Welcome to the Allie on the Run show.
I'm your host, Allie Feller, and it is Boston Marathon weekend.
Have you heard?
Have I mentioned it?
Marathon Monday is just days away and I will have tons of episodes coming your way over the next few weeks, including all of the live shows I'll be hosting in Boston.
My own recap of the weekend as always.
And of course, interviews with Boston marathoners and beyond.
For now, something of a pep talk, alley on the run style.
Last year, the Boston Athletic Association, commonly referred to as the BAA they're the organization that puts on the Boston Marathon and they invited me to be the keynote speaker at their annual partner summit.
It was a really cool day.
It was an honor to be invited.
And it was at the Museum of Science, in this big room, overlooking the Charles River, the Sitco sign and so many of Boston's iconic sites.
The room was filled with people who are actively involved in the Boston Marathon every year.
From BAA staff members and volunteers to people from Bank of America, Morton Dick's Sporting Goods, Adidas Cliff all the people who come together to make this marathon happen every year.
It was a great day for networking, I will tell you that.
But mostly it was a really special opportunity to get to share my Boston story from my vantage point.
For years, I felt like a Boston Marathon imposter.
To this day, I've never run the race myself.
I've never even been to the starting line out in Hopkinton.
So for years, I thought Boston wasn't for me.
I didn't belong.
I've never run the race.
But I found a way to belong.
And I think there's an important message in there.
Something about not always waiting for an invitation, finding your own way, making your own path, sending the email.
You might say.
I'll be bopping around Boston all weekend and I can confidently say that I feel no imposter syndrome anymore.
Sure, I'm still the new kid in plenty of ways.
At the finish line on the broadcast, I am still learning so much every year.
And I love that.
What a great opportunity.
But I do feel at this point like I very much belong in Boston in my own alleyway.
So today, with just a few days to go, I thought I'd sit down and record my speech from the 2025 Boston Marathon Partner Summit.
Though, before we do that, I'd like to thank Ufos for supporting this episode of the Allie on the Run show.
There aren't too many things that I consider marathon must-haves.
The race day shoes, the right sports bra, the nutrition you rely on.
Yes, absolutely.
But I will tell you what saved me the most after my last marathon.
My trusty Ufos recovery shoes. the best in the game.
I am telling you, when you slip into a pair of Ufos Recovery sneakers, slides or slippers after your next race, your body will thank you.
If you've never tried recovery footwear.
It is scientifically proven to work and to help you recover faster.
You will put these shoes on and say, ooh, no wonder they're called UFOs.
See, it makes sense to me.
They have a bunch of different styles and colors, whether you are looking for UFOs to wear out to celebrate or snuggly slippers for staying in.
When your body is feeling beat up, trust UFOs for some extra TLC.
Go to UFOs.com.
That's O-O-F-O-S.com to check out their entire line of recovery products.
Oophos.com to recover from the run.
All right, ready for story time?
Here we go.
I grew up in New Hampshire, Hopkinton specifically.
No, not the Hopkinton you're thinking of.
Hopkinton, New Hampshire, is a quaint little village with a gazebo next to a river, a main street lined with big old white houses with black shutters, a town hall where you pick up your dog license and car registration and two general stores the Colonial Village Market, which we call Colonial or the Villager, and the Cracker Barrel, which has since been renamed Barrel and Basket, but Hopkinton OGs will forever call it the Cracker Barrel.
I graduated with 68 kids.
Everyone knew everyone, their parents, and in the good old days, their home phone number.
Hopkinton, New Hampshire, home to the Hopkinton State Fair and the oldest covered railroad bridge in the United States.
You're thinking of Hopkinton Massachusetts, home of one of the most famous start lines in the world.
The Boston Marathon is a thing.
It is looming.
It exists.
But it didn't in my world.
My world growing up was sequins and tutus and tap shoes.
I definitely did not run.
I didn't know anything about running.
A marathon is 26.2 miles.
Literally never would have guessed it.
Couldn't have even ballparked it.
Not a clue.
The only B that I got in high school was in gym class.
And honestly, Mr. Chase, if you're here, can we please talk?
It's because I got mono.
I had to write a paper about bowling and he docked my grade because I wrote a paper.
What was I supposed to do?
My spleen could have exploded, Mr. Chase.
Clearly still furious.
Some things I need to work out there.
But despite that devastating B on my record, I did in fact go on to graduate high school and to attend Quinnipiac University, where I majored in journalism and was the captain of the school's kickline dance team.
All the while, I had a singular career goal in mind to become the editor in chief of Dance Spirit magazine my favorite magazine at the time which
Obviously, it was for teenage dancers whose worlds revolved around dance competitions, annual Nutcracker performances and the art of the zigzag glitter part.
If you know, you know.
And I'm assuming most of you in this room were subscribers, so you do, in fact, know, right?
I got an internship at Dance Spirit before my senior year at Quinnipiac and managed to get hired soon after graduating.
I moved to New York City to pursue the dream.
I was making $31,000, which I remember thinking was like, awesome.
I very quickly learned it was not in fact awesome.
I lived in an apartment with three other young women and a cat, one of whom had medals hanging on her walls.
One of the humans, not the cat.
As a longtime lover of shiny things, oh, I was intrigued.
She explained that those were her half marathon medals, a phrase I had never heard.
She explained that she ran. for fun.
She paid money to run for fun.
And sometimes she got medals for running for fun.
So, okay, great.
Sign me up.
She encouraged me to try running and my life was forever changed.
The next day, I put on my trusty jazz sneakers, which do not recommend.
Look away, Adidas people.
And I sprinted out the door and down the East River Promenade.
I inhaled the fumes along the FDR drive for, I don't know, maybe 30 seconds.
And then I keeled over, gasping for air.
I did it.
I went for a run.
So many lessons learned that day.
Number one, let's say don't wear capizios on the run.
Number two, pacing.
Took me several more runs, okay, several more years to learn the art of pacing, but I was hooked.
I measured my earliest runs in lampposts.
I eventually ran the full mile from our apartment on 102nd Street and 1st Avenue to the Carl Schurz Dog Park.
A few months later, I ran a four-mile race in Central Park.
I was becoming a runner.
And so, I did what every 20-something career girly with a new hobby did in the early aughts.
I started a blog.
I simply could not shut up about my new favorite thing.
And so I wrote about it every single day on my WordPress corner of the Internet called Allie on the Run.
Over time, it started to grow.
People other than my mom and brother started reading it.
They commented and I commented on their blogs.
It was this really special online community that existed in 2009 2010 2011, and I'm forever lucky to have been in the right online place at the right time.
Eventually, my passions shifted.
I went from spending multiple nights per week at Broadway shows or the ballet which yes, the ultimate job perks free tickets, because Lord knows 31000 was not getting me in the orchestra at In the Heights.
Now, I just wanted to go to bed early so I could get up and run in the morning.
By 2014, I had achieved my longtime goal of becoming editor-in-chief of Dance Spirit.
And not all that long after, I was ready to move on.
I took a job at Jackrabbit Sports, an independently owned running store on 14th Street in New York City.
I would be doing marketing and social media for the company and I wore a dress and heels to my first day on the job, where my little desk was in the basement of their Union Square store.
It was a far cry from my former corner office, but.
I was excited for a new challenge that would fully immerse me in the running community.
My first day of work at Jackrabbit Sports on 14th Street in New York City was Monday, April 21 2014.
What happened that day?
Anyone?
Yeah, Meb won.
That day lives on as my favorite day, my favorite moment in sports history.
That day made me, like so many others, believe.
And to quote the great Ted Lasso, I believe in believe.
That day in 2014 united a city of and a nation.
And on a far more superficial, but I don't know, maybe not note, that day turned me into the sports fanatic that my father always wanted me to be.
I grew up in a sports family.
My parents are from Pennsylvania, so please don't be too angry to hear that they are diehard Penn State fans.
Let's instead focus on how, once they moved to Kentucky, New Hampshire, they went all in for the Patriots, the Red Sox and the Celtics.
Not a big pro hockey family, but if they were, we're going Bruins.
For now, UNH and Dartmouth reign supreme in the Feller household.
After Meb won in Boston in 2014, I started to pay more attention to the professional running scene.
So much so that, at the beginning of 2017, I launched the Alley on the Run show podcast, interviewing runners and professional runners.
Meb has been on the Alley on the Run show many, many times now.
We've also done, I believe, eight live events together.
And he's someone I now call a close friend.
Life's funny that way.
But I also think that's the power of running.
We say it all the time, especially at finish lines.
In no other sport can you play with the pros.
Like, yes, I'm obviously a huge Travis Kelsey fan, for example.
But I don't get to put on a red costume and run plays with the Chiefs.
Run plays?
Did I do it?
Did I make a good sports reference?
Yeah.
Awesome.
In running, though, that's exactly what we get to do.
Maybe a few minutes, miles or hours behind, but we're all out there together.
When Meb ran Boston in 2014, He was the first person to break that particular tape, but there were tens of thousands of runners behind him.
Runners like us.
At the end of 2017, I had a really cute mental breakdown, a mentee bee as they call it now.
It was epic.
I was a mess.
I was all up in arms because I'd had my dream job at Dance Spirit and then it wasn't my dream job anymore and I hadn't figured out my next dream.
And I loved having a podcast, but I wasn't all in on it yet.
I was feeling really lost and stuck and really scared.
Super dramatic.
I know.
I recorded an episode of the Allie on the Run show where I shared those feelings, because if you're having a minor meltdown, you should record it and release it to the world.
What could go wrong?
So I did that.
I cried and I cried.
And at one point I remember saying, I just want to stand at finish lines and cheer for people.
I released the episode and the Allie on the Run community is very supportive.
The response was pretty incredible.
Turns out I wasn't the only one feeling stuck and scared.
And then a good friend and a very wise woman named Christine Burke, who also happens to be a senior executive at New York Road Runners, informed me that I actually could do that.
I could be that.
I could be a race announcer.
So I was like, awesome.
I want to do this.
So like, do I do I go back to college for this?
Is that B that I got in high school going to affect my chances?
No, you don't have to go back to college to be a race announcer.
You kind of just raise your hand, I think.
So in 2019, with my six-month-old daughter in tow, I went to Jersey City, New Jersey, to make my debut as a road race announcer.
New York Roadrunners hired me to be the Finnish festival announcer.
It was, I can be honest with you here, as low stakes as it can get.
I talked to no one for hours.
I was in an empty parking lot, basically.
I told everyone.
I told no one.
I told them to line up.
I told them where the porta potties were.
I loved it.
It was logistical and fun and hype filled.
And even though there weren't many people in that parking lot because they were all lined up and running the race already, I felt like I was in my element.
And I must have done a decent enough job telling people about those portable toilets, because later that year
I was hired as one of the finish line announcers at the TCS New York City Marathon.
I was more nervous for that than I had ever been to run that race, which I've done three times.
It was awesome.
I stood at the finish line from 1 pm until the final finisher crossed at 1047, and I cheered my heart out.
Catherine Switzer so famously said that if you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.
I couldn't believe I was getting paid to be a cheerleader.
It happened.
Now at this point, I was all running all the time.
The Alley on the Run show was my full-time job and I was doing live shows and events around the country.
I was living a dream I never knew I had.
I wouldn't have known how to dream for these things.
I was hanging out with Des Linden and Chalene Flanagan and Kara Goucher and Meb and Neely Spence, Gracie and Molly Seidel and Emily Sisson.
Every runner I interviewed, whether it was a current pro, a celebrity runner or an everyday runner with a full-time job and a handful of kids to care for.
Everyone seemed to have a Boston story.
So Boston.
In 2020, I moved back to New Hampshire from New Jersey.
It was a pandemic move, you know, for two weeks to slow the spread.
Two weeks turned into 14 months living with my parents in the home I grew up in.
I took the Abercrombie & Fitch bags off my walls and threw out a few empty wine cooler bottles that high school Allison thought would make edgy decorations.
And we settled in.
My first on the ground experience at the Boston Marathon was in 2021.
The third Monday in it was the October Boston 2021.
I hosted an alley on the run show live event at a small running store on Saturday and I took in the energy on Newberry Street.
I took pictures at the finish line.
I swam in a sea of three striped jackets and I went back home on Sunday.
I watched the race the next day on TV.
I felt like an outsider.
I had never run Boston.
I would certainly never qualify for Boston.
Who did I think I was participating in the Boston marathon excitement? but I felt it.
I experienced enough and I wanted more.
So let's go to next spring.
It's 2022 now.
It's the New York City half marathon weekend and I'm in town out to dinner with Christine Burke.
I'd had one and a half glasses of Prosecco, which turns out is the exact amount that I need to tell you exactly what's on my mind.
I kind of just want to send Jack an email saying hey, if you want to add a woman to your announcing roster this year, I'll be in town and I'm available.
Jack in this story is that guy over there, Jack Fleming.
I had met him very briefly at the, While I returned home and wrote about it in my diary celebrity sighting.
I definitely doubted that he remembered the interaction.
Do it, Christine replied.
Email him.
Why not?
One thing to know about me is I will do anything Christine Burke says to do.
Another thing is that I have a long history of wanting things and talking myself out of them.
But a few days later, on March 22nd, less than one month before Patriots Day, I sent the email.
A very professional but eager 25 paragraph email containing a very reasonable six exclamation points.
Hi, Jack.
This is Allie Feller.
We met briefly in November at the New York City Marathon.
I'm the host of the Allie on the Run show podcast and we met when I was announcing the Run with Champions youth race at the New York City Marathon finish line, a few days before the marathon itself.
I'm friends with Christine Burke, who gave me your email address.
Name drop.
I'm sure you have everything on lock and ready to roll for this year's event.
So excited.
But should you find yourself short a finish line announcer or wanting to add a new excited, enthusiastic woman to the mix, I'd love to chat.
And in general, it would be great to connect.
I love getting to talk briefly with you and Mary Kate Shea in New York City.
I'm a big MK fan.
Name drop again.
I've worked with New York Roadrunners at the New York City Marathon finish line for several years now, plus the NYC half and most of the smaller weekend events.
I also work with Millennium Running in New Hampshire, announcing their start and finish lines.
I'm here if you and your team have any last minute needs for Marathon Monday.
Have a great day, Allie.
And then I held my breath, but not for long.
Jack emailed me back eight minutes later.
Three days after that, I got the job.
They were adding me to the afternoon finish line announcing team.
I was ecstatic.
Then on April 4th, we had another opportunity come up for race day.
And I was wondering if you had time for a quick call today to see if it's something you would be interested in.
Uh, yeah.
Within 10 minutes, I learned that they needed an on-camera sideline reporter for the World Feed broadcast on race day.
I was so new, I didn't even know what World Feed meant.
Or, frankly, sideline reporter.
I had to call my friend and ask.
I had a ton of enthusiasm, but no experience.
Still...
The job was mine if I wanted it.
That's how I ended up making my own Boston Marathon debut on the third Monday in April 2022.
On the mic, on TV.
I was so scared and it was one of the best days of my life.
So the takeaway right now is obvious, right?
Send the email, ask for the thing, put yourself out there, name drop MK and Christine Burke and see what Jack and the team can do for you.
I remember being in one of the ballrooms at the Fairmont Copley Plaza for a broadcast team meeting on Sunday afternoon before the race.
We went around the room introducing ourselves.
I didn't even know how to do that.
I'm Allie Feller and I'm world feed.
That's literally what I said.
Just Allie Feller, world feed.
Nailed it.
I got to interview the winners at the finish line and I fell in love with this new to me role where I had so much to learn.
Maybe it's a little dramatic.
I later wrote on Instagram where I am.
Always dramatic.
But I feel like this weekend changed my life like a lot.
In 2023, I was invited back to Boston, and this was a really big day for me and my family.
Chris Lotzbaum, who is my favorite person to work for, and I tell every other race organization that without any hesitation.
He asked me to come back to again be on the World Feed broadcast and to announce at the finish line.
I got to announce the 5K on Saturday and the Invitational Miles.
It was the full Boston experience, and it was thrilling.
I hosted a panel at the Expo with Alephine Tuliamuk, Sarah Hall, and Sarah Vaughn.
I went for a run with Elliot Kipchoge.
Okay, basically, he was a little bit ahead, but we were both running at the same time.
I got to stay at the Fairmont Copley Plaza and this time at the finish line, I got to interview the Grand Marshal on TV, Big Poppy, David Ortiz.
Huge day for the sports-loving Feller family.
This was something people understood.
I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be during every second of this weekend was that year's Instagram caption?
I was on top of the whole world after Boston 2023.
I was dreaming bigger than ever.
My world felt so sparkly, right where I was supposed to be.
Two weeks later, I ran my first marathon in seven years, powered by Boston Marathon magic.
I ran a 10-minute personal best out in Eugene, Oregon.
I also felt a lump.
One month and two days after my big poppy dreams came true, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
And you know, I think we can actually skip that part.
It was rough.
I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery followed by four rounds of chemotherapy.
I lost a lot of hair.
This is fake.
So are these.
You can imagine the two places I gestured during that part of the speech.
I had to stop running.
I lost my sense of self.
I lost my marriage. but I never lost the running community.
I wasn't on the run, but the people kept me going.
They sent nice messages.
One runner sent a house cleaner to clean my house for me while I was going through surgery and recovering.
The entire Minnesota Distance Elite team.
That's who Annie Frisbee and Dakota Popain run with.
They sent me a massive care package just to be nice.
They sent pictures and videos from their own start and finish lines, reminding me that they were there waiting and that I'd be back when I was ready.
When I was finally ready to return to running and racing and announcing when I was ready to try and meet my moment.
The team at the BAA was waiting.
I returned to the Boston Marathon finish line in 2024 with cancer and chemo, mostly in the rear view and without any eyelashes or eyebrows.
I hated what I saw in the mirror every day.
I was a shell of myself.
But I was there.
I was back.
And I gave the hair and makeup team plenty to work with in the trailer that morning.
If watching the 2023 Boston Marathon on TV was thrilling for my dad, who got to see his daughter interview Big Poppy, then Boston 2024 was for my mom.
A lifelong instructional assistant at Harold Martin School in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, who will never, ever ever take a day off work to treat herself to something fun.
Well, wouldn't you know, we found what it took to get Lori Feller to play hooky.
And I know what you're thinking, and it's very cute.
Oh, she came to Boston to see her daughter who beat cancer at the finish line.
And yes, that would be a cute story.
And you're right.
Kind of.
Lori Feller played hooky to come to Boston to see her daughter who beat cancer, interview her ultimate celebrity crush one, Rob Gronkowski.
Rob Gronkowski said, was that year's grand marshal, and my mom was so excited to see him in person.
So yeah, biggest thanks to the BAA team for hooking the fellers up with VIP finish line passes, by the way.
I hope they get invited back after the story I'm about to tell you.
So there's my cute mom all 5'2 of her who got there at like 8 am to get a front row spot at the finish line, just bursting at the seams with excitement.
My mom, my dad, my niece and nephew, they're all there.
You guys, they love the finish line hospitality experience.
You really do it well here.
So I'm standing on my mark.
I've got my IFB and I am ready for the Grand Marshal to arrive, ready for my quick live hit with Gronk.
Honda pulls up.
Gronk gets out.
They hand him the trophy.
He pretends to spike it.
It's very fun, very cute, very Gronk.
I introduce myself quickly.
I bring him to the spot for the interview.
All goes well.
It is fun.
Career highlight for me.
Totally.
So I'm talking to my parents later that day and I'm getting their recap of the day.
They were in their spot, their hard-earned spot, and a few people come up to them like just as Gronk is getting out of the Honda.
My mom is poised.
She is ready.
Phone is out.
Zoom is on.
She's psyched.
And these people are like, hey, do you mind if we get in here?
And my mom's been waiting all morning, all her life for this.
So she's like, no.
I'm sure she was polite.
I hope she was polite.
But she tells them with all the pride of the mom of Allie on the run that her daughter is about to do an interview and they want to stay in their spot to watch it.
And the people respond that they too are there for the interview.
It was the gronk.
It was the Gronkowskis and Camille, Gronk's supermodel girlfriend.
So it's a great day for everyone.
Everyone got to see the interview.
It's fine.
But mostly.
That year, I went back to Boston and I found myself again.
I found the alley I knew was in there.
The alley, where who lives and breathes running the alley, who had felt so isolated for so long, but who craves community and connection and knows exactly where to find it.
The alley who wants nothing more than to cheer for runners at the Boston 5k and the miles on Boylston Street and the 30000 runners at the finish line on Marathon Monday.
The alley who will do anything to shadow Mary-Kate Shea for a day to dance with Parker West.
The second DJ, Chris Capozzi, cues up Taylor Swift's love story.
The Boston Marathon is a love story for all of us.
And what I've learned from having the immense privilege of working this race for the past few years is that yes, it's about the runners.
Totally.
We are all here in support of them.
But you don't have to run the race to be a part of it, to feel the magic.
It is the best Monday of the year, with so much history and tradition, but also so much growth and power and potential.
It is a day that means so much to so many.
After years of interviewing the race's runners and winners and organizers, I love that I have my own Boston Marathon story now.
I love that I get it.
So thank you to the BAA for having me as part of the Boston Marathon family.
It is such a privilege getting a front row seat to the finish line.
Catherine Sitzer said it, and she was right.
We see the best in humanity.
We see runners helping each other to the finish line, runners collapsing, cramping and other runners putting their own time goals aside to pick them up and help them across the line.
We see people sprinting to the finish, arms raised in triumph.
We see proposals.
We see people crossing the finish line hand in hand.
We see so many people throwing up heart hands as they come across the line.
We see a lot of vomit, a lot of bodily fluids, but I will tell you, it is pure magic.
I look forward to seeing all of you at this year's Boston Marathon.
Thank you for all that you do to make this event so special for so many.
If I leave you with one thing today, I'd say to stop asking what's the worst that can happen and instead what's the best that might happen.
And if you really want something, like really want it, email Jack.
Thank you for being here.
So yeah, that was my speech from the 2025 Boston Marathon Partner Summit.
Of course, if I were to do it now, it'd be a little different.
I would probably talk a little bit about how I just didn't know it yet.
So life With all its twists and turns, it does have some constants.
And I will say that the Boston Marathon has been one of those constants for me.
It has played a tremendous role in my life over these past few years.
And I'm so grateful for the opportunity and the experience and to get to take all of it in with so many of you.
So.
I hope you enjoyed this episode, a little different than the ones we usually do, but wanted to send you into the weekend with some good vibes.
Whether you are in Boston or not, whatever you are up to, do it with all your heart.
Oh my God.
That was so cheesy.
You can tell when I go off script, can't you?
Thank you for being here.
I am Allie Feller.
I am AllieOnTheRun1 on Instagram.
You can subscribe to my newsletter at AllieOnTheRun.substack.com.
Biggest thanks to Ufos for supporting this episode.
I've posted about it endlessly, but I'm going to be all over the place in Boston.
I am hosting a panel at the Expo on Friday at 1 p.m. with Annie Frisbee and Amanda Vestry.
That evening I will be at WBUR City Space doing a live show with Claire Holt, presented by our friends at Shox.
The show is sold out.
There is a wait list.
Get on the wait list.
And if tickets open up.
They're all yours.
There's also a live stream option.
Go on the WBUR website and you can enjoy the live stream.
So if you're not in Boston for just five dollars, you can join us from afar.
We've never done a live stream before, so that's pretty exciting.
On Saturday I am hosting a live show at the track at New Balance at 1 pm with our good friends co-hosts of Off the Rails, Ayesha Prat-Lear and Eric Jenkins.
It's going to be a great time followed by the New Balance Marathon Relay on the track.
This was an awesome event last year and this year I'm participating.
I am a member of the Sidious Mag Relay team.
I am runner number six, which is my lucky number.
I will be running one mile and then enjoying all of the festivities.
They have free food and drink.
They have a DJ.
It is honestly just so fun.
If you came last year, come back.
If you have not experienced this, I really do think this is the best thing to do on Saturday.
It's going to be awesome.
Sunday.
I buckle down.
I am in work mode.
I am in rehearsals.
I am all in on broadcast things on Sunday, but I will probably be out that morning running along the trials.
So if you see me say hi.
And then Marathon Monday finish line all day long.
I will be on site starting at 730 in the morning and I am there until the last runner crosses the line.
So I look forward to seeing you, cheering for you.
I'm announcing starting at, I believe, 1230 or 1.
The broadcast wraps at 1230.
I think I start announcing at 1.
If you finish any time after 1 p.m., you will probably hear me on the mic.
I'll be out there.
I love you.
Take a breath.
Drop your shoulders.
Relax your jaw.
And this is not just for the Boston Marathon runners.
This is for all of us.
I think we can all use the reminder and the reminder that you've got this.
You're doing great.
And thank you for joining me on the run.
Love ya. you
