootie. So I said, check these, check into this and see what it's all about. So I had a lot of fun doing that and then, yeah, that the half marathon went so well. I will say the hardest part was having the two back to back early mornings and my heart is like going out to everyone who is preparing for dopey right now because, unlike you, have four early mornings back to back. That's terrible. That's that's by far the hardest part of the entire week. Well, that's our joke, that like yeah, easy, easy.

Carissa Galloway: 23:26

It's just getting up, like you're here, you did it, you know, and I have to. I say this, I don't say it a lot, but like my alarm goes off at 107 am. I'm not thrilled about it, I'm not like, oh, it's really sad, like, okay, you're fine, you're fine, just get up Like it's going to get better, because it's never like natural. And then those of you that come from the West Coast, you're like even farther, you know, in the hole, if you will, you had the tootie on, did you know? Coming into Disney, like, oh, I'm supposed to dress up like. This is different.

Neely Gracey: 23:57

You know, I knew that that was kind of like the thing right, because I've coached athletes who do this and they always dress up and and I was so excited to like get the chance to run a fun race. Like so many other races I do are very focused, very serious and don't get me wrong Like I love racing and racing hard, but I never get the chance to like make racing really fun, and so where I'm at in my career, I feel like Disney was so perfect for me because I could run fast, I had competition, like it was a challenge, but it could also have this like side of fun that I don't know, it just looks so refreshing for me.

Carissa Galloway: 24:41

Yeah, we love the run Disney community because we have we do have elite riders. We have a lot of fast runners. Jenny Simpson has run there. You know we've had Olympians run there as well, but then there's 90% of the people are people are out there having a good time having fun. So was it kind of cool? Did you feel like you were part of the run Disney family? And ever after winning, do you feel like the run Disney family has embraced you?

Neely Gracey: 25:03

Oh, you know, I have gotten. How many months later is this?

Carissa Galloway: 25:07

Yeah.

Neely Gracey: 25:07

I'm still on a podcast because I did this, you know, and I think that's so special. I've done so many podcasts. I've gotten some really awesome new athletes as a result who, you know, are planning to run run Disney events this winter, and I would say that the outreach, the love, the excitement it was. It was very special and unique, different from other events that I've done in the past.

Beatle Juice: 25:42

For sure.

Neely Gracey: 25:43

Yeah, I've been, you know, top 10 at the Boston Marathon, at the New York City Marathon, and got nothing comparatively. So this has been really cool.

Carissa Galloway: 25:53

Yeah, I think run Disney is unique because we all have like kind of like a love of Disney and just a love of like supporting people and they kind of get that in this environment, like there is the competitive aspect but there is a lot of support.

Carissa Galloway: 26:03

So you were and I'm going to say that you broke the tape at the half marathon. You were the first woman for the 10 K and I you did win the race because you were the first athlete. You were the first athlete to come out of the first corral. There is some controversy of some people like to cause not, it's not controversy, but people like to dive in and say well, this guy started eight minutes back and he had a faster time than you, but you are still the winner of the princess half marathon. So for people who think that sometimes when I go down these rabbit holes I'm just trying to educate, can you help us just to understand the sport a little bit better in how that works that someone could have a faster time than you, but you are still the overall and the only this third time that a woman has been the overall half marathon champion at Disney.

Neely Gracey: 26:50

Yeah, yeah, it is confusing, right? Because for the majority of the field, everyone goes off of their tip time, so it's when you cross the start line is when your time starts and when you cross the finish line is when your time ends. However, in the a wave, for people who are placing, it goes off of gun time. So to finish top one, two, three, four, top 10, whatever it is, they actually have disclaimers that are written in the fine print that to be considered as an overall place finisher, you have to start it in a wave and go off of gun time.

Neely Gracey: 27:42

So this has caused them issues in the past because, for example, the Olympic trials used to only require or only allow gun time, not chip time, and so there are a couple of people that missed it by a second or two but they had to start in a different wave or whatever because they didn't make it into the elite field at certain races and whatnot, and so they did end up changing that eventually. For the qualifier for the Olympic trials, you could use a chip time and it didn't have to be a gun time, but for overall place, the rule is still there that you have to go off of gun time. So I don't think he knew that, or clearly he would have been in the eight wave, or maybe there was something that we don't know. And on first he's circumstance, he got stuck in traffic or couldn't get to the start line in time and just jumped in when he could and did his best. So obviously, had we been racing head to head, he would have beat me. Yes, you don't know.

Neely Gracey: 28:48

Well, you don't know, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, yes.

Carissa Galloway: 28:54

Now I just like to explain that because I think people they maybe don't see those little nuances. And didn't that happen in Boston? The year that does one too? I think there were some because of the dropout rate in that race and those of you that aren't familiar, the year does one was the year. It was like the diet. It was like, basically, they were running in a hurricane, it was very cold, it was terrible, a lot of elites dropped out, the times were slower than usual and then they had athletes who came out of wave one that ran faster times. But the reason why is that you want to. There's a lot of reasons why, but you want to be able to run the same race as your competitors. Is that essentially what it sums it up to?

Neely Gracey: 29:27

Yeah, essentially so. For example, if, say, at Princess, if someone starts at the very front, the first I mean most of the race is in the dark. But if someone were to start in the back of the waves, they would be starting closer to daylight. So running in the dark versus running in daylight actually could play into a quote different race. Because if you can't see as well in the dark like you're, you have to be a little bit more cautious with your footing so you maybe aren't going to be as aggressive with your pace and stuff. And then there's also the factor that if you're chasing and you're passing people, you can run faster because you're competing in a different race. So if you're starting in like a wave, that's way back and you have so many people that you just get to chip up, you know and pass and, like you know, keep you focused versus. I ran by myself for most of Princess and there's no drafting.

Carissa Galloway: 30:30

It just couldn't work together. I don't know, I didn't want to pass by.

Neely Gracey: 30:33

I kept myself focused and motivated the whole time, so it just ends up being, you know, a very different type of competition. So I think that's another reason. But, honestly, like at the end of the day, he ran faster on the same day on the same course, but the rules say that you have to be an overall winner and he probably won his.

Carissa Galloway: 30:56

He would have won his age group. It's just just nuances for you guys, just like we've talked about on the podcast, the difference of, like, a hand cycle and a wheelchair and just all these kinds of things. I just want to educate people so they kind of understand the way things work and there are reasons for why they work that way, as we kind of mentioned. But you got to break the tape, you got to hold it up. It was an amazing opportunity and fortunately I didn't.

Carissa Galloway: 31:15

I didn't see it because what's happened is in the last maybe seven or eight years I used to always be the one that went to the finish line, first because I love the elite runners, I would love to get to know them, but now I stay on the start line. So by the time we get there it's like 130, 140 on the clock and you're like long gone. You've had a shower, you've had a snack. You know you guys are gone, but it was awesome and we are happy to welcome you back to run Disney anytime you would like to come back. But let's talk about another big accomplishment as such a cool accomplishment, a world record in the Stroller Mile, as you said a little while ago. Where did that idea come from?

Neely Gracey: 31:57

Yeah. So I guess it was when my little one had just about turned one, a male broke the Stroller Mile world record for the men and he is a very well known athlete, he's an Olympian. And I was like, oh wow, like that's really cool to see, like you know, this professional athlete having gone after like a Stroller Mile record. And I was like I wonder what the women's is. And I looked it up and at the time it was six, oh nine, and I was like I'm pretty sure I've already done that, Like putting this trailer just for fun, and I run with my kids in the Stroller a lot. I run them too in from school.

Carissa Galloway: 32:44

With both of them Not on. Your hard training runs right.

Neely Gracey: 32:49

Well, thankfully I just use that as my warm-up. So hard.

Carissa Galloway: 32:52

It's because I've pushed my kids hard. Man, those moms out there know it's like you got the one arm and then it's like the other arm yeah.

Neely Gracey: 33:00

And then you try and turn and you're like put it in your weight on the turn and lean.

Neely Gracey: 33:05

So yeah, and I love running with my kids, I love including them in you know, this area of my life right, like, instead of having my running be totally separate from being a mom, it's like I love that it can kind of match and come together.

Neely Gracey: 33:21

And so most of the time on Fridays my little one doesn't have school and so I run with him in the Stroller.

Neely Gracey: 33:28

If the weather is good, on Sundays we usually do family runs and I push the double Stroller and my husband runs with us.

Neely Gracey: 33:37

So I've done tons and tons of miles with my kids in the Stroller and so just felt very authentic to me like oh, you know, I already do this and I love it, and so I actually just kind of it happens that a Stroller company reached out and they were like, hey, we want to give you like this new Stroller to try. And I was like, awesome, if I like it, like I want to break a world record with it. And they were like what? And so it just like all fell into place really nicely and I ended up, you know, the summer, breaking the world record with the Stroller and I ran 524 and pushing my 30 pound, two year old, and it was so special and it was just kind of like this sense of closure to the baby years and like all those miles that we had put in together, that like I didn't even realize I needed, but then I got oddly emotional about after. So it was really cool.

Carissa Galloway: 34:40

Was your other kid a little bit jealous that like obviously they didn't get wait reasons right? We got to be smart about this. But was he jealous Like mom? I don't get to be in the record.

Neely Gracey: 34:49

You know it's funny.

Neely Gracey: 34:51

No, he wasn't jealous at all I was kind of concerned that like he might feel a little bit left out or something, but he doesn't really like the spotlight, he doesn't really want people looking at him Like I think he would have felt like really shy and embarrassed and like uncomfortable if he was the kid that was in the Stroller. So it actually worked out that it was the little one who is kind of the total opposite Like they're very different personalities and he was like loving it. So it kind of all worked out. I think that Rome was the one that was in the Stroller, not Athens.

Carissa Galloway: 35:26

Was there any you know conversation between you and Rome during the event?

Neely Gracey: 35:32

You know, I was like pretty all out. But they had a drone that was like flying, taking like video footage and pictures and stuff, and Rome the whole time, airplane, airplane, and he thought it was really cool. So I was like, yeah, buddy, okay.

Carissa Galloway: 35:53

I love that. So my husband had this dream after my son was born that like he wanted to, like he didn't know what the records were and he was like I can run, I think I could break a Stroller record. He could not have broken a Stroller record as a man. He could have. You guys could have raised decently Wow. But like it was just funny that he had this like idea and then you know, you actually went and did it and I was like babe, I don't, you didn't have a chance for this record. But it's funny how our brains work out there. When you're pushing the Stroller, when you have a good, you're like no, I was pretty good.

Neely Gracey: 36:23

No, it's so funny Because I feel like this is kind of like it's a pretty standard record, right, like Guinness has all the weird records, so like you could come up with like all right, well, fastest Stroller mile backwards, like there you go. Like now I'm the world record holder too, but this one feels like pretty straightforward. So I'm sure he could come up with something that he could absolutely crush.

Carissa Galloway: 36:46

Well, our son is three and a half and I said a little bit heavy, so I don't. Maybe it's fastest Stroller mile with a. He's not something like 50 pounds, but you know, did you get a certificate? Did you get something cool? I?

Neely Gracey: 36:56

did. Yeah, I got a like stamped certificate from Guinness and I'm so excited because I just got a frame so that I can like get it hung up and everything and that's been on my list for a while. Mom's life right, it took until November to get everything validated. So, like, getting an actual Guinness certified world record is like quite the process. So I ran, I applied last August for the like to complete the Stroller mile world record.

Neely Gracey: 37:38

You have to then get approved to chase it. Then they give you like a 30 page thing of like these are all the requirements of like everything you have to meet. So there are so many specifications Like you have to have both hands on the handlebars the entire time. The front wheel cannot come off the track surface. The whole thing has to be video recorded without pause.

Neely Gracey: 38:00

You have to have official timing systems. You have to have, you know, like three witnesses sign all the stuff. You know like there are all these different requirements we had to like prove that we started at the 1609 start line, not just the 1600s start line, so that it's a full mile not a 1600. So they're like all these like very detailed things that we had to do and then you have to send everything in and then it takes three months for them to review it all and then approve it. So everything officially got approved in November following the June attempt. So it took me, you know, like 15 months to go from like the getting the submitting, like the request, to chase it to like getting officially approved.

Neely Gracey: 38:54

My child getting bigger all this time Come on Exactly Every month is just ticking by Like go to the bathroom before we do this.

Carissa Galloway: 39:04

I need every. I'm just kidding. I wonder how many records they get with our like a teeny.

Neely Gracey: 39:09

This, her baby is, like you know, a 4% tile or whatever, and my kids like 97% tile. She's like you can use my kid. I was like, well, thank you, that would make it easier but it defeats the purpose. Yes, you know, it being this like great bonding thing that my son and I do together.

Carissa Galloway: 39:28

Well, maybe someday he'll be on a podcast talking about his mom breaking the world record. You know what I mean. Like that kind of like you and your dad Like it'll, it'll come full circle. But I wonder how many like requests they get that they're like you didn't do this at all, like you know how many. What weird like submissions must they get? I'm sure. So shout out to the Guinness people out there doing all that, that hard work. Yeah, it has to be a lot of work, right? Okay, so you mentioned your coaching. A lot of run Disney listeners we have here. So what tips do you have for those back to back races for your athletes who are out there, whether it's for a time goal or just to complete it?

Neely Gracey: 40:04

Yeah. So what I typically suggest is like picking one race that you're focused on so whether it's, you know, the 10K or the half marathon, or in dopey it's the 5K or the full marathon and picking one that you're like, okay, that's gonna be my focus race, like my goal race, and then kind of having the other ones be like I'm gonna relax, enjoy these like you know, take some pictures like you know, enjoy just the fun component of all the races. I think that it's really challenging to run all four of the dopey races hard or all of you know any of the challenges Like. I find that what we often do is we'll do back-to-back training days, so we'll do like maybe a workout on Saturday and then a long run on Sunday. So then that way they're kind of getting used to having like two big days back-to-back. So you know, running hard on tired legs for that long run is really key training for an event that you know is back-to-back days.

Carissa Galloway: 41:20

That's so funny to that because I've never done a run Disney challenge, because I'm always working like I have never done, like I don't, I'll like bike and then I'll run. I never run back-to-back days, so you're like kind of blowing my mind like, oh yeah, people do that and they need to do it, so that's good. The other thing I wanted to ask you about from a coaching standpoint I was listening to another podcast and you were talking about trials and talking about patience, having to have patience when we race. That is the hardest thing, I think, for people to have out there. You start looking at your watch and you're saying, well, my goal time is this and now I'm running this, I've got to speed up, or you know if I'm tired now how do we trust and have patience when we race?

Neely Gracey: 42:00

Oh. So some people just seem to naturally have this a little bit better than others. But it's also something that can be learned and that we can practice right Like. One of my favorite types of workouts that I give my athletes is a progression run. So it's kind of really all about starting out easy, having patience early on, learning your body, reading your body and gradually increasing the effort, gradually getting you know faster and working harder throughout. So you know, often I'll be like okay, you know, do a two mile warmup and then we're gonna do, you know, six miles progressive and I want you to start at you know, nine minute pace and I want you to finish at seven minute pace. So you have to gradually pick it up as you go. If you start off and you don't run nine minute pace for that first hard mile, like by mile four, you're gonna blow up.

Neely Gracey: 42:55

So often for athletes who, you know, maybe aren't as inclined to be patient, they do this and they blow up. And the natural consequences you don't get to finish your workout, you know, and then I'm like, okay, we're gonna try this again in a couple of weeks and you're gonna learn from it. And then we go back, we try it again and then they realize, okay, I had to be more patient because I need to progressively build up, I need to judge my effort to get me through the entire distance, and so that's something that you know I like to practice in training. That then can be applied into the race, which is gonna be especially important on fatigue legs. So, like at a run Disney event, when you're two, three days in, you know being patient early on.

Neely Gracey: 43:43

That's what I did at Disney Princess. So I ran the 10K and then I went, I like recovered really well. I ate my perfectly ripe banana following the race, which I'm like so amazed by. I was like, of course, disney like caters to have like the perfectly ripe banana, but they said that like it's a very specific thing that they like require their banana company to have gas the bananas to be like ripe for that specific day, which I was like amazed by.

Carissa Galloway: 44:18

I did not know this, so this is some good information you are sharing with us.

Neely Gracey: 44:21

Yes, so run, disney has the best bananas out there. Then I went back to our resort. We stayed in Mockingden and went back to the resort, we got in the pool, I flushed the legs out and then I took a nap that afternoon, which I felt like was really key. That night we had an early dinner so that I could attempt to get to bed on the earlier side and then, you know, wake up early for the next day.

Neely Gracey: 44:52

The next day, for the half I carried a water bottle in my hand for the first four miles to ensure that I could get in enough fluids, because I was like I might be slightly dehydrated from racing yesterday, and I kept that first four miles very comfortable, very controlled, very relaxed. Once I finished all my fluids, then I was like, okay, now I can start racing, and that's how I was able to finish so strong in those final couple of miles and, you know, pass the top male finisher in the final stretch to win the race. Overall I felt like that strategy was perfect for me and so, yeah, I highly recommend practicing what you hope your race strategy will be.

Carissa Galloway: 45:41

That's definitely going to remind us. Everybody listening when you're princess, you're thinking about it, they're springtime surprise, like the hydration aspect of it. Make sure you're remembering that because you're not going to necessarily remember hours later. Oh yeah, I did a 10K. You kind of tend to forget when you're in that Disney bubble, so you guys, remember that hydration. Before we wrap, I do want to talk a little bit more about trials. I think you got to come out to Orlando and you have had a little preview of the course.

Neely Gracey: 46:06

Yeah. So the first week of December I came and ran the OUC half and ended up winning. It was a fun day. It was honestly kind of perfect because weather was very far from ideal. It was 73 degrees, 97% humidity at 7 am at the start and I felt like I really benefited from getting the opportunity to race in basically, worst case scenario, whether.

Carissa Galloway: 46:41

That's that humidity is worse because right now it's 48 outside. So yeah, that's that humidity is the worst here. I'm sorry to everybody.

Neely Gracey: 46:49

Yeah, and I don't get that here in Colorado. You know like I can wear tons of clothes and kind of simulate feeling hot, or I can go run on the treadmill, I can get in the sauna and get my body like used to sweating and whatnot, but you still don't get that running hard in humidity feeling. So I felt like it was really helpful for me to have that. I was able to kind of figure out my efforts. Speaking of being patient, I was patient for the first 5K and really made sure that I was staying controlled, recognizing that the heat can play an additional stress for sure. And so then the next day they did a trials course tour, and so USATF and Track Shack got together.

Neely Gracey: 47:39

The city of Orlando put on quite the show.

Neely Gracey: 47:42

We had, I would say, at least 15 motorcycle cops that closed down the streets ahead of us, made sure that we were safe getting through and then reopened the streets behind us on the entire eight mile loop of the course.

Neely Gracey: 48:00

And it was so helpful to get to have that visual and honestly I think it was really good because I had to run it on tired legs, right Like coming off of the half marathon the day before, so I could kind of feel oh, these are the areas of the course that are gonna be kind of challenging because my legs are fatigued and that's how it's gonna feel on the third lap, because the Olympic trials course is a two mile loop and then three eight mile loops, and so on that eight mile loop there's kind of two areas where there's a little bit of a hill and I was like, okay, both of those areas are going to, you know, buy the third lap.

Neely Gracey: 48:40

You're gonna really start to notice that there's an incline there and tired legs it's going to play its toll. So it was helpful and I put together like a little reels video highlighting like the course and a lot of people. You know there were only about 30 athletes who came to the course tour, but you know there's over 300 that are qualified between the men and the women. So a lot of people were like very grateful to have like little snippets of the visuals out there on the course.

Carissa Galloway: 49:14

So us average runners wanna know how fast did you run this preview. So so, so.

Neely Gracey: 49:21

Just what you know, just curiosity. Yeah, it was so funny. So we had to sign a waiver form that said we would run seven minute pace exactly for the course tour. So they said, you know, no faster you can't do a workout, no slower, because you know you can't hold us up. Well, anyways, people totally went faster. We were like I was like the third group back and we didn't all kind of run as a tight pack, like it kind of strung out, and I was like the third group back and we were still running like 640s, 630s. And I kind of feel like I'm trying to think that I was gonna run.

Carissa Galloway: 50:07

I just ran a half marathon. I was. My brain was like you don't do that to me. I need to know an expectation, like I was told I could run seven minute pace. Do you wanna tell us the names of the people that were pushing the pace? Not just kidding, I can find out, no, just kidding, it was so funny.

Neely Gracey: 50:24

And they said, yeah, that's kind of why we make you sign a thing. And I was like, well, I was more concerned about it being like slow, like if people were running, you know, 730, and they're like, oh no, like no one runs slow, everyone always like comes and is like too excited and wants to run fast. And I was like, well, I would have been very happy running a little slower, but it was fine. I hung in there and, like I said, you know, it was kind of good to like have a little bit of that buildup of fatigue, but I was still like chatting with the other ladies throughout and, you know, taking the videos and whatnot.

Carissa Galloway: 51:01

So I don't think it like set me back too much on recovery At least I hope, just a good cumulative fatigue run there and I didn't even think about how impressive it was that you're. Now I know you're running six minute pace taking those videos. So, yeah, very cool. All right, before we wrap, we have a couple of questions that we always ask all of our athletes here on 3, 2, 1, go Just to kind of help us, the Everett athlete, the elite athlete, motivate themselves. So when you are in a hard place, whether it's a race, whether it's a workout, how do you motivate yourself to keep going?

Neely Gracey: 51:33

Yeah, so I've had a couple of races where I can think back on that exact moment when you have to consciously make a decision Like am I going to keep pushing, am I going to stay with this person, am I going to go with this person who's passing me, or is this all I have right now? And I will say that there's a couple of things that have helped me kind of push beyond what I felt like I could do at that point. Because it's hard out there. It can get really grindy, and sometimes we have a really great day and it doesn't kick in until later in the race and sometimes they're not having that great of a date and it happens way early. You still have to grind it out.

Neely Gracey: 52:28

And so, for example, I ran a half marathon in May and I just wasn't feeling that great from the start and I kind of did my typical ease into it, let a bunch of people go, and then I was like I'll reel them in, except for I wasn't feeling that great, so I wasn't really them in and they were still all really far out and I honestly kind of started thinking I was like you know what? Like I did not fly across the country to come to a race to get a place, like I came here with the expectation that I was going to be probably fourth, based on the field that I knew was going to be there, and that was. It was one of the hardest races I've done because I just didn't feel good from the start, but I found people who I could tuck in behind, who I was like my only goal is just to stick with them. So I'm just going to run right behind them, follow their back and whatever they do, I do. And that was very helpful because it took away any extra energy that I had to give. All I had to do was follow them. I didn't have to think about anything else.

Neely Gracey: 53:42

And then I have, you know, definitely in like a marathon, I have had times where, like I'm going to get to that corner, I'm going to get to that trash can, I'm going to make it to that light pole, and it's just breaking down into much smaller, more manageable increments. So, like you know, sometimes the mile to mile can just be too far. You're like OK, you know, between miles like 24 and 25 of a marathon, I need to have 15 checkpoints to make sure I'm moving forward. And then I also tend to use a lot of mantras. So whenever your brain is kind of telling you these like alarm bells are going off, right, like you're, you're working really hard, like I don't know if you're going to make it, maybe you need to slow down, like did you get it in over your head? When all of that starts going off and all the self doubt starts creeping in, you can only think of so many things at one time. So pushing those out and replacing them with something very positive has been known to be performance enhancing, right, because you're pushing away that fatigue. And so I like to practice these in long runs and workouts so that I have them kind of ready to go on race day.

Neely Gracey: 55:11

But it's kind of like you know little things, like yes, you can, you got this, you are strong, you can crush, like whatever it is that can kind of help you.

Neely Gracey: 55:23

Like push those little thoughts aside and like keep you focused. And my neighborhood Turkey Trot this year, one of my neighbors wrote like all these like sidewalk chalk notes all over the neighborhood, so like as I was running, it was just like you are awesome, you're the fastest Turkey I've ever seen, like all these things and as like we're all running through. I was like this is so nice, like I even have to come up with my own monsters, I can just read them off the street. And so it did it like boost your mood, boost your spirit, and it gives you like that little extra something to keep you going. And so I would say finding ways to replace negativity self-doubt is really important. But one note is psychologists say that we actually respond better to other people cheering us on than us cheering ourselves on. So instead of saying I got this, I'm strong, I'm capable, you have to say you, because you registered that someone's telling it to us and that has more power over us telling it to ourselves. That is amazing information.

Carissa Galloway: 56:32

I did not know that. I thought you were going to say that like not that elite runners do this, but like cheering on other people around you, like telling them you got this, because I find that helps me. But that is an amazing tip. Thank you for that guy. I'm just I'm talking to my listeners like you guys. That's so awesome. So I'm like mind blown by that. I did not know that. I'm going to have to tell Jeff Galloway that I want to make sure that he knows that good tip.

Neely Gracey: 56:57

Last question.

Carissa Galloway: 56:57

We see a lot of inspiring moments, whether it's in the race, at the finish line of the race. You kind of have a more front row seat than a lot of us do. Can you describe, you know, maybe the most or one of the most inspiring moments you've seen at a race?

Neely Gracey: 57:15

I've been to so many races. I love a good finishing kick right, like that's always so fun to watch. And you know, there's been some of those like moments where you're like oh, that was like heartbreaking. Like someone falls and can't make it to the finish line and another athlete helps them across. You know we've all seen those type of things.

Neely Gracey: 57:37

But one thing that kind of comes to mind for me from time to time is back in high school I was on the cross country team and there was a kid and he just kept walking like during every race and he was like running, run, walking his like 30, 35 minute 5Ks.

Neely Gracey: 58:00

And our coach got like really mad at the team one day and was just like look like if you're going to walk during your 5K cross country race, like why are you even on the cross country team?

Neely Gracey: 58:12

And so the next race he ended up running 19 minutes because he ran the whole way and it was so cool because it was just like I'm sure it was hard, right, like of course it was harder, but he just applied himself. And I think that's like such a good lesson for a lot of us is the first step is just to apply yourself. Yes, it's going to be hard, but like show up, and I think that that was really special. And so Chris, this kid, he ended up getting like most improved for the year award, which was, you know, pretty exciting, and he always told me that his goal was to try and beat me in a race one day. It never quite happened. I hung on there, I was able to beat him, and he actually lost his life in a car accident like a few years later. And so I always go back to that story because I just think it's like you know what, like he left a gift to all of our team, that you know he taught us something really special.

Carissa Galloway: 59:25

Yeah, well, when you're out there at trial, so you just remember to be patient and then you apply yourself out there okay, so that you can go on and continue to honor those that aren't here. That was an amazing story, thank you. Thank you for all of this podcast. I think we talked about so many things and I love everything we got to touch on, and I hope that our listeners do too. If people want to follow you, follow your career, follow you at trials, how can they do that?

Neely Gracey: 59:48

Yes, please do so. I am online at Neely S Gracie on all the channels, so please give us that a follow. And then, of course, the trials will be broadcast on NBC, so they will be easily accessible to watch there. And then, yeah, I think that there's a local news channel Wesh 2, probably the same one that covered.

Neely Gracey: 1:00:22

Yes, so I was like I can't remember what the letters were exactly and they're following the trials closely and I actually did before the Orlando half with them. I did some like in the booth kind of conversations which was really fun, and I think we're actually going to try and do like a little lead up into the Olympic trials because I'm going to be spending the month before in Orlando.

Carissa Galloway: 1:00:55

Awesome. Well, and if you guys are Orlando residents, come down and watch the race in Orlando. It'll be really fun. I'll be there. Dj CJ will be helping out, carrie Tulson and I will all be there celebrating these amazing athletes. So thank you so much for your time. Please go enjoy and love on Rome and Athens and get in some great runs, and we'll see you all soon.

Neely Gracey: 1:01:16

Awesome, I'm so excited.

Beatle Juice: 1:01:17

Thanks so much, all right athletes, here's the drill Time to shape up your diet. Carissa, give them the goods.

Carissa Galloway: 1:01:24

John, I always tell you to eat vegetables. Do you think there's like a I don't know popularity contest among vegetables? But in terms of nutrition, like some that I would hang out with and some that I wouldn't.

John Pelkey: 1:01:37

I'm going to guess that there are and, sadly, I'm also going to guess that some of my favorite vegetables are the ones that you might not be hanging out with.

Carissa Galloway: 1:01:44

So I'm not going to say like, take these out. I'm just saying, like there's things like the dark leafy greens, the asparagus, the broccoli, that those are fantastic. Go, those are your, you know elites. And then there's just the recreational vegetables, the ones that I'm not mad at but nobody's putting.

John Pelkey: 1:02:04

Oh, I am, so I'm sorry to stop you in the middle, but recreational vegetables is going to be the name of my 80s cover band that Riley and I are now going to form, and we're only going to do album cuts. None of the hits, we're just going to be the recreational vegetables.

Carissa Galloway: 1:02:20

The recreational vegetables.

John Pelkey: 1:02:22

Here's cut number four off the Shriekback album from 1985, folks, you don't know it, but enjoy.

Carissa Galloway: 1:02:28

That's right, you know. First one, though you know we all know the old iceberg lettuce. It is, if you want to call it the recreational vegetable, the minimalist painter of the vitamin world little vitamin K, smattering of vitamin A, but don't expect a nutrient. Fiesta potassium and calcium, but it's not. You know. It's not your treasure chest there. I love a wedge salad, but basically you're eating cheese and bacon. Just as long as you know that.

Beatle Juice: 1:02:55

What's the doubts?

Carissa Galloway: 1:02:56

No downside, it's just a vegetable adjacent. Also, I like celery. I have done some work for celery. I like it. It's low in calories. Fiber is the key there. It's a lot of water. But if you're looking for you know there's some vitamin K. But again, broccoli to celery. Broccoli is the knockout there. And yes, I'm not going to take on your cucumbers, but I've got two things for you before you chime in about your cucumbers. There's lots of water, hydrating, refreshing crunch on a hot day. Little vitamin K, little vitamin C. But I'm going to tell you, john this is a very personal statement If I don't get those English cucumbers, those regular cucumbers, if I eat the skin, my stomach is not thrilled.

John Pelkey: 1:03:37

You know a lot of people have said that I luckily and I really do like cucumbers. I love a cucumber salad, one of my favorite things, particularly summertime cucumber salad but I know a lot of people struggle with stomach issues with them. Luckily I do not. So if you do and you have extra cucumbers, send them to John.

Carissa Galloway: 1:03:52

Or just buy the English cucumbers that don't have all the seeds in the middle and the hits it up oh fancy. Or don't buy them because they're on the donut, do not let in list. This is a red carpet. They're not getting VIP treatment. And radishes I get. I don't think they're anybody's favorite vegetable. The spice they're bringing heat, peppery zing. They have the glucose sinolates. They're giving you flavor. They're giving you again a little vitamin C and B vitamins, but you can leave the radishes. Honestly, do you like them?

John Pelkey: 1:04:21

I actually I do.

Carissa Galloway: 1:04:22

I love radishes in a salad and I'm going to eat one of those Like a cow, like a coin shape or like a slice.

John Pelkey: 1:04:29

Like slice in the salad, but I mean I can eat a whole radish. That's kind of. You know, I've a lot of. I had a lot of uncles and stuff who had. We actually had a little bit of a garden when I was growing up and everybody grows radishes. Apparently they're easy to grow, so I kind of learned to do that. So I'm one of those weirdos who sort of I enjoy eating a raw radish.

Carissa Galloway: 1:04:47

Well, and you're still getting a low calorie volume food. Whenever you're eating any vegetable, you are still getting some nutrients and vitamins there's, just these aren't. You know. These are not your MVPs. These may be your practice squad, okay.

John Pelkey: 1:05:00

So I always look at like we jumping back to celery. I always look upon that. That's a flavor profile thing, celery. Celery adds a lot of flavor to the things that you make. Yes, but I have always known that they're largely water.

Carissa Galloway: 1:05:14

Yeah, and again, I like them as an edible spoon. Sometimes I'll dip them in the peanut butter, the things like that. I love that. But just you know, we're not hating, we're just we're just ranking, which is you know, that's life. So if you want more tips like this, maybe I'll tell you tips of things you actually should eat healthier. You is a 12 week course that you can take. It's all online. You take it at your pace. You have a year to take all the 12 weeks. You can go to galloacoursecom and use the code podcast to save you $150.

Beatle Juice: 1:05:42

Athletes listen up. It's mail call time. Announce a free present.

John Pelkey: 1:05:48

All right, sarge. Well, look, it's a question for me. Me, carissa, not you. This one's all for me. I'm so excited. From Christmas Surf's Up, don. Wow, that's a lot.

Carissa Galloway: 1:06:01

Yeah, I named him that it's Surf's Up Don and I named him Christmas Surf's Up Don because he loves it. He's the one who gets the Christmas music.

John Pelkey: 1:06:08

Okay, all right, fair enough. And he asked you questions about you.

Carissa Galloway: 1:06:10

You got to love him.

John Pelkey: 1:06:11

All right, I do. I love him, Don. Thank you very much. Don says I was at Universal last weekend and you were none of the Beetlejuices. Is that the plural of Beetlejuice? Is it Beetlejuice? This is something we need to get to the bottom of and I'll do that in a later episode If you ever dresses him anymore. Wow, that is a personal question, he said. He asked around.

Carissa Galloway: 1:06:31

No one knew you. He's skeptical. He doesn't believe you is what I'm reading.

John Pelkey: 1:06:37

For those of you who may not have heard this on an earlier episode, or if I even mentioned it in an earlier episode, I can't be responsible for remembering everything I've said. Clearly, I was one of the first Beetlejuices at Universal Studios Florida, where I started working in 1990. I started doing it in July of 1990. I think I was the second person to do it. The other guy's name was D and he, as I always say, he's on every third commercial. You see, his career is just great, good, great guy. And I last did it for Halloween Horror Nights of 2021, I believe.

John Pelkey: 1:07:11

I was in the Beetlejuice house and I realized at that point that it's a younger man's game. I started doing it in 1990, when I was 26. I'm now 59. And it was a little tough for me. It's a very physical character and having to do it in the house, it was very hot in there and you and I talked about this a lot. It was a struggle. It was very, very difficult. So that kind of just it said to me you're probably going to want to move away from this and not do it any longer. I've had a lot of fun doing it. I got to travel all over the country, not to San Antonio.

John Pelkey: 1:07:50

Not to San Antonio, that was. I didn't get to go there. It was incredibly disappointing. But I have retired Beetlejuice. I don't have any Beetlejuice clothing to dress around the house. I don't think my wife would particularly enjoy that, though I will say vertical stripes are slimming, so maybe it's something I should go for, but no more. No more Beetlejuice for me, though. I do the voice every now and again for folks just for fun, and we're all waiting when it comes up.

Carissa Galloway: 1:08:22

it's just what's that? And we're all waiting for that. Maybe you should wrap wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're going to wrap the podcast. This is the end. You're going to do the whole wrap, which is not scripted. It's whatever the heck you want to say as Beetlejuice, and then I'm not going to say anything else.

Beatle Juice: 1:08:37

All right, listen. First of all, we want to thank all of you for listening. Please continue to do so if you have a way to read us on whatever thing you're listening to us for and, frankly, the juicer here does not understand any social media. He's very much like John, the Co host but please do that. Continue to listen. If you have any questions, you can reach out to us. Carissa, where do they reach out to us? On Instagram at 321go 321go podcast. The podcast at gmailcom. Look at that. The juicer got it right, so that's it. Otherwise, don't bother me. Goodbye.

Carissa Galloway: 1:09:06

Bye, bye, go conna Ahora.