145. Joe Gray Interview! G.O.A.T. Mountain Runner on his Life and Journey!
Some Work, All Play
David Roche and Megan Roche
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 March 2023
⏱️ 70 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It was such a joy to talk to one of our heroes, Joe Gray! Over his legendary career, Joe has won 22 US National Championships across mountain running, trail running, and cross country. Plus 9 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! He is one of the best mountain runners of all time, with a legacy of sustained dominance that might never be matched. We have gotten to know Joe over the years at races, and he always takes his time to uplift young athletes, including us when we started out. He is an inspiration on and off the trails!
We talked about what drives him after all of these years and his thoughts about the future of the sport. Joe also talked about the challenges of being a Black athlete in America, starting with a terrible experience when he was a young runner, and how racism affected his journey as a professional athlete. Now, he mentors Black athletes on and off the trails. We discuss how things have changed, and the problems that remain.
You may also learn a thing or two about his favorite food, Oreos. He said he "only" likes 7 of the varieties of Oreos, which implies there are more varieties than 7. We learn something new every day!
Joe is a running and life BEAST, and we can't wait for you to hear his story!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Woohoo! Welcome to the Stom work I'll play podcast. We are so happy to be with you today. |
| 0:04.4 | Happy Tuesday! |
| 0:05.3 | It's Tuesday! |
| 0:06.5 | David, I'm feeling ready to run real fast on the Tuesday. |
| 0:09.7 | I'm feeling the inspiration bump from Joe Frickin' Gray. |
| 0:12.9 | Yeah, Joe Gray may be one of the fastest athletes that has ever done trail running across |
| 0:17.6 | so many disciplines, not just trails, total beast. |
| 0:20.5 | This is like getting to live in New York City watching Babe Ruth in the 1920s. |
| 0:25.6 | Or live right now and get to see LeBron James, one of the best basketball players ever |
| 0:29.0 | still going strong at 38. |
| 0:30.3 | Joe Gray is 39 and has been crushing it for decades at the top level of international |
| 0:34.2 | sport. |
| 0:35.2 | It's incredible to see and to get to witness. |
| 0:36.8 | And we got to witness firsthand, so we've been on a few world's teams with Joe starting |
| 0:40.0 | in 2014. |
| 0:41.0 | And in 2014, he was already done, you know, already won many, many national championships. |
| 0:46.1 | And over the last eight to nine years, he has just added to that. |
| 0:49.2 | His stats are nuts. |
| 0:50.2 | Can I actually, can I say his stats because I'm just blown away. |
| 0:53.7 | I like numbers. |
| 0:54.7 | I'm a numbers person. |
| 0:55.7 | I'm blown away. |
... |
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