Tommie Runz didn’t come to running the usual way.
He got sober first.
After years of heavy drinking, a separation, and the sense that his life was heading toward the same ending as his father’s, something shifted.
Running came later.
In this conversation, we trace that path from early sobriety to running across the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and what it actually looks like to rebuild a life over time.
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Topics / Timestamps
- 00:56 The Impact of Personal Loss on Running
- 02:00 The Relationship Between Sobriety and Running
- 03:34 Dealing with the Loss of Friend
- 07:50 An identity of Sobriety
- 10:49 Community Help in Sobriety and Running
- 17:16 The Journey to Western States 100 Miler
Resources / Links
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Presented by Kiprun.
Transcript
Tommie Runz (00:00)
I was very in heavy in drinking at the time.
Um, very low, uh, had just, you like I said, just, um, I was like in the middle of a separation, you know, and it kind of like, I was living a life that I felt was very close to my dad’s life towards the end of his life, you know, cause he, he passed at 39 of a stroke. Um, but he was also a heavy drinker. Um, and I was separate, we were like separated from him when that happened, like, you know, he, he, him and my mother had separated at that time.
And he was in Georgia, in Albany, Georgia, which was far from Savannah, but still Georgia, oddly. And it was just all reminiscent of that. I’m like, okay, I’m gonna die down here. It just felt kind of like a scary time. But then to see something like that, to show the picture of me sitting in front of the Las Vegas sign, nine years later or something like that, or 10 years later, actually, would just be…
I wouldn’t believe it.
Borderlands (01:04)
To go from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, it’s so much more than just the miles. It feels like, this is what I’m expecting, I guess, if I ever do it, it feels like so much more than the miles under your feet because of not only pushing through hard things once or twice, but just for five days or what, over and over and over again.
Tommie Runz (01:08)
Yeah.
Every day. Yeah.
Yeah, I think it, now that you put it like that, I guess when I was sitting there, I don’t know if I thought about, I don’t know if I thought about the miles much at all, you know, even since then, actually. Like I don’t think about the running much. I think about the experiences. I think about maybe the terrain or the view. I think about the time alone. I think about what was going on.
At that time, my best friend was getting buried or had his funeral that Saturday, the day before I finished. But I had already committed to being out there and I felt like it was meaningful. Still enough for me to have missed that. So it was just like, thought about, and then I thought about the people I had with me and how they supported me and how long of a journey it felt like it was. mean, it was…
It’s a long way, six days is a long time, but also it’s also blink, you know, it’s also blink of an eye, like in the grand scheme of things, but it felt so slow and deliberate and ⁓ spiritual.
Borderlands (02:26)
with your best friend passing, and it sounds like the service or memorial service or the burial is happening while you were running,
would he have been happy for you, proud of you? Like, at the beginning of the documentary, you said, I’m doing this for him, like, what was that like?
Tommie Runz (02:38)
Yeah, yeah, that was wild. I mean, because he had passed a couple weeks, like a week, like a week or so before that. So it wasn’t like a standard situation. So like, it and I guess in the normal world, he probably would have been, you know, has been or before I left. And I talked to his family and I told like, I had this thing that I needed to do. And it was already like everything was already kind of like mapped out for this to happen.
And he knew about it. We didn’t talk a bunch towards the end, because he had his own situation going on. So it was just… It felt like… I know he would have been proud of me for doing it. I know he would understand why I wasn’t there. But it still felt really heavy and hard to not be there.
like for him though, you know what I mean? ⁓ Because like, even though he had his issues too, like probably drinking and you know, he probably, like he was one of the people that like whenever I would try to say that I’m gonna take like a couple of weeks off or a month or whatever, he was always the one that, but I’ll do it with you. Even though like he wasn’t the one admitting he had a problem or trying to figure out something. He was like, I’ll do it with you. And I think that the last couple of times that we did that,
that he did that for me, like end of 2016, early 2017 is the reason why I kept kind of like going back to the world, trying to figure it out. So like, it kind of was a bummer for me to not be able to be there, you know, like for him. And in fact, like I thought about what if these miles are easier for me than I think considering this first time I’ve ever done something like this and ran this many miles in a day. What if I was able to do it in five days and get on the flight?
and get back there. I thought about that, but it was just like after day three or four, I’m like, it’s not happening. So we just had to let that go.
Borderlands (04:43)
did running come first and you’re running and you think, I wish I could run better and hey, if I had stopped drinking so much or did the other way around, what’s the relationship between sobriety and running for you?
Tommie Runz (04:48)
Yeah. Other way.
So ⁓ running came a year or so after sobriety. So sobriety came January 11th, 2017. Then like a couple of weeks into that, started to like use your brain starts to clear up a tiny bit. Like some people go like, I’m two months sober. I’m so clear. Like, bro, you got a long way to go. ⁓
But like after a couple of weeks, I started to just like kind of see myself in the mirror in a different way, vision, like physically, like I guess I just didn’t, I don’t know what I saw before, but I started to see like, I don’t like how I look and all my body, I don’t like how this looks. And like, I just started like, I look terrible. Like no one told me like, ⁓ you know, and because even in that picture at that race, like if you saw, if you see any pictures around it, like I was kind of like,
chubby, rounder face, because I was just drinking so much and eating whatever. And then, so I started going to the gym, started getting movement back and I wanted to take control of what I could. And that’s what I was also learning in the rooms of AA is control what you can control. And at that time, all I had was not drinking and then maybe just doing something with my body.
And when you’re drinking all the time, you’re like thinking about going to run or going to the gym or starting a new positive habit. ⁓ So as soon as I pulled that, then I was able to like start seeing and that’s why I go into the gym six, seven days a week. And I was just like, kind of like, got all this time, I got time, I got energy. ⁓ Why not put it towards something else, you know? And then running came like a year or later after sobriety when I started. ⁓
I was in the gym so much, people knew me as like going to the gym.
that’s when running came along was a year after. I was just looking for like.
good habits and things that make me feel better.
Borderlands (06:49)
Yeah, I mean to then to have stuck with it as long as you have
was there a moment that it like you Crested some hill where you’re like, okay, like this is who I am now I’m on the other side of this like I’m you know, it’s no longer a battle like I’m I’m healthy I’m running I’m eating the way that my body wants me to eat and all this sort of stuff. Is there a moment?
Tommie Runz (06:59)
Mmm.
I think that like, I don’t know about a moment, like I kind of, in the job that I had, I worked at this career for like 17 years until like last February. And it required me to travel a lot, you like, you know, work conventions and conferences are basically professional drinking parties in suits.
So like I got sober in January, I started that journey in January and then in March I was gonna have to go to this my first conference and I was super worried about it. And I was like talking about it in the rooms like, yo, like, I don’t know. And they’re like, bro, like that, you sound about something that’s in like 45 days? Like today, like just worry about today, you’re good. And then that like, like the whole one day at a time thing always sounded really dumb. I mean, it sounded smart, but dumb, you know? And it’s like, okay, sure.
But then it’s like literally just like, just even when you get to this thing down the road, just take it one day at a time. Like go in there, do your thing one day, go to sleep sober, try to do it the next day. And as I went through like those processes and that like travel period that I would have, and then I started getting, and I was, one thing that like if someone’s listening to this and they’re like trying to like crack this habit or break a bad habit or get a new one, is like a lot of times people will like kind of in,
internalize that, especially if they feel shame around the thing that they’re leaving behind. And I’m not saying tell everybody your business, but like in this case, for me, it made it helpful that I was like, I don’t, I’m 45 days sober, you know? Like I’m good, I’m drinking a water here or a Red Bull or whatever it was at the time. And next thing you know, like by the next trip, like people that had been on that one, that just know me through those
coming from all these different places and being one spot, but oh no, he’s, you still sober? Cool. You know, he doesn’t drink, get him a water, get him with this. Then people started like helping and I started kind of having an identity really quickly from other people of the person that used to drink a lot that’s trying to not do it. And I was blessed in that sense, because a lot of people don’t have that same reaction. I guess people don’t have that same reaction to them. They’re oh man, come on, one more, you know, whatever. But I feel like when I started,
vocalizing that I wanted something different and better in my life. I think that might’ve been that shift when I shared my goal or my journey with other people and allowed them to potentially maybe have some pushback or potentially maybe have some words of encouragement or just like, oh, that’s awesome. Cause that’s enough sometimes. And that’s actually what helped me with running too. When I started running, the reason, if Facebook didn’t exist and
Borderlands (09:41)
Hmm.
Tommie Runz (10:01)
I couldn’t post my pictures on Facebook at that time. And people go, ⁓ man, four miles, that’s crazy. Or, three miles, that’s wild. Good job. then, they also saw what I was before. So like, if I didn’t have those Strava kudos, you know, on Facebook, then I wouldn’t, I don’t think I would have continued because it just felt good.
Borderlands (10:25)
it also says a lot about where you were at the time that you were telling people that you were sober. Because to me, that feels scary because you’re committing, you’re, committing to it, you know, and, so I, you
Tommie Runz (10:32)
Yeah.
Yeah,
well it was in hindsight sure bravery and like, know, whatever. But at the same time, I know that it was more so, please someone tell me that this is a good idea. Like please someone say anything or five hearts on there would be great guys, you know? Like I think that we…
We, like, especially now, like we praise and give so much attention to so many different things that like, just don’t make any sense, you know, like, but then when someone’s doing something that could change their lives, even if it’s just doesn’t matter to you, but it could change their lives. And if you change their lives, you change their family’s lives. And like, that’s what sobriety and that’s what sobriety does. And that’s what alcohol addiction does is if you go that direction, changes everything for everybody that knows you.
And if we could just remember, like we can like all the funny stuff and the crazy things that we see, but we could also like have space for like, for remembering when we were somewhere or seeing something where we want to go and acknowledging those moments as special. Because I think at that time, me doing that to like my community or for people that followed me or knew me, that was a new…
journey for them. Like they hadn’t seen anybody for real go like at my age at that time, go like, I’m going sober or I just started running or I’m doing a marathon or I’m gonna go to Boston marathon. Like no one that wasn’t a vibe. it’s if I didn’t and I did that because of support. ⁓ And a lot of people will ask me like about marathon training, like what’s a really like how do you one of my tips for people that are trying to a marathon or ultra or whatever.
is, you know, be, don’t be selfish, but then, you know, in your pursuit. like you just like not paying attention to family, but like, it’s okay to tell your people around you what you’re trying to do so that you can give them a choice to sign on that with you, whether they support you from afar and they text you every now and see how you’re doing. But you can allow people to come along the journey with you by inviting them in.
in a way, not expecting anything from them, but just letting them know what your goals are. They can choose, ⁓ shoot, that’s amazing, I’d love to help you. What do need me to do? You need me to watch the kids for two hours, or whatever, you know what mean?
Borderlands (13:09)
for so many years, I just didn’t even believe my wife when she was like kind of parting everything so I could train for these hundred milers.
Tommie Runz (13:19)
Mm.
Borderlands (13:19)
But the reality is, I think to your point, again, refreshingly non-cynical, is that you tell people what you’re doing, not to necessarily brag, but maybe you are because that’s also okay. But it brings up…
Tommie Runz (13:19)
Mm-hmm.
Borderlands (13:31)
some vocal support that helps us keep going.
Tommie Runz (13:34)
Yeah, I feel like that’s is tricky because it can be like someone you don’t want to be around something that’s like you say hi and they’re like I’m running 200 miles tomorrow, know, it’s like, okay. All right stranger but like I think that we have to look at some of this energy as a as a in our lives. Everything is momentum in like a circuit, you know.
Borderlands (13:43)
Totally. It’s a line.
Tommie Runz (13:54)
You have to, sometimes you put things out and as long as the intention is fairly decent, know, like people know that. People know that people feel that intention and it can come back to you in a positive way, even if it’s not through that person, but they tell somebody else that they know that you’re doing a thing. And the next thing you know, you’re backed with someone’s like, I know this person that I can introduce you. I think we have to remember to look at life as…
It all starts with our own intention and then it comes out from us in this potentially really positive circuit or negative, depending on what our thoughts are and our feelings were when we started this thing. Because if you’re like, I don’t care about anybody else, I’m doing this 100-miler and the kids will be fine. Same run, same 100-miler, but I guarantee your wife feels that different, your kids remember everything different, your family looks at it different.
It’s the same process, same miles get done, but it’s all about how you carry through that. And then now your family will always have that random moment at a party, like, oh yeah, my son did a such and such. It’s great.
Borderlands (15:02)
Yeah.
Tell me about how you ended up at Javelina and what did you think?
Tommie Runz (15:08)
⁓ so how did it happen? Because, ⁓ because of, ⁓ TSP, I got on the free trail podcast with Dylan Bowman and we had a really good conversation. ⁓ and then he was just like, he hit me up after he like, bro, I love your kind of the way you talk and think about all this stuff and your life. And I think people need to hear this story come to free trail. I mean, ⁓ trail con between, ⁓ broken arrow and Western States come out there and speak on a panel did that.
And then just Brand started like inviting me to little things here and there, sending me more trail shoes. And then Dylan’s like, would you ever run like a hundred miles? I’m like, yeah, yeah, for sure I would. Cause I liked, I enjoyed the TSP training so much. was just such a shift. mean, a lot more miles, but it’s, and I did work out every week, but it was still a shift in like the expectation around the speed and the distance. And it was more so like being outside and being comfortable with just being on the borderline of uncomfortable for a long time. And then.
Borderlands (15:46)
Ha ha.
Tommie Runz (16:06)
So like I was like, yo, if I could, I don’t want to go back to like marathon training right now. Like if I can run a hundred miles, sure, I I’d love that. And he’s like, what if you ran a hundred and potentially, you know, what if you got a ticket, lottery ticket to Western States? And maybe we run that. I’m like, I’d love to run Western States.
like, yeah, I would definitely love Western States, but I’m like, that’s so far fetched, but I’d run 100. So was like, yeah, do Javelina. You know the people at Hoka, hit them up, see if they’re doing anything. And it worked out perfect. And I trained, had a good time training, and then walked up to the line in Javelina with the Hoka Rocket X trails ready to go.
Borderlands (16:47)
Yeah, dude, those are great. ⁓
Tommie Runz (16:49)
Yeah, and it
was a great experience. It was a party in the desert. Somebody told me was the best first 100 mile that I could do and because of the setup. And it’s so true. It’s a tough race. It’s 100k or 100 miles, you know? So there long distances, but it’s accessible in the way of like, if this is your first 100k, you don’t have to worry about your crew being at all these different spots and having to worry about the logistics.
And you can bring people that are fairly, you know, unexperienced on the crewing side if you, if you, that’s what you choose to do, because all they have to do is kind of like sit still and be ready every now and then for you to come in. And it was a perfect vibe for us.
like I said in the documentary for Havelina, one of the things that I was super aware of that I wanted me coming from road to trail the way that I did, I wanted people to understand and watch and see like how serious I took it, you know?
I just want people to know that I respect trails. Cause trails popping right now. And there’s gonna be a lot of people that just hop over and do whatever and without thought of what’s there, you know? And that’s not me.
Borderlands (18:02)
Yeah, I mean, there’s some stuff
in trail that’s sacred and some of it’s too sacred. I appreciate your sensitivity there. But to me, I’m just like, let’s blow the doors open, man.
Tommie Runz (18:06)
Yeah, a little too sacred.
Yeah, just do it,
Borderlands (18:15)
I’m so happy for you getting in Western States. That’s possibly where we’ll meet in person. But yeah, again, I’m of the mind that it’s so rare, so limited to get in, and you get the opportunity and you don’t look back. it sounds like you’re respecting it, which is a nice cherry on top. Even if you didn’t, it’s just like, hey, this is the race that I got into, and you’re gonna go crush it. I mean, it’s 17,000 feet of gain and.
Tommie Runz (18:15)
you?
I appreciate that,
Yeah.
Borderlands (18:37)
24,000 down, do you have?
Tommie Runz (18:39)
Oh, that’s it? Man, it’s not. I mean, that’s why I do a lot of my workouts on the treadmill, stair climber type stuff. But like the treadmill, all, cause there’s no hills here that last long enough to consider yourself hill training, know, or mountain training, I guess you would more say.
Borderlands (18:41)
Yeah. What’s it like training in Michigan for a big mountain ultra?
Hahaha.
Tommie Runz (19:02)
Actually, I’m running Big Alta 100K.
Borderlands (19:05)
yeah, you mentioned that. Dude, that’s, what a great lineup of races you have.
Tommie Runz (19:08)
Yeah,
I know, right? So I just came back. I just got back yesterday last night from San Francisco because I did the 17 mile training run that that free trail free trail did with Solomon. So I ran 17. I ran three times the first day by myself 10 miles and like 1500 feet. Second day was the 17 miles and that was 4000 feet. And then yesterday I ran with Dan Green. Yeah.
Borderlands (19:36)
No, dude, he’s
one of my favorites. Talk about personality.
Tommie Runz (19:37)
Yeah. Yeah. So like, so,
So like I did that, you know, to get used to, because I’m positioning it like, you know, Big Alta is obviously a training for Western states, but I’m also one day at a time and I’m very much focused on like executing Big Alta really well and like having a good time and like having a good day, kind of going to the well because it’s far enough out. So I’m trying to do the much as that. And then if I can sneak somewhere in April and do some weird, know, Canyon trip or something like that, that’d be sweet.
it’s been fun trying to figure out this thing. And I’m glad, like I did the 4,000 feet yesterday, or Sunday, 17 miles. And I was, you know, trashed, I guess, but not as trashed as I thought I was gonna be. I’m actually feeling really confident. And yeah, and I can spend the next week or two kind of just.
Borderlands (20:21)
encouraged.
Tommie Runz (20:26)
making sure I’m working on some of those sore spots.
Borderlands (20:29)
Yeah, plenty, plenty, plenty more to talk about. Sounds like we could do some race coverage as well. I, yeah.
Tommie Runz (20:33)
Yeah, I know, might as well. We might as well just drop in and
like do like a live coverage somewhere, you know?
Borderlands (20:38)
Yeah, man. All right, man. Thank you.
Tommie Runz (20:39)
Appreciate you.
Borderlands (20:40)
See it.
