Trailblazers: Transforming Albany's Running Community with Cap City Runners Ep. 183

Discover how three trailblazing individuals are reshaping the running community in Albany, New York, as we chat with the dynamic co-founders of Cap City Runners—Dr. Don Applyrs, Angelo Maddox Jr., and Markael Brace (Kaelz). Hear Dr. Don’s inspiring account of how running brought balance and resilience during his doctoral journey, while Angelo shares touching stories of his father's enduring influence on his passion for the sport. Markael, a dedicated public servant, reveals how running became a cornerstone of his commitment to health and community well-being. Together, they’re cultivating an inclusive space that not only welcomes runners of all backgrounds but also challenges prevailing misconceptions about who belongs in the world of running.

Takeaways

• Running can be a therapeutic outlet for mental health.
• Cap City Runners aims to diversify the running community.
• Consistency is key in encouraging community participation.
• Representation matters in sports and fitness.
• Running fosters a sense of camaraderie and support.
• The journey of running can inspire others to join.
• Mental toughness developed through running translates to life challenges.
• Community engagement is essential for promoting health and fitness.
• Vulnerability among men can lead to stronger support systems.
• Succeeding with attainable goals is crucial for personal growth.

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Chapters

• 0:10 Diverse Running Community Inspiring Change
• 16:39 Empowering Men of Color Through Running
• 31:26 Connecting With Cap City Runners

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:10

Welcome to Ella Go. My name is Lisa. Join me on the journey in having real raw and uncomfortable discussions about fitness, health and everything in between, because, let's be honest, this journey would suck if we don't get our shit together. Welcome back everyone. Welcome to the Elegoo podcast. My name is Lisa and today's guest, I'm going to say, is pretty special, okay. Um, you know, of course, we want to bring people that are doing amazing things in the community, so I'm going to first allow these men, these gentlemen, to introduce themselves to the listeners.

Speaker 3: 0:57

so, uh, whoever wants to go first, maybe Don should go first sure all right sopleers, commonly known as Dr Don, but certainly I am the proud co-founder of Cap City Runners Albany Run Club, the premier run club in the Capital Region. But certainly by day, I'm a long-term educator 12 plus years in the field of education from long-term educator 12 plus years in the field of education from K-8 on through high school education, background specifically in public urban education, and certainly currently, right now in my professional role, I serve as the senior director of strategic engagement at an organization called NAF, where we focus on transforming the high school experience for high school students. And so I'm a proud Albany resident, a native of Brooklyn, New York, BK all day, and certainly a proud father of two beautiful girls, Noble and Niall, and the proud husband of a current mayoral candidate, Dr Dorsey Appliers.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Yes my name is Angelo Maddox Jr. I am a proud co-founder of Cap City Runners, where we run through the 518 every day, you know, and inspire the community to run. I am also the owner of Fresh and Fly Clothing, a premier clothing store here in Albany, new York, that has been in business for a little over 18 years now. Also, motivation Money Making Monday founder and facilitator. That's a media platform that actually inspires people and gets people's mindset off of the mundane thinking about Monday so that they can start their work week off the proper way and knowing that that's the way that they are making money to feed their families and also connect with their team members in their office. You know, and that should be a joyous occasion. You know, and that should be a joyous occasion. And I am also the proud father of three and also just community activist. So that's Angelo.

Speaker 4: 3:16

Maddox Jr. In a nutshell, OK, my name is Markel Brace. I currently hold a position in public service and law enforcement. I currently hold a position in public service and law enforcement. I'm also a co-founder of Cap City Runners one of my joys of life and currently a father of one and a stepfather of two, and also a fiance and running is just my love. And I'm from the Albany area, born and raised Arbor Hill to be exact and my motto is don't put your health on the shelf.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Okay, so, um, obviously I brought you gentlemen into this space because, uh, you know, we want to see more of a diversity when we think about running. And I think we're getting there, you know, I mean, we still got work to do, but we're getting there and I would love to hear how did you start running? Two questions, so this is a two-part question. Whoever wants to share, like, how do you start running and why? Like, what does it do for you?

Speaker 3: 4:27

Well, that's a great question. I certainly I'll. I'll kick things off. Um, it's, when I think about my running story, I always reflect back to high school, uh, because I actually tried cross country um uh in high school as a freshman and I hated it, to be quite honest. Um, it just wasn't for me. Then I got into, uh, certainly indoor track and some of the you know speedier uh events in track and field, and certainly um did that for a little bit in high school and then I've always just been an athlete, grew up playing baseball primarily um in in high school and a little bit of college ball, um, but certainly for me.

Speaker 3: 5:05

I actually got into running maybe about seven or eight years ago. Um, I was wrapping up on my doctorate. It's certainly probably one of the hardest things I've probably ever done in my life is to earn a doctorate. Um, I earned a doctorate from st john fisher college, uh, in executive leadership, and so as I wrapped up with the dissertation process and my doctorate, I said, okay, I need a new challenge.

Speaker 3: 5:28

I've both been in health and fitness, so I've had friends in the community of running. I said, well, let me just kind of try this thing. And so I just started with just like a weekly Nike, just do it 5K on Sundays, and just kind of had a little streak going. I had myself and my cousin which is kind of like you know push ourselves to do a 5k every Sunday, and then I had a nice little streak for about 18, 19 consecutive weeks before the winter broke and I said, okay, you know, let me try something. I'm going to train for my first half marathon and made the leap and ran the Philly half in 2018 and got bit by the bug since, and so running brings me great joy. It's a great outlet, great therapy, great mind clearer all those things but certainly also it's a great opportunity to, as I like to say, perspire, to inspire through my own journey.

Speaker 1: 6:26

One of the things I have to add. Yes, I'm an Albany resident as well, by way of Brooklyn, though I always got to make sure that that's not been in Albany for a little over 20 years. Love the city, it's a great city, but Brooklyn is home. My love for running, I would say, started with my father. Actually, I remember that was probably like one of the last things that we ever did together was run, and this was like when I was like five years old. We ran together and I remember it like as clear as day, like it was yesterday. We had that. He was always an avid runner and we ran together. You know, that was one of the things that he would, he would, I would be lagging behind him all the time, but at the same time, he would always encourage me to run and before he transitioned, that was one of the last things that I ever remember doing with him was running.

Speaker 1: 7:22

So as I became an adult, I always just did it leisurely and when Don threw out the smoke, the smoke signal, to say, hey, you know we want to make this run team, and I didn't even respond to the message, but in my mind I just I was like, yeah, I'm with this and I just showed up, both myself and Markel. We showed up the first day and pretty much, you know, it became history and I always was inspired by seeing Don run through the community, seeing Markel's on social media, you know doing their long runs, because I was more of a 5K guy and I was fine with that, because it was more so like therapeutic and something I did leisurely. And from there, once we met up, it just became, you know, an ongoing thing. The rest is history. So that's the foundation of my love for running. It definitely was inspired by my father.

Speaker 2: 8:23

Okay. So there's definitely a little emotional connection, you know with your father, that's really nice. I like that. Okay, and Markel.

Speaker 4: 8:33

Yeah, mine started during COVID. They closed all the gyms and there's only one thing left to do and I just went outside. I started off just walking, jogging, and then quarter runners high, and that was that. And it became therapy for me, especially for the field that I work in. It definitely cleared my mind and created another mental space for me to engage into. And then when I got with Cap City Runners, when I got with Don and Angelo, then it just went from one level to the next. Now it's just like an addiction it's a lifetime intoxication.

Speaker 4: 9:14

So that's just my story in a nutshell, and I love it. And I take it back to COVID. Covid because, covid, everybody was going through health issues, breathing and all that. So running, was running actually open the doors for it? Don't put your health on the shelf, I mean, get it by any means necessary. So that's how my running journey started.

Speaker 3: 9:37

And to give more of a backdrop to how Cap City came about. As I mentioned, you know, I had began to run a few more half marathons and I have friends in New York City growing up, you know, obviously coming from New York City and obviously going down in New York City races and just seeing the not only the run community and how large the run community was. Well, something's missing here, like this element of Albany is missing to have, you know, a running organization. That's all about diversifying the sport, introducing people to the sport of distance running, and so for many years actually, you know, kind of like hesitated or just kind of postponed the idea. And then, just one day, I said you know what, you know what, just go ahead and put a call out. You know a Saturday meetup. You know I knew Angelo was running by following him on social media, so I tagged him.

Speaker 3: 10:40

Markel was, you know, running about four to five miles a couple of days a week. So I tagged them and said look, starting up a meetup, cap City Runners Walk Run. This is on the first Saturday in June of 2023. And again, the goal and the mission is to inspire the community to run by running in the community and so on. That first Saturday in June these two gentlemen showed up and it's been a history since and we've been going strong every Saturday for a year plus Haven't missed a Saturday aside from the you know the air quality, from the from the Canada fires, we certainly have been really proud of what we began to build in Albany to introduce the sport to people from you know non-runners who have never ran before, who have gone on to train for their first 5K, 10k, half marathon, markel's training for his first marathon this fall in New York City. So it has really really been transformational in that sense for the community.

Speaker 2: 11:51

That's great Markel's doing New York City right.

Speaker 4: 11:55

Yes, very exciting.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Not a lot of words, markel, let me ask you this he's a man of action.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Let me ask you this what has been some of the challenges? Okay, with trying to go out there and promote this and the diversity of it, because I mean, I have had some challenges. So what are some of the challenges? Because you guys are in the city of Albany and, um, you know you're reaching out to these folks to move. I mean, movement is empowering empowering and, of course, it's healthy to keep moving and not to be sedentary. So what are some of the challenges that you have faced when you are promoting your organization or even like talking to people and say, hey, you know, let's move, let's do this.

Speaker 1: 12:55

I would say that one of the biggest challenges has been to get people to stay consistent with it. You know, I would say that that's the biggest challenge. You know, we get one-timers, two-timers, but just to encourage them to continuously come out and work out and and run, walk, jog because we welcome all abilities out to come run, run through the community so that we can actually inspire and continuously push the community to be active. You know, because running is only one part of what we're about. It's also about the activity of making sure that they put in their health first and never put in their health on the shelf. So the consistency of that is what makes the difference. So the biggest thing, or the biggest challenge, has been for us to get people to come out consistently. But we have a strong base, a strong group that has been working consistently and we just look to continuously build off of that, you know. But consistency, I would say, is one of the biggest challenges.

Speaker 3: 14:05

Yeah, and I would also add, the challenges have been kind of twofold Right. I think the challenge for for me and us is that, you know, realizing that Rome isn't built in a day and sometimes we want to build it in a day and certainly, you know, in terms of the collective, uh, bringing the community together. But I think also, the the challenge has been, um, is that there's a mindset, that there's an expectation that you have to be at a certain pace or at a certain skill set or ability or mileage. Uh, when you come out to Cap City, and that's one of the things that we try to dispel in terms of, you know, it's all paces and faces are welcome. That's our sub-slogan All paces and faces are welcome.

Speaker 3: 14:53

And we have various, you know, pace groups and everyone at different levels those who do it just socially and leisurely, and then those who, you know, are certainly more interested in terms of training for races or getting faster, et cetera. I mean running, there's so many aspects to it and that's, I think, just really educating the community in terms of, look, you know, it's you versus you and it's not even really a competition, it's just, you know, knowing where you are and just being the best at where you are and not necessarily feeling like you have to run a sub seven mile or, you know, run 15 miles on a Saturday. I mean we do it, or some of us do it because you know we're training or whatever but I think the perception is that people think that that's what's expected when they come out to Cap City. So we try to dispel that misnomer.

Speaker 2: 15:45

Okay, markell, did you want to say something?

Speaker 4: 15:48

Yeah, pretty much what them guys just said as far as just the consistency of getting people to come out and the intimidation factor of seeing the mileage that the core group is putting out and also the time. But, like, what they got to understand is that, um, that's the core group, that's the core group. So we're we're basically we're doing what the everyday people that show up and our core members that show up, and if they come out and become a core member, they're going to be doing the same thing, cause we all started out running 12 minute miles, three only able to do three miles, four miles. So you got to build your way up and we just want to let the people know you got to, you ain't got to come ready, you got to come to us and we'll get you ready. That's, that's the misconception. They think they got to already come prepared, like we race every day.

Speaker 3: 16:46

but that's not the case. Yeah, people have said that. So, yeah, you know, before I come out and run with you all, I got to get myself prepared and get myself ready and you know again, it's really low pressure and no pressure at all actually in terms of, you know, mileage, distance, et cetera. We meet people where they are, you know, and we are really good about, you know, tagging behind with, you know, newcomers, you know, if they just, you know, just kind of make them feel comfortable and welcome, we have a very inviting, you know, atmosphere when people come out and we have a great time. We have a great time just got us, just got to be there to experience it.

Speaker 2: 17:25

Okay, so we're going to get a little deep in here. I hope you guys are all okay with this. Okay, so you know, you guys, you men, you're men of color. It's empowering that you are all here, you know, together, doing this organization running through the community. That has to say something to the community. So what has been the feedback that you get? I mean, it's powerful.

Speaker 1: 17:56

Yeah, that's.

Speaker 1: 17:57

I would say that's one of my main inspirations for being a co-founder for being a co-founder as well as an active member of Cap City Runners is the fact that we are men of color and that we do this together.

Speaker 1: 18:12

The consistency of this teamwork that we have and the synergy that we always bring to the table when we come together is unmatched. It's something that you don't oftentimes see within our community. So to be a part of this and to join together as a team and consistently show ourselves as a team running through the community, it's not only empowering to the community, it's empowering to us as well, because we feel that intrinsically, you know, every single time when we meet up in the morning and say, hey, we checking in with one another, we saying like yo, you good, everything, go with you, you know. And then we go out together and we face the world. You know what I'm saying. So that's definitely empowering and it brings and it shows that we can do it together, you know, and that's something that is oftentimes never seen within our community. So it's tremendously empowering.

Speaker 3: 19:09

Yeah, and to that, initially, actually, I wrestled when, again, when thinking about starting something in Albany because there are, you know, certainly organizations that already exist and certainly big shout out to Black Girls Run, olivia Franpong, who leads that chapter and has been doing that for eight years and I had thought about maybe, you know, doing a black male, black men's run in Albany. And I said, you know, I don't want to limit, you know, while there's, you know, while there's certainly great power and the collective community of men and men of color who are coming together to run, I do not want to limit this opportunity here in Albany, but certainly when we come together, you know, and we're running through the communities, you know we get bus drivers who, who honk at us, they see us. You know, it doesn't matter what time I'm, you know, whether it's early morning or late evenings, you know the community sees us and I think that's what's most important, that you know the community sees us and I think that's what's most important, that you know, inspiration doesn't necessarily have to come through, you know, verbal communication but, like I said, perspire to inspire. So someone who's seen me, you know, sweating up Clinton Avenue in the city or in parts of the city. You know there's always.

Speaker 3: 20:18

You know, keep going. Or I see you, or you know, maybe I'll come out next time or something. There's a lot of those. I see you or you know, maybe I'll come out next time or something. There's a lot of those, you know, as we, as we hit the streets. But again, it's really. It pushes us. It pushes us and lets us know that we're doing something that the community is seeing, they're observing and may not necessarily make the leap yet to come out, but it's something that they do support and gives us a lot of props for.

Speaker 4: 20:42

Yeah, what I like about it as far as the exposure and being a black man doing this, it opens another window of exposure to the youth as well. We're so limited in that aspect of you play football, play basketball, do this, do that and running is just not a thing. When you're growing up from where we come from, it's something you think about doing. So that's what I love about it, that's what keeps me going, and letting you know that you can do this. And we men that are, we just starting this, not in our prime in this, and we in our forties. You know what I'm saying Like. So you definitely need something to keep you going, you know. I mean, that's one of the main things that keep me going, even being a father, being a big brother, being an uncle, and just able to post those pictures and videos and show the medals, let them know that this could be done, you know. So that's what I love about them well, you guys are babies anyways.

Speaker 2: 21:45

Well, you know, I know that you want to say that we open it up. You know, don, you said we're not just limited. But you know, at the end of the day it is very empowering and I think, markel, you said it the best. Like you are showing other, the younger people, the younger folk, that this is something that's possible to do. Like I said, we don't see this a lot, we don't see a lot of diversity. And then to see these group of men and let's even talk a little bit about the men, because you know, you all said that, I think a majority of you said how it helps you clear your mind and we think about mental health is still a stigma for men and let's not forget men of color. I mean, you say you OK, you OK. I mean, come on, that is like a huge thing that you are showing the community. I mean, do you want to say anything about that, don? Or Angela Markell?

Speaker 3: 22:45

Yeah, I mean we're of the mindset of iron sharpens iron and steel sharpens steel. So when we come together, it's that opportunity to be in a safe space in a community where not only do we celebrate each other, you know, when we meet up and say, oh, how was your week? Anything we want to celebrate or shout out to Angelo he just had, you know, a book release or he just, you know, had a speaking engagement. So we celebrate each other as well, because it's more than just the running, it's building community and we all have various roles in the community and are involved in different spaces, and so we continue to celebrate each other in that regard. And then, when we talk about, you know, certainly mental health, you know we continue to raise that awareness. You know we raise awareness around you know, Mental Health Week, and you know or month, I should say and the things that you know we do to try to ensure that we're checking ourselves, checking in with ourselves in terms of where we are mentally and how running allows us to have that space.

Speaker 3: 23:47

You know, for me that's uninterrupted time If I'm out for an hour, two hours, three hours, you know, with the busyness of the day and the week and parenting and fathering, and all that like that's my, that's my time, that's my me time, and all that like that's my, that's my time, that's my me time, uninterrupted, not taking calls, nothing.

Speaker 3: 24:14

So, but again, it's, it's what we, it's what we continue to to build and because you, you know, you, you, you develop that outlet to kind of be able to clear your mind or to even just be reflective too. I mean, I think mental health is just more than just, you know, just kind of checking in with where you are, but also being reflective of what are those things that may be a trigger, Like what is something that I'm really struggling with or battling with right now? How can I, you know, really be intentional about addressing that particular issue? Or, you know, who are the people that I can surround myself, that can kind of help me when I'm going through a certain situation, or to have my brothers here who I can speak to and talk to, like, yeah, okay, Thanks for that perspective. I didn't think about it that way. Like, so, just again, really just building that circle where we can just really be vulnerable, most importantly, but then also have the ability to confront, you know, challenges that we have every day as men.

Speaker 4: 25:11

Yeah, I'll speak to that, especially the vulnerability part, when you're out there running and hurting, breathing and all that stuff. And definitely being out there running it definitely clears your mind. And it's a lot of times when you're out there on those long runs and you're unpacking things Mentally, you're unpacking things Mentally, you're unloading things. I got to a point sometimes I dig so deep in my running and my don would be like yo, you started off real fast but I just identified an unidentified trauma possibly and I got deep in thought and I just got in the zone that is a definite, real strong, important element to helping your mental health. Running has definitely been that for me and very therapeutic and it's definitely vital for African-American men to deal with your mental health and understand it. You know what I mean, because those traumas can be poured into somebody else that care about you, especially when you don't deal with them and unpack them.

Speaker 3: 26:16

So Markel, do you? I mean, do you want to just maybe not to put you on the spot, but you know, certainly the last year, year and a half, you know certainly has been one that has been, you know.

Speaker 4: 26:30

Yeah, I shed a little light on that, um also. Um, this past year I lost my um, my grandmother who raised me, my mother also, and I just lost my uncle back in July. So that's in a span of nine months, and the biggest support group outside of my family was the Cap City Runners, my brothers right here and also other team members and and they helped me a lot. You know, I mean, it's one thing to have tragic losses and things happen to you and not have nothing to keep going Outside of my family. These brothers right here and the Cap City Runners and running and my joy for running kept me going. My grandmother, my mother and my uncle that I recently lost they were so proud of the things I was doing with running. So I always keep that in the back of my mind. That's definitely a driving force and that brings the emotional engagement and the compassion to the running now. So it's a whole different level now.

Speaker 2: 27:34

So, absolutely, I thought Angelo was going to say something.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Yeah, that just took me to another place just speaking on that man. But, yeah, absolutely the place just speaking on that man. But yeah, absolutely. And you know, as a, as a team, you know, even when I was a team member like yourself, markel was going through that it, it I take pride in and we take pride in showing up for you. You know that that ended up itself was was therapeutic.

Speaker 1: 27:59

You know, just being there in in tough time, I can definitely say for myself as an entrepreneur, going through years and years and years of business and having a mentality like I can do it all myself or I can do this, I can do that. And you walk into entrepreneurship oftentimes with a tape on your back like I got to get everything done. You know, and being a part of Cap City Runners has definitely changed my mindset about that and shifted it. Where I have strong partners that I can lean on for things you know what I'm saying and talk to them about things. And to the point of mental health, I take it to the extent of every week I make a point of saying it's Therapy Thursday, let's go out and run.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Let's go out and be active. Let's go, because it's literally therapy for me, because I get into mindset. It clears my mind and makes the rest of my day flow so much smoother. When I'm outside and I'm running and I'm making sure that my mind is clear, my body is active, everything seems to move at a better pace and more smoothly because the mind is right, you know. So the mind control the body, and if your mind is right, then everything else tends to flow in a way that it should. So mental health is definitely addressed through running and it helps in a great way.

Speaker 3: 29:26

And one thing that I'll add too, is that you know there's just so many parallels when you talk about running or training for a marathon and life, right, the late, the late, great Nipsey Hussle, you know he always said you know the marathon, he had a story called the marathon. You know he had an album called the marathon continues. Because life is a marathon. There's going to be stages, they're going to be going to be different stages that we go through in life.

Speaker 3: 29:53

But I think one thing, at least for me, that has really helped me through running is building that mental toughness, that mental stamina, because we're going to go through hard things in life and so running or training for a marathon or half marathon and completing it's like, okay, I can do hard things, like, so there's nothing that's too hard that I can't, you know, overcome or or succeed through or push through, because I have that mental endurance and I build that mental toughness through the sport of running and say, okay, well, if I can do this, you know hard workout, or this hard run or train for this race, then it's nothing for me to apply those same principles when I'm faced with a challenge in life.

Speaker 2: 30:43

You guys are amazing. Wow, I mean I'm really feeling. Thank you for being vulnerable, first of all, because that's not easy. But I want to say this you know, as everyone is listening, you know they do have women in the group, of course.

Speaker 3: 30:58

We celebrate them too. I have seen pictures, you know, and it is diverse.

Speaker 2: 31:05

So you know, if you are in the area, you know, do know that there it is a very diverse group and it is nice to see women in this group. So, with that being said, tell us, where do you got. When do you guys run Like? Is there a schedule? Where do you meet what time? And yeah, tell me all that good stuff.

Speaker 4: 31:26

Saturday mornings in front of Fresh and Fly. You see Mr Fresh and Fly himself down there on South Pearl Street. What's that?

Speaker 1: 31:33

13 South Pearl Street, albany, new York 13 South Pearl Street, where we don't create swag, we enhance it.

Speaker 4: 31:39

Yes, sir, and on Tuesdays we do tracks at U. We do the track at U Albany. That's about six in the morning. We've been doing it on the evening lately and then Thursday we do the community walk run. Meet at the Clinton Ave market at six, 45.

Speaker 3: 31:54

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 31:55

Yep At six, six, 30. So those are the three. Those are the three meetups, and Saturday morning is the marquee yeah.

Speaker 3: 32:04

Yeah, indeed, indeed. And again, you know we, we certainly are open to all that want to come out. You know, against open to the community. Again, we have our community runs on Thursday just kind of get people up and moving. Our Saturday meetup, we've got everyone and anyone and everyone coming out. You know we've we've got students from the medical college, we have UAlbany students, we've got professionals, young professionals, you know, middle professionals, seasoned individuals.

Speaker 3: 32:36

So, as you said, it is diverse from all types of walks of life, representation, male, female, etc. And so but you know we certainly do have a membership component. For those who you know certainly choose to become core members or join our membership, that comes with a those who you know certainly choose to become core members or join our membership, that comes with a lot of, you know certainly incentives, perks, discounts on our apparel, et cetera as part of our annual membership. So, but again, certainly no pressure for anyone to do that, but certainly we do think about how do we try to sustain the organization. You know Cap City is in fact, you know we do have an LLC, we're Cap City Runners, and so you know we operate it as a business and we certainly look to ensure that we are building something that's going to be sustainable beyond the three of us.

Speaker 2: 33:26

That's great, okay, so where can we find you on social media.

Speaker 1: 33:31

I'm on Cap City.

Speaker 4: 33:34

Runners on Facebook and Instagram Also. You can find me personally at Just Kells on Facebook and Instagram is J-U-S-T. Kells, K-A-E-L-Z, and I also have another page on Instagram called KELZ Sport. That's more of my running and fitness page. That's all that's on there. The personal page is just KELZ. Then you get KELZ Sport, which is all the running and workout stuff, which is K-A-E-L space sport and that's how you link with me, which is K-A-E-L space sport and that's how you like with me.

Speaker 3: 34:11

Yeah, on Instagram Cap City Runners Albany, c-a-p-c-i-t-y-r-u-n-n-e-r-s, albany, a-l-b-a-n-y, and then on Facebook it's Cap City Runners we run 518. So we have a Facebook group on there. For me. Personally, I go by DA, which are my initials, underscore fit educator. Again, I've always been in the fitness space and I'm more than an educator, so it's DA underscore fit F-I-T. So it's D-A underscore fit F-I-T, educator.

Speaker 2: 34:53

E-D-U-C-A-O-R.

Speaker 1: 34:56

Angelo and I'm Angelo Justice Maddox on Facebook and if you go on Instagram, I'm MrSwag. That's M-R dot S, dot W, dot A dot G underscore and Fresh and Fly Clothing. The beautiful thing about all of those things is that, no matter which page you link up with, it's all going to circle back to Cap City Runners. You know what I'm saying. In some way, form or fashion, you're going to either see clips of us running, you're going to see clips of us meeting up. You're going to see clips of us meeting up. You're going to see future events, all of those things intertwined because and and that's just to show how much running has become a part of all of our lives because it's always going to be there, no matter what, what uh social media platform that you tap into, uh us on, running is going to be a part of it.

Speaker 3: 35:47

so cap city runners all day you gotta tell them what SWAG stands for. You got to tell them the acronym Succeeding with attainable goals.

Speaker 1: 35:56

Yes, any goal that you set is obtainable, you know. You just got to work towards it. You know, see, the goal is you getting in to that gym and success is the result of you going out and achieving that on a daily basis, going after that thing that you are after. So it's a muscle. You got to continuously work it every day, you know. So succeeding with attainable goals, mr Succeeding with Attainable Goals. Yes.

Speaker 3: 36:27

And certainly you got to plug your book because angelo is also an author. He's a published author, you know. So go ahead and drop that change the world by changing yourself.

Speaker 1: 36:37

You can find that anywhere. Books are sold on no amazon, but I prefer that you get it off my website because that means I get all the proceeds and that's fresh and fly inccom, or you can pull up to the store fresh and fly clothing, 13 south pearl street, and I said once again, it's where we don't create swag, we enhance it. So swag is a part of all those things um, okay, uh um no I.

Speaker 2: 37:08

I don't know what to say now.

Speaker 2: 37:09

No, she wasn't expecting all that, no, first, of all, gentlemen, I'm very proud to have you in this space and thank you for allowing me to be in your space. I think what you're doing is incredible and I don't think I mean maybe you do know that, but know this or not but the impact of you just showing up and even posting how you, you know, posting is very empowering and you know people say, you know, running really isn't therapy, but at the end of the day, if you can't go to therapy, it's therapy. If you can't go to therapy, it's therapy. And you know it's not just that, you are creating such an impact in the community and the things that you're doing. So I am really happy to have had you on the show and I am looking forward to what's to come and maybe you'll see Ella Goh ladies at the track in SUNY Albany.

Speaker 2: 38:16

Maybe, that'll happen.

Speaker 3: 38:18

Or even just a Saturday, maybe just a.

Speaker 2: 38:20

Saturday yes, and again, yeah, definitely, but for sure. I want to just thank you for what you all are doing. It is definitely very impactful and very much needed. So thank you, guys.

Speaker 4: 38:35

Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 3: 38:36

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 38:37

Thank you for having us.

Speaker 3: 38:38

And I'll also just say this too, because and I appreciate what you said in terms of just um, constantly showing up we have always been intentional about showing up. You know, I wasn't always a winter runner but you know, running with these guys, we committed like, look, we're going to show up, doesn't matter Rain, sleet, snow, we're going to show up on Saturdays, we're going to be out there, and I think a lot of respect and admiration has been gained, even just the representation that knowing that you know you can count on Cap City to show up when they say they're going to show up. So with that, you know again, our goal and our mission is to inspire the community to run by running the community, and so all are welcome. I certainly look forward to welcoming you, lisa, and the ladies of LA. Go, you know we can set something up, we'll make it happen.

Speaker 2: 39:29

OK, we love that. Up, we'll, we'll, we'll make it happen. Okay, we would love that.

Speaker 1: 39:32

And get that Cap City merch too.

Speaker 2: 39:35

Thank you guys. All right? Well, we'll put all their links on the show notes and you know you'll be able to reach out to them. You know you'll, you'll, you'll have all the links, and I guess that's pretty much it, and until next time, bye, everyone.

Speaker 3: 39:52

Thank you. Thank you for listening, bye.