Loading...

PODCAST

Back of the Pack Podcast

Lace up your sneakers, grab your favorite headband, and toe the starting line! The signal has fired and the “Back of the Pack Podcast” is up and running! Are you a fan of running 5k’s just because the finisher medal looks cool? You are not alone there! Join the show that is all about the race swag and running on a Saturday morning to get the most out of your race registration. We will talk about local races in the Kansas City area. We will give you a heads up if you’re wanting to go farther outside

sports running

All Episodes

48:35

Rocket City: Ready for Launch!

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/10/05

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, Eric Fritz and Rhonda Hayden return to the show as we officially begin the countdown to December’s Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama. With race weekend now just a couple of months away, registrations are climbing, the course is locked in, volunteers are being recruited, and preparations are underway for what could become the biggest Rocket City Marathon weekend yet. We get an inside look at an expanded expo featuring new Rocket City merchandise,

en

51:40

Nobody Tells You This: Fitness Isn’t Linear

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/10/02

We’re kicking off our October Second Wind series, Nobody Tells You This, with one of the most frustrating truths in running: fitness does not improve in a perfectly straight line. We talk about why one bad run, ugly race, or sluggish week does not automatically mean all our training has disappeared, because fitness and that day’s performance are not the same thing. We break down the other pieces that can affect what shows up on race day, including fatigue, sleep, weather, stress, nutrition, travel,

en

38:54

The Runner’s Sick-Day Decision

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/28

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we start with a few updates from around the World Marathon Majors before getting to the race that was supposed to happen but never did. Kyle was scheduled to run the St. Joseph Half Marathon, but cold and flu symptoms made the decision for him and resulted in the dreaded DNS: Did Not Start. That missed start line becomes the jumping-off point for an honest conversation about one of the questions runners are notoriously bad at answering: When are you

en

38:35

Ultra Curious: Pick Your Poison

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/25

In this week’s Second Wind, we wrap up The Ultra Curious by finally asking the question all this September learning has been building toward: if we’re actually going to try an ultramarathon, how do we choose the right one? We look at why distance alone tells us almost nothing about the true difficulty of an ultra, and why terrain, elevation, course format, weather, cutoffs, and aid-station support can completely change the experience. We break down the jump from marathon to 50K, 50 miles, 100K, and

en

35:42

The Curious Case of a Bad Race Weekend

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/21

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recapping a two-race weekend with the Kansas City Zoo Run 4 Miler and the Woodstock 10K. The Zoo Run brought nearly 90-degree heat, narrow zoo paths, plenty of congestion, and a unique course through one of Kansas City’s most recognizable attractions. The next morning, Woodstock delivered cooler temperatures but a 68-degree dew point and 93% humidity, proving once again that “cooler” does not always mean “comfortable.” Both races were well organized,

en

36:09

Ultra Curious: Slow Down Go Farther

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/18

In this week’s Second Wind, we continue The Ultra Curious by tackling one of the biggest mindset shifts road runners face when stepping into the ultramarathon world: sometimes the smartest way to go farther is to slow down sooner. We explore why ultra pacing is less about chasing a specific number on the watch and more about managing an “effort budget” that has to last for hours. From power hiking hills to resisting the urge to chase other runners, we look at how restraint early can preserve the

en

35:20

Old Pali Panic and Plaza Tradition

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/14

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are back to a more normal race-review rhythm after Sydney, with one race from Hawaii, one race from Kansas City, and one very big milestone to unpack. First up is the Old Pali Road 5K on Oahu, a race that sounded like a fun Hawaiian bonus run until calendar chaos, time-zone weirdness, and a surprise 6:30 a.m. start turned it into a scramble before the first step. Kyle arrived late, missed the official start, chased the course on his own, climbed nearly

en

39:10

Ultra Curious: Same Runner, Different Game

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/11

In this week’s Second Wind, we continue The Ultra Curious by asking what really changes when everyday road runners start looking beyond 26.2 miles and toward the ultramarathon world. We break down why a 50K is more than simply “a marathon plus five miles,” and how pace, terrain, elevation, and time on feet can completely change the way we approach the day. We talk about learning to view walking as strategy instead of failure, loosening our obsession with mile splits, and understanding that

en

71:48

2026 TCS Sydney Marathon Review

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/07

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are back from Australia and finally diving into the big review of the 2026 TCS Sydney Marathon. Kyle opens the episode running on jet lag, very little sleep, and the aftermath of a trip where nearly everything that could go wrong did, including a travel nightmare that turned the road to Sydney into its own endurance event. After delays, missed connections, an unexpected 24-hour layover in Vancouver, baggage issues, and arriving in Sydney just 24 hours

en

16:19

The Ultra Curious: Buckle Up!

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/09/04

We’re kicking off a brand-new Second Wind series called The Ultra Curious, where we start exploring what happens when everyday road runners begin looking beyond 26.2 miles and into the strange, fascinating world of ultrarunning. For our first stop, longtime friend of the show and frequent guest host Karin Velez of the award-winning Just Grow Something podcast takes over the mic while we’re still traveling after the Sydney Marathon. Karin is usually the one bringing the science, but this time she is

en

33:44

Guest Host Sierra Morris - The Run, Shattered Podcast!

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/31

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, Kyle is off in Sydney, Australia chasing another World Marathon Major, so we are turning the microphone over to guest host Sierra Morris from The Run, Shattered Podcast. Sierra, also known as ShatteredRunner, brings her focus on mental skills, resilience, and the psychological side of running to a topic every runner needs: confidence. This episode dives into how confidence is built, why it matters in training, and how runners can strengthen their mindset

en

23:06

The Final Stretch: Ready or Not. Sydney

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/28

With race weekend finally here, The Final Stretch comes to a close from Sydney, Australia, just two days before the TCS Sydney Marathon. At this point, there is no more fitness to build, no more missed workouts to chase, and no more cramming left to do, which means readiness has officially stopped being a question and become a decision. We talk about the last things we can still control, from hydration, nutrition, rest, and race-week logistics to making sure a Saturday 5K does not become an

en

51:56

The Sydney Marathon Preview!

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/24

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recording the final episode from the United States before the podcast heads across the world for Sydney Marathon Week. Before the passport panic takes over, Kyle recaps the Head for the Cure 5K in Overland Park, a massive Kansas City-area event supporting brain cancer awareness, research, and families impacted by the disease. From there, we turn the spotlight to the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS, breaking down the race, the history, the

en

43:39

The Final Stretch: Trust What You Built

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/21

With the TCS Sydney Marathon now just nine days away, **The Final Stretch** reaches the point where the heavy training is finished and the challenge becomes learning to **Trust What You Built**. At this stage, there is very little we can do physically to dramatically change race-day fitness, but there is still plenty our brains can do to completely sabotage it. We dig into taper brain, the strange urge to question everything we have done, and why one ugly workout or bad race somehow gets more

en

43:24

Rexy, Ronald, and Run Club Energy

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/17

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are recapping a packed mid-August weekend with two charity races, one major run club push, and Sydney now less than two weeks away. We start with a quick heads-up that the 2027 Tokyo Marathon lottery is open, along with a reminder that Tokyo is incredible, but not exactly built for back-of-the-pack comfort. From there, we head to Lawrence, Kansas for the Rexy Run 5K & 10K, where the podcast community showed up strong for Baby Jay’s Legacy of Hope and

en

50:43

The Final Stretch: You Can't Cram for a Marathon

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/14

With the TCS Sydney Marathon now just two weeks away, The Final Stretch continues with a question every nervous marathoner eventually asks: can we make up for lost training at the last minute? This week, we tackle the urge to cram for a marathon, from missed long runs and shortened workouts to those summer races that suddenly start looking like evidence that everything has gone wrong. We dig into why panic training can create more problems than it solves, especially when the body should be shifting

en

46:58

300 Episodes at the Back of the Pack

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/10

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are celebrating a major milestone: 300 episodes of race reviews, community stories, road trips, charity conversations, bad decisions, emotional moments, and back-of-the-pack chaos. Technically, this is Episode 299, but with Episode 300 dropping Friday, we are taking this Monday episode to pause, look around, and talk about what this podcast has become since it started as a simple “I make the mistakes so you don’t have to” running show. We look back at

en

41:15

The Final Stretch: What Does “Ready” Actually Mean?

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/07

With the TCS Sydney Marathon just three weeks away, we are officially entering The Final Stretch and asking one deceptively simple question: what does being “ready” actually mean? Most runners expect readiness to feel like confidence, control, and unstoppable momentum, but marathon preparation usually arrives wearing fatigue, uncertainty, random aches, and a suspiciously bad attitude. In this episode, we look beyond one missed workout, one rough long run, or one ugly summer pace to examine the full

en

33:19

The Summer Race Catch-Up Episode

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/08/03

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast, we are catching up on a busy stretch of running, volunteering, night racing, and hot-weather half marathon chaos. We start at the Matt Mason Cowboy Up Triathlon at Smithville Lake, where Kyle traded in his race bib for a volunteer shirt and got a firsthand reminder of just how much work it takes to keep athletes moving safely through swim, bike, and run events. After surviving GPS confusion, a packed race morning, and a blazing-hot aid station shift, the

en

49:25

Why Are We Like This: Volunteering for Chaos

Back of the Pack Podcast ·

2026/07/31

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, we wrap up our July Why Are We Like This? series with Volunteering for the Chaos. After spending the month talking about the wonderfully strange things runners and endurance athletes do, we finish by looking at the people who help make race day happen. This episode takes us to the Matt Mason Cowboy Up Triathlon, where volunteering at an aid station turned into a front-row seat to heat, hydration, grit, gratitude, confusion, and full-on

en

215 results

Similar Podcasts

The Anik & Florian Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

Pat Mayo Experience

Mayo Media Network

The Most Accurate Podcast

4for4 Fantasy Football

ESPN SportsCenter Update

ESPN