Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 159: The Joneses - Never Settle

Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 159: The Joneses - Never Settle

Here's how people can enjoy this episode:

Guest: Johnathon & Jessica Jones @msrc_hamilton

Show Notes:

Jessica & Johnathon Jones⁠ live in Hamilton, Ohio — a city they've tried to leave more than a few times — and are opening a specialty running store this summer. They're both fresh off the Boston Marathon, where Jonathan ran a massive PR and Jess is oh-so-close to cracking three hours. I met Jess through LinkedIn (of all places) — we both went to Miami of Ohio!

During this episode, sponsored by ⁠Batch⁠ and ⁠Cure⁠, we talk about:

  • Jonathan's 16-year road to Boston — including a ski accident that exposed his kneecap, emergency surgery, and somehow doing a full Ironman 10 months later
  • Jess running a Boston qualifying marathon while 16 weeks pregnant (her third pregnancy, two kids already at home)
  • How they operate very differently on race morning — one is immediate boarding, one is last call
  • Checking Jonathan's finish time on her phone mid-race and crying happy tears at mile 15
  • The proposal — racing to the end of Navy Pier in Chicago, all sweaty and mid-run, with both sets of parents hiding in position
  • ~30 marathons each, pacing each other through all of it, and why Jonathan offered to pace Jess to her sub-3 this fall instead of chasing his own goal
  • Their running store, ⁠Main Street Running Collective⁠, opening in Hamilton, Ohio this summer — and why they're building it for the 60-year-old with bad knees, not the carbon plate crowd
  • Getting a sitter at 5am on Saturdays so they could do their long run, get coffee, and still have a full family day
  • How Knoxville changed the way they think about running as community
  • Girls on the Run, the Hamilton Run Club's 700+ members, and why a healthy city starts with people on their feet
  • What's next: Berlin in the fall (they both qualified at Boston), sub-3 for Jess, and a grand opening

Previous Guests Mentioned

Sponsor Details

Other Links

This is a ⁠⁠SandyBoy Productions⁠⁠ podcast.

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.

Jessica & Johnathon: and it's not just the 26 miles you all show up to this starting line and you're like, this is, this is the end of it.

Like, we already finished the race because it's all of the work.

Ally: Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast for everyday runners. I'm your host, Ally Brettnacher, and if you run, you are 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.

As runners, we talk a lot about recovery, and a huge part of recovery, if not the most important part of recovery, is sleep. Enter Batch. Batch is a Wisconsin-based hemp wellness brand founded by chemical engineers, people who actually understand formulations, what's in their product, not just marketing. And I have been using their CBD Nighttime Gummies for the last couple weeks or so.

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You can go to hellobatch.com/finish and use code FINISH at checkout. Thank you, Batch, for supporting this podcast.

And it is May in [00:02:00] Indianapolis. If you missed it, I released the May episode of Catching Up with Coach, where I catch up with my coach, Rachel Cinders of Rachel Michelle Running. we talked about the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon that just occurred.

I am also in the midst of writing my race recap, so if you wanna hear more about that, check out that episode and stay tuned for the recap. You can follow me on Instagram @allytbrett, A-L-L-A-L-L-Y-T-B-R-E-T-T, allytbrett_runs. So look for it there. This week, I'm so excited to introduce you to the Joneses.

Jonathan and Jess Jones live in Hamilton, Ohio. Even though they've tried hard to leave Ohio, it It has sucked them in, and they are now opening a running store this summer. They both are fresh off the Boston Marathon, where Jonathan got a huge PR, and Jess is so close to cracking the three-hour barrier.

I really enjoyed getting to know them, hearing about their running journeys. They have run a ton of marathons, have also completed Ironman races, and they have three little kiddos. So I met Jess through LinkedIn, of all places. We both went to Miami of [00:03:00] Ohio, and they were actually in Indianapolis for the Monumental Marathon last year, which we talk briefly about.

They've also come and done Carmel, but hopefully we can get them back in the India area soon. And if you are near the Hamilton, Ohio area, you are gonna have to check them out. Main Street Running Collective you can find on Instagram, So without further ado, please enjoy this conversation with Jonathan and Jess Jones.

Hey, welcome to the Joneses. Hey, how are you?

Jessica & Johnathon: Good, how are you?

Ally: Good. Congratulations on Boston.

Jessica & Johnathon: Thanks. A relief for sure. Uh, you go. Um, I don't, I kind of go in waves. you know, 16 years of trying to get there and finally actually getting there, uh, I think sometimes you forget, the pain that you have to go through and the suffering from, weeks and months of endless training cycles.

And then, I think I forgot how much it hurts to go that distance. but coming out of it feeling kind of refreshed a little bit here a week, just over a week, post-race and had my first [00:04:00] short easy run today. And it didn't feel great, but it didn't feel terrible. So, I guess you could say we're on the up.

Ally: Good. Yeah. Over a week. It's like you can probably take stairs. Okay. Now. Right.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Ally: And how about you, Jessica?

Jessica & Johnathon: feeling is a loaded question for me 'cause I'm the feeler of the two of us. So, you know, a marathon, both pre and post. I think unlike any other race it takes, it's like a whole month, right? So you're tapering, your body goes through weird stuff, you're wondering what's going on. You do the race, you have the weekend, and then after it you're like, what do I do?

Like I'm not in a rhythm yet. You're absent the thing that you've focused so much on, yet you're reflecting on all of the miles that you went through. So I'm in a lot, a lot of that. And, you know, life doesn't stop. Like you finish the race, you leave Boston and then nobody else knows, right? So.

Ally: Nobody cares.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah, but I mean, it was such a fun experience.

Not until you get to the airport and everyone's wearing their Boston jackets and they're all well after that. Yeah, sure. And then you get off that [00:05:00] first plane flight and then the jacket's dispersed and you don't see 'em again.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah,

Ally: like, wait, where are my people who care about my jacket? Did you wear

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah.

Ally: home?

Jessica & Johnathon: No, no.

Ally: Just the jackets. See,

Jessica & Johnathon: Just,

Ally: my, I'll wear my marathon medal

Jessica & Johnathon: oh,

Ally: at the airport. It's how I've actually made some friends,

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. I mean, the jacket was, it's, I guess, distinct enough.

Ally: really is. Yes, very true. And so Jonathan, it took you 16 years to

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: That is, that is a really long time. When did you set that goal for yourself?

Jessica & Johnathon: golly, I couldn't pin an exact like year or window of time. It's really hard, but I never had a running career or passion for running in general, even until post-college, which would've been 2010. if I ran it was because I was playing on a sports team and we were told we had to run kind of thing.

and just my journey was, very different yet very similar to so many people who get into running later in life, where like, you don't know really where to start. It's just like one step at a time, half a mile at a time, one mile at a time. [00:06:00] And I just remember those early weeks and months, of actually developing a passion for running like that first runner's high that I felt.

And, uh, all I knew that was that I, I wanted to keep doing it. And Boston was never even on the forefront of my mind. Like, I, I've gotta get to Boston, I gotta, that I never was even a, in the realm of possibility based on my prior running background and kind of that, my current state of running fitness at that point in time.

but I just consistently showed up and, you know, over the years it. When you consistently show up, the, the results tend to compound, if you stick it out long enough. And then I got to the point, I guess it was probably early 20 teens, um, when I realized like, Hey, this is a possibility. And I had actually qualified for the 2016 Boston, but I had a pretty major skiing accident the winter prior that, um, side.

So that would've been 10 years ago. this, this Boston, which Jess [00:07:00] actually, that was her first Boston. So after that knee injury, you know, I thought that sub three was never going to happen, you know, with the significance and severity of the, you know, what I went through. And then, you know, it quickly, kind of came back to the forefront, like, okay, I do want to go after Boston.

I do want to go after that sub three, at the time. And once we moved to Knoxville and I actually hired a, a training coach, you know, to really help me get better, get fit, or get faster, you know, become a really powerful runner. then I really went after it and we were fortunate that I think we both got accepted the last three, if not four years, but with three kids.

I like to say we've donated a lot of money to b aa.

Ally: My gosh,

Jessica & Johnathon: once you hit that submit button, you pay for it. You pay for it. Even, even if you pay for the insurance and it's just with, you know, a kid's obligation or a family event. We just, we could never swing it the last few years. And so, we made a commitment.

We said, okay, this is the year we are going. We both got in. [00:08:00] We are going, we have coverage for three kids, so we are going. So yeah, here we are. And uh, I'm Marty saying I want to go back next year. Yeah, he's,

Ally: Oh my gosh. How special, Jess, how many, is it, Jess or Jessica? What do you prefer?

Jessica & Johnathon: Jess is fine. Yeah.

Ally: now like Jonathan, I wanna be like, well, hey Jess, and you go by, you go by Jonathan, right? Or do you go by John?

Jessica & Johnathon: JJ actually. Uh, but Jonathan's great. Yeah. Just,

Ally: Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: just don't, not Jimmy or Jason. We're good.

Ally: Yeah. Perfect. Okay,

Jessica & Johnathon: Not,

Ally: Jess, what? What Boston was this for you? What number?

Jessica & Johnathon: so the second, so he omitted some key details to his grit and perseverance by a ski accident. I mean, a ski went straight into his knee, exposed his kneecap to every ligament in his knee and exposed it where he had to get carted off and have emergency surgery.

So, uh, let alone 10 months later, do a full iron man. So, man is not being

Ally: up. Okay, well we're gonna come back to

Jessica & Johnathon: real serious.

Ally: Geez. Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: of resilience, this is the guy that inspires me to [00:09:00] do that. But in that same year, we had moved to Boulder and we had never done Ironmans. But when you move there, you kind of like. People ask what you do for a living and you think it's, you know, your actual occupation, it's like your extreme activity of sport.

Because we had some marathons under our belt. We're like, oh, we're marathon runners. And they're like, and, and so we were like, uh, I guess we gotta find something else. Uh, we stumbled into that. And so we, we loved that kind of scene for a while. and then once kids happened, marathons actually felt like the most easy thing for us to attain because you could just have to run.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: So we then, um, became marathon more runners after that. But, um, yeah. Uh, so it's the second Boston for me. Um, this one, yeah. Is, uh, a series of life changes. And, being a, a mom of three young kids, like the ability to running means a whole different thing to me. And I, I'm certainly, I'm faster than I was ever before kids, which is really fun.

So I, I love to talk to moms about their super mom power that they've got.

Ally: [00:10:00] What are the ages of your kids?

Jessica & Johnathon: I am gonna mess it up because I just turned ages. So eight, four, and three.

Ally: Okay, yeah, I've got an eight five tomorrow

Jessica & Johnathon: Woo.

Ally: that's it. Two. Just two. I almost was like, and no, and my dog is 12. My other, my other child is 12. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: So in school, a whole nother thing. Yeah. Young. When you go from toddlers to young kids, it, it gets busy in different ways, but it's awesome.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah,

Ally: That is absolutely incredible. And okay, so Boston this weekend together, I'm assuming, wait, Jonathan, did you go for Jess's first Boston? Were you in Boston together for that experience?

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah.

Ally: Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: I was fortunate to somehow finagle my way to like, somewhere around the mile six, seven, uh, spot on the course and see her twice, which is very unlikely or unheard of at Boston. And so I got to see her. But I do remember, I, I was three months post, three and a half months post-surgery. I remember like trying to sprint to the finish to catch her coming down Boyleston and just capturing her, and I don't say by the grace of God because [00:11:00] she was, she got hurt and it slowed her down, but she slowed down because later in the race and it allowed me to actually see her.

So,

Ally: Wow.

Jessica & Johnathon: it was a, a great experience to be there that first time. And I, I don't quite remember what exactly it felt like as a, you know, at that point in time, but now having gone back, I can see why there's so much energy and excitement wrapped around, one of the most historic races in the world.

and so yeah, it, it was fun to actually go back and now be a participant alongside her, because it's been so much of what we enjoy to do together. It's, you know, we don't go on vacations. We go on run vacations and we leave the kids somewhere and we leave on a Friday, we run a race on Saturday or Sunday, and then we come home and like.

And so it's like always fun to get to do that with her because it, it just meshes with our personalities, our lifestyle. It's a way for us to explore a city like very quickly in a, you know, relative short, short period of time and, um, all the while doing something that we're really passionate about. I

Ally: love that so much. So in Boston this time, did you [00:12:00] start together, run together at all? Were you guys in separate corrals? Separate bus rides.

Jessica & Johnathon: All the above. Yeah. So we love a cation. However, we also do marathons very differently. Um, so everybody talk, you know, like how you operate pre-race, everybody's a bit different and we love each other so much that we recognize and respect those differences. so I am very much like, I love to capture my nerves through laughter, through like distraction, all those sorts of things.

He is very much like we go to business until the race is over. so yeah, we treated this race as different. He is in a completely like just. Fast, fast, fast people. and so, you know, the more, the race morning was very much so, like he's up and at it early. I'm like, we talk about this and joke about this.

Like, we're boarding a plane. He's like boarding group. The minute they say boarding group, he's like in, he's been in line for 15 minutes. I'm like, the plane leaves at five. Why are we there an hour early? And I need to use the restroom on last call Yeah. To get to work play. So that's just [00:13:00] how we kind of operate race day and we've just learned to love and respect that about each other and do, do one another.

So no, he, he did completely different race morning. Very different bus. I happened to get there basically just in time, which was hilarious. But, uh,

Ally: Oh my gosh. That gives me anxiety,

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. So we're

Ally: It

Jessica & Johnathon: different birds. Um, yeah. And, and it worked.

Ally: Yeah. I do, I do have the like, humor of what you have, Jess, in that like, I can't take it too seriously or I get too nervous. Like I've gotta, I get the nervous chats, like I'll talk to anybody on race morning 'cause I'm just nervous. but yeah, I am, I am also down to business in a lot of ways though

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, just

Ally: to be there on

Jessica & Johnathon: take on It would be like, if we were, say she knew 10 people in Boston that were all in Boston, like she'd wanna walk all over Boston on Sunday, the day before the race. This didn't happen, but she would be that person, like, I've gotta go see these 10 people, and one of them's a mile this way. The other one's a mile this way.

I'm like, stay before race. I just wanna kick my feet up on the hotel bed, watch some Netflix, and just relax. So, but [00:14:00] we've, we've learned to counterbalance a little bit better than in years past, so it it works out.

Ally: That's so funny. So Jonathan, it was a big PR for you

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: like big

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. Yeah.

Ally: feel?

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, it, it is funny because I, my last two, like really good marathons, they were, about three minutes, 40 seconds slower, four minutes slower. and it was just like. There was like always one little thing that I wish I had changed in those marathons that could have like, drastically changed the outcome.

and I mean, I have, prior to four years ago, I never had an actual running coach and seeing where I am now and what that has done for my running, stacking the marathon cycles on top of one another, continuing to refine, continuing to adjust just little things here and there. And I think this was the culmination of really four years of being with this is my second coach, but being with a coach and really understanding, the science behind running the physiology that, you know, what can the body actually do, what [00:15:00] kind of fuel and nutrition will maximize the output of that race?

And this was like one of those days where. it was just a magic way. All the stars aligned. The nutrition was on point. The weather was exactly where I, where I prefer it to be. And like you couldn't have asked for a day where all these uncontrollables felt like they were in control. I had control of them and that it wasn't gonna ruin the day.

And you know it, I had a post-race call with my coach and we were looking back at my past couple of marathon cycles and marathon builds and all the data, and we had a call pre-race even. And all the data leading up to Boston said, you are bound to have a big race and likely a pr. And you know, I've never raced, extremely well in the last like seven to 10 K.

It's always been one of those like, let's hang on and see, you know, let's try to eliminate how fast I fade. You know, and so in those past races, you know, I'm trying to run the numbers in my head and I'm kind of fuzzy and can't really think straight. [00:16:00] And I'm like, oh, if I kind of maintain this pace, I'm still gonna hit this number.

And for this year at Boston, getting through Heartbreak Hill and, you know, knowing that it was just a fast downhill finish for the most part, for the first time, I'm like, I, I was clearhead like, okay, it's not a matter of how long can I, hang on. It's like, how much can I give and sustain to the finish because I know there's a lot to give.

And, that was like the best feeling of like having that last, eight to 10 k just really feel comfortable and, um, you know, it ultimately end to end with a, a really great finish and result. So

Ally: That does feel so good. Congratulations.

Jessica & Johnathon: Thank you. Thank you. yeah, it's easier said than done. Of course.

Ally: Right. Well, and it's like that big of a pr, what, like three minutes and 40 seconds on a course. Like Boston, I have not run yet, but most people don't PR at Boston from what I gather. So, especially by almost four [00:17:00] minutes. So that's nuts about.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. And, and I think it, it just goes to show I think what the human body is capable of, when you do the right things and consistently show up and, put your heart and, you know, mind to the seemingly impossible. Like, I think it's, um, exciting. It's exciting to see when people surprise themselves and,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: know, and, and surprise others that didn't think it was possible either.

it furthers my desire to just, stay persistent with running as a, a side passion or a full-time, whatever you wanna call it. because I know what. It how it fuels me in so many ways that you can't even really describe. Yeah.

Ally: So Jess, you remember, when did you hear about his time? And then us about your race as well.

Jessica & Johnathon: Oh, I was checking on the phone. I

Ally: While you were running?

Jessica & Johnathon: went to meh at like 15, so I, I run with my phone, cause I have music and

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: you know, whatever. Anyways, so I had [00:18:00] it and it was around the time that he was gonna be finishing and it clicked. Like I kept getting buzzers on my phone.

Ally: that's

Jessica & Johnathon: of these people, 'cause we had a number of people, you know, that you're tracking.

And so I'm like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I looked and I almo, I just, I literally had, I don't think I told you this, but I had like tears.

Ally: Oh yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: just 'cause nobody sees. You know, race day, you just see people on the finish line. You see people look pretty, you don't look, you are your most vulnerable self on, on race day.

and so you're so raw with all these people around you. And yet, and, and you can share this communion and why I think it's so cool to share medals and stuff like that. 'cause you go through this journey together and it's not just the 26 miles you all show up to this starting line and you're like, this is, this is the end of it.

Like, we already finished the race because it's all of the work. And what I think he and I both love about the marathon is that we are people that are just gritty. Um, we believe in grit and resilience and hard work and consistency. And when you show up and you work through the process, like you've [00:19:00] already won, when you get to the start line, doesn't matter if it's Boston or any other marathon like it's one race that you can't shortcut.

Um, you could shortcut your way perhaps to a 5K and be super sore for like a month or get injured. But for the most part to perform like what he did at a marathon is truly like years and almost a decade of just putting in the work. and then also a little bit of letting go of what's to come. I mean, I think we get really fixated on the actual time or like the seconds on the minute, um, or anything like that.

And I think the two of us have shifted our perspective without speaking out of turn to just, it's, it, it is about that because we do wanna show that we're capable. But, it's more than that. Like it's about the process of, of just getting there and sharing that experience. Like we have friends who also prd, we have friends who also blew up.

And so to be able to commiserate and celebrate at the same time and know that that one number doesn't define you, but it also is a marker [00:20:00] on just showing who you are. So, yeah, I cried.

Ally: Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Ugh, ugh. so when did you reunite? Like right after?

Jessica & Johnathon: I dude is, uh, just, I love him. He's the best husband ever. Like, he just, you know, gets all of his ish out after the race like you would if you were running that fast. And then somehow finds his stuff and is like frigid and waits for me at the finish line. And then, so I'm like, okay. So he is waiting at the finish line, which is awesome, but the finish line is like 30 minutes long by the time you see people.

So I saw him when I finished.

Ally: Yeah. That's nice though, that you were able to, that's so nice to wait too. I know. You're like shaking and

Jessica & Johnathon: Well, I like quickly got one of the warming blankets to hand out and I like, I'm finding someone along like the, in the finish line area, past the finish line, like, who has a phone? I'm like, Hey, can you track my wife? Can you track my wife? And I'm like, and they're pulling it up. I'm like, okay, I've got enough time to go get my gear and, and come back and hopefully I can get another banana or chocolate [00:21:00] milk or something because I need it.

So, yeah, it was, uh, it was fun to watch her come through because I mean, she won't admit this either, but I mean, she's had, you know, three or four really consecutive races that were just right on that three hour mark and like to do what she did at Boston on that course. Like, I know it wasn't that time goal that, you know, we, we kind of fixate on sometimes.

But she has worked just as hard as I have the last three or four training cycles and I would say. Hands down, puts in more of like the extra stuff, like the stretching, the plyometric, some of the weight training. I, you didn't have kids, so you kind of have so, and like she even had several training weeks that were bigger in volume than mine were.

And so, I mean, she won't, again, she won't say that herself, but I mean, she has worked just as hard to get there and perform well. And, I mean, she's ripe for a sub three anytime soon. On, on her perfect day. It just so happened that it kind of [00:22:00] was the perfect day for my race.

Ally: Yeah. Okay. Boston. Amazing. you guys are the first married couple I've had on together. I've interviewed a, a married couple separately, like two years apart actually. So you're the first together. So I'm trying to figure out how to best navigate this 'cause I wanna get to know

Jessica & Johnathon: You okay.

Ally: And I also wanna hear about how you met, how you proposed on a run, all those amazing things. did you go to Miami?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yes and no.

Ally: Okay,

Jessica & Johnathon: uh,

Ally: interesting.

Jessica & Johnathon: I, I was actually born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio. It's like halfway between Cincinnati and Dayton. I never thought that I wanted to, stay locally for college. I was like, okay, Hamilton is only so big. I kind of know. I feel like I know everybody. I'm gonna get out of here. So,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: um, and this will all come full circle at some point in time when I tell, tell this, um, I was like, I'm going away for school.

So I applied to all these outstate schools. I, I did apply to Miami. Had a very nice scholarship offer for academics. Chose to turn it down to go outta state to University of Tennessee and [00:23:00] Knoxville. go balls, go big orange. And I got there and I remember I was paying for my own schooling and I remember getting that first semester tuition bill, uh, as an out of state resident.

And I went, holy smokes, just to come down here and be outta state, meet some new friends in some new party spots. Quite honestly, that's what it was about. And, uh, I, I was like, this is not, I, I can't do this. So I moved back home, back into my parents' home at 18 years old, and I actually spent a lot of time at Miami's regional campuses, uh, between Hamilton and Middletown, and working full-time and going to school.

and so I did that for, I still graduated in four years, but I was working. Like 40 plus hour weeks between two different jobs. I was going to school full-time, evening classes, summer classes, you name it. I really appreciated the Miami Regional campus experience because it was just a very non-traditional setting where you got to meet a lot of different people who were walking very different walks of [00:24:00] life from your single mother to your dad who decided to go back and get his bachelor's degree in whatever it might have been to, uh, a first generation college student who, that, you know, the regional campus was their only opportunity to go to college and get even just an associates.

so I did that for as long as I could ride that until I actually had to transfer up to the Oxford branch, because of the class offerings for my, curriculum or for my degree. Um, so I, but I did graduate from Miami, Oxford. and so here we're back full circle, in Hamilton saying we would never come back, but we've come back a few times now.

Tried to leave Ohio. Dozen,

Ally: to leave. A couple times.

Jessica & Johnathon: more than two,

Ally: many times?

Jessica & Johnathon: Many, many.

Ally: Okay. Yeah. 'cause I was like, Knoxville, Boulder,

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: else have you gone?

Jessica & Johnathon: Well, I left, I also went to Miami. We the probably at some point saw each other at Brick Street,

Ally: But I, oh

Jessica & Johnathon: like, you know, you know, yeah. So like

Ally: days.

Jessica & Johnathon: we both had a bridge, street experience, but maybe separate. So she would've never talked to me if [00:25:00] she knew me in college.

Ally: I put, I put so much chapstick on my hands when they tried to put the xs over. You remember? That

Jessica & Johnathon: it's still a thing.

Ally: yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah, so I, and then I graduated and didn't, at the time, did not, did not have a job. It was 2009. So financial crash, that's another story for another day, but I drove across the country with my dad thinking, okay, I'm gonna go back to San Diego, which is where I'm from.

Ally: Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: I, Ohio, you know, I couldn't get a job at a gas station or a Starbucks.

And I did have an offer to work as an AmeriCorps Vista, which is a domestic version of the Peace Corps, actually back in Hamilton.

Ally: friend did that.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. So, um, so that I actually then drove back to Ohio and, and that's where we met the year after we graduated. So, yeah, so that was the first time. And then we tried to leave, we lived abroad.

Um, we lived in Latin America for a couple years and then. Came back to Ohio, and then we moved to Boulder and then Knoxville, and then we're back in Ohio. So it just, it just, now I feel like I've [00:26:00] stopped trying to leave. I'm surrendering that piece. It was, it was really funny when we moved to Knoxville, when she got her first job as a professor at the University of Tennessee.

cause I spent a semester there, right? She said, Hey, what, what, what do you think of the, the library? I said, where was the library? And she goes, well, where was your dorm? I said, what was that dorm? She goes, it was right next to the library. Yeah,

Ally: The library who

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah,

Ally: library.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. I, I ended up back in Knoxville a second time. And now we're back in Hamilton, like the fourth time.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Ally: That's wild. Where in Latin America did you live?

Jessica & Johnathon: Guatemala.

Ally: Okay. What brought you there?

Jessica & Johnathon: I had an opportunity to work for a social enterprise, so kind of this idea of a business that has social impact at its core. And so the primary purpose of that was to help train and empower local, indigenous, Guatemalan women with entrepreneurial skillsets to help to sell health related goods in their very rural areas.

So actually, I think the first half marathon, we truly ran together. Mm-hmm. We coordinated one in the mountains of Guatemala that ended at [00:27:00] a, a little kid's school where we did a mini fundraiser for them in a field day, which was really fun.

Ally: Okay. That's really cool. Wow.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. That was, that was like bush whacking half marathon and pre smartphones. So like, no Strava, no, none of that. It was, it was the good old days. Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. And then you mentioned that you met in Hamilton, but how did you actually meet?

Jessica & Johnathon: Okay. Do you want his version or my version?

Ally: both. Gimme both,

Jessica & Johnathon: Well, are you gonna provide counseling services? No. After this, you guys, uh, so that, uh, that would've been 2010 and similar to Jess who couldn't find a job because of the oh nine financial crisis and whatnot, I was still back in Hamilton working 70, 80 hours a week between a few different jobs.

One of them happened to be bartending at the local pub, the city of Hamilton. That was like the fir one. And only time they did like a, a pub crawl through the three bars that were on the same road. And, [00:28:00] um, I think it was like two weeks prior to her AmeriCorps stint ending. I had, I had seen her at the YMCA working out, um, but didn't really talk to her at that point in time.

And she came in with some friends on this pub crawl. And I said, I think I, I'm pretty sure I said, are you that girl from the y? And um, I was barta and she, I remember we chatted for a minute and. I must have asked her for her number because she gave it to me. But to date ourselves, she gave it to me on a napkin with, with written in pen, you know, 'cause that's what you do.

Ally: so cute. I cannot. Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: But the funny thing is, when I got, when she gave it to me, I didn't say anything right away. I looked at the napkin, I said, it says 8 5, 8 area. Could I? And I didn't have a way of looking where 8, 5 8 was because I didn't have a smartphone. It was pre smartphones.

Ally: Right.

Jessica & Johnathon: So I get home at whatever, 2 33 in the morning, whenever I got done that night.

And I Google like 8, 5, 8 area. It says San Diego. I said, this girl's ghosted me. She's never going to, she's never gonna call me. but [00:29:00] it was true. And we met for a run after that.

Ally: perfect.

Jessica & Johnathon: it's so close. The only. Additives I would include were one. It wasn't just a random guy at the bar. His mother is key to this story.

So, uh, there's not much to do in Hamilton. I didn't know anyone. So I did work out at the YMCA and his mom was in the spin class and would always talk about her son training for the flying pig. Ha

Ally: cuter. It gets

Jessica & Johnathon: like, great, cool, cool for your son. She looks super young. And so I'm like, that's cool of your 16-year-old son for him, dah, dah, dah.

And then I was at the, this little I would, he, it's a glorified pub. I mean it is just one of these hole in the wall places. And so I'm like, oh gosh. Uh oh, wow. He does, he looks like not 21. 'cause he introduced himself not as, the girl from the Y he said, Hey, I'm Annette's son, you are the girl from the Y And I was like, oh, you at least have to be 21 bartending.

Um, and [00:30:00] no, you didn't ask for an in my number. I think I just gave it to him. I think I not.

Ally: probably want this. Here it is.

Jessica & Johnathon: It was like, hey, so yeah, you're definitely older than 21.

Ally: Oh my

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. And then after that we met for run, but it happened to be like right after I had run my very first marathon and he ran his first half. And so we were both kind of on this kick of, it had to have happened maybe like two weeks, two weeks prior, two weeks before something.

So, yeah.

Ally: really cool. Wow. Okay. That's adorable. I think the only way it could have gotten cuter is if you didn't know that he was a net son and you like started dating and then figured it out. That'd be,

Jessica & Johnathon: I dunno.

Ally: be like a movie,

Jessica & Johnathon: She loves being a cornerstone in this. Yeah. And she is truly, and so it's, it's pretty fun.

Ally: Oh, that's great. Okay, so what was your first marathon, Jess?

Jessica & Johnathon: The flying pig.

Ally: Pig. Okay. Sorry. You might have said

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. No, no.

Ally: that's a hilly first marathon. I've never done it.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. Uh, I mean this was, this was back in the day before smartwatches, before smartphones. Like you just look at your time and see what [00:31:00] happens. So I, I had started running. I played field hockey in college, and then that's a fall sport. And so the spring semester, a few of our friends were kind of like, what do we, what do we do now?

And so I had said to another friend, like, Hey, why don't we try a marathon? And so I, I distinctly remember like the first eight or 10 mile runs I ever did. It was just funny to think about. but yeah, you'd look back at your watch or your time to see what you did. You're like, I think I did eight miles. I think I mapped eight miles before you leave.

Like, so

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: the marathon used to have these little bands that would tell you your paces at the time. So that was, that was all, and I didn't know anybody, so in Cincinnati at all. So I remember literally finishing the race. It's raining, nobody's there. I had one friend who came and she was hungover and ran like a couple miles with me, which was fun.

that, but I love her to death. But then, uh, after that she left and she's like, I'm out. And so I finished and I'm like, okay, what do I do? I just went to the mall and ate like french fries and a great steak and [00:32:00] then, you know, called it a day. So yeah, it's so, but yeah,

Ally: What year was, what year was that?

Jessica & Johnathon: 2010.

Ally: 2010. Okay. That was the year I did Chicago. 10. 10. 10 was my first marathon,

Jessica & Johnathon: Oh, that's so cool.

Ally: so nice 'cause I can remember it.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. There

Ally: the date

Jessica & Johnathon: you go. Was that the really hot year? Really? There was like somewhere right close to that. It was like 90 some degrees and they shut the race down or it was incredibly cold right around then.

Ally: I don't remember which year it was either. I did Chicago several times and there was one year where they, I can't remember if they black flagged it or it was really

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: like somebody passed away. I remember. But yeah, I don't remember which year that was. I can't remember. It was the first, I did struggle.

My first marathon was like, damn near five hours. I did it with my dad. I had the, I remember those pace bands,

Jessica & Johnathon: Wow.

Ally: you're talking about. I had, I wore probably like these headphones, like, it's pretty funny to look back, back then.

Jessica & Johnathon: For sure.

Ally: yeah. Jonathan, what was your first half marathon? Was it at Flying

Jessica & Johnathon: Flying thing also. Yeah.

Ally: go. You could have, you could have just run right next to each other.

Jessica & Johnathon: I mean, [00:33:00] just show you like where I, like, I would literally go to the YMCA and I would run seven miles in the morning on the treadmill, and I'd go back in the afternoon and run another five to seven miles in the treadmill. And like, that was my tr I didn't know what I was doing. I just got to the point where like, I'm gonna go the YI run my seven miles at 7.5 miles an hour, and I do that until I'm done.

Then I go back in the afternoon, do it again. And then of course I ended up, I, I got, had several

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: because of that coming out of the flying pig. And then you start to learn a little bit and actually educate yourself on like, how, how should I actually be training?

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, so yeah, we've come a long way.

Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. Wow, that's wild. So what other race stories do you have? Have you done any races where you've actually run together or Never

Jessica & Johnathon: Yes. So I'll take this one because you're the saint. he. Well, there was like a, we decided at some point in time, I don't know, there was a gig with the rock and roll marathons, where you buy a pack 2015, so you can do like three of 'em. So the year after we got married, we were kind of in this, we love doing this run stuff.

[00:34:00] He decided that he would run them with me until like qualified for Boston. So we ran, he paced me on all of like a series of three plus Marine Corps, so four marathons, that he like was running side by side. So when it came to time to like have a kid and like go through labor, I was like, this man knows me at mile 22, he's gonna be fine.

He is my number one coach. Like super. I mean, truly like we, we have used the marathon as a metaphor for so many things in life and it does translate so well for, for at least for us. But we've, we've done a lot. I have never, I cannot keep up with him. So, we do hire babysitter like our dates to run, but no longer do we run together.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: And that was fine.

Ally: So, so what, what did you buy a pack of that many marathons for? Within a year.

Jessica & Johnathon: So, and it was like a rock and roll. It was right when we moved to Boulder in 2015. Well, that year we knew we were moving to Boulder early in 2015 for her PhD. [00:35:00] And they had a special where you could get three rock and roll entry fees for like, a little bit less than the price of two, like between the price of one, two.

It's very cheap. And one of them was in Denver and we knew we were moving to Boulder, so we're like, okay, that's, we don't have to pay for travel. One of them was in San Diego, so we knew we had a place to stay and free food. And I think the other one was, oh, San Texas, San Antonio. And, so those were the three that we did, just for fun.

oh my gosh, so many. But to pace her and then I've probably paced her in 10 to 10 or 11 marathons total. yeah. But a, as we've gotten further along in our running journeys, it's become less and less. However, I told her that I will. Well then, yeah, I mean, then we had the kids. So like for a series of nine years I was either pregnant nursing or like postpartum back to back, to back to back.

So up until two years ago I wasn't really in a race mode, just kind of being whatever. Um, so you were doing a lot of, that's when a lot of your own running came?

Ally: Yeah.[00:36:00]

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: Um, I wanna hear about the race that you ran pregnant, Jess, I forget how far along you were.

Jessica & Johnathon: Uh, I think I was like, I think I was 12 weeks,

Ally: Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: ish. 12 to 13 weeks. It was before the second trimester, but a lot. Uh, but far enough, no, no. I had to have been further along. You were you like 16 to 18 maybe 16 weeks. Yeah. 'cause I was far enough along to feel safe about it. Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. And what race was that?

Jessica & Johnathon: Uh, so Oak Ridge to Kingston 50 person race.

Um, shout out to the people in Knoxville. Knoxville totally changed our life by way of thinking about running as a community thing. Knoxville, you don't think of on the scene of like running places, but actually the recent winter of the Eugene Marathon actually comes from Knoxville, Amanda Martin.

but we moved to Knoxville and running became the place that we found community largely 'cause we moved in the middle of COVID. so we moved 2020. Right when COVID happened. and then we, we didn't know anybody. He started running. I subsequent, well, we were both running and then I got [00:37:00] pregnant a few months later.

Ally: yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: and so we were like, okay, he found his coach and kind of that, that place. And so, back to the story, they offer like a last ditch effort. It's a just a out and back, like fairly flat rolling course four highway that is, that starts at like five 30 in the morning. It's 50 people. It's sanctioned. So it's a Boston qualifier.

So in this question, like, okay, we love to both be able to go to Boston. I had been training and then got pregnant. and we had said, okay, well, like if we, if I qualified, we could both, you know, go the fall like the year after. So it would be, we'd be able to go. So one

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: of the reasons I did it was largely for this whole reason of us being able to get to Boston in some way, shape, or form.

yeah, and it was a 50 person, very low key race, and it just so happened that on that day they'd always do it like right at the start of September, which is right before the Boston qualifying period ends. Yeah. For the following [00:38:00] year. And that day, I'm pretty certain it was like low 70 degrees with 90 some percent humidity to start the at five, and they start the race at five or five 30 in the morning to try to beat the heat.

and so you're running the most race in the dark to begin with. And it was, I was in a group trying to like get a little bit better time and I just remember, like, I started with six or seven guys and by the mile 16, 17, I was the only one that I, I dropped off hard and, but she um, she basically ran that entire race solo on an out and back course and came in just, I wasn't solo on my little kiddo.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Uh, yeah. So, I mean, I, yeah. And that was, that was a really. Meaningful experience for me just because I just have become a big promoter of our bodies are capable of so much more than we think we are. And I'm not saying that anybody should run a marathon when they're pregnant, but there was a lot, this was four years ago now, and so [00:39:00] there was a small movement of many marathon moms of coming on scene, especially a lot of, professionals of like, okay, it is possible because there's just a lot of really bad research just because we haven't had many females, let alone pregnant females, let alone endurance professional athlete, pregnant females.

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, and so there was always just a question of is it safe, is it not? Do I feel comfortable? Do I not? Um, this was my third, pregnancy. And so I kind of knew what it felt like to be pregnant and kind of knew what it felt like to do some of these things. And I had always, I did have a coach and we had a pt and so I was always sourcing like, what is.

The best thing for the, the kiddo, first and foremost, and myself. And so it was always a matter of like, if I didn't feel good at all, I would just not, I would've, you know, just stop. But it just so happened that I was able to finish and have a qualifying time that we didn't go to Boston for, but hey, it's fine

Ally: But that's still like, okay. Just wrapping my head around the weather, far along you were in your [00:40:00] pregnancy, the fact that you had, you know, at least one other kid at home at the time,

Jessica & Johnathon: to, to,

Ally: Two other. Okay. Third, two other kids at home. Yeah. My God. Amazing.

Jessica & Johnathon: well, and I think, running for when you have so much uncertainty and chaos and kids are tiny and running around running is like the safe haven. And so it wasn't the ultimate thing for me, but it certainly was something that meant so much more than just getting a qualifying time, like to that whole process was, I mean.

Yes. You know, you have to be cognizant of what you're, you know, exhausting yourself doing. But at the same time, to still just remember that you are a person and you are capable and you are powerful. And then your kids also watch you and see you, and they, they just model that in so many ways. And so, I think it just, that for me was like the safe haven.

And so amid all of the other things, I'm like, oh, I can get out and run. This sounds great. Like, I don't have to deal with tantrums for a little. Like I could [00:41:00] just, uh, you know, like zone

Ally: to

Jessica & Johnathon: out for a few hours. Sounds great.

Ally: Yes. Yeah. My friend, Carly Stewart, who might listen to this, she, the title of her podcast episode was, this is easier than parenting

Jessica & Johnathon: Uh, yeah,

Ally: because it was like, exactly true. All you have to worry about is yourself. It's so easy.

Jessica & Johnathon: It's great.

Ally: So okay, and so then between the two of you, how many marathons?

Jessica & Johnathon: We don't know. I think we've tried to count. He has a better count than I, I estimate that we've run, it's probably close to 30 marathons each. It really, I mean if you think back, I, we had several years where we ran three, we had one year, we ran four within a 12 month time period. early on we ran way too much relative to like what we should have been doing.

and we look at total races, five Ks, 10 Ks halves. I mean, we're probably close to like 50 races each. however, we've tend to have, I think we've really kind of migrated to like the marathon distance. The last five to six years. [00:42:00] We'll still run an occasional 5K, 10 k, and. We, they're actually making a shift in some of, at least my training, going into the summer into some of those shorter distances.

but we just, we started the train smarter, uh, which has cut back the number of overall races that we do every year, especially at the marathon distance, just because the body does take a beating and, we're getting hurt less and less now that we're kind of running less overall big efforts.

Um, yeah. so, yeah, I, I, I'm pretty certain it's close to 30 each.

Ally: Yeah. That's amazing. Well, I really liked how you mentioned earlier that you will get a sitter, or at times you would get a babysitter to do your running because don't know if people feel guilty about it or they just, you know, trade off. But I, I think it's really important to be able to do what you wanna do and get a babysitter for that.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. Well, we were fortunate in Knoxville. Uh, her name was Mackenzie. She was a challenge Mackenzie, God, God, a godsend for us. She, um, she would come over at 5:00 AM on Saturdays in the morning and she, she lived off [00:43:00] campus. She was a junior senior when we first met her. And, she had no issues whatsoever.

She would be at our house at 5:00 AM the kids were still, she'd basically sit there for two and a half hours until the kids woke up and we'd go on our long run, go get coffee, have breakfast, and that was our date. That was our date. Mm-hmm. and we still had the whole day to be a family, to be with the kids, go do something.

And so, like, I wish we could have more of those sitters that would show up at 5:00 AM. Um, but it, at first, it, it is kind of funny because even when we push it to like 7:00 AM on the Saturdays, and it's like the babies are just like, oh, so what are you guys doing? Like, oh, we're just going for a run. We literally all we're doing

Ally: three. She's like for three hours. Like, and you're like,

Jessica & Johnathon: together.

Yeah.

Ally: Yeah. Wild. Um, okay, I wanna talk, I wanna hear more race stories, but I also wanna make sure that we talk about what you're doing now with running, and we mentioned community and how in Knoxville you found that community and now you're looking to build that community for yourselves where you are.

So tell us all about the store Main Street running collective.

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So tell us all about the store Main Street running collective.

Jessica & Johnathon: I'll, I'll start, I guess, um, fill in the gaps. So if, you know, we talked earlier about kind of my journey in running and I literally was trying to just run a mile and, you know, 2010, that was a very challenging thing for me to do. And in , a city with a demographic that, you know, is not, I would say, inclined to be runners or movers at the time.

and so fast forward over, you know, 16 years, we're not leaving in Hamilton, we're coming back every year for birthdays and holidays and whatnot. And, each successive trip. You, you, we started to see like more and more people out moving and out walking out running. And Hamilton goes to this huge [00:46:00] economic revitalization in the downtown historic district.

And all these small businesses are popping up. People are out just, you know, going from one shop to the next, supporting each other. And like the, the community really banded together really well. I'd say probably starting about 10 years ago. and since then has continued to just expand its reach within all the different, they, they call it the 17 strong 17 neighborhoods of Hamilton.

Like it really expanding their reach and really trying to, get just a, strengthen the individual communities within the city of Hamilton. And so a as we're coming back over the years and we're seeing more people out moving, you know, we knew we were moving back to Hamilton, last year. Opening a running store was never on our radar at the time.

I was working corporate sales, traveling all over the country a few times a month, always away from the family. And then, As we got a little bit more embedded in the community and in the running scene, you know, kudos to, the Hamilton Run Club. I mean, they have a running group that has 700 plus members in it.

we're starting to see a, [00:47:00] a resurgence at the middle, schools for track and field and cross country programs at the junior highs. And there's a lot of investment being made into youth and the other, older adults in terms of getting them active and moving and creating kind of this pipeline of movers, if you will.

And so, um, fast forward and we kind of felt called to open up a specialty running store. we actually got asked this this morning, have you ever worked in retail or owned a retail? I'm like, well, I worked at American Eagle back in high school, if you consider that retail, uh,

Ally: It counts. You're like, yes, I have.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, but like, and, and a big goal for us is, you know, yes, we will sell running shoes and apparel, but we just want to continue to activate more movers within the city, get people out to see, you know, moving, seeing what the city has to offer.

working alongside some of the local nonprofits, some of the local community groups, um, and really just supporting people, in something very simple. [00:48:00] yet something with such a lar the ability to have a large impact on not just their own lives, but the community in general. I, I keep using the tagline, healthy citizens equals a healthy community, in so many ways outside of just your physical wellbeing.

it, it does a lot. Mm-hmm. And so, we're in the build out phase right now. My office is overflowing with boxes, floor to ceiling, waiting on the stock room to get completed so I can relocate all the inventory down there. Yeah. so yeah, it's been a journey, But we're excited for, for what that looks like and just the conversations we're having with people locally.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: there is a lot of excitement for it in, in three conversations a day with three totally different people. Hamilton needs more of this Hamilton, and so every time we hear something like that, it's validating for us, like we're on the right track.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: pun.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. And I'll add I think a couple things. So one is I think when you look at somebody's.

Resume or like the things we do and you're like, oh my gosh, how do you do all of this? Well, we actually don't do a lot of things either. Like, so we've had to say no to a lot [00:49:00] of things. And I think in this chapter of our life, we're trying to figure out like what is in alignment with not only what works for what we're passionate about, but what we're, what we're meant to do in life.

And so, this has been a culmination of a lot of that. And so running, it's not just about selling a shoe for us, it's what brings us joy and passion and belonging. And for us it's been people on the run, for a variety of different reasons. Finding people that he can run with sometimes, but also he can run alone.

Finding people that I can run with, and just process life and like that sleepless night because of X, Y, Z, and meeting people where they're at, just. In life. There's so much that transforms on a run. So I think when, when we have that as some of our anchor and we know what movement can do for people, that has kind of transformed into, okay, we backed into, okay, well what does that look like?

What does that mean? And it just so happens that output of that is this running store. and in a place where it meets kind of the de desires for us to be in a community and serve community in a way that, has an impact not [00:50:00] just economically, but on a societal level. It's not only what I study and teach, but it truly is like a, a way to be able to, to practice what we're really thinking about.

I never thought it would be Hamilton. I mean, we've been in lots of different places, but it just so happens that that's kind of the thing that aligns with what we're interested in. And so From the purpose of like, this is a town where, I mean, 19% of the population is in poverty and over half of it is obese on some level.

And so think about that. Like those types of cities are the exact cities where you need services that treat people just as they are. and so something that we've, we the topic for another day, but we've become a bit. tainted by the running scene and how it's, it's catered to a bit more of the elite.

The elites, the more expensive it's it. There, there are many ways to market a race. and it, almost becomes inaccessible for people whether or not it's psychologically or economically or physically, right? So, for us, we want to back into [00:51:00] that and say like, that's not what running's about. Actually, movement should be the most affordable way to, to sustainably live a long life.

Um.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: we start with that as our core, like that's kind of where we're at. And so that's been the last nine months. And so much so that, I mean, just last point here is we actually have just completely shifted the way that our life has lived. , We had like big box suburban life to corporate jobs high, you know, good career trajectory moved and were like living on this main street in a very viable lifestyle with three little kids.

And we've just decided to make our life super small so much that he could leave his job. And we have the, the ability to have runway and time to just explore what this whole store looks like. And on its surface it feels like this drastic life change. But fundamentally we've been thinking about and I think we've been building into, you know, this is exactly what we're supposed to do right now.

Um, and when we maintain that little focus, it feels like everything is aligned. Even [00:52:00] all of the crazy uncertainties of everything else. But yeah. And, and it seems like a novel concept or such a simple idea when you, we want to activate more movers and people on their feet. Well, something as simple as a comfortable pair of shoes, not the shoes that you go by at Kohl's, even for that matter, or they're, they're, they're just not getting the, uh, a product or a, something that is going to allow you to be comfortable on your feet.

And we realized even ourselves, like if we can get people comfortable on their feet, then they're more likely to maintain being on their feet.

Ally: right.

Jessica & Johnathon: And so we understand that our demographic that we are serving is largely not runners. it's not, it's your 60-year-old female that's coming in that her knees are hurting or her hips are hurting.

Or that gentleman who works in the factory floor and sanding up all. Burn steel-toed boots, and when he is not in those, his feet hurt. You know, how do we make those people feel good on their feet, not just, when they're hoping and praying that they, [00:53:00] they're gonna feel good. You know, it was, it was validating, you know, just this past weekend we had some family over on, on Sunday, and I have so much to inventory right now.

I'm like, all right, you try on what size are you gonna try these on? Let know what you think.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: The initial reaction of people who, they're not even runners, they probably never run before, and they're just putting these shoes on just to walk in. We're giving 'em some different, and they're like, oh my gosh, yes, I, I would buy these today.

These are, and it's like, it's a novel concept, but it has so much impact in like, seeing their reactions just on putting on a pair of running shoes that they're gonna walk in. it's exciting to see and that's like what I told her. I said, that made me excited for what we're about to do.

Ally: Yeah. I, I worked in Run Specialty for a year at a store that, well, it had started as a locally owned and then eventually was sold to Fleet Feet Corporate. So I got to experience the corporate owned life of a run specialty store, which is very different from what you're building. Um, but yeah, I just remember people coming in and they're like, Hey, do you got any of those hookahs? You know? And, but people would [00:54:00] try those on and be like, wow, these are incredible. I, I mean, I sold, I don't know how many, but to like people who were, like, you've described Walkers or people who work in hospitals or whatever, um, but obviously that allows them to be on their feet more and perhaps get to moving outside of what they might do for work or, or whatever that might be. How did you build out. that you sell and all the product, and I've never, I don't know how that works from the ground up.

Jessica & Johnathon: We didn't either. Yeah. Hate it at all. Uh, yeah. I mean, you don't know what you don't know.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: you know, when we decided to go down this path, I mean we, you know, from November four, November 25 till to present day we operate, we start had to start operating as if we were open, as if we had a storefront, as if we were selling product.

And so having had a career in corporate sales, it was my job was networking, providing a product or a service, giving a sales pitch, whatever it might have been. I started leveraging any skill or [00:55:00] um, you know, resource that I had at my disposal to say, how do I go figure out who to talk to at these brands kind of thing?

And what does that conversation look like? Um, and had some great engagement early on. Had no engagement from other vendors early on. Um, and then we actually, I'm so glad 'cause she was pushing it more than I was to go to the running event, which is an annual running comp. Uh, every December it's in San Antonio.

I was a little bit hesitant, but it was the best, you know, initial investment that we made for our store because I had, you know, a month and a half of establishing who we are, what our mission was, um, you know, having those conversations with some major brands and I got to actually go meet them and talk to them and share the updates.

And, um, but what we found out really quickly was no vendor will sign you until you have a physical address. And they, they, every one of 'em wants to know. So, so what other brands do you have? No one wants to be the first to like, bring you on board, but as soon as you say, I've [00:56:00] got this brand or this brand, then it's kind of like a domino effect.

They all start the, the yeses get easier.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: so I mean, we were fortunate that currently, and I mean, I, I won't say who we currently have, we don't have everyone we would like to, but we have some really solid, reputable brands. That have been known in the industry for a really long time. And you know, as we continue to prove out the mission of what we're doing, um, we're continuing to engage the brands who we don't have, Hey, here's the update.

Here's, here's the, you know, recent happening that was a real big success. And,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: but when you think about the demographic that we are serving, I'm convinced personally that I don't necessarily need some of those brands that everyone thinks you need, because the, that's not the more like we're gonna have a lot of people walk the front door that don't know who any of the six brands, seven brands are that we have from a shoe standpoint.

They're just gonna say, put me in something that makes me feel good, regardless of what name is on the side of that. [00:57:00] And that is our goal, is to make you feel good on your feet. And a lot of our consumer base, uh, isn't gonna know Hoka from Asics, from soy, from Tropo, from whoever. They're just gonna say that that shoe feels good.

Ally: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think about, you know, selling, you don't need to sell carbon plated shoes day one. 'cause probably nobody there has any clue what it is.

Jessica & Johnathon: No. Plus, I mean,

Ally: they do, but you know. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: and

Ally: be your top seller.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah, and the price of shoes just continues to increase, and so we're trying to better understand, I mean. You know, like an average person that does a marathon knows exactly what shoes they need. And so those are the kinds of people that will probably go to Amazon and they'll find the latest brand of their shoes and it doesn't matter what color.

And, and we're not trying to come with that. Like we don't want, we want people to find the most affordable version of their shoe. Um, but it's more about like, how do you create a space where people feel like they can belong, where they can try shoes out? Because even in the last nine months of us exploring this, every [00:58:00] brand has said, oh, we're adding new, we have a new shoe coming out.

Mm-hmm. Like, so even brands are trying to figure out how they compete. And so what has been so fun about this experience is that we are really transparent about what we're learning as we're learning it from shoe brands. Um, we're providing a space to provide education and knowledge and experience, um, like for people to actually experience shoes.

Um, and so even in a world where we can probably get everything online, um, we still can't get like the actual fit and feel and understanding of what. What we think we need because everybody, it's a bit different. And so for one influencer that says, you need this model, 'cause I ran this pace and this shoe

Ally: gosh. Yeah. No,

Jessica & Johnathon: we're kind of the antithesis of that.

Not in a bad way, but just to compliment a lot of individuals that A, either don't follow that and B, just deserve to have the same kind of information and access that

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: everybody does. Yeah. And, and if you look at the running shoe space over the last [00:59:00] 12 years, I'd say like when Hoka really started to come on scene, then on running was shortly after, like those were two big revolutionaries in terms of like what's to come with the shoe space.

And those were two very different concepts that they did really well and they do really well today. But what at least I'm seeing on my end, what I've seen over the past few years as I look at all these different shoe brands is that. They are getting so closely in line with one another because of the technologies, like in, in my opinion, until the next huge advancement comes, there's very few differences.

When you compare a max cushion shoe from brand A to a max cushion shoe from brand B versus you know, that everyday trainer from a everyday trainer from B there, at that point, that's when like, I, like I said it, it's gonna come down to which one feels better on that person's foot.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: You know, it to, and to Jessica's point about, you know, the shoe brands are constantly evolving.

We have a meeting [01:00:00] tomorrow with a shoe vendor that we're, they wanna plan it for spring of 27. That's how far in advance these shoe brands are. You probably have this experience having worked at at fleet fee, like the brands are looking 12 to 18 months in advance for placing future orders. And that's been one of the bigger really interesting things for me from a retail standpoint as.

I'm still waiting on my initial order for right now and I can't even think about next spring. I have no. And so it's, uh, and and I think that was a big part of when we decided on some of the brands that we did. It was who understands like our situation, our environment, what we're going to, we're trying to accomplish, and who's gonna compliment us and support us because we're probably gonna do things a bit differently than what most run specialty stores do.

Especially your big box national chain We're ones. Yeah. And then the other piece too, so that's a shoe side, and then I am no fashionista and all of a sudden I'm selling apparel. Like

Ally: Right.

Jessica & Johnathon: especially in women. So in women [01:01:00] run specialty, um, we just keep getting shorter and tighter in a lot of things and that's not the average customer.

And I just, so we're trying to be really intentional about what we're. what people see and what people think and how people perceive themselves when they walk into the store.

Ally: Right.

Jessica & Johnathon: and I think that takes a lot of slowness 'cause you do want to still, it's not like we're just selling baggy stuff. You do wanna feel like comfortable and good.

You want the cool stuff, but you just wanna be, we're, we're being really cognizant of just knowing that this is a community space, that anybody should be able to walk in and feel comfortable.

Ally: Yes. Yeah. What do you think about when you think about community? I mean, you mentioned Think Hamilton Run Club earlier. Will you have your own run club? how do you think about events and building that community?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, we're gonna rekindle. When we first moved to Boulder, the run store that we went, we, we always went to Wednesday night run, at the run store. And so we're, we're kind of doing that same thing with one evening run a week. That's all paces, all ages. We have a river [01:02:00] path that's really close to us.

Ally: Oh cool.

Jessica & Johnathon: so that's something that we've started even just, prior to the store opening.

And then there's plenty of different people that are running. So, we don't believe that everybody should come to ours. 'cause life is, you know, everybody has so many different schedules. So the more people out running, the better. Like, we love to be able to join people like I run. Slower and faster than I probably should now for, for lots of different reasons, just to join people out, out on the streets and just be able to move, move with them.

so I think that that's a big part of it is just understanding where people are providing more opportunities in a space where people can come and learn about it. I guess to parlay to that question, we've also intentionally created the space where part of the store is, like a community recovery area.

So where there's some ottoman couch type of experience where you could both sit there but then also have a shared event. So think of a PT or a chiropractor or yoga instructor that

Ally: Hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: come into the store and use the space for demos for a talk,[01:03:00]

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: cetera. And, and so the space, building it in a way that it invites them into that.

and then the location in and of itself is on our small little main street. That's kind of the hub of where things have been revitalizing. And so to be a visible space on the streets that offers. People to come in and out and do something more than just eat at a restaurant or drink at a bar, is kind of what a main street like this needs.

And so, or at least we think, we hope so. But yeah, it's just, it's really intentional about building that. And then I think we've been very intentional about taking meetings even though we don't have time to do so, to like meet with different stakeholders in the community. So people who have just retired, who walk all of the time to hospitals who really wanna understand how do we get many of the individuals who are on their feet moving and what are, we can do that

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: non-profits that employ individuals with disabilities where one of the things that they struggle to do is afford to buy great clothing and shoes.

So how do we serve [01:04:00] a lot of those stakeholders in our community in a way that is not just visible in the storefront, but on the backend, what we're doing on a day to.

Ally: Yeah. Wow. And so, Jonathan, will you be in the store?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, he's a shoe man. Yeah. I, I, I, when I made a decision to leave corporate, like I, I'm very much like if I, whatever, I didn't, I didn't know what was next at that point in time, but once I make a decision like, what is next, it's like I'm all in. Like I, that's right. All my effort, energy goes to probably too much of the time.

, That's just the way I've, I am with anything that I pursue. And so yeah, I've been extremely hands on from the time we signed the lease until working with all of our different contractors that are down there right now and the build out and getting quotes and working with the vendors and setting up those meetings.

but when the store opens, I mean. At the end of the day, we, we have a family and yes, this is what I am quote, doing for a living now. And this is quote, my financial support portion to work towards our [01:05:00] family. However, that's not going to replace our family. And so we made an intentional decision a couple weeks ago that during the summer when our kids are out of school, like we will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays, which isn't abnormal to the small business district here in, in Hamilton.

Like a lot of stores are closed on Monday. A lot of restaurants are closed on Monday, but at least for the summer, because we want our kids to feel like they have some consistency and normalcy. that one day or those two days of not being open is not going to make or break, you know, the profit and loss statement for our business.

but then Monday through Sunday, yes, and then as we get back into the school year, then we will look to add Tuesday back and, you know, maybe extend hours one day or something.

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: Being very fluid right now, because a lot of that is, you know, it's TBD, what that flow is going to look like and seasonality, and you've seen it with Fleet Feet, August, going back to school.

It's like this,

Ally: Yeah. And then.

Jessica & Johnathon: goes back to school, get through fall sports, go to the winter, and then it's like everyone's tucked underneath the sheets because [01:06:00] it's cold and gray and dark outside at five o'clock. So, so we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants to some degree. Mm-hmm.

Ally: Yeah,

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. But in terms of human capital, like it is, when you think about a shoe store and working at Fleet Feet, like you don't, you, you have to be very careful about who you hire.

So we

Ally: yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: not just hiring kind of seasonal help to go and like stock shelves, like we're looking for people that would really believe in the mission and care deeply, and serve people. And I mean, it's the coolest thing to just. Watch people try and choose. It's just something that, you know, um, yeah, and he's just that.

So that will be kind of the core, of what we're thinking about and as we need help. We'll, we'll start to think through.

Ally: What about your students, like in Miami? Will you leverage that?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. So we are hiring our first intern,

Ally: There

Jessica & Johnathon: this software as a marketing intern. And, it, it has been fun because that also is another, we are the closest in proximity by way of offering a running store. And what has been fun on college campuses in particular has been watching the resurgence of the run club as, uh, [01:07:00] it's just pervasive on college campuses.

and so the amount of different types of run clubs that have kind of popped up is really fun. It's on an alternative for people to meet one another and, and we just love that. So, I am super transparent in my classes about a running, they're probably so sick of it. Either they signed up for a marathon after they finish my class, or they're like

Ally: like

Jessica & Johnathon: lady talking about.

so yeah, that's been really fun and trying to, a lot of brands are interested in how do we leverage kind of the college campus space.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Miami is a really fun campus, so, yeah, that, that's, that's definitely a part of it too. And then, I mean, I work in an, an entrepreneurship department, so it's really, many of of my colleagues are practitioners, so to be able to practice what we're preaching is fun too.

Ally: Really fun. Well, and I could see also bringing, shoot, you know, doing a demo day like on campus, and there's all kinds of opportunities with that. That's really cool.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah,

Ally: was trying to think if there was a run club when I was there. Probably not. Either that or I had no

Jessica & Johnathon: I don't know. I mean, well, I just think [01:08:00] like, if I were called, she, I mean the amount of information we have access to now, just because of social media, like, you know, I could, working with a lot of younger girls who are starting to run, like people are starting marathons. And running them so fast and doing all this stuff training wise.

And I'm like, man, I wish I knew that. But of course know, they know now 'cause it's just so available to them. Like absolutely et cetera are just so tailored. Whereas we had to have a lot of injuries be really

Ally: out.

Jessica & Johnathon: to first and it, and it's just intuitive for them to know where to go to find that information without even thinking twice.

And I'm like, who is Claude? Oh, it's AI kind.

Ally: Yeah. Who are you talking about?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. Kinda thing. So it's just two very different age group, kind of demographics that just think differently. Do differently. But we, we understand that like that's a growing, emerging market. And if they wanna be a mover, hey we wanna support them. Yeah.

Ally: What's the race scene like either in Oxford or [01:09:00] Hamilton? Are there half marathons, 10 Ks, 5K? Any

Jessica & Johnathon: So, yeah. One of the major reasons for us actually making this decision prior to moving back to Hamilton was, there's a, now last year was a 3000 person Turkey trot, um, that is run by amazing woman Katie Powers, who started this backyard Turkey trot with 30 people out out of her garage, 11 years ago.

11 years ago. It's grown to be the second largest Turkey trot in this broader demographic. And so there's, what that signals is that there's a lot of potential in this area to not just activate people for just one day outta the year, but to think about how do we build that? And so we're working with her.

She actually started a nonprofit called Main Street Movement, um, with a focus on not just building a Turkey trot that's successfully run and showcases the city well, but also is able to kind of activate people over the course of the year. So thinking about a couple, like a race series, how do you think about [01:10:00] doing some of that?

There There are a number of, of organizations that do five Ks, um, around the area, and they utilize the river space as fundraisers. Um, that's just both in Oxford and then in Hamilton and some of the broader area. So that is improving and I think, um, now that our youngest kiddo is doing like second grade track, watching and seeing kind of oldest kiddo, oldest kiddo.

Ally: knew what you meant. I was like, yeah, wait.

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, she's doing like second grade track and you see all of these kids doing the invitationals, which is super fun.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: and then I've been a part of, I'm a coach for Girls on the Run, which is my, one of my favorite organizations.

Ally: cool.

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, and so being able to see not just the kids, but then the parents who have to run a 5K or the mentors or whoever, the buddies,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: I, I mean, I can't tell you, it wasn't just the kids that were nervous about the 5K, it was the parents since they

Ally: so

Jessica & Johnathon: serve.

And that's the point too. It's the girls, but then also showing their peers and, and kind of their mentors what movement can do. [01:11:00] So, , that's been really fun. So I think it's emerging. I think there's lots of potential. I think people want to just be out more.

and yeah, I'm, I'm, it's exciting.

Ally: All right. So what's the di What is your grand opening date?

Jessica & Johnathon: We can't say.

Ally: do you have, you can't say 'cause it's build

Jessica & Johnathon: I

Ally: That's kind of a rude

Jessica & Johnathon: mean, we were dressed over there and they were drywall, and they're like, we thought Wednesday. Now it's Friday.

Ally: yeah. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: So summer, let's just say summer. It should be this summer for sure. we have plans early summer. Yes.

Ally: So exciting. Oh my gosh. Okay. Anything else about Main Street Running Collective that we didn't talk about that you'd wanna share at this point?

Jessica & Johnathon: Um, don't go to our website right now. Websites.

Ally: everybody's like, okay, Google this. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Websites being revamped. But no, I think, we haven't had a huge digital online presence just because it's been my 2009 college.

Ally: like, what do you, yeah,

Jessica & Johnathon: Skills, when I can do it and taking way too long to post one reel and it's like I've got 30, [01:12:00] 30 other things that are more important. So I would say if you do follow us on socials, give grace, give grace, but then also look forward to, the intern that we've hired who has incredible

Ally: it's

Jessica & Johnathon: skills,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: incredible skill sets in digital social marketing, is really going to do tremendous things for us on the creative side.

And, looking forward to kind of see where that goes, to really I'd say solidify what our brand, in our brand mission looks like, as we get to store opening and beyond.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: and I would just say that like we are hyper-local in order to be like globally impactful. And what I mean by that is like you can't change communities unless you're embedded locally, but also exposing them to a running scene where you can go global, right?

You can go to Boston, you can go to South Africa, you can go to London. that I think is just truly what, what we are looking forward to. So, yeah. And I hope that there are other ways to transform main streets all across the US and the world because Hamilton's not isolated in and of itself. I think [01:13:00] there's many of them that deserve the attention that other cities get.

Ally: Yeah. Well I think people also are just gonna be interested in hearing, like I think about your entrepreneurship classes and it's like interested in hearing like the behind the scenes of like, how the heck, do you build this from start to finish? It's

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, there's no manual. I'll tell you.

Ally: I believe I've, yeah, been made my way around, um, a small business and it's not for the faint of heart. okay. I wanna hear the proposal story almost forgot about that. how

Jessica & Johnathon: I didn't,

Ally: the question?

Jessica & Johnathon: you planned it. So I, I, I was proposed too, um, recipient of, so I don't remember what year that was. That's how old we are. at the time, Jess was working in Miami's entrepreneurship department as an assistant director for their summer internship program, which is the same program that we now getting an intern from.

Yeah. but she was going up to Chicago every week or every other week to meet with the student interns for the summer. And it was like her last week of doing that for the summer internship program. And, she knew [01:14:00] her parents were gonna fly out to Chicago and. Spend some time with us for the, a long weekend and she didn't know my parents were coming up and you know, of course her parents are in San Diego.

It's not like I can go knock on their front door and say, Hey, I'm gonna propose your dog. You know, this is all like Skype days when Skype was a thing. And I put my parents in a hotel like a mile away from everything. Like, don't go near anywhere around here. We, you know, we're in Chicago, like, you'll run into us, stay away.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: um, the next morning, we went for a run and I, I, to this day, I rarely take my phone with me to run. And that day I took my phone and, um, I remember we were on the lake path and there was like a porta John. I'm like, I go to the bathroom and, you know, I have my, I'm like in there for a while and I'm like texting my, our family's like, we're almost to the pier.

We're almost to the pier and get in position. And we got to the pier and um, I told her, I said, we're gonna race to the end of the pier. And I'm like, just. Hopefully I have a really good day and I'm fast today. so I You didn't tell him one side. I told her to go to the right side of the pier towards the end, and I took the [01:15:00] left side and my dad and her dad were there at the ring box and I sprinted to the end and our moms were down there at the end of the pier and, and she was like, what are you doing?

What are you doing? And I was down on one knee and, you know, all sweaty and gross and it's like a, you know, miles

Ally: my gosh.

Jessica & Johnathon: into a run, no big deal, like orchestrated. So it wasn't, he was super planned oriented, finagled this whole weekend trip with all the family, which was really cool. So Navy pire is a special place in our heart.

We did do the Chicago Marathon last year and it was really fun to just kind of think about some of these places and how they've come full circle.

Ally: well, running racing to the end of Navy Pier is not short.

Jessica & Johnathon: race. I was like, dude, what is, I don't,

Ally: gotta be a quarter mile, half a mile

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah,

Ally: Right.

Jessica & Johnathon: you just need to get there faster. So

Ally: That's really

Jessica & Johnathon: into that, that.

Ally: Were you like, what in the heck is he?

Jessica & Johnathon: Kind of, yeah, I was little nervous. I mean, I don't know. We had been together for long enough, three years. Yeah. That you could, we would anticipate something like that [01:16:00] happening. But, uh, you know,

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: you were really good at being plan oriented.

Mm-hmm.

Ally: And did you do anything running related at your wedding?

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. Uh, well, no, we weren't like the couple that actually got married on the Flying Pig finish line, which is, who was that? Uh, the eight, yeah. The ASIC representative for the area got married during the middle of the flying pig, but running related on day of the wedding. She had stayed in a hotel downtown Cincinnati and her intention was to go for a run the morning of the wedding and she forgot her running shoes.

No.

Ally: Oh, the irony.

Jessica & Johnathon: all the irony, but yeah, no, not, not really anything. Although our ma of Honor speech and Best Man both like reflected on runs and the stuff that we, we've done and

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah.

Ally: could you not? Yeah. I see people now though, having five Ks like the morning of their wedding,

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. No, we weren't that, I mean,

Ally: very far. It's come a long way.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah, was not a, was not in, we weren't not into it. I think it's just, I think I wanna be clear that running is an [01:17:00] important through line to our life, but like, if it weren't, if we could no longer run, we would still find other ways to operate. It's not the ultimate thing.

And I think that's what I, I get a little bit weary and scared of people who make the activity, the ultimate identity.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: and that,

Ally: that.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. So it, it is brought us together. It's been such an important metaphor, but we always have to ask ourselves, like, if we don't have this, an injury has taught us being pregnant and like, not being able to run has taught us like, okay, if you don't have that, you gotta still be okay with getting up every day.

Ally: Yeah. Right. You have swimming and biking. I'm just kidding. But like

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: with, yeah. gosh. Yeah. And you're, and, and Jess, have you done a full Iron Man

Jessica & Johnathon: We both did. Yeah. So,

Ally: did?

Jessica & Johnathon: this was the, the impetus in Boulder, I guess. We were like, oh, I guess we should just sign up for this. So we signed up for the full, not like a try, we just signed up for the full Ironman thinking we'd do it a year later in Boulder. And then he got hurt, like very hurt with his knee.

Ally: My gosh.

Jessica & Johnathon: and so we [01:18:00] were like, okay, we can't do the one in Boulder, but maybe we can do one, two months later he said that. So, uh, we ended up doing the Louisville full,

Ally: Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: stumbling our way to like our first Ironman coach, and he's like, you guys did what? Like, you have never swam before, like not a swimmer at all.

Um, so yeah, we, yeah, it was cool. And, and we did okay. So

Ally: That's

Jessica & Johnathon: if we could do it, I think I would do, I think I would do more tries. But yeah, 35 hours a week of training with no kids was hard enough. Let alone three kids. Now it's already hard enough training for marathons with three kids. Like, so we were just, it's just the logistics.

We were spoiled in Boulder. 'cause you could leave your door and go for a bike ride. Any other place we live, you have to, we're like, you have to drive somewhere to then work out like that. That doesn't Right. So yeah,

Ally: Yeah. okay. Before I ask you the end of the podcast questions, you both have done a lot of different marathons. What other highlights, like marathon stories do you have? [01:19:00] Have you done one abroad?

Jessica & Johnathon: our first abroad marathon should be Berlin next fall. Um, oh, don't say it. You gotta knock on wood. Knock on wood. It, the, from my age group, the sub 2 45 gets you a guaranteed entry into Berlin and she hit it as well at Boston. other Cool. I don't know. I mean, we've run a lot of races independently, but I, I do and like.

Having paced her in so many races, it is fun. Like, yes, it's not me racing for myself. Like just racing with her is fun. And even though she'll clip my heels 78 times in a 26 mile trek, and I'll swear at her and tell her one more time, and I'm taking off, you know, like those are the, those are fun. And I, like, Carmel was a, one of the last ones that I paced at that was really fun.

And then, one of my favorite races that I would love to go back to is honestly the Marine Corps Marathon.

Ally: Oh

Jessica & Johnathon: And at the time when we ran it, it was still a lottery entry, which it's no longer a lottery. And I just remember that being like one of the coolest routes [01:20:00] through DC on all of these historical sites and just being constantly in amazement, like, oh, that's, you know, the LA Memorial, that's National Mall.

Like, you're just con your head was on the swivel and,

Ally: Mm-hmm.

Jessica & Johnathon: That will, that's a really, really cool race. I'd love to go back to, I could go on about all the different marathons, but

Ally: you did Carmel. I was gonna ask you if you'd been to Indiana for a

Jessica & Johnathon: the ones that were canceled, we don't need to go there. But

Ally: I know, I'm sorry, people. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: before it was, it was what I was eight months postpartum. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was the first one back in. Yeah. I would say, I mean, I think for me, like races just play a role in like, just core memory of where you're at in life and so I, I think one of the CO and every race has a different purpose or meaning for it.

I think most recently I really enjoyed, we had the opportunity to pace the marathon project this past December, so the marathon project.

Ally: so cool. Sorry. Continue.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. and so [01:21:00] this past year they had the pro wave and then, I don't know, they call it the citizen race, it's fine, but I got to be the last person to finish. So I paced a three 30 and it was the last, like the very last PACE group.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, but to actually be an official pacer for me to, to his point, like oftentimes the most fun experiences are when you just let go of the pressure and you get to just do it for a whole nother reason. And I think that the joy that he gets outta that is like, he just has this shared experience of knowing how hard I work and to be able to help in that way is, it's just a cool part of our relationship and I'm super grateful for that.

But to be able to do that for other people is really fun. So we often are like, why do we do this when we could do like this? It's just,

Ally: just and run at this pace and like

Jessica & Johnathon: and it's not even just that, it's, it's just more of like. Okay, you got a goal, like, let's go. Like I'm your hype person and

Ally: My

Jessica & Johnathon: in the race is super cool. So, um, I think that that's fun.

[01:22:00] I've gotten to also help my friend. We almost finished Big Sur, but Big Sur was a, a really cool, just, there's so many places in the world where they just shut the streets down and you get to be on them like that is so well, and to that point, while it hasn't been international, like we have traveled abroad all over and like that is one of our favorite things to do when we go abroad is we wake up before the city wakes up and we run and we see everything before all the tourists come out.

And I mean, and I was just back abroad in Italy and Switzerland earlier this year, and I just, I just remember I would wake up before the city was awake going by Tre Fountain and the uh, the Cossum and there's no one there and it's like. Beautiful. And it's like, so whenever like we travel, like that is the one thing, like while we might not run a half marathon or marathon abroad, it is our goal to get on our feet early in the morning and go see as much of the city as we can before it gets crazy.

And so, I mean, and that's something you can't do [01:23:00] as you know. I, I don't know, it's just pedestrian as a pedestrian or during normal days to see all that stuff. And so for us it wouldn't be possible without running. So that's

Ally: Yeah. I love that. I wanna do, so I studied abroad in Luxembourg at, when I was at Miami, and so they have a night marathon

Jessica & Johnathon: cool. Oh

Ally: I just thought, how cool would it be to go run a marathon through, I think it's in Luxembourg City 'cause where else would it be? and go run through there at night.

It'd be so cool. Anyway, like things like that I think about.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. Um, we have some friends, similar doing like a charity bib for the South Africa, for example.

Ally: cool. Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: being able to do that and provide access in a way that it's not just like people raising, you know, paying $50,000.

Ally: Right, right. Oh my gosh. Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: Well this was so much fun, you guys. I'm gonna ask you the end of the podcast questions before I forget. so I have two questions. They're pretty easy, so obviously each of you will answer them for yourselves. Uh, the first one is, what is your favorite running song and or mantra?

Jessica & Johnathon: So my, when I'd [01:24:00] listen to music, which might be like one day a week during a training cycle at the track, my recent playlist has been two thousands. Rap bangers. Uh, so think like your

Ally: Street.

Jessica & Johnathon: break street. Yeah. Or I'll, or I'll shift to like a Lincoln Park, three days, grace breaking Benjamin kind of track. Um, those are, those would be my two go-tos if I'm, if I'm running and listening to music.

Yeah.

Ally: I like that. Lincoln Park and Jay-Z. That song Numb

Jessica & Johnathon: Yep.

Ally: is like in my rotation a lot

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah. Love it.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: Your mantra. My mantra. never settle.

Ally: That's a good one.

Jessica & Johnathon: Mm. What does Emma say? Oh, run fast. Don't stop.

Ally: Also a good one.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yes. Run fast. Don't stop. But it's so crazy 'cause our daughter who just ran her very first 75 yard track race, at Limitational, had to wear her watch that she wears maybe once every four months. And also had to write on her hand. She goes, mom, I [01:25:00] wanna write run fast. Don't stop. Yeah.

Ally: that so much. I wish we had a second grade trek program.

Jessica & Johnathon: It's just,

Ally: don't have girls on the run right now at my

Jessica & Johnathon: I've gotta do it. You just gotta,

Ally: well, people are like, ally, why don't you start that? I'm like, because I cannot do another thing. I will be in so much trouble with myself.

Jessica & Johnathon: I do you think my song is?

Ally: Ooh.

Jessica & Johnathon: Mm, let it go. Oh, no. Oh no, but keep going. No, I don't know. I have a variety. I put a, a, an eclectic mix, but I had, I do have a marathon mix that when it's time, time to go, I'll add stuff into it. And I have over the course of the years, like inserted whatever the kids are listening to.

So at a point in time it was Coca Melon, and the point of that was just so that I would like, smile and like break my own stride. I'm like, okay, it's fine. Just

Ally: brutal.

Jessica & Johnathon: I'd have to like skip Coca Melon was there for like, a brief period of time, but, yeah, I just, I'm into that.

Ally: That's funny. Yeah. What song was I thinking? I'm trying to, gosh, what is the movie I'm thinking of? It came out like [01:26:00] during COVID encanto for God's sakes, Encanto. So I had a couple of those songs on my playlist for a while.

Jessica & Johnathon: of 'em are, but you know.

Ally: some of 'em are, are okay.

But

Jessica & Johnathon: They're all terrible.

Ally: do you have a mantra?

Jessica & Johnathon: Mm. no, my not let, do I have a mantra? I don't know. I have a lot of things. Yeah.

Ally: I.

Jessica & Johnathon: That, that is probably another whole podcast in of itself, what her mantra is. I'll say, I think the thing rather than a mantra, I do try to, for a marathon, have, at least different miles mean different things.

So like, our kids will pick a number, our friends will pick a number. Um, there are a couple people that were particularly on my heart this past race. And so during those miles I will try to think about those particular people. so yeah, that is something that in some version or another has, there's always been 26 things or.

Okay.

Ally: I like that. Yeah. Uh, I had a previous guest say she memorized a mantra for every mile, which I thought was very impressive, but similar concept, right? You have a purpose for every [01:27:00] mile. I think that's really good idea.

Jessica & Johnathon: Easier said than done. Come like 16. I think it's supposed to be. I,

Ally: I would have to write it on myself somewhere. Otherwise, yeah, no way would I remember.

Jessica & Johnathon: I, yeah. I just, I barely made it there. So,

Ally: Okay. And then next finish line and or milestone.

Jessica & Johnathon: opening our store.

Ally: That was.

Jessica & Johnathon: Mm-hmm.

Ally: Yeah, it's a big one,

Jessica & Johnathon: Not quite certain just yet. Um, I, I'm probably gonna shift a lot of this summer into like high end speed training, so focusing on just some local five Ks, 10 Ks. and I have offered to pace her for a fall marathon, versus trying to go after another big goal.

Ally: right?

Jessica & Johnathon: I really wanna see her get that sub three.

I mean, she's worked hard for four, four years now to get it. I think you want it more than I do. I I do actually. So, but then I don't see that, okay, I guess I gotta do it so then I can see tears of joy instead of tears of sadness at the end of the finish line.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: well, I really wanna see her do that, and I wanna that alongside of her.

And it's like after coming off Boston, it's a good, I think the fall is a good time to really do that and then double [01:28:00] back with Boston, hopefully next April and, see where it goes from there. But

Ally: Yeah,

Jessica & Johnathon: on set plan, just with the store opening, I can't, it's hard for me to get really picky about what my fall marathon looks like, because I don't know what my life is gonna look like this summer.

Ally: absolutely.

Jessica & Johnathon: and I don't, I, I don't like to over commit. hence if you look at my calendar versus hers and the number of times that are double, triple booked, like that's, I don't, I don't do that. So,

Ally: Oh, I'm an over scheduler for sure.

Jessica & Johnathon: yeah. So,

Ally: Yeah,

Jessica & Johnathon: I also would say like, I think we're just more curious about what, what our potential is. We're kind of in this weird age of like, oh, we could, you know, we're post kids and we're, we're faster than we've ever been.

Like, this is pretty fun. Um, so I think just for us, milestones is just, it's more of like, how can we be curious about what we're capable of?

Ally: yeah,

Jessica & Johnathon: and that's not, again, not making it the ultimate thing, but just out of curiosity and what it teaches us in the mind, in the middle of it,

Ally: yeah. I love that so much. You should come to Indy for the monumental.

Jessica & Johnathon: well, we'll [01:29:00] probably support, we do know, we do have a, a few friends that they are like sold on indie all of the time.

Ally: Oh my gosh. Okay.

Jessica & Johnathon: We did it.

Ally: now remembering

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, we, we, there's a funny story for offline about that race.

Ally: Okay. Right. Okay. Jess. I like actually couldn't remember how we initially connected

Jessica & Johnathon: oh no, you're fine. Yeah. So.

Ally: it comes back to me anyway. So you have been to

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah, we did. We were so grateful. And last year the weather was perfect. The, the race on. Just such a fun race. It was amazing.

Ally: Yeah. Okay. Well hopefully you'll come back at some point, Okay. Well thank you guys for doing this. It

Jessica & Johnathon: Yeah.

Ally: fun. I'm really excited to follow your journey with Main Street Run Collective. It's gonna be, it's gonna be fun.

Jessica & Johnathon: Yes. It's and it's just fun. I mean, the podcast scene and people like you are just, I think they are further inspiration for us to just be a part of this community. 'cause there's so many people that just have so many stories to share.

Ally: Yeah.

Jessica & Johnathon: their everyday milestones look different for everyone. And I think that it all should be celebrated in lots of different ways.

So kudos to you for what you're doing. I, [01:30:00] I so appreciate it.

Ally: Thank you. you to everybody who listened and happy running

Jessica & Johnathon: And walking,

Ally: And everything.

Jessica & Johnathon: yes.

Ally: If you enjoyed this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones from Sandy Boy Productions, go to the show notes, sign up for emails. and I cannot wait to follow the Joneses' journey. You can do that as well. I will link to their Instagram in the show notes. and again, thank you so much to Batch and Cure for supporting this episode of the podcast.

I will talk to you again next Friday. Bye.

 


 

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