As we are well into the holidays, I decided Marty and I both needed a little break to today and next Thursday have special encore presentations.

Nicole was the first guest and it seems only right for her to have the first encore spot; that and the fact she was a perfect person to fill that first guest spot.

Happy holidays everyone!

I thought after all these weeks of race reviews, now was a great time to take a look behind the scenes (thus also avoiding the F3 vs. USole decision).

Jonathan did not disappoint; I mean, I’ve been around races for quite a while and he even had me thinking differently on a number of things.

While we don’t want to know how the sausage is made, we do need to respect the process if for no other reason than race directors deserve that respect. Jonathan acts as race director for both the Wisconsin Marathon and the Evanston Flying Turkey and explains small independent race directors are certainly not doing this for the money and fame. They do it because they love doing it so can we just do our part to not make things harder?

That being said, if you are someone who did the thing that I referred to as “the dumbest thing ever”, I won’t apologize for my gut reaction. I will admit to being schooled on how it could happen and will do my best to help educate those not in the know.

Whaaaat? Yes, you read that right. The host was the guest and the editor was the host AND the editor!

Yes, the story about "running" a "half-marathon" one treadmill at a time is completely true; the things I did for a Tiffany key chain in 2007.

Oof! You can tell I had a great time doing this episode but if my mouth would just let my mind catch up!

The finalists in my bracket are finally revealed; or are they?

I had a really good time talking with Ksenia. It was a perfect example of why I love this podcast. It didn't feel like an interview; more like a conversation between friends. You just never know someone else's story until you ask.

Oh boy, can you see the exhaustion? This was a rough one; the shoot and the edit.

Buuuuut.....super thrilled to have another surprise guest on. Thanks Terrence for hoping on and helping me announce the F3 vs. Lincolnwood match up. Too bad we did not agree but you talking about F3 was priceless!

Also, is there an answer yet to Headbanger vs. Des Plaines Dash?

The man; the myth; the "must touch the oven to prove that it's hot".

Felix shares his story of how and why he started and you won't believe where he is now! He takes the definition of determination to a whole new level!

So many things in this episode but let me clarify first; the really really cold year at F3 was 2019! What else was I wrong about? Probably a lot.

But, for those of you wondering which one moved ahead; Headbanger or Des Planes? Does dissapontment loom ahead?