#006 – Today’s guest Brian Doerr, is a Quality Control laboratory supervisor, married and has a son, and also loves sports and cars. Brian shares with us his story about how he first started running and his journey to 110 races and a 712-day running streak! Brian talks about running, family, and overcoming injury.
Topics Covered:
- Motivation to start running
- Advice for new runners
- Balancing fitness and family
- Overcoming an injury
Today’s Guest
Brian Doerr Brian is a Quality Control laboratory supervisor at MacDermid Alpha, which is a chemical manufacturing company. He is married and has a son and also loves sports (Pittsburgh Pirates Season ticket holder) and cars (have owned two classics, 56 Chevy and 66 Mustang). He began running in 2011 and has run over 110 races in 10 different states with a goal of running races in 25 different states. Brian set his fastest race mile time of 6:01 at age 38 and fastest race 5K time of 22:11 at age of 41. Some of his most favorite/fun races are:
- Ragnar Cape Cod
- Run for your Lives – Zombie/obstacle 5K’s
- Runners World Runfest
- Greater Hartford Quarter Marathon
- Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race
Follow Brian:
- Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/brian.doerr/
- Athlinks – https://www.athlinks.com/athletes/127590796
- LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-doerr-80165529/
Additional Resources:
- Nike Run Club App – https://www.nike.com/nrc-app
Join the community and click the subscribe button!
Richard Conner 0:01
Here’s what you can look forward to on this episode of Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast.
Brian Doerr 0:07
That was what I needed to kind of get myself into gear because at that point, you know, I was probably the heaviest I’d ever been. I think I was upwards of like 245 pounds, I used the motivation from the zombie race to start working out, start running. And I think at one point, you know, in my kind of running peak, I was down to about 185 pounds. So, you know, just going through all the training and the running, you know, it was a big motivating factor. And then seeing myself lose weight was just a big motivating factor to keep me going and to keep me into running and working out through the years and I’ve just really grown to love running and love doing all the races that I’ve been doing. It’s just been it’s been a lot of fun.
Intro/Outro 0:52
Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast, whether you are new to running or seasoned. Get tips in the inspiration that you need to achieve your health and fitness goals. Now, here’s your host, Richard Conner.
Richard Conner 1:10
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Inspire Virtual Runs Podcast. I am here with today’s guest, Briann Doerr. Brian is a quality control laboratory supervisor Macdermid Alpha, which is a chemical manufacturing company. He is married and has a son, and also loves sports and cars. He began running in 2011, and has run over 110 races in 10 different states with a goal of running races in 25 different states. Brian is a long time personal friend. And I’m excited to have him here with us today. Welcome to the show, Brian.
Brian Doerr 1:52
Hi Rich, thanks for having me.
Richard Conner 1:54
So Brian, first, thank you for coming on the show. And being part of the Inspire Virtual Runs community. I’ve known you for a long time, actually, since high school. We were both working at Toys R Us at the time, which was a lot of fun and a pretty cool job.
Brian Doerr 2:12
Yes, definitely. Yeah, we had some good times there.
Richard Conner 2:16
So I remember that you’re into sports at that time. And you still love sports today. But I never knew you as a runner. So So tell me about that. Like, what was your relationship with running back then, you know, in high school.
Brian Doerr 2:30
So yeah, I’ve always been really big into sports, you know, growing up, I was always doing something, whether it was soccer, or basketball, baseball, you know, through high school, it was football. And my relationship with running was, you know, I did it when we had to, I mean, you know, and playing football it was, you know, more or less than, okay, we’d practice and then we would, you know, run after practice sometimes. And, you know, it was one of those things where, you know, I did it when I had to, but I didn’t really love it and wasn’t really something that I was into at all for, you know, doing on the side, just kind of kind of when I had to.
Richard Conner 3:04
Yeah, no, I totally understand that. And, you know, I had a very different experience of running. So, you know, you mentioned you were at soccer, basketball, football, baseball, I wasn’t very good at any of those sports, right. But I did running, it was something that I found that I was good at. So I guess we kind of kind of find what we like, you know, back then, and stick with it. But, you know, some time had passed. And, you know, you’d mentioned that you started running as an adult, you know, back in 2011. So, what got you started?
Brian Doerr 3:32
Well, it was like I you know, I played football in high school. And then, you know, through college, I did intramurals, after college, I just, you know, really didn’t do much of anything for sports. I just, you know, kind of gained some weight, and I was just wasn’t that active. And then I think it was 2011, my brother and I, we saw an ad for a zombie themed 5K, it was called Run for your Lives. Basically what it was, is they had an obstacle course set up. And they had people dressed up as zombies all throughout the course, you had a flag football belt. And the idea was to try to run the race through the obstacles and make it through without losing any of your flags from your flag football belt. So my brother and I decided we were going to sign up for it and a few of his friends did. And those guys were all in a lot better shape than I am. So I kind of was like, Alright, I need to do something to, you know, get ready for this, or I’m going to look, I’m going to look at you know, well out of shape. I’m not going to like keep up with these guys. So 2011 I decided to start doing a little running and I took up doing the insanity workout program and kind of kept with that for a few months. You know, through the end of the year. The race was in I think, May of 2012. About three weeks before the race. I ended up in Pittsburgh with some friends of mine to go out there and to go watch some baseball games. And the Pirates had a 5K they were doing so we said hey, let’s you know we’re out here. Let’s do it. I ended up signing up for that race and was able to run the whole thing. And at that point, I had run some races or not run races. But I’ve run a few times around my neighborhood and stuff and just short runs. But it really wasn’t tracking anything. This was like the first time I’d actually done a five k distance, was able to complete the whole thing. And I was like, Wow, this is great. And that’s what kind of really got me into running was that whole experience?
Richard Conner 5:24
Okay, that’s cool. So the zombie theme 5Ks so that I think I’ve heard of that before. But I haven’t done anything like that, that that sounds pretty cool. Like, what, what was that Like? You said you had to run and you didn’t want to lose any of your flag. So like, what was that like for you?
Brian Doerr 5:39
It was a great experience. Yeah, it was a had a lot of people there. It was basically, like a whole party atmosphere they had it was it was set up at like the ski resort up in, I think it was Massachusetts, we ended up going. And they had a lot of people dressed up like really cool zombie outfits, the obstacles were were pretty challenging. And we had to just go complete the run, complete the obstacles, and dodge all the zombies, we had a really good time. You know, my brother and his friends were, we’re all there. We’re all really supportive of each other. And it was a good time.
Richard Conner 6:11
Cool. That’s very cool. So, you know, playing football and sports in high school and college, thinking that the obstacles probably weren’t, you know, that big of a challenge for you. But running was was not your forte, it was it was relatively new for you. So, like, how did you learn how to run? How did you prepare for that race? And then and then the other five races that you mentioned? And like, did you join any running clubs, any apps or trainers? Like, what did you do above and beyond the the Insanity workout program?
Brian Doerr 6:40
It was, there wasn’t any, like, set program that I followed more or less, you know, I started doing the Insanity and just started, you know, running here and there. You know, what really got me into everything was just okay, you know, after I did the first, you know, 5K with the pirates, and then, you know, seeing that I could run that, and then doing the zombie race and completing that and it was kind of like, Alright, you know, it just kind of sparked my interest in it, and it was alright, let’s see what I can do next, then, you know, I was like, Alright, you know, I see what time I got my first race. Let me see if I can do another 5K and beat that. And then it was okay. You know, I beat this time. And I slowly kept just doing 5Ks and then trying to better my time, then I’m like, Well, wait, maybe I can step this up and do a five miler. So I signed up for a five mile or try doing a little extra distance here and there. And, you know, did the five miler and I’m like, okay, you know, what’s next? And there was no really set training plan that I did until I got to, you know, the half marathon stage where I just did some research online and just found different, you know, suggested training programs. So, you know, for what days to run, what mileage is to run. And I did follow a training program for that. I think it was like a 10 week training program, I just googled. And that was, that was very helpful.
Richard Conner 7:56
Okay, okay. And it’s funny that you mentioned about the half marathon training program, because actually, as we speak, I’m nearing the end of my 10 week half marathon training as well. And I’m doing the race next week. So it’s a Spartan Virtual Beast, which is the half marathon distance plus 30 obstacles, and they’ve been doing Spartan races for a while. But obviously, you know, most almost all races were canceled this year. And I’ve done a bunch of virtual races. So I’m really looking forward to it because it’s the first time that I’ve done this distance and I really felt like I needed a training program as well. So it’s really interesting that you mentioned that.
Brian Doerr 8:36
Yeah, no, great, good luck. And it’s the the programs are helpful. I mean, I definitely before I did my first you know, half marathon, it was definitely great to have that set program of, you know, okay, you know, run these days. And the good thing about the programs is to is, you know, you stick with as best you can, but I found just from my own experiences, if you miss a day here or there, or if you know, the mileage calls for like, you know, a seven mile run and you only get through six, I found that, you know, it doesn’t really hinder you all that much. It’s more about just being consistent and getting out there and doing you know what you can?
Richard Conner 9:11
Okay, all right, excellent. So, Brian, I know there’s a lot of apps and gear and trackers on the market today like what did you use? What did you find that was like most helpful during your running journey.
Brian Doerr 9:26
Right now I use the the Nike Run Club app, I have an iPhone. So that’s one of the apps on there and it also works well with the Apple Watch. So I found that’s actually been the most helpful thing to use that I’ve used for tracking mileage. You know, I can see all the monthly breakdowns and average times and the nice thing is, you know, if you have an Apple Watch, you can use it without your phone. So just download it onto the watch and then you can have everything right there on your wrist. And it’s actually nice too is that you know, I like running with a music so I will use the watch to not only track my runs, but listen to music when I run to.
Richard Conner 10:06
Okay. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. All right, great. Thanks for thanks for sharing that tip with us Brian. 110 races 10 different states, I’m sure you have a lot of stories about all of the races that that you’ve done. So, let’s, let’s talk a little bit more about that. Like, what are some of your accomplishments that you’re most proud of, like during your your running journey there?
Brian Doerr 10:30
I’d probably say just some of like, my personal record times. You know, a few years ago, I did a race up in New Hampshire, they had a one mile race it was on on January 1. So I went up and did that. And, you know, I hit 6:01 mile for the race time, my goal was to try to make it under six, but 6:01 I’ll take it. And then two years ago, I hit my PR for my 5K time of just 22 minutes, 11 seconds. And, you know, I’d say I’m probably most proud of those just because it you know, took a few years to get there but kind of showed the hard work paid off. And you know, as far as like finishes, I did a small race up in Vermont, just you know, we’re going to cross off the state from my West and found a really small 5K, I think there was like 80 people but I think I finished third overall in that one. And then I went to go to Ohio and they did the Cincinnati Reds 5K out there. And they had just over 1500 runners doing the 5K and I finished fiftieth overall on that one.
Richard Conner 11:34
That’s awesome. And I took a note of your your personal record times the six minute and one second for the one mile. Congratulations on that. I don’t think I’ve ever hit six minutes and one seconds for for my one mile. Even back in high school set, so that’s pretty fantastic and the 22 minutes and 11 seconds. So that’s for the 5K, congratulations on both of those. That’s pretty awesome.
Brian Doerr 11:56
Thanks. And as far as like, you know, race experiences go. You know, there’s there’s been some really good, good race experiences like I did, Ragnar on Cape Cod. For anybody who doesn’t know what that is. It’s a it’s a big relay race, where you can sign up in teams of either six or 12 people. The cover is usually about 200 miles depending on the locations. They’re all give or take a few. But in Cape Cod, it was 200 miles. We started in whole Massachusetts, and we ran all the way to a Provincetown. So they had to what we had 12 of us we were broken up into two vans. And basically once the race started, everyone took turn running legs. And we ran all the way you know, through the night out to the Provincetown. It was just a great time. You know, I met a lot of really cool people along the way. And, you know, the best thing about the running community is just you know, how supportive and friendly everyone is. You know, another good experience was on on Facebook, I had joined a streak runners group, most of them have met up every year at the big Runner’s world run fest out in Bethlehem Pennsylvania, and I kind of gotten to know a few of them just you know, chatting online, and they all were going out so I went out and did the 5K and 10K that Runners World put on and met a lot of really cool people out there and just had a great time just you know getting to know people and just talking running and it was just a really cool experience.
That’s awesome. And you know, we’re talking a lot about the races but you’re you’re running in between these races, like you’re training your your I’m sure you’re doing some other types of activities to kind of stay in shape. So like talk a little bit about that. So in between the races What is your what is your training look like? Or what is your schedule look like?
I don’t have a set schedule it’s more or less you know, I will run a few times a week and then a fit in you know, like you know, some like either weights or I’d you know, do the Insanity program occasionally. You know, just to kind of keep up with you know, doing something but yeah, I don’t have an exact set schedule, it’s more or less just depending on what I’m training for. I mean, this year, you know, my training has definitely been off me with everything being canceled, you know, beginning of the year I had signed up for a bunch of races I was going to do my third half marathon this fall but with everything kind of being canceled you know like you were saying before it’s it’s been tougher to find that motivation this year but I’m still trying to keep up with everything you know when and where I can that’s for sure.
Richard Conner 14:21
Yeah, and I you know, I’m very it’s too bad because I just learned that my old high school will not hold their race this year. Their annual 5K so it has been really hard to find races and like I said I’ve done a lot of virtual but I know not everybody really likes virtual like everybody you know a lot of people like doing live races. So I know there are folks that are just waiting for them to come back. You know.
Brian Doerr 14:49
Yeah our our town just held their annual 5K this year, but I know they limited the number of runners they could be at it. They had everyone spaced out and they were doing like small waves of people. They I know, they’re the races that are running, there’s definitely restrictions and then race changes, that’s for sure.
Richard Conner 15:09
Mm hmm. Absolutely. All right. So you, you’ve run all of these races, you do the training in between the weights and the Insanity. You’ve met a lot of cool people along the way, it sounds like so really great experiences. So what would you say you enjoy most about running?
Brian Doerr 15:30
I would say that, you know, it just the, it’s been, it’s been a challenge for myself, just to, to see what my limits are, it’s just been a great experience getting out there and doing all the different races, meeting all the different people, but I’d say, you know, probably just just the, the challenge for me, was, in the most, the best part for me was just seeing what I could do and seeing what I was capable of. And I went from not being a runner at all, and something that it was, you know, I only did it when I had to to once I kind of got into it. Alright, this is great. You know, I love it. You know, what, what else can I do? And what times can I be, you know, it just kind of like the competition of it, I guess, has really been the one thing that I’ve liked the most about it.
Richard Conner 16:11
Very cool. And it sounds like it’s really competition with your with yourself, like I know you’re looking to to place or rank high and the races, but it really feels like the motivating factor for you is to beat your old time or improve in certain areas of running. Right is that is would you agree with that?
Brian Doerr 16:29
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it’s been, it’s just been, you know, what, what can I do next, and let’s see, you know, what I’m capable of. And, you know, I kind of hit a wall a couple years ago in my running where I just was lacking a little motivation. So I took up doing the streak running, where it’s, you’ve run a mile a day for, you know, as many consecutive days as you can. And I started looking up that I found there’s actually a streak runners registry online. The current leader, I think, has over like 40 years of consecutive days running a mile, which is crazy. I did it and I got up to about 712 days, before I ended my streak, but that was you know, it’s another thing just to kind of challenge myself, it’s okay, you know, can I do this and it was, you know, it was definitely a challenge. I mean, to some days to try to find time just even run a mile was, was was a little bit of a challenge, but I was able to get through it for a while.
Richard Conner 17:23
That’s pretty awesome. So I know I follow you and I followed your streak running and before that, I’d never heard of this. So this is something you know, now that we’re talking about, I definitely want to take a look into that. And I want to share this with with our community because it’s it’s something that I think it’s achievable. Even if you’re not necessarily consider yourself a runner or a 5K or 10 K or half marathoner. This is something that that’s achievable. That is really about consistency, right, making the time making the space to do this on on a daily basis.
Brian Doerr 17:54
Mm hmm. Yeah, it was, you know, some days I would, you know, try to plan it and say, okay, you know, first thing in the morning, I’m going to do it, or as soon as I get home from work, I’m going to do it. But, you know, you know, how life is things happen. And some days it was, you know, just when I was going to fit it in. And I remember, the one day I almost ended my streak I was, I put my son to bed, and I actually fell asleep. After reading him a story in his room. And I woke up I think it was about 10:45/11:00 and like it just instant panic, like, Oh my gosh, what time is it that I you know, that I sleep through? Then, you know, how late did I sleep and I ended up just getting up, go through on some sneakers and shorts, went downstairs ran a quick mile on the treadmill. But you know, it’s one of those things where, you know, for the most part, I tried to plan it, but sometimes things just happen.
Richard Conner 18:39
Yeah, no kidding. So, let’s switch gears a little bit because you mentioned your son, so you’re a family man, you have a wife and a son. And, you know, I know balancing family work, and fitness is not easy, right? And I’m sure that we have members of our community that may be struggling to, you know, find that balance or simply find the time to work out. So how did you how did you manage that?
Brian Doerr 19:05
Um, it’s, it’s just one of those things where you know, I tried this to try to kind of make the time for myself. But, you know, for me family comes first. So, you know, I do everything with you know, you know, I can for my son and my wife right now and then it’s, you know, I’ll schedule in where I can, you know, my time to either run or workout. You know, a lot of times it’s just, you know, making sacrifices to where, you know, for a while, especially when I was doing the streak running when my son was really young and he needed more attention it was you know, I’d find myself getting up you know, okay maybe 10 or 15 minutes earlier in the morning and just you know, go do my run then you know, or later in the evenings when you know, he’d be watching TV or you know, just coloring or playing you know is that that’s when I would try to explain it in but you know, with working the full time job and you know how to use with kids I mean, you know, you work all day you get home you spend time with them and for you know, it’s almost bedtime, sometimes it’s I’d skip days of running or working out. But you know, it’s, for me, it was just making the time, when and where I could at first, and now that he’s getting older, you know, he’s more self sufficient, you know, I have more time to do running and to get out and do work out.
Richard Conner 20:19
So Brian, you are pretty open about becoming a runner in your adult life. And, you know, people our age may say, like, I’m not a runner, or I can’t run, like, based on your own experience, what advice would you have for them?
Brian Doerr 20:34
Yeah, anybody can be a runner, anybody can do it. I mean, I used to tell myself, there’s no way, you know, I would ever do something like that. For me, you know, I was I got out of school, I wasn’t doing anything for a while, you know, I was probably about 45 pounds heavier than I am now, I just never imagined myself being, you know, a runner or more of an athlete than I was find a little bit of motivation to, to make changes in my life. And when I did make the changes and started to work out started to run, just one seeing the results, you know, my physical appearance, and, you know, just my physical ability, doing the races, and I just felt a lot better, physically and mentally, after started to make the change. And, you know, don’t be afraid to start slow to I mean, you know, I remember the first time I went running, it was a couple of laps around my neighborhood, and, but it felt good, though, just to get out and do something, and then it was, okay, you know, maybe add a couple more minutes next time. And, you know, just don’t be afraid to get out there and just try something, do a little bit of something and take it step by step.
Richard Conner 21:35
Okay, awesome. That’s, that’s sage advice for for our community. Again, they may be thinking, this is not something that I can do for various reasons, right? I don’t have the time. I’m not a runner. I’m not in shape to run. But it sounds like you know, your advices you know, start slow, and and kind of build up build up to that. So this is, this is really, really good advice. So Brian, what was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome? Right. So since 2011, you’ve been running over these races. you had some great stories to share some great success stories, and personal records, but like what was the most difficult obstacle you had to overcome?
Brian Doerr 22:18
I’d say, I’ve had issues with my IT band and my my right leg a couple of times now. And both times that’s been difficult. I remember the first time was I had completed a 20K. And within a day or so afterwards, I just felt, you know, a lot of pain in my leg. And I had to shut it down, go through physical therapy. And then it was the same thing. I The reason why I ended the streak that I had with the running streak was, I again, I was running one day, I felt the IT band pain, and had to stop again, and go through physical therapy take time off, you’re getting through that was tough, because mentally I wanted to be back out and running took me out of my routines. But it was again, it was about getting better. And then slowly getting back into it. It was just difficult from the standpoint of here, I was running two, three times a week, four times a week, to suddenly nothing. And then with the streak running, it was here, I was running every single day. And then, you know, had to make the decision to stop I remember, like, went to my physical therapist, and I said, Hey, can I still keep my streak through this and he’s like, you know, you’re not gonna make it any worse, but you’re not gonna get any better sooner if you keep trying to do it. And, you know, I remember, I was trying to sleep one night and this The pain was so bad, I couldn’t get comfortable laying in bed. And I’m like, you know what, let’s just stop taking time off. So I’d say, you know, just the most difficult part was just stopping, really changing my routine and then having to slowly work back into it.
Richard Conner 23:51
Okay, well, that’s good. I’m glad that you hit the pause button and you went through through physical therapy and you started your recovery. So how long How long did it take you to to go through physical therapy and kind of get back to running?
Brian Doerr 24:06
I think the last time I was in physical therapy for I want to say probably three or four weeks. I took I took a good solid month off last time before I really did much of anything for running I was doing you know, the home exercises that the physical therapist had recommended and wanted to make sure that you know, if I started running again that I was all the way back and you know, ready to go I didn’t want to take a chance of Okay, you know, starting starting too soon and you know, having just the pause again. So I want to say was probably about three or four weeks that I took off the last time before I did start to slowly get back into it and when I did get back into it, I took it very very slow. I mean it was back out and do you know did a nice, you know, leisurely mile and just to make sure okay, things are okay now.
Richard Conner 24:50
Yeah, yeah, that sounds really tough, right. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have, you know, that kind of pain in your leg and then not be able to to keep up with the same level of activity that you had for a couple of years. So that had to been had to be really difficult to do. And but it’s good. You took the time off, you’re recovered, you’re back. Right. So you’re back into running now and you don’t take it slow and, and you’re just waiting for those live races to come back.
Brian Doerr 25:16
Yeah, that’s just anxiously awaiting. Yeah, it was it was difficult. I think I had signed up for probably at least a half a dozen or so this year. And one by one just watched them all get cancelled off the schedule. And yeah, it was difficult.
Richard Conner 25:29
Alright, so you’ve done, you have 10 states out of 25 done. Some races have started back up. And we were you know, we were just talking like not, not many are coming back probably for quite some time. So whether it’s confirmed or not, like what is the next out of state race you’re looking forward to?
Brian Doerr 25:49
I know, I’ll probably what I’ll probably do is I, a couple that I did sign up for a few races there was, I tried to find two that were close enough where I could do like back to back race days. So I think next year, if everything is back on, I had signed up for a couple of 5Ks in West Virginia and Maryland that were fairly close by one was a 5K in Harpers Ferry that you know, usually draws a pretty good sized crowd. So that was that’s probably the next one I’ll look for in my out of state list. Otherwise, probably my most one of my most favorite races is there’s a quarter marathon up in West Hartford that I do every year, it’s on a closed reservoir trail. And it’s just a really scenic nice, you know, course that I love to do every year, that’s probably one I’m looking forward to the most that one did get cancelled this year as well. And I’m looking forward to that again.
Richard Conner 26:42
When when is that normally take place?
Brian Doerr 26:44
It’s usually like either the last weekend in March or first weekend in April or at around there. So you know, it’s perfect running weather, usually, you know, you get those 40/50 degree days and it’s the to me, that’s the best weather to run in when it’s a little bit colder out. You didn’t have to worry about you know, overheating.
Richard Conner 27:02
Alright, that’s, that’s pretty cool. So you know, fingers crossed, I guess. right? Yeah, late March, early April. Well, we’ll see how things look at that time, but definitely fingers crossed. So Brian, you have shared a lot of great information with us, which I believe is very relevant and inspirational for our listeners. As we wrap how would you summarize the motivation, you had to not only start running, but continue running throughout your journey?
Brian Doerr 27:34
So yeah, I mean, basically, you know, my journey was when I got out of school, you know, I stopped being active, I stopped doing all the things that, you know, I had done for years and years and years between playing sports, growing up playing sports, in high school sports in college, you know, with intramurals took a number of years off where I didn’t do anything. And, you know, the best part of running for me was when we found the motivation, I found the motivation to do the zombie race when my brother and I signed up for it. That was what I needed to kind of get myself into gear, because at that point, you know, I was probably the heaviest I’d ever been, I think I was upwards of like 245 pounds, I used the motivation from the zombie race to start working out, start running. And I think at one point, you know, in my kind of running peak, I was down to about 185 pounds. So you know, just going through all the training and the running, you know, it was a big motivating factor. And then seeing myself lose weight was just a big motivating factor to keep me going and to keep me into running and working out through the years. And I’ve just really grown to love running and love doing all the races that I’ve been doing. It’s just been it’s been a lot of fun.
Richard Conner 28:42
Thank you so much, Brian, you know, this has been awesome. I love your story. I love how you got into running I think this is inspiration for for the community, whether they’re not running today, you know, this is a great story to to hear, right to get into running. And, you know, overcoming obstacles, I think is just a big part of life, right? And whether it’s fitness or otherwise. So, so happy to hear that part of your story as well. So how can the Inspire Virtual Runs community finds you and follow your journey, you know, as you run your races in these 25 states?
Brian Doerr 29:19
I am on LinkedIn and Facebook and I also I have a an there’s a website called Athlinks where you can actually track and keep all of your race times. So I am on that as well if anyone else uses Athlinks.
Richard Conner 29:38
Okay, perfect. I started using Athlinks I think through the Spartan races, so so that’s great. So what I’ll do is, I will place all of this in the show notes, so it will be easy for the listeners to find you. And again, Brian, thank you. I’m excited about you know your story here and what you’ve done. And I’m looking forward to these races coming back and hopefully we can run one of these races together.
Brian Doerr 30:01
Yeah, definitely. And thanks for having me on Rich.
Richard Conner 30:05
Hello Inspire Virtual Runs community. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. It was a great experience for me to connect with my friend Brian, and hopefully through his story, you’ll find your own motivation to start or continue running. If you’re enjoying these episodes, please go to Apple podcasts and leave a five star review. Also reach out to me and let me know what topics you’d like to hear. Thanks and have a great day.
Intro/Outro 30:31
That’s it for this episode of Inspire Virtual Runs podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review. Also, be sure to click the subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks for listening.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai