This episode is sponsored by Ultrasignup.
UltraSignup is the leading marketplace for discovering, registering, and managing trail running events across the United States. With a mission to promote the spirit of trail running and outdoor adventure, UltraSignup hosts a diverse range of races and events. When you visit Ultrasignup.com you’ll find over 5000 events – about half of which are NOT ultra-distance. You’ll also find stories highlighting runners, race directors, training tips, running destinations, and the growth of the sport in their weekly newsletter and online magazine. Visit https://ultrasignup.com/ to explore the possibilities and plan your next adventure!
This episode is also sponsored by Baytrailrunners!
Rooted in passion for getting out on the California trails, Baytrailrunners was founded by Robert Rhodes in 2012. When he passed away from cancer in 2021 he chose Todd Glieden, our guest today, to take care of the community and continue to host these inspiring & challenging events. One of these events is coming soon!
Napa Wilderness Trail Runs kicks off the morning of May 17, 2025!
Whether you're a seasoned trail runner, just starting out, or just want to come hang out in nature, there’s a place for you here. You might come out for the 10k fun run, 1/2 Marathon: 30k Scenic Trek , 50K Endurance Challenge, or 40 Mile Elevation Beast. Make it a weekend adventure by camping out under the stars & soaking up the energy and natural beauty.
And if you’d rather not run but still want to be a part of the fun, you can volunteer!Volunteers help with setup, food service, and creating a welcoming and energizing atmosphere.All runners and volunteers are treated to a post event lunch with burritos, wraps, salad, and cold drinks. You can connect with Baytrailrunners on Facebook and sign up for the race on UltraSignup! Go straight to ultrasignup.com and search Napa Wilderness Trail Runs to register.
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=116228
https://www.facebook.com/Baytrailrunners/
https://baytrailrunners.company.site/
In this Episode...
Todd Glieden's life transformed forever when he was diagnosed with lymphoma, spending 90 days at Stanford Hospital undergoing intensive treatment. Far from destroying him, this experience became the catalyst that helped him discover his true self after years of feeling directionless. "I don't think I discovered myself until then," Todd reflects, describing how cancer pushed him to reevaluate everything.
The unexpected support he received during his illness revealed surprising truths about relationships. People he barely knew showed up with rides and meals, while some he considered close disappeared entirely. This pattern of finding strength in community would become the defining theme of Todd's recovery and subsequent life journey.
When Todd discovered trail running through a local group, everything changed. The shy, reserved person who once hesitated to approach strangers transformed into someone known and loved throughout the running community. Now an accomplished ultra-marathoner with nearly 70 races under his belt, Todd has completed more impressive feats after his heart attack than before it—a testament to his dedication and resilience.
What makes Todd's story particularly powerful is how he's channeled his experiences into creating spaces for others to heal. As the owner of Bay Trail Runners, he organizes events that welcome participants of all abilities. His greatest joy comes from witnessing someone complete their first trail race or half marathon, knowing firsthand the transformative potential of these achievements. "To go out and give that experience to somebody else now in my life is a great feeling," he shares.
The trail running community offers something increasingly rare in modern life—unconditional support during life's hardest moments. Through shared adventures on mountain trails, Todd has built connections that transcend ordinary friendships. These relationships have sustained him through multiple health crises, proving that healing happens not just within medical facilities but within communities bound by shared passion and mutual care.
For anyone facing difficult circumstances or seeking a new beginning, Todd's message is simple yet profound: "Let people into your lives" and "try something." Whether it's walking around a lake or venturing onto a local trail, the first step toward healing often involves stepping outside—both literally and figuratively. Follow Todd's journey or join one of his events by connecting with him as Todd Run on social media, and discover for yourself how the trail might become your own path to healing.
Invite Todd out on a run here! https://www.instagram.com/iworldrunner/
Full Transcript
Lisa Danylchuk: 0:09
I'm happy to share that this episode is sponsored by Ultra Sign Up. Ultra Sign Up is the leading marketplace for discovering, registering and managing trail running events across the United States. I've personally been using Ultra Sign Up for over a decade to find fun adventures, sign up for events and share opportunities to be active outdoors with friends. With a mission to promote the spirit of trail running and outdoor adventure, ultra Sign Up hosts a diverse range of races and events. When you visit ultrasignupcom, you'll find over 5,000 events, about half of which are not ultra distance. Some don't even involve running, like ski mountaineering, cycling events and even last paddler standing. You'll also find stories highlighting runners, race directors, training tips, running destinations and the growth of the sport in their weekly newsletter and online magazine. Visit ultrasignup.com to explore the possibilities and plan your next adventure.
Today's episode is also sponsored by Bay Trail Runners. Rooted in passion for getting out on the California trails, bay Trail Runners was founded by Robert Rhodes in 2012. When he passed away from cancer in 2021, he chose Todd Glieden, our guest today, to take care of the community and continue to host these inspiring and challenging events. One of my very favorites of these events is coming soon Napa Wilderness Trail Runs kicks off the morning of May 17th.
Whether you're a seasoned trail runner, just starting out or just want to come hang out in nature, there's a place for you here. You might come out for the 10K Fun Run, half Marathon, 30k Scenic Trek that's where you'll find me. 50k Endurance Challenge or 40 Mile Elevation Beast, make it a weekend adventure by camping out under the stars and soaking up the energy and natural beauty by camping out under the stars and soaking up the energy and natural beauty. And if you'd rather not run but you still want to be a part of the fun, you can always cheer or volunteer.
Volunteers help with setup food service and creating a welcoming and energizing atmosphere. All runners and volunteers are treated to a post-event lunch with burritos, wraps, salad and cold drinks. A post-event lunch with burritos, wraps, salad and cold drinks. You can connect with Bay Trail Runners on Facebook and sign up for the race directly on Ultra Sign Up. Get the links in today's show notes or go straight to ultrasignupcom and search Napa Wilderness Trail Runs to register. Hope to see you there!
Lisa Danylchuk: 2:45
Our guest is Todd Glieden. Todd is a testament to human resilience and the transformative power of running and community, having triumphed over formidable health challenges, including cancer, a heart attack and a severe knee injury. Todd has not only reclaimed his physical strength, but has also dedicated himself to uplifting others through the sport he loves so much. An accomplished trail runner himself, todd's passion for the sport has been both a personal lifeline and a communal bridge. He channels his experiences into mentoring and supporting fellow runners, emphasizing the therapeutic and unifying aspects of being outside together on the trails. Through organizing community runs and participating in charitable events, todd exemplifies how personal adversity can be transformed into collective empowerment. Today, todd shares his inspiring story of recovery, how running played a role in his healing process and how connecting with others has supported his health and healing. His love, hope and resilience are palpable, so you're truly in for a treat. Please join me in welcoming Todd to the show.
Lisa Danylchuk: 4:01
Welcome to the podcast, Todd Glieden. I'm so happy to have you here. We've known each other almost 15 years now and I'm really excited to share you and your experience with listeners. It's a little different. So I've had a few episodes now where, instead of being super clinical and interviewing people who are studying things, we're talking to folks who are going through things, have been through things and you've been through some things.
Todd Glieden: 4:25
We've been through some things.
Lisa Danylchuk: 4:27
The hope with this is to shine some light on the everyday healing that's happening all the time, to recognize how hard it is it's easier to talk about healing trauma than it is to actually go through it. It and I'm hoping that listeners can derive some inspiration, but the kind that comes from the reality of you living through what you've lived through and thriving the way that you're thriving now. For folks who don't know us from running on the trails, Todd and I met through a running group shout out to Run With Clay in Oakland. We've run road races together, trail races together. We just did 11 miles or so in Yosemite the other day, celebrating life, celebrating trails, and I'd love for you to share with folks, Todd, how trail running became such a central theme and thing in your life.
Todd Glieden: 5:20
I was diagnosed with lymphoma and it was something that changed my life forever in a better way. A lot of people get really freaked out about cancer and living with it. I don't think I discovered myself until then, Really had no direction in my life, was just doing the day-to-day, working so hard and getting nowhere and not knowing if I would ever come out of that hospital. The extreme amount of chemo surgeries, everything. I almost think it didn't affect me how I thought it was going to affect me. I thought it was the end of the world and you just stopped at this and went home and lived forever long and I enjoyed watching the people around me. I think it was harder for them to go through it than me. I saw a lot of people in the hospital. I was there for about 90 days at Stanford and would go home for a couple hours sometimes before I get sick again and go back. People that came out of my life, that helped me and were around me were completely different than the people I thought would be there.
Lisa Danylchuk: 6:47
So interesting right.
Todd Glieden: 6:48
Yeah, people I barely knew come over, give me a ride, bring me food, and it got to the point where I just really enjoyed learning through the whole experience and trying to make the best I could of it. But I lost a lot of people, people that I worked with every day and thought I would see every day and some I've never seen in 22 years since then. So when I got out I'm like new lease on life, let's do this. It kind of backfired. I went back after a year or two of trying to get really healthy, reverted back to my old ways. Then I discovered a running group and kind of changed everything in my world, even until today. I started slow at you and a lot of people and went from being very shy and not even would approach people I didn't know.
Lisa Danylchuk: 7:49
That's so funny to me. Oh, my goodness, I would never describe you that way.
Todd Glieden: 7:55
That was very. I remember the first time I went there I found this group on Facebook. Look at the pictures. There's going to be 15, 20 people there. I'm very nervous about going and there was two people and I went up to the wrong group and from that day on it became a part of my healing and a part of just trying to make things better for myself. Before I could make things better for others. And now it's kind of come full circle, because I own a running company and enjoy so much giving that back to the people that gave that opportunity to me Traveling the world literally, you know, spending weeks and months in other countries and being able to share my experience, and just, I think part of my joy now is to watch somebody that has never experienced whether it's running or something else do something they've never done or wanted to do and find out that it's all right.
Lisa Danylchuk: 8:59
Yeah, that they can do it Right that you can do it.
Lisa Danylchuk: 9:02
Yeah, that's such a beautiful process. I remember meeting someone in a meditation group and I was running the half marathon at the time. You know, early around the time we met and she was like, oh, there's no way I could ever do that. I was like, oh, you totally can. And I recommended American Heart Association's training group and there was one over in Alameda where she was, and I was like you don't even have to run it, you can walk it, you can rock it, you can do it however you want to do it, but you can do it and she did, and she reached back to me and was like hey, thanks, I was like I knew you could do it.
Lisa Danylchuk: 9:32
Sometimes you just need to be a part of a community that sees what you can do, or to identify what you want and decide to go for it, right.
Todd Glieden: 9:42
The process started there 22 years ago and it's never ended. And there's so much more. I never thought I would do the things that I've done. I've run almost 70 ultra marathons, road marathons, hundreds of half marathons. If you look at me standing on the street, I am not the person that looks like I run down the street, you know, and I was very competitive and had to be the best and wanted this, and to me, now it's. I just want to be there. I want to be there with the people. Mm-hmm, I enjoy my time alone. I enjoy healing in my own world, with nobody around me. Healing in my own world, with nobody around me, looking at nature, being there, standing in the rain, in the mud, and it's special. But then, in turn, I like somebody to enjoy that with me. Yes, so to go out and give that experience to somebody else now in my life is great feeling. Yeah.
Todd Glieden: 10:44
And strive for it all the time.
Lisa Danylchuk: 10:47
As you're talking, I'm thinking about. I know there's a video of us splashing in puddles in the headlands in Marin, right, and there are plenty of times where we'll reach out and just be like where are you going this weekend? What are you doing? 10 to 30 miles Perfect, let's go.
Lisa Danylchuk: 11:01
You know so, sometimes going out with a friend it's planning a big group and other times and I know you and I both appreciate this a lot just secret squirreling it, going on your own or not even telling someone you signed up for a big race and just letting it be yours, maybe sharing when you're finished with it and celebrating together. But there's something really nice about what you're describing in trail running of you can be with yourself, you can be with one other person, and it's nice because even on runs, you know if we're doing 12 to 30 miles, we're going to talk the whole time. We can talk at certain points. You can be together. You can be together. Apart. You can be totally apart, like, oh God, where'd Todd go? I had to find him on the trail and all of that is a part of it. I'm wondering what you've come to love most about trail running in all these years.
Todd Glieden: 11:53
That there's no end.Lisa Danylchuk: 11:55
Yeah.
Todd Glieden: 11:56
You can go wherever you want, and I was having this discussion earlier, you know you think you start out with a plan for the day.Lisa Danylchuk: 12:06
Right.Todd Glieden: 12:07
And it's trail running and you have weather and obstacles and road closures and trails that aren't there anymore and you go and you discover things, and it's to me it's like living. It's not a structured thing. I could turn this direction or that direction, and which am I going to go? And as I've gotten older I usually choose the harder way because I don't know if I'm ever going to have that opportunity again.
Todd Glieden: 12:36
I held back in my life so much growing up. It was so structured You've got to go to school, graduate, you have to have a job, a family and all this and it's in your head that you have to do that. Now, for me it's the opposite. All that can happen. But I need to be happy first, until the cancer kind of scared me in a way that I realized I had to do anything. And then I am eight or nine years out from having a heart attack and that changed it again and I really to the point where if I don't try it I may never have the opportunity. So I've tried more things since then. I love to tell people I've run all my marathons since I've had my heart attack.
Lisa Danylchuk: 13:28
Wow.
Todd Glieden: 13:28
And if you add them all up or in the eighties, and I've never felt better. It's a struggle with age struggles. I've finished them now, but it's something that I, you know. Until I can't, I will, and when I can't I'll be there to be a part of it. I don't think I'll ever lose that. Things will change and shift in life and in the world. Things are going to be changing in the world we live in, certainly. So my goal is to continue doing what I'm doing and sharing what I've been able to go through and tell people that you don't have to give up when you have trauma in your life, when something happens. I had this conversation with somebody this morning and it's like something didn't go your way, whether it's physical, mental, whatever, but you have the opportunity to do something about it for the rest of your life. Whether you're here five years or 50 years, I have to give myself that opportunity to give back. It's just something that I don't see myself not doing every day.
Lisa Danylchuk: 14:40
Can you take us back to? You've mentioned now being diagnosed with lymphoma. You've mentioned having a heart attack. Can you take us back one? You've mentioned now being diagnosed with lymphoma. You've mentioned having a heart attack. Can you take us back one at a time, to like what was going through your mind, because it sounds like your experience is unique and maybe a little different than the norm for a lot of reasons. So what was going through your mind when you first found out you needed treatment for cancer?
Todd Glieden: 15:01
Very unknown. I never you know, had never spent time in a hospital or through any kind of prolonged treatment. I literally thought I wasn't feeling good and had the flu, went into the doctor and I did not come home for 89 days. They scanned me, found a huge tumor and I went in the next day and had my whole entire chest cavity from top to bottom opened, taken out. It was cancerous, the tumor, so I went straight into treatment.
Todd Glieden: 15:36
I think the biggest shock was checking in for the treatment at Stanford and my mom was with me and basically make arrangements to not be there tomorrow if something happens. Do you have somebody to sign your stuff over to? You know, executor, you want to go to the fertility clinic before we start this in an hour? And it's basically a sign here. And I just kind of was in shock and I handled it pretty well. But I had a lot of time. I was there, like I said, 90 days and I would go days without seeing people Lying in a hospital bed with IVs on both sides, I think, 130 staples still and not being able to call out. This is before I had a PDA. I didn't have a cell phone that you could type in and text all the time and just kind of being there by yourself was a scary thing, because I had days where I never thought I would come home. You have really dark days where the treatment is harsh and you feel crazy. And, to top things off, this was seven days after 9-11. So the only thing that was on TV every single channel that the three or four in the hospital was 9-11. Watching 24-7, people getting rescued, the towers, the planes. So you're completely either numb to it and turn it off or watch day by day. Well, they had it bad.
Todd Glieden: 17:24
I was in an older wing in the hospital and there wasn't much to see and things slowly started changing. I slowly started getting out of bed, took my IV on a little walker with me it was an older but nice hospital. I found my way down to the cafeteria in a Starbucks that was my day to try to make it down there and back. I was right next to Lucy Packard's Children's Hospital. There was a lot of either babies being born or babies going through care.
Todd Glieden: 17:57
I would go over to the maternity ward and look through the window and look at new life starting through the window and look at new life starting, and it was the way I spent my day just trying to get through it and not planned. But my grandmother ended up there a couple floors above me with breast cancer treatment and my cousin was in the pain and back area. So for several weeks I had relatives there that I can sit next to them, and then I had days where there was nobody. People that just showed up. I would turn around and somebody I barely knew from work would be there with a bag or a stuffed animal or a plant or something and it's like I really didn't expect animal or a plant or something, and it's like I really didn't expect.
Lisa Danylchuk: 18:50
It sounds like people showing up for you was really important and seeing something in these people who maybe you didn't even know that well, there was a openness or a kindness or a generosity or care. How would you describe how those people impacted your experience while you're in the hospital or even after?
Todd Glieden: 19:05
All positive. For me it was the caring that they took time out of their lives. With everything going on with 9-11. We didn't know, you know we still weren't flying, we couldn't travel. They found that time. You know they're busy.
Todd Glieden: 19:16
I was not close to where I was working. My parents were, you know, my mom was six hours away, my dad was an hour and a half away, my brothers and sisters but then I people I really expected to be there never showed up. So I kind of had to put that in perspective. They I can handle that, I don't think they can. And you know my roommate would come over a couple of days, bring me food or things, things that I wanted to see or, and you know, those 15 minutes to an hour became so special.
Todd Glieden: 19:54
I do remember I was in there for one of my birthdays and knew I wasn't coming out, but then, as my treatment started to get towards the end, it was thanksgiving and I was looking so forward to being home still not feeling well at all At that point no hair, very skinny, very fragile, but just being at home and being able to sit on the sofa for Thanksgiving.
Todd Glieden: 20:22
Then I got a fever again and I didn't get checked out to the day after Thanksgiving, so it was before Zoom and all this.
Todd Glieden: 20:29
I got a call from my parents on Thanksgiving Day and just so much wanted to be there and I went through my time where I got mad because I wasn't doing things I wanted to do. But looking back, I think that's actually what helped To have the time to focus and really think about it, to have the time to focus and really think about it. And it was different with the heart attack, because my first question I asked is when am I getting out of here? You know that one scared me but since I had been through something before, that one was more like when do I get back? What I've now learned that I can do, because I had 10 years in between them and I had come a long way in those 10 years and kind of had come out of my shell, made a place where I wanted to be in my running community and a part of everything, and I was bound and determined that that wasn't going to stop.
Lisa Danylchuk: 21:32
It sounds like the first experience was very unknown, but there's also this awakening to the value of life and the possibility and your choices, that you can choose not just to do it how it's been expected of you or societal expectations, but you can do it and you can live the way that feels good to you and you can make choices every day. And knowing that life isn't forever increases the value of each day. And so there's this making the best of it. And then, 10 years later, heart attack and you're like when can I get back to just living my life?Todd Glieden: 22:10
My heart attack was on a Monday or Tuesday. I was home within two or three days, recovered pretty well, went back to work probably within two weeks. I had stints put in and you know it was a lot easier. The process seemed way too easy. It really did. I was in great shape, I was a fast runner, things had really come full circle and I was happy with where I was at.
Todd Glieden: 22:38
It happened because of my past health. I tried to run four weeks after and couldn't. I couldn't. I mean I wasn't even walking the distance. I wanted to because of the heart attack and opted to go on some more stronger medicine, had some more tests done and voluntarily decided to have another stent put in. And a lot of people very few know this.
Todd Glieden: 23:08
I was went in on a Tuesday. I was out like Wednesday night, had my other stint put in Probably the scariest thing, I will still say probably the scariest thing I ever did Having the stint put in and closing me up and we're doing everything getting out of there. The hospital staff was great, wide awake during the whole thing. I started to flutter and my heart started to stop. My heart rate goes down to like 13 beats a minute. Everybody that had left comes back and adrenaline set in, because you don't know if you're going to make it. And I just instantly you know sweating adrenaline. They're trying to keep me awake and I wanted to go to sleep. I kept telling them I need to go to sleep and then you know people, they're moving you, they're trying not to, and then slowly starts going back up. It gets to a certain level. They all disappear again. Okay, it's over. That was on a Tuesday, and on Friday I went with a friend to the city and ran a half marathon.
Lisa Danylchuk: 24:11
Oh, stop it, Todd, okay. So what do you say to people who are like, no, you should be resting, cause. I know you, your doctors I don't know if your doctor knew about that half marathon, but how do you manage that? Cause Here now you have this passion and you want to get back out, which I think people can relate to. I always think of this quote. That's like if your soul wants to dance, then resting is stressful and dance is restful. I wanted to dance, yeah, and so I get that. And then I know people just have strong reactions around like, oh, my goodness, you need to heal. Tell us about that half marathon and how did it feel and what did your doctor say when you came back around?
Todd Glieden: 24:53
So I went out with a friend and I seem to do this to a lot of people these days myself but she's like I'm training, I've got to go do this, I'm going to go run and run ahead of you Got your phone if you have any problems. My whole thing about healing and you know I talked myself into it, whether it was good, bad or indifferent, I never did anything I didn't feel completely safe with. If I felt I was going to have a heart attack or something was going to happen, I wouldn't have done it and, like I said, I think as I'm getting older, I'm taking more risks like that because I don't want to be that person that's not seen again and not heard of again because something happened. I want to be on the opposite end of it and even now, doing what I do when I travel abroad every year, I have to go through a lot of tests treadmill tests, scans, ultrasounds, my heart and a lot of that is all on my own, other than maybe needing a sign out from a doctor, other than maybe needing a sign-off from a doctor.
Todd Glieden: 25:56
My process to heal myself and to be where I want to be is to make sure I'm doing everything I can. So everybody's like we'll see you next year. I still go to the doctor, even for my lymphoma. Every three to four months I get my blood test and to me that's my process, that's what's sound in my head, that I can continue this. And we've had incidents where I've been told well, that's not too good, or what can you do. I do think a lot of it is mental and you know what we've gone through with elections and people and power. I think that affects all of it for me. It's just not me, it's the world I live in and I don't want to say how do I make it a better place? I make it better for me. So I can hopefully share that with somebody else.
Lisa Danylchuk: 26:46
Well, I think that's, by definition, what you're doing right. You found a love of trail running and now that's a big part of your work and you host events for other people and you invite them in. I hear so many points of resilience, or what we might even call post-traumatic growth, in here, like recognizing the value of life, valuing life, valuing the opportunity you have each day to choose to do what you love. The opportunity you have each day to choose to do what you love. Also, even recognizing anger as appropriate and adaptive like that was helpful. That helped me move forward.
Todd Glieden: 27:21
A lot of my anger. I think it's there because I care. If you don't care, I don't really think you're going to get angry about anything. Why do I care? Why don't I just let things happen like other people? And it's just like I've tried so hard to be where I'm at that I do care. So I get angry and sometimes I step back and go. Is it worth it? Can I walk away from it? Do I need to be by myself for a couple of days? Do I need to find my peace again?
Todd Glieden: 27:50
I post a lot of pictures, things for people to see, and a lot of them end with peace or to live your best life and my best life is definitely not somebody else's. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do what I want to do. Working for myself in the last four years has been a huge relief emotionally, maybe not financially, but to answer to myself and not somebody that's making a decision for me is a huge step. I was really afraid, after the pandemic and after a bad job, to take my future into my own hands. I can go back and get a corporate job like I've had. I went from training hundreds of people in a huge company to trying to train myself to be who I want to be. It's sometimes really hard. I have no problem now standing in front of a thousand people and talking, which 10, 15 years ago you couldn't get me in front of three people to talk, talk.
Lisa Danylchuk: 28:49
And I just have to let listeners know that Todd is someone that if I go on any trail not even just in California, like we could be in France and we'll run by someone like hey Todd, like everyone knows so many people in the running community, and I'll be like how do you know? Cause these are people I don't know. I've been on a lot of runs with you, I've been a lot of places, have been in some of the same groups, but how do you know them? How do you know them? Just different events, just getting to know folks.
Lisa Danylchuk: 29:17
I mean to hear you call yourself shy or any of those things is so I mean it's laughable to me now. But I get it right. Of course I believe you and I trust you. I just want people to know the juxtaposition of what you're describing as before, or your internal experience, and what people would see if they just went for a run with you. They'd be like this is the most social person I've ever met. Everyone knows them. There've been times where someone's run by and been like hey, todd, how's it going? You're like hey, what's up? And I'm like who's that? And you're like I'm not sure.Todd Glieden: 29:49
That caught me off guard. Like the first or second time I ever went to France. I signed up on an app here in America for a meetup and I'm like, okay, you know it's social meetup for this, that running dates. And I'm like I went to my little meetup group and put myself through the subway. I had no idea where I'm going. No, not one person you know. And this is through this process that I'm not as shy anymore. But I literally walk across the street and some guy comes up and goes oh Todd, you're going to be here.
Todd Glieden: 30:18
I saw something and knew me from here and it's like that stuff catches you off guard and, like you said, in the mountains of France running with somebody, they turn around and see you. Maybe a year ago I was up in the Marin Headlands running and I had run with a girl at night in 29 Palms 15 years ago when the Boston bombing happened. We ran a relay race together and I'm running in Marin in the light and she ran up to me and remembered me. From there we have talked off and on for many, many years but our lives have not crossed since then. Those are things that I really get excited about and can catch up with that person and where they're at now in their lives. And she just had a baby and got married. I met this girl on a run in the desert 15 years ago.
Todd Glieden: 31:08
It is a small world and, to your point, with the trill I think, what I think set me different from any other sport that I've ever watched or been a part of. When tragedy happens to a group or one of us, the community is unbelievable and supportive. I don't think without that support I would be where I am Just unconditional support. Sometimes People rally around. We've lost friends in the community for one reason or another and somebody is always there.
Todd Glieden: 31:43
I think it's special. You don't see that in the world we live in much anymore. As our community gets larger and larger, being a small part of it is special to me. It just it means a lot. Yeah, I had no idea when I met you all that there were groups and running people and people did things. I'll be honest with you at you know, probably 25 years old, 35 years old, when I met these people I didn't know what a marathon was. I didn't know people went and did stuff like this and it's really broadened my horizons in the world. It can take you to every single corner of the world. It literally can and has, and will continue to.
Lisa Danylchuk: 32:31
There's something so beautiful, I think, about the community that we met through too, because it was so like, naturally diverse and loving and like that group literally the people that you would ask for a ride to the airport would give you, bring food to your house when you were sick or, if you had a baby, set up a food train, right, like there was something about the culture of that group, cause I did join other. I was coaching with America. I was participant for American heart association. That was coaching with American heart association, with some of those people, and it was really special and we all felt so connected and supportive of each other. And then I went and coached for another group that recruited me and I swear people just like showed up and started their watches. I was a coach and I was like I can change this Right, like I can. I was co-coaching and I was trying to bring something to it that felt like our group and it was challenging.
Lisa Danylchuk: 33:22
There's something about Clay who started Run With Clay, obviously and about the people that gravitated and stuck in that group.
Lisa Danylchuk: 33:32
That was and is really healing and that I see as crucial in terms of having this safe space where you can share, that you're recovering from something medical, you can be yourself fully right. There's so many different healing models and things that I just see how all that shows up in there and I love that you have continued to create that space through even casual runs that you host, but definitely through your organized events. It's very welcoming and inclusive and family-like, and I think trail running is unique. Maybe folks have this in road running too, but I think trail running because of that connection with nature, because there's sometimes a little more risk of I'm going to climb up this cliff hey, can you hold my hand? Stranger I've never met. What's your name? Now that you've seen me cry, I think there could be more vulnerability there. But with that vulnerability there can also be more genuine connection. So, yeah, as you're describing that, I'm thinking about the healing impacts of the community in your life, in all our lives. Right For me too.
Todd Glieden: 34:37
I think the community is a bunch of people that needed to be healed. If you look at it, there is a huge portion of the running community that are all recovering from some addiction. A lot of drug and alcohol recovery ends up in trail running. They have a new addiction now, just like I had. I had to be out on the trail every single day. I don't think the community lets you go backwards, because I don't know anybody that's joined that community and has been able to flip and go back, because there's always somebody there to help them, to help them heal. They post things I'm not doing, doing good today, and the amount of people that write then and there to help that person and get them back to where they need to go.
Todd Glieden: 35:22
I don't see that in a lot of other things. I know if I ever needed help again for anything, I could post something. When I came out of breaking my kneecap there was the knee kneecap I posted something like I need a ride to the farmer's market. I had a lady that I did not know respond to my post and she came and picked me up in her car and we spent the day at the farmer's market and to have somebody show up. Of course I did a little research. Yeah, she knows this friend of mine, that friend of mine. Okay, you know, I'm not getting kidnapped, I'm going to make it back. And it was like, okay, that was just an experience.
Todd Glieden: 36:03
And, like I said, people come out to help because I think I've given that back so much and I think a lot of it is listening and seeing what people want. They'll tell you. It might be indirect, but people will tell you that they're in need of some help or they figure it out. Sometimes I'm kind of quiet and people give me a call or text, everything all right, you haven't been out in a couple of days and that's not my norm. So, yeah, something's going on.
Todd Glieden: 36:32
I will go out on a trail and I'll find somebody. Hey, you want to meet here and that's again. That's my healing process. There's so much going on in everybody's lives. We have to let each other help each other and the more you open up to that, you make life friends. I'm really proud to say I could go probably anywhere in the world and find somebody I've known or corresponded with that I could stay with. Or, you know, help me find my next adventure and cherish that a lot. Don't want that to go away and as I get older into this, the more and more I cherish that to.
Lisa Danylchuk: 37:12
You know be to learn from other people yeah, there's a couple other things you mentioned that I just want to highlight because there's you know, of course I hear things through the trauma therapist brain, because that's what I have.
Lisa Danylchuk: 37:26
When you talk about becoming self-employed and you're like maybe it was a little bit financially stressful but it was emotionally really healing, that to me is the definition of empowerment, Same thing with going from living a life that's expected of you to living a life that you actively choose.
Lisa Danylchuk: 37:47
So often in trauma recovery we talk about feeling disempowered, because a lot of times when there's something traumatic, it's something that sort of happens to us. It's not like we choose it. Of course there's infinite variability in how things happen, but for the most part it's like I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or I just happened to have this medical condition and didn't know, or I just happened into this relationship that was toxic we could talk about all these other conditions around it but that in and of itself can be very disempowering to have something happen that was not what you wanted, that was harmful to you, that was even violent, or it was a near-death experience, so for you to have the reaction and I think this is exactly what we talk about in terms of post-traumatic growth, like I'm going to reclaim my life.
Lisa Danylchuk: 38:33
I didn't even know, I wasn't claiming it, I'm going to claim it now and I'm going to value it and I'm going to recognize my emotions, I'm going to trust myself. You also talked about going on that run right after your heart surgery which, again, like sure, your doctor was like, well, I'm glad you're okay after you did it. But, like you were, you were listening to your body. You're like I never did anything where I didn't feel safe. Right, I know when you're running, you have heart medication with you and that if something happens, that I am to give you this heart medication. So just having that sense of community that you've described, having that sense of empowerment, having people there to help you feel safe, but also trusting yourself around, that I mean you even described it in like, oh here's, this wonderful community member is going to take me to the farmer's market. Let me look them up first. Okay, I feel safe, let's go.
Lisa Danylchuk: 39:26
And then the other thing I want to highlight is this slow, everyday, step-by-step.
Lisa Danylchuk: 39:32
You're in the hospital for 89, 90 days and you don't know what's going to happen, but you're there and then you go to Starbucks, come back, and then you see your relative on another floor and come back. And it's just, I think, a lot of people when we are going through the thick of trauma, like it's hard. If I went and visited you then magically and was like hi, todd, I'm your friend from the future, you're going to run ultra marathons You'd be like what? Who are you Get out of here, crazy person? What are you even talking? It's just not meeting you where you are. And I think it can be hard when we're in that place where our day is walking down the hall and back. Sometimes that can be really hard to just sit with and be with and trust that things will change. But for anyone who's listening, who helps people through trauma, who's in the thick of trauma, I think we know this like really slow, gentle, step-by-step can move mountains, can have you moving all over the mountains.
Todd Glieden: 40:33
Can have you hanging off the mountain, can have you hanging off the mountain and hopefully you hanging off the mountains, on the right ropes, right, yeah, todd, does those like um, what do you call?
Lisa Danylchuk: 40:42
the one in at broken arrow, the via ferrata, the like where you're? Oh, I'm like, once it turns into rock climbing, I'm good, I want to be on my feet. But yeah, todd, does the extra extra.
Todd Glieden: 40:55
Those things, you know, have made me even more sure that I need to continue doing what I'm doing. I think every year now, and I want to say in the last five years, even since my running speed has slowed down a little bit because everything just falls apart on the body, has slowed down a little bit because everything just falls apart on the body. You know, I think challenging myself with shorter, harder things has really become what I've enjoyed so much. I like hanging off the cliff now and going someplace where I never even dreamed pictures were taken from there. You know I have my heart set on doing some things in the next couple of years and I keep on getting super close and then have to back off. I don't want to die today but I really need to do this because my head that I want to do and then really reality check that hey, I just did that and I dreamed that and I want to be there. You know it's not an easy task. I'm very okay sharing that it's not an easy task. I'm very okay sharing that Sometimes getting help and working with a therapist or people around you to get through some of these things that scare you and you're not sure about is part of the whole process of making it better, and I believe my healing from my younger life is an ongoing, continually thing.
Todd Glieden: 42:41
I might tell myself, get out of the situation I was in, but there's always something there for the future and I'm not afraid of it. I'm not afraid of a failure, of not being able to do everything I want to do, but I'm gonna try. There's always somebody out there that has done something. I able to do everything I want to do, but I'm going to try. There's always somebody out there that has done something I want to do. To surround yourself by those people and have them push you a little bit to get to your goals has been a big part of my life.
Todd Glieden: 43:11
I wouldn't have gone on a lot of these adventures unless somebody showed me. Sometimes I look back and go. I wish you wouldn't have shown me that, because now I've got to do it, but I enjoy it. I enjoy those thoughts every day and I really do enjoy dreaming and trying to figure out like, oh, what can I get myself into? Then again, I'm realistic with what my body can handle and my age and financials. I'm not going to be able to do everything, but I'm going to try as much as I can.
Lisa Danylchuk: 43:39
And what I hear in that, too, is chasing your dreams. And as you describe, chasing your dreams, I just have visions of the vertical kilometer and Shamoni and me following you up there and then getting to the point where I'm like, wait, I have to climb over what my heart is in my throat. Do I go back down or do I keep going up? I'm going to keep going up. I got this right, like those moments of courage. It's not. I mean, I know we all have different fear thresholds and I think it's important to respect that, but there are moments where there's a challenge, something you're not. It's not just rote habit. Right, you were talking about people coming from perhaps some folks coming from addiction into trail running, and you can just use it as a new addiction or you can use it as a healthy habit and you can use these moments as kind of training, like mini life experiences, right? Okay, here's this thing. It looks hard, what am I going to do with that and how am I going to work? I mean, my approach is always like how am I going to work with myself and we all do it differently but how am I going to do with that and how am I going to work. I mean, my approach is always like how am I going to work with myself and we all do it differently but how am I going to encourage myself through this, recognize the strength that I have, recognize the supports that I have. There are times where it's like, no, we're not going to go that way. Ooh, the weather feels weird. Let's turn around like a hundred percent right, we're like looking to have each other's back and be safe. We can develop these habits, not only of being outdoors and being in community and being on the trail and getting healthy exercise, but also of learning how we tick and what's the best way to grow and what do we do when we get scared and all those things. I mean, I don't know if you know this.
Lisa Danylchuk: 45:15
The first time I did Broken Arrow, which, for those of you listening who don't know, it's a race in Tahoe that started in 2016. Alex and I did the first one together. It was a 52K race. At the time I didn't know there was a ladder involved in it. We got to the ladder, which is, for those listening, at the top of the mountain. It's rocky. There's like pretty much cliffs on both sides. I mean, it's bolted in and it's solid and strong, but it's also very scary. And I got there and I would just started crying and I was like no, we're going back down the way we came. And Alex was like okay, and then I was like no, I don't want to go back down the way we came.
Lisa Danylchuk: 45:52
I want to get through this. Like that's really scary and thanks for letting me have my feelings about it. But now can we go, please? And Alex and I are both really aware of this too. He's been in emergency services for so long where we're not dysregulated, pushing forward, like, oh, I'm so afraid I'm going to fall. I'm just going to plow forward. No, like we're going to stop, we're going to pause, I'm going to have my feelings, I'm going to cry on your shoulder. Then we're going to slowly breathe and hold on tight and hold on to the rope while we move forward through this scary thing. So I think there's so many experiences like that.
Lisa Danylchuk: 46:22
It's one of the reasons I love trail running, because there's unexpected views and inspiration. There's unexpected moments of decision-making, of like, hmm, is this safe? Okay, I just saw someone go before me. So, yeah, it seems like it is, but maybe it's not for me and I'm going to take the trail instead of the ladder today, and I just have never met anyone. I've met people that are really encouraging, but I've never, like I would never expect to be on a trail and you'd be like, oh, you didn't do the ladder. You'd be like, oh, cool, all right, you're going to go that way, I'm going to go this way.
Todd Glieden: 47:02
I'll meet you on the other side. I just feel like people are so understanding and supportive of that. It's about so much more. I remember your second ultra marathon. I still was in my cast from breaking my knee and I ran the last three miles with you. We had all these people that were supposed to show up and it ended up being you and me for the last couple miles and you just took off and I'm still in this movable, bendable cast and I was supposed to be there but I couldn't make it that year because I couldn't run too well. I remember doing it the next year by myself and I had never run a marathon. And then I am running this ultra marathon. For those that don't know, it's more than a marathon. So I'm running this 50k and I made it to the marathon point on a trail by myself and completely broke down.
Todd Glieden: 47:49
So, I'm like I've just conquered one of the dreams I wanted to do by running the marathon. I made it so. Now, if I have to walk the next six miles, I'm all right with that and I'm all good, all good. Um, that was my first of like. I said like maybe 80 ago and it was my fastest. Well then, the next year I got in and ran the New York City Marathon. It was my first road marathon, an experience I'll never forget in my life the support, the people. I can remember every corner, just being there with 50,000 other people and we all have a dream to finish. You're surrounded by all these people, but you're so alone in your focus and what you want to accomplish. I've run it one more time. I sign up every year to try to get in and it was just an experience I'll never forget Running through every borough, seeing every type of person in the world cheering for you, people you don't know running up and slapping their hand or taking a candy or a drink from them, people you would never talk to being out there. I think my favorite part was going through Harlem just the cheers and the people screaming so loud back at them you lose your voice and the high, you know, they a lot of time, especially in racing. We'll call it a runner's high. I think that was probably my biggest high of finishing that and and and. You know, I want to say it was for me, but I just think it was for my being just something I had hoped for so long.
Todd Glieden: 49:33
I went to New York for my 40th birthday. My mom asked me where I wanted to go and gave me all these options and I went there with her. Never run a day in my life, never had run more than 100 yards in my life. We just happened to go on my birthday weekend, which is right. At the same time, the marathon is watching people do this. I told her one day I will do this and my hair is really long and I'll cut my hair the day I do this. And um, it was like nine years later that I finally did it. And then, you know, the hair stayed for probably 10 more years. I just kept on upping it like, okay, we got to run this one for my first 50 miler, I'll do this, you know. And it was finally.
Todd Glieden: 50:18
It was another life thing. I just had a bad experience for somebody I was working with and it was time for another change. And you know I changed it all because I needed to. It felt right to go into a different direction and start looking at stuff a little bit different again. I like to look in the past and go okay, not the wisest decision, so what are we going to do to get it better and to go forward and just kind of, you know, one of the things I've had for many, many years was there's no finish line, and for me there is none.
Todd Glieden: 50:52
I don't want it to ever have a finish line. I want to explore and figure out and be a part of it. And now, so much giving back. I truthfully enjoy when people come to my events. It was their first half marathon and I remember what that felt like. You know I was going to die. It was like the hardest thing I'd ever done. And now you go do it. You know, any given weekday you can go run 13 miles and just watching that joy spark with somebody else has been a big part of why I do what I do.
Lisa Danylchuk: 51:23
Yeah, absolutely Well. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience, your story, your inspiration with us. I have so many other questions. We'll address them on the trail, intentional, engaged and that catalyst being something we'd all describe as pretty traumatic, right, getting diagnosed with potentially terminal disease and getting such intensive treatment and all these unknowns. And I also just want to say, even though we haven't told so many jokes on this episode, that Todd Swann is a really funny person too. So, like going from having these really big, difficult moments I'd imagine even in those moments you probably still use humor like to have your humor and your joy alive and to be thriving in your life is a true testament, and I love that you focus too on just dreaming and not having a finish line, just continuing in the direction of a dream in an ongoing way. There's something really inspiring about that. Is there anything you'd say to someone listening who maybe has never run in their life or maybe is going through something really difficult and going oh, could I do that?
Todd Glieden: 52:43
I think for people that are going through things difficult, let people into your lives. Let them share their experiences. You know politics plays a big part of all of our lives. Now Some of my best friends are completely on a different political platform that I'm on and they're great people and I think even in the world we're in today we have to share that. And then for the running part, try something like, like you said, you don't have to run it.
Todd Glieden: 53:17
I started my venture by walking. I walked around lake merit in oakland for 998 days before I had my accident with my knee and I learned and met so many people and let them into my lives. And then now I get to share that back. So if you haven't run, try it. Find somebody. You don't have to go with your friends so they don't know how fast to go or how you dress or whatever, but do something. Know how fast to go or how you dress or whatever, but do something. And then once you step off the dirt or off the pavement sidewalk to the dirt, you'll probably never go back. Once you hit a trail and you see stuff and Lisa's experiences so much with me in my life you know where we live. There are magical places in your backyard. You have no idea. It looks like you're in Patagonia or South America, in the Oakland Hills, and you know those experiences, some of my best experiences of trolling or sitting out in a trail in the dark at night trying to figure out where I want to go.
Lisa Danylchuk: 54:24
Yeah.
Todd Glieden: 54:27
And.
Lisa Danylchuk: 54:27
I don't like being in the dark by myself. You enjoy it now.
Todd Glieden: 54:29
So yeah, try it. Just give yourself that opportunity to try it. You won't stop.
Lisa Danylchuk: 54:34
And what's next for you? Any races you're willing to share?
Todd Glieden: 54:37
I'm looking to go back up and do some of the things with the chains and ropes and crawl across things you fall off of, and I will focus a lot on trying to return to Europe and maybe doing something I haven't done, or continuing just on maybe finishing some that I haven't finished. So getting away for five weeks was just a godsend to my mental health. I looked forward to not doing something every day, but being out somewhere every day. So to wake up and say I don't have anything to do today was a great, great thing.
Lisa Danylchuk: 55:19
So much medicine. In that I'm with you.
Todd Glieden: 55:22
It was, but there's so much in my head I had to do Like, oh, there's all this new stuff, but that's the whole joy of it is just. I think we all work so hard and do so much. To take a day to yourself every once in a while is just so important to your health and you know, recovering to a point of we're all recovering from something and you have to just you have to allow yourself that time and energy on yourself, just to continue.
Lisa Danylchuk: 55:53
And then there's the races you host in May in Napa, Turkey, Trots in the fall. So where can people follow you? Find out more about the races that you host?
Todd Glieden: 56:04
The easiest way to follow me myself is Todd Run on Facebook or Instagram, and I own Bay Trail Runners out of the East Bay and we're, like Lisa said, in Napa. And then I also spend a big time with Beer City, which is one of my other joys of drinking beer and running and combining it, and pretty much at every one of those events and I just really like the fact that that that helps get people out. There's new things, like you know. There's yoga with doggies and goat yoga. You can find everything you want beer yoga, you can find everything that you want out there, but you got to try it. You just can't sit back. I am willing to go out of anybody that's listening, that wants to go on a trail, run, run around the parking lot, find me at Todd Run and send me a message, and I've done this with many people. Yes, still contact and still talk to and you know you meet. They may live in Marin and we're here. We'll find some place in between, okay.
Lisa Danylchuk: 57:02
I can't wait for that. I want to see the tag photo of you and someone who's listening running around, whatever it is, at whatever day, wherever I mean you travel around a fair amount too, so maybe we'll see a tag with you on the east coast or the west coast or anywhere show me a new trail or, you know, if you know a new path by your house and you're listening, I'll go with you I love it. Oh, thank you, and I always ask folks this what brings you hope?
Todd Glieden: 57:37
I think the future still brings me hope. It's going to be hard, but I think, the hope that I get to experience as much as I can, and then, sure, yeah, love it Great.
Lisa Danylchuk: 57:44
Looking forward to some more miles with you soon.
Todd Glieden: 57:46
Thank you.
Lisa Danylchuk: 57:47
Thank you, Todd.
Todd Glieden: 57:48
Bye-bye.
Lisa Danylchuk: 57:55
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