THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau was fishing alone at the top of Nevada Falls at the age of 10, and has been finding ways to move faster through the mountains ever since. 

The Stanford-trained distance runner turned professional trail and mountain specialist joins Dominic to talk about a two-year injury saga that has redefined how he thinks about training, resilience, and what it actually means to compete. 

After a catastrophic fall at the 2024 Broken Arrow Skyrace left him with a complex orthopedic injury, Meikael spent 18 months trying every non-surgical approach available before going under the knife at the end of 2025. In February, he was relearning to walk. In April, relearning to run. He came back and toed the line at the 2026 U.S. Uphill Championships and finished 7th overall.

The conversation covers what it looks like to maintain professional-level fitness off of 20 to 30 miles a week (and two hours of daily elliptical and arm bike work); why vertical kilometer races are physiologically closer to an 800 meter than a 10k; and how growing up entirely outdoors in the Bay Area (fishing, climbing, running trails to make curfew) built the athletic foundation that track never could. 

Meikael also gets into the plant business he started in middle school, the summers he spent living out of his car in the Sierra Nevada, and why he thinks cross-country skiers would beat marathoners in a trail race every time.

His message to anyone trail-curious: DM him. He means it.

Tap into the Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau Special. 

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.

S H O W  N O T E S   
-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs
-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run  
-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ
-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz
Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ
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Instagram: @mountain_man_meik

He bet his uncle he could beat him in a race, and that was the start of everything.

Handal Roban grew up in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines playing cricket before a single track meet at age fifteen changed his trajectory.
  
When the cricket team pushed him out, he didn't look back. Instead, he chased the guys who beat him—literally moving to Jamaica to train at Jamaica College High School, one of the most decorated prep programs in the Caribbean. 

That decision, he says, taught him how to navigate being the underdog, how to thrive in discomfort, and how to carry the weight of a new culture in silence when no one could understand a word he said.

At Penn State, Roban has quietly built one of the most decorated careers in school history: two Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards; multiple All-American honors; a trip to the Paris Olympics at 21 years of age; and a 1:42.87 at the 2025 NACAC Championships that left him thinking the clock was broken. That time made him the second-fastest 800m runner in NCAA history. He still can't fully believe it.

But what defines Roban isn't the resume, it's the philosophy underneath it. 

Stop chasing times. Find your mantra. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Don't respect your competitors so much that you forget to race them. And when the butterflies show up before the gun, don't fight them, channel them.

With one year of eligibility remaining and an NCAA title still on his list, Roban isn't close to done.

Tap into the Handal Roban Special. 

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.
S H O W  N O T E S   

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run  

-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ

-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: 

https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ

LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop 

$20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 

Instagram: @handal.roban 

X (Twitter): @imhandalroban 

TikTok: @handal.rob

Will Garinger can't explain how Run with Christ became so popular—and that might be the point.

Less than two years after a group of 20-year-olds gathered in a Columbus park in September 2024, Run with Christ spans more than 85 cities across seven nations and three continents. 

Its founder never ran competitively. 

Garinger was a goalkeeper—an All-American who left for a Phoenix soccer academy at 16, jumped into life insurance sales at 18, and landed a Division I roster spot at UNC Greensboro. Every rung up the ladder looked right and felt empty. Behind the résumé was a kid cycling through addiction, shame, and Sunday-morning resets, hiding from everyone—including his own father.

The turning point came one week after the run club launched. On September 14, 2024, a stranger prayed over Garinger, asked about his relationship with his dad, and named things nobody could have known. Garinger fell apart, confessed twenty years of hiding, and walked out a different man.

In this conversation, Garinger and Dominic dig into why the most connected generation in history is the loneliest, why discipline and human connection are the only currencies you can't fake in the AI era, and why your worth never changes based on what you produce. 

Garinger shares the question he asks everyone searching for purpose: What makes you angry when you look at the world? 

Whatever you believe, this one is about getting outside yourself.
Tap into the Will Garinger Special. 

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.

S H O W  N O T E S   

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run  

-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ

-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: 
https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ

LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop 

$20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 

Instagram: @willgaringer_

TikTok: @williamgaringer

Nobody hands you anything in the Bowerman Mile—not even on your first day.

Two days after his professional debut at the Prefontaine Classic, Gary Martin joined the show to break down a lifetime-best 3:48.76 in the deepest mile field ever assembled, and why he walked away wishing he'd been more aggressive. 

The newest Brooks Beast member takes us inside the shock of going out in 1:53 after a college season of tactical racing, lining up against Ethan Strand again, and what it felt like to finally pull the Brooks singlet out of the bag after two years as one of the brand's first NIL athletes.  

Gary is refreshingly honest about the season behind him: falling short of the NCAA 1500 title against Simeon Birnbaum, the frustration of watching a new contender rise every time he reached the top, and the mindset that carried him through it. 

He explains what drew him to Danny Mackey and Seattle, why Josh Kerr's discipline in the margins inspires him, and lays out the ladder for his pro career—make teams, make finals, then fight for medals.

Plus, they get into the PA sub-4 pipeline he started, Vin Lananna's pencil-sharpening analogy, the habits that kept him healthy for four straight years, his advice for every high schooler dreaming of going pro (be patient, be present), and a dream 4x-mile squad featuring Kerr, Cam Myers, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen—with Gary leading off, naturally.
This is a chat with one of the sport's brightest young stars, at the very beginning of the climb.

Tap into the Gary Martin Special. 

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.

S H O W  N O T E S   

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run  

-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ

-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZ

LuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop

$20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 

Instagram: (@gary.martin20).

Reese Sanders ran a 57.3 and realized she wasn't done.

Coming off her final season at Notre Dame, Sanders—a four-time Indiana state champion and one of the top 400m hurdlers in Fighting Irish history—was closer to walking away from the sport than sticking with it long term. What changed wasn't a grand plan. It was momentum: a fast race at ACCs, another personal best at regionals, and a quiet afternoon running unattached at a meet in Duke where it finally felt like she was running for herself.

That shift changed everything. In this episode, Reese walks Dominic through the last 30 to 90 days that rerouted her entire post-college trajectory. From near-retirement, to staying in South Bend as an assistant coach under Coach Rodney Zurich—all while training toward the 2028 U.S. Olympic Trials.

She talks about what it actually took to believe she could keep getting better: journaling with God before races, learning to check out from track in order to get better at it, and finally letting go of the pressure she put on herself the moment she stepped on campus as a recruit.

The conversation covers her athletic family roots, growing up watching siblings Olivia and Luke run state, building a social media following of 62,000 from her dorm room, co-hosting the Golden Ticket Podcast, and what it felt like to get recognized by a Nebraska thrower at a random track meet. She's self-aware, wide open, and genuinely funny—and she's just getting started.

The road to 2028 has commenced. Follow along.

Tap into the Reese Sanders Special. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.

S H O W N O T E S

-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs

-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run

-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ

-My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en

-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz

Behind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@Dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZL

Luminary Threads: luminarythreads.shop

Instagram: @reese.e.sanders

TikTok: @reese.e.sanders

X: @reese_saa