ali on the run show by Ali Feller

"I'm terrified in a whole new way now."

"If you're writing my obituary, whoever's in charge, please include this! Because I feel very proud of it!"

"We put ourselves on the line to help other people accomplish their dreams, and that was pretty freaking awesome."

"I trained and I ran it and it changed my life. Something happened out on that course, and I was transformed forever."

"I love winning."

"Life has not been easy. Life, for the better part of the past few years, has been very hard and messy and stressful and exhausting. And I will give myself the tiniest bit of credit for surviving it. And for finding a way to be happy."

"It was really hard for me to distinguish who was a friend and who was actually going to win the Boston Marathon, and I just hugged them all the exact same."

"It felt so good to be reminded of all the reasons I love to do this."

"I'm so proud of all of us. I'm so proud of anyone who decides to even run a mile."

"Go out there and send it within reason."

"Winning is really fun!"

"I have severe FOMO. All I want to do is run this marathon on Monday."

"I went back to Boston, and I found myself again. I found the Ali I knew was in there. The Ali who lives and breathes running. The Ali who had felt so isolated for so long, but who craves community and connection, and knows exactly where to find it."

"Doubt and belief can coexist. In the book, you see a ton of my doubts and struggles with confidence. But then there's also this untouchable belief that's always there, too. So it's almost like, which voice are you going to listen to?"

"Calm, calm, calm. Relax, relax, relax."

"That's been my thing lately: What excites me?"

"All I can do is move forward knowing that one day I'll have that moment."

"It's a new day, it's a new age, let's learn, let's grow together. That's it."

"I needed to do it like I needed to breathe."

I remember being like, 'I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I'm doing this right now.'"

"Everyone deserves a super shoe."

"It's been a really, really tough couple days. I've never been such a combination of stressed and sad."

"Live free and grind."

"The last couple years have been so hard. I've been through so many ups and downs that I'm like, 'There is nothing in a race that I can experience that is worse than what I've just gone through.'"

"I want to be part of making people care. My hope is that my enthusiasm for the sport as a fan of the sport comes through in my calls."

"So we kissed, and then we spent every day after that together." 

"Running can feel pretty isolating. It's a very individual sport. But she's in it with me every single day. It makes me feel very special. She really cares about what I'm trying to do."

"Sometimes you've just gotta be a little bit fearless."

"Your person doesn't need you to be perfect. They just need you to be there and show up, and bring as much positivity and lightheartedness as possible. There are going to be times when it gets really heavy and hard, and if you can bring a little levity, a little humor, it goes a long way."

"This seems like a no-brainer. There's this company that really values what we're doing, and they don't really want to change that. All they want to do is find a way to support us."

"I'm a firm believer that there are more good people than bad. No matter what, I believe that."

"I needed you all to know that I was drowning, and I was scared."

"I think there are a lot of athletes out there that are just so scared to show who they truly are and what they like because of their teammates and their coaches. And they're trying to get to the next level, and they're like, 'Oh well, if I like this then I'm not gonna get to the next level.' It's actually the opposite. You're probably gonna play better if you show who you truly are, because you're more free."

"I felt your hands on my back. And I needed them."

"I run with all dogs, any dogs."

"I had this sense of nostalgia, of we're going to look back on this as something special. We all felt a little bit of something magical going on."

"You prioritize your life for the people who mean the most to you. And that's how it's been since day one for us."

"If they come up with a Dancing with the Stars and it's Dancing with the Podcast Hosts, and it's tap dancing, put me in, coach."

"Running the marathon and doing two Broadway shows in the same day — I've never felt more New York than that day."

"Running single-handedly saved me during this last year."

"I just feel like when I see injustice, at this point in my life, I have to call it out."

"Oh I'm hooked."

"They play 'New York, New York,' and everyone goes crazy."

"People always give me a hard time, they're like, 'You never show emotion after your race.' And I'm like, 'You run this and then you try to show emotion!'"

"Fast, slow, good weather, bad weather — you are out there doing something that so many people are never going to do, and that's so cool."

"It's seeing the bridge from a distance and saying, 'There are going to be 55,000 people that are going to traverse over that bridge from 150 countries from all over the world, and from every neighborhood in New York City.' And they've put in months of hard work. We have thousands of people that have raised millions of dollars for charity. There are people that are running for various causes that are inspiring their families, their friends, their neighborhoods, their communities. And most of all, they're inspiring the world. They're inspiring complete strangers as they run by them. And I think about that when I look at that bridge." —Ted Metellus, TCS New York City Marathon Race Director

"People can say whatever they want. But at the end of the day, I know what my bigger picture is. I know what my why is here. And so I'm just going to really try and stick to that knowing I feel very confident in what I'm trying to do, even if people might not understand it right now. It's all just a process, baby."

"I'm trying to figure out how to live with stage IV cancer. How do I live and enjoy my life and enjoy these moments while also knowing I had to fly home the next day to go to chemo?"

"Running is running is running, and I love it all."

"There's nothing I'm going to shy away from."

"I do want to be the greatest to ever do it in our sport. And I mean that wholeheartedly. I genuinely feel like it's something that I can do, and something I've been called to do. In due time it is going to happen. But it is going to start with me taking it one day, one practice, one meet at a time."

"I will forever tell this story until the day that I die!"

"This is just the time to be brave and see what happens."

"Remember the entire journey, because it's very special."

"I haven't spent a lot of time breaking down and crying. Every time I've started to have a breakdown, I look at myself in the mirror and say, 'Stop, go about your day.' I know at some point I need to let those tears out, but I don't really have time, so I'm stuffing it all down."

"Every starting line is a chance for a breakthrough."

"I'm entering a new era where I'm prioritizing myself and my happiness, and also looking for more ways to do what the goal is at the end of the day, which is to make myself the best athlete I can be in this small amount of time that I get to do this in my life."

"I am shocked at the amount of Olivias that responded to a random message on Instagram."

"The sun always comes up. No matter what, no matter how dark it was, no matter how grim everything seemed, no matter how alone I felt… The sun is always my beacon of hope."

"Everything I'm doing is new. It feels like I'm going into the unknown, which is scary."

I'm fresh off my fourth round of chemotherapy, and am back on the couch recording with friends. This time for chemo, I was joined by my OG running blog friend Emily Halnon, and this is our recap from the day at the infusion center and the few days we spent together. 

"I love this sport and I love the people in it. I love the people I race against. I love all the fans. People are wonderful."

"This was a really important step in my journey to feeling more like myself, and I'm really happy I did it."

"It felt like I was playing with house money."

"I'm excited, and also a little freaked out!"

"It feels really good — and it's a lot of pressure at the same time... I do have a target on my back, but that's fine."

"We really are having the best of times during the worst of times."

"A great thing about having cancer is people are so nice to you!"

Last summer, Grant Fisher made history by becoming the first American man to win Olympic bronze in both the 5000m and 10000m at the Paris Olympic Games. Last month, he dropped down in distance and ran an 11-second personal best at the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic. Now, he's gearing up for the USATF Outdoor Championships, where he's hoping to land a spot on Team USA for this year's World Championships in Tokyo. In this episode, he talks about how his training is going, how he reflects on being an Olympian (never an under-dog again!), and what it was like being Faith Kipyegon's right-hand man during her Breaking 4 attempt. (Spoiler: If you don't already love Grant Fisher, you're about to love Grant Fisher.)

"Ask questions. I always encourage people to ask me questions. If your question comes with good intentions, I'm not going to be mad at you for it! I'm not going to fault you for that. You just simply don't know."

"Despite my insistence that 'I can do this,' and, 'I'm fine,' and, 'I've got this,' I don't got this without my people."

"In life and in marathons, whoever can overcome those challenges the best — it's not about not having challenges, because you are going to have them — it's about responding to them, being resilient, learning from them, inspiring other people, and sharing that with others."

"None of this would have been possible if I didn't take that chance on myself."

"It was dark, and I remember looking over the ledge thinking, 'What's down there?' I probably don't want to know…"

"In my mind, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"I'm laser focused. This is serious."

"This sucks, and it's going to be hard, and this is very real. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop having fun along the way. So let's have fun when it feels right."

"They just want a chance to compete."

"You just need to chill a little bit!"

"There's this sense of all these people, they came out to watch you do this weird, crazy thing. And you're running toward the thing you've been working toward for many months, and all of these people are behind you, and people beside you trying to do the same thing. It's very special."

"For two years, I have been sad. Not all the time. But it got pretty bad and pretty dark and pretty scary for a long time. And over these past few weeks, I've seen the light. And I feel like I get to be the light. And it's been really fun to genuinely be enjoying my life."

"It's just this phase of life I'm in right now where I just can't get enough of going out and having fun. Within reason. In sweatpants."

"We don't do things the easy way."

"All those moments led to this. All the hard work really, truly pays off."

"I've tried to take on that mindset for the last few years at these races, of, 'How do I show up as authentically as possible, as the Ali I know I am and want to be, while having fun, while being professional… What does that look like?' And I feel like I kind of nailed it this time around."

"How can I not have success when I have this many people coming and supporting me?"

"You ran with some kahunas!"

"I'm a Boston girlie through and through."

"She said, 'This is how it was supposed to be. This is how it was supposed to feel.' And at that moment, I realized the magnitude of what we gave to each other."

"There's a stigma about retiring from pro running, that it's this huge thing and it's so hard. And there are parts of it that are challenging. But I'm seriously so great. I'm loving life."

"If we get to the end of my life, and I look back and say the regrets that I have, I know one of them would be, 'You never ran the New York City Marathon.' Not a marathon. I don't want to run a marathon. I want to run the New York City Marathon."

"I want to go out there and just absolutely smash it out of the park."

"I set this goal. I made a promise to myself that I wanted this, so I'm going to do it. And no, that's not always fun. Maybe that means a late treadmill run or whatever it may be. But those little wins against your brain — and the battle to not do something — help you on race day. Because when it gets hard, you've already practiced doing it when you don't want to, or when it hurts, or when the conditions aren't ideal, or when you're not comfortable."

"It's gonna be epic!"

"I am nowhere near close to being an expert, and that's part of why I wanted this job — a challenge."

"Be open to the possibility of what can happen when you relinquish control and just listen."

She'll race the 800, the 1500, the mile, the 5K, the 10K...and in this conversation, Elise Cranny even hints at a possible marathon someday. Elise returns to the Ali on the Run Show to catch up on life since becoming a two-time Olympian (2020 and 2024). She talks about a lot of change: from Portland-based Bowerman Track Club and coach Jerry Schumacher, to Boulder-based Team Boss and coach Joe Bosshard, to now, training in Flagstaff, being coached by NAU's Jarred Cornfield, and taking a break from the team atmosphere. She explains why she made certain changes in an Olympic year, and talks about how she's feeling now, both physically and mentally. (Spoiler: She's fit, and she's headed to Sound Running's The TEN next weekend!)

"There are so many ways to get to the start line. There is not one way to do it. You just have to find what works best for you."

"The thing that they just really want is to race the best people, and for people to watch them. They legitimately want to race really good people, and they want it to matter."

"Win or learn, and then pick up and move on."