From the WNIN Tri-State Public Media Center in downtown Evansville, I'm David James, and this is Two Main Street.

My guest is a long distance running icon, an Olympian who competed for her homeland of New Zealand, a world record, and considered the first woman to become a professional runner, paving the way for other female athletes to get a paycheck along with the guys.

Now, she's an inspirational speaker, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in the Tri-State in Evansville, and founder of one of the most successful road races in the country.

The Anne Audain story begins with a little girl born to run despite a foot deformity, but her uncommon heart propelled her to become a world class runner.

Pleased to welcome Anne Audain back to Two Main Street, because Anne has now been inducted into the Museum of World Athletics.

So Anne, congratulations.

Thank you so much, David.

So tell us about the Museum of World Athletics.

What is that?

Well, it was conceived a few years ago.

And, you know, it's by the International Athletics Federation, which is now named World Athletics, and it's based in Monaco, and it's a three dimensional museum; you have to kind of go on and check it out.

So what they ask you, is for about three items from your memorabilia.

They try to focus on one aspect of your career; and for me, it started with the world record, and they asked me if I had my world record shoes, and I don't.

I don't know why I don't and I wouldn't know where.

It was back in 1982.

It was, so yeah, I don't know where they are.

You didn't bronze them.

No.

I mean, and so then I thought---then they started to ask about the road race in Korea, here in the United States.

And in the eighties, I was the most successful road racer, male or female, in the world, with 75 wins out of 112 starts.

So, they focused on that, and then they asked if I had a trophy that was kind of spectacular.

Well, I actually did, from the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia, which is held every year on the 4th of July, one of the biggest in the nation; 60,000, I think, participate now.

And it was stunning, because it's run on Peachtree Boulevard, and this trophy has just got these---it's like a stained glass trophy.

And it just shows the boulevard with these pictures on it.

And, I mean, you know, you're parting with something that's really cool, but, what are you ever going to do with them anyway?

I've got so many amazing trophies.

So anyway, I still had them.

The number I ran in to win that race.

So it was the trophy, it was the number.

And then my custom made Nike shoes.

I still had a couple of pairs of those left, so I autographed them.

Those were the three main pieces, and then they wanted a whole bunch of photographs.

So what they actually do, is they create a 3D display so that when you go online, you can walk through this museum and see these three dimensional displays.

They just took interviews and stories and newspaper articles from all those years, and they really wrote it really, really well.

I don't know.

It was really well done.

So you agree with what they came up with.

I do.

And they never showed me ahead of time.

That's kind of scary.

It is.

And I was stunned that they just did such an amazing job.

Yeah, I'm really thrilled because I think it's a nice completion of a career.

Why is it based in Monaco?

I have no idea.

It could be money-based; I mean, sponsorships coming out of there.

It costs a lot to create these 3D displays.

It could honestly just be money-based.

I think the World Athletics is---I think World Athletics is based in Monaco, and let me think about the address.

Have you ever raced in Monaco?

No, no.

But they do have a big, big diamond league track meet there.

Well, I've been to Monaco and a lot of hills in Monaco.

Yes.

Of course they have the auto races in there, too.

Yes.

Definitely.

Okay; these custom-made Nike shoes.

Tell me about those.

Well, when I first came to---well, I'll backtrack in terms of my history with my feet.

After I'd had the surgery done at age 13 and decided I wanted to join a running club, the doctors told me to run on the nearest thing possible to bare feet, to make sure they were being used correctly---not to put over-protection on my feet.

Well, the beauty of New Zealand was, was we had grass tracks, so I could run barefoot still.

So, shoes were not my friends through all those early years and childhood, and so now, to start to put shoes on my feet, I wasn't really keen on that anyway.

So after 10 years, 11 years in New Zealand, I came to the United States, and I was still running in little cross-country shoes, very, very lightweight shoes, and started to run the roads here.

And people said, well, you need something more significant on your feet to protect you now running on the roads.

And I still didn't like that.

And Mary Decker Slaney, who was one of the United States’ greatest female runners, she was running in some Nike shoes, and she gave me a pair of her shoes.

And so I started to run in Nike shoes here before I even joined with Nike.

So once I signed with Nike, which was July of ‘81, I asked them what kind of shoes they had, and they had a little racer that was nothing to it.

And this is before they had the insole.

So when Nike started promoting their air.

Oh yeah.

You know, and I didn't like that at all.

So once they did that, I asked them if they could just keep continuing to make the same little shoe that I preferred, and they did.

For the next 11 years, they made me the same little shoe.

And what they did, very smartly, was, when they changed their colors each year on their shoes that they were promoting, they made my little shoes the same color.

So it looked like I was running in the latest shoe, but I was really running in a 1981 shoe that they kept---it was very clever.

And then the other nice thing was, they made them in black and white for me---any time I competed for New Zealand, my shoes were black and white, which is New Zealand's national uniform.

There you go.

Now, we talked about this virtual museum.

Of course, that's one of the reasons we're talking to you now---and get an update on your long career.

This is also the 40th anniversary of your record-setting run in 1982.

In the 5000 meters, that was in Auckland, New Zealand.

Yes.

And tell me about that race.

Well, 1981, I took the stand here in the United States to turn professional and immediately got an international ban for doing that.

And so I went back to New Zealand at the end of 1981, and I was banned from competing in anything in New Zealand.

In fact, some officials didn't even want me to attend a track meet as a spectator.

Because you were a paid athlete.

I was a paid athlete now.

And so during that time, my coach said to me that I had to have a reason to be still out training, even though I couldn't compete, that there had to be a reason, you know, that I was out there each day.

And so he came up with the goal of trying to break the world record in the 5000 meters.

And I just---he just was a great guy and a great coach, and this great many achievements I have wouldn't have been if he hadn't kind of encouraged me to, to take a try, take a chance at something.

So I knew--- Who is this?

John Davies.

Okay.

He was a New Zealand Olympic bronze medalist himself.

And so he said, okay, we're going to attempt the world 5000 Meter Record.

And I had never raced 5000 meters on the track before.

And I said, I can't do that; I mean, it was a good time, and I was 15 minutes and 14 seconds, which is, I think about 4 minutes and 45 seconds a mile pace.

And this was, you know, where I'm just starting with him and just starting to get my confidence back.

And I didn't think I could do it.

And he says, well, if you do the training, you do the preparation, I think you can; at least we're going to attempt it.

And so on March 17th of 1982, we managed to set up a world record attempt.

It couldn't be at a track meet, it just had to be a special night.

And we had to make sure there were four women in the race---there had to be four that were willing to be on the track at the same time to make it legal.

If I broke the record, then you had to make sure there were timers, three timers.

This is before all the electronic stuff, you know.

So you got the hand timers, you had to make sure that you had some people.

There were witnesses.

Now Television New Zealand turned up.

So that was really good, because at least it was going to be on tape.

All right.

So I went out and ran the first 5000 meter race of my career, and broke the world record by one second.

And so, my coach proved to me that he knew what he was talking about.

And, I mean, we went on to have another great 11 years together and a lot of success.

Did you know you were on a world record pace?

I did.

Well, there were the other four and one of the other gals is Olympic, I mean caliber, as well, Lorraine Muller from New Zealand.

And we had agreed to share the pace making---two laps, you know, it's two laps each to try and keep on the pace.

But every time she took over, she was slowing down too much.

So after about five laps, I just took over myself, and my coach was, you know, keeping me on.

He was telling me what the times were.

That was one lap to go.

I was 5 seconds off---Oh.---with one lap to go.

And he's just screaming at me, “You got to make up 5 seconds.” And at that point, my mentality was always, I don't want to miss by one second.

So I hold it, and I got it by one second, but it could have gone the other way.

Now, you've described 1982 as a perfect year for a runner, unbeaten in road races, setting the course records, and a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

Mhm, it's another accomplishment I have that if it hadn't have been for John pushing me, I would not have even gone---because through that year, I was really concentrating on the road races here, and as you say, I was completely unbeaten---course records in every race and I wanted the number one ranking, because I knew if I got to that status, then I could really get a good contract with Nike.

So I wanted that number one ranking, and John called me up---oh, I don't know, about June of ‘82 and said, “Well, you need to go and run in the Commonwealth Games in Australia.” And they were going to be in October of ’82, and I was really done.

I mean, I'd got the world record earlier that year, but I was really done with track.

I didn't want to run on the track anymore, and he said “You do it for your country.

No New Zealand woman has ever won a track gold medal.

I think you can win a gold medal.” Now this, I was going to have to go back down to 3000 meters, and I just really was running the longer distances.

And so I said to them, finally said, “yes.” Let's do it for your country.

Do it for your family, do it---you know, just, I think you can win a gold medal.

So I said yes, as long as I didn't have to quit on any of the road races; that he could send me a program that would allow me to continue running the road races, but go back into some kind of as fast a work to go back down to 3000 meters.

So that was going to be up to him as a coach to work that out.

And I flew then.

Now I'm still a banned athlete.

The American Road Race directors were not worrying about the ban.

They were allowing me to run anywhere I wanted to.

But internationally, on the track, I was still a banned athlete and John was working very, very hard to see if that ban was going to get lifted before I went to Australia.

It didn't.

I flew down to Australia still as a banned athlete, with him guaranteeing me that it would be lifted before I raced, and it was.

One week before I raced it was lifted and they retroactively gave me my world record plaque, because they weren't going to acknowledge that either because, I was a banned athlete.

So, you know, that was exciting.

And I was in really good shape and he was right.

Now the Commonwealth Games, that's the British Commonwealth.

The British Commonwealth, 72 countries in the British Commonwealth are held every four years, and, huge!

I mean---Oh, yeah.---you know, Canada, Great Britain, Australia.

Many of the African countries, Caribbean, Jamaica, so, Canada; I mean, it's huge.

And you also talk about the world's shortest parade?

Shortest parade...

I think in your book you had something about the world's shortest parade after the gold medal win?

Oh, okay.

Back in my---back in my little suburb.

Oh, we went back.

When I went back, yes, yes.

I went back to New Zealand.

With your gold medal.

With my gold medal---I didn't---now what I did was, because I had to get back to the United States after that race to run some more road races, to try and get that ranking---so I flew through Auckland Airport from Brisbane, just to be able to see my parents in the airport, in the transit lounge.

They opened it up so I could see them, and then I came straight to the United States.

So I didn't go back to New Zealand to have some big ticket, you know, tape parade.

I came back here to race more, and then I finally went back, about November, maybe.

Yeah, November of ‘82.

And my little suburb where I grew up, and where my track club was, they got me coming from the airport, and they picked me up in a vintage car about a mile from the suburb, and we just drove through a mile with all these young kids from the club running alongside the vintage car, and they just had a little ceremony, but it was kind of cute.

No, of course, your book---and I mentioned ‘Your Uncommon Heart’, that's the title of your your autobiography---and of course, in the book, we talk about the remarkable, uncommon heart of coming back from this foot deformity and the reconstructive surgery and having plaster casts on both feet.

You were a young teenager.

13, yes, 13 years of age.

So the doctors in New Zealand didn't want to do the surgery until I was a teenager and my bones was strong enough to be able to handle this and recover from it.

What was your condition?

They don’t have---they had no name for it.

Um, I did get to sit down with the doctor that did the surgery.

He was in his eighties, early eighties, when I sat down with him.

And, you know, if people go to my website and the film is on there, he's actually on there talking about it, which was really cool, because he validated the situation.

Because I only have one picture of me with those casts on and, you know, now when you, you know, come forward and you go look all that success, it can't have been that bad.

And he actually makes the comment on there that it wouldn't have mattered if I was a couch potato, that they would have had to do this to allow me to be able to walk better regardless.

So that was nothing to do with athletics.

It was just to do with helping me to walk better, because I would not---I did not have the heel-toe motion of walking.

I slid along on my heels, very pigeon toed.

I wouldn't go forward.

And it was a---just like a huge bunions.

That's the only way I can describe them for people.

And the tendons didn't operate my very big toes.

Definitely a successful surgery.

Mhm.

Oh they were, they were very proud.

He was very proud.

He traveled, he became a quite a renowned orthopedic surgeon in New Zealand, and he actually traveled to Europe... and he had scrapbooks, he had newspaper cuttings about me that he would show in his presentations in Europe.

So he was very proud.

Now when he got those casts off, when did you start running?

Pretty quickly.

Now the casts, what the picture---I have the casts, and on the bottom of the cast, there's a black leather boot that was strapped over those casts.

And on the bottom of that black leather boot was a wooden rocker, like a rocking horse.

And I kind of say, well, I think I was the first person to have these orthopedic boots that they put everybody in now.

But mine were very, you know, just primitive.

Sure.

But they came up with that idea that, when, instead of putting me in a wheelchair or on crutches, they forced me to walk on those feet, in those casts, on those boots, and what their goal was to force me forward onto my toes while my feet were healing, because in their minds, they thought when the---if they didn't do that and the casts came off after, you know, six, eight weeks of not moving, that I would fall back into the bad habits.

So what they were doing is my feet---now, you really think about this because I still got stitches in my feet under those plaster casts and bones that have been pretty much messed with so I was in a lot of pain.

They were forcing me up on those toes to rock forward as my feet were healing.

It's pretty genius and risky and painful for me.

But when the cast came off my---my feet looked like everybody else's, except for some massive scars.

And as I started to move, I found it easier to run.

I moved.

I went forward on my toes, immediately, because they'd forced me forward.

Yeah.

Pretty genius.

It kind of propelled you, then.

It did.

Definitely.

And I know in your book also, you credit your adoptive parents, Valerie and Ivan.

Ivan.

Yes, yes.

And of course, they were very instrumental in supporting you and keeping you on the right track.

They were great.

You know, nature-nurture is quite something.

I mean, I eventually met my birth parents.

My birth mother was a teenager and gave me up for adoption, but she married my father a year after that.

And I have six younger siblings, so I've found them.

But the first words out of her mouth when we when we met was, I would never have been who I was if I'd stayed with them.

Very, you know, on a statement---Very honest, yeah.---a brief statement.

And so that's what I mean, nature-nurture.

I just believe I was meant to be adopted and got those parents and my dad, even though I couldn't do sport as a youngster, he educated me on every sport he possibly could and of rugby, cricket, horse racing, boxing.

We would listen to Muhammad Ali on the radio and Kentucky Derby.

He was passionate about horse racing.

So it's quite timing, the Kentucky Derby.

Sure.

So I had a real education on sport.

He taught me a lot about it.

The a printer, wasn't it?

Yes.

He started at the New Zealand's largest newspaper, The New Zealand Herald, when he was 14 years of age, as an errand boy.

So you became an avid reader as well.

He did.

You see, he was a linotype operator and many people probably wouldn't even know what that is.

But, you know, they're using the---The hot type.

Yeah, the hot type and the---and it's all in reverse.

So he actually taught me how to read in reverse what he was doing.

Sure.

I mean, so, yes, he was an avid reader and would bring, you know, not only the newspaper, but they had some other publications that he would---I was reading when I was so young, you know.

So it was a great gift he gave me there.

And plus the education on sport, so that when I, you know, became a sportsperson myself, I had a great, you know, foundation to work from.

Just knowing what it was like to compete and what it took, actually.

My guest is Anne Audain, a New Zealand native, now living in Evansville.

We've been talking about her induction into the World Athletics Museum.

already a member of the U.S. Sports Hall of Fame and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and other titles here.

A lot of them!

Now, you were a trailblazer for women running for a paycheck, considered to be the first female professional in the sport.

What was that first professional race, Anne?

It was in Portland, Oregon, June of 1981.

And when I first arrived here in about---in March of ‘81, I heard that the rumors that the sport was going to try and turn professional because it was totally amateur, you couldn't earn a single dollar or be given three pairs of shoes or any kind of monetary compensation for running.

And the road race directors here in the United States wanted to turn professional because where their frustration was, was---it was all under the table.

People were getting paid, particularly the men.

But it was all under the table.

It was all hush hush.

And what was found, and actually what's interesting, is there's a documentary being made right now about that race.

Mmm.

Because it's not been told---well---by our sport at all.

And what people don't realize is that particular race turned track and field and the Olympic Games professional.

If it wasn't for a small group of runners, Michael Jordan and the Dream Team would not have been in Barcelona.

So what they did, was they were frustrated because they were paying under the table payments to the so-called “name” athletes who would turn up to their race, but wouldn't really perform.

But they were still getting paid, whereas other runners were turning up to finish first, second, and third, and not getting anything.

And so the road race directors wanted a fair competition, open prize money, so that, you know, it was media would be interested instead of keeping it all hush hush.

And so that's what they wanted.

They wanted to keep the sport of road racing separate from track and field.

But the governing body of track and field was wanting to harness all these people in road races and was making them all join.

Then it was called the Athletics Congress, TAC, and they were making everybody that was participating in a road race pay a fee to TAC, to be able to enter in that road race.

The amateur rules back then were that if a professional raced in one of these races, every person in that race was contaminated by the professional.

I mean antiquated, you know, philosophy, whatever.

So, they wanted to just make it clean and clear, that road racing was going to be professional.

However, as I said, road racing was still governed by the TAC and the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

A lot of bureaucracy there.

There was and, and, and, there just was.

And if you, you know, you just see the headlines and as I said, there's a documentary being made, and they've got my scrapbooks of the headlines of not only United States media, but New Zealand media as well.

What was your first paycheck?

Ten-thousand dollars!

Really?

In 1981.

And, and, and you know what?

The sad part is that our sport, the eighties, were wonderful and all of us that raced and competed in the eighties, we'll say we had the perfect decade, because our sport of road racing never really did a good job of really going fully professional.

And so now you look at that year, that perfect year; um, when I look back and started to add up my prize money for that year, it was six figures in 1982.

And now you look at those races, of about 15 of them; some of them don't exist.

Some of them have the same prize money as they did in 1982.

Some of them have less prize money or none.

So the sport went backwards.

So no athlete coming in now to the United States, to race like I did in 1982, can have that career.

We're talking about the 40th anniversary of the perfect year and Anne Audain’s running life.

Was it a perfect year personally for you, off the track?

Yeah.

I mean, it was, um, it was one of those where you go, okay, you could live with this.

You could retire.

And you've done it.

You made it.

You never, never thought that you would get to this level---because I'd quit the sport at one point at the end of 1980, out of many frustrations.

So you just look at that and you go, okay, it's---that's it.

It's not going to get any better than that.

But I had another ten years and, uh, a successful ten years and, uh---heck, what was I going to say?

Another two Olympics and another Commonwealth Games medal and many more road race victories.

So I got another ten years and retired at 36.

Never would you think, never would have dreamed that, let alone 22 years, out of those feet.

Wow.

And I---you know, and I'm still fine.

I'm still out there running and, running and walking every day, so.

Trying to, anyway.

And Anne you're now on the speaking circuit inspiring others with your life story.

Where have you been speaking, Anne?

Well, to be honest, David, nowhere for two years!

A lot of people are saying that!

Nowhere For two years.

I did recently do a keynote and in Minneapolis, my first in two for two years and was a little bit out of practice.

But no, I mean, it's just was there were no running events for two years.

There were no---COVID, you know, shut everybody down.

So what's your message when you go to these events?

It depends on the audience.

A lot of the times my audience are not runners.

It's nothing to do with the running.

And so, I try to tailor it to the audience and what the company is.

And so, a lot of it's about patience and perseverance, overcoming odds---Your life story.

Yeah, you can use it in so many different ways.

A lot of it's been---in the past---of schools, you know, because I'm a former schoolteacher, so that's always a, a neat one, neat ones to do.

But it is a story that can be used in many, many different ways.

So I just see what the audience is and... Well, I'm sure, in times---there are times when you were really down.

Mmhmm.

And you had to fire yourself up.

Yes.

And I, I, it's, you look back on it and---can’t figure out where I was recently and somebody was just asking, well, how, how did you keep on going?

And not---it’s easy to turn around and be a victim of a lot of things, versus saying, okay, well, that happens, but I'm not going to let it, you know, determine who I am or certainly reflect on who I become.

So I did---you know, the first ten years was tough, but I think it made me really tough for the second ten years, or eleven, actually, eleven and eleven.

So eleven years as an amateur, eleven years under a coach that was very, very rough, and he was just very erratic, never had a plan, very dogmatic, very rude, just could be a very nasty person, and a lot of those----also the bureaucracy of the sport, where you had a very male-dominated administration in the sport in New Zealand and... making it very tough for you to make teams, you'd do the standards and then they'd make it tougher.

And it was just almost a matter of control over the female athletes.

And so that first eleven years was tough, but I think my desire to run just kept overcoming a lot of it until it got really bad in 1980 with the Olympic boycott.

Very rough times with my first coach, and just not seeing where the opportunities were, because the longest distance for women then was only 1500 meters in the Olympic Games.

I mean, who knew that my talent was going to be at these---all these other longer distances because they weren't available?

So I quit.

But you were in the Montreal Games, right?

I was, yes.

20 years of age in 1976.

Of course, that was---the next one would be the Moscow games, which was canceled.

Yes, yes.

Were you hoping to go to Moscow?

Yes.

I'd qualified for Moscow, but Moscow was canceled before the New Zealand teams---What was your reaction to that?

What was the reaction of your fellow athletes?

Well, New Zealand had already been through experiencing a boycott in 1976.

All the African nations boycotted Montreal over New Zealand's stance with South Africa.

Okay.

New Zealand was still playing rugby with South---and cricket with South Africa.

The apartheid.

Apartheid era.

And so going to Montreal, all the black African nations actually had already arrived in Montreal and were told to pack their bags and go home.

So I was on the other side of that, watching these athletes have to pack up and go home.

And so then you had the Moscow boycott over Afghanistan, but then you got to Los Angeles in ‘84 and you had the Eastern Bloc boycott just to payback for 1980.

So that's three Olympic Games in a row where politics---Definitely.---got involved.

So I was involved with those three.

Still involved now.

I know the Russian athletes being, uh---Yes.---being excluded from certain events.

Well, but they were, now and then, what a lot of people don't realize: the Russian athletes have been excluded from the last two Olympics over doping.

Right.

So they've been done.

They're, they’re, you know, so, so it's not just, you know, what's going on with Ukraine.

They were done for the last two Olympics over their sophisticated doping system.

Now, your audiences that you speak to when, when you're back on the circuit, mostly female audiences?

Nope.

Really?

No.

Um, mixture.

Mmhmm.

The one in Minneapolis was actually predominantly men.

Really?

Okay.

There we go.

So what's been the feedback when you go to these events?

What do people ask you questions about?

Well, a lot of the times there aren't question announcers, just because the time allocation, I think people---the main one is how on Earth did you keep on going?

I mean, the sports psychology of it, I mean, there's always an interest in the sports psychology of---because now where it's more out in the open, so many female athletes are speaking out about dealing with their coaches, um, administration, um, you just saw the women's, United States women's soccer team, have a big win in terms of equality.

A lot of it's out in the open now.

So, you know, I experienced that, too.

But now it's being spoken about and there's accountability.

Of course the young female athletes and the---Gymnastics.---gymnastics.

And that just was terrible.

Yes, that's, and I mean, I just started, you just started listening to all that.

And you, and you really, just in my small experience in New Zealand of dealing with administration, where, you know, they were never on your side as a female athlete.

And to see that this was allowed to occur---and I mean allowed to occur, there were people who knew this was going on.

Sure.

But for the sake of whatever money, you know, the status in the world, and I mean... USA Gymnastics... Well, that's why these young women were afraid to come forward, because nobody would believe them, or they would just not do anything about it.

Well, and they, and they were desperate to keep their positions.

Sure.

Yeah.

They put all their effort into it.

Absolutely.

So as soon as you speak out, what are you going to be told that you're---I know what---I've saw that happen, just in my world.

Mmhmm.

You speak out, you start to speak out against some of these people, and they have retribution.

Mmhmm.

And so they were afraid of that, because there's always, you know, another dozen more coming up behind.

Easy to say.

Well, you know, particularly with the standard of gymnastics in this country, one of those on the team speaks out, there are another dozen waiting in line to take her place.

True, true.

Okay.

Let's move on to Boise, Idaho.

Kind of your home away from home.

You love Boise?

I did, yes.

I chose Boise.

I spent the first three years in the United States and Denver and just really wanted a quieter environment, more like New Zealand, to be able to go and train.

So I got introduced to Boise and went there in 1984 before the ‘84 Olympics, and that was my U.S.A. base for all those years.

And, just a beautiful city and great environment for running.

And then when I retired in ‘92, I got asked to bring a big event to Boise because it just had some small local races, maybe five hundred, a thousand people, and they wanted a bigger event because Portland, Oregon, had a huge event.

Spokane, Washington, big event.

Salt Lake City.

All the surrounding states had massive road races and Boise didn't.

So at that point, I realized that so many women of in their forties, fifties, and sixties were not participating in the big road races.

You had the elites and some younger, local, but the forties, fifties, and sixties were not participating.

And I thought, what about creating an event that's welcoming for all ages, shapes, and sizes---Target that huge audience!

Yes.

And so I built a 5k because three miles, 5k is very achievable for anybody.

And it was nothing to do with competition or running---It was a fun run.

It was a fun run.

The celebration is what we called it.

Yeah.

The women's fitness celebration.

And the first year we had twenty-four hundred women; second year, fifty-two hundred; and the third year, And in seven years, seven or eight years, we built it to the number one women's race in the country at seventeen thousand.

And so it stayed a women's event for twenty years.

But through that time, women started to participate in such overwhelming numbers in road races, that you didn't need a women's only event anymore because women were now making up 54% of road races.

So ten years ago we switched it to a 5k, 10k, and half marathon, very family oriented and mixed, so.

And that could just show you what an event like that---how it can grow and become an economic engine for a community.

Absolutely.

Now, what I was---it was taken over from me by the big hospital.

So, Boise has two major hospitals like we do here.

And so one of them took it over, became the title sponsor with its name on it.

And they raise money.

They use the money raised for the children's hospital and build running tracks at all schools, as many as they can.

So that's what they’re using it for.

And so, it's some---they've built--- Now, the last two years it's been shutdown.

So this year, in September, will be the first year back as an in-person event.

Prior to the COVID, they built it back up.

It had dwindled on the women's side to down to eight thousand for the very reason I said women didn't need an all women's race anymore, but they had now built it back up to fourteen, fifteen thousand prior COVID.

So, thank goodness it's going to come back this year, so.

Now let's go back---let's get back to the running situation here in Evansville; Roberts Park.

‘Course, that's the site of the former Roberts Stadium.

You have some thoughts on what you'd like to see at Roberts Park.

Let's go ahead and make a pitch for that, Anne.

Well, I um, I labeled---I've been in Evansville twenty-five years and I first was interviewed by, I believe, Randy Beard with the newspaper all those years ago.

And I labeled Evansville the most fitness unfriendly city that I could have ended up in.

And I love every part of Evansville, I really like living in this size city in the United States, so I absolutely love it.

But I am so frustrated with the lack of walking and hiking and running trails that, you know, non-sidewalk, non-pavement, no roads, I mean, to get onto some trails.

And so, with the state hospital, I started with that.

I sat on the Greenway Passage Committee for about twelve years and just got so frustrated with the cost, the million dollars a mile, took so long, I've traveled---I've been in every state in the United States except North Dakota.

I have seen communities build trails all over this country.

And, was so frustrated with why it was taking so long to do something like that here.

And the state hospital, I encouraged them to build the gravel trail that exists there, which is barely four hundred meters long.

And I got that done hoping that people in the Parks Department and the, and the mayor's office---now been through a few mayors, so every single one of them has heard from me that we need---you don't need to build state-of-the-art pavement trails everywhere.

They can be crushed stone, just like that trail at the state hospital.

And I hope that that would encourage.

So now we're looking at Roberts Stadium.

How long has it been since that stadium has been torn down?

You've got that big open piece of land, now being added to by the former golf course, at Wesselman’s.

And they're sitting there, there's all this green space and all you hear is the amount of money, the amount of money it's going to c---it’s state-of-the-art.

And I've seen the plans for the park at Roberts Stadium.

And my comment: I come from a country that is beautiful.

They've got trails everywhere and they keep to simplicity.

All you need at that land at Roberts Park, is to plant tons of trees and have a gravel trail around the perimeter and maybe crisscross it.

That sounds pretty simple.

It's simple.

And it doesn’t sound very costly.

No, just plants and trees and put a gravel crushed stone trail.

And I hear---it freaks me out sometimes when I hear these people starting to, ‘Oh, we're going to do this and we're going to have a dog park and we're going to, you know, have all these other amenities.’ It's like, no, keep it pure and simple.

And then my other frustration---Wesselman Woods.

Do you know there's a speed limit in Wesselman Woods?

You are not allowed to run in Wesselman’s nature center.

Has been like that for years and years.

And you think how many people, if you opened up the Wesselman’s nature center for runners prior to eight in the morning, and they all paid their annual fee, and they could get in there and run those trails prior to the general public getting in there--- all the school kids---You mean park?

No, the nature center.

The nature center.

Yes, the trails in the nature center.

You’re not allowed to run in there.

Okay.

So all I'm saying is, it's just like you’re handicapped in this town in terms of being encouraged to run and walk and stroll, because there's no safe place.

You know, you're out on the city streets.

The Y with its Team 13 and trying to encourage people to run, they're all out on the city streets on Saturday mornings.

It's not safe.

And if you were to---you think about it, you got the state hospital park, the bridge over the Lloyd, then you got---circle Roberts Park, and they move on to the other park, Wesselmans and so forth.

All those people could be training for Team 13 without being on a city street.

Good point, good point.

Anne Audain, a world class runner, a member of the World Athletics Museum, all kinds of titles.

Thank you for being my guest on Two Main Street.

And as we always say, Anne, keep running, Annie, run, Annie, run.

And I know you still like to run.

I do.

I'm getting, I---you know, I'm getting slow and older, but I still think running and walking is the most cost-effective healthcare that we have.

Well, thank you so much.

So I'm still trying to do it.

Okay.

Anne Audain, my guest on Two Main Street.

Two Main Street is presented by Jeffrey Berger, Kim Wren, and the Berger Wealth Team at Baird Private Wealth Management.

Thanks Anne.

Thank you, David.

Welcome back to Two Main Street.

I'm David James, and joining me now is Megan Craven with the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana.

She's the Health Initiative Director and Special Events Coordinator.

Now, we just talked to former Olympian, Anne Audain, about her career as a distance runner, and Megan is here to tell us about the local running scene and staying fit; running, jogging, or just walking.

And also advice for someone who wants to get started preparing for that very first race.

So the YMCA has a race series---tell us about that, Megan.

Absolutely, so it is a---our first race----it's three races that lead into our half marathon---that first one is our 5k, 10k.

We run them simultaneously.

So if a 5k is more of your start, that's great.

Or you can do a 10k that leads into our second race, which is in September.

That's our 15k.

So we're building our distance to the half marathon, which is that first weekend in October for that 13.1 miles.

Are you a runner?

I was, I've had a child, so I'm easing back into it.

But actually, for Mother's Day, I got a gift certificate to get some new shoes.

So I'm, I'm getting back into it.

Well, good for you.

Good for you.

Now, the.... the 5k on the runway, that seems like a special event.

Yes.

We no longer do that event, we hope to bring it back.

We took a pause with COVID, but we hope to see that back in the future.

And that's the Evansville Regional Airport runway.

Correct.

So it's a nice, long, straight run, very easy, very flat, but a great, great place to start.

Mmhmm.

Now, you also have training programs for runners.

Yes.

So we have our program called Jumpstart.

That is---you've heard those couch to 5k programs.

It's very similar to that; starts at one mile and over seven weeks, we work up to 3.1 miles, which is a 5k.

So seven weeks, every pace can start.

You're not too slow and I promise you're not too fast either.

We've got all paces.

And that leads into our next program called Team 13, and that starts at three miles.

And we work up to that 13.1.---.1, excuse me, miles.

And that gets you to the half marathon.

That's thirteen weeks of training, three days a week.

And it is really a wonderful program.

This is at the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana.

Correct.

Now these major events, the marathon, the half marathon and all those events, you have some great runners coming in town.

Absolutely.

They come to our race because, I mean, we're---this is our nineteenth year of running this race.

And it is just, it's a mainstay always in that October time, usually good weather, but it is it's a great race.

So how many people are involved in this race?

So we usually have about fifteen hundred to two-thousand participants, and then it takes almost five hundred volunteers or more to make that race possible.

And the course.

The course runs through the highlights of Evansville.

So we actually are bringing back an older route and adding in some new spots.

Hopefully we'll see some Haynie's Corner in there and look at all of our parks that we are blessed with here in Evansville, like Garvin Park, and all of some of the pocket parks that we have as well.

A lot of logistics involved in setting up this race, of course.

Oh, my goodness.

We start the day the race ends.

I'm planning for the next year, working with our sponsors and partners, and then, just, how we can improve; what are some changes we need, and things that we need, to make the race even better the next year.

Let's learn more about Megan Craven.

So where did you grow up, Megan?

I grew up here in Evansville.

I went to North High School and, yeah, this has been my home.

I tried to get away, but I came right back.

I understand you're an avid golfer.

Yeah.

Did your golfing career start at North High School?

It did.

And that was before they had all those championship rings.

But John C. was my coach, which kind of started that process.

So I yeah, I played at North and actually that's what took me out of town.

I played golf at Ball State for four years and really enjoyed my time.

I don't get to quite play as much, but if you ever need a fourth on a scramble team, I'm your gal.

All right.

So you consider yourself a competitive golfer, then?

Yes.

I have played in Women's City, which is probably the only tournament I can keep up with right now, and I hope to play this year, we'll see.

Of course, the Y has a long list of wellness programs for all ages.

We'll talk about those.

Absolutely.

We have---our Y is so big.

We have so many offerings.

And for every person, every age.

So if you're really invested in getting your family active, we have programs like Healthy Weight and Your Child, which is a family approach to a lifestyle change.

If your kids want some training, we've got some base programs building activity through exercise, and that is a one-on-one training program all the way to specialty programs; Livestrong, which is for cancer survivors.

And then we also have group exercise classes, we have STEM activities as well---I mean, we offer everything at the Y.

So how did you get involved with the Y?

Long story.

Good.

I---in Muncie, Indiana, where I lived after I graduated, I got involved with the Y there.

Really loved it.

Really enjoyed it.

When I moved back to Evansville, that was the first place I went.

I thought, ‘I found such a community at their YMCA, I'm sure I can find one here.’ And I grew up not being a member.

After I joined, I became a cycling instructor, and I went to the group exercise instructor---the manager---and I said, ‘If there is ever a job at the Y, I want to work here.’ Not even a couple weeks later, a job came open in the Special Events Department, and at that time I was an avid runner, and I was running a lot of half marathons and I thought, ‘This is where I need to be.’ So the whole objective of the Y is to have a wellness impact on the community and---Yep, absolutely.---people to stay fit and healthy.

Yes, in body, mind, and spirit.

So for some people, we really understand getting on that treadmill, getting those miles in---but we also offer so much more.

Now, what's your advice---okay, we're talking about the local running scene.

Sure.

Somebody says, ‘Okay, I would like to try that, but I'm intimidated by getting with all these really good runners.’ So how do you get that start?

How do you get that, that spark?

That---showing up is the hardest part, period.

That is my best advice.

Sometimes walking into the gym, the hardest part is parking that car and walking in, or showing up to a new group, like our Run Walk 812 group.

It is a group that meets every day, during the off season of Team 13 and Jumpstart.

And just connecting with people.

Showing up is hard, and connecting.

Once you make that connection, you know---especially in the running and walking community---you know that someone the next week is going to say, ‘Where were you?

You weren't here.

We loved talking to you last week.

We loved getting to know you, keep coming back.’ Really building that community and the connection.

So it's a social thing.

Absolutely.

I mean, that's why I played golf.

I mean, you get to play a sport and talk at the same time.

Running and walking is the same way.

Well, Megan Craven, a fitness advocate at the YMCA in Southwest Indiana, thanks for being my guest on Two Main Street.

And of course, I guess our goal is to get people out there and get them active.

Absolutely, so if you have any questions; reach out to the Y, ask for me by name.

I would love to talk to any of you who are interested in getting active in any part of the Y. Megan Craven, thanks for being my guest.

I'm David James and this is Two Main Street, presented by Jeffrey Berger, Kim Wren, and the Berger Wealth Services team at Baird Private Wealth Management.