The Lucie Beatrix Podcast
Lucie Beatrix interviews inspiring humans of all walks on life that share her love for running fast and far, creating interesting stuff, and changing the world for the better.
The Lucie Beatrix Podcast
Jerry Francois Is Building A Legacy: Activism, Athleticism, and Social Impact
Jerry Francois, known as Coach J, is known in the New York running scene for creating diverse, empowering spaces for communities of color and runners of all abilities as the founder of Gold Finger Track Club.
• Started running in high school at age 17 after his mother passed away, finding it provided mental clarity and an emotional outlet
• Created Goldfinger Track Club from a clothing brand, establishing a team where everyone belongs regardless of pace
• Embraced the team's mottos "Gold Vibes" and "Diverse but not divided" to foster inclusion and community
• Founded Black Miles Matter after Ahmaud Arbery's murder, organizing solidarity runs including the Juneteenth 5K
• Transitioned from being a 400-800 meter runner to achieving a 2:42 marathon at Boston 2023 despite injury
• Worked with PYNRS, the only Black-owned running apparel company in the US, as creative director
• Credits his son Jaxx for inspiring his running success and giving him "superpowers" to chase his dreams
• Focuses on building family and expanding his brand while planning to complete his sixth marathon major in Tokyo
• Plans to run New York City Marathon aiming for a comfortable 2:50 finish while enjoying the experience
• Emphasizes faith as the foundation of his journey: "Faith makes things possible, not easy"
Follow Jerry on social media @kingparkergold2001 or @hirecoachj, and follow the team @gftc_brooklyn.
Today's guest is Jerry Francois, also known as Coach J. Jerry is a runner and the founder of the Goldfinger Track Club here in New York City. His work in the New York running scene embraces all abilities and empowers communities of color. We are going to get into Jerry's athleticism activism and social impact on today's show. Welcome. This is the Lucy Beatrix podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Lucy. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:It seems like everyone in the New York City running scene has crossed paths with you at some point. I know I have. But before we get into all that for people who don't know you, where are you from and how did you get into running originally?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my name is Jerry Francois. I'm born and raised in Brooklyn, new York, 34 years old, father, first Leader, community activist, coach, and all afterwards Started running in high school. I would say my senior year in high school, a year before my mom had had passed away. I was 17 years old, trying to process my first big loss. I never had a loss in my family before and I needed an outlet. I've always been an active kid.
Speaker 2:I played every sport you could think of, especially in high school, and track was never a sport I actually looked into and when I was just trying to find an outlet and find something positive to keep me going, I stumbled upon kids running in the hallway after school and I was, you know, hanging out after school in the school doing what I was not supposed to be doing. But it intrigued me to see these kids running in the hallway and I asked like hey, what is this? And they were like this is the track team. I'm like track, you shouldn't you be outside? And it was like no, we, we run when it's cold, we run inside. And I was like this is a hallway.
Speaker 2:But it intrigued me and you know, every day in high school everyone was always asking me hey, man, how does it feel to lose your mom? Man, if I lost my mom I would never go to school and I was very popular in high school and I couldn't get away from that noise. But when I went to the track team, no one ever asked me about, like how, my process and my grieving. They just saw me as Jerry, the individual who's funny, who makes dance videos, who's you know, the class clown who connects with everybody. But no one ever asked me about my mom's passing.
Speaker 2:and then from there I kind of just I was intrigued to be a part of it and then when I ran it felt refreshing you know, my mind felt clear, it gave me something to look forward to, despite of, you know, my world just being all shattered, and it kind of kept me going so how old were you exactly when your mom passed away?
Speaker 1:I was 17 years old oh, that's such a hard age to lose your mom, yeah, um. So so when, when did you so? You realized that running could be a way to process the grief, it was something that you could do to, like, get away from those hard feelings. At what point did you realize it could be something even bigger, or something that you could use to start like a community or raise awareness and things like that?
Speaker 2:Honestly, I had no idea. I think I always, once I got involved involved with track, I've always tried to push the needle and make it so much more. You know, I was part of a track team that was not the most favorite sport in high school and then I made it more popular in high school and then even college too. I did the same thing and then I always just flipped the script like, yes, my team was called this but, and then I gave it a different name. We went from just Newtown High School track and field, then I changed it to track stars and then when I went to junior college it was Queensborough Tigers. I changed it to Team Mamba, inspired by Kobe, and I always kept flipping the script and I didn't understand why I would always flip the script. But then I just noticed that every time I would do something, people would follow it. And then that's when I knew that I had this sense of purpose, because no matter what I kept doing, people would want to follow.
Speaker 2:And then I wanted to be a positive life in everyone else's eyes, because I knew that there are people processing so much different emotion and I know everyone talks about running being therapeutic and it has and honestly I'll say the same thing like everybody else like it saved my life because it gave me an outlet. So I wanted to do the same and I knew that running was going to forever be in vain with me, because my coach used to tell me that you should have ran years ago and now.
Speaker 2:You're running now, so I always tell people that I'm playing catch up.
Speaker 1:I see that. So you ran in high school, you got into it in high school, you ran in college or junior college and then, um, I think we're the same age. You're in your 30s, yes, so from your, from the end of college, till your 30s, what did running look like?
Speaker 2:running look way different. You know, I'm used to running on the track and doing nothing, but uh, the longest distance was an 800 meter, and then, obviously, doing cross country, it was very different. Everyone spoke a different language. I didn't understand road running. I'd never ran on the road before in my life because you were a 400 meter runner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's 400 800 so I've never like fast track, fast yeah short intervals?
Speaker 2:I never did. I didn't know what a half marathon was, or a full, or 10k, that none of that language was ever spoken to me and in this running community.
Speaker 2:It was everyone that was where their foundation started. Everyone's like, hey, I'm running a half, I'm running a full. Oh, I never ran in high school, I never ran in college or I just started running. But everyone was so excited to start now and to me I thought that was phenomenal because I was like everyone's at that time. Everyone was older than me. I was the youngest one in that running space, you know, I was 24, 25, with a whole bunch of people that was mid-30s celebrating that the success of running a marathon, and I never knew what a marathon was yeah, it's kind of funny to think.
Speaker 1:so the way that I met you I was I for the first time I decided to to run with a group, with the team. I guess it was like I don't know if you would call it like a training camp, but I did Nike project moonshot and, uh, I had never run with people before in my life, like I was always running alone. And, um, I went into this program and you were one of the pacers for the vault group, which was like the crew trying to go for a two, 45 marathon, which is a very ambitious first marathon. But you were the guy and I remember going to these track workouts and tempo workouts in central park and I was like I just want to impress him because I didn't know how it works.
Speaker 1:we're like the coaches are not thinking like, yeah, she's gonna win this workout and like good for her. But I'm like I'm gonna show that I can keep up, and there I just can think of these memories where I'm like running beside you and there are photos of this, where I'm just like see like I can do, like I'm doing this, and then the best part is that at the end of the workout you led like a core, like push-up thing or something.
Speaker 2:Yes, you used to do a push-up challenge.
Speaker 3:And I had never done a push-up in my life and it's like everything was like depending on this, and you posted an Instagram story from that where I'm like using my knees and I'm like shaking so hard belong in the volt group.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, so funny. But I do remember that feeling of like, wanting to show you that I could do it, which I think you probably bring out of your athletes where it's like, okay, like he believes in me, and so I'm going to show that I can do this workout, but, um, so the time that you were, how did you get into all that like pacing and that kind of stuff?
Speaker 2:yeah. So you know, 2014, when I got into the running community, you know I was follow. I saw it one time on Twitter, now newly x and they were like, hey, come run with us Nike run club. And I was like, what is that? What does that mean? And I I went after work I was working two jobs, I worked overnight and I also worked at an after-school program. And then I went after work at 8 am and there was this whole, this whole foundation of just runners running on a sunday at, uh, flat iron and I was like, wow, what is this? And people were like pacers and all. And it was like, oh, people get paid to this. I was like people get paid to run? No way. I was like, oh man, I want this job. How do I get this job? And at that time they were like, oh, you have to work at retail. I was like, oh no, I would never.
Speaker 1:I was like I was like I can't, I can't, uh.
Speaker 2:And they was like no, it's not as bad as people think it is, trust me. And I was like I don't fold clothes, I don't even fold my own clothes you want me to work at retail.
Speaker 2:But you know, obviously you know, just even I think about it now just how ignorant I sound at that time. You know, I just wasn't aware of things and you know, fast forward, keep going, keep going. And it was like, hey, if you want to be a pacer, you have to work for a nike store. And I was like, okay, cool, I'll. I got a job interview for the nike running store, got the job there and then then the process became a pacer. So then I got to be involved with being a pacer and leading groups before they even created project moonshot.
Speaker 2:It was just a very generic of meeting here there uh three times a week, and then it started, you know, then it created the idea of project moonshot which was the pilot to see how can we like take everybody to the elite.
Speaker 1:You know category like yeah, and that's interesting because, like I, from my point of view, like doing the program, I didn't know anything about the pacers and I just thought of you guys as like celebrities and like you, like, when you became like a running celebrity yeah, in its own way, but I just thought you guys as like celebrities and like you, I mean you became like a running celebrity in its own way, but I just thought you guys were like the most famous runners in the world Because I don't know, I didn't know anything. And then I remember telling my mom I'd come home and be like, yeah, like look at these pictures, like I got to run with this person and they're so fast. So it seemed like a good opportunity.
Speaker 2:No, it was. Honestly, it was phenomenal Even when we went, when we transitioned to just focusing on the marathon training, because I never ran a marathon before and I never ran past 13 miles in my life, until that program.
Speaker 1:Wow, oh, wow. So you kind of started marathon running and training like at the same time At the same time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so funny, wow People running and training like at the same time at the same time. Yeah, that's so funny.
Speaker 1:Wow, people pulled me to run the marathon.
Speaker 2:It's like, you're like yeah, you could do all the distance you could run sub three, you know, and obviously everyone thinks what you do in training can translate right on, you know, to the marathon. But in reality there's a lot more, but everyone's like oh, you can run sub three, you hold this pace, hold that pace oh, wow, that's so interesting.
Speaker 1:We're gonna get into your training specifically in a little bit, like talking about how you trained for the times that you've run, because they are impressive, um. But let's talk about the goldfinger track club. Um, how did this team come to be?
Speaker 2:yes, goldfinger track club, my baby. So the origin story is 2013. Uh, I um took a break from the semester. I was trying to really think about life. I was was very into streetwear the early Tumblr blogs and I wanted to create a brand that represented me and the friends around me. We always felt like misfits. We didn't want to be in any category of any other clothing brand that was coming out and I thought about just reflecting of college and I had a friend named Kaden who we ran Division 3.
Speaker 2:We ran an I forget if it was regionals or championships, I don't know, it was nationals and there was a photo of us on the podium I think we placed top six overall and he was digging his nose and I remember how upset my coach was when he developed the photos because it was in a digital camera. It was a Kodak camera, so our coach would send us the photos in the summer to reflect on the season and I remember his response in the group chat. He said the photos in the summer to reflect on the season and I remember his response in the group chat. He said what that's normal? And his response and my coach was furious and I was like that is that is normal. That's what we did as kids. You know whether we did in the secret, out in public, but that was normal. And I thought about us and the people around. I was like some things that we do may not be as normal as everybody else, but to us is very normal so then I thought about I was like.
Speaker 2:You know, everyone says dig your nose for gold finger then I was like voila, gold finger.
Speaker 2:So then I had the brand gold finger and but I had the idea I didn't do nothing with it yet. I just created a hashtag, kept telling people gold finger coming soon. We kept doing the pose on early instagram for two years. Then, 2015, we finally it into a clothing brand and then at that time I started, you know, getting my name into the running scene and then, at the Armory 2016, I was trying to emerge and bridge the gap between people I ran with in high school college and the people I met in Nike Run Club and none of them ever ran track.
Speaker 2:So, and a lot of people didn't run track anymore after high school college. But then I just wanted to merge it and in the armory they were like, hey, what's the name of your team? It was like I don't have a name. It was like, well, we can't put unattached for a club. It was like we're not a club, we're just people who just came together and they were like, no, we need a name. And I was like, okay, I've got this clothing brand Gold Goldfinger. I'm at the track. I love track. That was at Goldfinger Track Club.
Speaker 1:Amazing.
Speaker 2:And then from there it stick. We won out heat and everyone's like, oh my God, Goldfinger Track Club, Y'all so fast and elite. And I'm like, no, we just made it up. Yeah, we're not. That's great. We're not a club. Yeah, yeah, just friends who just came together for this day isn't the thing.
Speaker 1:Do you guys do the thing?
Speaker 2:the pictures where you're opening, yes, exactly, and that's kind of come the signature from the clothing brand that transitioned into the track club and then it kind of just, you know, blew up. And I remember which is the big piece of the story, why I kept it going because it was not a real club. One of the members who ran with us, he had this long message from a crew he was part of and he they dropped him. They were like, due to your disloyalty running with another club, but fortunately you are no longer welcome to run with us, and I was like this thing.
Speaker 2:I was like, but we made it up, we're not even real yeah but and I saw how devastated he was and I was like man, so I was like I gotta really make this a club for real, but I was like the rule number one is you can go wherever you want to go.
Speaker 1:I have had no idea that's a thing that they can kick you off of a team. Me either, and I was very new right.
Speaker 2:This is year one and a half of learning run club, crew community. So I didn't know. But I was like, all right, let's make it. And I was like I don't know, I'm going to learn as I go.
Speaker 1:But go, finger track club, like your home, is always here, no matter where you go that's an incredible mission for a team, um to always have a home wherever you go, especially in the running community. What does the motto gold vibes mean? And uh, how did that become the core identity of the team?
Speaker 2:gold vibes means, you know, just like good vibes, but just like gold. You know, I think when I thought about the name gold, I thought about what we chased in life, you know, and right, the medals are gold, the trophies are gold, all the accolades that we try to achieve and just the foundation of just thinking back in history about how gold met so was so precious. You know, you found gold, you found treasure, you know. So I just thought about that, just feeling enriched with everything you do. So it's the gold vibes of everything that you're just trying to always search for, something that glows within all the great things you do.
Speaker 1:And then the other motto that I've heard around the team is diverse but not divided. Can you talk about that?
Speaker 2:Yes, diverse but not divided. I got that from power when I was doing a shout out to Will Power and all the social injustice runners, that was doing amazing things we're bridge runners and all and it was just. It made sense, you know it. It stuck with me because I was like this is what we really do and you know now we're infusing real life stuff with running. So it only makes sense to to have that statement and stick by it, no matter what we do, whether it's being the fastest, being a backpack or following things that mean more to us than just the running.
Speaker 1:But you know, always keep us amongst each other, no matter what is the goal or separation um, but speaking of the back of the pack that you just mentioned, how do you, uh, how do you help runners that are that are more of the back of the pack, or like the kind of runner that maybe has never run with other people before, who feels like they don't quite belong? How do you make them feel included and welcome, like somebody who just doesn't know, like you know, they see a track full of people running their workouts and stuff. How do you help them feel like, yeah, you can do it too well, I tell people that, um, the other side of fear is success.
Speaker 2:And as much as we fear things, that stops us sometimes to ever try and challenge things. And everything looks good on social media. Everything's polished right and I always tell people who told you that we were fast, we look fast, but define. Who defines fast? And I think the community defines that. But a lot of people would say I'm not fast and somebody else would say, no, you are fast, and I think the community defines that. But a lot of people would say I'm not fast and somebody else would say, no, you are fast. And I always tell people just come, experiment it. And we celebrate because at the end of the day, we're all here with the same common goals is to be better and do better, and there's a lot more people that's in the same space as you that you'll be surprised of. You know looks could be deceiving and everything looks good.
Speaker 2:I chase people around the track and make them look good on video but in reality they might be running the same exact pace than you are and everything's faster on the track. And I've always tell people that, yeah, what you run on the road may not feel as fast, but on the track it's oval, you can see the start line and your finish line on a road. You, you see the starting line and you don't see the finish line until a certain period of time. So we try to always embrace the backpack runners to let them know like, hey, this space is open for you.
Speaker 2:And I was a backpack runner, believe it or not, I didn't. I wasn't born with the skill or had the foundation. I had to work my way up like everybody else, and I was like it starts here. It might not be the same pace. You may think, oh, but you, you came from a track and field background. But yeah, I was like they didn't mean I could keep up, I was getting. I was running with the nox robertsons and uh fiendlies and the tim rossi's and I was gassed. I would do one lap and not be able to, but I was hungry enough to know that consistency wins results. And and I always translate that and tell them like I was like, I can give you everybody's story. Who started with GFTC? And I'll tell you, not everyone like this. They're all pandemic runners and they've looked way on. Sasha didn't know what a 400 meter was. Now she's a Nike running coach running. She's running sub three like it's easy. She just won the 10K on Mother's Day, but those are just as it but everybody has to start somewhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the thing. It's like you see the trajectory of all these different kinds of runners of like you see their starting point and then like where they've gotten to. But not everybody sees that. They just see a bunch of runners on the track and they have no idea that they've actually like they were just like them or like a new runner at some point. But yeah, I love that Goldfinger Track Club embraces that instead of like an elitist mindset, cause there are a lot of teams that are not that.
Speaker 1:So, it's very refreshing to see and it just makes you feel like I actually did a job for new balance a couple of years ago with everybody else who did it was from gold finger. It was Shanna, asher and Kyle. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I remember I was like they're kind of like, oh, you guys are all on the same team and I don't know why we all come together. Fine, it was great. But it was really fun because I was like, oh, this is such a different mentality, them as teammates, like it wasn't about like who's the fastest and like what are your times, and so it was just like everyone's just having fun and I love that so much and they all look up to you so much. Like I love how everybody on Goldfinger Track Club loves you and that that says a lot about a team if everyone's just like loves their coach so much. Um, but, as someone who runs a huge team, are there any challenges that come along with that? Like you know, political stuff, like with you know, yeah, like weird turf wars of course I mean, I think, anybody who's a leader in this running space.
Speaker 2:We have to deal with a lot of challenges. You know a lot of different personalities. You know you wind up becoming more than just a coach. You become, you know, a mentor, a friend to lean on. You know where a lot of things start to, you know, be discussed. That's outside of running. You know people really look up to you and they feel like they spend the most time with you so they feel they could be the most open or vulnerable to you.
Speaker 2:And you know, as much as you try to balance and have the boundaries set, you know some people just can't help it. You know you could have a conversation, you could have a conversation with one of your teammates and then two seconds later they're breaking down crying about something that happened at work or a relationship, and you know you can't just tell them okay, can you clean your tears and just run this next rep. You know you have to be there for them. It gets challenging. You know, uh, I've dealt with so many different challenges, uh, being a running coach because a lot of them look at me as a friend.
Speaker 2:You know they don't I don't think they'll all look at me as a coach first, which is also a good thing too. You know there's a respect value, but a lot of people treat me as friends and sometimes when you're treated or look as a friend, people do tend to overstep, take advantage. And you know I've gone through a lot of those trials and tribulations but I think at the end of the day I love it. But we, that's how we grow and learn, so I know what to do, moving on and moving forward.
Speaker 1:But uh definitely isn't easy being a running leader in this space definitely not, and even just like how there are so many teams now and I feel like the spaces are. It's hard to. I just remember when I would run with teams. I don't really run with a lot of people these days, but like it would just be like turf wars, Like who's meeting on the track what day of the week and then who's taking over lane one and two, and it just seems like a lot.
Speaker 2:It's overly crowded. Now. I remember when I got into it we used to just have a respect for other crews and clubs. Where we wouldn't do runs on the days they do it. We used to have it where it's like mondays is rerun uptown, tuesdays boogie down bronx, wednesdays is bridge runners, thursdays was gftc and then everybody would do their long run saturday, but that's how it was. And then right, and then brooklyn track club did uh pm track on tuesdays, but everyone had their day where no one kind of clash but, now it's we're over saturated.
Speaker 2:So everyone's just. Everyone does it every day. Yeah, monday through Sunday, everyone has possible. Yeah, we used to really have a conversation like hey, we have something going on, can do you mind moving this over? It was like all right, cool. Now it's like no, this is like I have an idea, I want to do it yeah, and that's, that's a problem.
Speaker 1:I I'm actually really excited for the Red Hook track to open back up, because I'm just gonna go hide there and just run on the Red Hook track alone, because I'm just like this is too much.
Speaker 2:Mccarran is overwhelming. I have high anxiety being in McCarran.
Speaker 1:I never go anymore it used to be my favorite track, um, but so let's talk about activism. Um, you, you have, uh, I guess it's like a movement called Black Miles Matter. Yes. And that started in 2020. Go ahead and tell us about the kinds of events you've hosted and like what that means.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I created Black Miles Matter after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, who was someone that I saw myself, as everyone else in the community, especially of color, that was doing something that we all love and sometimes I guess we could take it for granted we were. You know, he was murdered for jogging in a gated community and it resonated home with me because I saw myself as that could have been me, that could have been Kofi, that could have been J-So, that could have been Joe Shane, that could have been Jen. You know I thought about that could have anybody that I know, that could have been one of us. So it really hit home with me.
Speaker 2:And obviously during the COVID times, you know, a lot of things were brushed off in the media because that happened in February but we didn't find out until April, you know, when the world shut down. When you run so much, you're so, you're not used to walking and I was walking a lot in these protests and I'm like man, my feet hurt. I was like I need to do something different. What if I bring this to the running community but make people run in solidarity versus walk? I was like I love it and we were walking from Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan Bridge, to Williamsburg Bridge, down to. You know, I loved it and it was empowering.
Speaker 2:But I was like what if I did this for running? You know what if I took what, uh, you know, power From Bridge and J Show did with because they were doing a lot of activist runs before me, but I was like what if I do it? Because I'm? I'm in a different space and I think we just need another leader to step up. So when I created black miles matter, it was simply a movement that I wanted to never die, because I was like, if the movement dies, that means we stop caring yeah, so I like.
Speaker 1:I like the idea of run in solidarity, don't walk because it is something to run in, uh, run towards, yeah, um, so some of the events were I run with mod yes um the black blk mile yeah and the juneteenth. What is the? Is it okay?
Speaker 2:yeah, so juneteenth, uh, solidarity 5k. Sometimes we expand it to 10k, um, but just again and then it's all. It's always open to walkers and joggers and bikers. It's just a whole point for us to remember how it all started you know, with me creating it in June of 2020, and who came out? Who we didn't know because we all had masks in 2020. I didn't know no one at that time to see where we are progressing as a community.
Speaker 1:I should add that Jerry's son is here, jax, and we're going to take a short break, so your son is here with us today. Jax, and how has being a father influenced you in your running and your coaching?
Speaker 2:You know, being a father in this running space and being a coach, he inspired me. You know, I don't think I would have ever chased my dreams to be a running coach if he wasn't born. You know, I always say fatherhood is the best hood. Honestly, he has given me superpowers. It had me never to fear anything, you know, and it was my go-getter to continue to drive. I was never going to do none of the things I was gonna do until he was born. All my success in running started when he was born. Everything that I wanted to chase, that I was afraid of, started when he came to my life, and he's my reminder. Every time that I I feel overwhelmed or don't feel that I can do something, I look at him and he I always want to be his role model and to say like hey, my dad chased his dreams. He created outlets and created spaces and created events and moments that nobody will ever forget. So he's my reminder to keep doing all the things that I'm doing it's so special.
Speaker 1:Well thanks, jacks, for joining us for just a second thank you and you're being so good while your dad is doing this interview. Thank you, love you. Go over there. You can sit close by if you want Go back over there.
Speaker 2:I'll call you back in a second. Okay, thank you Good job.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's keeping. I have nephews and they're just.
Speaker 2:Don't peel it, leave it. Leave the band-aid I almost got hurt because I almost got cut okay you're being a really really good boy.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, thank you. Yeah, my sisters have nephews and I'm, I'm, yeah, I can't even imagine but yeah, it's a great work, thank you do you bring jacks to your track practices?
Speaker 2:yes, you know, when jacks was first born, I was eager and excited to bring Jax to every single run. When I got a running stroller from Nicole and Alex, my baby showers.
Speaker 2:Oh, so you run, yeah so yeah, when Jax, as soon as Jax was two months old, I got on that running stroller and I started running with him. I brought him to all my community runs on Thursdays and then I started doing long runs with him from Best Dad to Prospect Park and back and I was that running dad with the stroller for many years. You know I was inspired watching, you know, adam and Dre do it and I couldn't wait for my moment. So, yeah, I was super sad when he finally outgrew the stroller but I tried to hold on for it until he got big and too tall for it. I tried to. And then, with him seeing running and being a part of running, he didn't want to be in the shoulder, he wanted to run the streets, you know it wasn't that safe.
Speaker 2:So I would take him to my track practices and you know, you know I'm blessed that my son is, you know, well behaved and he'll relax. But he also is a kid at the same time and I don't want him to stop being a kid so he gets, gets excited.
Speaker 2:He's seen people running a track. He wants to do the track. He did hill repeats one time with us at Zoo Hill at Prospect Park. He's just a fun kid and he loves to do it, where now he's done a lot of races himself for New York Roadrunners all the races that.
Speaker 1:I created. So, yeah, that's so. Yeah, cause I think I saw something that you posted that you said didn't want to make it ever feel like forced, or it was just like you're excited that he's excited to just do it on his own
Speaker 1:yeah, and that's got to be an interesting balance, because at the same time, you're probably thinking like, oh man, like this would be so fun for us to run together, but it's just awesome that he's just choosing to do it too, like you're never gonna force, no, never I just want him to create his own path.
Speaker 2:You know, he doesn't have to do any of the things that I'm doing you know, but the fact that he's excited, he wants to do. He always says, daddy, when's my next race, when's the next mile? You know we ran the family mile, brooklyn mile, and that was the first time I experienced my son run a full mile with no stop on the road and from there, he, he, he had the feeling he's. He's always excited. He's like when's my next race? What's?
Speaker 1:my next race. I think I saw the video of the brooklyn mile, um and so, uh, there was the blk mile, which was in bedstuy, and that was in your neighborhood.
Speaker 2:And then there was a black future yeah, so I know it gets kind of confusing. So the black mile I created in 2020, it was in my old neighborhood. It was in the borderline of ridgewood east new york highland park, where I was just bringing people together because there, you know, there was no other races going on and I wanted something that was for us, by us. And then I created Black Future Month Run, which was a solidarity run to celebrate not only the history and heritage of black history, but also to focus more on the present and the future of where we're going.
Speaker 2:And that was also the opportunity to bring all the black and brown leaders and clubs together, which was something that was probably the biggest challenges, because everybody has their own agenda. But the fact that black and brown leaders and clubs together which was something that was probably the biggest challenges because of you know, everybody has their own agenda but the fact that I was able to merge everybody to come together. For the last couple of years, we made it a tradition, like every February, whether it's the third or the last Saturday of the month, that we put aside our long runs, our marathon training goals and focus on the foundation that you know that I had to envision for, but everybody was involved with it and it's become super special and we've just did it this past february, for our fifth year anniversary.
Speaker 1:So what kind of people do you notice? You said it was open to walkers too, so not just runners. But um, what kind of people do you notice? Come out for these events I a lot, you know.
Speaker 2:I see, you know all walks of life. Because know, just because it's said black doesn't mean that we're necessarily saying that you, if you're not of color, that you can't attend or be involved. You know, I think that would be pure ignorance. It's the same way if you were to be in a black history class or a lesson, you wouldn't say only people of color to learn. You know, I think it's an opportunity for all of us to learn you know all ethnicities. Think it's an opportunity for all of us to learn you know all ethnicities. So we always try to express that because I think everybody feels when we say certain you know languages, or next very brands or not even brands, but ethnicities itself, it kind of tells people that no, you can't be here, but it's open to all. And I think what we love to see about it because it's not about just, yes, that's the ability that we do.
Speaker 2:We could run, run, but we want to open it up and once we tell people that, hey, it is open for a walker or a jogger or kids, you know, a lot of people brought their kids this year and my brother, troy, had led the kids with their scooters and Ava from Teamwork led the walkers and Malika took care of the backpack, and now all of them were excited because they're like this is space for all of us. It's not yes, it says run, but there is emphasis on the jog, the walk, the walk, jog, because the whole goal for that is to just bring all of us together. You don't have to be a runner to be a part of this, because we're not focusing on the running component only when we're bringing people together, we're speaking the message of where we are to, where we're headed, you know, and all the history behind us, and why we celebrate black history and we fuse it to black future, and where we're headed to next.
Speaker 1:That sounds like a very inclusive way to get people out there, and I've seen the videos. There's tons of people that show up and it seems like a really fun thing to be a part of just working towards spreading awareness and just having people in the community. Seeing all these people out out in the streets must, uh, make such an impact. Um, so I do want to talk about your running itself, like the, the training that you do, um, since you have pretty impressive times. Um, you ran a 241 marathon last year uh, 2023, yeah, and I mean that's amazing, especially going from it's.
Speaker 1:It's even more impressive to me if you're a 400 800 meter runner to take your head to the marathon and run a competitive time. That's a lot because it's just such a different mindset of that kind of run. It's a, it's a different sport in my mind it is um so um. Out of all your achievements as a runner and I've looked into your stats and stuff what do you consider your proudest moment?
Speaker 2:What I consider my proudest moment.
Speaker 1:If we're talking about speed, because I know you're not only about speed but I'm saying like, you know what I'm saying, I know you're very accessible to everybody and it's not about how fast you are. No pace is too slow. But, if you were looking at your times and you're like yeah, you know, no pace is too slow.
Speaker 2:But if you were looking at your times and you're like, yeah, that was like I was on it, what would it be? I would probably say Boston Marathon 2023, when I had told the goal, my ambitious goal of time, and everyone's like what was your goal?
Speaker 1:that you told everyone.
Speaker 2:I told everyone I was going to run a 240 and everyone laughed. Everyone said, no, you're not going to be able to do that. How are you going to go from 256 a year ago no, two years ago at that, you know, at an easier course. You know that's what everyone said. I ran philly and they're in 256. There's like there's no way. Two years later you're gonna run 240. You're out of your mind. You ran boston a year ago. You ran 303. It's like, no, you can't do it. I was like no, I am. I I said it out loud and I'm gonna. I'm gonna show you why I'm gonna be able to do it. And that was the first time that, not only to prove to myself, but I wanted to prove to everyone. And that was probably the perfect training cycle until it wasn't and what nobody knows that happened before that training cycle. Like anything can happen.
Speaker 2:Uh, me being me, you know, energetic running. I was coaching my club, crown shy, crown high, and I was doing my best impression of backwards running, recording, doing content. Then I realized on the west side, uh, highway, there was this steel garbage can and I ran right into it, right into the ribs. I have the video. I never posted it. You hear me, you hear the fall, you hear the agony, you hear the pain, you hear me screaming? Or record it, because I was recording.
Speaker 2:And this happened maybe like five or six weeks before Boston. All dreams shattered. I was in pain. Thankfully nothing broke, no rip, but bruise swollen. And every time I would try to run pain, I cough pain.
Speaker 2:But I didn't tell nobody. I said I don't want no excuses, we're going to just thug it out, thug it out. And I just did the road of recovery and I said I still have that ambitious goal and best believe. I made no excuses and I said I haven't run nothing past five miles in almost five weeks. And I was like, guess what? I trust my God, I trust my faith, I trust my training and if I say I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it. And I ran 242 in Boston and I didn't feel short of my coming. I felt impressed and you know that Boston Elliot ran his first Boston for the first time. A lot of elites, it rained that day, you know not everybody, a lot of people didn't have a good race. I had my best race because I ran my best time, but I also beat everybody that I wanted to be and that was my biggest goal. I was like I want everybody to see and feel that I'm coming for this crown, that I'm, I feel like I can gain.
Speaker 1:I love that. I relate to that so much because I feel like that. That's like when I came on the scene, I met you you were pacer in 2019 I said to everybody I'm gonna run a 245 and everyone was like you are not gonna do that, you are not even a runner, like you've never even really raced anything, and so but that chip on my I didn't run a 245, but I did run a 244 several years later, but like I had that chip on my shoulder of, like you all said, I can't do it, yeah. So now I'm gonna do it and it's like it's such a powerful thing, yeah, yeah, and I, I loved it and I gave it all out.
Speaker 2:If you see the photos of me at boston, that finish line, I collapsed, I blacked out because I knew I gave it my all. It was literally everything in my body to gain the time. And even brian smooth runner clowns me now. He said if you didn't stop by mile 21 to show love to the cheer zone you would have ran 240. But I said I needed it because if you ever ran boston you know how, honestly, it's not exciting. It's not exciting course is in the suburbs, it's actually in boston into new. And so mile 21 was my family, my culture, you know, pioneer, sid, gftc, everyone who came out, trailblazers, and I was like I need to have this moment because Boston is something or not given and I knew how I mattered to them because I set a goal and to me at that time my goal was to be the fastest non-elite African-American runner in my community.
Speaker 2:And that day I proved it and I gained the title. Because I literally went against all the best the Tommy runs, the Knox Robinson, every athlete that I know, lance Woods from Detroit, everyone and I wanted to prove that I deserve to be here. But I also want the number one title and I went for it and I got it.
Speaker 1:That's great. I'm sure your team was freaking out. Yeah, oh my, my god so many messages.
Speaker 2:I mean granted, I mean I blacked out, so I was gone for a little bit, so I'd. Even medical is the one that told me my time, when they woke me up and like stripped me down and whoa it was it was crazy. It was crazy. I didn't know what happened. You know, obviously I wasn't gonna look at my watch of my time, but I really passed out already. So, uh, yeah, I didn't know. I didn't know my time until I woke up and they told me, like, how does it feel to run this time?
Speaker 1:it's amazing. I remember seeing strava like that day and just going, whoa, okay, yeah, wow, um. So I mean, but you've also run other like your, your 5k, everything the else that you've run that's fat or longer than the 400 800 meter that you were doing in high school are all competitive fast time. So it does match. It's not like you ran a 241 or 242 out of yeah, nothing like you had the other times yeah, but it was, it was.
Speaker 2:You know how it is it's just hard to do it for such a long distance and yeah everyone's prediction of me. You know, when they saw it was like, oh, you could run these times, but it was never matching to the marathon yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:So is it a 608 pace or what is the pace for like a 241 I?
Speaker 2:think it was two six, six minute yeah definitely low. It was super low and um and I, I was running all my miles after mile three at the boston marathon, I think everything was under 555. I was just on a high, just I could not be stopped. I, I was so I didn't even notice it rained, I just was so locked in. But it also looked at all the photos. You see, I acknowledge the crowd. I had my tongue out. I'm waving, I'm doing this, but I couldn't be stopped.
Speaker 2:I had to go and I was because you're having so much I almost forgot what happened to my ribs, you know, and I was so concerned even getting on the bus. I'm like man, I don't know, man just but shout out to kelly, who gave me the recipe kelly kent and whatever she gave me, made sure that I was able to run that time yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 1:Another uh time of years that I I know a lot of people are probably like okay, we get it like fast, whatever. But there's things that I like care about and your brockston miler time from 2023 is out of this world 52 or 54, 14. Yeah, so it was a 526 minute mile.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:That is that. That doesn't make sense to me. That's like your 5k pace, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I don't. I told you 2023 was my Jordan year. I couldn't be stopped. You know, after killing Boston, I took time off, but was my Jordan year. I couldn't be stopped. After killing Boston, I took time off, but I just kept going. You know what it was? I did all the outside stuff. I changed my environment in terms of the friends that I had, the people I was spending time with, but also I changed my diet.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I really locked into my faith.
Speaker 1:What is your diet? I'm actually really curious.
Speaker 2:Well, it's not the same anymore, but uh, when you were locked in like that, like when you ran a 54 14 to the bronx time I learned what were you eating?
Speaker 2:I stopped eating. A lot of junk, a lot of snacks. I cut down a lot of fried foods. Uh, I cut down a lot of sugary drinks. I would only have sugary drinks on the weekend because my weakness is pure leaf lemon. But I I stuck to that and I had a crazy sweet tooth my whole life. But once I started training for boston and I went through my pantry and threw all my snacks away, I lost my sweet tooth. I always needed something sweet after dinner, but I no longer had the desire for that anymore and it stuck with me. I was, I didn't eat cookies and I used to dog down a tray of chips, ahoy, dipping in milk. All that was gone. I had no taste every time. So I would go to a bakery. Somebody would give me something sweet. To be polite, I'll take a bite. But I never finished it and I was like respectfully, I don't.
Speaker 1:So what kind of meals are you eating like? What? Are you eating what I'm?
Speaker 2:eating just, uh, a lot of salmon. I fell in love with a lot of salmon. I became a fake pescatarian, so I really just focused more on fish than just actual meat and, uh, yeah, cut out I never ate pork or beef. That was always my thing since 2016. So it was just really a lot of fish and a lot of fish, uh, carving in terms of more rice, cutting down on the bread and really just the fried food, which was my weakness, based off of where I lived that I always had access to. So I cut that down and I lost a lot of weight and I was in the gym a lot. Surprisingly, people don't think that I work out, but I actually do. I had. I had my core was super tight, I had like eight pack, I was rip, I was thinner but I was lean. I was strong, I was cut and me spending five times day of the week in the gym, plus running, and I never ran the mileage that people run. I didn't run 80 miles a week, 60.
Speaker 1:What kind of mileage do you run? I know you said somewhere you did like 40 miles a week, like pretty much all year round just to stay in shape, yeah. And that's I like that. I'm kind of in the same category where just it's like stays in shape, but like not too much. So what does it look like?
Speaker 2:like I just honestly did 45 to close to 60, and that was it, and only because I would always have to find time between coaching and being a dad and, you know, being in a relationship trying to balance it all. But nothing was forced and that's what it was. I had a my mindset, it was my mental that kept me going, my mental every time I said I was going to do, I was going to do so. Going into the bronx 10 mile, I had no idea what I was going to do, you know, but I I that I haven't had a well, I'm lying. I did have a big race, you know, my goal was to finally break 16 minutes in the 5k and my boy, my brother troy, said I could do it. And you know, uh, I wanted my son to witness it and he said, watch, if your son comes, you're gonna do it. And I finally did the Prospect Park 5K series and I broke 16 minutes for the first time and, man, that was my all out effect.
Speaker 2:You're talking about 80 degrees on a Wednesday evening, right? But I did it. And once I did it and I was because that was my next big race after Boston I didn't run nothing. Competitive so fast forward, bronx 10 mile. It was the week before Berlin which I sabotaged myself for that. Competitive so fast forward, bronx 10 mile. It was the week before Berlin which I sabotaged myself for that.
Speaker 2:Jerry Faulkner, which was somebody I looked up to and admired to a lot in the running space because I used to work with him in Nike and he's the one who believed in me in my early ages and I remember him coming back from injury and you know he was always fast. So me sharing the space with him in that Bronx 10 mile pushed me and I remember I couldn't believe I was holding this pace. It was like 5 35. Then he told me okay, after mile four, I'm gonna drop it down to 5 20. I said, wait, what? I said? Oh no, forget it. He's I don't got it. He's like, no, you got, it's like no, I don't got it. So I watched him and I kept looking at him. I'm like you know what? I think I could go with him actually, and I went with him.
Speaker 2:And then there was this another gentleman that was on my team, terry from Austin. Shout out to Terry. He had an injury. Oh, terry, I know Terry. Yeah, he had an injury, but he was smoking me the whole entire race and at the time he was a GFTC member and my pride kicked in. I said Terry's injured, yet he is killing me in this Bronx 10-miler. I'm watching him come around and I still haven't made the loop around and he's killing me right now. And I was like when I look at New York road runners, it's going to show GFTC and it's going to show Terry and everyone's going to ask in the team who is Terry? And then it's going to say Jerry.
Speaker 2:And my pride was like I cannot and I literally chased him like a rabbit. He always had a huge gap until that last mile and I went for it and I was like I'm gonna beat Terry that day now. He's way faster than me now. Shout out to Terry I love what he's doing in Austin, but he's the reason him and Jerry Faulkner is the reason I ran that time, which also destroyed me, because then I ran Berlin five days later and I had no legs left yeah, yeah, yeah well, maybe it's worth it no, no yeah that time is amazing and like if it sacrificed your Berlin marathon.
Speaker 1:I don't know yeah um it. It's so funny that, like every every person you reference, like I knew Terry, cause I met him in Austin at one point, and then Jerry Faulkner is a legend in the ring, like he's like a master's runner but he's so fast and he definitely has that thing of like. If he's going at a certain pace, just follow him, like I've. I've been behind him in a workout before and it's just like you feel like you just have to do it, no matter what Exactly.
Speaker 1:It's so crazy. This community is quite small, like everyone overlaps with each other in multiple ways. So, like you mentioned that, like when you say you're going to do something, you do it. You've proven that. But how do you deal with the days when you wake up and, like my producer, jason and I felt like this today where, wake up, I was coming in from Dumbo and we both felt tired and slow and I was like I just don't feel like doing stuff. How do you get over that and just get out the door and run when you're not feeling like it?
Speaker 2:Your strongest strength is when you don't want to do something and you do it. I think I wake up with that every day. I tell myself, man, I don't want to go coaching, man, I want to take a day off for myself. Man, I don't want to train, I don't want to run in the rain, I don't want to run in the winter. But every time, as soon as I just get up because I can't go back to sleep once I'm up I just tell myself you're going to do it anyways.
Speaker 2:And once you do it, you're going to understand why and those are the reminders of when I get into those races is like, remember every morning when you started sacrificing time, going out late night to now, going to bed at 10, to waking up at 6 for the gym and to run. That's the reason why you separate yourself from everybody else, because you know what it feels like to be tired and not want to do it, but you do it anyway. So that's your greatest strength and that's that's me. All the time and half the things I do. I don't never want to do it. I'm just like I look for a million excuses, but then I remind myself of I'm a late bloomer, I want to do this, and there's also people counting on me to do this so I can't let people down I get that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel that way all the time. I'm always barteringtering with myself, like this morning I'm like setting the alarm, I'm like no, no, no, like 15 more minutes, like, oh, you could just, you could just skip your run today, but I will hate myself if I do so, I just have to do it. But yeah, it's just like good. I always say to myself don't think, just go.
Speaker 1:And that helps a lot. But so Some of the fun things that come along with being a public figure in the running community include different shoots, and you and I did a shoot together a couple of years ago for Garmin and those pictures are still circulating all over the place. I see them at races all the time. Yours, especially you, were the one who had like the posters in the expos of you know all over social media and stuff. What kind of fun things have you done like that? That's just kind of been the result of being a community leader you fun things have you done like that?
Speaker 2:that's just kind of been the result of being a community leader. You know what it's funny? I always tell people that none of the opportunities of modeling come with me. Being fast has nothing to do about my speed or my times. I was like there's tons of people that's faster than me. My. It's literally my look, my attitude and my energy. That's infectious. That people you know refer me to a brand or not, because I'm not part of an agency. I don't reach out to brands. They come finding me from a recommendation and it also says the foundation of who I am as a person and I'm super blessed.
Speaker 2:You know I went from working at a retail at Nike to becoming a global campaign with Nike for the VaporMax in 2017, to then working with Nike again in several different projects and even Garmin, which is my favorite all-time shoot to this day. You know, just because that was the first time when I got to work with you know a lot of great individual talents like yourself and Vito and Ash, but also the production agency, and they really listened to us and they didn't overwork us. They listened to us and cared for us and I never seen that so much care for talent, as they call us. So you know, and it's just been inspiring to just be involved in being a part of that Cause. Every day, when I get those messages like yo, this is my coach right here, like even recently at an expo, something, something that Garmin that same photo, or when I walk into an expo and someone's like is that you? I'm like yeah, that was the more fit me with the red hair, but it's, it's, it's, it's mind-blowing. Even my son got to see it.
Speaker 2:We went to, uh, best Buy at Atlantic Terminal and he saw my face and he was like daddy, daddy, that's you. So just how remarkable and exciting. That is to say, I was just an ordinary runner who ran for grievance and then I found purpose and I turned my purpose into passion and I spread it across my community and this is just my rewards of all the hard work that I've done. And then I get to pass the baton to the amazing people like Yvonne to be the face of the New York City Marathon, or Malika for the Got Milk, and just seeing how all of us were just ordinary people doing ordinary things and now we are the faces to all these amazing brands and company. It has nothing to do about our speed. It's all about who we are and how we spread the energy, and I love it and I'm grateful and I hope I continue to keep showing my lovely faces on these campaigns.
Speaker 1:So malika was also the one in the times square board yes yvonne, that's christy, so they're both gold finger truck.
Speaker 2:So or they were everyone's go finger truck yeah there's no rules, you know yes, we are a membership base, but everybody who has touched surface with us, whether you're a member or not, or you know we had community runs, which was always a free run thursday. They would just bring people together. You know, every to me, everyone's family, you know I don't see anybody different because you don't wear my jersey or you don't rep because I was like then in a day we're, we're still tied for so many different reasons. You know, like malika's, my, my big sis, and ivan's, my little sister, and just everybody that I've been a part of and we, as long as we cross paths and we've, I think, everyone's Goldfinger Track Club to be honest, that's cool.
Speaker 1:I kind of feel like Goldfinger Track Club at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are Exactly. Yeah, everyone is Everyone's Goldfinger Track Club.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. And so, speaking of all the brands and stuff that you've been part of, I'm really curious about your involvement with Pione pioneers, which I guess is a black owned brand, the only black owned running apparel company in boston, based in boston in us, in the us, in the us and so what is your role there? What or what was your role? I don't know if you're still. Are you still working? Yeah?
Speaker 2:so shout out to sid baptiste. He is a boston native. You know he had the idea. You know he had pioneers run club out there in boston and then, you know, he similar past right because I had a clothing brand and I went into running. He did the opposite. He had a running club and then he went into, you know more. So, uh, the street aesthetic and it was trying to, you know, fuse the worlds together. You know streetwear culture and, uh, running, which is two of the great components that we're seeing today. You know everyone's wanting performance to be part of you know, high fashion, paris Fashion Week and so on. So Sid had a brand. He has a brand now called Pioneers, and I was in love with the idea. You know the message behind it. We run the culture and you know I had the idea.
Speaker 2:It's like, you know, I met Sid We've met each other through passing, but officially met each other in miami in 2022. We had a conversation. We talked about life, kids, family, because he's a family man himself and then fast forward when I was going to boston 2023. I love his model. You know he didn't see people. You had to buy gear and I remember I came up to him, you know a little cocky. He was like I was like yo send me some stuff. He's like, no, you gotta buy stuff, homie. And when he told me that I was like in my mind at first I was like you know who I am right. And then I was like no, he does know who I am and he's telling me exactly what he tells somebody else. I am a consumer. I'm not jerry francois who runs this or runs out.
Speaker 2:I'm a consumer so I bought the pioneer pants for 115 plus tax and from there I had I had nothing but respect for him. So I saw an opportunity where the brand could elevate. And you know New York City the greatest. You know the. It's the mecca of running. I don't care what anybody say, I think New York City is the greatest city in the world when it comes to running. No one can outdo what we're doing. We create everything and everybody else follows the umbrella. I know unbi biased opinion. I know people are going to be upset I agree with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right but I saw an opportunity where where they could have sid was doing everything by himself, and I've I've been there before. When you're doing about yourself, it's so hard. So I told sid I would love to be the creative director for pioneers new york. And he said what does that look like? What does does that mean? And I said, hey, I will create content, I'll create storytelling through New York City, I'll create the ambassador program and I will start bringing Pioneers to everyone's front door. My goal is to have everybody, that's black or brown, in Pioneers gear in New York City by 2024. And then we hit the world. So he gave me the opportunity. You know, I didn, I didn't. I was like you don't have to pay me for none of this I want to do this.
Speaker 2:I want I, I'm passionate about this brand and he let me have the idea. He let me do what I needed to do. You know I worked with drew reynolds for one of our first shoots, introducing pioneers into a larger scale, into new york, and then we were able to create a lot of great content with d hash and I was able to create, you know, we did uh, spin the block, we did the pioneers party in the summer in brooklyn and we got uh. Then we chased majors 2024. We went to every different major, got to experience that and bring all the collectives together and I was able to curate, you know, panel discussions with different phenomenal runners like nick and tommy runs and just everybody, and it was, it was beautiful.
Speaker 2:You know I I'll forever be indebted to sid for giving me the opportunity. But you know, as everything you know, we all grow. You know sid is doing phenomenal things working with brooks and a lot of things have changed around and he has now more uh hands on deck. So I kind of step back a little bit and, you know, let him flourish in that. And obviously, my life. You know I had more responsibilities on my and my son being older, my club getting bigger right, but I'm still involved. Pioneers is, you know, that's family to core yeah, it's a really great brand.
Speaker 1:I mean I I literally didn't know that they weren't, as I didn't. I always thought of them as like one of the like. You know there's like Solomon. I would see the name and I'm like, oh, these big brands. I didn't know, it was like not that big, not that long ago, but it's just become so big and they like sell it. Nordstrom and REI, it's just amazing.
Speaker 2:It's phenomenal, and I'm happy for Sin and I look forward to all the exciting things that we're dropping.
Speaker 1:uh q end of q3, so stay tuned and pioneers for life it makes sense that you're part of a creative role or that you were part of like a creative part of a fashion or apparel company, because you are a very like fashionable person and I think part of the other appeal of people brands using you in their shoots and stuff um, like garmin and the nike it's because you present yourself as like someone who's a runner but then also has like a sense for creative fashion stuff. So it kind of makes sense that you've been involved with a brand like that.
Speaker 1:Um, besides that kind of stuff, like in the creative side of things, do you have any other pursuits outside of running, like creative ambitions that you're working on?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know, um, my whole goal is to, you know, do everything bigger in my life. You know I'm trying to create more opportunities and do a lot more work with, with the youth. You know, create, curate more programs for like track and field or running with kids with my brother, troy. I also work with my I always say Troy because that's my guy, troy who has Soka, made Me Run Soka Festival, which is infusing more of the West Indian community to get active and keep going. So I try to do that. I've worked with a lot of different after school programs and, you know, help build sport programs and you know I also want to become a life coach.
Speaker 2:You know I feel I've become my own self therapist throughout these years of my life and how I've raised myself and I've always motivated and championed a lot of people around me. But I would love to kind of make that a profession for myself and help people, because I know my purpose. I found my purpose in life. My purpose was to help people and running allowed that. How many lives that I've touched with running? So I just know that there's so much more I can do outside of the running space. So those are kind of the things that I'm trying to get after and even potentially move and try out another city and kind of rebrand and reset and do, do other things that can be impactful. I just want to be able to change the world little by little, and I did it with running. But I want to know what else can I do it with, whether it is with fashion or with clothes or media.
Speaker 1:You know, sky's the limit and I'm chasing it until I can't be stopped yeah, I noticed when I was doing research on you, which sounds so official considering you're my friend, but um, um, I think of you as my friend.
Speaker 1:I'm like doing research and I saw the word legacy was kind of used a lot in various articles or publications about you, like the word legacy, and I was thinking like I've read a lot of things about a lot of different runners but there's not often the word legacy, like Jerry Francois legacy. So you are building a legacy of some kind with like how you've developed this community and like all the different things that you've got your your hands in. I was kind of curious what role your faith plays in all of this, because when I think about you and purpose, you do bring up your faith a lot when you've posted on social media and I'm just kind of curious what that looks like yeah, I'm very spiritual.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't say I'm religious, you know I am. I am Christian, but I just try to tell people that God is what brought me here and God is what continues to push me. You know, I went through a lot of trials and tribulations in my life and it was every moment that I felt weak or I was breaking that I would rely on God and even on my darkest times he was able to pull me out the dark. But I needed faith. You know, it's tatted on me. It says faith makes things possible, not easy, and that's always been my motto with life. And I think for me to have something to believe in is what keeps me going and I try to spread that word, but not, you know, not over, not necessarily overdue, but I always tell people like that's what I believe in, that's my faith.
Speaker 2:You know whether you agree or disagree, but I just know for me, if I don't believe in something, then I know that I won't be able to do it and I think everything happens based off of my belief and hearing the word of God and reading the Bible every day and every night. And I'm not perfect, by all means, I would never say that I am like, I have a lot of flaws, I do sin, but I'm working towards being a better version of myself every day and I always ask for forgiveness, and that's the key. I take full accountability in every action that I do, but I always just know that God knows that, hey, I messed up here. But how are you going to better yourself to keep going? And when you better yourself, you get better to people around you, like your son and your family and your team and your community and the relationships you continue to build. So without faith, I don't think I could be able to do what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I kind of want to take some of that faith for the next time I decide to run a race and just go do a Jerry Francois Bronx, 10 miler. Yeah, yeah, just do it. So what is next for you? Race-wise, life-wise, like what's on the horizon for you?
Speaker 2:What's next on the horizon for me is, honestly, I on the horizon for you. What's next on the horizon for me is, honestly, I lost that competitive drive. I don't have the desires to race, no more. You know, I think this, where I am in life, I just kind of want to just build family. You know, I love my son dearly and I love being a father and I would love to have just that family structure and just you. You know, that's all I ever wanted in life is a family. So I think my priorities have shifted more towards family and building brands and businesses and evolving my brand and expanding it.
Speaker 2:I think I don't want to just be such in just one market. I want to be in different markets and figuring out how can I expand that and I think I need to just try new things. So, and then running I just want to always still be in good shape and race here and there, but there's no driven time for me. I think I have one more major left, which is Tokyo. I don't plan to chase seven, I just want to chase six. But I also want to have that as a family moment. I want, you know, my son to be there. I want you know, gabby to be there. I want to be able to afford to bring my whole family there and my friends to see that moment, because I think it will be something special.
Speaker 2:A kid from Brooklyn just got his sixth major and I would like to make it a documentary and dock it, so maybe we could play this on Netflix, because I think there's so much in running that we all have stories to tell, and I think it's only on a small scale. We tell it because we only use the platforms that we have, which is I thank you for allowing us to have a voice, because our captions can't be long enough for people to read. No one's going to read your Strava, and I think all the great content we put together can tell a bigger story, to inspire more folks. And that's what I'm trying to do. Is, how do we expand these stories? Like myself, so you know that's kind of what I'm just chasing.
Speaker 2:And then, yeah, I just don't want to race forever. I'll run forever, but I don't want to race, for I think I'm happy with the times that I've reached. Yeah, maybe one day I'll go after a marathon and break 240, who knows? But I am running new york city marathon and this will be my knows, but I am running New York City Marathon and this will be my first one. Oh, that's, exciting being competitive.
Speaker 2:You know, I had a different idea for New York City Marathon. I was going to break headlines and do something else. But I can't say you know, we're going to pray. And hopefully that can still happen. But that's all I have is New York City Marathon and I and I'm going to train my tail off and really run a good marathon. My goal is to run a 250 comfortable. I know people are like yo, you ran this time, you're out of time, but New York is a hard marathon.
Speaker 1:So I don't want to be like, oh yeah, I'm going to break 240 there.
Speaker 2:No, I want to run a 250, surviving and feeling good about it Having fun. Having fun, Like stopping at GFTC's Cheer Zone at mile nine, showing love to Rue Crew at mile 21, showing love to Harlem Run at 23. Like I want to be able to say, hey, I smacked all these hand fives and photos and made those moments but still ran aggressive and ran comfortable 250. So New York City Marathon 2025, a comfortable, a relaxing and happiness of a 250 marathon.
Speaker 1:Awesome. I'm sure so many people will be cheering for you. I know I will, um and yeah uh. Thank you so much for coming on my show. If, if there's any way that you want people to reach out to you on instagram, go ahead and tell.
Speaker 2:Tell us where we can find you yes, follow me on instagram all social media as king parker go 2021, or type in hire coach j or follow gftc brooklyn, and I always follow back. I always respond to every email, every dm, and I don't look at anybody as what you have as followers or likes. I'm a social person. See me in the street, talk to me, let's have a conversation, let's have a discussion and let's be better together, because I can't do it alone, nor do I want to, and I need your help as much as you need my help, so let's help each other amazing.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Speaker 1:Thank you until next time, guys, just be fast, just win.