Stolen Kickers and Ultra Marathons

[00:00:00] Never lie, never cheat, never steal. I was raised with that lesson. I have raised my family on that lesson. I have preached that lesson to the teams that I've coached.

[00:00:13] The following is a presentation of Hobson Media.

[00:00:17] Woohoo!

[00:00:18] It's not just another day, it's today.

[00:00:25] This is the Church Pew Sports Podcast, featuring a group of pastors delivering bombastic takes on sports, life and faith.

[00:00:34] They like to drink their haterade and eat their hater tots.

[00:00:37] Take a knee.

[00:00:38] You got barbecue back there and didn't invite me. Hurt my feelings!

[00:00:43] Lend an ear.

[00:00:44] These are some of the best questions I've had, I have to tell you that straight up.

[00:00:48] Well isn't that special?

[00:00:50] As the Church Pew Sports Podcast begins.

[00:00:52] It's funny how one man's terrible is another man's pure joy.

[00:00:55] That man next to you is somebody that gots to have it today!

[00:00:59] We ain't got tomorrow, we got now.

[00:01:03] We got now and hey we're back.

[00:01:06] Welcome aboard, it's good to have you with us here on Church Pew Sports.

[00:01:09] We've been off for a little bit during this summer vacation season when none of you were going to listen anyway.

[00:01:15] So now we're glad to get things kind of kicking back into gear.

[00:01:19] Schools are back in session.

[00:01:20] The parents are rejoicing as the kids go out the door and they have a little bit of peace and quiet.

[00:01:25] And we kind of get back into our rhythms.

[00:01:27] We're not that far away from football season.

[00:01:30] We'll get there soon on this program.

[00:01:33] But it is good to have you all with us again as we kind of launch into the fall.

[00:01:37] And Bill Hobson here.

[00:01:39] And as always my co-host is Paul Miller, who joins us from, it looks like just a really cozy abode in Minneapolis area.

[00:01:48] I mean you've got a painting behind you that screams agricultural kind of farmland.

[00:01:53] So where are you and why that particular background?

[00:01:58] Yeah, I am in downtown Minneapolis.

[00:02:01] We are house sitting for a couple for the fall as I launch into my new season of trying to figure out how I feel about living further north than I lived when I was in Michigan.

[00:02:15] Right.

[00:02:16] We're heading, we're migrating in the wrong direction.

[00:02:19] But this is their home.

[00:02:21] I have no ownership and therefore no accountability for the artwork on the wall.

[00:02:27] There you go.

[00:02:27] Wait till they move you to Anchorage.

[00:02:29] I mean that's probably going to be the capper of all of it.

[00:02:32] Well, tonight on the program, let me just give you all a little bit of a blueprint so that you kind of know where we're headed.

[00:02:39] We're headed in every possible direction.

[00:02:41] We're going to touch on Caitlin Clark.

[00:02:45] We're going to talk about a stolen kicker being taken from one football team by Alabama.

[00:02:51] We will talk a little NASCAR.

[00:02:53] We're going to touch on football a little bit here or there.

[00:02:56] We will of course, we have to include the latest from the NCAA and their continuing pursuit of Harbaugh.

[00:03:03] We have a little quiz that I'm going to pop on both our special guest and Paul Miller a little bit later on.

[00:03:08] But at the very beginning, we're going to explore an area of athletic prowess that I got to tell you, I don't understand.

[00:03:20] I don't know how it works.

[00:03:22] I don't know why anybody does it except for one particular person.

[00:03:25] And Paul, before I have you introduce our guest, I don't know if you know this, but our crack research team here at Church Pew Sports actually tracked him down and got some sound bites prior to the conversation.

[00:03:41] That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run.

[00:03:47] So I ran to the end of the road.

[00:03:50] And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town.

[00:03:56] And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenville County.

[00:04:03] And I figured since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama.

[00:04:08] And that's what I did.

[00:04:10] And that leads us into our special guest and ultra marathoner.

[00:04:16] Paul, take it away.

[00:04:17] Yeah.

[00:04:18] So we are pleased and privileged to have Carson Greenhaugh on the podcast with us tonight.

[00:04:26] Carson is a friend and a colleague in ministry from the Denver area.

[00:04:33] And Carson, I'm really glad to have you on the show, man, just because every time we hang out, I laugh a lot.

[00:04:38] And also because you have this thing that I don't think I would classify as a hobby.

[00:04:46] I might call it something like an obsession or insanity.

[00:04:52] I'm not sure, but it's this idea of ultra marathoning.

[00:04:58] So we want to talk about that.

[00:04:59] But we do need to give you our standard hazing question for all first time guests on the podcast.

[00:05:04] So by way of introduction, my question for you, brother, would be who are the sports teams that you follow, that you support at levels where other people look at you and say, what is wrong with that guy?

[00:05:19] So any sport, any level, what are your irrational sports loyalties?

[00:05:24] Just so our audience can kind of get a little glimpse into who you are.

[00:05:27] Oh, yeah.

[00:05:28] Well, thank you guys for having me.

[00:05:29] It's wonderful being here to talk about this.

[00:05:31] Yeah, the first one I did talk about, like, it is ultra marathoning.

[00:05:35] I love it.

[00:05:36] It's so fun.

[00:05:38] It's such a niche.

[00:05:39] And to watch a sport like kind of go from obscurity to becoming more popular is just kind of fun.

[00:05:46] I'm also a diehard Kansas State Wildcat.

[00:05:50] So, yes, I grew up Kansas.

[00:05:52] That is where my allegiance lie.

[00:05:55] I have any of my sports teams.

[00:05:57] That is the one that I want to have a champion championship.

[00:06:00] I want it to be the Wildcats.

[00:06:02] Any team?

[00:06:03] I mean, any sport in particular or any and all from K-State?

[00:06:06] Well, they do hold two national titles in bass fishing.

[00:06:11] But the NCAA has yet to recognize that.

[00:06:14] But I would like to state that now.

[00:06:16] We have weights and fish.

[00:06:20] But primarily football, college football.

[00:06:22] I played at a small school growing up.

[00:06:24] I love it.

[00:06:25] It is a passion of mine.

[00:06:27] So, a football title at K-State would be a huge, huge deal.

[00:06:31] So, Carson, there are a couple of things about which I know very little.

[00:06:36] One of them would be competitive bass fishing.

[00:06:38] There you go.

[00:06:39] Except that we did an episode like two years ago when they had the big scandal in competitive fishing where they,

[00:06:46] and the sound bite that's ringing through my head, Paul, you'll remember it.

[00:06:49] It was the guy saying, we have weights in fish.

[00:06:53] Yeah.

[00:06:53] It was like the official that was busting everything.

[00:06:56] And the other thing that I know absolutely nothing about is ultramarathoning.

[00:06:59] Here's my marathon knowledge.

[00:07:01] If somebody from Kenya is in the race, you're going to lose.

[00:07:05] You get a bumper sticker that says 26.2.

[00:07:08] And if you do a half marathon, you get a 13.1.

[00:07:11] What does the bumper sticker say if I'm an ultramarathoner?

[00:07:17] Well, it depends on the distance.

[00:07:19] So, your basic distances are 50K, which is 31 miles, 100K, which is around 62, 64.

[00:07:27] And then you get your 100 miler.

[00:07:29] And actually, what's grown in the last two years is hitting the 200 mile mark.

[00:07:34] So, there's a couple of popular, popular races coming up.

[00:07:37] One of them is on my bucket list.

[00:07:40] So, and then actually, those are the, I would say those are the common ones.

[00:07:44] I've got another very, very uncommon one, but let's just start there.

[00:07:49] You mean 200 miles over the course of like a summer where you just put in little installation plans once a week?

[00:07:55] No, this is a, you have five days, 125 hours.

[00:08:01] The current, like probably big one called the Cocodona 250 down in Arizona, 125 hours to go 250 miles.

[00:08:10] So, you're having to average around 50 miles a day.

[00:08:14] That is insane.

[00:08:16] At least in Arizona, if they do it in the summer, it's nice and cool and refreshing.

[00:08:21] So, you live up in Colorado.

[00:08:22] So, the elevation is obviously well known as the mile high city.

[00:08:27] Right.

[00:08:27] Have you found that the training in the thin air then helps you when you go and run at sea level?

[00:08:33] Oh, sure.

[00:08:34] But I, like, there's so many races.

[00:08:37] I just want to run in Colorado.

[00:08:38] Colorado has the Leadville 100, which is a historic race.

[00:08:42] The Hard Rock 100.

[00:08:43] Run, Rabbit Run.

[00:08:45] I mean, we have just some amazing races through the mountains.

[00:08:49] And so, for me, it's not necessarily leaving the state to run.

[00:08:53] I love running here in my backyard.

[00:08:55] It sounds like he's making up those race names, Paul.

[00:08:58] And we wouldn't know.

[00:08:59] Run, Rabbit Run.

[00:09:00] Neither of us would know because neither of us is running any of these races anytime soon.

[00:09:04] I have a couple of, like, my brain is going in two directions.

[00:09:07] First is, who thought this was a good idea?

[00:09:10] So, I, like, want to know, like, the backstory of how this thing evolved and how this, could we really run a race that long?

[00:09:18] And would people really sign up?

[00:09:19] How it actually became kind of a movement, right?

[00:09:22] And then my other question, bro, is how in the world did you get wrapped up into this?

[00:09:27] So, we should probably start with just the evolution and the growth of the sport itself.

[00:09:33] Let's, like, walk us through the history of this thing or whatever, however much of it you know.

[00:09:38] Oh, yeah.

[00:09:39] I did some research.

[00:09:40] I was ready, guys.

[00:09:41] I brought my eight game to the podcast, okay?

[00:09:43] Excellent.

[00:09:43] I can't tell you how many members of our audience are hanging on the edge of their seats for some ultra-marathoning history.

[00:09:49] So, Carson, please tell us more.

[00:09:52] Let me tell you a tale, man.

[00:09:54] Listeners, it's going to be a good one.

[00:09:57] The first recorded one, 1920s South Africa, Comrades Marathon.

[00:10:03] 55 miles long, first race, 34 finishers, okay?

[00:10:08] That is the base start.

[00:10:11] 1953, you get London to Brighton, 54 miles.

[00:10:15] That was kind of the next one.

[00:10:17] But the American story is pretty fun in and of itself.

[00:10:21] It's August 3rd, 1974.

[00:10:25] It's a horse race, okay?

[00:10:27] There is this horse race going on since 1955, and it goes from Squaw Valley, right?

[00:10:36] You know, Olympics back in the day.

[00:10:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:10:39] And it goes all the way to Auburn, California.

[00:10:42] And so there's this horse race, and there's this guy named Gordy.

[00:10:45] He's done the horse race.

[00:10:47] And the legend goes that in 73, his horse pulls up lame at mile 29, and he runs the rest of the way in.

[00:10:56] That is completely false.

[00:10:57] Like, from Gordy, he's like, I don't know where that came from.

[00:11:00] It's a great story.

[00:11:01] It's not true.

[00:11:03] That's awesome.

[00:11:04] Yeah, right.

[00:11:05] But one of his friends said, hey, why don't you run it?

[00:11:08] Why don't you take a stab?

[00:11:10] He's like, okay.

[00:11:11] So in 1974, he tows the line at 5 a.m., the only runner with 198 horses and their riders.

[00:11:20] And this is like running long distances wasn't a big thing.

[00:11:24] So he had cut off pantyhose and put it on because chafing is real, not just for marathons, not just for 5Ks.

[00:11:31] You times it by that many more when you start hitting 100 miles.

[00:11:37] They said the day before he went out and he placed 10 Gatorade bottles totaling 9 1⁄2 liters.

[00:11:45] And so throughout this race, there are things called aid stations for the horses.

[00:11:49] They're only stocked with hay and grain for the horses.

[00:11:53] And so he had to set all of these things up somewhat beforehand.

[00:11:58] And so he starts the run.

[00:12:01] He said he wanted to quit so many times at mile 55 was really the point where he was just like, why am I doing this?

[00:12:09] He had to bum a can of peaches off of one of the communications guy like.

[00:12:14] And this is a race that's known for it starts at 6,200 feet.

[00:12:20] The first four miles go it go.

[00:12:23] Just just climb and climb and climb and climb and climb.

[00:12:27] And it climbs all the way to 18,000 or it climbs 18,000 feet before it does.

[00:12:34] Or, well, my nose are way off on this.

[00:12:37] Well, anyway, the first climb is huge.

[00:12:39] And then it just descends and you go in valleys and you come up and down these valleys, up and down these valleys.

[00:12:45] And he crosses the finish line in 23 hours and 42 minutes, 18 minutes before the cutoff.

[00:12:51] In a race that's normally designed for horses to like be an endurance race for horses.

[00:12:57] Wow.

[00:12:57] Did they put him down at the end?

[00:13:00] Might have, might have been kind of alive and well.

[00:13:04] The next one that has to come from this, okay, is you get this and then you come to Colorado.

[00:13:11] It's Leadville.

[00:13:12] Okay.

[00:13:13] And there's one of the highest towns is Leadville.

[00:13:15] It's over 10,000 feet.

[00:13:17] And it was a mining town.

[00:13:19] And the mine just quits.

[00:13:20] I can't remember the full reasoning behind, but they're like, no, it's not safe for the minerals that they were looking for.

[00:13:25] They can't get.

[00:13:26] And the town starts to die.

[00:13:28] And so in 1983, this guy named Ken Coldler, he helps start a race and it's called the race under the sky.

[00:13:36] And essentially the way it went was he was like, okay, if we're going to save the town, if we have a hundred mile race, it'll force people to stay overnight.

[00:13:45] Like that was his big plan.

[00:13:49] And, and it was brilliant.

[00:13:51] I mean, it actually is what keeps Leadville on the map.

[00:13:57] And, and it was also been told to me that at one point he hears about this race and what is now known as Western States 100 in California.

[00:14:06] Okay.

[00:14:07] Still historic, amazing, very prestigious race.

[00:14:10] He says, if those hippies in California can do it, us mountain miners up here in Colorado can do it.

[00:14:18] And so it was this point of pride and toughness.

[00:14:21] And so this race, it's average elevation is 10,000 feet for the whole hundred miles.

[00:14:27] It actually happened this last weekend.

[00:14:29] There was a 19 year record broken by 20 minutes.

[00:14:35] A guy ran it in 14 hours and 24 minutes.

[00:14:40] Was he an American runner?

[00:14:43] American runner, David Roche.

[00:14:45] I think is how you say his last name.

[00:14:46] I'm sure somebody in our audience will correct us if we don't have that name right.

[00:14:50] Yeah.

[00:14:51] It's like an average of six and a half miles an hour.

[00:14:55] And that includes like stopping at aid stations.

[00:14:57] Yeah, that's crazy.

[00:14:58] You go up to 12,000 feet.

[00:15:00] I mean, it, it was an amazing record being broken.

[00:15:03] And so those are kind of the two historic math races that kind of bring it to popularity.

[00:15:08] A book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is the one that really also helped kind of springboard ultra running into popularity.

[00:15:17] So Carson, if like right now, or even last week when that race was happening in Denver, if you had started it in your current level of training for ultra marathoning, how far would you have made it?

[00:15:30] Not very far.

[00:15:31] I suffered a sprained ankle due to a freak gardening accident.

[00:15:37] Oh, you got to jazz that story up a little bit.

[00:15:40] I know.

[00:15:40] I wish I could.

[00:15:41] I feel like that's the best way to do it.

[00:15:43] Uh, but I'm still recovering.

[00:15:46] I'm only up to like 40 minute runs until I feel my ankle start to tighten up.

[00:15:50] And then I'm like, okay, let's hit the pause button.

[00:15:52] How about prior to the injury?

[00:15:53] How far could, you know, how, how far were you going?

[00:15:56] Um, I, I did a, I did a 54 mile race.

[00:15:59] Oh, that's so I mean, walk in the park.

[00:16:02] Yeah.

[00:16:03] Once you start to get to the distance, they all kind of blend together, you know?

[00:16:08] And that is amazing.

[00:16:09] And you're, you're right.

[00:16:10] You were telling us earlier that it's, it's a very niche part of this world of fitness and activity and competition.

[00:16:15] That really is because it takes a special discipline and maybe Paul, just between you and me, maybe a little something off upstairs here to want to run a hundred miles.

[00:16:27] A couple of things that aren't really connecting upstairs.

[00:16:30] Yeah.

[00:16:31] You got to give us a little bit more of your backstory.

[00:16:33] Like I'm sure that you're, you're a runner, you're doing cross country in high school or whatever.

[00:16:38] And you always had distance running was a thing and the lengths of the races just get longer and longer.

[00:16:44] At some point you had to be like, I think I can go to the psycho level and start to run 25 miles, 50 miles, whatever.

[00:16:52] Is there a, was there a tipping point for you where you're like, I think I'm going to not just run the regular marathon or get the 13 mile sticker or the 26 mile sticker for the back windshield of my car.

[00:17:02] I'm going to, I'm going to kind of tip over into crazy.

[00:17:08] Yeah.

[00:17:08] Let me, so, um, high school, I did three sports, small town track wrestling and football.

[00:17:14] I love football.

[00:17:14] I did football in college.

[00:17:16] Um, get out of college.

[00:17:17] I wasn't good enough to do anything else with it.

[00:17:19] So running actually wasn't my story.

[00:17:22] Uh, what's my story is I, I mean, God, like for some reason wired in my brain to want to be physical and to do things and to get out there.

[00:17:30] And so it was Thanksgiving.

[00:17:32] Like I, I hadn't, I, I ran a marathon in seminary.

[00:17:37] Three buddies were like, let's go run a marathon.

[00:17:39] I was like, okay, there's people together.

[00:17:41] I'll do it.

[00:17:42] Right.

[00:17:43] Uh, start of the race.

[00:17:45] Uh, I was the only one on the line.

[00:17:47] Everyone else got injured during training and it was the most miserable experience of my life.

[00:17:55] Like in a marathon, they usually have a point where you break off to be like, oh, this is the half marathon.

[00:18:00] You can finish it up or you go to the full and I'm like, just pass it.

[00:18:04] Okay.

[00:18:04] Just pass it.

[00:18:05] And then you'll do it.

[00:18:06] And this 64 year old woman like waddles up right next to me.

[00:18:12] And she was like, are you doing okay?

[00:18:14] And I'm like a 23 year old guy.

[00:18:16] Like I'm fit, but I was like, no, I am not doing okay.

[00:18:21] And this woman ran with me for 10 miles from, from like, from like 10 to 21.

[00:18:29] And then I couldn't keep up with her.

[00:18:31] It was.

[00:18:32] Yeah.

[00:18:32] But I was like, I am never running another step in my life.

[00:18:37] And what happened was one Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law was like, hey, let's watch this, this documentary.

[00:18:42] And it was called unbreakable.

[00:18:44] And it was about Western States and these three runners running in these canyons and these mountains, like they're crossing rivers that have ropes.

[00:18:53] Like they, like that is part of Western States.

[00:18:56] You are crossing rivers that they're like, hey, you need a life jacket for this section.

[00:18:59] Like that's how big some of these are.

[00:19:01] And I was just like, this is amazing.

[00:19:04] And all of a sudden I think it was the adventure part of my brain and the athletic part of my brain was like, you're terrible trying to run 26 miles fast.

[00:19:12] Maybe you'd be better at running a hundred miles slow.

[00:19:17] I don't know.

[00:19:18] I just thought like maybe this would work.

[00:19:20] And so my first year I ran marathons and my second year, I went to the 50 mile mark and I started working in there.

[00:19:29] And then by my third year I went out, I grew up in Kansas and I was like, you know, I'm going to train in Colorado.

[00:19:35] I'm going to run my first hundred in Kansas.

[00:19:37] And I went down to Kansas, a place close to my hometown.

[00:19:41] And I ran a hundred miles in around 29 hours.

[00:19:46] And when I say run, I just want to make sure the audience knows we are not running the full time.

[00:19:52] It is you are traveling a hundred miles like some of these elite athletes.

[00:19:56] Yeah, we can talk about them.

[00:19:58] But most of us, it's like a run, a jog walk kind of mixture.

[00:20:03] Well, I was going to ask you, Carson, you know, we, of course, we're just after the Olympics now.

[00:20:07] And the final event in the Olympics is the first amends and then the women's marathons.

[00:20:12] And I'm watching these guys run 26 miles in two hours, a little bit around two hours.

[00:20:20] And when they, whenever they cut to them, you know, cause it's a long broadcast.

[00:20:24] So they're showing other things and they come back to them and it's mile 19 and it's mile 23.

[00:20:29] They're still sprinting.

[00:20:30] They're just full sprinting.

[00:20:32] It's ridiculous.

[00:20:32] What does that look like to you, to somebody who knows what that discipline is like to see them still cranking it out at such a ridiculous pace that far into it?

[00:20:44] Oh, it's just so impressive.

[00:20:47] I mean, every distance is a little bit different, right?

[00:20:50] Like obviously no marathon runner is running that pace for an ultra, but every, I think that's what I love about running.

[00:20:58] Even though I grew up playing football is every distance has its own discipline, its own focus.

[00:21:04] Like we can watch the, the 1500 right in the Olympics and you know, okay, they're hitting a pace, but around that last 300 meters, something starts kicking in and you see the strategy of the race unfold with these ultra marathons.

[00:21:20] You got to take in the terrain, the course, like the hard rock here in Colorado goes over 13,000 feet twice over 14,000 feet.

[00:21:30] Once it's the equivalent of going from sea level to the top of Mount Everest and back.

[00:21:37] And so it's like, no one's running that at marathon pace.

[00:21:40] No, I wouldn't think so.

[00:21:42] You know, I'm also curious and we'll, we'll move into some of our other topics here in a moment, but I'm very curious for distance runners is the greater challenge, the psyche while you're out there forever running, or is it the physicality of what's actually taking place in your body, maybe with your feet and that kind of thing?

[00:22:01] What's, what's the higher level of challenge?

[00:22:03] Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:22:05] Um, you got to show up fit.

[00:22:08] Okay.

[00:22:09] So when you're talking about fit, usually people are, are training to hit a peak of 50 or 60 miles in a couple of weeks.

[00:22:17] You're trying to get around 30 ish miles.

[00:22:20] Um, you don't, you don't train for a 50 or a hundred by running that distance.

[00:22:25] It's just is what it is.

[00:22:27] But, but there is this saying, um, in ultra running and it goes like this.

[00:22:33] Um, 90% of it is mental.

[00:22:36] And the other 10% is just in your head.

[00:22:39] Right.

[00:22:39] And so there is this big mantra on like, uh, Ken at Leadville will say, you can do more than you think you can.

[00:22:47] And that is really what it is.

[00:22:49] When you start hitting these distances, um, they talk about hitting the wall in a marathon.

[00:22:54] Well, you hit seven of them in a hundred mile.

[00:22:57] Like, do you have that mental fortitude to continue going, to keep going?

[00:23:02] And I think that's what gets at me.

[00:23:04] Like, do I have the mental fortitude?

[00:23:07] Like in a text to you guys earlier, I was like, oh, it's just me dealing with my insecurities.

[00:23:11] Yeah.

[00:23:13] Like I am constantly battling myself.

[00:23:16] Like when I go out to these races and that's also a part of the ultra running community that I love is you're not really racing against people.

[00:23:24] Like you're racing against yourself.

[00:23:26] And so just that idea of like people running by you and if they see you on the side bombing, or if they see you, they'll be like, hey, is everything okay?

[00:23:33] Do you need help?

[00:23:35] Um, like that just heart behind it.

[00:23:38] Also as a believer in Christ, like I just love the community aspect of that piece.

[00:23:43] That doesn't happen in some of these shorter races.

[00:23:46] Cause man, we gotta be moving.

[00:23:47] We gotta be fast.

[00:23:47] But when you're out there on a trail in the middle of the night running in the dark, uh, there's genuine care for other runners.

[00:23:54] And you'll get asked like, are you okay?

[00:23:56] And I just love that piece of it as well.

[00:23:58] Yeah.

[00:23:59] Well, dude, you're, you're so wired relationally in ministry to begin with.

[00:24:04] Is there a whole, like, I'm, there's gotta be, I'm thinking there's gotta be a community aspect of it.

[00:24:09] That's not just on race day or race week.

[00:24:11] I think he runs just for the sermon illustrations.

[00:24:15] Yeah.

[00:24:15] Non-stop.

[00:24:17] Tell us about the, tell us about the community or the, like the brotherhood or the, you know, I'm, I'm sure you're a part of some groups or whatever.

[00:24:24] Or just, um, as you're training, you know, to keep you motivated and all that other kind of stuff.

[00:24:29] That's gotta be part of it.

[00:24:30] Yeah.

[00:24:31] Yeah.

[00:24:31] We solve, we solve the world's problems when we're out running, you know, just those conversations when you're just out, just running, you get to do life together.

[00:24:40] Like, Hey, how are things going?

[00:24:42] Oh, Hey, I saw this.

[00:24:43] Like just to, it's a podcast while you're running essentially.

[00:24:47] And you're just doing it together with other people.

[00:24:49] Like that aspect of it is so fun.

[00:24:52] The things that you stumble upon when you're able to get out in nature, like I've seen bears out there.

[00:24:57] Um, and luckily it wasn't, you know, very long.

[00:25:00] They were running away, but, um, just those types of stories are, are just wonderful.

[00:25:05] And the people you get to connect with, and there is a, uh, deeper relationship in ultra marathons.

[00:25:10] When you hit about the halfway mark, they have things called pacers.

[00:25:14] Um, and I use pacers in quotes because really it's people to run with you to make sure you're safe.

[00:25:19] And so who else is running with you, but those people that you've been running with throughout the year.

[00:25:24] Um, and so it's an honor to be able to go and crew someone and pace them and to help them, uh, just push themselves to the limit and get it done.

[00:25:34] I'm also reminded Paul of that, uh, that old adage that you don't have to be faster than the bear.

[00:25:40] You just have to be faster than the guy running with you.

[00:25:43] Yeah.

[00:25:45] That's true.

[00:25:46] Yeah, Carson, it really, it's, it is fascinating to, to kind of dig into, and I know we barely scratched the surface, but to dig into the discipline, um, and your passion for it comes through really, really quite clearly.

[00:25:58] So thank you for, for sharing some of that with us.

[00:26:01] We also, we want to dive into some of the other headlines going on in the world of sports, and we want you to stick around and talk about all of it.

[00:26:07] So Paul, why don't you, uh, why don't we go headlines of the week first, and then we'll roll into some of our holy discontent and other issues in the, in the rundown.

[00:26:15] Yeah, we can do that.

[00:26:16] Like right now.

[00:26:17] Yeah, go.

[00:26:18] All right.

[00:26:18] Yeah.

[00:26:18] So, okay.

[00:26:19] So what we have this new feature on the podcast where I'm just, you know, I'm a junkie for the internet and for all the sports deals.

[00:26:28] And I just look around for the headlines that catch my attention.

[00:26:32] And then I usually bring three of them with me to the podcast for Bill or whoever's on the podcast, share it.

[00:26:38] And then, uh, we'll just kind of give immediate, like quick reaction to them.

[00:26:42] The first is saw this interview with Caitlin Clark, where she got teed up in a game because she missed a three pointer and she went and punched like the stanchion underneath the basket, just out of frustration.

[00:26:55] And the ref teed her up for that.

[00:26:57] She didn't say anything, shouldn't do anything, whatever.

[00:26:59] And then they asked her about it in the post game presser.

[00:27:02] And I really do respect her, um, explanation.

[00:27:06] I got a technical for basically being mad at myself because I missed the three and then I went and hit the backboard.

[00:27:11] And he told me it was disrespectful to the game of basketball.

[00:27:14] So I don't know.

[00:27:15] It reminded me of the technical that I got in college where I said where it's like a personal frustration had nothing to do with my team, had nothing to do with their reffing, reffing had nothing to do with other team.

[00:27:23] It was just because I'm a competitor and I felt like I should have been making more shots.

[00:27:27] So, um, but I think he fired me up to continue to play a lot harder.

[00:27:31] I thought we got a lot better after he did that.

[00:27:32] So I want to thank him.

[00:27:34] Love that.

[00:27:36] It disrespectful to the game for Caitlin's heart to punch the thing because she misses a shot.

[00:27:41] Carson, I'll let you go first since you're our guest.

[00:27:45] Why?

[00:27:45] Thank you, Bill.

[00:27:46] Um, I, I would, from my perspective as an athlete, I would say, no, I don't think so.

[00:27:52] I think there are very grand ways in which you could very visually and verbally, um, disrespect a game, um, to hear the insight.

[00:28:02] Right.

[00:28:02] I was more frustrated with myself.

[00:28:05] Um, that obviously lead gives context that a ref never has in the moment.

[00:28:10] Uh, but you would hope that refs would be like, okay, that was a little too far.

[00:28:14] We won't make that mistake again.

[00:28:15] Refs are human also.

[00:28:18] Under no circumstances is slapping the padding around the base of the basket, either disrespectful to the game or worthy of a tactical foul.

[00:28:27] And somehow, Paul, I don't really know.

[00:28:31] I don't, I've never met Caitlin Clark, but somehow this young lady has a gigantic bullseye on her from the other players, from the officials, from all of the people who are benefiting immensely by her presence in the game.

[00:28:49] They all seem to dislike her immensely.

[00:28:52] And I, I really don't know.

[00:28:53] I just don't get it.

[00:28:55] And that's really true.

[00:28:57] It should be rescinded.

[00:28:58] Yeah.

[00:28:58] It just doesn't make any sense.

[00:29:00] And she continues to be incredibly gracious.

[00:29:02] Every time someone puts a microphone in her face and says, what's going on?

[00:29:06] Not so much like the guy that we're about to hear right there, this headline caught my attention because I'm an Ohio state fan and the kicker that Alabama allegedly stole is from Miami of Ohio.

[00:29:20] Right.

[00:29:20] And so when he hit the transfer portal, all the Ohio state and blogs and everything else they were talking about, he was the number one kicker in college football last year.

[00:29:29] He's an amazing, um, he's a great kicker and all that kind of stuff.

[00:29:34] And the Ohio state was just, um, the fan base at Ohio state was flabbergasted that Ohio, that they put no effort into recruiting this guy.

[00:29:44] Um, and then it came out in a press conference, Ryan day made some comment to the fact of, we already knew before he ever hit the portal where he was going to go.

[00:29:52] Right.

[00:29:52] So that's some of the backstory.

[00:29:54] Well, he, this kicker ends up transferring to Alabama.

[00:29:57] And so this is the head coach at Miami of Ohio, who has a reporter, put a microphone in his face and talk to him about how he's going to replace the kicker that he lost.

[00:30:06] And this is his answer.

[00:30:07] And by the way, just a little context, the reporter is a Miami of Ohio reporter.

[00:30:12] Yeah.

[00:30:12] And yet he seems to be fighting against what the coach is saying.

[00:30:15] Here you go.

[00:30:16] All right.

[00:30:16] Special teams lost your kicker.

[00:30:18] Carter.

[00:30:19] He's a, he's a, we didn't lose him.

[00:30:20] He's at Alabama.

[00:30:21] We know exactly where he's at.

[00:30:23] Like again, you media people, it's all pretend like, no, Alabama stole our kicker.

[00:30:27] They illegally, they illegally recruited our, they illegally recruited our kicker and stole them from us.

[00:30:32] And like, that's, that's a fact, but that's, that's how, but we act like it's not, we live in this la la world.

[00:30:37] Like, Hey, let's not talk.

[00:30:38] I don't know why everybody knows what's going on.

[00:30:40] So yeah.

[00:30:41] Alabama stole our kicker.

[00:30:45] He's not wrong.

[00:30:46] No, I don't know why the reporters all of a sudden, all edgy about this, this idea, by the way, um, earlier today, I believe we're recording this on a Thursday evening earlier today.

[00:30:59] I believe we heard about the one year suspensions handed out to, uh, coach Ferentz at Iowa.

[00:31:05] Yeah.

[00:31:06] And, uh, one of his assistants for their improper recruitment of Cade McNamara.

[00:31:12] Apparently they got him.

[00:31:13] Maybe I think they got him two cheeseburgers.

[00:31:15] I'm not sure what it was, but in meanwhile, have, has there ever been a time when Alabama ever has crossed any of these lines for improper recruiting and been punished for it?

[00:31:30] Uh, no, not that comes to mind.

[00:31:34] So, and by the way, Carson, just so you know, that the actual title on the graphic for this episode is ultra marathons and stolen kickers.

[00:31:44] That's what this episode is called.

[00:31:45] So your thoughts on Alabama stealing kickers of all, of all positions.

[00:31:50] Enough about the situation, but the whole college football game with everything that is kind of each domino that keeps fine falling just keeps turning it into the wild west.

[00:31:59] There's no rules.

[00:32:01] Do what you want.

[00:32:02] Um, maybe there's a sheriff and dodge that'll try to put you straight, but, uh, it's, it's kind of hard to keep track of anything when that's kind of the way I would describe it.

[00:32:13] Yeah.

[00:32:14] Yeah.

[00:32:14] It's exactly what it is.

[00:32:15] There's this fascinating interview or conversation between urban Meyer and Nick Saban, where the two of them are just going back and forth.

[00:32:22] Just came out yesterday.

[00:32:23] I think they're just kind of going back and forth about the state of the game in general.

[00:32:26] It's just fascinating.

[00:32:28] Okay.

[00:32:29] And our third headline of the week is bill.

[00:32:31] We're coming back to your wheelhouse, right?

[00:32:32] Like I saw this, uh, this thing from Xander Shoffley, right?

[00:32:36] Like the FedEx cup is going on or the FedEx cup playoffs and it's big money.

[00:32:40] It's the end of the year and all this other stuff.

[00:32:42] And he gets asked a question about the money and he has a really interesting, uh, answer.

[00:32:48] It's, it's funny.

[00:32:49] It's really negative.

[00:32:50] It's painted really negatively in golf, which is fine.

[00:32:53] I think people like to hate on, on anything these days.

[00:32:55] But when I look at other sports, you know, when someone gets a $300 million contract, you know,

[00:33:01] there's all these positive comments about how someone got their bag or they've worked so hard to get this and they deserve it and things like that.

[00:33:07] So it's interesting to me.

[00:33:09] I think maybe golf is a gentleman's game and not supposed to talk about money, but all the, all the media wants to do is talk about money.

[00:33:16] And us players, I think the players that make the most money don't think about money because it's just not the most important thing.

[00:33:22] Yeah.

[00:33:22] He's, you know what?

[00:33:23] Since Xander has begun winning majors, he's begun talking, um, about bigger picture stuff.

[00:33:30] If we, if we had had the time to play that full interview, cause I had seen it.

[00:33:35] Um, he, he was asked to kind of walk through his journey as a player and he's, he's telling stories about when he was, uh, back on the, what now is the corn fairy tour was the minor leagues.

[00:33:47] Sharing a junkie hotel room with his caddy in weeks where he was paying his caddy more than he was making himself and coming all the way up through all these things, losing his card, getting it back.

[00:33:58] It's, it's, it's quite a journey and golf has, has undergone a considerable change in that.

[00:34:05] It used to be, if you didn't make the cut, you didn't get paid a penny.

[00:34:11] Now they do.

[00:34:12] Now they get a stipend and not that Xander needs it anymore, but there are guys who do.

[00:34:18] Um, so for some guys, it still is kind of about the money because there's, they're right on the cusp of being out of the game.

[00:34:24] But for the top echelon players, it's very similar to the case that I made regarding John Rahm leaving for live golf.

[00:34:32] At the time that he did that, he was worth roughly $300 million.

[00:34:38] Yeah.

[00:34:39] Live golf gave him 300 and I think $50 million.

[00:34:44] Mind blowing numbers for all of us.

[00:34:46] I get it.

[00:34:46] But it's not like John got to go home that night and say to his wife, Kelly, good news, dear.

[00:34:51] We can get this minivan that we've been looking at.

[00:34:53] We can finally afford this vacation or whatever.

[00:34:55] Yeah.

[00:34:56] Let's, let's spend another week in the UP.

[00:34:58] Um, and so, and if you look at him particular, John Rahm, to buttress what we're talking about with Xander, uh, Rahm is miserable on live, not playing very well on live.

[00:35:09] And there's, um, a lot of folks who believe that if he could, he'd give it back so he could go back and play competitive legacy defining golf.

[00:35:19] So, uh, proud of Xander for saying that it's interesting though.

[00:35:22] It's not about the money now that he's made it.

[00:35:24] Right.

[00:35:24] So you just got to kind of make sure you understand the bigger, the bigger picture of all that.

[00:35:28] Uh, is ultra marathoning all about the money?

[00:35:31] I understand that it is.

[00:35:32] So it's actually interesting.

[00:35:33] You bring that up.

[00:35:34] Oh, here we go.

[00:35:35] 20 tight minutes.

[00:35:36] I know.

[00:35:37] Right guys.

[00:35:38] Let's, let's, let's just open up the can of worms.

[00:35:40] It's starting to hit that point.

[00:35:42] It's a real.

[00:35:43] And so it's one of those sports that it's like, Oh, what do you do now?

[00:35:46] Um, so if, if you're, I don't know when this is going to air, but Labor Day weekend, there's a big race called UN UMTB.

[00:35:54] It's the race around Mount Blanc.

[00:35:56] It's in Italy.

[00:35:57] It goes Italy, Switzerland, France.

[00:36:00] It's a, it's a big deal race.

[00:36:01] Okay.

[00:36:03] They have this point system where you have to run enough races to gain points in order to qualify for their big race.

[00:36:12] That's, that's kind of standard that happens with some other races.

[00:36:15] You have to finish qualifying races.

[00:36:16] That's just is what it is.

[00:36:18] There's been accusations though, that they've been taking over where current races are going and putting their own races for the money grab.

[00:36:26] Whereas it's kind of growing more popular.

[00:36:28] There's companies coming in and buying races and well, what a race used to be 250 people.

[00:36:34] And now it's 600.

[00:36:35] And what is the impact on environment and things.

[00:36:38] And so I would say within the last five years, that's kind of been the talk a little bit of ultra running outside of nobody gets drug tested right now.

[00:36:48] Because it's not big enough.

[00:36:50] It doesn't have the money to be able to do those sorts of things.

[00:36:52] So it's just still so early on in monetary and finances and some of those pieces.

[00:37:00] Wow.

[00:37:00] Well, it's, it's mind blowing to see the different motivations that athletes have in their different sports.

[00:37:08] Right.

[00:37:08] And Xander is not wrong.

[00:37:09] There's ample acceptance and celebration when an athlete gets his bag, so to speak.

[00:37:15] Nope.

[00:37:15] Nobody cares.

[00:37:16] Nobody minds.

[00:37:17] But in golf, it's become sort of a topic of controversy and in comparison to the other sports, it doesn't, doesn't make a lot of sense.

[00:37:25] So let us move over to our holy discontent.

[00:37:33] It's time to blow off some steam, get it off your chest, rant about what's most bothering you.

[00:37:39] I got a lot of problems with you people.

[00:37:41] Now you're going to hear about it.

[00:37:43] It's time for holy discontent.

[00:37:46] It is.

[00:37:47] Yeah, I think I need to lead off because my holy discontent kind of feeds right off what we were just talking about, about money and golf and bill.

[00:37:56] I need to put you on blast here and say, just because I'm sharing this doesn't mean we can turn this into a political conversation.

[00:38:03] I just am going to say that right from the jump.

[00:38:06] I can edit that.

[00:38:06] I can edit that later.

[00:38:08] Okay. That's good.

[00:38:08] I saw a headline today.

[00:38:11] And I am not making a political statement here, but I saw a headline that Kamala Harris and Tim Walls are proposing a plan that they call the golfer equity plan, where they're going to implement a 20% sales tax on all golf, golf related purchases, including rounds of golf clubs, etc.

[00:38:27] In an effort to quote tax the wealthy.

[00:38:31] So I just decided that I would tee that up for you, Bill Hobson, to talk about the golfer equity plan.

[00:38:40] Never.

[00:38:41] I never heard that.

[00:38:42] It says here, you're going to talk about NASCAR sanctioning Denny Hamlin.

[00:38:47] And you're in the, you're in a different section of the for you to go there and then tee me up and tell me not to get political.

[00:38:54] It was on PGA tour Twitter is where I saw this.

[00:38:58] Much like, much like a coach can decline the penalty.

[00:39:02] I am declining the opportunity to dive into that asinine idea from these folks that perhaps may end up being in charge of things for the first time ever in their lives, really.

[00:39:15] So is golf an elite, a sport of elites, wealthy?

[00:39:19] There are some.

[00:39:20] How about that?

[00:39:21] There are some wealthy people who play golf.

[00:39:22] There are also some really not very wealthy people who play golf and of all races, genders and economic levels.

[00:39:29] And yeah, that's one of the.

[00:39:32] I just, I just saw that headline.

[00:39:34] I was like, really?

[00:39:35] Well, you know, okay.

[00:39:36] I gotta ask Bill about this.

[00:39:38] Yeah.

[00:39:38] If you're throwing red meat to your base, then everything sounds good.

[00:39:41] If you just make it in terms of economic strata, it doesn't have to make sense.

[00:39:45] You just have to just have to put it in a category and then they start cheering like lemmings.

[00:39:49] So it's, it's a wonderful time to be alive.

[00:39:51] My holy discontent moving along is that during the summer, you know, nice peaceful summer, you're kind of kicking back.

[00:40:00] We're up in the UP for a while and swimming in my lake up there and enjoying life.

[00:40:05] And along comes our good friends from the Indianapolis headquarters of the NCAA because they, maybe news takes a while to get to Indianapolis.

[00:40:17] I'm not sure they're fully aware that James Harbaugh no longer coaches college football, but they still issued some sanctions against him, which are just fascinating to me.

[00:40:30] Let me have Colin Cowherd explain just a moment or two words.

[00:40:34] He's not.

[00:40:35] He's going to go win Super Bowls for the Chargers.

[00:40:38] And this, this reads like a Saturday night live comedy skit.

[00:40:41] They're accused of violations at Michigan.

[00:40:45] Here's one of them.

[00:40:46] Clingscale is accused of helping a recruit get verified on Instagram.

[00:40:51] That same recruit.

[00:40:52] You could pay a million dollars a year to play out of high school, but, but, but this is one of the big ones that the assistant coach got one of his players verified on Instagram.

[00:41:05] I mean, is this a witch hunt or not?

[00:41:08] Kind of feels like it.

[00:41:10] And just, we teased this at the very beginning of the show.

[00:41:13] Let me play a little bit longer response from coach Harbaugh.

[00:41:18] I understand that not everybody likes him.

[00:41:20] I understand that not everybody believes him.

[00:41:23] All I can say is, I don't think you could state things in more unequivocable, is that a word?

[00:41:31] A word.

[00:41:31] Terms.

[00:41:32] Than this.

[00:41:33] Never lie.

[00:41:34] Never cheat.

[00:41:35] Never steal.

[00:41:36] I was raised with that lesson.

[00:41:39] I have raised my family on that lesson.

[00:41:43] I have preached that lesson to the teams that I've coached.

[00:41:48] No one's perfect.

[00:41:49] If you stumble, you apologize and you make it right.

[00:41:57] Today, I do not apologize.

[00:41:59] I did not participate, was not aware, nor complicit in those said allegations.

[00:42:07] So for me, it's back to work and attacking with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

[00:42:13] There you go.

[00:42:14] The end of my holy discontent, except that I have one on myself because Paul, I misread the form.

[00:42:18] You were correct.

[00:42:19] I was jumping down a little too far.

[00:42:21] I should have been prepared for the golfer equity plan.

[00:42:24] But Carson, is there anything?

[00:42:25] I know.

[00:42:25] Is there anything?

[00:42:27] I was just so hard about focus.

[00:42:29] Is there anything that's burning a hole in your world that you want to share?

[00:42:33] Get off your chest.

[00:42:35] I now know.

[00:42:36] Okay.

[00:42:36] Being able to talk about ultramarathoning is all of those niche hobby and athletics.

[00:42:42] For those of you people that are listening right now, right?

[00:42:45] How can you be good discontent when you get to talk about that?

[00:42:48] So I am just overflowing with talking about the niche, that small lane of people.

[00:42:56] So I'm feeling pretty darn good.

[00:42:58] All right.

[00:42:58] Let's go into our that guy segment.

[00:43:01] Right now, this minute, today, this week.

[00:43:06] Am I leading out again?

[00:43:11] Okay.

[00:43:11] So my, that guy this week, that guy is when we see or we call out someone in the world

[00:43:17] of sports that we think is doing it the right way.

[00:43:19] And my, that guy this week is NASCAR because Denny Hamlin, who's kind of like the LeBron James

[00:43:27] of NASCAR, right?

[00:43:28] Like people love to hate Denny Hamlin.

[00:43:31] Um, he won Bristol and then his race team decided that they were going to dismantle,

[00:43:39] disassemble and rebuild the engine that he won the race with, which is a big, huge no,

[00:43:44] no in NASCAR rules because they have to inspect every race winning engine.

[00:43:47] But since, since, uh, his team decided to take it all apart and then put it all back together,

[00:43:52] anything that they might've done to illegally win the race, um, their tracks were covered.

[00:43:58] So here's what NASCAR had to say about it.

[00:44:01] Each race winning engine must be inspected.

[00:44:03] Once the race team determines its life cycle is complete.

[00:44:06] In this instance, prior to presenting the engine to NASCAR, Toyota racing development,

[00:44:10] disassembled and rebuilt the number 11 is Bristol winning race engine per the NASCAR rule book.

[00:44:15] This violation results in a level two penalty.

[00:44:18] Just bill is shuddering right now on the, as we talk about level level two.

[00:44:22] Level two violations, level two penalty to the race team and driver Toyota racing development,

[00:44:27] self-reported this violation.

[00:44:30] They Kirk Ference to themselves.

[00:44:32] They, they self-reported this thing.

[00:44:35] Here's why I'm giving it a, that guy to NASCAR because they docked Denny Hamlin,

[00:44:40] 75 race, regular season points and 10 playoff points.

[00:44:44] They essentially knocked him out of having a shot at winning the regular season title,

[00:44:49] bumped him down from third to sixth overall in the playoffs standings.

[00:44:54] So it was actually a real penalty with real consequences for Toyota doing something that was really against the rules.

[00:45:02] And so way to go NASCAR.

[00:45:04] I think that's, they're setting a precedent, which is a good thing.

[00:45:07] For sure.

[00:45:08] My, I have, I've had that guy into that girl, if that's okay with everybody.

[00:45:11] Oh, okay.

[00:45:12] I don't hear any objections.

[00:45:13] My, that girl is a Dutch runner from the Olympics.

[00:45:16] She was part of the, it's either an Olympic record or a world record in the 400, uh, 400 meter relay.

[00:45:25] This, this gal is about the size of my right shin.

[00:45:29] I mean, she's so tiny and she's so incredibly fast, but that's not the story.

[00:45:34] The story is this 20 seconds you're about to hear.

[00:45:37] I want you all to know that in no way, shape or form have I edited or doctored this soundbite.

[00:45:43] And there's also no way on earth you're prepared for this voice.

[00:45:47] When you're putting your mind to it, you know exactly what to do indoors.

[00:45:52] How was that for you?

[00:45:53] Oh, it was amazing.

[00:45:54] I mean, it was such a strong race.

[00:45:56] We were all running so fast, multiple running in the 50s.

[00:45:59] So I knew I had to go out fast.

[00:46:00] I'd look in front of me.

[00:46:01] So I wanted to be in front and I could hear how far she was behind me.

[00:46:05] So I was like, okay, this is good.

[00:46:06] Now we keep going.

[00:46:07] And this crowd is so amazing.

[00:46:09] I'm telling you.

[00:46:10] And I did not, I did not touch that at all.

[00:46:13] And I saw her interviewed later on during the games.

[00:46:16] And it was not, she, you know, she wasn't on helium for that moment.

[00:46:19] That's just her voice.

[00:46:20] And it's the best, but my real, that guy and Paul, we are now at episode 155 of church.

[00:46:26] Pew sports.

[00:46:28] This is my favorite, that guy to this point.

[00:46:31] Ever.

[00:46:32] Told you at the beginning that we were nearing football season.

[00:46:35] We're about two weeks away, right?

[00:46:38] Mm-hmm.

[00:46:39] This, this husband submitted to his wife a two week notice that he wanted her to read.

[00:46:49] Here we go.

[00:46:50] Callie, this is to inform you that two weeks from today is the start of the NFL season.

[00:46:55] The past several months I have been an engaged, loving, helpful, and thoughtful husband and father.

[00:47:01] However, I must with readiness inform you that I am putting in my two weeks notice.

[00:47:06] I will no longer be available for work on Sundays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday evenings nor Thursday evenings due to conflicting commitments.

[00:47:16] I will also be available every Saturday due to the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. the next morning.

[00:47:27] This will be in fact until the end of February and early March.

[00:47:31] Thank you for your amazing weekend.

[00:47:33] I'm sorry you can't quit.

[00:47:35] We're short staffed.

[00:47:36] I don't know if you caught the end, but she said to him, I'm sorry you can't quit.

[00:47:41] We're short staffed.

[00:47:45] That is really good.

[00:47:46] That is fantastic.

[00:47:48] That's really good.

[00:47:49] All right, I have a quick quiz for you guys.

[00:47:50] All right, we're going to put it under the category of useless stat of the week.

[00:47:56] Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything.

[00:47:59] 40% of all people know that.

[00:48:02] Very true.

[00:48:04] All right, this is really Carson.

[00:48:05] This is going to be for you.

[00:48:06] I'm going to lay.

[00:48:07] I'm going to run down.

[00:48:08] We're just going to do quickly.

[00:48:09] I'm going to run down a competition and you can tell me yes or no.

[00:48:14] Has it been an Olympic sport?

[00:48:17] Okay, not not necessarily in 2024, but just has it been because we know we're still dealing with the breakdancing debacle with the

[00:48:25] Australian lady who just snuck her way in and just just was fantastic.

[00:48:30] Okay, here we go.

[00:48:31] Hot air ballooning.

[00:48:33] No, it has been tug of war.

[00:48:36] Yes.

[00:48:37] Yeah.

[00:48:38] Dueling pistols.

[00:48:40] No, it was really.

[00:48:45] Did people die?

[00:48:46] People were injured.

[00:48:49] I would watch that sport.

[00:48:51] I know.

[00:48:52] Well, I could make a lot of other commentary about some cities that you can.

[00:48:55] Okay.

[00:48:58] Horse long jump.

[00:49:01] No, it was.

[00:49:02] Yeah.

[00:49:05] Okay.

[00:49:06] We've all seen synchronized swimming.

[00:49:09] Has there ever been an Olympic sport of solo synchronized swimming?

[00:49:14] Yes, there has been.

[00:49:15] Yeah.

[00:49:16] Yeah.

[00:49:18] And in my the last one that I will I will ask in the quiz painting painting painting ever been an Olympic sport.

[00:49:26] No, it has been what and really, yes, as a trial competition, like back in the black and white film days.

[00:49:36] It was, it was, I don't know.

[00:49:38] It had to have been a, it's early in the Olympic.

[00:49:41] I remember like climbing the rope used to be an event, right?

[00:49:44] 20 or 25 feet just with your hands, no legs.

[00:49:47] We're like, we're really looking for events, guys.

[00:49:49] Yeah.

[00:49:51] Now you fast forward to the, to the rock wall that they climb up.

[00:49:54] It's fascinating.

[00:49:55] And they do it in like four seconds.

[00:49:56] But yeah, I think of all of those, the dueling pistols would be the one that would have some trouble getting a TV network to clear these days.

[00:50:05] But I would watch that.

[00:50:06] I think we would all, we probably do pay-per-view for that one.

[00:50:08] All right, let's wrap things up with our three minute message.

[00:50:13] Homer, I'd like you to remember Matthew 7, 26, the foolish man who built his house on sand.

[00:50:20] And you remember Matthew 21, 17.

[00:50:26] And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany and he lodged there.

[00:50:32] Yeah.

[00:50:33] Think about it.

[00:50:35] Think about it.

[00:50:36] All right.

[00:50:37] So Carson, you said you've listened to the podcast before.

[00:50:40] Then you would know that we end every episode with a three minute message where we try to somehow tie the topic of discussion from the conversation to life or faith.

[00:50:52] And so here's what I'm going to do.

[00:50:53] I'm going to put you on the spot in a different way than asking you if things are Olympic sports or not.

[00:50:58] I want to read Hebrews 12, one and two.

[00:51:02] And then I would love for you to take three minutes or less and share with our listeners a life lesson that you have learned from your experience as an ultra marathoner.

[00:51:15] Something that's gotten out of the realm of just running a race and is actually applied to your faith, to your ministry, whatever it would be.

[00:51:23] So you have the length of time that it takes me to read this verse to think about that.

[00:51:26] So Hebrews 12, one and two says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

[00:51:40] And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

[00:51:50] Yeah, this is a great one.

[00:51:53] I kind of alluded to it earlier, this aspect of when when one person goes out to run 100 milers, like they're rarely just by themselves.

[00:52:03] They have family there, they have friends there, their aid stations along the way, they help them trade out their nutrition, they help them trade out their water.

[00:52:13] And there comes a point where they get joined.

[00:52:16] And as you're out there, you're walking, you're like, hey, okay, so how are your feet?

[00:52:19] How are we doing?

[00:52:20] And it's like you're going through mental checklists.

[00:52:23] And then you even know as a pacer when you're alongside that person, you're like, oh, I've got to have topics ready to go.

[00:52:29] I have to have phrases ready to go.

[00:52:32] And I distinctly remember being at Leadville Winfield aid station.

[00:52:37] A buddy of mine wanted to quit.

[00:52:38] I was there to help pace him.

[00:52:39] And then I said, you have a choice right now.

[00:52:42] You can quit or they can stop you.

[00:52:46] One of those makes you a quitter.

[00:52:47] And one of those means you didn't make the cutoff.

[00:52:50] Yeah.

[00:52:51] And in that moment, he was just like later on, he talked about that, that moment.

[00:52:56] He's like, I didn't want to be a quitter.

[00:52:59] And isn't that the way we are meant to like persevere one another on in the faith?

[00:53:03] And when we talk about don't quit, I think it's about stay loyal to Jesus.

[00:53:08] Like we're not saying like, hey, be perfect.

[00:53:10] Hey, do all the right things.

[00:53:12] It's like stay loyal.

[00:53:14] Can you loyally believe?

[00:53:16] Can you loyally follow day after day when your stomach is wrecked, when maybe the family around you, things aren't going well.

[00:53:24] And when we have the body of Christ, man, that can do it with us doesn't make it easy.

[00:53:29] But man, it's a better journey together.

[00:53:31] And so that's what it's all about doing that prize.

[00:53:34] It's just not alone, not just with your savior, the man with the body that he has saved.

[00:53:41] It's really good.

[00:53:42] Well said, man.

[00:53:43] That's good.

[00:53:43] Very solid.

[00:53:45] Glad to have you with us, Carson.

[00:53:47] It's wonderful being here.

[00:53:48] Thanks for having me.

[00:53:49] We will definitely have to do that again.

[00:53:50] And next time we'll just have you run over and be in studio.

[00:53:54] Exactly.

[00:53:54] I'm just going to look for another niche sport.

[00:53:56] Okay.

[00:53:56] So I'm just going to be on the lookout for something that's off the radar.

[00:53:59] No, we'll give, we'll give you like a solid week to run from Colorado to Michigan.

[00:54:05] There you go.

[00:54:06] My wife and four kids will object.

[00:54:11] You know, we, we, we've talked about doing an episode involving sports spouses, and maybe

[00:54:17] that would be the time then to have, have them come in.

[00:54:19] And I don't think you want Husker fans on this podcast, at least as a wildcat.

[00:54:24] I don't.

[00:54:25] There are Husker fans.

[00:54:26] I'm not aware of that.

[00:54:28] It's good.

[00:54:28] They're still sold out.

[00:54:30] Okay.

[00:54:30] So.

[00:54:31] Well, that's true.

[00:54:31] It's the only game in town.

[00:54:32] That's true.

[00:54:33] It is good to have you with us.

[00:54:35] Thanks so much, Paul.

[00:54:36] Good to see you.

[00:54:37] And let's, let's, let's do it again sometime soon.

[00:54:39] Like, you know, shorter than the month.

[00:54:43] Yeah.

[00:54:43] We have to talk about the launch of college football and there might be a few Michigan

[00:54:47] headlines that break here in the next couple of weeks that would be worth talking

[00:54:50] about too.

[00:54:51] Yeah.

[00:54:51] That's up next.

[00:54:52] Thank you all for listening.

[00:54:53] Make sure you check us out online at churchpewsports.com and follow us on our social channels on X

[00:55:00] and on Facebook.

[00:55:01] We'll talk to you next time.

[00:55:01] Thanks for being part of this great conversation.