Episode 36 | Bart Yasso

the morning shakeout podcast

Coaching, Marathons, Sports, Olympics, Running, Ultrarunning

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2018

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"If some of the people at the very front would start with these groups in the very back and see people's journeys, they would be changed—and they would realize, not only are these people working so hard at it but they [will] actually physically see what they go through to get to where they are. You know, I have people come up to me at races and say, 'I know you won't believe this, but I used to weigh 500 pounds.' And you're looking at somebody that weighs like 180 pounds and they've lost 320 pounds, and they say, 'Yeah, I couldn't even walk out to my car without stopping and sitting down. I'd get out to the curb and had to sit down because I was out of breath.' And now they're going to run a marathon. How does this transformation happen? Something gets to 'em...there's something out there. When we connect those people, that's when our sport is really going to take off."It's an honor to welcome Bart Yasso to the podcast this week. Known as "The Mayor of Running," the 62-year-old Yasso retired from Runner's World at the end of 2017 after 30 years with the publication. Yasso, who served as Chief Running Officer for the last 10 years of his career, attended thousands of races around the world, serving as an ambassador for the sport at all levels and celebrating the achievements of top finishers and average runners alike. And while he hasn't exactly stopped doing those things since entering retirement, he's scaled his event travel back significantly to spend more time at home and on the golf course.Yasso and I caught up recently and talked about all sorts of stuff, from how he got his start in running to how he landed his dream job at Runner's World in the late 1980s, and how his role there evolved over the course of three decades. We got into his retirement and how he's spending his time now that he's not traveling to an event every weekend of the year. There was some discussion about the state of the sport, the various ways that it's grown and changed over the last several decades, and how we can do a better job connecting the front of the field with the back of the pack. We talked about running media, the various directions it's gone over the years, and where he sees it heading moving forward. Yasso also shared his thoughts on how runners of all levels can inspire one another, his ongoing struggles with Lyme disease, Yasso 800s (of course!), and a lot more.Music and editing for this episode of the morning shakeout podcast by John Summerford at BaresRecords.comComplete show notes: https://www.themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-26-with-bart-yasso/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Transcript

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0:00.0	And if some of the people at the very front would start with these groups in the very back back and see people's journeys, they would be changed and they would realize not only are these people working so hard at it but they actually physically
0:16.4	see what they go through to get to where they are. You know I have people come
0:20.9	up to me at races and say you know I, I know you won't believe this, but I used to weigh 500 pounds,
0:26.0	and you're looking at somebody that weighs like 180 pounds, and they lost 320 pounds,
0:32.0	and they say, yeah, I couldn't even walk out to my car without stopping and
0:36.5	sitting down I like get out to the curb and sit down because I was out of breath and
0:41.9	now they're going to run a marathon. I'm like how does this
0:45.2	transformation happen and I just something sparks something
0:55.0	out there, and that's, when we connect those people,
1:00.0	that's when we connect those people, that's when it's really gonna,
1:01.0	our sports really gonna take off. That's Bart Y's really going to, our sport's really going to take off.
1:03.0	That's Bart Yasso, and this is on the show, I have got an absolute legend joining me.
1:24.1	I've got the mayor of running Bart Yasso.
1:27.2	This was an awesome conversation, one of the most enjoyable ones that I've had so far.
1:31.8	Bart and I covered all kinds of stuff.
1:34.0	We got into his career from how he got into the sport in his early 20s to getting his start at
1:38.8	Runner's World in 1987, how that career evolved over the course of three decades and into his recent retirement
1:47.0	in 2017.
1:49.0	We talked about the state of the sport and how we can do a better job of connecting the front of the field with the back of the pack.
1:55.6	We got into the current state of running media and how that's evolved in the last 30 to 40 years
2:01.8	but also just in the last 5 to 10 and where we see it going moving forward.
2:07.0	A lot of great stuff in this conversation. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
	...

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