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Guest: Gareth Wilford @garethwilford of Athletic Annex
Show Notes:
Gareth Wilford is one of the owners of local run speciality empire, Athletic Annex. He's from South Africa and came to the United States on a running scholarship. So many great stories!
During this episode, sponsored by Foot Levelers and Cure, we talk about:
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His first memory in life is running to the shops in South Africa
-
How his entire family are professional race car drivers
-
Growing up during the apartheid in South Africa
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How he got the nickname “The Flash”
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His very low resting heart rate he gets from his mom (we’re talking 30s, people!)
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A crazy huge Facebook page he created for a Harry Potter game
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How his childhood best friend, Gordon, made him a better runner
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Getting a scholarship to run in the United States
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Moving to Indianapolis after college to continue pursuing running
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Working the night shift at Target because of his South African visa
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The “very romantic” way he proposed to his wife, Laura
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How he started working for The Running Company and the evolution of the business(es)
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His daughters - Aslan and LuLu and the stories behind their names
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His more recent running journey - London Marathon, Rim to Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon, Wonderland Trail, New York City
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How he got into photography
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The time he got embarrassed on live TV
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The biggest regret of his running career
Sponsor Details:
- Foot Levelers - Visit FootLevelers.com to find a provider near you and listen to President, Jamie Greenawalt's episode on the I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein podcast
- Cure Hydration - Use code ALLYB for 20% off your first order
Tickets for 11/8 Indy Monumental event
This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.
Ally Brettnacher: Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, ally Brett knocker, and if you run, you're a runner and every runner has a story. Join me each week as I share these stories and we celebrate finish lines and milestones together. This week's episode is brought to you by Foot Levelers. Foot levelers is a world leader in custom level orthotics. They are not one size fits all. They are completely customized to your feet through a scan or a mold of your feet so that you get. So that you get support that is unique as your running stride.
It is three arch support, so other inserts that you might have tried. Typically only support one arch foot Leveler supports all three [00:01:00] arches of your foot, creating a stable foundation for your entire body. Which helps with proper alignment for your entire body. It helps reduce stress on your knees, hips, spine.
It's obviously great for runners to help prevent injury and also for anybody who's dealing with lower back pain from daily life, which is my life in a nutshell as a mom of little kids, there are also options for. Any type of shoe and lifestyle. So it's not just for running shoes. So whether you're logging miles or you're working on your feet all day, foot levelers has orthotics that would work for you.
And if you are interested in learning more about Foot levelers, actually this week, Lindsay Hein on her podcast, I'll have another with Lindsay Hein features Jamie Greenwald, the president of Foot Levelers in her wellness one series. So it's a perfect opportunity to meet Jamie and just get to know more about that business.
And she speaks really well on all of this in more detail. Plus she's a badass [00:02:00] mom of two as well. So head over there, listen to that. And then if you're interested in learning more about the product or finding a place to get fitted, you can go to foot levelers.com and enter your zip code to find a provider near you.
Thank you so much to Foot Levelers for supporting this podcast.
Okay. It is an absolute miracle that I'm getting this episode out. I was talking to Lindsay Hein, who's the founder of Sandy War Productions earlier today about an event we're doing in November for the monumental marathon, and I just was telling her all this stuff that was going wrong with the software that I use to edit, yada yada.
Anyway, long story short, she was just like, Allie. It's okay not to put out an episode. You can just put out an episode saying you're not gonna put out an episode this week because of all the stuff you have going on. Tell people how excited you are about your marathon. So what's great is that I'm putting out a full episode today somehow, some way.
So there's that. But I'm also really excited to be going to run a marathon. So I'm [00:03:00] heading to, so I'm heading to Marine Corps Marathon in dc. Tomorrow, the day that this episode comes out, October 24th, and I will be pushing for a full 26.2 pushing for Ainsley's Angels, an organization who helps people who cannot run, experience the finish line.
So I am lending my legs, as they say, and my angel is Melissa. So I will be in hot pink pushing Melissa by myself, just the two of us. 4, 26 0.2 miles throughout DC So my entire family is coming to support me, my kids, my husband, my dad is running as well. And so I just, I can't wait to tell you all about it after I survive, hopefully.
So, , Thank you to Lindsay for talking me off a ledge, and for this week's episode, I am thrilled to introduce you to Gareth Wilford. He is one of the owners of Athletic Annex, our local run specialty store, and he's just incredible. This is a long episode, but it's worth every minute, I promise. Gareth [00:04:00] has amazing stories.
Ironically, he's from South Africa. And if you follow running news, , Cape Town South Africa is slated to become a world major marathon and they were supposed to have a race last weekend that was unfortunately canceled due to high winds. Well, during this episode, Gareth and I talk about how windy it is in South Africa.
It's specifically in Cape Town.
But as we also discuss in this episode, Cape Town is actually scheduled to be in May of next year because of them switching to become a world major, they kinda have to schedule around the other ones, and so May is a gap in their schedule. And Gareth is the first South African I've had on this podcast, and this was his very first podcast interview, which blows my mind, especially when you hear about how talented of a runner he is and everything he does for our running community. I just can't believe nobody else has interviewed him, so I'm honored to be the first.
We talk all about growing up in South Africa. A lot of his running there. We go on some tangents that are really good, really interesting. We [00:05:00] talk about how he got to Indy, how he ended up with Athletic Annex and his work there. We talk about his family. How Halloween is his wedding anniversary and the super romantic story about how he proposed to his wife, which is not very romantic at all.
It's a good one. But we talk about his more recent running journey at London Marathon, New York City, rim to Rim, to rim. He's also really into photography. So Gareth is an awesome cheerleader. We're so lucky to have him in Indianapolis, and he also brought me two gifts. So. He's might be my favorite podcast guest of all time.
I really hope you enjoy this conversation with Gareth as much as I did.
Gareth Wilford: Good
Ally Brettnacher: morning, Gareth. Welcome.
IMG_3474: Good
Gareth Wilford: How you doing?
IMG_3474: I'm doing great. Good. Yeah. I
Ally Brettnacher: no idea how we're gonna fit all your stories into about 90 minutes, but
IMG_3474: I'll do my best.
We're gonna, we're gonna see, we can do our best.
Gareth Wilford: All right.
IMG_3474: right. Let's do it. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: I wanna start with your first, you say your first memory Yeah. Is of running.
IMG_3474: it is. Um, and I'm
Gareth Wilford: not pandering to a running podcast
Ally Brettnacher: like[00:06:00]
Gareth Wilford: really, but it really, it really is my, I have two memories that I believe are my first memories.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: the first memory
Gareth Wilford: is, um, so I grew up in, I grew up in South Africa. And, we grew up in this, in this cul-de-sac.
IMG_3474: and we didn't, we don't call them culdesac. I was say no, we're we called, we called them dead ends. Oh yeah. I don't know why.
Gareth Wilford: And, and if, first of all, if you grew up on a cul-de-sac, you were royalty because kids were out in mass and all kids congregated in cul-de-sacs.
Yes. But that's a different story. Um, no, my formative memories in life were, we lived on the east side, east side of Johannesburg in a suburb called, this was Hurley Vale. And, and our house was
IMG_3474: on the
Gareth Wilford: of a main road and a cul-de-sac. And, and I remember very clearly across the road there was this open field.
It was a road, a field, and then a river. And,
IMG_3474: and my dad
Gareth Wilford: always used to say,
IMG_3474: let's run to the shops. And so, so we didn't have supermarkets that
Gareth Wilford: like aggregators of,
IMG_3474: of [00:07:00] groceries, like, uh, Walmart.
Gareth Wilford: You had, you had your store, then
IMG_3474: you
Gareth Wilford: your butcher, you had your bakery. Yeah. And then you had your, like, fruits and veg, you know.
And
IMG_3474: you
Ally Brettnacher: a milk man?
IMG_3474: Uh, we
Gareth Wilford: we did have a milkman
IMG_3474: actually. Okay. Yeah. And
Gareth Wilford: delivered the bottles and all that to our door. We did have a milkman. Okay. But I remember very vividly, my dad used to love reading the newspaper, and this was before they would deliver the newspaper.
IMG_3474: And
Gareth Wilford: every night when he got on from work, we used to run to the store
IMG_3474: and, and it was a race.
And that, honestly, that was my first
Gareth Wilford: Memory 'cause I think we did it a handful of times or
IMG_3474: enough times that
Gareth Wilford: I would remember. Yeah. and I remember it was always a massive sprint when my hazard was sprint and it felt like about a mile. Now I've been back. Okay. It's probably about 200 yards. So it's not a mile.
But at the time, and no, that's is my formative memory of, of my dad just running to the store
IMG_3474: and that's, yeah. Would
Ally Brettnacher: run home or only there?
IMG_3474: No,
Gareth Wilford: have to
IMG_3474: run
Gareth Wilford: 'cause Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So I think it was a sprint there, either a walk or a jog back.
Ally Brettnacher: depending on how [00:08:00] much you else you bought.
Besides the newspaper, probably
Gareth Wilford: I, I feel like it was just the newspaper.
Okay. And so in some time, yeah. I don't think it was much more than that, but
IMG_3474: yeah. That's,
Ally Brettnacher: so interesting.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. My second memory.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: Alright.
Gareth Wilford: Is, do you know how drag stay is those racing cars
IMG_3474: that kind of race? The quarter mile and
Ally Brettnacher: they have the parachute
IMG_3474: Yes. The parachutes. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. So
Gareth Wilford: the, the back tires are, are infinitely bigger than the, than the front tires and my family are all, or have been
IMG_3474: professional racing car drivers. No,
Gareth Wilford: we, yeah, not me. Um, I have zero skill.
IMG_3474: I'm the one outlier by the way.
Gareth Wilford: we used to have racing tires in our house randomly, and we had this big tire.
We used to call it a Mickey Thompson because Mickey Thompson was a favorite racing brand. And we would get in this tire and roll down a hill.
IMG_3474: It was, that's
Gareth Wilford: most dangerous thing ever. But those are my two formative memories in life. So running and taking a laugh in our
IMG_3474: How would
Ally Brettnacher: you. So in the tire, would you like almost like
Gareth Wilford: curl
Ally Brettnacher: up into a ball inside of it?
Gareth Wilford: tiny, we'd actually, no, you'd actually get into it and you'd be able to sit and curve yourself around it. [00:09:00] Yeah. You'd get in a ball. Yeah. Yeah. And you'd just kind of hold on it and you'd roll down hills. Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: helmets, probably
Gareth Wilford: helmets.
IMG_3474: Come on.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That,
Gareth Wilford: it was totally unsafe. Yeah.
IMG_3474: that's crazy.
We
Gareth Wilford: in the yard and we ended up in the cul-de-sac rolling down the road
IMG_3474: and, uh,
Ally Brettnacher: the, into the cul-de-sac.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Just roll down the road. Yeah. And you'd hope someone to stop you, right? No, there was a main road like literally 50 yards away. Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Yeah. Alright,
Ally Brettnacher: Well you lived to tell the tail.
IMG_3474: We lived
Gareth Wilford: tell the tail I lived.
Ally Brettnacher: Whoa. Okay. So the other thing that you mentioned to me growing up in South Africa was the time that you grew up there
IMG_3474: mm-hmm. In the apartheid. Yeah. In
Ally Brettnacher: I have like, I'm so ignorant, I have no idea what that means.
IMG_3474: So,
Gareth Wilford: the, the genesis of apartheid is segregation based on, on race, very similar to kind
IMG_3474: of the Jim Crow laws of, of the US here.
Okay. Yeah. And so,
Gareth Wilford: um, and this started in 1948 with, it was a government movement to segregate races based on, based on color.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And
Gareth Wilford: so, um, so I grew up middle class white, so I had the benefits of,
IMG_3474: of all of that. [00:10:00] Mm-hmm. the, the, the peak, what I call
Gareth Wilford: where the government was bringing in
IMG_3474: the military to separate people
Gareth Wilford: was 1987.
So that was like the state of emergency. So yeah, I grew up in the peak of that, but I grew up on, I don't wanna say the good side. I grew up on
IMG_3474: the safe side.
Gareth Wilford: So, um, no, it's incredibly sad because
IMG_3474: I grew up running, playing sport.
Gareth Wilford: and you, and as a kid
IMG_3474: you're very ignorant of, of what's going on because it's just the way it is, right?
Yeah. And,
Gareth Wilford: uh, um, it is only until you start to
IMG_3474: see little things
Gareth Wilford: and once your brain starts developing and you start
IMG_3474: develop empathy
Gareth Wilford: for other people,
IMG_3474: you
Gareth Wilford: to realize, A, it's different, and b, it's wrong, right? And so, and these little triggers started to
IMG_3474: kick
Gareth Wilford: in, kind of
IMG_3474: 14, 15, 16, because you would
Gareth Wilford: interact with different races and
IMG_3474: groups, and then everyone would go their separate ways.
And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: it was, it was, it was incredibly sad. I
IMG_3474: mean, the
Gareth Wilford: final nail in the coffin for me was, I was, I was, outta high school. I was [00:11:00] actually recruited
IMG_3474: or conscripted to go to the army. and I would, I would've been the final group of people to go in to fight for those rules, right? Oh.
Gareth Wilford: And I was like, oh,
IMG_3474: there's no way I'm doing that.
Gareth Wilford: And, uh, so I actually got a running
IMG_3474: exemption not to go to the army. And so Who,
Gareth Wilford: so Who,
IMG_3474: no, no, it was crazy. Yeah. That's nuts. No, it was totally insane. Think about what life have been like. Yeah, no, it's, it's,
Gareth Wilford: and I look at it from a running point of view. And we'll kinda get into this, but I would,
IMG_3474: I would go
Gareth Wilford: to these clubs, 'cause clubs are
IMG_3474: big in South Africa, not
Gareth Wilford: the school system.
And you're training these clubs and you're trained with some incredibly
FLAMS - Gareth : talented
Gareth Wilford: athletes. and then I would get, my mother would drive me home and
IMG_3474: I'd have a meal prepared and all that sort
Gareth Wilford: thing.
IMG_3474: And they were gonna have to take
Gareth Wilford: bus to these, in essence, they were, um,
IMG_3474: like shanty towns. Um,
Gareth Wilford: so they had, you know, hardly any food, hardly any electricity.
IMG_3474: and they were performing.
I mean, they'll kick him, my butt left by the, you know, so yeah. In a very, in a very
Gareth Wilford: selfish running way. I just got to see [00:12:00] like how privileged
IMG_3474: I was as a runner Yeah. Versus some of these other
Gareth Wilford: guys that didn't. And,
IMG_3474: I mean, other than
Gareth Wilford: the whole, it's just
IMG_3474: a, an absolute wrong thing to do. That's when I started to realize, I'm like, well, this is not, not right.
You know, so what
Gareth Wilford: do you do
IMG_3474: about it, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Right. Yeah. No, it's, it was interesting. Yeah,
IMG_3474: it was interesting. That was a wild time. It was a wild time. Yeah. Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: what city in South
IMG_3474: So I, I was
Gareth Wilford: born in Cape Town. I was actually born in a small town called Belleville.
Okay. Which Cape Town, if you know the map of Africa, Cape Town is at the very bottom.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And it's on the
Gareth Wilford: It's on the coast, yeah. Yeah. I was born about 20 minutes
east in a
town called Belleville.
which means nothing to you other than the fact is the factory that,
IMG_3474: built, Bega socks was in Belleville.
Ally Brettnacher: No
Gareth Wilford: Yeah, yeah. No, I don't have to do that anymore
IMG_3474: because I believe the brand was sold and it was part of a brand called Falke. Um,
Gareth Wilford: but yeah, that's,
that's wild
IMG_3474: So there's the time. right.
But yeah, Cape Town,
Ally Brettnacher: love bega
Gareth Wilford: No, they're
IMG_3474: fantastic. Yeah.
So yeah, so,
Gareth Wilford: um, so I was literally born in a hospital, I think down
IMG_3474: the
road from the Bega
Gareth Wilford: factory, but, uh, I didn't grow up there.
We moved
IMG_3474: to [00:13:00] Johannesburg,
Gareth Wilford: when I was about two or
IMG_3474: three.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And where is that?
Gareth Wilford: So Johannesburg is about
a thousand
miles
IMG_3474: north. And it's an inland, it's a landlocked city. Mm-hmm. Okay. And that's
Gareth Wilford: about a, yeah, about 1400
IMG_3474: kilometers. So call it 900 miles north
Gareth Wilford: Cape
IMG_3474: Town. Okay. In the middle of
kind of southern Africa.
Yeah. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And it's 6,000, 5,000 feet, so,
IMG_3474: that, that helps running.
Yeah, certainly.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. I
IMG_3474: mean, you, you run slower, but it helps where you're running. Yeah.
So,
yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: When did you move, like when you were
Gareth Wilford: No, young,
IMG_3474: young, young. Yeah. So my
parents, um, my dad moved to
Johannesburg. 'cause Johannesburg is like the central bus business district. Okay. basically for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Gareth Wilford: if
IMG_3474: you
do business or if you want, you know, that's where the jobs were in Johannesburg. It's not a glamorous city, it's just a big city.
Ally Brettnacher: How, how, what's big?
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Um, it's probably, I would say it's,
uh, it's not
IMG_3474: as big as Chicago,
Gareth Wilford: um, wise, but it's
probably big as Chicago.
IMG_3474: population wise. Okay. Yeah.
Okay. Um, it's probably five to 10, 15 million people. Wow.
Yeah. it's
[00:14:00] a big, it's a big city. Yeah. Yeah.
Well,
Ally Brettnacher: if I think of the, the only two cities I know in South Africa are Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. So there's, um,
IMG_3474: uh,
Gareth Wilford: just, yeah, well just,
yeah, it's
IMG_3474: fine. so Durban is a smaller,
kind of like a
coastal town. Okay.
Very similar to like a Miami.
Gareth Wilford: Okay. Not
IMG_3474: as glamorous as that, but that's kinda what it's like. That's where we used to go for vacations all the time.
Gareth Wilford: and then just north of Johannesburg is Pretoria.
which is
IMG_3474: the capital.
Okay. It's a little bit smaller, but that's where the capital city. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And so did you have siblings? Yeah. Your siblings? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: I've got
IMG_3474: a younger sister and an older brother.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
Your middle child
Gareth Wilford: I'm
IMG_3474: the middle child. I be the best. Are you you middle child? No,
Ally Brettnacher: I'm oldest. Your oldest? Yeah. Yep. I'm the oldest of three girls.
IMG_3474: Uh, am
Gareth Wilford: is middle good or is middle bad? I don't know.
Ally Brettnacher: I, I mean, middle just is the
Gareth Wilford: goes with
the flow
Ally Brettnacher: goes kind of goes with the flow. The instigator learns from the oldest.
Gareth Wilford: Oh no, that's not
IMG_3474: the
case. My
Ally Brettnacher: like second born are,
IMG_3474: brother's a hooligan.
Ally Brettnacher: Nuts. Okay. You're older I
Gareth Wilford: think. I think I
IMG_3474: am the temperate one.
Yeah. Because my brother was such a
hooligan growing up.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That helps.
Gareth Wilford: And my sister was just, she was
IMG_3474: what we
call a light
lama [00:15:00] key.
Gareth Wilford: is, which is anything
IMG_3474: more than four or five years between kids
Gareth Wilford: and uh,
IMG_3474: it means late lamb.
Gareth Wilford: So she Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Oopsy baby. Yeah. But
IMG_3474: uh, no, she, I think she just was just
like,
what are these guys
doing?
Yeah. So, yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That's funny. And so you played a lot of sports growing up.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. and
IMG_3474: this is.
this is one of the things I'm, I, I, I
love about
Gareth Wilford: story growing up is
IMG_3474: that
in South Africa, it's just you do
everything.
Gareth Wilford: you don't have to. I think
IMG_3474: it's a little bit of a problem in the world
right now with people trying
to specialize too early.
Yeah. Um,
Gareth Wilford: I think that's
IMG_3474: actually to the detriment of, of just development in general.
Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.
Gareth Wilford: Um, so luckily, you know, I, um,
I grew up,
IMG_3474: I
Gareth Wilford: up right on the edge of a farming town, so
I
IMG_3474: grew up playing rugby
at a very early age,
Gareth Wilford: uh, cricket.
IMG_3474: and then
Ally Brettnacher: The horse?
IMG_3474: No, that's
Ally Brettnacher: Polo's Polo. Okay. Sorry. Okay. Sorry. Uh, cricket. What's cricket?
Gareth Wilford: Cricket is, um, you still
IMG_3474: still
Ally Brettnacher: a mallet, right?
IMG_3474: Cricket? No, it's a cricket bat. I, you can call it a mallet
Gareth Wilford: you want. Um,
IMG_3474: it's basically,
Gareth Wilford: so the Commonwealth is, like all the English countries. It's
IMG_3474: [00:16:00] basically our version of baseball. Okay. Yeah. Fair enough.
Gareth Wilford: Fair enough. So, um, I
would
IMG_3474: argue it's better.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Well, I don't,
IMG_3474: a dangerous thing to say. America. Okay. Yeah. People weren't, no, if
you're not gonna be happy about that.
Gareth Wilford: No, it's just, uh,
IMG_3474: such cricket.
Gareth Wilford: Um, okay. and then I did cross country
IMG_3474: and, and track and field actually. it's actually a pretty good high jump, I
believe
Gareth Wilford: or
IMG_3474: not.
Um, oh, and I
did the high jump and soccer. Uh, I did club soccer, for quite a long time. And
Ally Brettnacher: they call it football in South Africa?
Gareth Wilford: No, we call it soccer. Um, yeah. There's this weird thing
between
football and soccer and all
that. We
IMG_3474: Right now we are not, we are not like, gotta be football.
Gareth Wilford: gotta be soccer,
Ally Brettnacher: yeah, it's
Gareth Wilford: or soccer.
It's fun.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And language spoken, is it? Primarily English speaking in South
Gareth Wilford: So, not necessarily. No. so during apartheid,
if you
IMG_3474: were English speaking, you had to learn
Gareth Wilford: Ricans
as
IMG_3474: a secondary language.
Afrikaans is,
it's old Dutch. I've never heard of that.
Yeah. So, when,
when South Africa was being found,
Gareth Wilford: it was
found as a trade
IMG_3474: route
between kind of your England, Spain, Portugal. There was no cut through on the, on [00:17:00] the, uh, red Sea.
Gareth Wilford: The Swiss Canal
IMG_3474: wasn't there. Yeah. So you had
Ally Brettnacher: need a map.
Gareth Wilford: no. We didn't need a map. Yeah. So basically, just think about this, the, the, the route was if you wanted
IMG_3474: to get
to
Gareth Wilford: the, the,
IMG_3474: the east, so, uh, China, Japan,
Gareth Wilford: you have to go
IMG_3474: all the way around
Gareth Wilford: under
IMG_3474: Africa
Oh yeah.
To get up there, which is a long way. Yeah. So
Gareth Wilford: they did was they, they went
IMG_3474: all the way down through Africa and then they built these,
Gareth Wilford: kind of like ports in
IMG_3474: southern Africa
Gareth Wilford: kind of stop off, refuel, stop and
IMG_3474: all that. Mm-hmm. So
it was really just a trade route
Gareth Wilford: port, on the
IMG_3474: way to,
trade route to the west or the east.
And, so the settlers there
originally were
Gareth Wilford: French
descent, Portuguese. 'cause
IMG_3474: the Portuguese
Gareth Wilford: the big,
IMG_3474: explorers of the oceans many, many years ago.
Gareth Wilford: and then, and then the Dutch
and then Dutch actually settled.
IMG_3474: in
Gareth Wilford: Cape Town,
that coast,
and started
to kind of move up into South
IMG_3474: Africa.
And then,
Gareth Wilford: then when
IMG_3474: the English were taking over
Gareth Wilford: world, they came from the north down
and uh, and the English came down and the Dutch came up,
and
IMG_3474: basically met
Gareth Wilford: in South Africa.
Basically what they did, so I, [00:18:00] my my heritage is
IMG_3474: English speaking,
Gareth Wilford: but because
of the Apartheid government, and they're so staunch, they wanted everyone to speak Afrika.
So you had to learn,
Afrika
IMG_3474: as a secondary language or as
Gareth Wilford: first language. So regardless of
IMG_3474: you are. Yeah. Do you still speak that? I
Gareth Wilford: I, yeah. I don't speak
IMG_3474: it
Gareth Wilford: anybody. Oh, right. But yeah, I can't speak it. Yeah. Okay. So I'm, I'm like book fluent. So if
IMG_3474: I'm reading the book, I'm a hundred
percent.
it would take me a while
Gareth Wilford: kind of, 'cause it's a very fast guttal language, so if you to
IMG_3474: speak it, I
Ally Brettnacher: Will you say something, say something
Gareth Wilford: ra, which
IMG_3474: good morning.
Okay. Um,
Gareth Wilford: how are
IMG_3474: you? Yeah, yeah. That's very
Gareth Wilford: language. And uh,
so yes, I can speak it and, um, but I can understand
IMG_3474: it
Gareth Wilford: pretty much.
A hundred percent.
Ally Brettnacher: you speak any other languages?
Gareth Wilford: No.
IMG_3474: Okay. No, no. I thought
Ally Brettnacher: were gonna be like, well then I speak French
and you know, I mean that
IMG_3474: be pretty impressive, but No.
Gareth Wilford: no.
Yeah, you would think because Afrikaans is, um, a Dutch derivative
and,
and
IMG_3474: Dutch in German, all those language are very al you'd think I'd pick those up
Ally Brettnacher: I don't what I mean,
IMG_3474: mean, sorry.
Gareth Wilford: Laziness.[00:19:00]
IMG_3474: In
Ally Brettnacher: Indiana, there's not like a huge application for speaking
IMG_3474: French or No, but there's an
Gareth Wilford: application for learning another language.
My wife
IMG_3474: always kind of.
Gareth Wilford: Rubs
IMG_3474: me or gets annoyed because I didn't teach my kids of growing up
Gareth Wilford: as a stair
IMG_3474: step to
Gareth Wilford: another
IMG_3474: language.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, so yeah. Well, yeah, I
Ally Brettnacher: am still trying to , learn how to speak Spanish. Yeah. Because I took it in high school and then a couple years in college, I wish I would've stuck with it.
Gareth Wilford: Oh
IMG_3474: man.
Ally Brettnacher: Oh.
IMG_3474: But yeah, that's, that's,
Gareth Wilford: um,
IMG_3474: my daughter she's in a second year in college.
Gareth Wilford: She did Spanish in high school and
she
IMG_3474: kind of
didn't enjoy it. I
might just stick with
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It'd be so helpful.
Gareth Wilford: first
IMG_3474: of all, it's helpful
and brings such
Gareth Wilford: amazing skill, to
IMG_3474: have,
Gareth Wilford: you
can
IMG_3474: speak another
language,
Gareth Wilford: especially Spanish.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Yeah, totally. So when you were running mm-hmm.
IMG_3474: mm-hmm.
Ally Brettnacher: Cross country
IMG_3474: Track
Ally Brettnacher: and field, when did you realize you were good?
Gareth Wilford: yeah, so, again, I started
IMG_3474: off,
Gareth Wilford: I was always fast. I was nicknamed The Flash by
IMG_3474: this guy. That's cool. You know, the flash. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: and [00:20:00] it was a coach of my brother's
IMG_3474: baseball team,
Gareth Wilford: and he asked me to kind
IMG_3474: of,
they didn't have enough players one day
Gareth Wilford: so
they were like, Hey, can you come play? And, and I was terrible at baseball.
IMG_3474: but I could get
on base and then I'd like sprint as far And the coach, I remember the coach saying,
Gareth Wilford: man, you're really fast.
IMG_3474: You like
Gareth Wilford: flash. And uh,
IMG_3474: I'm
like, yeah. I'm like the
Gareth Wilford: And so, uh, this,
when I was like five years old, I thought it was the coolest thing.
And um, I
didn't know if I
was fast or not, but, uh, so then I started sprinting in school and I was the fastest sprinter in school. So
IMG_3474: I'm like, yeah, I really am the flash.
And so,
Gareth Wilford: so whenever I went
IMG_3474: somewhere I
Gareth Wilford: always like sprinting,
just to
IMG_3474: kind of like impress people, look at this kid. And
Gareth Wilford: uh, so I, if I was in parking lots and my dad was like, Hey, let's go to the store.
I'd like sprint as fast
IMG_3474: as
I
could and look around like
Gareth Wilford: you and see how fast I am.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Did you even see me?
I was so
Gareth Wilford: I was so fast. Yeah. I was this little 5-year-old kid running around at a million miles an hour. And so, so I did that.
And
IMG_3474: then, I was always in, in
Gareth Wilford: like from an
IMG_3474: early age.
Gareth Wilford: I mean, I went to a super small
school, so it's kind of like I was the fastest kid in a school
IMG_3474: of like 200 kids.
Ally Brettnacher: and was it like a public school like we have
IMG_3474: have Well, the public
school. Yeah, it
Gareth Wilford: right on the edge [00:21:00] of, so
think about South Africa
as
you
have this
IMG_3474: big city
Gareth Wilford: then you have these suburbs that sprawl out from,
from the city, but it's more, it's more like, farmland, suburb, farmland, suburb. They were all interconnected.
Some,
IMG_3474: but
they were all
Gareth Wilford: And so, um, so I went
IMG_3474: to a farming school, not because I was
a farmer,
Gareth Wilford: but I
IMG_3474: was the suburb that was
Gareth Wilford: of zoned to go to this farming school. And so, now farming schools
IMG_3474: tend to
be really big on rugby. That's their thing.
Gareth Wilford: Africans kids
love rugby.
And so,
so I was the fastest
IMG_3474: kid,
Gareth Wilford: but everyone was like, rugby's the big, the rugby's the sport.
So,
so
IMG_3474: be really
cool you had to play rugby.
Gareth Wilford: So even though I was the fastest kid, uh, sprinting,
I mean, and
when we say
IMG_3474: it was like,
Gareth Wilford: I think at that age it was the 60 yard dash or
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: Yeah. That's just as far
as we
went. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: It wasn't until I
started running distance,
which
was the 1200, so three laps of a track
and I started winning quite a lot.
Then I was like, oh,
IMG_3474: actually I'm not bad at this,
Gareth Wilford: but
would never
IMG_3474: train because
Gareth Wilford: I was doing
so much sport at school and [00:22:00] I'd play soccer three times a week.
IMG_3474: and soccer's like the greatest. Yeah. Running workout out
there. It's basically
far
like for 60 minutes.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So it,
Gareth Wilford: there, so
IMG_3474: it
was never necessary.
Gareth Wilford: so
IMG_3474: I just ran track and
field. I did track and field
Gareth Wilford: based purely off the other
IMG_3474: sports
I did. And it was totally fine.
Yeah.
And
Ally Brettnacher: did you start cross country?
Gareth Wilford: High school was
actual formal cross country. So, so we, we do what's called, we
IMG_3474: have grades or standards standard
six, which
Gareth Wilford: would be the
IMG_3474: equivalent
of a eighth grade here.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: You
go to high school and now you
IMG_3474: start competing in
cross country.
And it was really an eye opener for me because
Gareth Wilford: it was, four kilometers and eight
IMG_3474: kilometers right
out of the gate.
And
Gareth Wilford: was
IMG_3474: no JV or anything like that.
It's like everyone runs
you, you run 4K up until,
the 10th
grade and then the
Gareth Wilford: big
IMG_3474: boys run eight K or five miles.
Yeah. Okay. And it was
Gareth Wilford: so far,
I'll
IMG_3474: never forget,
Gareth Wilford: I remember
running like 4K
IMG_3474: thinking
like this is the longest
Gareth Wilford: ever. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Well, compared to like the sprinting For
IMG_3474: Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: start Off
being a sprinting [00:23:00] and, and never ran distance. We never
IMG_3474: trained distance, and we never went
out there and
Gareth Wilford: said, oh, let's go out
IMG_3474: and do a,
Gareth Wilford: you know, two or three k.
I would jump
IMG_3474: in road races
every now and again,
Gareth Wilford: and I, I did a 4K once, um, it's
called the Cinderella run.
IMG_3474: Interesting. Yeah, I know. And, uh, I
Gareth Wilford: did
pretty good at that. Around that same time, I was like, I need to start
running
IMG_3474: a little bit further.
Gareth Wilford: My very
second race ever was a 5K, and I thought it was the longest race in the world.
I got first and
won
a free karate lesson.
IMG_3474: exciting. Isn't
that great?
That's, it's the first prize I ever won.
Gareth Wilford: I
remember that.
IMG_3474: Clear as day.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: That's, I mean,
Gareth Wilford: claimed
IMG_3474: it,
but I just thought this Oh, you never did? No.
Gareth Wilford: Won a free karate, free karate
IMG_3474: lesson.
Well,
Ally Brettnacher: know how those are, it's like free in air
quotes, Like,
Gareth Wilford: then after that you, you're in
it for,
IMG_3474: it for
Ally Brettnacher: signed up and you're Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: never, my dads like, that's cool with that you Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. No, we're not gonna take you to karate. Yeah. So did your, did your older brother run and then did your parents ever like, outside of running to get the
Gareth Wilford: Sure. Yeah. So my dad, my dad was always a ball sport guy,
IMG_3474: so he grew up playing squash. So the
equivalent is racketball. Okay. Oh, right. Yeah. Always, always
a
Gareth Wilford: good athlete. Always been [00:24:00] around sport. My mother was actually a pretty,
IMG_3474: decent distance runner. Okay. Um,
Gareth Wilford: she joined, a, a club
IMG_3474: called Run for Life,
which is an amazing organization, which I, I wish we
Gareth Wilford: had
IMG_3474: it here, where
Gareth Wilford: thousands of people get together
IMG_3474: and they just train and run as
part of a club.
It's amazing. And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: and she went
all the way up to
IMG_3474: doing marathons, um, never really fast,
but
just
Gareth Wilford: kind of
IMG_3474: just
Gareth Wilford: super
IMG_3474: consistent.
And
Gareth Wilford: she made that a part of
IMG_3474: her life
Gareth Wilford: for like 10 or 20
years.
IMG_3474: uh, so we would tag along to
these races and do them.
Gareth Wilford: And, uh,
IMG_3474: we did learn that in
that time with my mother
Gareth Wilford: went to, um,
for
IMG_3474: medicals
and stuff
and figured out that her resting heart
rate
Gareth Wilford: was
IMG_3474: insanely low, just genetically. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And I, I got that for
IMG_3474: free.
And
Gareth Wilford: so Yes,
I know. So it's, uh, yeah, running fast is very much
IMG_3474: a genetic
lottery
sometime. And so, um,
Gareth Wilford: so yeah, so in her
IMG_3474: running she had to go for like
heart checks and all
Gareth Wilford: that.
They're like, you
IMG_3474: that. You have a really, really low resting heart rate and so. I mean,
Ally Brettnacher: always joke, I mean, like runners, there's like memes about how when you go to the doctor and your heart rate's really low, you're like, yeah,
IMG_3474: I'm a runner.
No, but
Ally Brettnacher: you're even, you're like even [00:25:00] lower. What's your resting heart rate?
Gareth Wilford: Um, so when I was,
when I was in
really good shape and
all that. Yeah.
It was in the mid thirties, like 35, 36.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Which
Gareth Wilford: it's not really
a predictor of success
because it's the
IMG_3474: spread between the
low and the high
and the range in that.
But it's definitely a good place
Gareth Wilford: start.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Wow, that's so funny.
So
you grew up spectating some of your mom's
Gareth Wilford: No, we
loved it. Yeah. So we'd run up and a lot of times it
IMG_3474: would be,
Gareth Wilford: she would do a half marathon and there would be like
a
IMG_3474: 5K and I'd jump in the
Gareth Wilford: Ks. Yeah. And, um, and then, uh, we did 10 and 15 Ks were big, big things, but I never did those.
But every now and again. My best friend,
uh, who was a
great runner as well, was like, Hey, let's jump in the 15 K. And uh, and he would just
IMG_3474: transfer me 'cause I have a good athlete. I was like, this is
Gareth Wilford: the longest thing ever. I thought, what am I doing
IMG_3474: Yeah. I would did good
for the
Gareth Wilford: first like 30 minutes and after that I'd be like,
Ally Brettnacher: this is, what are we doing?
IMG_3474: is miserable. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: What in high school, what were the accolades that you achieved at that
Gareth Wilford: Sure. So,
Ally Brettnacher: I'm like going through your [00:26:00] history, I'm
like, this
is nuts,
Gareth. Yeah.
IMG_3474: I
Gareth Wilford: was, I was very lucky in that, the 800 is the big event in high school,
IMG_3474: track
Gareth Wilford: field and just purely on soccer, I was able to break two minutes really early on.
IMG_3474: That
Gareth Wilford: was, if you can break two minutes back, then,
IMG_3474: that was kind of really,
really a big
deal.
Gareth Wilford: And, uh, and there were only, there were only a handful of people breaking two
IMG_3474: minutes on,
Gareth Wilford: on grass. Right.
And so, so I was
able to do that. so we
have, think of South Africa in five quadrants.
Right. Kind of similar to states. Okay. And um,
IMG_3474: and we
Gareth Wilford: would have,
IMG_3474: high school.
Gareth Wilford: you'd get as high
IMG_3474: as you
could in your high school, and
then you'd join club.
Gareth Wilford: Club is where you kind of go become like a state champion or
IMG_3474: something like that.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: so, once you get to that level, then it's a whole different level.
So in high school, I was the quickest kid. I hold the school. I
IMG_3474: may even
Gareth Wilford: have the school record, I think in a few fans. it's 30 years later. They
IMG_3474: probably
Gareth Wilford: even
IMG_3474: records
Gareth Wilford: that long. But anyway, um, so now I, I got, I, we had, within school we had
IMG_3474: these,
Gareth Wilford: do you know,
IMG_3474: Harry Potter. Oh yeah.
Okay. So, you
know, we have [00:27:00] houses
Gareth Wilford: and so we had houses
IMG_3474: and house captains,
Gareth Wilford: and we
had school uniforms and uh, we had blazers, which were like jackets.
And on
those jackets you'd get
IMG_3474: these like
Gareth Wilford: patches, kinda
like Girl Scout
IMG_3474: patches,
but little bit cooler. Yeah. And,
Gareth Wilford: and the higher you went in a sport
IMG_3474: or, or
an academic
Gareth Wilford: or an achievement, you would, you would get, you'd get the
IMG_3474: patches.
From
the patches. You'd go
to a ribbon on the edge
Gareth Wilford: of it. and if you got, if you got
IMG_3474: really
high, you'd get a different color jacket. Ooh.
Gareth Wilford: Oh. So everyone had dark blue and there were a
IMG_3474: of us with
Gareth Wilford: light blue.
So I
IMG_3474: was
one
of those trumpets, said, walked around
a light
Gareth Wilford: blue
jacket. Yeah. That is unbeliev. I
know. It's pretty cool. And then, uh, so I was normally you only got
IMG_3474: that
Gareth Wilford: jacket
IMG_3474: in your last
maybe
Gareth Wilford: junior year
IMG_3474: or senior year? I got it in like
Gareth Wilford: third year. So I, I had
IMG_3474: three
years.
Ally Brettnacher: Oh man. So you
Gareth Wilford: around like a big show,
IMG_3474: but
looking back, you're like, you
Ally Brettnacher: you're just like a chick magnet. You're like,
IMG_3474: Have
Ally Brettnacher: blue coat.
Gareth Wilford: No, it wasn't
IMG_3474: that. It
Gareth Wilford: wasn't that. It was more
IMG_3474: impressive for the
Gareth Wilford: You,
know? Yeah.
you
wanted it to be a chick magnet, but No. Yeah. Ended up
IMG_3474: impressing your [00:28:00] friends more
than
Ally Brettnacher: wish they had something like that.
Gareth Wilford: I loved it.
IMG_3474: I thought it was
Ally Brettnacher: a great
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Kids, I mean, kids love that kind of stuff. Like the sticker achievements and ribbons and
Gareth Wilford: well, I, I like
IMG_3474: uniforms
Gareth Wilford: because,
IMG_3474: because I do think there's,
Gareth Wilford: there's class differences in
IMG_3474: kids based on what they wear. and it takes the guesswork
Gareth Wilford: of it so that that's equalized. Yeah.
Um, and also just every day you go to
school, it's like,
IMG_3474: I'd sleep, pair
of gray pants.
Gareth Wilford: like, pick
IMG_3474: your
gray pants today, you know? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Gray pants, white shirt tie, uh, in
IMG_3474: the winter. Wow. Yeah. And,
Gareth Wilford: uh, and jacket and
IMG_3474: took you three minutes
to get ready for school.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I like it. Right now my my. Youngest is in pre-K and they actually wear uniforms.
Yeah. And that's good thing. It's great.
IMG_3474: is because it's
Ally Brettnacher: like, here's your option. Yeah. Like, I don't have to, she doesn't put on eight things and take it off. It's nice. I mean, now it's only like two things. She red or white shirt,
you know,
whatever. yeah. I wish, I wish all schools had uniforms. It would be so much easier.
Yeah. For everybody. And I like the idea of the even playing field. Mm-hmm. Well then you come in like shoes and every, there's always something, but still it's like, yeah. A lot
Gareth Wilford: and also if you compete against, like [00:29:00] Interschool
IMG_3474: competition is,
Gareth Wilford: is
IMG_3474: massive. I mean, it's big here as well,
Gareth Wilford: but when
you
IMG_3474: went to events, there were everyone in their blue bla is
Gareth Wilford: sitting, it's actually pretty cool.
You
IMG_3474: You
Ally Brettnacher: sit together.
Gareth Wilford: Oh yeah,
IMG_3474: yeah, It's almost like this is the student section and,
Gareth Wilford: everyone sat there
IMG_3474: because there's, there's chairs and there's
chants and all that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's kind of cool.
Ally Brettnacher: so cool. Do you still have your light blue jacket?
Gareth Wilford: I
think I do actually.
Ally Brettnacher: I'm really disappointed that you
Gareth Wilford: didn't
I didn't roll up in the
IMG_3474: jacket. I didn't roll up your jacket. Jacket. I mean, a good prop.
We'll,
Gareth Wilford: we'll do
it. I
IMG_3474: Don't get into
Gareth Wilford: anymore. Well,
Ally Brettnacher: I mean, yeah. I don't, there's no way.
IMG_3474: No,
no. Yeah, so
Gareth Wilford: I was, I dunno if I, you know what? I do have it.
IMG_3474: because I think my mother,
Gareth Wilford: likes to keep, like,
IMG_3474: to
Gareth Wilford: my,
like
all these memento from my youth and
all
Ally Brettnacher: yeah. But that's a cool one.
Especially if it still has like
IMG_3474: and
Gareth Wilford: But what do you do with it? Patches and,
IMG_3474: I
Ally Brettnacher: know, look at it every once in a
IMG_3474: while. That's not too ose. Here's
Gareth Wilford: a house captain,
IMG_3474: which
is
Gareth Wilford: pretty
big deal. So you had a little badge as well.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Oh my
IMG_3474: I know.
Gareth Wilford: know.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: that's really cool. Yeah. Especially Does your girls think that's cool at all?
Gareth Wilford: No, I don't think I've ever really even
IMG_3474: told them
very much about that. Oh.
Gareth Wilford: [00:30:00] I
IMG_3474: just, I just don't think they care.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Well, if they do, they like Harry Potter surely. Um, ish. Okay. A
IMG_3474: story about Harry Potter?
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I do. I
IMG_3474: Harry.
Harry gonna, we're got
a tangent here. That's fine.
Gareth Wilford: So, I like Harry Potter.
IMG_3474: It was the FI think I read all the books
Gareth Wilford: right up to the last one,
IMG_3474: and I didn't want to finish
Gareth Wilford: book. You
know,
when you get to
the end
IMG_3474: of
the book, you're like, I don't wanna finish this. Yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: I don't want to be over.
Gareth Wilford: I've never
IMG_3474: finished the books and I've never finished
Gareth Wilford: the movie.
I know,
IMG_3474: curse.
Ally Brettnacher: oh.
Gareth Wilford: I
don't want it to finish. And, uh, so
I, I read
the books
and then, do you remember
IMG_3474: Pokemon Go? Remember the
Ally Brettnacher: Oh yeah.
IMG_3474: Go
Gareth Wilford: craze?
IMG_3474: cra? I
Ally Brettnacher: got into it for like a hot second.
IMG_3474: Yeah, no,
I thought it was
amazing.
Ally Brettnacher: cool. No, it
Gareth Wilford: No, it's fantastic. So they, they had a, that same company called Niantic released a very similar version for Harry Potter
IMG_3474: called Wizards Unite.
Oh, I didn't know that. Exact same about that
Gareth Wilford: that exact same concept. You walk around, you catch whatever,
you
IMG_3474: know? Yeah.
so,
so I thought
Gareth Wilford: I got
wind that this game was coming out somehow. And so I was like, oh. So I pinged my kids, I'm like, Hey, um, there's this new game
IMG_3474: coming out.
Ally Brettnacher: Let's,
IMG_3474: let's let's start a little Facebook page
Gareth Wilford: because you have your
IMG_3474: nephews and your nieces in [00:31:00] South Africa.
Maybe it's something that you guys can
play
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: So I
started a page, on Facebook. It was called Harry Potter, wizards Unite thought, nothing of it. And I made, it was public. And, uh, and one day I'm like,
wait
all of a second. There
IMG_3474: were a thousand people on
this page. Get out.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Oh, it gets worse.
IMG_3474: Oh, no, no.
It, it gets worse.
God.
Gareth Wilford: So I'm
like, oh my God. What, what's going on here? And I retroactively, I realized that I, I got word that this game was coming out before the world did. Somehow, somehow it popped up. And, and the ga even like the people that were playing, like, how did you find out about this? 'cause I know the people later on down the road, like, I don't
IMG_3474: know.
Gareth Wilford: And uh, so
like, I had a thousand people on this page and, um, and then this YouTuber started following my page and sharing the page.
IMG_3474: And
he was a Harry Potter guy.
Gareth Wilford: Now
we're up to 5,000
IMG_3474: people. Oh boy.
Gareth Wilford: And, and I'm like, what am I
IMG_3474: gonna do with this?
So, so I
Ally Brettnacher: like, I just wanted my kids to
Gareth Wilford: to play. I just
IMG_3474: I just wanted my kids to play.
But now I'm like,
Gareth Wilford: well, what am I
IMG_3474: gonna do with [00:32:00] this?
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And so, so then, then it starts to pick up steam and it, the game releases in, um, Australia. Now we're
IMG_3474: up to 10,000 people. And now I'm like,
Gareth Wilford: what on Earth's going on here because I don't
IMG_3474: know what's going on.
Gareth Wilford: And uh,
and my wife,
she's
IMG_3474: an
attorney
Gareth Wilford: trade.
She
IMG_3474: literally
had an iPad going next to her desk, like answering questions. So, so while I was at work, she was like, what have you got me
signed up
Gareth Wilford: for? And uh, and then the game
IMG_3474: came out
Gareth Wilford: and the
day the game came out, there was a, a friend code
IMG_3474: thing. You
had to like, have friends in the game.
Gareth Wilford: So where do you go to find friends? You go to the Facebook page now we had 80,000 people
and so yeah, no,
and so, so for a hot minute, I think it was like a
IMG_3474: year and a half.
Gareth Wilford: we were the biggest Harry Potter wizards, you know, page in
IMG_3474: the world.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, I had to sign NDAs with
IMG_3474: Warner
Brothers.
Gareth Wilford: Because
they were giving us
IMG_3474: information before the general public.
Gareth Wilford: I was on a Discord server with
IMG_3474: all these like
Gareth Wilford: YouTubers influencers around the game. It was so bizarre. My kids gave up [00:33:00] the game
IMG_3474: in the first couple weeks.
Gareth Wilford: Yes. And
IMG_3474: so,
Gareth Wilford: um, so eventually I was just like, what
am I
doing here? And, uh, I ended up, I'm still the admin on that page, but I gave
IMG_3474: it to the YouTube.
I'm like, yeah, you
Gareth Wilford: take this page and do whatever
IMG_3474: you want with
it. Wow.
Gareth Wilford: And then Warner Brothers
IMG_3474: were like, Hey,
Gareth Wilford: we are partnering
IMG_3474: with,
Gareth Wilford: PS five to, to do another game. Can you just roll
IMG_3474: up another page?
Gareth Wilford: I now have like three or four Facebook pages, I
think the total
300,000 people.
Yes. I
have
IMG_3474: these random like Harry Potter
Gareth Wilford: that
I
IMG_3474: have to manage.
So this
Ally Brettnacher: is not something
IMG_3474: I would've, that was not
on the list Right. Pictured,
Ally Brettnacher: like
IMG_3474: you. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: No, I've never,
IMG_3474: I've never
Gareth Wilford: the game on PS five. but I have a page of like 90,000 people that are all like, talking about this and I just pseudo
IMG_3474: manage it.
Yeah. That's,
Gareth Wilford: so once a week
are
IMG_3474: gonna approve posts
and all go.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
I have to prove
IMG_3474: the
Ally Brettnacher: still to this very day. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Uh,
what am I
IMG_3474: doing?
Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: once, once you're the
IMG_3474: main admin. I
Gareth Wilford: don't, I mean, I,
a
IMG_3474: lot of people like,
Gareth Wilford: I mean this is their. Connection to other
IMG_3474: people. Yeah. And you see, like we have all these chats
going and people are becoming best
Gareth Wilford: So I can't
IMG_3474: [00:34:00] like
Ally Brettnacher: shut it down.
IMG_3474: shut it down. No.
And I don't wanna
Gareth Wilford: give it to someone else because once you're the main admin, you sue a
IMG_3474: responsibility
for the
Gareth Wilford: on
IMG_3474: there a little bit.
Ally Brettnacher: If you just give it to some,
IMG_3474: I mean, yeah. Yeah. So, which I did with the
other one, but I still have
Gareth Wilford: kind of see like, if there's anything pops
IMG_3474: up there, I'm kind of
responsible, you know, so.
Yeah. Yeah. So were you ever like,
Gareth Wilford: interviewed
Ally Brettnacher: in the media or anything for it?
Gareth Wilford: not in the media, but, the, the big, you know, they do these Pokemon
IMG_3474: Go fests where
they go to a specific area. There's a whole different world. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Simon was the main sponsor of
Harry Potter Wizards Simon's
IMG_3474: Simon from Indianapolis.
So the big Wizard Fest
Gareth Wilford: was in Indianapolis. Yes.
At, at Ry Park. So I had to go down there and, uh, and we, uh, we did a meetup at, yeah, no, this, it
IMG_3474: gets,
Ally Brettnacher: and this is separate from Jen Con too.
IMG_3474: No, that's totally separate. This is totally
Gareth Wilford: So we went
IMG_3474: to a bar, I went to a bar
downtown. I'm like, Hey, can we host a party here?
There's
gonna be like 50 people. We'll take a corner of the room. Yeah. You
Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
IMG_3474: We'll, we'll, and we're gonna do a, um, trivia. So I, I,
Gareth Wilford: I bought the [00:35:00] trivia. I
IMG_3474: paid
for the trivia so that we 500 bucks in,
Gareth Wilford: um, we had about
IMG_3474: 400
people show up. Yeah. It,
it,
Gareth Wilford: and it was this whole big media
thing and everything.
It probably
IMG_3474: cost
me, I would say maybe a couple grand for that night. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: I was
IMG_3474: just like,
whatever man. Have fun. Yeah. You're like,
Ally Brettnacher: you're welcome. People had no idea.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. People had no idea. Yeah. So, uh, so that, that was the night of
IMG_3474: of like, YouTubers
and media and all that. That was like the one
time where I was
Gareth Wilford: like, okay, man, this is just outta control
IMG_3474: now.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: That's
IMG_3474: Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: I kind of wanna download the game. Can
IMG_3474: you
play it? No,
Ally Brettnacher: no. The Harry Potter games Gun time.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Yeah. I think
they closed it down. Maybe.
IMG_3474: So what do people
Ally Brettnacher: talk about on the page?
Gareth Wilford: That, that specific page I
gave
IMG_3474: to a YouTube. Oh,
Ally Brettnacher: you did. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Okay, so the
IMG_3474: Pokemon one.
That,
Gareth Wilford: that
guy, well, no,
IMG_3474: we
Pokemon's.
Gareth Wilford: So Pokemon became, Harry Potter
was a, dote was
IMG_3474: separate
version.
Gareth Wilford: That game shut down, that page
IMG_3474: was
Gareth Wilford: to a YouTuber. Yeah. Okay. And he does all things
IMG_3474: gaming now around Harry Potter. Okay. So it's just, that's separate. The, the, the,
Gareth Wilford: the, the, the
other
game is a
IMG_3474: PS five
game.
[00:36:00] Okay. And that's called Hogwarts Legacy. Oh yeah. If you wanna play, I'm not. Well, yeah, yeah. I'm not in that been, you know
Ally Brettnacher: I'm into now, Gareth? Mm. It's like Pokemon Go, but it's for birds. Do you know what I'm talking about? The Merlin app? Have you
IMG_3474: I haven't, but it's like a
Gareth Wilford: thing.
Ally Brettnacher: well, no, this is hilarious. Okay. This is how I age myself too. And you know, you're getting older when you're really into birds, but it's made by Cornell University.
It's called Merlin, and it's like Shazam, but for birds.
IMG_3474: I
think I might have it. You can actually like, yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And it just, it'll like listen for birds and then you can be like, yes, this is the bird. And then it'll like, you
IMG_3474: save
Ally Brettnacher: it to your counter.
IMG_3474: and you
Ally Brettnacher: Collect birds, collecting
IMG_3474: collect.
Ally Brettnacher: So that's how cool I
Gareth Wilford: There
IMG_3474: is an evolution
in life.
Gareth Wilford: I, I always say it's, it's sunset sunrises
IMG_3474: and birds.
Gareth Wilford: And,
uh, and because when I was growing up, we
would
IMG_3474: go down to Durban, which is on the coast and with
my grandparents, and
we would wake up early and go and watch sunsets.
Gareth Wilford: I thought
IMG_3474: this was the dumbest thing.
Gareth Wilford: And now that I'm getting older, I
IMG_3474: think sunsets and sunrises are the greatest thing God's given us
and birds.
Gareth Wilford: So I
IMG_3474: think there's an evolution. It's
Gareth Wilford: once you start to [00:37:00] enjoy those things, then
IMG_3474: I
think you've, you're evolving or you become Yeah. I call it evolving.
Like getting old. Yeah. Evolving. Yeah. I like that. That is good. Mm-hmm. And
Ally Brettnacher: you take really amazing photos of
birds too, which we'll get. We'll we need to have a whole separate conversation about that.
okay. We've gone on quite the tangent, but it was a really interesting
Gareth Wilford: one. I know
IMG_3474: was random.
There we go. Yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: we can
IMG_3474: can cut it out if you can. I
Ally Brettnacher: No. How many people know that about you?
IMG_3474: About that? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: a handful. Okay. Maybe 10.
Ally Brettnacher: Well, it's
IMG_3474: about to be 20. it's
Gareth Wilford: out there. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: I'm just kidding. Um, okay, so you're in high school.
You still hold some records probably. Let's just say that you do. You
IMG_3474: probably do.
Maybe. Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: that where you ran the mile in 4 0
Gareth Wilford: No, no, no, no.
IMG_3474: So that? That's college level. That's college.
Gareth Wilford: That's actually, yeah, that's college
level. Okay. Yeah. So, um, so
yeah, I was a pretty decent runner in high school, around the age of 14, 15. my best friend
IMG_3474: Gordon,
Gareth Wilford: he actually
was an incredibly good athlete.
He actually went
and trained
at a club.
IMG_3474: Okay. he didn't tell me about it.
Gareth Wilford: And, so he went and
IMG_3474: did
Gareth Wilford: training and I really respect him
for
IMG_3474: this because
Gareth Wilford: [00:38:00] he,
IMG_3474: uh, he wanted to beat me and
I was
just better than him on no training. And he was like, well, I'm gonna go and train to beat him. And, uh, um,
Gareth Wilford: the shorter distances, I think I always
IMG_3474: would've beaten him because I was just a little bit faster than him.
Gareth Wilford: But
on the longer
IMG_3474: distances, you
can't fake
Gareth Wilford: So he
IMG_3474: went
off and, and trained with like professional coaching, came back and just
whooped my butt, right. And, uh, and actually this
Gareth Wilford: why he's
my
IMG_3474: greatest friend. After trying to beat me in, he beat
me in cross country
with my backside and I was like super humbled.
Gareth Wilford: And
then in track I
IMG_3474: was
a little bit better with him and
he actually
then said to me, I've done everything I can to beat you. You are way better than me. Come with me. We need to go to professional training. So
Gareth Wilford: was, he, he was like, I did my best to beat you. I, I did, I beat
IMG_3474: you
a few times, but I know that you can be a better athlete.
Come with me to this
professional training. And I always respected him
Gareth Wilford: that.
IMG_3474: He did his best,
Gareth Wilford: knocked it out,
and then he was
like, no, now, now I'm gonna
take. So he actually took me
IMG_3474: to this professional coach.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And what do you mean when you say [00:39:00] like, take you, like is you go away
Gareth Wilford: like
No, no, no, no, no.
It's just,
IMG_3474: think
Gareth Wilford: of,
IMG_3474: so in South Africa there aren't very many places to train at a very high level. Okay. because we didn't have, we
Gareth Wilford: have many tracks because
IMG_3474: you said grass earlier.
I
Gareth Wilford: Oh no. Our running on
IMG_3474: grass. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Oh no. I, our high school tracks were all grass and or dirt.
there were only probably at the time, that's insane of
IMG_3474: growing up.
Maybe. One or two tracks
within an hour of Johannesburg
Gareth Wilford: were
Mondo
IMG_3474: or, or you know, the pink material. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: What
IMG_3474: So
Gareth Wilford: to, to run on that was like the
IMG_3474: greatest thing ever. And um, but you
Ally Brettnacher: at least wear shoes, correct?
Gareth Wilford: Uh,
IMG_3474: no. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. When
IMG_3474: you first start running on those as a little kid, it was, yeah.
Yeah. Wow. I
think I only started wearing spikes when I became like
14, 15 years old. Get outta here.
Yeah. The first few years all
barefoot. Yeah. Yeah. Huh.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. So I went to,
I went to this
coach and
IMG_3474: it was part of a club system.
Gareth Wilford: And the club system is, they
IMG_3474: don't care what age
Gareth Wilford: are,
it's [00:40:00] all
IMG_3474: what sort of performance level you are.
Gareth Wilford: and it's everything from beginners to, to slower folks
to older folks.
It's just everyone's like, okay, we're gonna go
IMG_3474: to the track today and we're gonna do 10 by 400 meters. Okay? This
group is anyone that can do it in 70 seconds.
Gareth Wilford: group
IMG_3474: is
75. So I was 14 years old training with 50-year-old dudes.
And they were like, no,
Gareth Wilford: it's, we don't
IMG_3474: care. Just get in the group and that's how you
train. And Wow. And
Gareth Wilford: I started training more methodically. and it was haphazard for,
for
two or
IMG_3474: three years, but I was least training
Gareth Wilford: for that.
and I
IMG_3474: made, I
made our state team to,
through that to go to the national championships.
Gareth Wilford: Okay. but it wasn't
IMG_3474: until
Gareth Wilford: two years
IMG_3474: later when I was
Gareth Wilford: okay,
now
IMG_3474: I'm a senior in high school.
Gareth Wilford: What
IMG_3474: am I gonna do after high school? Right. Um.
Gareth Wilford: and A
friend of mine came to America on a scholarship. He
IMG_3474: came back to South Africa.
Gareth Wilford: and he was like,
Hey, you
kind of, you're right on the
IMG_3474: edge of being able to get a scholarship.
Gareth Wilford: Um, a
IMG_3474: you're gonna have to train
a little bit harder.
Gareth Wilford: Um,
IMG_3474: and b, if
Gareth Wilford: want to do [00:41:00] that, I
need to have a list of your results. I'll take it back and
IMG_3474: I'll,
Gareth Wilford: see
IMG_3474: what I can do. Wow.
Gareth Wilford: and so he took like
a
IMG_3474: running resume back to America,
Gareth Wilford: gave
it to a bunch of coaches, but it, it's a
IMG_3474: long process.
Gareth Wilford: And in
IMG_3474: that time I'm like, wow, now I've gotta start training.
Yeah. So
I actually ended
up going to a different club
and
Gareth Wilford: not full
IMG_3474: time, but
Gareth Wilford: training. What
IMG_3474: I thought was, okay, now this is a, a lot.
it ended up being like 25, 30 miles a week. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: which,
when you
compare it to kids
in high
IMG_3474: school, now some of them are doing 60,
Gareth Wilford: 80, 90 miles, which Nice.
Yeah.
IMG_3474: And
Gareth Wilford: but no, we were
IMG_3474: all like
Gareth Wilford: 25
IMG_3474: miles a
week, but it was all, it was all flat out stuff.
It was, there was no junk miles,
Gareth Wilford: was no
IMG_3474: added miles. We didn't need
to
do it. And so,
Gareth Wilford: so
IMG_3474: that's when I was like,
okay,
Gareth Wilford: now I
IMG_3474: feel like
Gareth Wilford: I'm good enough
IMG_3474: to go to
the next level, which is, is
get a scholarship in
America. That became the dream. Now you start training.
Gareth Wilford: my
times weren't
IMG_3474: incredibly good at the time,
Gareth Wilford: for
IMG_3474: a couple reasons. One,
it was low mileage, so you're always gonna be quicker on the,
the 800 side versus[00:42:00]
the three K, 5K side. Mm-hmm. So we focused
Gareth Wilford: the 800. I think I ran
IMG_3474: low one 50. So one 50. 3, 1
Gareth Wilford: in
high school.
which is
IMG_3474: pretty solid. It's enough to
get a scholarship into,
Gareth Wilford: into America. And then didn't run much faster than I wanna say about somewhere between four 15 and four
IMG_3474: 20 in the mile
was what I was running.
it
wasn't altitude,
so give or take maybe five or six
Gareth Wilford: So I was probably about a, call
it a
IMG_3474: four
10 to four 15
miler in high school. Um, and that there was
Gareth Wilford: enough
at
IMG_3474: the time. the miler has
made a quantum
Gareth Wilford: in the last 10
IMG_3474: years for
a number of
Gareth Wilford: reasons, but that at the time was like,
IMG_3474: okay,
Gareth Wilford: low
IMG_3474: mileage
Gareth Wilford: 4
IMG_3474: 12, 4 15.
There's a lot of potential. Yeah. Some coaches gonna take a chance of me. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And then also your brother, did he stay in South Africa or did he go to America? Yeah.
IMG_3474: Okay.
Gareth Wilford: No, he, um,
IMG_3474: so my brother,
Gareth Wilford: my brother's
IMG_3474: like a genius, like a nutty him, the nutty professor, because
Gareth Wilford: during high school he was failing high school, like
IMG_3474: miserably.
Gareth Wilford: not
IMG_3474: for
Gareth Wilford: lack
IMG_3474: of intelligence,
Gareth Wilford: [00:43:00] because
he was
IMG_3474: one of
those
guys that
Gareth Wilford: sitting down
IMG_3474: in
front of a book mm-hmm. Was not his thing. Mm-hmm.
Gareth Wilford: I mean, he was building
IMG_3474: cars at
Gareth Wilford: 14,
IMG_3474: 15, like
Gareth Wilford: scratch. He
IMG_3474: was one of those guys. Right.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Back to the race car. Right.
IMG_3474: I almost
Ally Brettnacher: about
IMG_3474: that.
Gareth Wilford: No.
Yeah, so my brother was the South African racing champion
at
IMG_3474: the
age
Gareth Wilford: 16 before he
IMG_3474: even had a car license. Yeah. And so, okay.
No, he is
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. No, my brother always, my
brother was always, in South Africa around cars
IMG_3474: racing,
all that type of stuff. Okay. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah, they
IMG_3474: actually, wow.
There's a newspaper in so
Gareth Wilford: called the Sunday Times, which is a national publication, and they did a story of us. It's like,
it was something about Brother's
IMG_3474: in Speed or something.
Gareth Wilford: And it was me
IMG_3474: and my running outfit
and him and his racing car.
Gareth Wilford: And they were like, no, you need to look like a runner. So I'm like, what does that mean? And so, so I have this really weird pose and
I have a
singlet on and long tights, which didn't make any sense.
And
there's my brother in his racing
IMG_3474: uniform next
to the car with
Gareth Wilford: helmet.
Yeah.
Looking super cool. And you're like, and me,
in this like, fake runner's pose and I'm like, I look like the biggest douche bag
IMG_3474: ever.
That's great.
Gareth Wilford: great. And
IMG_3474: is
Ally Brettnacher: that [00:44:00] framed in your house? Tell me. It is. Come
Gareth Wilford: It's not
framed in my house, but I think, again, I think my mother has it somewhere. Okay. You, it's,
IMG_3474: Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: gotta
frame that somewhere. Put it in one of your stores. No, that's good.
Gareth Wilford: no. We're gonna keep
IMG_3474: that world separate. Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That's cool. Okay, so then
Gareth Wilford: were
Ally Brettnacher: you scared to go to America then, because like,
Gareth Wilford: I
wasn't easy wasn't, I
wasn't scared. I think there's a level of ignorance a
IMG_3474: little bit.
Gareth Wilford: Um, I mean, I look at my children now and I'm
IMG_3474: like
Gareth Wilford: scared for them when
they do stuff like that at the time I'm
IMG_3474: like, no,
Gareth Wilford: I'm
just gonna
IMG_3474: That's
Ally Brettnacher: what I'm gonna do.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: um, I
mean I literally got the scholarship,
got everything sorted out. Now I need to get to America
IMG_3474: now. This is before the internet, right. So yeah. I didn't even know where I was going other than pictures in, in a, in a magazine type of thing. Yeah, yeah. And no,
Gareth Wilford: no, no idea. It was totally sight and scene.
didn't even know what the coach looked like and
IMG_3474: I had to
meet him at the
airport. Yeah. Oh yeah. He was like, he even, he said.
Gareth Wilford: well how
IMG_3474: am I gonna know it's you? And uh,
so I was
Gareth Wilford: like, okay. I have a Boston
IMG_3474: Red sock hat. Okay. I wear
my Boston head sock. That the
Gareth Wilford: like as this coach looking for me, coming outta the[00:45:00]
IMG_3474: Did
Ally Brettnacher: he hold a sign with
Gareth Wilford: he hold a sign? He didn't
IMG_3474: hold a sign up. No. That's
Ally Brettnacher: I picture.
IMG_3474: for. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. No, it
wasn't that cool. it
IMG_3474: it was an airport in Lexington,
Kentucky. You're
Ally Brettnacher: like, wait, how do I know it's you and
IMG_3474: random guy. Yeah, it's a random stranger. Well,
someone was giving
me a lift
Gareth Wilford: college and, uh, so no, I,
IMG_3474: um, wow.
Gareth Wilford: I remember very clearly
IMG_3474: my trip from South Africa to,
Gareth Wilford: to, Kentucky, which
is where
I went to school, was
IMG_3474: Johannesburg
Gareth Wilford: to Rio
IMG_3474: de Janero. Oh,
yeah. Yeah. I spent, I spent 48
hours
Gareth Wilford: in Rio de Janeiro. and then from there I went to Miami.
IMG_3474: Miami to Lexington. Lexington, down to Williamsburg, Kentucky.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Wait, what's the name? Williamsburg, Kentucky Williamsburg. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: I went to College
IMG_3474: Yeah. Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: And what's the name of the
IMG_3474: university?
Gareth Wilford: At
the time it was called Cumberland
IMG_3474: College.
Yeah. Okay.
Now it's called University
of the Cumberlands.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. That did confuse me, actually.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah,
IMG_3474: the little,
Ally Brettnacher: I noticed that it was different.
I was like, okay. Well,
IMG_3474: yeah.
they,
is it
Ally Brettnacher: by Lake Cumberland? Is
IMG_3474: that down there? It's, it's in
Gareth Wilford: in that zone,
IMG_3474: but it's not quite right there.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: It's called the un
IMG_3474: it's called the Harvard of
the
South.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: You can laugh at that.
Ally Brettnacher: I'm gonna
IMG_3474: When I
Gareth Wilford: I heard that, I was like, this is gonna be super cool.
I'm like, like, this is
IMG_3474: Harvard of the stuff.
Yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: Well, we, I [00:46:00] went to Miami of Ohio and they would call it like the Harvard of
IMG_3474: the Midwest. So Is that what it's, look at us. Everyone has the Harvard or
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Yes. It's like the Harvard of Ohio. I mean, I don't know, but did you have choices or did you get a scholarship there and you're like, that's where I'll go?
Gareth Wilford: So
when I was,
when I started
IMG_3474: being recruited,
Gareth Wilford: the
coach from
IMG_3474: Ohio State called me
Gareth Wilford: and,
uh,
IMG_3474: that was
more of a favorite to
a friend.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Okay. And
he, and he was this,
IMG_3474: okay, this is what you have to
do.
Gareth Wilford: after talking
IMG_3474: to Ohio State for a while, there was
gonna be
Gareth Wilford: sort of offer there,
IMG_3474: but
Gareth Wilford: I didn't
IMG_3474: know the difference between NCAA and NAIA.
What? I didn't know anything. Yeah. Um,
Gareth Wilford: and as I, and slowly through the
IMG_3474: recruiting process,
Gareth Wilford: NCAA
IMG_3474: rules are way stricter than NAII didn't know that. I didn't know the level either. Yeah. Um, but what I
did know that certain coaches were speaking
to me more often than other coaches, and I assumed
Gareth Wilford: just like, oh, these
ones really want me.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
These ones don't.
Gareth Wilford: And no, it's just the rules. They can only
IMG_3474: speak
to me once every what,
Gareth Wilford: months?
I dunno
IMG_3474: what it was. Oh, interesting. [00:47:00] Yeah. It was
Gareth Wilford: Oh, interesting. Yeah. It was like, but NAIA
IMG_3474: didn't have those rules. They could call me like every day, every week. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And so, so
when you say, where
IMG_3474: was I gonna
Gareth Wilford: There were probably about five schools
that
IMG_3474: I thought were legitimate options.
I take Ohio State out.
Gareth Wilford: I feel
IMG_3474: like there was more of a, I'm doing a favor for a friend,
Gareth Wilford: coastal
IMG_3474: Carolina. Okay. Was an official offer.
Gareth Wilford: Uh,
Cumberland College was an official
IMG_3474: offer. There was,
Gareth Wilford: there was a school
IMG_3474: in Kansas
Gareth Wilford: I don't remember
IMG_3474: the
name.
Gareth Wilford: Louisiana something.
IMG_3474: it wasn't LSU, any of those, but, um, there was
Gareth Wilford: school
IMG_3474: in Louisiana.
Gareth Wilford: It wasn't
IMG_3474: one of the big ones. There was some,
there was some smaller ones. Down in Louisiana. Alabama. Wow.
Gareth Wilford: Um, but the coach,
IMG_3474: the coach at Cumberland,
Gareth Wilford: he would
IMG_3474: call me, I would say, once a week. And we got to the point where
Gareth Wilford: we were past
IMG_3474: running, we were now talking about
Gareth Wilford: campus
IMG_3474: life,
Gareth Wilford: how
IMG_3474: to do laundry, how to get, how to get your
Gareth Wilford: set up.
So we moved. He he was really
incredibly smart about this
IMG_3474: though,
Gareth Wilford: obviously you're coming
IMG_3474: from a different
country. You need to know what's life like.
Gareth Wilford: he got to that, he got to the
IMG_3474: running [00:48:00] part very quick,
and then he moved on to the, okay, now what do you wanna do? So he was bringing in
Gareth Wilford: like advisors
IMG_3474: and all
Gareth Wilford: So by
IMG_3474: the time,
Gareth Wilford: by the time I'd made a commitment was about to make a commitment. I knew, I knew what, what
school
IMG_3474: life was like.
Gareth Wilford: knew
IMG_3474: what training life was like. I knew how to do laundry. Yeah. I knew,
I
Gareth Wilford: what
IMG_3474: classes I was gonna be in if I wanted to.
Gareth Wilford: I knew I, I had spoken to,
over the phone. remember
IMG_3474: there's no email at
Gareth Wilford: time
either.
Um, over the phone I'd speak, spoken to an advisor
IMG_3474: that kind of said like,
Gareth Wilford: if this
is
the right you go. So I felt very comfortable and I really felt
IMG_3474: like, oh, these guys really, really
are taking the time and effort. Right. So I'm gonna give it a shot.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Yeah.
IMG_3474: That
Ally Brettnacher: makes a lot of sense.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Um, I mean, coastal Carolina,
IMG_3474: which is an amazing school.
Every time I spoke to him, he, he, like it was all about the beach.
Gareth Wilford: And uh, and I love
the beach,
don't get
IMG_3474: me wrong, but I'm like, no,
I'm here to run and study. And I feel like this is misguided for some reason. Right. Oh, we're right by the
beach? We
Gareth Wilford: can hang out at the beach. I'm like, ah, I didn't want to
hear that.
You
Ally Brettnacher: that's funny. 'cause I'm sure for some people he'd be like, yeah. Some kids are like, sweet.
That's what I wanna
IMG_3474: Yeah, exactly. So [00:49:00] Kentucky, I know middle. So you end up, did
Ally Brettnacher: get a roommate through
IMG_3474: have a roommate,
yeah. To process
Ally Brettnacher: Like were they like, Hey, we'll set you up with Joe and he will be your
IMG_3474: or,
Gareth Wilford: yeah,
so I had a roommate.
so I was,
I was
IMG_3474: straight
into cross country.
So right
out
of,
Gareth Wilford: we, I got
IMG_3474: you in, I think the first week in August.
Did you
Ally Brettnacher: fly by yourself?
IMG_3474: Yeah, totally by myself. Yeah.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: actually to
IMG_3474: backtrack to Brazil, I got to Brazil. I'm like, this is great. I'm gonna be on the co cabana. This is gonna be amazing.
Yeah. And um,
Gareth Wilford: I literally get to the hotel
and I'm walking out
IMG_3474: the door and the one guy
goes,
where are you going?
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, I'm gonna go for a
IMG_3474: walk. He goes, no, you don't wanna walk around here. Yeah. I don't know.
Gareth Wilford: I honestly dunno where I was in Rio de
IMG_3474: Janeiro,
I thought I was close to the co cabana. And he was like, no, you don't
wanna leave this
hotel.
It's too dangerous. Yeah. So now I'm like 19 years old,
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, I don't want to.
IMG_3474: to get kidnapped. Right.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: I I don't want to
IMG_3474: really
Ally Brettnacher: my mom
mad. No.
IMG_3474: I was just like, what's
going on here? So
I literally
stayed in
the hotel for 36 hours
and I lived with Kid Kat. 'cause I, I didn't know where to get food. I didn't know anything.
And so,
Gareth Wilford: so
IMG_3474: yeah. So my 36 hour Oh my God. So yeah, that's when you're like flying solo. That's wild.
Gareth Wilford: I
was just.
'cause I'm, because that, I'm
IMG_3474: not a [00:50:00] confident person, but I was just like,
I'm not gonna take that chance. , And also growing up in Johannesburg,
Gareth Wilford: know there's places you go. There's places
you don't go.
Yeah. Yeah.
IMG_3474: You gotta be smart. And
I was like, well,
I mean,
yeah.
Gareth Wilford: When we drove in, we literally drove
like through the slums, which is
IMG_3474: next, the novellas. Yes.
Gareth Wilford: And we were
like right on the road and
IMG_3474: there it is there. And I'm
like, well,
I
Gareth Wilford: us taking an exit and
being within five
IMG_3474: minutes of that,
Gareth Wilford: thought, am I in the
IMG_3474: slums yet?
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
So,
IMG_3474: I was like, yeah. And the door wouldn't lock. My hotel room door wouldn't lock. Oh. So I was like, that's a little, well,
I,
Gareth Wilford: I
wasn't that,
IMG_3474: I was worried about being robbed, I was worried about my passport. 'cause you lose your passport, you're basically not in
Ally Brettnacher: right.
Gareth Wilford: See Yeah.
IMG_3474: The flow solo,
Gareth Wilford: one bag.
I got to
college with one duffle bag of stuff and
dropped
IMG_3474: my bag and I got there about a week before everyone else, so I can
kind of just
get the lay of the land.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: I honestly
IMG_3474: didn't know that I had to buy my own like bedspread pillow. Right. I mean, yeah. I guess
Ally Brettnacher: you're like, okay, that you missed that part Coach, like you told me everything else.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And how did you do laundry? 'cause I think that's funny that that's one of the topics
Gareth Wilford: was [00:51:00] No, it was just, it was just, it
IMG_3474: was nothing special.
It was just, if you walk down the corridor, there's the quarter laundry. They had a laundry room. Yeah, the laundry room. Yeah. But I, I
was worried about that. I'm like, well, how am I gonna do laundry? Right. I
don't know. Do
Ally Brettnacher: I have to buy my own machine
Gareth Wilford: or, Yeah.
IMG_3474: What do I do? I
just didn't know. Just
didn't know.
Ally Brettnacher: trying to remember how I did laundry in college. Yeah. Did we have it in the basement? Our, we must have had it in the basement of our dorm. Something like that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting.
Gareth Wilford: Now
IMG_3474: the kids have these apps where they can do it and they can follow along. Jesus. Do they?
Ally Brettnacher: That's. They don't know what it's like
IMG_3474: live, to
live on a quarter machine.
Yeah, yeah. And make
Ally Brettnacher: sure you had enough quarters
IMG_3474: then having to
Ally Brettnacher: go down and somebody threw all your shit on the
Gareth Wilford: Yep,
IMG_3474: yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: 'cause they, yeah. You didn't keep track of the
Gareth Wilford: the time. You didn't
IMG_3474: keep track of the time So
Ally Brettnacher: have your Apple watch with a timer on it.
Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
IMG_3474: Totally.
Ally Brettnacher: okay, so that's so crazy. You get to Kentucky,
I'm just like, I can't believe you're in Kentucky of all places in
IMG_3474: United States, right? Yeah. It's like,
Gareth Wilford: well, funny story about that. I knew Cumberland
IMG_3474: was in
Williamsburg.
I didn't notice, was in Williamsburg, Kentucky at first.
Gareth Wilford: So I
IMG_3474: went to the library and I looked up Williamsburg.
Oh, no. And what came up? Virginia. Virginia. Like, this
Gareth Wilford: kind of cool.[00:52:00]
So for a good, I would say a good
IMG_3474: couple weeks. I thought I was going to Williamsburg, Virginia. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, just
Gareth Wilford: different. so
no,
IMG_3474: I ended up in Williamsburg,
Gareth Wilford: , Kentucky, which the school, . The architecture is based off of
IMG_3474: Colonial Williamsburg. Okay. So, so
Ally Brettnacher: was basically the same
IMG_3474: a touch.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: But no, I also thought, and my dad was always very chw about this. He was, he was like, you go there and you give it
IMG_3474: your best effort,
Gareth Wilford: you
are running, you are only as good as yourself. So if you, if you feel like
you don't
IMG_3474: like it there,
Gareth Wilford: you
need to make a
IMG_3474: change.
Gareth Wilford: Use your running as a tool to go somewhere else.
Because it's
IMG_3474: not
Gareth Wilford: a team
sport. Like if you're really good on a bad team, it may be like it won't
IMG_3474: show you how good you
Gareth Wilford: Right, Right, right,
But if for running, it's like it's you.
IMG_3474: It's
Gareth Wilford: clock. It's you against competition.
So go there, train,
IMG_3474: feel
Gareth Wilford: like you don't
like it, train hard. Do really, really well.
Give
IMG_3474: yourself opportunities
to go somewhere else.
Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And
now I stayed
IMG_3474: there for six years. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Six years.
I absolutely
IMG_3474: I absolutely loved it. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. And
Gareth Wilford: And
Ally Brettnacher: you [00:53:00] ran
IMG_3474: track
Ally Brettnacher: cross
Gareth Wilford: Track and cross country. Yes. It's actually, cross country is considered
IMG_3474: its own sport. I mean it's all running Yeah. cross country.
Gareth Wilford: Indoor track and track are considered three
IMG_3474: in the middle sports.
Oh yeah. But it's basically in
Gareth Wilford: the fall it's cross country.
From
IMG_3474: there you pivot
straight to indoor track, which is
Gareth Wilford: of. Now it's December through, let's call it March.
Outdoor
IMG_3474: track is kind of march through end of May. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: For six years. How did you not burn out? Or were there times where you were
Gareth Wilford: no, I, um, first of all, I
IMG_3474: loved doing it.
Gareth Wilford: I was pretty smart on taking Tom off. ,
I
read a book by Sebastian Co. Uh,
his
IMG_3474: you know, Sebastian Co. Is a great runner
Gareth Wilford: from the eighties. Okay. World 800 meter record. his dad, Peter Coe, was his coach and
he read his book.
and one of the very first
IMG_3474: things
in that book
was
Gareth Wilford: to train really, really hard, you need
IMG_3474: to manage rest. Mm.
Gareth Wilford: And, um, and, and I
IMG_3474: I
Gareth Wilford: was assumed rest was giving your body rest, but in hindsight it was
just
IMG_3474: giving
your brain a little bit.
Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.
IMG_3474: A little bit of a check. Mm-hmm. And so, um,
Gareth Wilford: so when
I started
IMG_3474: training,
Gareth Wilford: alright, now [00:54:00] I'm training at a, at a high
IMG_3474: level.
Gareth Wilford: So I'm committed.
Everything's
IMG_3474: gonna be built around that. Right.
Gareth Wilford: That really only started probably in my high school senior year, so call it, uh,
IMG_3474: 17 years old.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, And I went
really, really hard. I would say till 26.
IMG_3474: So for those
Gareth Wilford: years,
I was
IMG_3474: all in. Everything I did was,
Gareth Wilford: the decisions I made
IMG_3474: for
Gareth Wilford: years were all revolving around running.
IMG_3474: So,
Gareth Wilford: it's not to
say
IMG_3474: that I, I ate incredibly well,
but I made smart choices.
Um, going to
Gareth Wilford: bed
IMG_3474: early. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: out partying
Gareth Wilford: No, no. That's not to say that like when I went back to, um, South Africa without my friends,
IMG_3474: we went out for a night or something like that. Yeah. But I wouldn't have a long run planned the next day. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: But
I was very, very
IMG_3474: smart
Gareth Wilford: about
IMG_3474: it. It wasn't like three nights in
a row.
Right.
Gareth Wilford: go out One night
IMG_3474: and called it a night. So,
Gareth Wilford: So,
no, I had a, I had a youth and I had a thing. burnout's a funny
IMG_3474: thing.
Gareth Wilford: cause there's many different ways for burnout.
But I was, I
always enjoyed the process.
I
was always part of the
process.
I had very little
IMG_3474: injuries as well.
Gareth Wilford: , and
I always
gave myself, I built in recovery days every week.
and
IMG_3474: I built in
recovery times every [00:55:00] year where I take like three weeks off and do nothing. Smart. I know. Three weeks smart doesn't sound
like much.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, but when you train at that
IMG_3474: level, it's
kind of anything more than that you're like,
ah, I wanna get back
Ally Brettnacher: yeah.
IMG_3474: So that
Gareth Wilford: that was
never an issue. Yeah. Wow. But I really, really
IMG_3474: enjoyed it.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And when did, did you meet Laura in college?
Gareth Wilford: I did. How did you meet?
Yeah. So, um,
IMG_3474: her dad,
Gareth Wilford: ,
Is an
incredibly good coach. He was the coach at,
uh, university of Dayton for a while. Stepped away
And then, the volleyball team was struggling
IMG_3474: at Cumberland.
Gareth Wilford: and his,
and he went to Cumberland
IMG_3474: back in the day. So all the.
Gareth Wilford: Students when he was there, were now the administrators in
IMG_3474: the school
Gareth Wilford: and they knew of him or friends with him,
IMG_3474: and
they were like, no, you need to come down here
and coach the
volleyball team and help with the sprinters. He's
Gareth Wilford: a good sprinting coach. So I
IMG_3474: met her dad first,
and uh, that's kind of cool.
Gareth Wilford: I
know. It is kind of cool. Yeah. So, um, and I think just because of meeting her dad, and then Laura was kind
IMG_3474: of thinking of what
Gareth Wilford: school
is she
gonna go to?
I
think she was
like, well, I'm gonna go
down there,
IMG_3474: you know, so. Yeah. And so,
Gareth Wilford: and we just, she was
IMG_3474: on the track team
as well.
Gareth Wilford: We met that [00:56:00] way.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: was it like you started dating and that
Gareth Wilford: No, we both
IMG_3474: had
significant others for a long
Gareth Wilford: time. Oh yeah, yeah. No, it was, uh, I think
IMG_3474: was
Gareth Wilford: maybe two
IMG_3474: or three years
before we started
dating. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And then, um, yeah, it
was really towards the end.
And then, um, and then after college, , I
IMG_3474: knew I was gonna kind of continue running.
Gareth Wilford: Indianapolis was the best opportunity
for that. she was gonna go to law school. Okay. Uh, and, um, one of the law schools was Indianapolis. And we actually said to ourselves, let's, let's, let's go our separate ways.
Go and
get sorted out and then we can come
IMG_3474: back
Gareth Wilford: together.
And it just so
IMG_3474: happened that we ended up in Indianapolis together.
Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. So you couldn't get Yeah. You couldn't
IMG_3474: couldn't, you couldn't get room, couldn't get rid of She
tried. She's like, she
Gareth Wilford: she tried hard. Yeah. She was like, I'm gonna go somewhere else for a little bit and if we get back together again, that's cool.
IMG_3474: that's cool. Yeah. And then you're like,
Ally Brettnacher: well, me too.
I'm gonna go there too.
Gareth Wilford: No.
IMG_3474: And so
Ally Brettnacher: she was from Ohio originally
IMG_3474: Yeah. Like the, yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's what she grew.
Ally Brettnacher: Wow.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: So
Ally Brettnacher: did your parents come visit you while you were in college?
Gareth Wilford: [00:57:00] So my dad
IMG_3474: visited me,
Gareth Wilford: I came to
school in
August. My dad came solo
IMG_3474: in December.
Okay. Um,
Gareth Wilford: I think that
IMG_3474: was just like checkup.
Gareth Wilford: was like, make sure his kid's okay. Yeah. Make sure everything's legit. and then from there we actually did a
IMG_3474: little vacation. We drove, we drove down to
Orlando and we did the Orlando thing.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And, uh,
, But then after that,
IMG_3474: no,
it wasn't until,
Gareth Wilford: , Later on,
,
Gareth Wilford: Around
IMG_3474: graduation time
that
Gareth Wilford: came. Wow.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And so,
Gareth Wilford: now
there was one time
IMG_3474: in
the middle there where they came on vacation and I flew down and met them in Orlando.
Okay. But never to school. Never to school. No.
So it was, um,
Gareth Wilford: and actually in that time
IMG_3474: they'd never watched
me run.
Ally Brettnacher: I was gonna say no. That's so interesting.
Gareth Wilford: it's, which kind
IMG_3474: of,
Gareth Wilford: it kind of actually pains me that I grew up in that time.
Not for another reason. And
IMG_3474: we
didn't have the internet. Yeah. The videos.
The videos. And, and the streaming is like
Gareth Wilford: now, like if you
wanna watch someone, you can watch every
IMG_3474: race. Yeah. And
Gareth Wilford: we did have
IMG_3474: a parent, that old school vh.
tested.
Gareth Wilford: Cool. So you'll, there's a video of me running a race and like,
you know, 30 minute
IMG_3474: video and there's 10 seconds of like,
Gareth Wilford: Gareth
IMG_3474: goes, you know,
Gareth Wilford: go Gareth, you know, and so, so there's at least [00:58:00] something
IMG_3474: out
there. Yeah. Um,
Gareth Wilford: and then if I went back to South Africa, I
IMG_3474: jumped in a
Gareth Wilford: races every now and again, so they could
IMG_3474: of see, because
Gareth Wilford: my growth
IMG_3474: as an athlete from the
time I left
Gareth Wilford: high school to college and
IMG_3474: all that,
I became significantly better. Yeah. And
um, and uh, and they
didn't get to see that, which kind of sucks a little bit.
Yeah.
I mean, I'd call them,
Gareth Wilford: I had this American Express card that was
like a
IMG_3474: phone card. Mm-hmm. Remember those?
Gareth Wilford: Uh, you may not
IMG_3474: remember.
Ally Brettnacher: I mean, when I studied abroad, I swear there
Gareth Wilford: something,
IMG_3474: studied something like that.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Yeah. So this was before,
again, before
cell phones.
It was basically, you call up and I think the minute you got through it was like three bucks. Right. And then it was like a buck every minute. So yeah, I would call on a Monday morning like, Hey, just checking in. Race went well. School's going well. Came
third,
See
IMG_3474: you. Bye-bye.
You know,
Ally Brettnacher: know?
IMG_3474: so, and that was
it, you know?
Yeah. That was the extent of it for the longest time. Yeah. That's crazy to think about. Yeah. Uh,
then they came for graduation and
Gareth Wilford: on my senior year they, I graduated and
I went to nationals, like within
IMG_3474: a week
after
Gareth Wilford: as
IMG_3474: well.
Wow. So they were able
Gareth Wilford: stick around
IMG_3474: and [00:59:00] watch, watch s That's okay.
Ally Brettnacher: Wow. Nationals. And you still, do you hold records still at Cumberland? Um,
Gareth Wilford: I know the mile
IMG_3474: record was broken,
Gareth Wilford: I think
IMG_3474: last year or some
time. Okay. So
Ally Brettnacher: that stood for a
IMG_3474: a while. They
just,
Gareth Wilford: I think all my records are, there might
IMG_3474: be a handful there,
but now they're slowly eroding.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Wow.
IMG_3474: Wow. Which is good.
Gareth Wilford: The
IMG_3474: The last thing you wanna do is
be, you
know, be there 30 years and you, you want your
schools
Gareth Wilford: grow
IMG_3474: and get to a,
Ally Brettnacher: Sure, sure. But it's kind of, I mean, your name's on a wall
Gareth Wilford: My name's
on a wall somewhere. Yeah. And I was, it's kind of cool actually
IMG_3474: in the gym
Gareth Wilford: they
have flags of countries.
Of students
IMG_3474: that
have been to the school.
Okay. And, uh, so
there's a South African
flag, and I know I was
Gareth Wilford: first one now
IMG_3474: subsequently more South African. Yeah. But
Gareth Wilford: anytime
I ever go back, I see the flag, I'm like, ah, I
was the
IMG_3474: reason. Put that, that's why. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: So um, there's no
name
IMG_3474: or anything
of this says, flags South Africa, but
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, anything
else can go away. I'm like,
IMG_3474: eh,
Gareth Wilford: kind
IMG_3474: of the
Gareth Wilford: South African. That's kind. Cool.
IMG_3474: Yeah. That is really cool.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so then you mo you end up in Indianapolis. Yeah. And you're, at this point, you're still pursuing running like as a[01:00:00]
Gareth Wilford: or
IMG_3474: or No,
Gareth Wilford: I, I literally moved to Indianapolis to run, to run. That That was, that was
the reason
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Now back to the show.
Marker
Gareth Wilford: I literally moved to Indianapolis to run, to run. That That was, that was
the reason
IMG_3474: for
Ally Brettnacher: it was the Nike Club, that
Gareth Wilford: kind of, yeah. So, so when
IMG_3474: I was,
Gareth Wilford: I was running in college, I did pretty well and
IMG_3474: I thought,
Gareth Wilford: oh, I
IMG_3474: wanna keep going. Yeah. Yeah. I love it and I
think I can do better. Mm-hmm. And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: so you start to hunt around
IMG_3474: and like
you
start to reach out
Gareth Wilford: brands and, , as a foreign athlete, , first of all, my running career, , I'm level X Right.
I wasn't
IMG_3474: level X
Gareth Wilford: so I was never like an [01:02:00] Olympic caliber athlete. I was right
IMG_3474: on the fringe.
Gareth Wilford: Mm-hmm.
IMG_3474: And
Gareth Wilford: And, uh, , so when I reached out to brands,
they were
like, Hey, yeah, maybe we can, yeah, we'll sponsor you. We'll give
IMG_3474: you
some shoes. I'm like, well that doesn't
Gareth Wilford: me.
IMG_3474: Right. And so,
Gareth Wilford: um,
but I wasn't good enough to get like
a living
IMG_3474: contract, you know?
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Even
if it was just like a thousand dollars a month.
IMG_3474: Right. I could have lived off that with you. I always wasn't good
Gareth Wilford: of that. And so,
So once I
IMG_3474: was starting to reach out
to brands,
Gareth Wilford: someone
IMG_3474: said, Hey, why don't you
look at this group? They're in Indianapolis.
Gareth Wilford: It's like a farm team
IMG_3474: for Nike.
Gareth Wilford: but it's a club team and they are looking
IMG_3474: for, to
build a track team and um,
Gareth Wilford: and they will actually
help you
IMG_3474: find a job.
And so, so I was like, oh. So I went to
Gareth Wilford: to
the coaches and they were like, yep,
IMG_3474: we're building this
Gareth Wilford: team club
IMG_3474: team.
Gareth Wilford: we are looking
IMG_3474: for two athletes per event. So two people in the hundred,
Gareth Wilford: people
IMG_3474: in the 200.
Gareth Wilford: looking
IMG_3474: for a cross country team, which is, normally a cross country
team scores
Gareth Wilford: five, so you'll
IMG_3474: normally have
10 people on that team, and
Gareth Wilford: then
IMG_3474: the
Gareth Wilford: best will run
IMG_3474: all the seven
Gareth Wilford: will run and the five will score.
So
IMG_3474: they're like, yeah,
we are looking for, for, for runners.
Gareth Wilford: Um, so I was
like, oh,
IMG_3474: [01:03:00] I'll go and
join them and all that. And so, um, I
Gareth Wilford: like, yeah, let's go up there
IMG_3474: and join the club and just see what I can do. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And
it was Indianapolis based,
so.
IMG_3474: Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: And then what job did you have alongside
IMG_3474: So,
uh, they didn't help me find a job.
Gareth Wilford: Um, we'll help you. Yeah.
Uh, well, I mean they kind of pseudo
IMG_3474: did, but it,
it was, I had
Gareth Wilford: go and find my own job because I was on,
uh,
because being a foreigner,
you
live on visas
IMG_3474: And the visas are short term visas outta college. So
Gareth Wilford: I knew I needed a long-term visa, so I
IMG_3474: needed to go to a big company. Yeah.
Um,
Gareth Wilford: that
would sponsor that.
And also to them.
IMG_3474: You go to a smaller company and you want 'em
to
Gareth Wilford: your
IMG_3474: visa,
you're not committing to a
Gareth Wilford: human being
IMG_3474: for like four five years. That's a, that's a big
Gareth Wilford: of
IMG_3474: a deal. But if you go to
like a big company like Target,
I to Target, okay. And they were
like, well, we'll commit to this
Gareth Wilford: guy.
If it doesn't work out, so be it is one
IMG_3474: of the thousand people. Right, right.
Gareth Wilford: So I went
to Target and,
IMG_3474: and when
Ally Brettnacher: you say Target, you mean like corporate
Gareth Wilford: No, no, no.
IMG_3474: Target on the floor.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. You
Ally Brettnacher: a cashier or store manager?
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. No,
I was a, I
IMG_3474: worked in Target.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. I was a department [01:04:00] team leader at first
IMG_3474: and then moved on and then I became an executive.
There you
Gareth Wilford: Health and beauty aids
and snacks. Yeah.
IMG_3474: Candy section. How was
Ally Brettnacher: that all together?
Gareth Wilford: Uh, for some reason at the time, all the health and beauty stuff bled into like the seasonal, so
IMG_3474: when you walk
Gareth Wilford: in the store, you have these seasonal snacks, which would be like
IMG_3474: Halloween candy. Like totally like the
Ally Brettnacher: Reese's Pumpkins.
Gareth Wilford: Exactly. So it's the bulk stuff. So the
IMG_3474: first, I think they've redone
Gareth Wilford: stores, but at the
time you walk in
and, and you know, you have
IMG_3474: your electronics and your
whatever, your jewelry
Gareth Wilford: all that.
But on my
IMG_3474: section it, all the shelves
Gareth Wilford: were seasonal. So we have all the seasonal
candy.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And that
went
straight into your, your health and beauty stuff, which would be toothpaste, razors, soaps,
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. So
IMG_3474: sort of stuff.
Yeah. So that was my section. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's wild. How long did you work for Target? I did that for a year
and a half. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: the
downside to that is
once
IMG_3474: they have your Visa, they
Gareth Wilford: do
IMG_3474: anything they want
Gareth Wilford: you. You kind of
IMG_3474: like
become like a bit of a
Gareth Wilford: servant to what
they want.
And they were never, but
IMG_3474: they put
me on the night shift.
And I was like, Hey, I prefer [01:05:00] not to have the hard shift because I'm still trying to run.
Gareth Wilford: And
they were like, no, no, no,
IMG_3474: we need you on the
night shift. And, uh, so good '
Gareth Wilford: cause at that point
IMG_3474: they were building out the super targets and the night shift
is the hardest thing
Gareth Wilford: staff.
IMG_3474: So
Gareth Wilford: yeah.
So I was on the night shift and I was like, this is terrible. 'cause I cannot, I cannot stay awake.
Ally Brettnacher: yeah.
Gareth Wilford: the night. So I stru I struggled
IMG_3474: with that, but
Gareth Wilford: no, they were, they were super nice. I, I'm very
IMG_3474: grateful
for everything
Gareth Wilford: did. But they went
IMG_3474: on for about,
Gareth Wilford: well I started
in January when I first
IMG_3474: came here.
That went through,
Gareth Wilford: actually there's a timestamp on
IMG_3474: it because,
Gareth Wilford: right around nine
IMG_3474: 11. Yeah.
So this
Gareth Wilford: from 2000 January of 2000, right
IMG_3474: up until September of, of nine 11
Gareth Wilford: because my,
IMG_3474: my attorney called me
and he said, Hey, I don't know what's happening with, with visas here.
Oh
Ally Brettnacher: Oh right.
IMG_3474: And actually,
Gareth Wilford: so what he, he what?
He sat me down and he goes, um,
I dunno
what's happening with visas. There is a
IMG_3474: move
Gareth Wilford: get any one of the foreign visa out
IMG_3474: of the country.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: Remember
that was the time when they
Gareth Wilford: the rules. They almost
IMG_3474: changed
the rules where, due process was like
Gareth Wilford: eliminated[01:06:00]
and like if there's any type of issue we can get you outta the country.
, So he
IMG_3474: said, I dunno what's happening with your visa. you got
a couple different
options. Yeah,
We can write it out.
Gareth Wilford: And he goes, how far along are
IMG_3474: you in your relationship
Gareth Wilford: Laura? Yeah, I know. Yes.
IMG_3474: Oh yeah. And this is the most unromantic story ever. Right. And so, yes,
Ally Brettnacher: Yes. I love it. Yeah. Oh my
IMG_3474: gosh. So.
Gareth Wilford: So
I was like, well, 'cause he knew Laura
IMG_3474: and, uh,
Gareth Wilford: He goes, how far along
IMG_3474: are you? So I
was like, oh. I'm
Gareth Wilford: yeah, we great.
He goes, no.
Like, how far along are you? I'm
like, are you saying we
IMG_3474: get married? He goes,
Gareth Wilford: he
goes, my
IMG_3474: suggestion is it very least get something down on paper.
Gareth Wilford: I'm like,
oh,
IMG_3474: that's
a big leap.
And uh,
because there's
Gareth Wilford: in
IMG_3474: relationships and like,
Gareth Wilford: I
think 10 is when you like propose.
And we were
IMG_3474: like
Gareth Wilford: three, I mean, ultimately we
IMG_3474: loved each other very much and we would've got married at
Gareth Wilford: point.
IMG_3474: right. And
so, but it's just like,
Gareth Wilford: oof. Alright, okay. I
IMG_3474: literally
went home and
like, Hey, um,
Gareth Wilford: talking about
IMG_3474: a visa.
She goes, are
Ally Brettnacher: are you,
Gareth Wilford: are
you, are you
proposing to me
IMG_3474: like this?
Gareth Wilford: I'm like,
oh God.
IMG_3474: Yes,
Ally Brettnacher: yes I am. I, I don't know. I am
Gareth Wilford: [01:07:00] am.
IMG_3474: am. And I dunno what to do otherwise, like
Ally Brettnacher: no
Gareth Wilford: ring, no nothing. Yeah. And so, uh, my wife went without ring for like seven years.
Ally Brettnacher: Laura.
Gareth Wilford: No, I know,
So she's a champ. And, uh, there's a, there's a funny story
IMG_3474: in The Simpsons,
Gareth Wilford: know,
IMG_3474: the
Simpsons?
Mm-hmm.
Gareth Wilford: Where they didn't have any money to get married.
IMG_3474: And,
uh, Homer Simpson gives her an onion ring as a
symbol of his love.
So to this day, she still reads me and says like, yes, this was the onion ring proposal. So
Gareth Wilford: yeah. But we had to get married, by
IMG_3474: November one.
Gareth Wilford: So
IMG_3474: we got married on October 31st. And so
that
Ally Brettnacher: that was September.
Gareth Wilford: happened. so this,
was, this was, this was in
IMG_3474: the
September month. So this was, this was
just after
nine 11.
Gareth Wilford: So
within the last few
IMG_3474: weeks of September, we like
decided like, okay, we need to get
Gareth Wilford: married
by
IMG_3474: November one.
Ally Brettnacher: So did you like have a wedding?
IMG_3474: There is a, it's
Gareth Wilford: there anymore.
IMG_3474: There is a wedding chapel in
Broadville. Oh,
Ally Brettnacher: that would've been dangerous to keep her
IMG_3474: I think it,
Gareth Wilford: I,
IMG_3474: yeah. I think it was the
Gareth Wilford: like the Enchanted Chapel.
It
IMG_3474: it? Get out. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: we went there and we, um, I mean obviously
IMG_3474: my parents [01:08:00] went there,
Gareth Wilford: so we invited
IMG_3474: a handful of people
Gareth Wilford: and the, and the, the, the rolling joke is that it was so rushed
that the
IMG_3474: guy who did the ceremony didn't
call me Gareth. He
called me Garth.
Gareth Wilford: And so, yeah. So I remember,
I
remember very clearly
as I'm sitting
IMG_3474: here.
Gareth Wilford: I'm sitting here and I'm looking
at him, and Laura's here and my, my best man and friends were
IMG_3474: here
Gareth Wilford: and
I can see them bouncing because they chuckling. Yeah.
No one's correcting
IMG_3474: him.
Ally Brettnacher: They're just like, where
IMG_3474: yeah.
And
Gareth Wilford: so I always say, 'cause we actually had another wedding in a church
IMG_3474: Oh.
Gareth Wilford: In the May, following
IMG_3474: that as well.
An official one
Gareth Wilford: everyone
IMG_3474: to come in. Her
Ally Brettnacher: family probably. I mean,
IMG_3474: yeah, I
Gareth Wilford: I think everyone
IMG_3474: appreciates the wedding, right?
And so hindsight, it's like,
Gareth Wilford: yeah, really, but no, it,
IMG_3474: it was, it had
Gareth Wilford: be done.
But, uh, because I was like, well, we did get married twice, but you
IMG_3474: married to some guy named Garth, right?
Yeah. Yeah. And to this day,
Gareth Wilford: this day,
I have a very good friend that
IMG_3474: will text me.
Gareth Wilford: On
IMG_3474: Halloween and
say, happy anniversary, Garth. Yeah. So,
Ally Brettnacher: oh, you guys, you got married on Halloween? Halloween, yeah. Oh my gosh.
IMG_3474: You
Ally Brettnacher: got married on
Gareth Wilford: We
got married on Halloween, [01:09:00] which is the greatest
IMG_3474: thing.
'cause
I'll
Gareth Wilford: forget.
IMG_3474: That's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Do you
Ally Brettnacher: Laura Candy every year for h for your anniversary? Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah, through the kids.
There you go. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Got you. Something. Yeah. Okay. Wow. Yeah,
IMG_3474: that is
crazy. Married on Halloween.
Gareth Wilford: And
then our second wedding, which I always forget,
IMG_3474: is like around
May 27th or
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And
there's one person, her
grandmother will still send a card, like happy
anniversary. Oh,
IMG_3474: Oh, okay. She's the one person that remembers the
Gareth Wilford: day, the one. And then we also, then we actually then went to South Africa
for
IMG_3474: all my friends and family, had another ceremony there.
Gareth Wilford: So I literally
IMG_3474: got married almost
Ally Brettnacher: married three times. She married three times. Yeah. Just make it stick.
Gareth Wilford: make it stick.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: now it's been 25 or,
Gareth Wilford: yeah, 25 years.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, 25 years.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Whoa.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: And that'll be, wait, this what year? So that was 20 2001. Uh,
IMG_3474: Uh, 2001. Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: this year would
be
IMG_3474: Would be 24, yeah. Yeah. And then next year, 25. 25 years. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. Which happens to kind of coincide with Blue Mile too, right? Because that at that point, yeah, [01:10:00] that's when you left Target, and
Gareth Wilford: literally right around
that.
So once you get married,
IMG_3474: you can pseudo
Gareth Wilford: now start working anywhere in America. And that was, , that was around that time. Yeah. So I, I left. Target
IMG_3474: at
Gareth Wilford: time, right at
IMG_3474: that time.
Gareth Wilford: and I had an emergency work visa that kicked in the following February. So
from November one to February,
IMG_3474: I couldn't work until that became official.
so what.
Ally Brettnacher: would you just
IMG_3474: Running
Gareth Wilford: Well, I went,
I, I, yeah.
Just run
and hung out
IMG_3474: did stuff.
Yeah. And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: sounds great right now, doesn't it?
IMG_3474: Yeah,
Gareth Wilford: No.
So I went to,
IMG_3474: at the time,
I was still running pretty hard
Gareth Wilford: and I was like, okay, my running was, was stalling out a little bit,
IMG_3474: because of the
night shift thing. I was just
struggling to train.
Yeah. And I
Gareth Wilford: was just, it wasn't I was running
bad, I
IMG_3474: just wasn't getting ahead.
Gareth Wilford: so I was like, oh, in this three months I'm just
IMG_3474: gonna reset just
Gareth Wilford: little bit. And
I did
reset,
and I did
IMG_3474: a race at Notre Dame. Okay. Three K. And I did pretty
good there.
Gareth Wilford: And, um, and then so do you know Bob
IMG_3474: Kennedy? Do you know?
I,
Ally Brettnacher: I've met Bob. Mm-hmm. Okay,
Gareth Wilford: Okay. So do you know of
IMG_3474: him? A little bit.
Gareth Wilford: Okay. So probably the greatest [01:11:00] runner this
country's ever seen,
IMG_3474: amazing
athlete,
Gareth Wilford: at the time
IMG_3474: was the American record holder first,
Gareth Wilford: western athlete to
IMG_3474: go
under 13 minutes in 5K. You
know, just
Gareth Wilford: amazing athlete, right. And so, on the right Mount Rushmore of athletes in America.
And so,
IMG_3474: anyway, does he
Ally Brettnacher: you to say that?
Gareth Wilford: He does
IMG_3474: now? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: so, um, but no,
Ally Brettnacher: so does, honestly,
IMG_3474: honestly, I'm, yeah,
Gareth Wilford: no, he is an amazing, amazing
IMG_3474: athlete. And so, so
Gareth Wilford: I did this race, and
this was on
like a Saturday
and then on the
Sunday, uh, blue
IMG_3474: Mile had some group runs.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And it was Blue Mile.
A Ru running
Gareth Wilford: it was running
IMG_3474: company No, it
Ally Brettnacher: I remember running
Gareth Wilford: remember Running company
It was running company. Yeah. And so, so
I went and joined a, uh, a run the
IMG_3474: next morning, and it was
just a handful of people.
Gareth Wilford: It was like, the two owners,
Ashley Johnson
and Bob, both
amazing athletes.
Uh, A
guy named Pascal, who at the, Tom
IMG_3474: was the, American steeple Chase.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: record holder.
Okay. So it was like a group run, but it was
IMG_3474: like, man, this is a
Gareth Wilford: hot group,
you
know? And so yeah, all like hot shots. And so, so while we're out running, obviously we get to talking and all
IMG_3474: that, and one of the guys
Gareth Wilford: was
like,
IMG_3474: Hey, how'd you arrange? Said, how'd you
do?
Gareth Wilford: So I'm like, no,
IMG_3474: I ran, you know, 8 0
Gareth Wilford: for the three K, which is,
which is my
PR at the
time.[01:12:00]
And
then, um, he goes, oh, cool.
So I
IMG_3474: thought
nothing
of
it.
Gareth Wilford: Two days later I get a
call
IMG_3474: from Bob Kennedy, just like out of the blue.
Gareth Wilford: And so I'm like,
he goes, Hey, this is Bob
Kennedy. And you're like,
yeah, right. You know,
because
Ally Brettnacher: you know
Gareth Wilford: know Bob Kennedy. I know of Bob Kennedy. Yeah, yeah. No, it's
IMG_3474: just like,
Ally Brettnacher: you're like, why? What?
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, yeah, this
is really
IMG_3474: weird.
Gareth Wilford: Um, and he, and he said to me, he goes, Hey, I'm, I'm in
IMG_3474: town. ,
I have this workout
Gareth Wilford: tomorrow or the
next day.
IMG_3474: , I would love some company
Gareth Wilford: if
you'd love to join. And, um, and so
at
IMG_3474: first
I'm like,
oh,
what an honor.
And then you
also, well,
Gareth Wilford: what?
IMG_3474: You are way better than me.
Right? And so,
Gareth Wilford: so I actually, I was actually in the time at the second,
IMG_3474: I was actually
Gareth Wilford: smart. I said, Hey, I'm happy to help out. I don't wanna
IMG_3474: just be your rabbit. I don't wanna get in a workout,
Gareth Wilford: you know, if we're doing a mile, I don't
IMG_3474: wanna take up the
Gareth Wilford: first two laps
sit out. I want to
just be with you at the track, do the workout.
And he goes, no, that's all I want.
I just want someone
around me. And so, Just
IMG_3474: 'cause it's more enjoyable.
Gareth Wilford: So, so
I did
IMG_3474: that first workout with him,
Gareth Wilford: and I was able
IMG_3474: to
do 90% of it with
Gareth Wilford: him,
but I did the whole workout. [01:13:00] So when he,
when he got away from me, I was able to just
IMG_3474: continue and, and finish the run.
Yeah. And, uh.
Gareth Wilford: uh, and, and a week later he said, no, I actually really respected that because anytime I
IMG_3474: asked people
to run with me,
Gareth Wilford: as
soon as I get away, they would
IMG_3474: step off the track
and, oh,
Ally Brettnacher: he is done with me.
Gareth Wilford: then they would, then they would jump back in and, and he's
just like you were just there to
kind of just run with me and it, and it wasn't about Bob's running, it was us, about
us doing it together.
and, and,
then, and then he's like, that was kind
of a
test, I
think, and
the, and I passed
IMG_3474: the
test. So he is
like, no,
Gareth Wilford: have
IMG_3474: all these workouts while I'm Indianapolis
training. This is what I'm doing. Feel free to jump
Gareth Wilford: So we just started, we
started doing workouts together and then we started doing, uh, easy runs together
IMG_3474: and eventually we started running together while he was in town.
Gareth Wilford: And because of that, we started talking about retail because, even though I'd been
a
IMG_3474: target for
Gareth Wilford: a year
IMG_3474: and a half,
I learned
Gareth Wilford: a
IMG_3474: bit there about
Gareth Wilford: big box
IMG_3474: retail. Mm.
Gareth Wilford: And he was obviously had just started the
IMG_3474: running company and say,
and
Gareth Wilford: that, in those conversations, he was like, well, if ever you
IMG_3474: would want to come work for
the running company, let me know.
Gareth Wilford: [01:14:00] And, uh, I'm like,
IMG_3474: well, my Visa finishes,
or starts
Gareth Wilford: February. Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll come. lemme
IMG_3474: know what you're thinking. And
Gareth Wilford: like, well, I can't pay you very
IMG_3474: much. So I was like, okay, well
Gareth Wilford: how much are we talking a year? He says, he goes, well, it's not very much. I'm like, okay. I realized I'm gonna have to
either
want to do this 'cause it's not gonna be about the money.
And uh, so I was like, no, I'll, I'll come do it. And, and honestly, at the time I was thinking like, this seems like a really cool part-time job until I become an adult, you know? And so, and I've literally been with Bob for 25 years. Yeah. So
Ally Brettnacher: That's so cool.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Literally as it calls you and like
IMG_3474: work.
Yeah.
Yeah. It was, yeah, it was,
Gareth Wilford: was
just a random, I had met and raced against Bob, previously, like two years earlier than that.
IMG_3474: so we had met before, so it wasn't like
Gareth Wilford: blind. Yeah.
I
IMG_3474: went to the grand opening of the running company. Okay. So I did meet Where, where did
Ally Brettnacher: it open first, Nora?
Gareth Wilford: Was
the, no, um,
IMG_3474: broad Avenue. No. Broad Avenue. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, that one? Yes. Okay. Okay. I did know that. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. My
IMG_3474: BGI. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Because [01:15:00] I was dating somebody at the time who worked for Rick's software.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And so that's how I heard about the running company actually. 'cause he was working with
Gareth Wilford: Bob
Ally Brettnacher: and the
IMG_3474: team was
Ally Brettnacher: and he would like be in the store. Mm-hmm. And
IMG_3474: yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: at that time I ran a little bit. Yeah. But yeah, that's like, seems like another lifetime.
Gareth Wilford: That was a long time ago. Yeah. I wanna say we were the
IMG_3474: first running
Gareth Wilford: I,
IMG_3474: we were the first running specialist to run Mix. Yeah. Al
Ally Brettnacher: yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Crazy. Yeah.
IMG_3474: And it
Ally Brettnacher: was the running company for how long?
Gareth Wilford: so the running company was from
IMG_3474: day one. I might get my dates a little bit wrong here. That's right.
Gareth Wilford: I wanna say for about maybe
eight or
IMG_3474: nine
years. Okay. And then,
Gareth Wilford: we, we realized that, a couple
things were happening in the industry.
One, the move from, running
IMG_3474: mm-hmm. To moving was accelerating incredibly
Gareth Wilford: fast.
IMG_3474: So the, the name running company
Gareth Wilford: almost alienated,
IMG_3474: right.
Ally Brettnacher: have to be a runner to
IMG_3474: in our store.
Yeah. And also there were so many running
companies around the country,
Gareth Wilford: the
internet was starting
IMG_3474: to
Gareth Wilford: in
IMG_3474: just a little bit. Mm. And so,
nice pun.[01:16:00]
Yeah. You know? Yeah. So it's just, um, it was also a store called Up and Running
Gareth Wilford: well, you
IMG_3474: know, so all
Gareth Wilford: puns were flowing
IMG_3474: around Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: crazy
there.
IMG_3474: But yeah,
so the running company,
Gareth Wilford: there was all these different running companies around the country and,
IMG_3474: um,
we, we thought,
oh, the internet is probably gonna be a big thing.
Are we gonna
get
Gareth Wilford: But no, that wasn't the primary reason. The primary reason was, um, and I'll give
IMG_3474: them a lot of credit
for
this,
Gareth Wilford: the realizing that the running part of running
IMG_3474: specialty,
was alienating 90% of
the possible customers, your walkers mm-hmm. The nurses,
Gareth Wilford: the
doctor's,
IMG_3474: referrals. Yeah. Yeah. Because of the name running, running. Yeah. And so, so the, the, the genesis of the Blue Mile was,
Gareth Wilford: everyone thinks it's the blue mile, which is the marathon course that they paint.
You know,
IMG_3474: they paint the blue mile. Oh,
Gareth Wilford: Oh, great. That's a
lot of people thought, oh, it's very cool. It's the, no, it's got nothing to
do with
that. It was basically two
IMG_3474: words.
Gareth Wilford: When we, when we, we
asked about a thousand people. When you're running, what is the one
IMG_3474: color that kind of comes to mind? And
it was water and blue [01:17:00] sky
Gareth Wilford: that
IMG_3474: came up.
Gareth Wilford: so many times. The blue of
IMG_3474: blue mile
red was
Ally Brettnacher: for pain.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Well, yeah, he
Gareth Wilford: wanna say from
IMG_3474: red.
Yeah. Yeah.
And so,
Gareth Wilford: so yeah, anytime someone had their perfect run, it always seemed to be
IMG_3474: like a beautiful
blue day, or I'm running along water.
Gareth Wilford: So
IMG_3474: the blue was that, and
Gareth Wilford: the mile was just the
IMG_3474: amage to the
universally accepted unit or measurement for running in this country's mile. So Blue Mile was like,
Gareth Wilford: when I'm out
IMG_3474: there having this beautiful moment, whether it's running, walking, we, we, we coined it as
your blue mile.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Okay.
IMG_3474: So That's where that came
Ally Brettnacher: never heard that story. Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah. That's where it
came from. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, and then
Ally Brettnacher: Athletic Annex now.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. So Blue Mile, , I wanna say that was probably
IMG_3474: up two,
Gareth Wilford: two or
IMG_3474: three years.
Gareth Wilford: ,
Around that time, , there
IMG_3474: was this
move, a finish line, wanted
Gareth Wilford: get into running
IMG_3474: space. So obviously,
Gareth Wilford: you
know,
finish Line
was right. Mm-hmm. So they, they
IMG_3474: sold running shoes in
their stores, but
Gareth Wilford: were
IMG_3474: more like a fashion store that sold running stores. They actually wanted
Gareth Wilford: start absorbing running
IMG_3474: stores
around the country.
Gareth Wilford: , And,
and
IMG_3474: they started doing [01:18:00] that.
Gareth Wilford: And because
Finish Lines in Indianapolis, they started reaching out to, the owners of Blue
IMG_3474: Mile.
Would you want to do that? And
Gareth Wilford: So there was this whole consolidation happening around that time. finish Line, then partnered with another company that was
gonna
manage that. Long
IMG_3474: story short
Blue Mile sold to
that group. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: the original intention was
IMG_3474: Bob wanted to continue going with Blue Mile, but the
Gareth Wilford: way the
ownership agreement was set up, it ended up being in
IMG_3474: the other guy's hand.
Okay. And so, so
Gareth Wilford: Bob stepped away. I personally, not that I don't operate well
IMG_3474: in big bureaucracy,
but it's just, I'm more of like a
Gareth Wilford: I, want, I want to talk
IMG_3474: to individuals
Gareth Wilford: I
IMG_3474: want to, I want to
Gareth Wilford: kind of influence the community
IMG_3474: I'm living
Gareth Wilford: Right? Yes. And so, um, and I just felt like being a part of a big corporation
was just
IMG_3474: not the right place for me.
Mm-hmm. So I stepped away. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: and then Justin Porter, who, uh, who worked for Blue Mile Running Company as well, buying, he stepped
IMG_3474: away as well.
and so then
I stepped away.
Bob
stepped away.
Justin stepped away.
Gareth Wilford: and then about two weeks later, Bob came to both of us and said, Hey, I [01:19:00] wanna start this new
IMG_3474: company, called
Run Solutions.
If
you guys are interested, let me know. I'm like, well, I left my job
a
Gareth Wilford: weeks ago. I've
IMG_3474: got nothing. I need something. Right.
Gareth Wilford: And so,
so
we did, we, we, we
IMG_3474: all three joined Bob Kennedy
again in
Gareth Wilford: this new venture. , And basically the new venture was, ,
we built a warehouse for,
for shoes that running stores could plug into.
So if you
IMG_3474: a running
store in
wherever,
let's say it's Michigan,
Gareth Wilford: and you can't manage an online
store, you just
IMG_3474: tap into ours,
Gareth Wilford: you sell on your website, but we pull it
IMG_3474: from Indianapolis. Yeah. It
Gareth Wilford: was a fantastic idea.
IMG_3474: It
is. Yeah. Um,
Gareth Wilford: the problem
with the idea is we have three guys who are running retailers
IMG_3474: trying to do an e-comm business,
Gareth Wilford: we got too big, too fast.
but
in that time,
IMG_3474: this
Gareth Wilford: was about a year, year and a half, project Athletic annex, the owners
IMG_3474: of Athletic Annex,
Gareth Wilford: single store
at the time, they were getting
IMG_3474: to
Gareth Wilford: point where they realized, Hey, we need
IMG_3474: some sort of exit strategy.
who
Ally Brettnacher: owned it at the time?
Gareth Wilford: So
IMG_3474: there, there were originally
four owners, but
Gareth Wilford: two passed away.
Tom
IMG_3474: Beson and Bob Weddle. Okay. With the two existing owners at the time.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, and then Matt
IMG_3474: eol was
involved as
well as a PO owner. He
Gareth Wilford: yes. [01:20:00] He was
a part owner of
Ally Brettnacher: did not know
Gareth Wilford: know that.
Yep. And
IMG_3474: so,
Gareth Wilford: so
when, when, when, when they were thinking about
IMG_3474: some sort of transition,
Gareth Wilford: it was either sell to the
Finish Line group, but I feel like they had stopped absorbing stores at
IMG_3474: at that
time.
Okay. Uh, or at least put a Kosh on it.
Gareth Wilford: Bob
IMG_3474: Kennedy who had built
Blue Mile to what it was on the running company
Gareth Wilford: to Blue Mile. He
IMG_3474: was always
Gareth Wilford: with everyone.
IMG_3474: and they approached him and said,
Hey, would you think about
taking this over? And, um, and it was gonna be a take it over and then buy the store over time.
Gareth Wilford: But I think once Bob got in there, they realized
IMG_3474: very quickly
like, oh, Bob's the right person
Gareth Wilford: take this
IMG_3474: faster.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, and Bob
IMG_3474: thankfully said, Hey,
that's fine.
Gareth Wilford: but I have two guys that,
uh,
IMG_3474: I wanna bring along with me. Um,
Gareth Wilford: and I actually knew,
IMG_3474: um, Tom Burson very well.
He was basically the,
the operating owner there forever.
So, um, and I'd always gone on him, even though
we're competitors,
got
on with him
Gareth Wilford: fantastically well. So, um, so we joined there again. Bob said, Hey,
do you wanna
IMG_3474: join me?
Gareth Wilford: Can't
pay you very much. Cool. So I'm like, [01:21:00] ah, I've been
IMG_3474: there before.
Ally Brettnacher: Sounds great.
Gareth Wilford: That's my sounds there.
Yeah. And so love,
IMG_3474: paid.
Gareth Wilford: I think Bob's always been pretty good.
Like, Hey, trust me, I'll bring you along. And he is always been true to his words. So it was never a case
IMG_3474: of like, should I do this? I'm
like, yeah, yeah,
Gareth Wilford: we're
IMG_3474: absolutely. We're in,
Gareth Wilford: we're
gonna have to suck
IMG_3474: it up personally on the financial
Gareth Wilford: for a few years. Yeah.
IMG_3474: yeah. Maybe write a credit
card or two
for a while, but, well, and then, but
Ally Brettnacher: went to law school. Did she become a lawyer? What did she,
Gareth Wilford: um, yeah, so
she, she became a lawyer, worked for the government,
IMG_3474: so, perfect. Yeah, exactly. So,
Ally Brettnacher: bucks right there. Yeah,
IMG_3474: it's a huge box.
Gareth Wilford: And so no,
IMG_3474: then
Gareth Wilford: so she worked
IMG_3474: the government
for a handful of years
Gareth Wilford: and then went,
went to
IMG_3474: Humana.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Uh,
and then from Humana went to,
IMG_3474: um, Elance, which
Gareth Wilford: is the
IMG_3474: new rebranding for
Gareth Wilford: Anthem
IMG_3474: basically.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay, okay.
Okay.
IMG_3474: And that's what she does. Yeah. All right.
Gareth Wilford: So
she's not. She's not working as an attorney for them. Okay. But she's doing attorney work
IMG_3474: in
compliance. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So not officially as an attorney, yeah,
officially. So
Ally Brettnacher: she does, like, it's kinda like me and my husband, he does the big corp. He's the corporate. Yes. And then I like, I do like the small
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. No,
I'm, I'm always gonna be a, a smaller [01:22:00] community, you know, our customers are right there. Yeah. That kind of deal. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Okay. And so then at what, what years were your daughters born?
Gareth Wilford: Okay, so, uh, LAN uh,
my oldest
IMG_3474: was 2005. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And, Charlotte,
actually her name is Charlotte Lulu,
IMG_3474: but we, we call her Lulu. It's a middle name. I
Ally Brettnacher: did see. Okay. Oh, that's her middle name.
Gareth Wilford: It's a middle name.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And so, um, and also depending on the environment
Gareth Wilford: are in, she shifts it, which is very
IMG_3474: confusing because
Ally Brettnacher: for people
Gareth Wilford: well, because she's in marching band and she goes by
IMG_3474: Charlotte there. That's
Gareth Wilford: and so when I speak to
IMG_3474: her, I have
Gareth Wilford: shout Charlotte.
IMG_3474: I'm like, wait,
I haven't called her Charlotte in like 10 years, you know? So That's funny. And so
Ally Brettnacher: does the middle name Lulu come from?
Gareth Wilford: Um,
IMG_3474: so when we were thinking about naming our kids,
Gareth Wilford: we, we told
IMG_3474: the
oldest
Gareth Wilford: like, Hey,
IMG_3474: you can call,
you can give the name for the kid.
Gareth Wilford: And she was like, well, I really like
IMG_3474: Carrot the
Bunny.
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, just
so you know, we can't,
we can't
IMG_3474: call the
kid Carrot the bunny.
Gareth Wilford: but, um, so, Aslan Aslan comes from Aslan from the books,
the
IMG_3474: Line in The Witch [01:23:00] and the Wardrobe.
Oh,
that's where that, that's the der of that. Oh, that's cool. And then, And
then Charlotte comes from Charlotte
Bronte as part of the Bronte Sisters.
Laura's
favorite
author is Okay. Part ofn. I'm not
Ally Brettnacher: familiar with that.
IMG_3474: Um,
Gareth Wilford: yeah,
IMG_3474: there's Emily Bronte and all that sort of thing.
Gareth Wilford: Okay. Yeah. Fa Famous author.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Famous
author. Famous
Gareth Wilford: And then, uh, the Lulu part comes from, I think there was a character
in,
um, one of those shows where Lulu was,
IMG_3474: um, a character. That's a, it's beautiful name.
I think it was, I think
it was an elephant.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
IMG_3474: Okay.
Gareth Wilford: I love the name
IMG_3474: Lulu. I, it's really cute. Yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: yeah, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: So
I call it
IMG_3474: Isha.
Ally Brettnacher: Lulu, okay.
Gareth Wilford: And she
was born in, uh,
IMG_3474: 2010.
Okay. Yeah. And
Ally Brettnacher: either of your girls run?
Gareth Wilford: No.
No. yeah, and
it doesn't bother me one bit actually.
so we
put them in like sports and
IMG_3474: all that and we realized very quickly like, no, they, they're not interested in.
Interesting. That was fine. Yeah. Yeah. Because Laura played, oh, Laura's a fantastic athlete. You're both athlete.
Gareth Wilford: Incredibly good.
Um, track athlete, incredibly
IMG_3474: good volleyball player. Yeah. Interesting.
Ally Brettnacher: Well, I mean, I guess that's
IMG_3474: no,
it's just,
Gareth Wilford: I think maybe what, like down the road they might find it in some way, shape, or form.
IMG_3474: but
no, never, [01:24:00] never went down the sporting route. We're
Gareth Wilford: to their schooling and we're always like,
IMG_3474: as long as you're doing something, you're putting your mind into it. Good to go. Yeah.
Lulu does marching band right now, which to be honest with you.
you
Ally Brettnacher: mean Charlotte?
IMG_3474: Charlotte, yeah. For
Ally Brettnacher: For professional purposes.
Um, yes,
Gareth Wilford: she
does marching band right now, which is basically a
IMG_3474: full-time job.
It's, I've, it's insane. Yeah. People
Ally Brettnacher: have come into, when I worked, I worked for a short time at, uh, jackrabbit Fleet fee,
IMG_3474: and people
Ally Brettnacher: would come in for marching band shoes for their kids because of, and they'd be like, oh yeah, they're on their feet for eight.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: 12 hours. Yeah. Yeah.
IMG_3474: It's insane. Like, what? Yeah. No idea.
I love it. Yeah. Yeah.
You gonna learn very quickly how to, to manage yourself. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so at Athletic Annex
Gareth Wilford: You
Ally Brettnacher: did you start doing like races around here because it was part of the community you were
IMG_3474: You mean me personally? For
Ally Brettnacher: you personally,
Gareth Wilford: yeah. I
mean
all through,
running company days, blue mile days,
IMG_3474: athletic annex
Gareth Wilford: days,
I've always tried to, I mean, it's, it's community stores,
IMG_3474: right? Right. So you're always there. and I've
Gareth Wilford: always been a [01:25:00] part of the coaching of the training programs. Mm-hmm.
IMG_3474: Mm-hmm.
Gareth Wilford: um, so I've always found myself at these events a lot of times
IMG_3474: not running
as support. Well,
Ally Brettnacher: it makes
Gareth Wilford: sense. Yeah. So, and embarrassingly the
IMG_3474: one race I've
never done mini
marathon, get out
of town. You would think that at some point I would've
Gareth Wilford: that, but I've always done.
IMG_3474: the X
Gareth Wilford: and this is
not an excuse. It's
really,
Ally Brettnacher: not because I'll tell you, I did the ex YI
Gareth Wilford: No, no.
I'm saying
people do
it right. And so, but I've always just kind of
IMG_3474: like,
I've always defaulted to, to doing,
Gareth Wilford: the expo and
IMG_3474: the
tent. Mm-hmm. The next day. Yeah. Which is a quick turnaround. So fun and, and coaching. So I was just like, I wanna
be there for
Gareth Wilford: people coaching, so
IMG_3474: I've never done it,
Gareth Wilford: At some point I'm
IMG_3474: gonna have to pull rank and say
Gareth Wilford: doing
IMG_3474: this.
And so yeah. Just be like, have, well, it's
Ally Brettnacher: 50th year next year, so maybe,
Maybe that's when
IMG_3474: you that that might
Gareth Wilford: a
IMG_3474: good one.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. But yeah, no, so, so any races in town?
I'm
at a
IMG_3474: lot of them,
Gareth Wilford: but I don't
IMG_3474: normally do them, so I
Gareth Wilford: and kind of like
IMG_3474: say,
Gareth Wilford: okay, I at least wanna do each race once. Yeah. so
Ally Brettnacher: can talk to your community about it
too,
Gareth Wilford: little bit.
Right. So I know what I'm
IMG_3474: talking
about. Yeah. You know,
Gareth Wilford: so,
I mean, I did
IMG_3474: the fourth
half marathon last year. I mean, how that race
Gareth Wilford: [01:26:00] been around
IMG_3474: forever and I finally did it for the first time just because I'm like,
Gareth Wilford: I
need to
IMG_3474: go do this race and run.
Right. Yeah.
This
Ally Brettnacher: year's, 30 years Yeah.
IMG_3474: Of that race, ICNO, um,
not the marathon, but I've
Gareth Wilford: done the half
IMG_3474: marathon. Mm-hmm. Did a handful of years ago. I's gotta do this so I can know what I'm talking
Ally Brettnacher: Right. Yeah.
IMG_3474: So Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: At least
I know where the course
IMG_3474: goes a little
bit.
Gareth Wilford: I mean, I've run all the courses
and I've done, but not the official
IMG_3474: races.
So, um, are
Ally Brettnacher: a certified coach?
Gareth Wilford: No.
IMG_3474: No, that's interesting. Certified in my own head for whatever that means. Yeah, right. You're like, well I know I rock a
Ally Brettnacher: runner. That's enough. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: But you're like coach and cheerleader out on the mo. I mean,
Gareth Wilford: yeah,
IMG_3474: I think, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: think, yeah.
I like seeing other people's success, whatever it is. I mean, we spoke about Prairie on Fire, right?
Which is a whole different
IMG_3474: animal.
Oh yeah. Before we started
Ally Brettnacher: recording. It's so cool.
Gareth Wilford: We had 10, um, we had 10
people from the staff
IMG_3474: running there
Gareth Wilford: and
you see them in the trenches there, you know,
and you see what they're going through
IMG_3474: and
Gareth Wilford: I, I know
IMG_3474: what it's like
Gareth Wilford: and I know it's dark, you know? And, uh, and I know it's gonna get better and I know it's gonna get dark and I
know it's gonna get better.
IMG_3474: and so
Gareth Wilford: I want to be there for them. And so,
and it's the same
IMG_3474: for our customers.
We have,
we have the gamut, right?
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: so the [01:27:00] gamut, the gamut is everyone from
Gareth Wilford: my, my doctor said
today I
need to get up off my couch and
IMG_3474: walk around the block.
Gareth Wilford: And
IMG_3474: that's a big accomplishment. Yeah.
And,
Gareth Wilford: uh, all the way to folks who are
IMG_3474: fantastic athletes. Right? Like Olympic trials, qualifiers or Yeah, exactly. We have those,
right? And
so, but, but me
personally,
Gareth Wilford: I, I played in
IMG_3474: this world, which
Gareth Wilford: was the elite world,
and it was fun.
but I really
IMG_3474: enjoy
Gareth Wilford: everyday folks.
IMG_3474: And so,
Gareth Wilford: so when in the training program, I like just to go.
IMG_3474: I mean, we
have people out there.
I'm not just standing on the moan on randomly cheering people on.
Gareth Wilford: there,
IMG_3474: There's people out there as part of the training program, which would be
Ally Brettnacher: too. A
Gareth Wilford: years ago I did that when,
IMG_3474: when
we didn't have a training program growing,
Gareth Wilford: I just would, would string up a, a table
IMG_3474: with goose
Gareth Wilford: stuff and
IMG_3474: go
stand out there.
And there
Ally Brettnacher: these guys doing that on the internet right now, and it makes me wanna do
Gareth Wilford: oh, it's great.
Yeah. Yeah. If
IMG_3474: wanna do it, lemme know. We'll, we'll, we'll do it together. Okay. That's great. It'll
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. It's people
think it's strange. Are you thinking about free
IMG_3474: gloves in winter?
Gareth Wilford: I can't tell how people
IMG_3474: turned it down.
They thought this is weird. Yeah. I, I had
Gareth Wilford: free gloves
IMG_3474: a, on a cold
day. And I was just
like, Hey, what's
Gareth Wilford: free gloves? No thanks. I'm like,
IMG_3474: you shake,
Ally Brettnacher: I, you're like, I won't speak to you. Like,
IMG_3474: see your, I can see your lips [01:28:00] are like
Gareth Wilford: freezing. And I
was just like, I'm not some widow out you. And so that's
IMG_3474: funny.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: People know
IMG_3474: me a little bit more out you than that, but, uh, no,
Gareth Wilford: I
just, I just like, I mean, the monan trail's, the obvious one because that's where
IMG_3474: so many
people are out there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.
Gareth Wilford: just like, like to be out there helping people, seeing people achieve stuff. I will say there's been a handful of times when people have
IMG_3474: started crying out there
Gareth Wilford: because a, they're doing really badly
IMG_3474: or they've done amazing, and that's kind of
like
Gareth Wilford: really cool,
you
IMG_3474: know, not the
bad part, but, uh, you
Gareth Wilford: say you
IMG_3474: actually see
that emotion from
people and
Gareth Wilford: you're like, I I want to be
IMG_3474: there for
those folks.
Yeah. And I really enjoy it. And, um,
Gareth Wilford: and I've now
been doing
IMG_3474: it long enough
Gareth Wilford: that I've seen people go through
IMG_3474: these peaks and
valleys of success and failures.
Ally Brettnacher: yeah.
Gareth Wilford: I mean, we have one guy
that I speak
to
IMG_3474: regularly he holds onto his old driver's
Gareth Wilford: And,
um, and
IMG_3474: he was
Gareth Wilford: like
IMG_3474: significantly overweight, but he holds onto that driver's license.
Gareth Wilford: 'cause like, this is
who I used to
be. And I'm not saying I'm responsible for that by any means, but like, there's
IMG_3474: a, there's a 1%
Gareth Wilford: that like,
you
IMG_3474: know, I put
Gareth Wilford: him in the shoes and I
IMG_3474: helped him coach. That's what, so, and it's a, you take a little bit of like,
Gareth Wilford: you know, this person's life is
IMG_3474: significantly better and I played [01:29:00] a insignificant role, but it's a role, you know?
Right. And that's kind of cool, you know, and
Ally Brettnacher: would probably argue that it's not insignificant, but
Gareth Wilford: Yeah, no, I appreciate that.
But ultimately it's
IMG_3474: them
getting out of bed in the morning and putting the one foot in front of, so there's someone just,
Gareth Wilford: if there's someone
that just kind of
gives you
a nudge or,
IMG_3474: or
Gareth Wilford: makes it
a little more enjoyable
or makes
IMG_3474: a
Gareth Wilford: little bit easier, makes the experience just a little
IMG_3474: bit better.
And I'm not talking just on
behalf of
Gareth Wilford: myself. Yeah. I mean that's,
our, our store motto
mission is to is to
IMG_3474: empower people, you know? And so, and it's just. That's who we are. And, and
Gareth Wilford: a
IMG_3474: big
Gareth Wilford: of that and I totally
IMG_3474: believe
it. That, and that goes back to
Gareth Wilford: whole corporate
IMG_3474: thing. Exactly. You
Gareth Wilford: it's
IMG_3474: just,
Gareth Wilford: and again, I'm, I'm not, I'm not begging on corporate stores 'cause they do a lot of good things, but it's just,
I just feel
like I am
IMG_3474: personally
Gareth Wilford: a part
of a company that kind of believes in that kind of local.
IMG_3474: There's a benefit to being local because we're putting back into the people.
Right. and, and,
and it's important to us.
Ally Brettnacher: well, I know, I mean, Larry Koblin will probably listen to this and he is a
Gareth Wilford: Yeah, exactly.
Ally Brettnacher: Shining example of that,
Gareth Wilford: A perfect example
IMG_3474: of
someone that just Yeah. I mean, I could go through [01:30:00] every
Gareth Wilford: single staff member
IMG_3474: and tell you
Gareth Wilford: every
single one of 'em is a rock star.
You know, like you, you, you may or may not know who they are,
IMG_3474: but you know, they're faced because
they show up in random places cheering you on. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: You know,
and it's just
IMG_3474: of like,
Gareth Wilford: I mean, Larry's
IMG_3474: easy because
he's got the
crazy hair that does help.
Gareth Wilford: You know,
And so I'm sometimes remember, 'cause I'm like,
IMG_3474: oh, you
Gareth Wilford: a guy that talks a little
IMG_3474: funny, you know?
Yeah. So, but um,
Ally Brettnacher: But, um,
IMG_3474: you know, and so where
Ally Brettnacher: are you
Gareth Wilford: Exactly. Yeah. Random stranger and
talks weird. But Yeah. No,
that's, that's, that's who we
IMG_3474: are. You
Gareth Wilford: we've got 60 employees and,
IMG_3474: and, and most of 'em are out
Gareth Wilford: there doing all these things, cheering you on and
IMG_3474: all that. Yeah. You may not know it, but we're out there.
Ally Brettnacher: today.
IMG_3474: yeah, yeah. So, and
Gareth Wilford: not just, it's not just the elite runners, it's
IMG_3474: everyone.
Ally Brettnacher: Right. I love that so
IMG_3474: Yeah.
It's important.
Ally Brettnacher: and like over time as I've been doing this, I get to, I've met so many different people. Yeah. And then I find myself, when I'm at a race, I'm like, oh, I have like 10 previous guests here running, and it's so cool.
Gareth Wilford: it becomes a responsibility at
IMG_3474: some point
Gareth Wilford: as well. Like all of
IMG_3474: a sudden you
looked at as someone just a little bit different. You know, people
are looking
to you for advice, encouragement, all those type of
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. It's so fun.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And
IMG_3474: you're always on, you know? Yeah.
So if [01:31:00] someone drives down the road and I'm out there running and they honked the horn, you know, it's just kind of like,
Gareth Wilford: you know,
IMG_3474: back when I was a, a punky little teenage
Gareth Wilford: kid,
I'd dropped
them
IMG_3474: off,
but now I'm like, oh, chance I know these people, you know? Yeah. Should probably wave.
I know
Ally Brettnacher: it's hard as a, as a female when people honk because it's just like, it's either some guy being a weirdo. Yeah. or it's somebody I know. So I usually just wave and I'm like,
IMG_3474: I always wave whoever
Ally Brettnacher: it is. Whatever. Always.
IMG_3474: I always assume they know me and
Ally Brettnacher: exactly. I feel like that's, that's
Gareth Wilford: you must remember, I, I
IMG_3474: also grew up, um, my peak running years were right off the forest gum,
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Well, I thought about that when you talked about, well, when I was going somewhere I was running. Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Oh, I got, I got a
IMG_3474: a present for you.
Can I give it to you now? Oh, I, I like presents. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Except I didn't bring you anything,
IMG_3474: don't want, I don't want a present. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Hold on.
IMG_3474: I brought, I brought you this.
Ally Brettnacher: No, you did not. You did.
Gareth Wilford: I did. So for the folks at home, because
IMG_3474: they're gonna
have to go on the internet to see see what it is,
Gareth Wilford: but
IMG_3474: yeah. I
Ally Brettnacher: I won't even say what it is
IMG_3474: You don't even say what
it is.
You can
Ally Brettnacher: say what it is.
Gareth Wilford: it is a Funko pop
of Fort Gump.
And
Ally Brettnacher: Say it again.
Gareth Wilford: Fort Gump Funk.
Ally Brettnacher: No, the first
Gareth Wilford: [01:32:00] Funko Pop.
You
IMG_3474: never heard it before?
Ally Brettnacher: No.
Gareth Wilford: So
IMG_3474: is
what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna start a new trend here. Let's see if it
Gareth Wilford: on.
IMG_3474: Okay. I think
Gareth Wilford: your guests should bring you
IMG_3474: a little
Gareth Wilford: memento. Write their name
IMG_3474: on it.
I do like presents.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
So, so this is
where I want you to put this on your shelf,
IMG_3474: that's okay. Oh yeah. Absolutely.
Gareth Wilford: And I'll write my
IMG_3474: on it. I love
Ally Brettnacher: stuff
IMG_3474: my shelves. Do you have a shelf?
Ally Brettnacher: Oh gosh. My, my office slash like craft room is insane. I don't have enough shelves. I'm
Gareth Wilford: Well, I'm gonna put this,
do you know what
IMG_3474: episode this is gonna be?
No. Okay, we'll write Well, we need
Ally Brettnacher: write it. I can, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah, I'll date it.
What
IMG_3474: is the
day today, mark? Uh,
Ally Brettnacher: I was like, oh boy. What is, what year is it, Gareth?
Gareth Wilford: go.
IMG_3474: I don't know. There we go. There's a, there's a little That's so
Ally Brettnacher: is so
IMG_3474: a little ment. I've been called Fourth Gum. A million tons.
Yeah. I love
Ally Brettnacher: for Forrest Gump. If you hadn't made me pick a favorite movie, it would be Forrest Gump.
Gareth Wilford: It's surprisingly good. Yeah. Can't get my kids
IMG_3474: to watch it
for some reason. What? That's
Ally Brettnacher: I watched it the first time. My dad made me watch it. But then, yeah,
IMG_3474: there's always, there's little, there's so many references What, how
Ally Brettnacher: he is.
IMG_3474: [01:33:00] know. Oh,
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. I'm just gonna
Gareth Wilford: well, let me
IMG_3474: eyes. eyes. Yeah. Okay. They're little weird thing, aren't they? There we go. There he is. There go a Funko Funko Pop. You never
heard of these?
No. You
Ally Brettnacher: what? I have heard of that. We I will. I might have to. Yes. I
IMG_3474: the, I think it's the same
Gareth Wilford: isn't it
IMG_3474: Pop Mart
Ally Brettnacher: No. Is it by Pop Mart?
Gareth Wilford: I don't know.
IMG_3474: know. Well,
Ally Brettnacher: it says pop something, movies. I don't know the difference. But anyway, my kids got la boo boos today.
But anyway, we can talk about that while we're not recording. 'cause that's a whole thing.
Gareth Wilford: whole world. Right.
Ally Brettnacher: Whole world. Right? It's a subculture that I'm learning about. I wanna hear, okay. More about, you ran London this year?
Gareth Wilford: I did run London this year,
IMG_3474: yeah. Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: what, what marathons or races have you done outside of local stuff?
Sure.
Gareth Wilford: well,
other than the ones growing up
in South Africa,
so I kind of
IMG_3474: got away from
Gareth Wilford: big
IMG_3474: races. I just, I went hard for like 15 years and
Gareth Wilford: I was like,
you know what?
I'm never gonna. I'm never gonna be that good,
IMG_3474: so I step away.
Gareth Wilford: Right. And it's a big disservice to yourself. 'cause you should never think that. But I had to
IMG_3474: get over the hurdle
of
Gareth Wilford: I'm now
IMG_3474: out here running just for fun.
Gareth Wilford: And um,
what actually started was
[01:34:00] randomly, actually Bob
IMG_3474: Kennedy, I owe my life.
Gareth Wilford: He was heated
IMG_3474: room to room to room, which is through the Grand Canyon.
Gareth Wilford: And he was just like, Hey, do you wanna do this? I'm like, yeah, what is it?
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And so,
IMG_3474: tell
Ally Brettnacher: you'd never been to the Grand
Gareth Wilford: I've never been to the Grand Canyon before. Yeah.
IMG_3474: And so,
Gareth Wilford: so he did it one year
IMG_3474: and he stopped in
Gareth Wilford: North
room,
but he wanted to go
IMG_3474: back and complete it.
Gareth Wilford: And
so
I
IMG_3474: was like, yeah, yeah, of course.
I, I, I'll
Gareth Wilford: this
IMG_3474: you. It sounds
fun, right? What is it again?
Gareth Wilford: It's
like,
I
don't know. It's 50
IMG_3474: miles if you do both
ways or 47,
Gareth Wilford: I mean, whatever it is,
it's 50 miles in my head. But yeah.
So
IMG_3474: he said, uh, yeah, let's
Gareth Wilford: go and do this. So, um, we've got a group of people, uh, we trained for it. I mean we did like 30 mile runs at Fort Ben
IMG_3474: at
five in the morning
while it
Gareth Wilford: dark.
Yeah, it was amazing. I loved it. And I kind of like started to kind of enjoy moving again. Yeah. Um, I mean I was running and all that, but I was like,
that was
IMG_3474: really fun.
Gareth Wilford: I mean, it was
IMG_3474: hard. It's probably the hardest thing
I've ever done.
Gareth Wilford: Well, not
probably. It is.
IMG_3474: Those things
were like
insane. Yeah. But I did it
Gareth Wilford: and so I was like, oh,
IMG_3474: I'm gonna try and [01:35:00] do,
at the very least,
Gareth Wilford: gonna try and do one epic thing
IMG_3474: every year,
Gareth Wilford: not
IMG_3474: races.
Gareth Wilford: it's
kind of done with races. And so, but I'm gonna do
IMG_3474: one thing. So,
Gareth Wilford: um, so I did the room to room, and then when you do room to room, everyone's like, Hey,
IMG_3474: that's cool. Do
you wanna do it again?
Gareth Wilford: So I
was like, sure, I'll do it again, I'll help you.
So we did it again
IMG_3474: the next year. what
Ally Brettnacher: would this have been?
Gareth Wilford: Oh man,
IMG_3474: 2016. Okay. 2017, I think. And then, um, in that
range. And uh,
Gareth Wilford: and then when we were, when we got done with the Grand Canyon, a group of us were like, well, what are we
IMG_3474: gonna do next?
Gareth Wilford: so I was like, well, I, I
kind of like this thing where we can kind of focus on it, plan it
IMG_3474: a year and do
it.
Gareth Wilford: and we did, the Wonderland
IMG_3474: Trail. Have you had Wonderland? But
Ally Brettnacher: right. No, you
IMG_3474: that.
Ally Brettnacher: email. I'm like, what is
IMG_3474: So,
Gareth Wilford: the Wonderland Trail? Uh, CIR is a, it's,
it's about a 90 something mile trail that Circumnavigates, um, Mount Rainier.
IMG_3474: Oh,
Ally Brettnacher: in Seattle? Yes. Whoa.
Gareth Wilford: Beautiful. Beautiful. obviously the
trail is, but the plan, the plan
IMG_3474: was
Gareth Wilford: do three
IMG_3474: days Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And do about average
IMG_3474: 30 miles a
Gareth Wilford: day. And, um, and we, we did the first [01:36:00] day and
we got, we didn't get lost,
but we lost the bridge in this glacial valley that took us an extra hour and
IMG_3474: a half to cross a river
Gareth Wilford: that threw us off.
and
then we got
to,
we were about eight hours in. And, um, one
IMG_3474: of our friends,
Gareth Wilford: actually his name's Drew
IMG_3474: Allen. I'm wanna
Gareth Wilford: him up by name because I
hope he listens
IMG_3474: to this. He was
the, uh,
owner of Taylor's Bakery,
Gareth Wilford: Taylor's
IMG_3474: Yeah. Okay. So you're on Taylor Bakery for
Gareth Wilford: while with
his brother, but, um, his
IMG_3474: sole job what are the peanut butter and jelly?
Is
Gareth Wilford: like
these,
IMG_3474: uh, Uncrustables, uh,
Gareth Wilford: uh, his
IMG_3474: job was the Uncrustables,
Gareth Wilford: and if you've ever seen like four
IMG_3474: grown men just crumble because he
forgot the Uncrustables.
Ally Brettnacher: Did you cry? I would cry probably,
Gareth Wilford: uh, if the, I
IMG_3474: was so dehydrated. The tears weren't, but I was crying. I
was
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. The, We
were like, can't believe you forgot the Uncrustables, like for the like four
IMG_3474: hours. We were like,
Gareth Wilford: if we just
IMG_3474: had Uncrustables, we would,
uh, we would make this. But
no, we, um,
Gareth Wilford: so we, we made the
IMG_3474: first day and it took us, I don't
Gareth Wilford: 16 hours.
It was 36 miles. And
IMG_3474: all of us were like, no, we can't
Gareth Wilford: going.
We blamed the Uncrustables,
IMG_3474: but it wasn't the Uncrustables.
It was [01:37:00] too hard for us to do. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Long
IMG_3474: story short,
Gareth Wilford: the adventure was
IMG_3474: amazing. and then we started planning the next one and then COVID hits, right?
So you act for like, you know.
Gareth Wilford: know.
IMG_3474: Two, three years
Gareth Wilford: and, and we've been planning
IMG_3474: an adventure
Gareth Wilford: for the last eight years.
We
IMG_3474: just
haven't been able to get the dms right.
Right.
Ally Brettnacher: so hard when you get a brain when
IMG_3474: break it up break. Yeah.
We're you
Ally Brettnacher: to have that consistency to
keep it going.
Gareth Wilford: to go and, um,
IMG_3474: you'll
Ally Brettnacher: do it again though.
Gareth Wilford: We'll do something for sure.
We'll do something for sure.
Maybe not
as
IMG_3474: crazy as that, but,
Gareth Wilford: uh, I don't know.
IMG_3474: So,
um,
so he said that then, then, um, my best friend, Gordon, who I, who, who was kind of the guy that got me into running,
Gareth Wilford: he
was just like, Hey, we should do
IMG_3474: New York Marathon sometime.
Gareth Wilford: And I was like, okay,
yeah,
IMG_3474: sure. I was like,
Gareth Wilford: I'll do that. And um, so we did,
IMG_3474: we
did the New York Marathon together and um, and I trained, I
don't wanna
Gareth Wilford: say I trained the
IMG_3474: bare minimum,
but I, I trained enough
Gareth Wilford: kind of get through the
IMG_3474: marathon, enjoy it,
Gareth Wilford: and I was like, cool, I'm gonna kind of
try and do
IMG_3474: a race every two years or
something like that.
Yeah. And just kind of build it into the schedule. [01:38:00] Keep myself honest.
Gareth Wilford: I'm not the type
IMG_3474: of guy that has to race
every single weekend.
Yeah. Just
Gareth Wilford: something to
kind
IMG_3474: of work off.
Ally Brettnacher: nice to have out there. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. And I'm not, I'm not going there to break any records. I actually prefer now just running
IMG_3474: the races
and actually seeing what's going on.
there's
Ally Brettnacher: a lot to see.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: It's just,
Gareth Wilford: just, I was caught up in
IMG_3474: a world where just so focused on how
fast you
Gareth Wilford: can run, that you, it's actually at the expense
IMG_3474: of everything else.
Ally Brettnacher: Right.
Gareth Wilford: and
don't get me wrong, when I'm running these marathons, I'm, I'm, I'm doing it as hard
IMG_3474: as I can.
Ally Brettnacher: Right.
IMG_3474: It's not as fast and it's, the,
Gareth Wilford: and it gets dark. but I'm trying to actually appreciate the surroundings. just everything
about it. I'm trying to
IMG_3474: appreciate it, you
know? And
so, and uh,
so I did New York and then, um, well,
Ally Brettnacher: how was the weather that year?
IMG_3474: Uh, the hot year was great. Um,
Gareth Wilford: yeah. I mean, yes. It was like in the
IMG_3474: seventies.
Yeah. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Which
is, which to me is hot. Yeah.
It's not crazy
hot, but it was enough
IMG_3474: where it was like, uh,
you know, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: um, London was hot. London was like
75 right out
of the gates and
IMG_3474: uh Oh, geez. And
Gareth Wilford: I
don't think it went much higher than 75, but it
IMG_3474: was just felt hot.
Yeah. [01:39:00]
Gareth Wilford: um, it was enough for me to say, like, whatever you do, take double
IMG_3474: fluids. Take double stuff at the
beginning.
Gareth Wilford: Because this
IMG_3474: is gonna get dark.
Gareth Wilford: No, it was amazing. So yeah, I
IMG_3474: did New York
Gareth Wilford: and I was like, well, let me, let me see if I can get into
IMG_3474: London. I got into London. And then on your
Ally Brettnacher: first try.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. I'm
IMG_3474: a little
Gareth Wilford: bit embarrassed to
say that.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Because people I know
IMG_3474: the
sponsors, right.
So through the store, that makes sense. Through the stores
it's a
Gareth Wilford: bit easier to get in. Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm very, I'm very respectful of those relationships. But every now and again, if I
IMG_3474: call in a favor,
Gareth Wilford: um, not they can do it every
IMG_3474: single time.
Right. I was
lucky
Gareth Wilford: to get into London
Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Yes. Did Gordon do it with you
Gareth Wilford: did No, he did. Not a solo, no, this is a solo one. But
having said that, I
think the next goal for me is I think I wanna do
IMG_3474: Tokyo. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: So it won't be next year. It'll be the following year.
IMG_3474: Okay. So, and, uh,
Gareth Wilford: but yeah, no, I just, I,
I
I just really love,
I love
IMG_3474: the
pageantry of it.
Ally Brettnacher: Yes.
IMG_3474: Abso a hundred
percent. I love watching the crowd. so I love,
I mean, it's London, it's, it's
Gareth Wilford: a beautiful
IMG_3474: thing, you know? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: actually we
IMG_3474: made that a vacation.
Gareth Wilford: we actually went to Edinburgh for
IMG_3474: like
five days.
Ally Brettnacher: That's nice. Is that [01:40:00] Scotland?
IMG_3474: It is. Okay. Yeah. Which is the most beautiful city I think I've
ever been to.
we were in Manchester
for a few days,
Gareth Wilford: and then we were
IMG_3474: in London for
like a few days. Wow. I mean, I was,
Gareth Wilford: we were walking, I think
we averaged like 25,000
steps
IMG_3474: a day leading up to the
Gareth Wilford: marathon. That
IMG_3474: I mean, that just
goes
Gareth Wilford: show you
IMG_3474: how
serious I was taking it. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Probably
shouldn't have
done that.
IMG_3474: Right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: but we, yeah, it's just once in
a lifetime,
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That's so cool. I would love, I would love to do
Gareth Wilford: Mm-hmm. It's it's
IMG_3474: unbelievable. It's
Ally Brettnacher: unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah.
IMG_3474: It's exactly what
Gareth Wilford: you
IMG_3474: think it's gonna be. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I've done New York, which was incredible. Have you done Chicago?
Gareth Wilford: I've
IMG_3474: not done Chicago.
Yeah. That's a good one. I need to
do Chicago.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, ultimately now everyone's
like, wow,
Gareth Wilford: done
IMG_3474: two of
Gareth Wilford: uh, the world majors and so, and South Africa will be a major here pretty
IMG_3474: soon. If not, that'd
Ally Brettnacher: be so cool.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. I think
IMG_3474: it'll be Cape down. And so, because they've
already shifted the
date to May
Gareth Wilford: for that reason.
IMG_3474: Interesting. When
Ally Brettnacher: was it before?
Gareth Wilford: I think it, it actually, I, I think they're about to have it again. I think it's
gonna be
IMG_3474: October. Okay. Um, but
Gareth Wilford: would be too many. Yeah. It's too,
so I think this year they have
IMG_3474: it in October.
Gareth Wilford: I
might [01:41:00] be wrong
IMG_3474: on
Gareth Wilford: but, and then they're
IMG_3474: gonna redo it next year to May,
Ally Brettnacher: may, so that they can get, they're not as competitive with the other
Gareth Wilford: world
No. Well
IMG_3474: that's a gap
in the schedule.
Yeah, it is.
Ally Brettnacher: right? 'cause you've got March is Tokyo, April's,
Gareth Wilford: so
IMG_3474: you've got, you've got March
Tokyo, you've got
Gareth Wilford: April, you've got
IMG_3474: Boston, right.
Gareth Wilford: got,
IMG_3474: course you've got London
Gareth Wilford: and
then May is the
gap, right? Yeah. Yeah. So
I think they wanna have
a gap, uh,
IMG_3474: Sydney now as well, but
that just happened. So.
Ally Brettnacher: did. And what's the climate in South Africa?
IMG_3474: I didn't ask
Gareth Wilford: Cape Town can be in
IMG_3474: May. it is winter,
so
it could be pretty chilly and pretty windy.
Ally Brettnacher: Nice. Well windy.
IMG_3474: when
Gareth Wilford: I say chilly, it's,
IMG_3474: it's South African chili, so forties, fifties, sixties. Okay.
It'll be pretty temperate. Yeah. Wind is, um,
Ally Brettnacher: that in Celsius or
Gareth Wilford: no, that's
IMG_3474: fair enough. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Wait a
Gareth Wilford: Fair enough. Yeah. yeah, that would be, capetown can be windy. It's, it's on a,
IMG_3474: it's almost like
Gareth Wilford: it's
two oceans
IMG_3474: that come together and there's different
Ally Brettnacher: That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay.
IMG_3474: And it'll be hilly. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's so
Ally Brettnacher: cool.
IMG_3474: Oh
Ally Brettnacher: my gosh. I love following your adventures and your photography. Let's talk about your photography now.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: and then a co I have a couple other like quick hit stories that you mentioned that [01:42:00] I wanna make
Gareth Wilford: you tell. Yeah. We'll get
IMG_3474: to tell. Yeah. We'll get
Ally Brettnacher: And
IMG_3474: then, and then
Ally Brettnacher: we will try to wrap up somehow. I don't know, but your photography is incredible.
Thank you. Yeah.
Gareth, How
did you get into that? My,
Gareth Wilford: uh, my mother, so growing up in Africa, my
IMG_3474: favorite
thing in the world is wildlife.
Gareth Wilford: We used to go
IMG_3474: into the wild, back to birds, back to birds,
Gareth Wilford: birds and everything else. Right. And
IMG_3474: so, so in,
in, I grew up in
Johannesburg about two hours north, three hours north, is wild.
And, uh,
and when I say that,
Ally Brettnacher: safari wild. Safari wild.
IMG_3474: safari wild. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Flown
IMG_3474: wild, right? And so this, we're talking lions. Oh my. Yeah. Gosh,
Ally Brettnacher: two hours.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
It, within, I think it's three,
but, um,
Ally Brettnacher: still it's like
IMG_3474: like Chicago has,
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. about getting
IMG_3474: Chicago and being in the
Gareth Wilford: right?
IMG_3474: Yeah. Yeah. And so, so
we used to, used to go up
into those.
they, they are national parks.
Gareth Wilford: And so, um,
and you can
IMG_3474: stay, you can stay
inside of them
Gareth Wilford: in these resorts. And the resorts are kind of, they
IMG_3474: fenced off electric fences, so elephants can't
get in. Now leopard can jump over and
Gareth Wilford: that, so, um, monkeys can
IMG_3474: get in. No, it's, it's
amazing. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Um, but I always
IMG_3474: used to go up
there and my mother always,
my mother always
had a camera in her hand.
Gareth Wilford: [01:43:00] and she would,
now, this was in the
IMG_3474: day of film, so it was
Ally Brettnacher: oh, I remember. I
IMG_3474: yeah, I remember I spent time
Ally Brettnacher: time in a dark
IMG_3474: in school. Yeah. So,
Gareth Wilford: but
it's not like you can
IMG_3474: take 7,000 pictures and find the
Gareth Wilford: best.
IMG_3474: Right. So you gotta be pretty smart. And so,
Gareth Wilford: but yeah, so she would
IMG_3474: go
into the wild or we'd go into the wild and she would just let me have the camera every now and again, and I'd
Gareth Wilford: just walk around and
IMG_3474: take pictures and,
and I just loved it.
And then, um,
Gareth Wilford: and then I
IMG_3474: got away from it for a while. And then about, I
Gareth Wilford: about five
IMG_3474: or six years ago,
I just said to myself,
I'm like, oh, you know what? I
Gareth Wilford: just,
I
need to get back
IMG_3474: into photography.
I really enjoy it. And, um, I like,
Gareth Wilford: I
like being by myself.
I know
IMG_3474: this sounds selfish,
but I like kind of like.
Ally Brettnacher: like.
IMG_3474: Running to me was just
Gareth Wilford: of like, that's my little space. I'm
IMG_3474: not running as much.
Gareth Wilford: I just need to have that little space
where I can go and walk in the
IMG_3474: wild and take pictures And
so, um, then that's got off a camera. I was like, oh, I'm just gonna start taking pictures again.
Gareth Wilford: I just enjoyed it. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
What kind of camera
Gareth Wilford: do
you I
have a Sony a seven three.
IMG_3474: for
Ally Brettnacher: the camera nerds that are,
IMG_3474: yeah,
and I mean, it's, I
always say, so people say it's not about the
equipment, it's about the photographer.
It's a little bit of a lie. Having
Gareth Wilford: better,
having better
[01:44:00] tools does
IMG_3474: help on a lot
Gareth Wilford: of things.
IMG_3474: but having said that, just having, like
iPhones are fantastic for closeup stuff and portraits and
Gareth Wilford: all that, but, uh, it's the lenses that make the
difference, by the way.
Yeah. So, no, I'm
a, yeah. The amount of money I spent on lenses
IMG_3474: and
drones and all that sort of thing, drone, it's embarrassing. Yeah. I've got two
Ally Brettnacher: It's not embarrassing. It's cool that you
Gareth Wilford: That's
IMG_3474: do that. It's amazing.
Yeah. No, I, uh, it's,
Gareth Wilford: it's grown
IMG_3474: up toys, right?
Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. A big proponent of adults having toys, by the way, so, yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: I, I, I support that.
IMG_3474: you.
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: And, um,
Gareth Wilford: yeah, no,
IMG_3474: no, it's just a, it's just a fun thing I, I like to do,
Ally Brettnacher: could, I mean, you could easily sell your photography. It's
IMG_3474: I do appreciate that. I have, do you, um,
Gareth Wilford: I, I've had people offer
IMG_3474: to buy
Gareth Wilford: A
lot of times I end up just
giving it to them, to
honest
IMG_3474: with
you.
Ally Brettnacher: Oh, cool. So I'll just go through your feed and be like,
IMG_3474: a fun stuff. I have this fun too.
yeah. Yeah. And so,
Gareth Wilford: um, no, I, I like, I
IMG_3474: like that people like
it.
Gareth Wilford: and I, I don't wanna say I won't at, at some point
IMG_3474: sell my photographer and all that,
but it, it's a habit. I like
that. People like it. Yeah.
I think
Gareth Wilford: it's, okay.
IMG_3474: I know that's self-deprecating and
I'm
Gareth Wilford: wow, didn't wanna bother this.
Having
IMG_3474: [01:45:00] said that, I'm like,
Gareth Wilford: you really like this
picture? Yeah, I'll go, I'll go and print it for
IMG_3474: you something. But,
Gareth Wilford: um, and also I
IMG_3474: don't want to, I've had people say like, Hey, can you do this photography
Gareth Wilford: be paid?
And
I normally say,
IMG_3474: Hey, there's a professional that does that, go to the
Ally Brettnacher: Yes. And pay them that
IMG_3474: them
Ally Brettnacher: there's so many people
IMG_3474: because I don't want the responsibility of messing it up. Um, does that make sense? It does.
Ally Brettnacher: does.
IMG_3474: And so, um, like a wedding photographer,
I've been asked to do weddings
before. It's
Gareth Wilford: like,
IMG_3474: no, I'm not, I'm not a wedding photographer. Right. I don't know. Go and look at a wedding photographer.
They are pros at it and then know what to do from
start to
finish
Gareth Wilford: all
IMG_3474: that. And so,
um, yeah, go to the pros, you know,
I'm good at like,
Gareth Wilford: you
IMG_3474: know, oh, want to take a picture? Okay, good. I can get you to 80% on this one.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah,
IMG_3474: Yeah. So
I don't want the responsibility
of
that. maybe someday not a wedding photographer.
There's too much
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Too much pressure and on the weekends No
Gareth Wilford: Nah, nah. And So
um, that's, that's a whole different world. But no, if, if someone wants pictures
IMG_3474: and
I can help out and it's,
Gareth Wilford: if I mess it up and
IMG_3474: you don't care, then I'm happy
Gareth Wilford: do it.
Ally Brettnacher: That's perfect. yeah,
Yeah.
Yeah. You don't need that added pressure.
Gareth Wilford: It's,
[01:46:00] again,
IMG_3474: it's
one of those things
if I'm go and
take pictures,
Gareth Wilford: I either want to
IMG_3474: take
Gareth Wilford: hundred pictures or
IMG_3474: no pictures and be okay with that. Yeah. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: What is, what comes to mind if I ask what your best shot that you've ever captured?
Gareth Wilford: The best
IMG_3474: photograph that I've ever captured? that's
Gareth Wilford: good
IMG_3474: question.
I have a,
Gareth Wilford: I have a few
IMG_3474: pictures of a geist. I have this one picture
Gareth Wilford: of, I was
IMG_3474: just playing around with it and I
threw it up and
it's
Gareth Wilford: beautiful sunrise and
IMG_3474: there was someone skiing at
Gareth Wilford: six
in the
IMG_3474: morning and it
Gareth Wilford: just sunrise.
And,
IMG_3474: uh, the, the guys was literally
Gareth Wilford: like a mirror.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Um, and
Gareth Wilford: um,
IMG_3474: and so you see the picture and you see this beautiful reflections and that's one of my favorite ones.
And that
honestly was not an
Gareth Wilford: drone, it was just,
IMG_3474: I threw it up and I
saw it and
I'm like, snap it and go. Whoa. Yeah. And so,
um,
Gareth Wilford: yeah, some of the wildlife pictures I've taken,
IMG_3474: I've really enjoyed, some of the motor racing ones
Gareth Wilford: taken, I've really enjoyed.
IMG_3474: I'll
go to the track sometimes. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Um,
IMG_3474: and just take
Gareth Wilford: there.
IMG_3474: Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: what a bonus that you ended up in Indianapolis like racing. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. Uh, it's a bonus. I mean, [01:47:00] again,
IMG_3474: back to my motor, right. My motorsport heritage is not
me, it's
Gareth Wilford: family. But yes, it's a massive bonus, but
IMG_3474: I love it.
Yeah. I love it.
Yeah. That's
so cool.
Gareth Wilford: And I actually like
IMG_3474: the,
I like Indy and I like the NASCAR stuff, but I like the, um, like the kind of like the road cause on the racetrack kind of thing. Okay. I prefer that more. Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. That's so cool. Oh my gosh. And then,
Gareth Wilford: you
IMG_3474: mentioned, okay,
Ally Brettnacher: two other things. At least one was where you got absolutely embarrassed on tv,
Gareth Wilford: Yeah.
IMG_3474: You wanna know that story? That sounds,
yeah. That's great.
Gareth Wilford: I, I always say if you look at, if you
IMG_3474: look at my progression in running, it was
Gareth Wilford: like, I got beaten,
IMG_3474: I tried to get better, I
got embarrassed, I tried to
got better. So, so
Gareth Wilford: losing an embarrassment
IMG_3474: is, has, been the precursor. But, there was this one time, I was
running the
Gareth Wilford: 1500 and it was the under, it
IMG_3474: was the
Gareth Wilford: 17, under
IMG_3474: 19 national
Gareth Wilford: So
it was all
the best
IMG_3474: athletes from the country by age group.
Gareth Wilford: And um, and I was age groups in
South
Africa on two
IMG_3474: year
Gareth Wilford: So if you are
18,
IMG_3474: you're 18, 19 [01:48:00] in under 19. So two years. Okay. So that,
Gareth Wilford: that makes a
IMG_3474: difference 'cause the development is there
Gareth Wilford: and I
was like, okay,
IMG_3474: I'm gonna try and qualify for this race.
Gareth Wilford: So I qualified and
I
IMG_3474: got
third in our state championships. Top three go to the national championships.
Gareth Wilford: And, um,
and
IMG_3474: I, I'm telling no one at this point because
Gareth Wilford: not
IMG_3474: in the best shape. I'm kind of four. I mean,
Gareth Wilford: I was the last qualified
IMG_3474: to get into the heat. I was,
Gareth Wilford: you know, just everything about
this race was,
IMG_3474: I was stumbling into these positions.
Gareth Wilford: So I made it to
IMG_3474: the national championships, was in my hometown, didn't tell anyone
'cause I'm
like, ah, I don't you want
Gareth Wilford: see
IMG_3474: me running? I'm not in great shape,
Gareth Wilford: but I'm
IMG_3474: making it further and further along I'm like, last person
in, last person and last person And,
Gareth Wilford: so I went to the
IMG_3474: national
championships and we, the heat were in the morning
Gareth Wilford: and, uh,
and at
IMG_3474: that time it was,
Gareth Wilford: um,
it was
the top three in
IMG_3474: each
heat plus the three fastest qualifiers make it through.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, and I was the last race
IMG_3474: of four,
so I think it was like 15 people total.
Gareth Wilford: I was the last, in the last
IMG_3474: heat. All the other heats went [01:49:00] really slow.
Gareth Wilford: so I got six in
IMG_3474: the last heat. But I was the
third slow,
Gareth Wilford: fastest qualifier.
I
IMG_3474: was the last person in.
Gareth Wilford: so I made the final. So again,
IMG_3474: I
didn't tell anyone. And so,
Gareth Wilford: um,
I know, so I know I'm not, I'm making it to the final
IMG_3474: in the national championships. I
should be more proud. But I'm
also a little embarrassed that
I haven't trained very well. I've, I've fallen into this race. Yeah. Now
Gareth Wilford: to understand South Africa,
at
IMG_3474: the time
we
didn't have 57,000 TV channels. We had four,
four
channels total.
Gareth Wilford: two of them were like almost throwaway channels. One was English, one was Africon. So those
IMG_3474: were the two main channels. So if you
Gareth Wilford: watch
tv,
IMG_3474: you watch one of two channels.
Gareth Wilford: Now, when it came to sport in South Africa, rugby's
big
IMG_3474: cricket's. Big, okay?
Gareth Wilford: okay? So on
that day, um,
IMG_3474: the biggest rugby game of the year was happening. It
Gareth Wilford: was South Africa
versus
IMG_3474: New Zealand
or something.
It's huge,
right?
Gareth Wilford: All my friends were either at the game or
IMG_3474: watching the game.
Gareth Wilford: And so I was like,
IMG_3474: great, no one's gonna know
that I'm running this
Gareth Wilford: race.
And, uh, so
IMG_3474: I
get
to the race.
now. [01:50:00] In the race or these two athletes, they're
young kids.
Gareth Wilford: 18,
IMG_3474: 19 years old, but they're world
Gareth Wilford: class, right?
One
IMG_3474: of them
went on to
be second in the Olympics. Geez, like four years later in the 800, they're like world, world class.
Yeah. So it was a very big hype race. These two guys were going head to head.
Gareth Wilford: So I was like,
IMG_3474: great, whatever. So
Gareth Wilford: I, I make the final and I'm in
IMG_3474: the final
and we are waiting for the start and the
Gareth Wilford: comes
IMG_3474: out like, Hey, we delaying the start by five minutes.
Gareth Wilford: So I'm
IMG_3474: like, fine. That happens a lot,
Gareth Wilford: right? And so, and then,
and
IMG_3474: then, so you're on the,
Gareth Wilford: you're on the track and
IMG_3474: you're doing your
Gareth Wilford: start outs and
IMG_3474: all that.
And, and then also sudden they're
Gareth Wilford: like, all right, we, we have a hard start of like seven 18. I'm
IMG_3474: like seven 18.
It's a weird start time. So like,
Gareth Wilford: have to
be
IMG_3474: on the line. No false
Gareth Wilford: starts, like,
if
you fall starts, we're
IMG_3474: gonna keep the rates going, but we're
gonna pull
you out.
So I'm like, that's really weird. 'cause normally if you do a false start, you'll like pull people back and do it over
again.
Gareth Wilford: So we're on the line. And now
IMG_3474: granted, I'm,
I'm six foot tall at this point, right? So in, in most terms, I'm like a head taller than most [01:51:00] people in this race.
Gareth Wilford: I'm standing on
the line
IMG_3474: and this motorbike comes out with a tv,
Gareth Wilford: camera on the back.
I'm like, oh no, they're recording this.
IMG_3474: This
Gareth Wilford: terrible.
Ally Brettnacher: That's
Gareth Wilford: be
IMG_3474: on the news. Oh my God.
Gareth Wilford: And then it's like they start counting down like, Hey, two minutes
IMG_3474: start,
Gareth Wilford: and then I see a
IMG_3474: red light
come on the camera.
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, oh no,
IMG_3474: this is live. Basically what they did is they timed the race to be at the halftime of the rugby game.
No. That the whole country's watching. They're gonna show this
Ally Brettnacher: No,
IMG_3474: live.
Gareth Wilford: at
halftime. Everyone in the
IMG_3474: that was watching the rugby game
and
Gareth Wilford: everyone on TV's
IMG_3474: watching the, at halftime watching this race. 'cause these, these kids are amazing.
Gareth Wilford: And I
IMG_3474: them, all my friends
Gareth Wilford: or my family
IMG_3474: are watching this
race
now I'm like,
Gareth Wilford: oh no, this is
IMG_3474: embarrassing.
So
Gareth Wilford: I'm watching the motorcycle,
the
IMG_3474: light goes on, the race
goes off.
The first half of the
race, I'm fine.
I'm
Ally Brettnacher: okay. I thought you were gonna fall start.
I'm really glad that
Gareth Wilford: happen. didn't
fall start. Whew. No, no, no. I
IMG_3474: I was
Gareth Wilford: like,
I'm kinda
IMG_3474: hide in the race. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: So I get going [01:52:00] and I'm running in the race
and, and I'm, I'm
I'm right by, I'm in the pack.
I'm right in the middle.
Uh, I'm in the
pack, but I'm hurting. Right. And I'm
IMG_3474: like, oh, I'm actually gonna do okay. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And then with about
400 meters to go, these guys take off. Right. And it's,
it's horrible. They are now
IMG_3474: dropping me like
Gareth Wilford: something serious. It was so bad
that you can actually see live
IMG_3474: pictures of them finishing
Gareth Wilford: and you
see me coming around the back corner.
They dropped
IMG_3474: me by like 15
seconds in the last lap.
It was horrible.
Gareth Wilford: But you actually. You see them, but then you see me like behind there naturally,
IMG_3474: like that night, every person I knew was calling me like,
Hey, good job.
Gareth Wilford: You know, like, better luck next time. And I was like, I don't wanna hear that.
IMG_3474: know?
Gareth Wilford: So but yeah.
millions of
IMG_3474: people saw
me get horribly embarrassed on national tv.
Gareth Wilford: Wow. Which was,
at
the time I
IMG_3474: was so embarrassed. But
then you wake up
the next morning, you're like, first of all, I saw what it took to
be really
good.
Gareth Wilford: These guys were the best
IMG_3474: of the [01:53:00] best
Gareth Wilford: and
they
were ready to go. Right.
And uh, and I was not
so you deserve
to be embarrassed. but I was like,
you know what?
IMG_3474: If you really want to do this
Gareth Wilford: properly, you need to commit. You know, because those guys were, again, those guys were Olympic medalists.
In my
IMG_3474: mind, I thought I could be a mid league Olympic
Gareth Wilford: but at least like, at least give yourself a
IMG_3474: you know? Right. Maybe not get
Gareth Wilford: lost.
IMG_3474: maybe it would've been five steps back or
six steps back, but you didn't give us up a
Gareth Wilford: And I was like, ah. And I remember thinking the
IMG_3474: next day, like,
Gareth Wilford: whatever you do,
just give yourself
a chance to succeed
On
IMG_3474: that day. I gave myself every chance to fail. Right. And it was national tv. It was
Gareth Wilford: embarrassing.
Yeah. It was great. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: That's good advice.
IMG_3474: yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: And I'm thankful I had
IMG_3474: that really early on because I wanted to be good.
Gareth Wilford: I knew
IMG_3474: I wanted to be good,
but you
don't know what it
takes to be good. Mm-hmm. When you see
Gareth Wilford: guys
like that, and I mean, this is a guy
IMG_3474: that was like maybe
Gareth Wilford: four years removed
IMG_3474: from an Olympic
Gareth Wilford: silver medal, so
IMG_3474: they were always
gonna be outliers.
But
Gareth Wilford: I remember seeing them. And seeing how good they were.
IMG_3474: Remember we didn't have the [01:54:00] internet back then. We were still
pre-internet
Gareth Wilford: years. Right. And so
IMG_3474: I wasn't able to
watch video of these
peers running amazing times. Yeah. Right.
I I didn't know what was
good.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. You weren't constantly
Gareth Wilford: concerning against yourself.
No, you weren't, you weren't constantly,
I mean, I
IMG_3474: always, I was
winning local races and
Gareth Wilford: I, I, I was like, oh, I'm really good.
IMG_3474: And
then all of
a sudden you come up against guys and you just like,
Gareth Wilford: get your doors blown off. You're like, oh, that's good.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
IMG_3474: You are gonna have to step it up. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. Okay.
Ally Brettnacher: And so this is a nice segue into what's your biggest regret in your running
IMG_3474: Yeah. So my biggest
regret
Gareth Wilford: not,
I don't have any very
IMG_3474: many regrets about
Gareth Wilford: performances or
training. I actually,
IMG_3474: when I look
Gareth Wilford: back on it, I'm actually pretty grateful to myself with
IMG_3474: what I did.
Gareth Wilford: Uh, I did
everything I thought I could do, and I did it
as well
IMG_3474: as I thought I
could do.
Gareth Wilford: So I, I think I maximized that.
IMG_3474: But my regrets, and this is pretty sad,
Gareth Wilford: I,
my grandfather, his name
IMG_3474: was Dennis, my middle name's Dennis, something named off
Gareth Wilford: the guy. incredibly
IMG_3474: proud person, and he used to brag on his grandkids
Gareth Wilford: a lot.
Now
IMG_3474: remember, he has
Gareth Wilford: a bunch
IMG_3474: [01:55:00] of grandkids that are South African racing champions in motor racing and all that, right? So, so
Gareth Wilford: used to walk
IMG_3474: around like,
Gareth Wilford: like my grandsons,
but he also,
IMG_3474: he was part of Run For Life, which
Gareth Wilford: mother joined as well.
IMG_3474: So he would always brag to his
friends there about
his grandson in America.
That was a good runner. And,
Gareth Wilford: again, pre-internet, there was no proof or backup.
IMG_3474: It was just this random Yeah.
And, and they,
you know,
you must remember it's, it's, it is,
Gareth Wilford: it's 20
IMG_3474: elderly folk all bragging about their grandchildren, right. And so,
Gareth Wilford: so whatever it was. And so, so I go back
IMG_3474: to South Africa and I'm in really
Gareth Wilford: shape. And, uh,
IMG_3474: so my grandfather's like, Hey, um, we used to do
these things called time trials. Every Wednesday night Clubs used to host a time trial.
Gareth Wilford: It
IMG_3474: was a 4 0 8 K and they posted results in
Gareth Wilford: That was a big deal.
So all the clubs did it. Every
IMG_3474: single club did it in the,
the country.
That's cool. No, it's very cool.
Yeah. And they would post
Gareth Wilford: the top
IMG_3474: 20 times. So everyone did 4K, eight K
and they would post the times. And um,
Gareth Wilford: My grandfather's
like, Hey, do
you wanna [01:56:00] come
IMG_3474: do this time trial?
So
I was like, yeah, okay, I'll do it. And uh,
Gareth Wilford: so I did it and I won it and I broke the record
and it
IMG_3474: was a big deal 'cause I broke the record by a long way.
And, uh, but I gave my name as something different, like this being a jackass. I called myself, uh, Johnny Danger. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: That
was my
IMG_3474: kind of nickname because I loved
the movie Johnny Dangerously. Anyway,
Gareth Wilford: so I,
IMG_3474: and so he was bragging
to his friends.
I thought it was funny. Oh, that, that
Ally Brettnacher: Oh no, that Johnny
IMG_3474: Danger
won
Gareth Wilford: and it
was the fastest time of the week. It was a really fast time.
And, uh,
IMG_3474: so I was just highlighted, but it was Johnny Danger, so he was like, yeah, my
grandson.
Gareth Wilford: Shawnee Danger, it's
IMG_3474: not his name. Right. And so,
so I thought, ah,
funny, funny, funny, right, funny, yeah, funny joke, you know, it's
Ally Brettnacher: like, this is my legacy. I'm
IMG_3474: clown. But my grandfather was
just like, ah, you should you, so,
Gareth Wilford: so the next Saturday right after
IMG_3474: that,
Gareth Wilford: um, there was an invitational three k
IMG_3474: on
Gareth Wilford: the track. And, um, I was invited to run it, and it was all
IMG_3474: the best
Gareth Wilford: athletes in
IMG_3474: the country were
Gareth Wilford: gonna run it, um, [01:57:00] including a guy
IMG_3474: that went on to the world championships like
weeks later
Gareth Wilford: and got second.
So it was like, really, really,
IMG_3474: and I was like
in the
Gareth Wilford: best shape
of my life, and,
IMG_3474: uh, I won the three K.
Gareth Wilford: And, uh, as I crossed the line,
The
IMG_3474: reporters
were there and they were like, and now I
remember, I'm
out of the country.
I've been outta the country for three, four years. No one
knows who
Gareth Wilford: I was. No one knows that. I'm a pretty
decent runner, so they want to interview
IMG_3474: me,
Interview me. So what name do I give? Johnny? Johnny Danger. Right. And so,
Gareth Wilford: so I, I,
IMG_3474: I
gave Johnny Danger Thinking, ah, funny, funny, funny joke.
You know, it's gonna be in the paper
tomorrow. So, um, so it was the
headline story in the back of this national paper. They got the name wrong. They called me Johnny Banger. So it was like, the headline is Johnny Banger wins Elite three K. And, uh, and even the pictures were like, he couldn't tell it was me.
Right? Yeah. It was an old granular thing. So, so me, I'm thinking this is the funniest thing ever. Yeah. Johnny, Johnny
Banger. right?
And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: but
no, it's, it's a regret
IMG_3474: because
Gareth Wilford: now
IMG_3474: my, my
grandfather passed away
Gareth Wilford: a
handful of
IMG_3474: years later and, uh.[01:58:00]
and he never got the chance to brag on me and his friends
Gareth Wilford: and all
IMG_3474: that
Gareth Wilford: properly.
And I
was just like, now that I'm
IMG_3474: older and I look
Gareth Wilford: back, I'm like, yeah, that was
IMG_3474: a bit of a douche
move, you know? And so, yeah. At the time you think
Gareth Wilford: being at
IMG_3474: to chuck with Charlie? Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: Um, but I
didn't give him that chance to
IMG_3474: kind of brag
because it would've
been,
he
Gareth Wilford: would've been like, you're super proud
IMG_3474: me. you know?
Right. And I was just
Gareth Wilford: like,
IMG_3474: that's a do move.
Gareth Wilford: move. So
IMG_3474: yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: He was still proud. Johnny Danger. Do, does anyone,
IMG_3474: Johnny Danger, did
Ally Brettnacher: know that? Will they call you that now?
Gareth Wilford: Oh no.
No. That was just my
own
IMG_3474: internal little joke. Okay. Between me and my friends.
Ally Brettnacher: have a nickname now?
Gareth Wilford: I don't,
No.
Ally Brettnacher: the Flash,
I mean now, now,
IMG_3474: now,
Gareth Wilford: Uh, the Flash was like
IMG_3474: a short window. yeah, that was short. for a few years. Johnny Danger. That's so funny. Johnny Danger was,
Gareth Wilford: few of
my
IMG_3474: friends know
me as Johnny Danger, but more just kind of like more was a joke.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, yeah.
IMG_3474: No, I don't have anything that's funny. Oh, okay. Sometimes people call me Gary.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: Because they don't believe that they name Gareth exists.
Right. So they're like, no. Is that
Ally Brettnacher: a South African name?
Gareth Wilford: It's
IMG_3474: actually Welsh. Hmm. Yeah. Okay. And so, um, but no, 'cause my dad, my dad wanted to name me after a famous rugby player. [01:59:00] Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And
there was
a guy
named
IMG_3474: Gareth. Okay, there you go. But yeah, people in America's like, is it Gareth?
Gareth Wilford: I'm like, no, it's Gareth. I
was
like, well, in America
IMG_3474: Gary.
So, so Laura
Gareth Wilford: me, called me Gary
Ally Brettnacher: no offense to Gary,
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. no Vin to
IMG_3474: Gary's. Yeah. But
yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: is,
IMG_3474: yeah. Gareth much
cooler.
Yeah. exactly. I am gonna
Ally Brettnacher: ask you the end of the podcast
Gareth Wilford: questions
Yeah. Let's
IMG_3474: go. Okay. Let's do it.
Ally Brettnacher: So the first one Yes. Is what is your favorite running mantra and or song?
Gareth Wilford: Song. Okay.
IMG_3474: I actually,
Gareth Wilford: I
don't have any,
IMG_3474: I have favorite songs, but they're not hype up songs. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: even when I'm running, it's
IMG_3474: very chill.
Gareth Wilford: Um,
I'm
IMG_3474: a big Oasis
Gareth Wilford: and I
IMG_3474: just, I did disco Go and See Oasis
Gareth Wilford: which is amazing. no, my favorite artist
is
IMG_3474: a guy named Gregory Ann and Isikoff.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: Okay.
Uh,
just a singer songwriter, almost like
IMG_3474: Folky
Rock. Okay.
Gareth Wilford: And that's what
IMG_3474: I end up listening to. So everyone, I'm doing races
and all that, just, it's not,
Gareth Wilford: it's not like beats,
IMG_3474: it's just more chill. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: So, no, that's,
IMG_3474: um,
Gareth Wilford: about it. I don't really have a mantra on
IMG_3474: running,
to be [02:00:00] honest
with you.
Gareth Wilford: I used to, back in
IMG_3474: the day,
Gareth Wilford: I just, I just, I really felt. like When I was racing, I
IMG_3474: need a mantra. I just like, just trust that you've done the training to
Gareth Wilford: deserve the result
Ally Brettnacher: mm-hmm. Does that
IMG_3474: sense? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, um,
Gareth Wilford: I didn't need a hype up
phrase. I
didn't need a hype up song. It's just like,
you've trained really
IMG_3474: hard,
Gareth Wilford: you should run really
IMG_3474: fast.
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. You know, and so, and vice versa, if you
haven't
IMG_3474: trained, you don't, you don't
deserve,
you know, so. Right. So my
mantra is more like,
Gareth Wilford: do the work, you know, put
yourself
in a
IMG_3474: good position to succeed,
Gareth Wilford: and then just get out there in
IMG_3474: front as fast
Gareth Wilford: as you can, you
IMG_3474: you know?
Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: Okay. And then, um, I was just thinking about Jake Hostler because of the music thing too. 'cause I think he said the same thing. Like, he listens to like chill. Yeah. Nothing like super
Gareth Wilford: No, but he's real music though.
He does, he's a real musician.
Ally Brettnacher: does, he does the intro music to this. He did the intro.
Gareth Wilford: Did he really?
Yeah. No, no.
IMG_3474: He
really? Podcast? Yeah. No, no. He is fantastic. Yeah. He's so talented. Mm-hmm. so
also does
Gareth Wilford: did a hundred miles on
IMG_3474: the weekend. Um,
Ally Brettnacher: yeah. Just a side note. My God. Congratulations Jake. This is
IMG_3474: Jake, to all of them.
Ally Brettnacher: All of them. Absolutely. Everybody [02:01:00] who did one yard to, what is it, 30? I can't remember how many they got to 38, 37.
I
IMG_3474: know what they got to,
Gareth Wilford: but I know some, I think someone got to like 150 miles
IMG_3474: was,
Ally Brettnacher: think it was over that. I think that is true. It, it's nuts. okay. So, and then this next question is, what's your next finish line and or milestone?
Gareth Wilford: Sure. if we're talking specifically about running, I do want to do,
I do think I want to
IMG_3474: do
some more of the marathons,
Gareth Wilford: uh, out there.
IMG_3474: there.
Mm-hmm. Um,
Gareth Wilford: but more
IMG_3474: like a tourist.
Gareth Wilford: And
IMG_3474: so, so yeah.
Gareth Wilford: we did mention,
IMG_3474: Tokyo or Japan. Yeah, I have been to Japan before.
Gareth Wilford: and I'd like
IMG_3474: to go back. It's
Gareth Wilford: probably one of my favorite countries. So I'd
IMG_3474: like
Gareth Wilford: like to
IMG_3474: do Tokyo.
in general. I know this sounds ridiculous, but,
Gareth Wilford: just trying to figure out the next steps in life for myself, this is becoming
an existential crisis.
IMG_3474: Right. You
Gareth Wilford: So, so
I'm 50 years
IMG_3474: old now.
Gareth Wilford: I've been
IMG_3474: in running specialty for 25 years.
Gareth Wilford: I have
IMG_3474: no plans to go anywhere.
Yeah. You know, it's
Gareth Wilford: kind of like, where
IMG_3474: are the stores gonna go for the next, you know,
Gareth Wilford: 10 years. Right. And then, and then what is the,
IMG_3474: I am an owner of, or part owner of the stores, so [02:02:00] what is the, the legacy
Gareth Wilford: the
IMG_3474: transition there.
you know?
Mm-hmm. So, you have to plan those things five, 10 years out in advance, believe it or not. Yeah. You know, so,
my kids
are,
I have
one kid in college. I have another kid
Gareth Wilford: that is gonna be in college
in three or four years.
You know, that's
empty nest syndrome right
IMG_3474: there. Right. It's
Gareth Wilford: daunting.
IMG_3474: Um, yeah.
Gareth Wilford: kind of
IMG_3474: figure out like what do the next five, 10 years look like? Yeah. Yeah. And, uh,
Gareth Wilford: I don't know. Yeah. I'm a big adventure guy,
IMG_3474: you know? Yeah. So, um, I was gonna
Ally Brettnacher: have no shortage of like, interests,
Gareth Wilford: no,
I've got plenty interests, you know, and so I always
IMG_3474: say,
Gareth Wilford: your interests
IMG_3474: gotta have purpose. Yeah.
And purpose is what drives you. And, uh,
and finding those purposes behind those things, whatever it may be, you know? Yeah. So, and uh,
Gareth Wilford: that's what
IMG_3474: gets you from 50 to 60 and 60 to 80
lack of,
Gareth Wilford: you don't have any purpose, you,
You're probably
IMG_3474: gonna have a miserable, you know, retirement. Right?
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. I think about purpose a lot.
IMG_3474: I'm almost four weeks. I think purpose is the most important thing. Yeah. Whatever it is, just have some sort of purpose. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: I do
IMG_3474: feel
like the more purpose you have around other people, the more
fulfilling your life is. Yeah. [02:03:00] Um,
more and more and more.
So I,
Gareth Wilford: I, I,
IMG_3474: and
again, to go back
to kind of, you
know,
being a cheerleader for
people mm-hmm.
Um, that's the world
I know.
You know? Mm-hmm. And, um, I don't claim
to
know much
Gareth Wilford: else than that, but
IMG_3474: I do know what people going are going
Gareth Wilford: on the moan on at eight
IMG_3474: o'clock in the morning. Yeah. I know it. I've been there. I I've had
Gareth Wilford: highs,
IMG_3474: I've had the lows, and I've had the
middle. Yeah. So, so there's a, there's a, there's a genuine purpose to
me being wherever, whether it's a prairie and fire.
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: CNO, mini Marathon, Rummel, any one
IMG_3474: of those races. If,
Gareth Wilford: you see me out
IMG_3474: there and I'm on the
side and I'm cheering you on, I'm not just cheering you on
because I'm cheering you on. I'm like, I,
I know what you're going through.
Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.
IMG_3474: Yeah. And so,
and
Gareth Wilford: I think that's,
and, and
IMG_3474: I'm, and a lot of them I've helped mm-hmm.
Get to there.
Ally Brettnacher: Get you there.
Gareth Wilford: Um,
IMG_3474: Um, or at least got
to the start line. That's
their journey, you know? Yeah. So
Gareth Wilford: least have a little,
you know, even if it's as simple as like, oh, I'm wearing cotton socks,
you
IMG_3474: know,
Gareth Wilford: maybe you should try microfiber socks,
you know,
IMG_3474: that's some
Ally Brettnacher: BGA socks, just
Gareth Wilford: bega
IMG_3474: socks. Know I grew up there, you know?
Yeah. So, um,
Gareth Wilford: just something
along the lines
IMG_3474: to say like, Hey,
Gareth Wilford: know,
IMG_3474: I've helped
that experience be a little [02:04:00] bit better. Yeah.
Um,
Gareth Wilford: and, um,
and I'm
IMG_3474: okay being proud of that, you know, so. Mm-hmm. I don't, I'm not gonna be proud that I've
Gareth Wilford: helped people
along the
IMG_3474: way,
but I think it's okay. Yeah. I think it's okay.
Yeah. Also understand that
Gareth Wilford: it's
just this
little little piece that you've helped them. But it's a
IMG_3474: little piece, you know? So
Gareth Wilford: Something.
IMG_3474: Yeah,
Something. Yeah, it's something. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So
Ally Brettnacher: This has been so fun.
IMG_3474: Yeah. There's a lot more stories. There's
Ally Brettnacher: so many more
IMG_3474: Yeah. We'll have to
run it back.
Yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: We will. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for doing this. You're welcome. And thank you for my gift.
IMG_3474: is, you're welcome. So kind of You welcome. Yeah. I
Ally Brettnacher: really love it.
IMG_3474: Hopefully people will listen to
this and
just stop bringing you gifts. Oh my gosh. Or if it's gonna be the one L Forest gum to
Ally Brettnacher: I mean, if I only get one gift, at least it's, it's better than nothing. Yeah.
IMG_3474: I'm just, I actually got
Gareth Wilford: gifts. You want me
IMG_3474: me to give you other gift? You got me another gift. I got
two
Gareth Wilford: Yeah. You
want
Ally Brettnacher: wait, did you have other things to
IMG_3474: What's that? I do other things to show, but you can decide whether you want to do it or not.
Gareth Wilford: or not.
But I will say
the coolest thing I've ever done before in my life
IMG_3474: was, I
went
Gareth Wilford: the World Championships in Osaka
and they gave
IMG_3474: out these collectible [02:05:00] mementos
Gareth Wilford: to everyone that's
part of
IMG_3474: Meno,
And
Ally Brettnacher: Okay.
IMG_3474: I was like, you need to have that. So that's
Gareth Wilford: collectible mascot
IMG_3474: towel that
they gave out to a handful of people. I was like, you know what?
Gareth Wilford: I think
IMG_3474: you would enjoy that. Oh
Ally Brettnacher: gosh. Am I allowed to like open it and use it
IMG_3474: or no? You know,
Gareth Wilford: I used to think
IMG_3474: it was okay to do that, but I don't know what the protocol is on collectibles.
Oh no.
Ally Brettnacher: a collectible, so I should not, I will not open it.
Gareth Wilford: I
IMG_3474: don't know if it's collectible or not. You do whatever you want to do with it. Yeah.
Ally Brettnacher: because back to La Boo boos, like my kid wants to cut off the tag on it, and I was like, well,
IMG_3474: the thing you're not supposed to? Uh,
I
Ally Brettnacher: don't know. I'm not gonna ever
IMG_3474: it.
So I went to the Bubu or the Pop mart store in Chicago. Oh my God. I was there at the opening and I was like, I
Ally Brettnacher: no, you weren't
IMG_3474: like right at the opening. They were like
Gareth Wilford: people. I'm like, I gotta go in. And then I I stood there
IMG_3474: sitting like, do
I need to buy the booboo? For some reason I almost got caught up in it.
I didn't buy the boo booo. So you
Ally Brettnacher: didn't, you missed your chance.
Okay.
Gareth Wilford: my chance.
IMG_3474: Yeah. Alright, well
Ally Brettnacher: we gotta go. We gotta go. But then you're gonna show me the other stuff off offline because I wanna see what you got.
IMG_3474: Maybe we have
to,
Gareth Wilford: maybe
IMG_3474: we'll throw
it up on Instagram, so like, yeah,
Ally Brettnacher: that's a good idea. Okay, cool.
IMG_3474: Alright, well thank you. Thanks very much. I appreciate it.
Yeah. You know, this is
Gareth Wilford: my first podcast.
Ally Brettnacher: It's not.[02:06:00]
IMG_3474: It is.
Ally Brettnacher: That's explains why I couldn't find an interview that you've done
IMG_3474: previously. Is that what it was? I looked, yeah. And there was nothing
Ally Brettnacher: and sometimes I'm just like, oh, well maybe it's like it was a while ago
Gareth Wilford: Well, I will say, um,
IMG_3474: the first
time I met you
personally, you've been around each other a lot, but the first time
Yeah.
Gareth Wilford: you said I
IMG_3474: was a
little bit intimidating, so you didn't want to kind of approach me about interviewing.
Gareth Wilford: So I hope
IMG_3474: I'm not as intimate.
Ally Brettnacher: not at. Not at all. Perfect. Yeah. Now that you've told me embarrassing stories about yourself, I
IMG_3474: very, oh, there's a lot more.
Yeah,
Gareth Wilford: there's a lot
more that you
IMG_3474: worry. So cool. Well
Ally Brettnacher: thank you. And thanks everybody who listened and happy running.
Gareth Wilford: we go.
IMG_3474: go. I appreciate it. No, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Yeah, thank totally.
If you enjoyed this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones from Sandy Boy Productions, please share rate, review, comment, all the things if you would like to be friends on the internet. I am Ally, a LYT, Brett, B-R-E-T-T, Allie t Brett underscore runs. And I realized I put my foot in my mouth because Gareth is the only guest that's brought me a gift.
I specifically now remember thinking back, it's been a long time [02:07:00] Eileen Poor brought me something and maybe someone else has too, and now I feel like a jerk, but. You guys are all my favorite. You know that. So I'm also planning an event with Gareth and Athletic Annex and Brooks and Lindsay Hein for the day of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon.
So check out the link in the show notes for that. If you are running Indianapolis. And if you wanna track me this weekend, Marine Corps Marathon app, I am so excited and so nervous and can't wait to tell you all about it. But yeah, thank you so much for all the good vibes.
I need it and I will talk to you next week. Bye.