Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 173: Jared Ewing - The Grand Slam of Ultras as an Adaptive Athlete

Finish Lines & Milestones: Episode 173: Jared Ewing - The Grand Slam of Ultras as an Adaptive Athlete

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Guest: Jared Ewing @jrod4513

Show Notes:

Jared Ewing and I connected through our mutual friend Christi Dee (EP 3) after they met at the 2026 Boston Marathon (and again in Cape Town, South Africa).

During this episode, sponsored by Huug, we talk about:

  • Finishing Leadville 100 in 24:40, just nine days before we recorded this — well under the 25-hour cutoff for the race's coveted "big buckle"
  • Finding pacers and why his parents have been his crew since day one
  • Meeting fellow adaptive-athlete community members at Boston, including Jason Noel (who Christi Dee was guiding that day)
  • The night of December 7th, 2018, when a drunk driver's car hit a bollard and sent concrete shrapnel into his leg, nearly costing him his life
  • The synthetic skin material from PolyNovo that helped save his leg, and the decision he had to make between amputating it or keeping it without his calf muscles or Achilles
  • Rebuilding his entire running form around his quads and hamstrings with no calf muscles or Achilles
  • Running a marathon just ten months later — after doctors told him he'd never run again
  • Being 27 states into his 50 States Marathon Club goal
  • Becoming a Six-Star Majors finisher and running on six of the seven continents (Rio next June to complete the set)
  • His frustration that most major marathons still don't offer qualifying times for adaptive athletes
  • His mantra, "Now We Go," and the drunken Cavs-game night it came from
  • The Grand Slam of Ultra Running — running four of the nation's oldest 100-milers within 14 weeks, with Wasatch 100 as the finale on September 11th 🤯
  • The documentary he's raising money for, The 400 Mile Attempt
  • Running the Indianapolis Marathon this November — I'll get to meet him in person!

Previous Guests Mentioned

Sponsor Details

  • Huug - Use ALLYB for 15% off (combinable with Buy 3 Get 1 Free)

Other Links

This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.

Episode Transcript

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

Jared Ewing: from being told I'd never even run marathons to not just running a hundred-mile but running four 100 milers within 14 weeks, and then I can use that as the awareness for, , adaptive athletes

Ally Brettnacher: 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. This episode is brought to you by Hugg, H-U-U-G.

More on them in a minute, but first, let me introduce you to this week's guest

Jared Ewing. Nine days before we recorded this interview, Jared crossed the Leadville finish line. Leadville is an iconic 100-mile race, and not only did he cross the finish line, he crossed in under 25 hours, which gets you a whole special belt buckle.

Huge deal. In this episode,

Jared takes us back to December 7th of 2018 when a drunk driver crashed, [00:01:00] hit concrete and sent shrapnel into l- one of Jared's legs, and he not only lost his calf muscle and Achilles in that leg, but he nearly lost his life. And then 10 months later, 10 months later, he ran a marathon after the doctors told him that he would never run a marathon again.

So we get into how that comeback also had him become a six-star finisher, plus Cape Town and Sydney. He has run on six of the seven incontinents, and he is currently doing the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning. So if you think that Leadville's impressive, he ran two more 100-milers this summer before that, and he's gonna run the fourth and final of the Grand Slam at Wasatch 100, which is taking place the day this comes out on September 11th.

there is no doubt in my mind you are gonna be very inspired by Jared. He is a wonderful human And what he has accomplished as an adaptive athlete inspires the heck out of me. So I know you're gonna enjoy this conversation with Jared. Now we go

Ally Brettnacher: [00:02:00] all right, welcome Jared Ewing to the podcast

Jared Ewing: Hey thanks so much Ally I appreciate you having me on yeah looking forward to uh sitting down and having a chat with ya

Ally Brettnacher: Okay So is this the first interview that you have done since completing Leadville?

Jared Ewing: It is yes This is the first post-Leadville Interview

Ally Brettnacher: Ok breaking news You get it here first

Jared Ewing: Yeah spoiler alert!

Ally Brettnacher: Spoiler Alert You've been on a handful of shows so I would encourage others to just search your name on Apple or Spotify wherever they listen to podcasts because you've done several interviews And they are so inspiring and I am honored to be able to be the one asking you questions today

Jared Ewing: Oh Yeah I appreciate that Yes Uh like I said Looking forward to having The conversation with you and we can talk about Leadville and everything else That's kinda crazy going on in my world

Ally Brettnacher: So Just you're Crazy So Leadville was how many days ago?

That's gonna be hard but I'm trying To

Jared Ewing: remember the date I-it Was It was eight Days Ago I th- Or nine days ago okay It was on the twenty Second

Ally Brettnacher: Saturday And Are you

Jared Ewing: back

Ally Brettnacher: In [00:03:00] O--Are you in Ohio again now

Jared Ewing: I'm actually Am still in lead ville

Ally Brettnacher: you're Still

Jared Ewing: in Lead Ville Because Um Yeah s- 'cause uh I'm heading up to Utah in just A week for that last hundred Of the summer and i figured Utah!

Eh I Figured thi-this wouldn't Be the greatest idea go Back to ohio then back out to utah plus im getting this amazing altitude acclimatization Out Here So

Ally Brettnacher: Right i wanna hear How LeadVille went For you and for people who are listening and They are not in the ultra scene and so they don't know How iconic or anything About LeadVille Can you give a quick description of what that race Is

Jared Ewing: yeah so LeadVille the level One Hundred Uh mile trail run is o-one of the five of the oldest one hundred milers in America as far as one hundred Mile Ultras Go and its considered a mountain Mountain one hundred you Have to climb a mountain Twice During the Run and whats pretty cool about the leadville is long time ago when they First started this Race [00:04:00] they Actually and miners came out to leadville to mine uh the I forget if it was ore silver things Like that and ended Up something Going Something Went wrong and they lost so Many jobs People had to move from Leadville and so they Had thousands of people all within like a month half had to leave leadville so they were lookin for a way to raise money to bring Money into economy and the original race director was tryina think of a way kind of they Said "how can We keep people here overnight"and yknow stay couple days he said lets Lets have em Run a hundred miles that will Keep them here Overnight and thats Kinda how it All got Started and so uh Ive read about years ago in this, in this book called Born to Run and I never thought- Yes

in my wildest, in my wildest state I would ever run it. Uh, j- it was like, "R- 100 miles? No way." It sounded really, really terrible, just really hard, and I had already been running marathons. Like that, that was bad enough , you [00:05:00] know? Yeah, right. So I was like, "No way, no way I'm ever gonna run this race" But, uh, here we are and I, I ran at, uh, yeah, last week, uh, two weekends ago and got it done.

Ally Brettnacher: Wow. And then how many days until your next one? Which we'll talk about later too but just to-

Jared Ewing: It's- ... orient myself ... it's September, It's, it's all, all I'll say is it's September 11th. I'm trying not to count the days because it's so close- Sorry ... to what Leadville was. Sorry.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: What Leadville was. Yeah, so literally it was two and a, it's two and half weeks after the Leadville one which- Right

clearly you need way more time than that to recover from 100 miler. So right now I'm just like taking it a day at a time and-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ...

Jared Ewing: we'll get there. Absolutely. But yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: You, you absolutely will. Well, I think people listening to this are just, their minds are gonna be blown because you're an adaptive athlete which we'll get into the whole story about that here in a bit, but how was this particular race for you?

Like kind of paint the picture It

Jared Ewing: was, it was the hardest, I think the hardest, I know it's cliche to say, but I think it was the hardest race that I've had done to date. Um, [00:06:00] it wasn't the most vertical, uh, uh, I- I've climbed. So during Vermont we climbed like close to 17,000 feet and it... But it was, it was spread out really well.

For, for the Leadville you climb like 15,000 feet, but the thing is with this one is you have to climb a mountain twice in the middle of going 100 miles. And so, you know, it's absolutely gorgeous out here. They don't talk about it enough, but the rest of the trails there's just beautiful views, and just you're running through aspens, and just absolutely gorgeous.

And sure, it's up and down and up and down, but yeah, you have to climb this pass, which a pass is pretty much like a point in between two like mountaintops, and so it's called Hope Pass, and you have to climb that twice. You have to climb it around mile 45, then around mile like 55 again. And so like just think 45 miles into a race and you have to now climb like 2,500 feet, and then you have to go a couple miles, come back and do it [00:07:00] again.

And so by the time you're done doing that, you get back into what's called Twin Lakes Village, and that's like 64 miles into the race. So you've climbed the mountains twice and you still have, you know, 36, you know, more, more miles to go, and that's the last thing that you wanna do after you've, you've climbed, uh, a mountain twice.

But yeah, I mean, there's this, it's just this really cool, uh ... It was really, really tough. My whole entire body was wrecked. A lot of people say their entire bodies are wrecked after like these hundreds, and the first couple hundreds I did, definitely my legs, everything was pretty shot. But for this one, I mean, my lower back was hurting, my shoulders were hurting from wearing the vest.

I was using the trekking poles and using them hard, you know, to kinda help me get up those mountains. And so then my elbows were sore. So literally my entire body was just wrecked from this one. But, you know, that's kinda why we do it in this crazy way, you know? We like-- We do it because it's hard and because, you know, you gotta get through that pain.

And so I was able to get it done [00:08:00] in under 25 hours, which that's a, a big deal for here because it's a 30-hour cutoff, but it's 25 hours to get what's considered the big buckle, and I was definitely hunting for that big buckle, and we got it done in 24:40. And so, uh, you know- You did ... played my cards right and got it done, yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: So I looked it up before this too, and I was like, "Ooh, he did it. He snuck under that 25." Yeah. And I mean, that is so impressive for 100 miles, you know, as is. I mean, 100 miles is impressive. Under 25 hours is impressive. And then, yeah, climbing a mountain twice with one calf muscle and one Achilles- Right .... is also impressive.

Right. Yeah. Um, do you have the buckle within arm's reach

Jared Ewing: at my house? I

Ally Brettnacher: don't. No. Nah. No. Oh man. What are you gonna do with it? What do you do with your buckles?

Jared Ewing: Um, so I'm just g- uh, when I get home, I'm gonna put 'em all, I guess, on my shelf, but I'm gonna try to find times to wear them you know? It's just-- I went out and after my fir- after my first hundred I went to Wal- I mean, I, I go to the Walmart.

I got on Amazon and bought me a, bought me a, a belt that you could put buckles on, [00:09:00] 'cause I didn't have one. Right. I usually just wear like shorts, sh- like gym shorts and stuff, so- Yeah ... I'm like, "I have to find reasons to try to wear these buckles now." But, um, yeah. Love that. It's kinda cool cl-cl-collecting buckles now, yeah, and just, uh- Heck yeah

it, it's been fun. But yeah, I'll probably just put 'em up on my shelf in my room. I have, uh, some of my, like, uh, like trophies there and a lot of my medals from my races and stuff, so I'll probably keep it all in that area.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm. I think you just came up with a product idea. Gym shorts with belt loops. I don't think they exist.

That,

Jared Ewing: that cou- No, that could be a new trend.

Ally Brettnacher: So come on Lululemon, like make- Right. Um, that's so funny. I lo- I love that. So what was your-- who was your crew for this race, and how do you find… How did you find this crew and put this together?

Jared Ewing: Man, so my mom and my dad. They're, they've been my permanent crew, so, uh- Hmm

they're s- they're in their 70s, low 70s, and, uh-

Ally Brettnacher: Stop it ...

Jared Ewing: Yeah. Then e- I found it as a, a perfect way to get them out of their, out of their shell and out of their, you [00:10:00] know, bubble in Ohio, you know? My parents have been retired- Oh, wow ... for quite some time now, but they're not the, the ones that, You know how people retire and they go travel.

Yeah. My parents have never h-have never done that. They' Dapat always just been homebodies. Now- Yeah ... they do a lot within their community, but just as far as leaving Ohio, it's, it's very hard to get them to do it. However, if I ask them to help me out, they'll do anything in a heartbeat. They've been the best parents I could ever ask for.

And so I know if I ask them to crew me, they're gonna come regardless of where it's at. And I said, "Hey, what a good way" -- When I, when I was thinking about this challenge, this Grand Slam that I'm doing, I said, "What a perfect way to get my parents out of Ohio. All I have to do is ask them to come crew me, and they'll get to come see the country."

And so, so yeah. So they were the ones, uh, that were crewing me. They've been crewing me, uh, ever since I started running ultras. And, uh, the hardest part of this is finding pacers, right? Like-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: Okay ... you don't necessarily, like, like you don't necessarily need pacers. Um, but it's absolutely fun and amazing to have them with you to share that journey [00:11:00] of 100 miles with them.

And so- Uh.. ... I try to bring, tr- I try to have people there with me. And, uh, just trying to ask people, you know, to travel halfway across the country just to run some miles, you know, and everybody's got lives. So it's, it's-

Ally Brettnacher: Right ...

Jared Ewing: That's been, that's been the toughest part is finding the pacers, you know.

Ally Brettnacher: How many miles did you have a pacer for this one?

Jared Ewing: Um, they started at 64 once we got back into Twin Lakes. So for about- Okay .... uh, thir- like 36 miles

Ally Brettnacher: And is that the time you would say that you need it the most? Like-

Jared Ewing: Yeah, definitely ...

Ally Brettnacher: last part?

Jared Ewing: Y- yeah. I, I usually, what's been the trend with me is like we're on mile 70, just with 30 miles to go, and I'm like, "Man, I'm kinda ready for this to be over."

And the legs get really fatigued then. Um, the f- the legs have been feeling a little bit heavier earlier on in the races, but I can still push through. But by the time you're at mile 70, 75, the legs are just really fatigued, so every mile just takes a lot longer, and it's just, it's nice to have someone there to kind of get your mind off of it, [00:12:00] help keep m- moving forward, and keep the energy high.

I

Ally Brettnacher: mean, I guess it's hard 'cause it's over 25 hours almost. Um, but- Yeah ... any key, like, moments or stories or people you met that stand out to you?

Jared Ewing: Man, I mean there's so many it's- it's kinda hard to choose from. Um, this- this time we got, I got to see a coyote in the middle of the night, so that was pretty cool looking down- Ooh

the trail and seeing some like shiny eyes and ho- Oh no ... and hoping it was a coyote and not- Yeah, right ... like a, a wolf or something else but you know I had just been running with my one buddy Alex that was pacing me And we're in the middle of the night there, and he is like, "Hey, have you seen any animals since you've been out here?"

And you know, I haven't, I really haven't. You know, I haven't seen bear which th- they actually, they come and knock down your trash cans like every night. But I haven't seen one while running thank goodness. Yeah. Uh, I haven't seen any like moose or anything like that. So I was like, "I've been kind on a letdown" and then- Right

out of no, out of nowhere I got to see a coyote, which they're pretty prevalent everywhere but it was nice, uh, kinda [00:13:00] seeing s- some extra life out there besides just me at that time, uh, in that race.

Ally Brettnacher: Yes. Some enter- some entertainment. On course entertainment

Jared Ewing: from the coyotes. Yeah, but, uh, and something else I tell people about what's c- so crazy about these hundred miles is they always, Like people say like you live a lifetime within 100 miles, but it's really wild because you have so many conversations with people.

You see so many different like just things in general, and then later on in the race even before you even finish, you'll like ask yourself like, "Did I have those conversations? Or like did I see that?" Because it seems like it was like so long ago, but also that it was like just like yesterday. So even after you finished the race, you're like man, like I had conversations with like four or five different people I, I think.

You know? Yep. I think I did. Or like, you know, this one race had literally, uh, donkeys that muled, uh, some of the, one of these aid stations. So at Old Dominion it was like mile 60-something they had an aid station that only They could do so much they had donkeys out there. [00:14:00] And so like after I finished the race I was like, "Was I hallucinating or did I really see donkeys along this race?You know?

It's just like that's how these hundred miles go. It's the wildest thing when you get done with them.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, I can't, I ca-- yeah, I really cannot fathom. So that is, that is wild to think about especially well, in your whole g- you know Grand Slam that you're tackling now too, you're like, "Was that in Leadville or Vermont or Old Dominion?"

Like right. like where was I? Have no idea."

Jared Ewing: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. What do you stock at your aid station Like for yourself Oh- What do you give your parents to keep with you? Oh, my crew

Jared Ewing: station? Yeah. Yeah Man so I always have bags there ready to go with like my gels and things like that and my chews in it that I need for the next section that I'm gonna be running before I see them.

So they'll always hand me that. And then... But I usually have them have like ginger ale. I've been a ginger ale man, man here as of lately. Um, you see Coca Cola enough out at the, at the stations, so I don't really have my parents have it. But I just, I think the ginger ale just, it sits nice on your [00:15:00] stomach, right?

They always say ginger is good for your stomach and, and with running these, you always have some sort of stomach issues, and it is nice and sweet too. So I'll have them pack that. And then I have them pack some like blueberry muffins, smaller ones, like the ones, like the packs of like four or five little bites in there.

Ally Brettnacher: Yep.

Jared Ewing: They're just easy for me to get down. Um, after running so long, your, your mouth gets really dry and the palate, it's just hard to get some like real foods down. Mm-hmm. And so I usually have them pack like blueberry muffins. Sometimes Uncrustables, um, just I'll have them pack Uncrustables. But really that's it, just tons of ice.

I have them have tons of ice there because I run hot typically, so I always have some sort of ice bandana or I have them cool down a shirt for me, and so that's always nice. And then, uh, at the aid stations though, when I'm going throughout the aid stations, I'm looking for fruit. I'm a watermelon guy, uh, oranges.

So watermelon and oranges, again, ginger ale. And then sometimes later on in the races I like, like ra-- uh, like some ramen [00:16:00] noodles or some like mashed potatoes and stuff. I just recently- Okay ... you know, finally at, at, uh, Leadville, they had these cups that was a nice mix of ramen noodles and, and the, the mashed potatoes, and that seemed to go down really nice and played well, uh, with my stomach.

So I appreciated that.

Ally Brettnacher: Good. I hate to even move on from Leadville 'cause I could ask you 8,000 more questions only about Leadville. But one, one more topic I would like to cover before we leave it is the fact that you stayed out there, not just still there now, but you went out, what? Two months before the race?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, in the middle of June.

Ally Brettnacher: And I'm sure there's other people that do the same thing, right? So do you meet other people while you're there or...?

Jared Ewing: Yeah. What's been cool about here is like you kinda see the same people at, at like the local coffee shops and stuff, and so I've been trying to chat it up with them, and a lot of people are just appreciative you're out here.

Uh, there's a local pizza shop, High Mountain Pies, shout out to them. Uh, they, uh, they know me by name now when I'm calling and putting in my order. I've had a lot of pizza from them. I just figured I'm a sort of guy that if it's not broke, don't break it. [00:17:00] Yeah. And, uh, p-pizza's good recovery food, and it's good to g-get you ready for the next day, next training day

So I had a lot of pizza from there. But it's funny, yeah, they know me by name and They knew I was running a 100-mile race, and they just seemed very appreciative that I was out here and, you know, spending time in their town. So it's been really awesome. But I've met n- a lot of great people at that training camp, and what was pretty cool was those people would kinda-- some of them would come back in to Leadville, some of them go back home, and then it was kind of like cool when they'd come back, they'd get ahold of me 'cause they knew I was here.

So they'd wanna do like, "Hey, let's go out on a training run." And you know, it's just cool kinda meeting up with those people. And it was nice the week of the race finally everybody started showing up, and that's when it like really hit me that I was running the race, right? Because like I just see the regular locals out here for the most part.

But then during the race week it was like, man, all these people are coming into town, and so all the excitement builds up almost like a, like a Boston weekend. And so you're seeing all these people come here, and [00:18:00] yeah, it just, it just became electric those, those last couple days.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. All right. Well, let's, let's move on 'cause, um, I'm sure I'll have said this in the intro, but like you've we got all the continents to cover- Yeah

we got the six stars to cover. Yeah. So, um, the six stars is kind of how we got connected was through my friend Christie Dee who local people will know who she is. Yeah. Um, but you first met Christie at Sydney last year. Is that right?

Jared Ewing: Uh-

Ally Brettnacher: Or was

Jared Ewing: Cape Town first? Yeah well, I act- I actually met her, met her at Boston this year, but supposedly- Oh, that's right.

I did know that ... but supposedly w- you know, we were on the same trip in, in, in, in Sydney, uh, just didn't really talk. You know, you call on these, these-- I go with a tour operator to kind of visit all these, you know, international marathons and doing the, the Abbot Road Majors and- Yeah ... we just coincidentally used the exact same one.

But there's so many people that sometimes you don't get to chat with everybody that's in your group. And so we were I think together in Sydney, just didn't happen to [00:19:00] really know each other yet. But- Boy ... we official- but we officially met in Boston this year. Okay. Because I am an adaptive athlete, and so I'm, uh, I'm allowed to bring a guide or like a pacer with me along, along the, uh, marathon.

And so- Yep ... we have a mutual friend, me and Christie, uh, Kelly McClay, who runs the Fitness International Travel Tour Operator. She takes marathoners all around the world running these, uh, majors and other marathons. And so, you know, me and Kelly's really close, and then Kelly and Christie are really close.

And so I, I brought K- uh, Kelly with me to be my guide for Boston this past year Aw. I just thought it was a good way to return the favor. Um, she know... Sh- as said, she's kinda did so much for me and took me all these places. I figured I'd return the favor and have her guide me at Boston. And so, you know, when you're in Boston, you're in an adaptive group, you have like your own little, like, area to kind of warm up at.

You ha- [00:20:00] you're on the same, like, buses. And so yeah, Christie was there, and she was, uh, guiding her friend Jason, who I met for the first time as well. He is incredible. Yeah, really awesome guy. Just r- a very generous and Yeah, I just talked to him, uh, quite a bit and very inspiring his story as well, and I just love meeting people like that.

You know, it's, it's, it's such a blessing. But yeah, that's kinda how I met Kristy was she was guiding, she was guiding Jason and, uh, you know, Kelly was guiding me, and then Kelly went up to Kristy and introduced us. And then, yeah, we just pretty much hit it off as you would expect, and then, uh, got to see Kristy again over in Cape Town, so that's where I got to actually spend more time with her- So cool

was over there with, with that world major, yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Wow. And Cape Town was when? Earlier this year sometime?

Jared Ewing: In May. Yeah-

Ally Brettnacher: May. Okay It was in May this year. Yeah I can't keep them all straight. Okay. May this year. Oh my gosh, you did Boston, then Cape Town. Anyway, geez. What [00:21:00]

Jared Ewing: a

Ally Brettnacher: year.

Jared Ewing: Yeah, it was-- Yeah, it was mem- It was like Memorial Day weekend-ish was whenever they had it and-

Ally Brettnacher: Okay

Jared Ewing: it wasn't, it wasn't quite a, a, an "star" yet, quote unquote. It wasn't an Abbott World Major yet. It was a c- it, it was a candidate race. But they had told us all if you run it this year and if it, if it becomes a official major, they will give you the star for it. And so a lot of people were like, "Yep, let's just go out and do it," 'cause kind of seeing the writing on the wall that it would eventually become a World Major.

Ally Brettnacher: Right. And you're like, "Okay, better, better get this done before every-"

Jared Ewing: Yeah, kinda. I mean, it's

Ally Brettnacher: just so hard.

Jared Ewing: Yeah. Yeah. I kinda like, once, once, once I got the six star, I figured I-- W-we had all heard the rumblings that they're gonna add three more eventually. And so I was like, you know what? I, I kinda like getting goals done and moving them out the way.

And also it's kinda cool being a part of, like, the first class of each time, like, they add a star - you're the first class to have that new star. And so I had told, you know, Kelly at the time, I'm like, "When they add [00:22:00] Cape Town, like, I'm coming out immediately." Like, "I wanna be part of that first class." And so yeah, I was able to get out there through her.

Ally Brettnacher: So cool. For the rumor mill with World Majors, what's going on with the medal? What are the rumors about the medal? How they're gonna treat ... The original six star I've heard is never-- They don't want that to go away. But are they gonna add a, what is it? Like a nine-point star at some point?

Jared Ewing: Yeah. Yeah, that, that's what I think they're gonna do is they're going to wait until they get the ninth, the ninth major included, and then they're gonna make a, a nine-star medal of some sort- Okay

which dunno how big or, or small that's gonna be. But yeah, they're, they're keeping the original six star one, which I thought that was nice, you know- Right. Oh my gosh ... uh, to kinda keep that, kinda keep that in the loop. But then these last two, uh, meda- uh, medals you just, like, for Sydney and for Cape Town, they're just regular medals.

But yeah, once they... I think they're, th-they're gonna be adding Shanghai, um- The last

Ally Brettnacher: one. Okay

Jared Ewing: Yeah, and once they, once they add that there's- they're saying there will be like a nine star medal I think so that'll be [00:23:00] real interesting to see

Ally Brettnacher: That will. When-- What time of year is Shanghai?

Jared Ewing: Do you know? Right now it's always in D- it's always in December.

Ally Brettnacher: December.

Jared Ewing: Okay. Hmm. So if which, in which with Cape Town was o- originally, uh, an October marathon, and then they moved- Okay ... it to May. I think it's 'cause it's for one, it's better weather. Yeah. I, I think it's actually they moved it, yeah, because it's better weather. Um, but i- th- you'd like to see them spaced out.

They all seem to be clumped in into the springtime or into the fall- Right ... but I guess those are the best times to be running anyway. So- For sure ... Shanghai being in, being in December, I'd, I'd like to see them keep it December, but who knows when- whenever they'll place it throughout the calendar year. But this- Yeah

I think will be their-- This year, I think this December is their second year of candidacy, so if they do well again, then I'm guessing then they'll have an announcement in, I don't know, the springtime, and it'll be- Okay ... around next year.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so when is that race on your radar? This year already?

Jared Ewing: Uh, it'll be next year,- Okay

'cause this year it's still just a candida- ra- right, [00:24:00] right?- Okay ... race, right? So, uh, I'm gonna wait for it to become official before I go out there travel- Okay .... across the world to the- So for that one you're gonna wait. Yeah unless- Gotcha ... unless they do like a, Like, "Hey, like, if you race it this year you'll get the star."

But, uh, they haven't, they haven't said that. I don't think they will, so...

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, good. Well, um, thank you again to Christy for connecting us. And now I wanna talk about- Yeah ... how in the heck you got into running in the first place, when that started for you. Um, also- Okay ... y- the decision you made to go into the Army, maybe tell a little bit about that story.

But how did you find this crazy sport?

Jared Ewing: Man, so like growing up I hated running. So you, you couldn't-- I always say you couldn't drag me a mile, you know? It was always a form of punishment. Yeah. Um, I was always a baseball, basketball, football guy, so running, any extra running was always a form of punishment and so couldn't stand it.

I couldn't see why people enjoyed doing it. Uh, I would wanna quit after like, I don't know, ten steps 'cause I'm pushing it too hard, you know? And [00:25:00] so just growing up that's how it was. I graduated, uh, from my, from my high school then I went to school at, uh, college at Ohio State and I was in- actually a nutrition major there.

Uh, graduated with my bachelor's in nutrition. Uh, but when I was in college there even I just started lifting a lot, so I was kind of a gym bro when I was there. But I played intramural like softball, intramural basketball and, and so did all those sports. And once I had graduated, now I graduated in two thousand and ten- Right ...I moved down to North, I moved down to North Carolina with a friend of mine from high school and he went to Ohio State with me.

He got a job offer, so I went down, went down there with him. But two thousand and ten the economy wasn't the greatest and, uh, my bachelor's degree was not helping me get a job and so school loans had kicked in and I'm like, "Man how am I gonna get these things paid off?" And I'm still searching for a job down there, so everything was kind of coming at me pretty quick.

But in the back of my mind I had always wanted to kinda join the [00:26:00] service. My grandpa had served for like twenty-two years and so that was something I almost did out of high school. It was something I almost did in the middle of college and kinda always held off. Grandpa had always told me like, "Yo, just, you know, stay in school, get your degree, you know, that so what you always have that."

Then he said, "The military will always be there, be around if you wanna do that. Um, just go, you know, live your college life, enjoy those, those years and get your degree." And so when I moved down to North Carolina like I said it was hard to get a job and I was like, "All right let's-- I think it'd be a good time to m-maybe join the military now."

And so I did some looking into the National Guard because I figured the National Guard you get to kinda stay in the state that you want to be in while s- serving your country as well and they were willing to pay off school loans.And I was like, I was almost like, " All right," like uh- It's sign me up ..."let's do this."Yeah let's, let's do this thing.

So that's k-kind of how I, I, uh, got into joining the military. So I joined the Army National Guard down in North Carolina and [00:27:00] at this--at that point that's kind of when night of running kind of started. Um, you have a, a two mile, a two mile what's called a physical training PT test and, uh, I'm a little bit competitive and so I wanted to do really well at that, at that PT test you know.

I um Wanted to see how fast I could go, I wanted to see if I could beat the rest of the, the people that were doing it and so I started running just a few times a week. It was just like... The PT test is two miles long so it's nothing too, you know, too far and uh, so I figured running three miles like three days a week would get it done and so that's kinda what I was doing.

I was making sure I was running a little bit farther than what the test was so in my mind if I can run three miles I can definitely run two miles. And just by doing that like weekly, just staying consistent with it Pretty quick on running the two mile, and uh, so that's kinda how that running journey got started, but I never wanted to run anything more than that.

I [00:28:00] still didn't like running when I was in the military- ... again, like th- then they, then they would make us run for trainings, and it was getting like you're forcing me- Yeah ... to run when, when I'm already running my couple days a week. Like this is too much as well. Yeah. I don't know, like 12 miles a week for me was like way too much running.

I'm like, "I don't want to do any more than this," right? Um- Right,

Ally Brettnacher: yeah. And what was the-- Do you remember what your time was in the two mile and what the cutoff is?

Jared Ewing: Oh, so my... Yeah, so I was, I was consistently getting sub, like, like around 13 minute two mile. So I was really pushing it, uh, running like 6:30s. And I would- Wow

I always te- I'd always tell people when I would do that, I'd wanna quit after like a quarter mile if that. Like that was like my, uh, my lungs were already on fire, but I was so motivated to like just kind of finish as one of the top guys. And then honestly, i- in those earlier, those earlier PT tests when I was like at basic training, like boot camp, the sooner you got done, the sooner you could go back and get a shower, and the sooner that you could go to [00:29:00] chow.

And so I was like, okay, like I don't wanna be in the shower with 100 other guys. I don't wanna b- be last in line to get my food. So I was literally motivated by getting a c- a clean shower, a peaceful shower, and then g- getting to the chow line fast. So I would try to run and get that PT test done as soon as I could.

But, uh, yeah, I think like a, like a 12:08 was like the fastest I ever, ever ran the two mile in. Ooh. It was just at that time, I was like 25 years old when I joined, joined the military. So I was running with a bunch of 18-year-old kids. They kept me young, kept me, uh, kept me motivated. I'd wanna keep up with them.

Mm. But yeah, so, so, so to get like, like a wh- what quote, like 100% in the two mile run for us, you had to go, for my age group, you had to go under a 13:13. And I forget what the overall cutoff was, and I like, I hate to sound cocky, but like a lot of people only knew what their minimums were that they needed.

Like I have to run at least like- Great ... a 16 something, right? Like that's what [00:30:00] most people would think about. But I honestly never knew what my minimum was 'cause I only cared about maxing out my PT test. So I only knew what the maxes were, what I needed to. Um, that was just the standard I kinda always, always lived by when I w- was in the military.

And uh, so I just knew a 13:13 was my cutoff. I needed to finish it by 13:13 each time, and didn't matter how much I was hating life, but I would get myself through that each time. So yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: That is cooking. Oh my goodness. And so at what point did you end up racing a marathon, or did you sign up for like shorter distance type races?

Where did that come

Jared Ewing: into play Yeah, so I, uh, had run just a few races that were of like longer than a 5K, like just a few 10Ks when I was still, uh, in the military that sort-- were local, you know, that were local to me- Okay ... and but nothing was r- like farther was really ever on my mind until like I turned 30, [00:31:00] and then I was like, "Man, like a bucket list thing, a marathon, how cool would it be to do that?"

Like s- do one and, one and done, right? Just do it one time and be done with it. And I had- Yeah ... my buddy that I was, I was working with in the, in the, in the communications shop. So I did, I did communications while I was in the, when I was in the Army. Okay. It was mostly radios and some IT stuff, cybersecurity, and a lot of that.

And, uh, so my buddy that was working with me in the, in the communication shop, he had ran a few marathons, and he was just like, he was just hyping me up. He was like, "Dude," he's like, "I've ran 'em, a few marathons." He' aftermarketsslike, "And you're in way better shape than I am." And at this point, like I'm still like nervous and scared.

I'm like, "I don't know if I can do that", and like, "I don't think I want to." But I was like- Yeah ... by turn 30, bucket list item, let's do this this one time and be done with it. And, uh, I d- uh, I, I was so busy in that year that I wasn't able to run the marathon, so I waited till the next year, uh- Yeah ... so which was two- 2017, and so I was [00:32:00] 31 and, uh, kinda my training was kinda, uh, coming-- It was dialing down in the new unit that I was in, so I finally had more time on my hands, so perfect time to run the marathon.

And, um- So I signed up for the Columbus Marathon. It, it's always in October and so I gave myself like four months. Um, didn't really know m- my butt from my elbow as far as training goes, you know? Yeah. I had just been running a couple miles, couple days a week up to that point. And so I just went online and found like just a regular like beginner marathon plan and it basically just told you like which mile...

Like how many miles run each day- Yep ... throughout the week. And so that's all I, that's all I did. Again, like I was probably running, I'm running to the max 'cause I don't know about easy runs or like jog it easy. Yup, yup same. I do the same thing. Um, I wasn't, I wa-... I wasn't fueling properly 'cause I really didn't know about gels or anything else like that.

I mean, I, I probably knew a little bit about sodium intake just from my n- nutrition- Nutrition yeah ... that I took in college [00:33:00] but that was about it. And so I went into that, that Columbus Marathon in 2017 and uh, I ran it and I got it done. But believe me I, I hit the wall at like mile 15 like everybody else and I just like for like 11 miles I was just hating life.

Was like d- never doing this again. Like I'm, I'm, I'm so motivated to finish things so I knew I was gonna finish it there was no quit in me. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna s-, I'm gonna see everything all the way through. But I mean yeah every mile was just a grind. I mean I... It was the first time ever I learned about like okay my mind and my heart and my lungs kinda wanted to keep going, but my body wouldn't, didn't wanna go.

I couldn't move like any faster like totally bonked right? Just bonked out of control.

Ally Brettnacher: It's so

Jared Ewing: frustrating. Yeah. And so I was like who would like to do, like who would like this stuff? Who wants to do this stuff like all the time? Like this is crazy. So you know I just suffer fested it for like 10, 10, 11 miles and I got it done.

But I was, you know very [00:34:00] proud of myself um, I could barely walk you know I c- I couldn't really do steps you know as just typical signs of like ugh like a first marathoner. So f- from that point all it took was a couple weeks, it was just like a couple weeks now i- ... I was like man! Yeah I was like "Man I think I want to do that again."

I'm like just because I had such a bad outing I th- had a bad taste in my mouth I wanna do it one more time, just one time and just do it right and then Ill be done. Then ill certainly be done with running after that you

Ally Brettnacher: know.Yeah, absolutely

Jared Ewing: I, uh-- I, so I signed up for the next year which would be in, uh, you know, 2018.

But in the meantime, I had found, uh, David Goggins, I had found Cameron Hanes- Oh boy! Uh, I f- I found The Iron Cowboy and I was just, you know, super inspired y- super inspired by these guys and just knowing that like there could be more and that it can be done. And then yeah after [00:35:00] like watching the documentary for "The Iron Cowboy", you know, the 54 Ironman, 50 states in 50 days, I just came up with this idea like knowing that there was a couple different marathons in Ohio within like five weeks.

You know? It was like Air Force Akron and Columbus. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, "I'm not just gonna do one more. I think I can do three of these things." Like if, if, if this dude can do like 50 Ironman in 50 days, I can certainly do, do three full marathons in like five weeks at least that's how my mind - Sure ...was thinking at-- Yeah, that's how my mind wa- how my mind was working at that time.

Wow. And uh, so that's kinda how I, I, I, I, I signed up for those three within the fall.

Ally Brettnacher: Wow.

Jared Ewing: And, and uh trained a lot better that time kind of learned about like gels and things like that. I p- probably still wasn't doing it nearly enough, you know, it was still just the beginner stages of learning about gels and things like that but I felt like um my, my training for the mileage, mileage throughout the week and all that was just so much better and so I went into [00:36:00] those three m- those three marathons and uh It was the Air Force one, then Akron, then Columbus.

Uh- Air Force

Ally Brettnacher: hilly? Does that have some el- some rolling hills?

Jared Ewing: No, Air Force is fairly flat. Or that one's really

Ally Brettnacher: flat?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, that one's fairly flat. That's what I figured out.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay. But

Jared Ewing: you run like on

Ally Brettnacher: the Air Force base, like with the airplanes

Jared Ewing: around? Y- yeah. Yep. Oh, so cool. And... Yeah, and so that was the first one, and I got that one done.

And then I was like, man, you know, two weeks later I have to run the Akron Marathon. And so then I ran that one. That one's a bit hilly, especially on the backside- Okay ... on, on the second half of it. And I was actually a little bit faster during the Akron than I was during the Air Force. So the second one I was a little bit faster.

And then, so then I had three weeks until the Columbus marathon, which w- is one of my favorite marathons. It was my first one, so it holds a special place. Yeah. And it's in Columbus. I went to school at Ohio State, so just spec- a special marathon for me. And so three weeks later, I ran the Columbus marathon, and I ran that faster than the other two.

So it was like I got faster with each of [00:37:00] 'em- Nice ... somehow. And, uh, yeah, I was like, "Man," like, "that was pretty cool." I felt like that was like a, a pretty solid challenge for me to get done, and it was like again in the fall. Ah, my gosh. It was beautiful and-

Ally Brettnacher: So did you qualify for Boston? Which one of those...? Or did you?

Or n- that wasn't-

Jared Ewing: No, no, I never- That's enough ... none of th-... No, 'cause those I was still running- 'Cause you were young ... in the four... Yeah, and I was actually still, for those three I was still running in the four-hour range.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Jared Ewing: And

Ally Brettnacher: yeah, so- What was your first marathon? What was the time for your

Jared Ewing: first one? Uh, I think it was like a f- I think it was like a 4:40 something.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, okay. And so now, like over the years, now after, yeah, oh my gosh, after you've become an adaptive athlete, you've done

Jared Ewing: achieved- Much faster, much faster- Ugh ... with my disability than I was with my two healthy legs. This- Yeah, so.

Ally Brettnacher: Just ... Oh my

Jared Ewing: gosh, yeah. It took me, it, it, it took, it took me 10 to 11 marathons to go sub-four, so you know, it took me quite a time.

Okay. That's why I tell people, man, and I'm like, um- That's a good message to share. Y- yeah. It, it, it's... You know, it's all, it's, again, it's all perspective. I [00:38:00] run with a lot of people much faster than me, so I think, you know, you know, 3:10, 3:15 is like, you know quote unquote slow. But it's also like I r- I do realize, you know, running, 'cause I have so many running friends, it is actually fast.

But I tell people i- it, you know, it's just getting down. It's a hard distance. A marathon's a very hard distance, and it doesn't matter if you finish in three hours or six hours, I'm still... I think you sh- all the credit. I still think it's absolutely amazing. And, uh, yeah, and the, but Just I think my story goes, you know, it took me 10 tries to get underneath four hours, so it's just, it's just keep showing up.

It's keep sh- showing up and keep trying to get a little bit better each time. And then now, and now I've ran up to like 60 some marathons and I still haven't eclipsed three hours yet, you know? So it takes time. Okay. But that is e- eventually a goal that we can talk about later on. Yeah, absolutely. But to kinda move on with my story I had,- Yeah

I had ran those three marathons in those, those five weeks in the fall of 2018 but then it was-- I, so I thought I was in the best shape of my life. I was kind of, you know, ready [00:39:00] to like move on with m- move on with like, you know dating and, and in my career and all that within the military 'cause my training had dialed down.

I was still in, in a good place. But then in December of 2018 was when my accident happened which is when the, uh, is when the, my entire world changed and this, this person y- y- you're talking to now kind of came, was reborn from that moment.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay. So tell us about that night

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so it was-- It's December seventh of two thousand and eighteen.

Again, I was thirty-two years old. I felt like I was in the best shape of my life. Just, you know, life was going good. You know, I was kinda ready to move forward and, uh, I would, I would on the monthly come home to Akron 'cause Akron from Columbus is like two hours. So I'm s- you know, I'm such a, such a family person, friend person, and still had my, my core group up in the Akron area.

And so yeah, about [00:40:00] once a month I'd come home to visit my friends and family and, uh, just ha-it just so happened I came home that weekend. You know, Friday I had worked in, at, at my unit, drove up home to Akron, and I was just up there for a couple hours and a buddy of mine asked me if, uh, I wanted to go out to Cleveland because our, our friend was turning, you know, was turning twenty one, my...

Our friend's, uh, sister. And so I'm like: "Sure," you know. I'm always down to have a good n-good night and go out on the town and, and, you know, all that good stuff. And so seven of us Ubered, Ubered from Akron all the way up to Cleveland. It's about a forty-five minute trip.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay.

Jared Ewing: So we were, we were up there, um, you know, a long night, eleven till two in the morning, you know, just kind of bouncing around to the different bars and seeing friends and, uh, having a good time.

And so it was two o'clock in the morning, it was time to go home. So somebody ordered up the Uber, and so it was time to walk down to where the Ubers pick you up at. And so when we walked outside the club, [00:41:00] there's a street there, but th-the Ubers can't pick you up there. They have to pick you down, like do-pick you up down the s-down the street, and it's like the roundabout area where the Ubers go.

So we're kinda just walking down to that roundabout. I'm kinda leading the charge. My buddy's t-on, on my left side. I'm talking to him, and so the street's off to my right, um, but not really paying attention to that. And so as I'm talking to my friend, I kinda hear screeching tires. I see like a bright light, so I turn to the right and it looks like there's a car coming directly at me.

And I'm like: "Oh no." You know, I di-ha-hardly had no time to even think about it. And so I kinda just braced myself and I kinda put my arms up, and so I got thumped to the ground pretty good And when I was on the ground, you know, my adrenaline's going now. It's kicking-- it's, it's kicked up and, you know, I started feeling my a- my leg was a little bit achy, and I started hearing...

You know, the girls that were with us were kind of like screaming. The guys were like [00:42:00] frantically like, you know, talking and, you know, just everybody was like in this roar, and I couldn't really understand like what had happened.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: And so I, I was like, "Well, I, I'm gonna try to get up," and, and I couldn't.

And I was like, "Well, that's weird." And I'm like, "Well, I'm gonna try again." And I just couldn't get off the ground. And so then I, I, I was like, I looked down at my leg, and there it is just all kinda like mangled up. My jeans were all bloodied and r- shredded, and then I, you know, th- my leg was pretty much like s- flayed open like a steak.

I could see my bone- It was- Yeah ... and my shi- my shinbone. Mm. And um so c- and so immediately I was like This isn't, like this isn't good, right? Like this isn't, this is... Yeah, this isn't good, you know. Uh, uh, I started thinking like, "Hey, I, I can go into, very easily go into shock and pass out, and that's not gonna be good."

So I've had, I've had first aid training just from whether it was working at a rec or at the r- at the rec center at Ohio State. Definitely first aid training when I was in the Army, and so kinda knew all these different things about, like, what I needed to kind of have [00:43:00] done to me. Uh, but at the same time, you know, my mind's going 100 miles a minute at this point too.

Yeah. And so I was like, "I don't wanna go into shock."

Ally Brettnacher: Right. "

Jared Ewing: I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding out really bad." I wasn't sure if I was gonna die from the blood loss or anything like that.

Ally Brettnacher: Like, had you had a bunch of drinks? Like, were you intoxicated and going through this, or were you just, like, lightly buzzed? I just can't imagine how being disoriented by a car coming at you and then also being, like, a few drinks in would feel too.

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so I- What was that like? So I w- I, I... So I was definitely intoxicated. Okay. I wouldn't say, like, I wasn't, like, I wasn't, like, super intoxicated, but I was by no means just slightly buzzed either. Okay. You know, I had a, I had a good buzz going on, but I wasn't- Okay ... like blackout drunk or anything, right?

So when that- Right, you remembered though,

Ally Brettnacher: yeah.

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so when that happened, it definitely sobered the crap out of me, and it was- Yuck ... very, very vivid, you know, 'cause you go from a state- Hmm ... of, like, so nonchalant. You're taking it easy- Right .... to, like, now you're in this s-super pain because as time was going on, I was [00:44:00] losing the adrenaline rush, and so now- Mm

I was feeling more and more of that pain in my leg in which, like, it felt like with every pulse of my heart, that leg, that leg pulsing, I would feel like a, like a, like a fire/electric going through my leg, and it was just excruciating pain. And so obviously, I'm just wanting the ambulance to get there, and it seems like it's taking forever.

And so in the meantime, these two guys I had just met that night that was with our group, but I had just met them, they kind of r- they rushed over to me and took their belts off to make, like, a tourniquet, right?- Oh wow ... to put around my leg, and which- Yeah ... which they w- which they had, like, no sort of, like, real first aid training or anything like that.

They just kinda knew that from just, like, maybe, like, common knowledge in, in a sense- Like the movies ...through watching movies. I'm like, "Well, this, this is-" Right "...what they do." Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And so I told them too, like, you know, like, put it, place it high and tight on me. I knew that, uh, from th-my first aid training.

And so, you know, like, so the one guy kinda held his hand, and the other [00:45:00] guy, you know, turned to put the belt around my leg and squeezed it on pretty good. And so I just knew that was gonna hurt, and so that did. And so in the meantime, so that's goin' on, and then, um I had another friend that was, uh, working at the bar who was actually the DJ.

Like he came out and so he saw what has happened and he's kind of frantic but like he got down near me and was hol- holding my head off the ground 'cause it was a cold night in Cleveland, Ohio right? Like I-- So I'm laying on that cold concrete And so he's kinda holdin'- It gets windy there ... yeah He's, so he's kinda holding my head off the ground and then I had someone else holding my hand and so these like two three guys were just constantly trying to talk to me.

So in the meantime I'm just like I'm just tryna stare at like a star and focus on my breathing so I didn't want my eyes to go everywhere

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ...

Jared Ewing: and now I was just trying to focus on my breathing so I wouldn't go into shock .Yeah .. I had told , I had told a few people to put like a coat or two coats like, like put some coats over me to keep me warm Warm.

And so, so I'm just laying there I'm trying to answer their questions right and I know [00:46:00] what they're trying to do you know I know they're trying to keep my mind off th-the..yeah.... the situation Yep am I

Ally Brettnacher: gonna die? Yeah

Jared Ewing: Yeah yeah and so but in the meantime like so many thoughts are going through my head like I tell people It wasn't like my whole life flashed before for my eyes like that certainly did not happen Mm But you have so many so many racing thoughts and this is like like I tell people it was just like "Am I gonna die here?"

Is this how this ends?' Like," Am I gonna see my parents again? Am I gonna see my goddaughters again?" You know My friends and just worried about just seeing like all these people again. I didn't know if I was gonna literally die on that cold concrete and then I had things going through my mind like I still haven't done this I still haven't done that I haven't you know The World Majors coincidentally they come into my mind because I was like I'm in the best shape of my life I had all these other majors I had just learned about the A-World Ab-AbMajors Um like certainly that's done Uh I was thinking about my career in the army you know i didn't know if I was gonna keep my leg or not and I was like certainly e-even if I stay in the Army my career is probably not gonna be what it was because I'm [00:47:00] gonna be put on like als-all these like things are racing through my mind and I'm just trying to m--just get myself to this ambulance Finally, the ambulance picks u- picks me up and, uh, they shot me up with something good in there, uh, because I blacked...

I, I blacked out for the ambulance ride, so that was the only time I really, like, was unconscious. Oh, right. Yeah, and so- Well, and

Ally Brettnacher: mean- meanwhile, I'm thinking about a weird thought is your Uber driver . Can you, like, imagine you're an Uber driver and you go to pick up this group of guys and girls, and then all of a sudden it's like who's canceling the Uber?

A weird thing to think about. Right. But you're like also- Yeah ...

Jared Ewing: you're like, "

Ally Brettnacher: Well, sir, we've, uh, encountered an issue."

Jared Ewing: Yeah, exactly. That

Ally Brettnacher: is so crazy. Yeah.

Jared Ewing: A lot of people saw re- It's insane. I was, yeah, l- r- origi- originally a lo- a lot of people weren't sure if it was an Uber driver that, because- Who the did it

so, so, so, so yeah. So, so- Let's talk about that .... so the s-... Yeah, so to back up the story a little bit, so I originally thought that the car had hit me 'cause that's ... I saw a car coming. Right. I, I hi- I'm on [00:48:00] ground, right? But what had happened was there was, uh, a ca- a lady she lost the wheel of the car and she slammed into wha- those concrete poles.

So those concrete poles are supposed to keep cars off the sidewalks. Uh, these were made kinda like ass backwards, uh, and, uh, they weren't the right ones and so when the car smashed into it all the concrete, it was like a pretty marble concrete, all the concrete ripped off that like shrapnel would, and all that concrete w- dislodged off onto my leg and th- that's what about ripped my leg off was all the concrete from that, from that bollard.

Crazy. And I didn't know that until the next morning when I woke up in the ICU. Um, so yeah, so tha- that was kind o f h- what, what happened during that, how the accident happened. Again, If I leave the bar a minute later, eh, it probably doesn't happen. If I leave the bar a minute sooner, that probably doesn't happen, right?

And so it just the, the fr- a freak of accidents. Wrong place, wrong time or right place, right [00:49:00] time. Yep.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Um,

Jared Ewing: and so, so yeah, so- The driver

Ally Brettnacher: She was intoxicated correct? The driver of that vehicle? Yeah. Y-

Jared Ewing: yeah. So- Uh, yeah unfortunately she was

Ally Brettnacher: And so how do you think about that particular topic, like drunk driving and do you- did you follow what happened to her at all?

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Marker

Ally Brettnacher: And so how do you think about that particular topic, like drunk driving and do you- did you follow what happened to her at all? Did you just kinda like immediately put that out of your mind? What is, what was that piece of it like?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so I, once I found out that it was a drunk driver, you know, I, uh, I had thought about it and then I just... People were telling me more, like more about, about her and like at the time, she was, I guess, like s- she was a, she's a single mom with, she was a single mom with like a 12-year-old daughter.

And, um, I, I don't know. My, my heart just kind of went out to her immediately. I really wasn't thinking about myself. Um- Yeah ... I don't know, maybe call that a gift from God. That's k- kind of just how I [00:51:00] am. I'm empathetic. Yeah. And, uh- Mm ... I just kn- I just knew this, like look, like she was obviously not doing the right thing.

She was very irresponsible. I was doing the right thing. I was Ubering all night, but, but then I just, just knew she didn't go out in the, in, in the beginning of the night and say, "Hey, I'm gonna mess some dude's life up." She wasn't thinking that, right? It w- it, it was a dumb mis-- very dumb mistake Yeah ... it was, it was an accident.

Um, and so just knowing that she was a single mom and knowing there was gonna be some sort of justice, I felt terrible for like her daughter and everyone else. Like e- everyone else was kinda, was gonna be the victims not- Right ... I never, I n- I don't really have a victim mindset, so I thought about like how it affects like my friends that were there that night and saw it firsthand- Yeah

or like my parents or my friends that had to be put through the worry or like her- Yeah ... her daughter and stuff like that. And so- Mm-hmm ... you know, I ha- I had six months to really think about it. I saw her in [00:52:00] court and I, I was able to tell her that I forgive her and I got to say my piece. I had been thinking about that for six months.

Um- Wow ... there was never no hate in my heart. I had been thinking all, like how I was gonna forgive her for like six months, and uh, got to say my piece- Wow ... and I was, I was very glad I could because I knew- Hmm ... I saw the look in her eyes and just knew it kind of like changed, changed, uh, you know, her life probably.

And uh, yeah she was just very surprised. Her lawyer was very surprised, the judge was when I was in there. Uh, you know the judge was like, you know he told me I was a breath of fresh air, that people come in there and they, they just cry victim the whole time and this everybody points to everyone else and he just- Okay

and then he gave my parents a compliment and that felt really good, really good to have my parents in the back of the courtroom and because I am the person I am because of my parents and it just felt good getting that compliment that you know they raised me right and stuff and uh. Yeah so then eventually she was able to say her peace and you [00:53:00] know she apologized and I, I felt like it was good enough for me you know I, I saw the look in her eyes and again I think she was more shocked than anything f- about hearing me, uh, forgive her and, and talk.

Uh, so I kinda knew- Wow ... that's proba- after I, after I spoke it was probably gonna be hard for her or anyone else to kinda speak up after that you know it's after like a really big act then you have to come on- Yeah ... after that. So, uh, s- I think I mean she was completely I think just shocked. She wasn't expecting that from me but I could tell it really meant a lot to her so- Yeah

after that cour- after that court date I really haven't thought anything, anything more you know I think that's the beauty of, of forgiveness and you know in The Bible it tells you to forgive and really it's the biggest gift to yourself. I mean sure you're, you're forgiving them but it's a gift to yourself and allows you to move forward and I've always known that too.

So I was like I have a huge journey in front of me, I don't wanna have hate in my heart, I don't want to have any of th-- N-no negativity 'cause I'm gonna need all the positivity I can get moving forward with this, with this [00:54:00] leg. Yeah. And so once I was able to really say that piece to her I was able to really move forward and again I hardly ever-- Every once in awhile I'll wonder how she's doing but other than that is like I don't really think about that but Again, as far as the topic of drinking and driving obviously like uh I will say too like what made me very empathetic was you know when I was 21 there was no Ubers and so- Oh my God tell me about it.

Mm ... So I'm, so I'm not a perfect individual right? Right. By no means. You know I did really stupid stuff just I'm very lucky and very blessed not to have ever you know caused no harm and so that's another reason why I'm very empathetic is I know first and foremost I'm not a perfect individual and so that's how I think I was able to kind of get through that like I did.

Ally Brettnacher: That's incredible. It says a lot about you, a lot about your yeah and a lot about your parents. This is a good opportunity to talk about your faith because we talk about forgiveness. Like what religion or denomination were you raised as, as? Is that where your faith comes from or did your faith come later in life?[00:55:00]

Jared Ewing: Yeah. Uh so I've, I've always been a Christian non-denom. Um growing up I, I liked, I liked to laugh at people who say I was kind of a mutt. So although like my parents, my parents always believed in, in God and in Jesus we never really went to church. It was just you know sort like always had kids around just didn't never really-- I mean it's no excuse but just like not really any time so we just always kinda drove forward in, in the family and never really went to church but like uh As I got older into like my middle school days and high school days my parent-- my mom would always tell me to go spend the night at so-and-so's house and go to church with them on Sunday and so I had a bunch of friends and every friend seemed like they were a different denomination whether they were Baptist or Protestant or Catholic and so I literally got to go to church see these different churches how they were ran and that's why I always say I'm kind of like a mutt.

S-so- That's funny Yeah But I always knew like hey th-there was always one thing There was God and there was Jesus and Jesus died for us and that was always like the main thing And so I had always [00:56:00] b-, always believed that growing up and just uh bo-- after my accident was when my faith really, really grew a lot right.

I really leaned in on, on the faith and everything 'cause I had always believed and always knew like the major lessons in The Bible and stuff like that and I'm a, um type person I, I l-I like stoicism I like all the cliche sayings I believe in 'em and I feel like the more that you can live your life by those t-the better you can y-you can do this thing called life And so when something really big tragic happens to you, you really have to lean on that stuff And so I did My, my uh leaning on my faith and uh it's really just grown and grown throughout the years and just uh really become closer you know with God and Jesus ever since that time

Ally Brettnacher: Well, he's good to have when you're up in the mountains at like mile 70 or whatever

Jared Ewing: Absolutely yes, yes.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, yeah.

Jared Ewing: Well that- A different- ... it's really cool ... a different sort of pain. Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, for sure. [00:57:00] Man and so you were saying you had six months to really think about it. So maybe talk a little bit about your recovery journey and then yeah how you found your way back to running.

Jared Ewing: Man, yeah. So we, yeah we can get back to the story.

Sure. So basically, uh, when I got... So they were... So now I'm in the ambulance ride. They're, they're driving me to the hospital. I'm blacked out but then I woke up in the ER. They're cutting all the clothes off me and so this wasn't a shock to me. I knew this is what happens before you go into surgery. Oh. So I knew we were gonna be going in the OR there.

And, uh, so they're asking me questions and like I'm kinda knocking them out the park so I was like pretty proud of myself that I was able to answer all these questions for them. And, uh, yeah, so they're, they're telling me like "Hey," like you know they'd ask me what's my parent's phone numbers 'cause those are the only phone numbers that I knew.

And they're like th- th... And then they asked me who sh- who should they c- contact? And so they had contacted my parents and they're, uh, yeah just trying to get me ready to take me back into the, into the OR. And so [00:58:00] before that they put me out they were like, "Hey do you want us to contact anyb- uh do you want us to contact your parents?"

I said, "Yes please." I said, yeah I said, "Call my parents" I said, "But don't tell them too much", I said because I just knew calling them at like 3:00, 4:00 in the morning my mom's gonna go z- z- z- Yeah, that's hard She's... It's gonna be, yeah it's gonna be really hard for her and my dad right? So now that- Mm-hmm .... I was just worried about them and I was like so- Yeah

I was like, like let them know they need to get here but don't tell them too much but let them know that they need to get here and that I love them. And so they're like okay and they're like next thing was like hey like we're gonna be putting you under soon. We just gotta let you know now that like your le- your leg is very mangled up and we're not sure if we can save it.

And so I just told them like listen I don't even care about my leg at this point I just wanna stay alive, right? 'Cause at this point I still wasn't... You know I had, at that point like when I was laying on the concrete I thought I could possibly die. I was losing so much blood and then when I got to the ER even I still was like unsure.

Yeah I was so out of it [00:59:00] um an- and they were giving me blood and so I just e- again I just didn't care about the leg I just wanted to stay alive and so that's why- Yeah ... I told them. AnD I told them j- just try your best. I said try your best and w- we'll go to battle back there together and they said okay and so then they, uh, they put me out and so then the next thing you know I'm waking up in the ICU And so I have to, I have to see if I got my leg right.

So I have to-- 'cause I knew that was the thing before I went under, was like they might take it. And so the first thing I checked was, was, was my, was my left leg and I kinda still saw my foot down under the covers and so it was like the big like phew, like okay we, we, we made that checkpoint. Like all right, like we still have my leg.

And then I was like I wonder if I can move it and I really couldn't like move it at all. The only thing I could move was my toes but I thought in my head that was like a big, like a big like okay like phoo- That's good yeah ...like another ch- another checkpoint. Like all right, like that connection, like I got my toes, like at least I can move

the farthest thing that's [01:00:00] like on my limb. And so at that point I kinda had like this, this sense of like I'm gonna be okay. I got my leg, I can move my toes and I d- at this point I had like my, my, my parents were in the ICU room and I saw some friends in there too and I just knew things were gonna be okay from there.

I di- didn't know what the future was gonna hold but I was gonna be okay and so then I kinda just I pushed the button again that kind of knocked myself out and so I woke up a few hours later and that was whenever the uh, the surgeons had came in. And so then I was talking to them about like that's when they told me what had actually happened about the car hitting the bollard and I got that story and then they had told me like hey back in surgery that they were able to save my leg but there was a lot of debridement meaning like a lot of concrete stuff they had to pull outta there, things they had to remove and they said that my calf muscles and my Achilles tendon were completely destroyed so that they had to remove those.

And so at that point that was a very daunting thing to hear because I just kept on [01:01:00] thinking like I'm thirty-two years old and I'm just not gonna have my c- my calf muscles and Achilles the rest of my life? Like you know that's a very daunting feeling to think about.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: Um, and I just knew I had a lotta life to live, a lot of things I needed to get done and I know those are some very important parts and so that was very again just a daunting feeling but I let myself sit in that, that feeling for a couple minutes as they were talking to me but by the time we were th- they were, they were done talking to me I was ov- I was over it and I was just moved...

I flipped the switch and I was moved forward. Um, I just thought "Hey, we can't be worried about that. That's the past now." Again s-so there's no, no dwelling in the past. There's no dwelling in this negative space that's not gonna help me out. But we have to be grateful that I still have a leg, I still have parts there and just thankful to just be alive and let's move forward the best we can with what we have and so that was kind of my mindset switch just after j-just a few minutes and again that's, that's been an absolute...

That was [01:02:00] huge for me to kinda again move forward and focus on where do we go on from here and so From there, I had to have a few more surgeries because they still had to go in and do more cleaning out of the leg. There was daily bandage changes which were-- was the worst pain I can, I can ever- Oh,

Ally Brettnacher: I... Yeah, mm-mm.

Jared Ewing: It's, it's, it's the worst. I mean, from any movie that you see, I mean, for, for some reason at that point they wouldn't put me under for the bandage changes, and I was asking for that because- Yeah ...I mean, I was extremely still open and, uh- Mm-hmm ....it just-- They, th-they would have me on the maxed, maxed pain meds.

They'd put-- give me my emergency made, uh, pain meds, and wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't even come close to touching that pain. It was the worst pain ever. I mean, I looked-- did not look forward to those bandage changes, so that was one of the worst things ever in the hospital. Yeah. Were you the only

Ally Brettnacher: one treated out of your friends that were there?

Were you the only

Jared Ewing: one who went to the hospital? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank goodness. Uh, another guy got hit with a [01:03:00] chunk of concrete too but it un- it unfortunately w- didn't do anything to him 'cause he was standing too far away. Um-

Ally Brettnacher: That's crazy. Like even stitches?

Jared Ewing: Not even stitches? No. Jeez. Yeah, nothing.

Nothing, yeah. So I- Well, that's good. Yep ...I got it. Yeah, I got the brunt of it and, uh so yeah, we had a f-few more surgeries. I had a surgery, uh, that was called a muscle flap surgery. So they take a, a piece of like your lat muscle because there's-- The point of, of me telling this was I had a huge gap on my shin where you could still see, see my actual tibia bone fr- It was like three inches by like two inches.

It was pretty big down there and of course you have to get coverage on that bone. You can't just let it sit open because if you catch an infection then you can obviously lose your leg and possibly lose your life. So we had to get coverage on tha- on that bone and so they did this surgery called a muscle flap where they take a muscle from ya somewhere else.

They took it from my lat and they try to cover the bone with it and try to get a blood supply connected to it so s- just so it's, it's covering the shin [01:04:00] and then, then they can skin graft you over. And unfortunately that was supposed to be like a six-hour surgery and it turned into like a 15-hour surgery and they just couldn't get it to work unfortunately.

They just didn't know that the blood supply in my leg was so banged up and just useless from the accident and, uh, so they tried. Those, those surgeons tried for like 15, 16 hours talking about their own... I mean talk about a marathon for them on their feet- Right ...and everything, so God bless them- Yeah ...for trying so much but- Yeah ...um, when that surgery ended up not working They placed this material on my leg, it's a, uh, a synthetic material just made from like, uh, like a, like a pig or like a cow's, like matric tissues.

It's like for burn victims of the company's, uh, called PolyNovo but this, this is synthetic material they placed on my leg was a last-ditch effort that kinda just saved my l-- saved my leg for f-few days or weeks, right? So they weren't sure if this synthetic material was even going to work, but it's there just to save me a couple days and save me some [01:05:00] more options.

So from there, they were like: "Look, we put this material on your leg. It's not really made for v-- uh, for patients like you. Uh, it's made for burn victims. It's not really supposed to work, so we have to think about our other options." And at that point, there was really just two options. It was amputate my leg and move forward, or it was try ano-a-another muscle flap surgery, but they would take a, a muscle from like my good leg and like some veins from my good leg to try to get a good s-- blood supply.

And so really at that point I was so over surgeries. I was over them just taking other parts of me. I was frustrated from that other muscle flap surgery and I said: "Look If we gotta move forward from here, I just, I, I just wanna amputate my leg." And I'm like, "I know plenty of veterans and people who are li- thriving with, with, with prosthetics," and I'm like, "And if we try this other surgery it might not work."

I'm like, "Uh, but even if it does, like what if I have to amputate in the future? Now I'm missing a muscle from my good leg and veins. I just don't want that." So I said- [01:06:00] Yeah ... "I'm, I'm over, I'm over the surgeries." Uh, so in my head, I had in my head that I was amputating my leg. It was good as gone. So I had already started looking at like, uh, rehab facilities- Yeah

and stuff to go to that would, would be good for me to kind of, uh, move forward. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so yeah, I thought I was- Wow ... amputating my leg. And so- At

Ally Brettnacher: this point too, you're in the hosp- Like, you're in the hospital this entire time, correct?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, I'm still in the hospital. So you're

Ally Brettnacher: living, you're living in the hospital.

You're not able to walk and move around

Jared Ewing: or anything. What is that like? Yeah, I, I can't e- Yeah, I c- Yeah,

I couldn't even get out of bed. It was- Ugh ... you know, it was, it was pathetic, but you know, it is what it is. Uh- Yeah ... and that's why I tell people, like running was the furthest thing from my mind. Wasn't worried about it because I couldn't even get out of bed to g- you know, to use the restroom, right? It was just very, very pathetic.

You know, I had to- Yeah ... ask for help all the time. They had to bring you a bedpan. And I tell you what, I mean, I, I can joke ab- I can joke and laugh about it, but now ... But so, like the bandage changes was probably the worst [01:07:00] pain. Yeah. But also tr- trying to, trying to go number two laying down after ta- taking, after taking OxyContins, oxycodons to the max- Oh

for five days. Yeah. Five days, so it dries you up. And so, uh, trying to u- go number two lay-- It was, it was excruciating pain. And I'm like man, that, that up there too was just ... I, I mean, it was hard to take. Ugh. And so from there though, I, I was like, "Give me all the laxatives that you can give me-" Yeah "... every day"

Like whatever you need to do- Yeah, right ... just like get it out. Right. Yeah. So just like, you know, but here's the thing. Um, I, I never really like felt sorry for myself. It just ... It, it was what it was. And I'm a person too. I'm not afraid to ask for help. I think that's why a lot of ... You know, unfortunately there's a lot of suicides and, and, and, and mental health, uh, things with like, with men and women.

It's- Yeah ... a lot of people ar- are afraid to ask for help. And when you, when you need it, you need it. Yep. So I'm, I'm like w- when I need help, I am not afraid to ask for help. And so, uh, luckily I had my dad and my [01:08:00] mom that was pretty much in the hospital with me, so I was blessed enough to ... I was in the hospital for six weeks.

There was maybe, maybe two or three days I didn't have someone with me at all times. So I always had like ... You know, again, my, my dad was pretty much like just an adopted nurse in there, you know? Pretty much, eh, was able to kinda help me out with anything I needed, and was able to help the nurses out too i- in, in a way, and so it was, it was nice.

So So yeah, it was just, it was just wild. I couldn't even get out of the, get out of the bed, so I really wasn't even thinking about anything in the future up, up to that point. But-

Ally Brettnacher: Got it ...

Jared Ewing: yeah. But we were just kind of like, "Hey, that's-- what can we do to, to save this leg?" And so moving forward from there We were like, "Hey, we gotta look at the leg to see if that s- synthetic material is looking in my...

Is working in my leg." And so we took like, you know, like a, like a week or it might have been like two weeks. But, uh, when they took a look under the bandage, that, that material was working and I mean, the, the surgeon's eyes got really big. Uh, I mean, [01:09:00] you, you could tell he was not expecting it to work and so I could tell from that, that that was just like a r- just a really good sign.

Like man, like, like thank you God, like he, he's working something, a, a miracle, I mean of some sorts. Yeah. But yeah again, that material wasn't supposed to work and but it was working. And, uh, so it was just like again just another like phew, hey, we got made it, made it past another part. But what I didn't know from there was, was the biggest decision I had to make was now that we could keep the leg, it was should we keep the leg?

Now we had to decide-

Ally Brettnacher: Geez ...

Jared Ewing: do I keep the leg or not because we can keep it doesn't necessarily mean I should keep it, right? And so went into like a couple days later, went to a just my new, at, at that point was a new, like a new, uh, room. But there was like s- like five doctors that came in, right? There was like a doctor of like orthopedics, a doctor of like physical therapy.

There was a doctor of, uh, you name it. All sorts of d- different doctors in there and so 'cause [01:10:00] this was a big decision for me and they had to check my leg out to see what was possible with it. And so they was like picking it up and moving, moving kinda my joints around. And again, like I had strong quads, strong hamstrings at least for w- for after being in the bed for so long but still, still had them pretty strong and so everything there was good to go.

And so the knee, the knee was good. Everything was fine but again the ankle I just couldn't move the ankle at all, you know, after having the, the calf muscles and Achilles removed. And I could still move my toes a little bit and kinda hammer curl those, those toes down. And so they had told me like, "Look," like, "If you wanna keep your leg you can but the future is like v- so unsure."

They're like, "But then if you keep it you're never gonna be running marathons again." And they hadn't like...'Cause they had knew I had ran a few marathons.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: But what was kind funny about that too was they didn't know like I had run four marathons which again it's all perspective, but for me I'm like okay if I never run marathons [01:11:00] again I'm fine.

I did like running at that time still, right? So I'm like you mean to tell me I never have to push myself 26 miles? That's fly.Like- Cool. Like i-- Yeah cool like- And again like as, as just a, um, a mindset of like just gratitude of just knowing I've ran four marathons. A lot of people came and say they've ran one or even ran a half marathon.

Right. So like If I don't run any more marathons like I'm good like I've, I've, I've lived that life. I've done marathons. I'm good moving forward regardless But they were like, "Yeah, if you, you don't keep your leg, you're never gonna be running marathons again." They're like, uh, "But on the, on the other side, like if we amputate, you can get back-- You can get like a running prosthetic, these prosthetics, and you can get back to being mo- active," 'cause they know I was an active person.

And so I kinda like knew all that, right? Like I was like, okay, like, like I kinda know that. Like I knew-- I kno- I know some vets and just people with prosthetics who are thriving again. So I was like, okay, like that is an option. And so I had a really big decision to make, you know. Do we amputate or don't we?

And, uh, [01:12:00] again, just really thought about it a lot and, uh, there really wasn't much help with the people, right? Like, so, you know, everybody was like, "It's your decision" and j-just understand. You know, like just tell me . Yeah. A-and I, I understand it, right? No one, no one wants to make that decision for you if they can.

Right, right. It has to be your decision. But at the same time I'm like, "Just tell me what to do", right?Yeah. Uh, and so I, you know, again, I just leaned on my faith, and I prayed about it and, uh, just, you know, got a good, good night's sleep and woke up the next day and just started thinking about it again and I just thought like, hey, at this point let's keep the leg because if I keep it I could see what we can get out of this leg and if I don't like it in the future, if it gives me problems I could always amputate.

That's fine. Um, in my mind, again, I had already lost my leg in my mind so it wouldn't be much more to just actually go through with it. Yep. But I kept on thinking e- but if I amputated it right now I'll be wondering my entire life like what c- I have done with that leg if I would just cap it. [01:13:00] So I thought just th- for me the, the easy decision at that point was let's just keep it and, and move forward and go from there.

So that's pretty much what I decided to do at that point was I decided to keep it.

Ally Brettnacher: Wow! And then how are you on time by the way because I don't wanna go over if you have something else

Jared Ewing: Oh, I don't have anything. We're good to-

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, good 'cause I'm like-

Jared Ewing: Yeah ...

Ally Brettnacher: I don't wanna rush this last 12 minutes. It's

Jared Ewing: tot- yeah, not yet I was like, "I don't know how we're gonna do that."

No, it's, it's totally up to you. Yeah, I can-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. No, I'm good too. Um- I

Jared Ewing: can stay on here as long as, I can stay on here as long as you want.

Ally Brettnacher: Okay, so you have like six hours. We're just gonna hang out. I'm just kidding. But I could talk to you for that long. Okay. Yeah. Um, so at this point, like I'm pic- trying to picture what your leg looks like.

Like even when you leave the hospital and you're starting to go to rehab or wh- whatever's next, I picture no calf muscle meaning like your ... there's almost like a chunk out of your leg. But like could you describe kind of what your leg was like then and kind of what it is now?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so it, it, it's, it's very mu- It's just, it's just, it's obviously skinnier.

[01:14:00] Uh, so- Yeah ... another thing they had told me was, so, uh, they, you have soleus. So, or they're very small calf muscles. So your gastrocs are your big boys that you always see in everyone's legs when they're running. Yeah. So those were completely removed. The soleuses were kept in there, but they told me they kept those in there because they wanted it to look like a leg in case I was keeping thy li- my leg.

But they said- Right .... they're complete- They're like, If you ... They're completely useless. Your Achilles, because your Achilles is gone, you have no use of them. They're like, "But if you end up keeping your leg, we want your leg to look like a leg." And so it, it looks like just a smaller, just a ... It looks like a, just a smaller like real leg.

But then I have skin graft everywhere 'cause the majority of my leg had to be skin grafted. And so there was just a big chunk. It just, it, it's like skin gra- It's, it's, it's skin graft and it looks lit- little smaller, but it took a long time for it to look like that. But at that point when I was leaving the hospital, I still had a huge gap kind of like Over my, my shin bone 'cause they had to keep [01:15:00] on going in to plug in more of that synthetic material.

So I had weekly procedures for the longest time where I had to keep going back to the hospital, keep b- being put under for them to put more of that synthetic material in my leg until it could officially be skin grafted over. But in the meantime, in the meantime... So there was-- I was in that main hospital for six weeks, but then they had moved me from there and I got moved into a nursing home.

And how I ended up in a nursing home was- That's right . Yeah. I, how I ended up in a nursing home was that, uh, insurance wanted me out of the main hospital, but they-- I had to go somewhere because I was still having weekly procedures. Nurses still needed to take care of me in some sort of fashion, and so I couldn't go home.

And so I had like plenty of places to choose from, but up in the Akron area I found this nursing home that my dad used to work at a long time ago. And I just knew it was a good middle area that friends could come see me and visit and family could. And so, uh, I decided to go there. It was like a, a nursing [01:16:00] home/rehabilitation place.

Uh, and so yeah, I, I, I get there and I'm by far the youngest person as you would expect by probably- Yeah ....like four- forty years, right? Yeah, at least. And, and so I was kind of a rock star in there. It was, uh, it was a p- it was a pretty awesome time. You know, there was all these old timers and they see this young guy and of course like they all wanna share their stories and stuff.

So like-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah ...

Jared Ewing: you know breakfast, lunch and dinner I kinda got the... And at that point I only had like one grandparent left so it was kinda nice just having all these old timers. Yeah. Kinda reminded me of my grandparents and so just kind of like them helping me and me helping them, just listening to their, all their stories.

Mm-hmm. And of course like I'd go like t-to the old bingo night and do that with them. Yeah.I was gonna ask. Yeah you playin',

Ally Brettnacher: you playing euchre. You're from the Midwest. You

Jared Ewing: probably play euchre in the local

Ally Brettnacher: nursing home. Yeah.

Jared Ewing: Ye-yeah, yep and uh- Yeah ...so it was just a good time and then, and then I guess, you know, the younger nurses in there I guess w-would like fight over who's bringing me like my tray 'Cause I was still like thirty two at the time [01:17:00] so I wasn't an old buff yet but uh- Right ...it was just like you know d-, it was just kinda, it was just funny that I was in there and uh, it was a good time.

I was in there for four weeks. I'd go to physical therapy and occupational therapy each day and again I'm kind of a go getter so the joke was every time I showed up at physical therapy they'd ask me like what, what everybody else should be doing. Like "Okay Jared it's time, you know, wha-what should you be doing?"

or "What should we be doing?" Like the physical therapist would be asking me what they should be doing because they saw I was just like a go getter and just getting after it. You know I had the, I had the nutrition background, a little bit of a exercise science background and again just someone that kinda like knew some things about uh exercising and rehab.

Uh I was able to kinda do a little bi- always do more than th- what they wanted me to do so that was always like just kind of funny when I'd show up they'd, they'd tell me that but then again Um, only four weeks in there 'cause of insurance again kicking me out of there 'cause I was doing too well. So like insurance just always just wants to move you [01:18:00] on.

And, uh, at this point I still had the open gap on my leg. It wasn't skin grafted over yet. And so but I had to go somewhere and so luckily I got some really good friends, uh, my buddy and his wife, and they let me move into their house- What? ...in the, uh, in the s-- i-i-in the Hartville area, so just a little bit south of Akron because at this point still, again, weekly procedures and I couldn't, I couldn't, I was...

I couldn't go back to Columbus 'cause Columbus to Cleveland's like two and a half hours, so I couldn't be doing a five-hour day of driving once a week. And so my buddy and his wife had like... They had like a, like a living area and like, and then a, like a living room. And the living room was hardly ever anybody ever went in there.

And so they let me move in there, move in there, and they moved the bed downstairs into that living room for me. And, you know, my two goddaughters was there. They were like six and four at the time. Oh my gosh. And I absolutely just, I just, I loved it, right? Like it was like a big deal to the, to my goddaughters having [01:19:00] Uncle Jared there.

Ally Brettnacher: Aw.

Jared Ewing: And, uh, it was just, you know, it was such good energy, man. Just, you know, I, at the time, you know, I absolutely just like loved having the k- the kids around and they just bring this, this energy. They don't really know anything better. They just think you're like injured and there. Yeah. So they're just bringing all this fun energy.

So they were never like a, a pain or anything, but it, it was a, it was just a, a blessing to be able to share, share that time with them. It was like eight weeks. But th- here's where the s- the story, the story really changes is week one I'm there, a physical therapist comes out to the house to see me, gives me some things to do in the house I'm like, "Okay, that's great."

But in the back of my head I'm like, "That's not gonna get the job done." So he d- He leaves me and says he'll see me in a week. And so I knew the YMCA was nearby, and I know at this point, like, I could... If I could crutch-- If I could use a walker to get to my car, I can use a walker to get inside the Y, and I can walk around in the YMCA and work out.

And so I had cabin [01:20:00] fever, you know, for being, like- My gosh ... 14 weeks of it in a hospital setting. And I was like just because one limb's bad doesn't mean I can't work out the three other limbs, and like I just felt like I needed to work out. Just, you know, movement is healing, and I needed to make it to the gym.

That's all I needed to do. And so with my wrapped up leg, you know, uh, each day I would, I would walk, get in my car and go down to the Y and just I'd use all the weight machines every day and start working out, and I was like what a good opportunity for me to like to get my muscles all big again and jacked up, you know, on my upper, upper body.

Yeah. And so I was like let's go. You know, start using all the weight machines and, uh, I would use, you know, the other leg. I would try to use whatever I could of it on like those machines. And eventually, I was like there was treadmills there and I was like let's get on the treadmill and um- Oh my gosh.

It's crazy ... let's, let's see what... Yeah. Let's, let's just do a little bit and get off of there. And so I would have to hold onto the railings and just take like minor steps, but I was like let's just do like a [01:21:00] quarter mile and get off 'cause I knew we were just starting from zero again. And again, I knew I had all the time in the world to get better.

I didn't have to rush, rush back. I-

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm ....

Jared Ewing: had, again, had all the time, and so I said let's just get a little bit stronger each day and let's go a little bit farther each day. And so Each day on the treadmill, I would just go a little bit farther. Maybe it was a third of a mile, uh, maybe it was a half mile just each day and then I'd get off, you know?

And then I started using the stair stepper, a stair stepper with still like an open wound on my leg. Uh, but again, like it really wasn't like hurting, hurting. Like I knew I wasn't injuring myself. That's the key here is like I know the difference be- b- between hurting my-- like injuring myself worse or, or just pain from just growth or whatever.

Yeah. And so I would get on that treadmill each day and go a little bit farther. And so before I knew it, I could do one mile on the treadmill. Before you knew it, I could do two miles on the treadmill. Three. And so there was a lot of walking though, right? This is where the walk/jog kind of m- was a huge aha [01:22:00] moment in my mind.

I was like, "Well, if I just walk more, I can walk a little bit farther. I don't have to be jogging the whole time or running." And so once I got to like three miles, I started the engines, you know, uh, the, the, the wheels in my head started turning and I'm like, "Man, I could probably do a little bit farther."

And then I started thinking too, like let's turn these workouts into like maybe, uh, maybe I, I jog a little bit more of the mile within the mile. And so it just became this... every day was like this big experiment, this fun, the fun to see like what can I do today? How can I get better? How can I change up the workout to b- be a, to make me a little bit stronger than I was yesterday?

So sometimes I would jog a little bit more within that mile. Sometimes I'd go a little bit faster within that mile. Uh, but I always knew if I had to go another mile or further distance, I would just walk a little bit more.

Ally Brettnacher: Did you journal during this time or like use Strava to keep track of your progress at all or?-

Jared Ewing: No. No, I, I d- I definitely should have, but I really wasn't journaling or anything like that. I wasn't back onto Strava [01:23:00] yet. Um, so, uh, just kinda just doing my own thing- Yeah ...just on the, on the treadmill and just paying attention to like just knowing kinda like each day was a new PR, so that's always the fun thing about these big accidents and, and, and changes is- Yeah ...every new distance, every new distance was a PR, so every day was literally a PR.

Or like maybe I did a little bit faster, and so that would be like a new PR and- Uh-huh ...so again, just, just, just making the best of it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Did you tell your PT that was coming over like once a week like or- Oh, so - ...probably more than once a week. Like, "Hey, so by the way, I just like ran wa- walk/jogged three miles yesterday," and they're pr-

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so the PT, the PT when he came week two, just like w- the next time he came, he saw me doing so well.

He was like, "I don't think, I think my job here is done.I don't think y- you know, I need to continue seeing you unless you want." And I'm like- Right ....and I told him, I was like, "uh, no, I think-" Right. "...I, I kinda got this handled right." And so- Yeah ...that was it, right? That was done seeing him. And in the meantime, again, I was seeing my, my [01:24:00] surgeon for like weekly procedures, and he saw me getting better and better.

And by the middle, it's crazy, by the middle of April He's like, "I'm not signing you up to do like any more physical therapy." He's like, "If you want to," he's like, "I definitely can write you up that." He's like, "But you're doing amazing and doing all this." He's like, "Just keep on doing what you're doing and then, you know, and keep on showing up and then, uh, yeah, we can get you back to work eventually."

And, and so like that was the middle of April, just four months after the accident.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: And so by Memorial Day, the end of May, I could do my own 5K on the treadmill. And so I could do, you know, 3.1 miles on a treadmill and I'm like, man, like this is just five months after the accident, I can do three miles.

I'm like, if I can do three miles, I bet you I can do six if I... You know, I bet you I can do a 10K- Yep ... if I would-- If I just would just keep walking and just get a little bit stronger each weekend. And so I would kind of do that, like just make, try to go one more mile [01:25:00] after each weekend. Just so not really changing up any of the mileage, but let's go one more mile and, uh By July, I was doing like-- Yeah, I was doing like six or seven miles on the treadmill and my d- my, my surgeon cleared me to go back to work.

At this point now, I was finally closed up. The procedures were all done. I was skin grafted up fully, and so the surgeon was like, "Hey," he's like, "I'll clear you to get back to work, uh, if you wanna go back to, uh, Columbus." And so finally it was time, so I moved back down to Columbus so I could get back with my unit and start working.

Well, what was the gracious thing about that too now was when I started back with them, they told me, "We want you to continue just rehabbing yourself for like half the day and then you can come into work half the day." And so that was sounding like an amazing plan. Wow! So I got a pass to the Ohio State's Rec Center and I just continued working on myself every day, every morning for like four hours, and then I'd go onto the unit and kinda just help [01:26:00] around do whatever I could.

And, uh, yeah before you knew it- Yeah ...uh, it was like August. You know September I was going farther and farther. I could get up to nine miles and so we had sign-- I had signed up for the Air Force, uh, marathon, the, the ten K 'cause a buddy from the unit wanted to do the ten K with me. He, uh, had never even did a ten K and so we just thought, hey what a cool idea it would be for me to do the ten K in front of him to do that with me, and we get to-- he gets to be there for me in that moment.

And so Air Force Marathon Morning or whenever the ten K was, we was able to do that. I did a walk jog routine the whole time and passed that with flying colors but like you can do anything that you want to as long as y-you really put your mind to it and know like it's not gonna come easy and know that there's gonna be a lot of, you know again like falls and failures before you get to that point but you can do it and so that's kind of my, my message to everybody.

Uh, you know absolutely you know to my guy, to my guy kids [01:27:00] and to, and those people at that point and from thereon it was just like well someone told me I was never even gonna run marathons again so if I can do a marathon what else can I do? Like what else is possible? So it's like how much faster can I do these things or how much like farther can I go?

Ally Brettnacher: Jesus. That's, I mean that is just insane 10 months Yeah 10 months. It's so- Yes ... inspiring, just your-- And I think it's such a good lesson in mindset 'cause you could have easily slipped into like the darkest depression and I'm sure there were days that weren't all sunshine and rainbows obviously. It was very hard time- Correct Yeah

but still you could have chosen that path and to dwell on what had happened to you and woe is me, but instead you've, I mean gosh built this crazy life.

Jared Ewing: Yes. Sheesh! Right yeah always th- yeah I always think about that like uh you know or uh like what others think. It's like um I could yeah I could have very much uh chose the, the negative path and I could be yeah in a wheelchair and s- hooked on [01:28:00] drugs and everything else- Yep

but you know you have t- you always have a choice to make when something big happens like that they say "What is it?" It's like life is 10% what happens to you and 90, 90%- Right ... how you react from it. Yes. Yep. And it's so true. It's absolutely so true and uh- Yeah ... I've always just been a positive moving forward guy and so that's it.

Yeah. You know? That's exactly it.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah so that was 2018 your accident and then so that was 2019 Columbus Marathon. Correct. And then um were you actually... But when the accident happened in 2018 were you signed up for any races in the spring? Like were you ready- No ... for your next marathon? Okay well that's good -I guess At this point Jared did you know about the classification of adapted athletes adaptive athletes- No

The T40, what is it T44 classification?

Jared Ewing: Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: that's what I am Had you known about that you could have probably run it- Yes ... that way but you just didn't know. I mean..

Jared Ewing: E- correct yeah So like at, at that point I really didn't know about because no other world marathons have these divisions or categories so I didn't know [01:29:00] like there was even that was even a thing.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Jared Ewing: And so once I got to Boston and got, got entered a charity and all of that was once I, I went there I found out j-just, just by this like just like looking around and seeing all like these amputees and stuff running and then I just got curious about it and that's how I started looking into the- That makes sense ....adaptive an-and para-athletes and that's how uh I kinda got into, into that space.

But yeah,- Sure ...so the Boston Marathon was, was my first major which is usually one of the eh hardest ones you know for everyone else- Right ...to kind of get into.

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm.

Jared Ewing: And so I di- I did pri-, I, I did pay quite a bit out of pocket for that but for me I had thought it was well worth it right? Like once in a lifetime experience who knows if I'ma be able to do it how many more times I'll be able to do it and so uh yeah that was, that was that and then I kind of like hey let's figure out a way to get to these other majors and that's when I uh I found Kelly with, with Fitness International Travel 'Cause tour [01:30:00] operators are one of the few ways you can make it to these other, other marathons.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. And that was, was Boston 2024 then the first time you did Boston

Jared Ewing: Uh, let me... I-

Ally Brettnacher: I'm trying to keep track of the- This,

Jared Ewing: this was my fourth year, so 2023 was-

Ally Brettnacher: 2023 ... it was the first year I did. Okay, '23. Okay. Well then I'm just thinking like, I mean obviously, I mean you and I have been talking for almost two hours and we haven't even talked about like 50 of the marathons that you've run.

Jared Ewing: Right.

Ally Brettnacher: It's just like you could spend-- I could literally do an episode on every marathon experience you've had.

Jared Ewing: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: It's just, it's just nuts. So where are you with, with 50 states at the moment? Have y- is that one that you're still going after?

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so I'm 27 states through it. Twenty-seven. But yeah, so I'm on the other, on the other side of the 25 and but yeah- Great

I'm still trying to get after it. Um, I- I ... Uh, it escalated quickly in the first year or two where I, I did like, you know, eight states like each year and, a- and but uh, it's, [01:31:00] that's kinda died down because now I've gotten into ultras and it's just so hard- Yeah ... to fit, fit in these different marathons while ultra training.

Um, but I'm trying to make a more of a emphasis to get back after the, that States, 50 States Challenge again 'cause I'm so goal oriented and kind of like getting the goals done and move them out the way so I can- Yeah ... move onto the other ones. But uh- Yeah ... yeah, 27 states through that and yeah- Wow ... I've, but yeah, I, I, I've r- I've ran on six of the seven continents and uh- Wait, that's another thing.

Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: So what's your last continent?'Cause you've done... Yeah, what's the last

Jared Ewing: one remaining? I still have to run South America. South

Ally Brettnacher: America. South America. Okay, okay. Yeah, 'cause- South Africa ... you've done Antarctica which is also insane

Jared Ewing: So I've been to South America, I just haven't... Because it's part of your journey to Antarctica, but it's, uh, I still have- Oh

to run a marathon there and so- Run there,

Ally Brettnacher: yeah ...

Jared Ewing: but, yeah. Great. So, but I do plan on running in Rio in June of next year and to finish that off. Okay,

Ally Brettnacher: cool. Yeah. Ooh, Rio is, what a magical place. Yeah, that's, that's crazy. And then [01:32:00] the other marathon you did in Africa too, just as an aside, is you did one, like a safari marathon, which- Yeah, that was all, it was called The Lion Run I'll, I should link the podcast, um, I should link the episode.

Um, I, I listened to your episode with Ally G, The Ally G Show, and I really enjoyed- Yeah ... that. Um, and she talked o-... To you a little bit more about that experience. So I'll point people there for that. But yeah, and then South America, Rio next year. So much, I just can't even imag- I, my brain can't truly comprehend it.

So- Okay, and then, and then you've also done, you know, now seven and eight, and then Shanghai at some poi-. I mean, you're just, you've done all these things that most people, like you said, have never, will never even run a marathon. That's it.

Jared Ewing: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: Absolutely. So one of the things I did want to make sure I asked you about was, there are a lot of conversations today now about, like, you can see, you can't see people's disability, right?

Whether it's mental or whatever. For you, that's similar, right? You didn't lose your leg, so you don't have, you know, a, a prosthetic, so people don't even know when they're running next to you that [01:33:00] you have- Right ... you're, that you're an adaptive athlete. What is that like? 'Cause it's gotta be kinda weird in, in a sense, 'cause you're kind of like, "You guys have no idea what I've been through."

This is crazy. Yeah, I'm g-...

Jared Ewing: I'm glad you br-, I'm glad you, I'm glad you brought that up, yeah, because not many people have asked me ab- uh, about that, like particular thing, but it's so true, right? Like, I'm, I'm out there and It's a crazy head space to be in because, like I-- uh, truly I just wanna be another runner.

I just want to fit in and just be another runner. But at the same time, I think it, like it... I'll get finished with these things and I'm like, man, like it'd be cool for other people to know like I am this person missing my calves and my Achilles, and I'm, I'm doing this like in this certain speed. And uh, like I kinda want people to know that too.

So it's like this weird headspace to be in where I just wanna fit in. I don't really care about the, like the, the necessarily the, like the big spotlight, but also like I kind of do want the spotlight . So it's like this weird s- this weird head space to be in. Totally can see that. Um, but I just-- Th- th- but the reason why is like, I [01:34:00] just, it's again, ev- every time something bad has happened to me or something big, I've always wanted to use it as a positive and inspire people.

Mm. So you know what I mean? That's my purpose. And I think that's a lot of what a lot of people's purpose should be, is like when something bad happens, use that as a positive and, and use it to inspire others, 'cause others are surely gonna be going through those same things. Right. And so, um, and so it's like I kind of what like people would know like, hey, like there's this guy out there with this disability and he's like running like three-hour marathons, like, uh- Yeah

and so it's like true, like so truly if he can do that, and he was told he'd never even run marathons again, that you can absolutely do anything. You know, y- now I'm not necessarily saying- You could run a mile. Yeah. Like- You don't have to necessarily run a three-hour marathon. You can go out there and run like a 5K or whatever, and it's absolutely amazing.

Yeah. But I think that that story and those sorts of stories can, can inspire people and inspire the world. And so, uh- Yeah. I agree ... you know, it's been, it's been, uh, yeah, and then also it's like when I'm running with like amputees and stuff, there's also that part of the [01:35:00] mindset I'll get to share with people.

It's like I'll see amputees and it's like I don't quite, I don't, I, I don't feel like I quite fit in with them. Yeah. But then I don't f- I d- I don't quite fit in with the people which is, like, regular, regular bodies and legs, and so I kind of, like, have to, like, fight my mindset with that. But I've talked to plenty of amputees and they are, they're like, "Jared, don't, don't think that way."

Like, you definitely... Like, "You're one of us," and so they've definitely, uh, brought me in. But it is something that, like, I deal with too, like, l- a lot in my mindset. But, you know- Yeah ... again, there's so many of them that have encouraged me, and I grow so much, uh, ins- inspiration and motivation from all of them every time I'm around them and stuff that- Mm-hmm

uh, you know, it's just we're one big community because we're all kinda all just, like, fighting for these different things. Whether it's like- Yeah … getting more categories or, like, getting, you know, divisions or, um, people get- people g- trying to get insurance for people's prosthetics and stuff. There's such a big fight going on for the adaptive and para world.

Right. So many things that, like, [01:36:00] we are our own little knit community, and we're just trying to- Hmm ... each kinda do our own thing to, like, make this world a better place.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah. Well, I when ... In preparing for this interview, I looked at our, our local marathon is the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, and I sat on our board for five years, and so I learned a ton.

Um, and one of the things that we, we have the category for adaptive athletes, but I read that we don't have awards for the adaptive athletes. They are categorized with everybody else, which I was like, okay, well, that's silly because yeah- Yeah ... somebody like Jared who's been through all of that should be able to be, you know, a- awarded in that category.

So yeah, it's gotta be all over the place in your experience in terms of what marathons do and, and don't have. Is there one that does it all the way right? Like where they have everything, they have the awards, they have what you need Who should we shout out?

Jared Ewing: Boston. Boston. Yeah, Boston definitely does it the right way.

Um, yeah, it gets, it gets frustrating, you know, showing up [01:37:00] to all these marathons and it's the same thing. And again, that's-- I don't necessarily... I- I'm not running for the podiums and the awards and any of that, but at the same time it feels really good to be recognized and it's-- There is something- Yes ...to it like, like again, like when you see Jared Ewing on a name like in Indianapolis, you ever see Jared Ewing three something, you're just gonna think he's just another regular individual.

You're not gonna know that he's- Absolutely ....he's missing, missing these, these parts and it's like, again, I just wanna be another runner, but also I should be like set- Yeah ...a little bit to the side that like, hey, he shouldn't be lumped in with these regular guys. He's try- like competing against regular individuals.

This dude's missing- Yeah ...these parts that make him go faster, you know? So it gets a little bit frustrating, but, uh, again, you kinda just... You can't be dwelling on that. You gotta see how you can change it and make it better. And so, uh, yeah, there are some marathons that do way better than others. There's very few, but like Boston for sure does it the, I'd say the best way.

Like of the majors it gets… I, I [01:38:00] even get frustrated with the majors. Um, I, I probably need to do-- Say, speak up or probably ruffle some feathers there. Yeah. But like, so, so Chicago So Boston and Chicago has qualifying times with us, right? So this is huge for me too. It's like- Right ... if you're gonna have q-- If you're gonna have qualifying time for men and women to get into some of these majors y- or, or marathons, you would think you would give qualifying times to somebody with a physical disability.

Like those would be the people you, you, you'd really wanna look out for by- Yeah ... they should really have a qualifying time. So like Boston and Chicago there's qualifying times so I can use my qualifying times to get into those. Once we get into Chicago um you get in, they kinda, they do a good job at like taking care of you once you're there.

They give you your own tents. Um, they have categories for us and divisions which is awesome And that's kind of like where I pretty much ... That's enough, uh but they don't do like awards or like uh or like money like, like Boston does. But again, I don't necessarily, that's, I [01:39:00] don't think that's necessarily my fight.

Um, people are pushing for that and that's fine. Yeah. Um more power to them. But then you say like a New York City marathon, right? This is who I'm frustrated with. They have qualifying times for men and women f-for nonbinaries but they don't have qualifying times for physical d- For adaptive athletes

physical disability or, or adaptive athletes, right? That's crazy. And I reached out for them just not knowing anyb- not knowing anybody. I'm like, "Hey, like I've ran these. Do you guys have any qualifying times for us?" Yeah. And they were unfortunately it was like, "No we don't." You have to pretty much get, you have to get in like anyone else does.

Anyone else. And once you get in- Well I have

Ally Brettnacher: one calf .

Jared Ewing: Right. And it's like onc-once you, once you get in, but once you get in you know obviously I'm grateful for them. They, they give us the buses comfy buses to the start line. Yeah yeah. They give us uh some tents and stuff too so they at least do that.

Yeah. But again it's the, it's the qualifying thing for me. Like if you're going to give qualifying times to everyone else you should really have qualifying standards- Right ... for us too. Like especially the people who are missing some parts that can't really- Yeah ...uh run a little bit [01:40:00] faster but- Right ...so there's that and then there's a lot of the majors don't have anything.

Don't have anything and it's just like you just Which oca- okay I mean at least i-it is what it is. I, I'm, I'm just like anyone else then. I gotta get into a lottery or tour operator. Yeah. Tha-that's, that's fine.

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah.

Jared Ewing: Um but then the majority yeah the majority of just regular marathons in your local cities and states they don't really have anything.

Right. Um- I think

Ally Brettnacher: it's such an important topic to at least for people to know and like consider because Yeah did you meet um I'm blanking on Steve's last name but he ran with Alan and he was also there in Boston this year with Christie and Jason might have been He was -- He's 80 years old; he has Parkinson's.

Oh

Jared Ewing: I'm not sure if I met him.

Ally Brettnacher: Anyway well I'm gonna connect - I might have. I've met

a- I want to connect you with him

Like there's not 80 to 85, 85 to 90- Yeah ... which you think like- Right ... okay, well not many [01:41:00] are. Well he's like, "Well no, you know, you should be rewarded for continuing-" Yeah, absolutely ... and persisting," you know?

Jared Ewing: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: So it's a similar kind of fight, and I, I just- And I th- I- I think it's a really good one.

Jared Ewing: Yeah, I think for me to add too, it's, I don't think it's anybody simply like in, like, like just saying like, uh, like with, with ill info- ill content, right?

Oh, yeah. Okay, yes. I don't think anybody's, right? It's I, I just think, I think people don't know what they don't know. Mm-hmm. I think it's as simp- like simply that. Um, but at, at a certain point though, that excuse kinda has to s- quit going away 'cause now there's more of us out there. Yes. But again, I didn't know about it, you know, ignorantly, ignorantly enough.

I didn't know about it until I got s- kinda thrusted into that sort of world. And so, uh, so now I do know about it and I see it on the daily, and I do so many races now, right? It's not like I just do one marathon a year. I, I'm doing like 10, right? So it's like I really get to see all these, I, I get to see all these different marathons everywhere else.

And again, when you don't see- Yeah ... anything, like it's, for me it's, it's right here in front of my face, but for a [01:42:00] lot of other people it's in the back of their head. They're not even thinking it. Right. So I think just, just more awareness. Just getting out there, and that's why I'm doing these, these crazy events and things is like I'm trying to get my, my name out there so that the people can know what kind of athlete I am, an adaptive athlete and then they can start-- We can start bringing up the question, "What is an adaptive athlete?

Para-athlete?" And like how do we bring more inclusivity to these races and things? And that's kind of Yeah ... I think my purpose now.

Ally Brettnacher: Heck yeah. Okay, I have to ask you the end of the podcast questions or we're never gonna stop talking .

Jared Ewing: Yes.

Ally Brettnacher: But I have two end of the podcast questions and I'll probably weave in a couple other questions I still have but the first question I ask everybody is do you have a running song and/or mantra?

Jared Ewing: Uh, the mantra is, is Now We Go. If, if you start following me you'll start seeing me saying, saying it enough. Everybody knows be b-by it. I've been saying Now We Go since college. Uh, just s- one on a, on a, on a drunken night this, uh, my buddy said, "And we go." And I said, "Now we go" to like, [01:43:00] uh, I think it was a Cavs playoff game and I just always said, "Now we go."

And it, it's become this thing where it's, i-it means many things. Like in the army when you say hooah, uh, it means many things. It c- could mean like yes sir or it can mean like good job. So Now We Go to me is like it can mean congratulations, it ca- it can mean like hey, like now like let's, let's do this thing now.

Um, but it's become this thing I f- Wow ... I always say to people and I always feel like, yeah because I tell people the Now We Go is like just because you finish something doesn't mean you're done. Y-You n- It's time for something else. It's time to continue getting stronger, getting better, so it's like Now We Go and it's like you don't necessarily h- it doesn't necessarily mean like you have to go do the thing right now but- Mm

just be intentional, intentional about your goals and saying like now in your head. And then with me just after like almost losing my life, almost losing my ability to run and all of that like I don't wait no more. I don't wait no more for like goals and stuff. I saw real quick how I almost, [01:44:00] you know passed away and I didn't get to run the road majors and then it's like for what?

W-what was I waiting for? What were all these excuses or reasons- Oh ... that I wasn't doing it? And so like I always push if you want t-to go after a goal like d-do it, do it now. Don't wait. I, like understand. I understand the reasons and excuses out there but do it now and so the Now We Go really, uh, hits harder now the post accident and again I just live by that mantra.

Uh- I love it .... and so yeah. It's a good one. So I'm always saying that. Yeah

Ally Brettnacher: And then your next finish line or milestone is, like a gigantic one

Jared Ewing: Yeah. So- No pressure ... uh, yeah, so I'm running the Wasatch 100 mile. Uh, so that'll be my next finish line and that's on September 11th, and it's gonna be the fourth of the Grand Slam, the Grand Slam of Ultra Running, which I am doing.

And so, uh, the Grand Slam of Ultra Running is running-- There's five of the nation's oldest 100 milers, and you have to run at least four of 'em, [01:45:00] and you have to do 'em all within the same summer, so all within 14 weeks, and that's considered the Grand Slam of Ultra Running. And when I looked into it, when I first got the crazy idea, scary idea, I just reached out to the race directors and asked them, "Have any adaptive or para athletes ever completed it?"

And they said no. So I just thought to myself, like wow, how, again, how cool of a story would this be to be able to say that, like I finished this? Again, from being told I'd never even run marathons to not just running a hundred-mile but running four 100 milers within 14 weeks, and then I can use that as a platform and a shining light to kinda get my name out there and again, to get my purpose, which is bringing up the awareness for, uh, adaptive athletes and paraathletes out there since, you know, that's my main reason why I'm doing this thing.

And-

Ally Brettnacher: Mm-hmm ...

Jared Ewing: I'm through s- Mm-hmm ... through three of the hundreds and I got one more left, and it's Wasatch, and it's on September 11th. So- Oh .... Lord willing, I'll, I'll get that thing done. And yeah. I have,

Ally Brettnacher: I have zero, zero doubts. Zero. You're -- I mean, you will crawl that [01:46:00] 100 miles-

Jared Ewing: Yes ...

Ally Brettnacher: if you have to. Yeah,

Jared Ewing: absolutely.

Ally Brettnacher: Um, so then there's also a documentary that you're making called The 400 Mile Attempt. Yeah. And you have a GoFundMe to help create this documentary, which I will link in the show notes for people to support you. Awesome. But tell... Say maybe just a little bit about the documentary

Jared Ewing: Yeah, so the documentary got brought up when someone was like: "Hey, you should really like document this journey of these 400s."

And I'm like, you know, "I agree." Uh, but I th- kept on thinking like how can we, uh, m- make it for a-- like, like better? So again, I tho- um, again, I was like well if I get this documentary going, and surely it's cool, it's very cool that I can run these 400s. Uh, but again, if I can use this documentary to bring light to the para-athlete world, to the adaptive athlete world, and maybe more people could see it, more race directors or people, you know, uh, above them, that we could maybe make a real change with this.

And again, just get the awareness out there. And so I thought of the idea for the, the documentary. And so yeah, I'm trying to raise funds for it 'cause it's not, it's not a cheap thing especially- Right ...to do four, four r- four [01:47:00] races. So that's almost like four documentaries in one, so it's a lot of money. And so trying to raise funds for that.

And, uh, still got quite a bit of ways to go. But yes, I do have a GoFundMe link for that, and, uh, you can find that either on my Instagram, uh, mainly on my Instagram, but you can Google it. Um, and then there's a, there's been a trailer to kinda help push the GoFundMe, uh, link, and that was, uh, I think it's No Categories.

If you look up No Category on YouTube, you can find it, and it's a short trailer from my very first-- oh, no, my very fir- my first 100 of the summer. Yes. And yeah, f- you go from there. But yeah, uh, if you look me up, it's either JRod4513 or Jared Ewing on all social medias, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Strava

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah, and the

Jared Ewing: fact-

Ally Brettnacher: I appreciate that

the fact that you don't have like hundreds of thousands of followers is it's crazy. That's why I love telling people stories like yours Jared because more people need to hear this story. It's, it's really inspiring. I'm so grateful that you [01:48:00] spent more than two hours with me today. It's- Wow.

Jared Ewing: Yeah.

Ally Brettnacher: I'm so inspired by you.

And my last final question: how do we get you Indianapolis some day? Have you been?

Jared Ewing: Um, uh, no but actually already signed up for the Indianapolis Marathon.

Ally Brettnacher: This

Jared Ewing: year? For this No- For this year, for this November. Nice. Yeah. What a-- Yes. Oh, about half of my audience is here. I think briefly, yeah I briefly spoke to Christie, uh, Jason about it back, uh, for when was Boston weekend Because again I had to start attacking these states again and I have not run Indiana yet- Yeah

and that's very popular race for Indiana and its- Yes ... very close So yeah, so that's actually gonna be my first marathon outside of these hundreds , is, is, is, is that one so-

Ally Brettnacher: Yeah

Jared Ewing: Looking forward to coming out there.

Ally Brettnacher: That's so cool!

Jared Ewing: Yeah getting legs

Ally Brettnacher: turned- Okay well Ill meet you. We'll have to meet for sure.

Um-

Jared Ewing: For

Ally Brettnacher: sure We'll be doing- Yep definitely There will be l- shakeout run I'm doing There's a live show that I am putting together so ill keep you in the loop and Well have to hang out But Its also great place - Cool yeah To run really [01:49:00] fast but You should probably try not running Really fast after fff..But i shouldn’t tell you what you can’t do cause

Jared Ewing: Thats true thats true yea dont do that . Im won’t do that Uhhhm I Am Gonna Try ahhh Think As Long as i somewhat recover imma try sub three again Ah The Elusive Sub Three In December At The Marathon Project at Arizona Soo That So The Indianapolis Race Will Be A Good Month Outrace For Me To Kinda Just Start Building Up Getting The Legs Remind The Legs They Can Move Fast Cause After These Hundreds They Don't Like To Move Fast Sooo

Ally Brettnacher: Yea Oh My Gosh Im So Excited We Get To Have You Alright Thank You For Doing This And Then thank you everybody who has listened to this hopefully on a run cuz its soo Inspiring and aaah thanks always Thanks

Jared Ewing: Always For Having Me On

Ally Brettnacher: Absolutely And I Always End With Happy Running

Jared Ewing: And Now We Go

Ally Brettnacher: Thanks so much for listening to this episode. If you feel so inclined, go to the show [01:50:00] notes and support Jared's GoFundMe for the documentary that we talked about. Also, you can support this show by supporting our sponsor Huug or of course sharing, leaving a rating and review. You also can sign up for my weekly emails, also in the show notes.

I'm so inspired by Jared. Cannot wait to have him here in Indianapolis, where I live, for the Monumental Marathon in November. So a lot of you listening will hopefully get to meet Jared in person and a preemptive congratulations to Jared for doing what nobody would've ever imagined possible.

All right, and then next week I will be recording the September episode of Catching Up With Coach, where I talk to my coach, Rachel Sinders, and it gives you an idea of my own personal training, my relationship with her, what it's like to have a coach. So stay tuned for that on September the 16th.

And okay. Have a good one. Happy running. Bye

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