The Runners of NYC Podcast is back outside, and this time we took it to Brooklyn. Chris Chavez and Patryk Odedina posted up in Prospect Park on the day before the 2026 Brooklyn Half Marathon.

Same concept as always: we set up shop, see who's willing to stop, and let the conversations go wherever they go. Turns out the day before a big race is the perfect time to catch people. Everyone's out to pick up their bibs, everyone's a little anxious/excited, and everyone's got a reason they're toeing the line.

And the reasons were all over the map. We talked to a 61-year-old who's still lacing up to stay healthy, and a guy fighting his way back from a four-year injury. We meet a dad in a suit who runs for his kids, two friends building a business together over matcha and miles, and a visitor breaking down how the Atlanta run scene stacks up against New York. There's a woman who joined a girls run club and got completely hooked, two friends repping Texas, a runner who just finished Boston and is already chasing a New York City Marathon qualifier, and one impossibly positive guy in who's found his whole purpose in the sport.

It's a snapshot of who actually shows up the day before a race — and why they run at all.

Be sure to subscribe to Runners of NYC on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

▶️ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/runners-of-nyc-podcast/id1438435120

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🗣️ Follow your hosts: @chris_j_chavez on Instagram | @regularpatryk on Instagram

The Runners of NYC Podcast is back and we're taking it outside.This will be less sitting across a table, fewer Zoom recordings and more catching runners in their natural habitat across all five boroughs. The new format is simple: Chris Chavez and Patryk Odedina post up at New York's best running spots and talk to whoever's willing to stop and chat. Think blind speed dating, but make it a running podcast. We rarely know who's going to sit down with us and that's exactly the point. We're meeting runners where they are, literally.For our first crack at the concept, we headed to the Bronx and set up at Joseph Yancey Track, right in the shadow of Yankee Stadium. Our anchor for the day: The Bronx Burners, a run club on a mission to "build a stronger Bronx community through opportunities in sport by powering all through health & wellness, social, and academic initiatives to expand their potential."The origin story is pure NYC. Back in July 2023, Rob Dalto stood in Central Park holding a sign that asked, "Are you running the New York City Marathon?" — just hoping to spark a conversation. Shaquille Roberts, a Bronx native, stopped. The more they talked, the more they spotted a gap: plenty of young people wanted to run, but nobody had handed them a roadmap for how to start. So they built one. The Bronx Burners Run Club was born.Be sure to subscribe to Runners of NYC on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.▶️ APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/runners-of-nyc-podcast/id1438435120▶️ SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4DD2jtIBEcyVohfiimggvM🗣️ Follow your hosts: @chris_j_chavez on Instagram | @regularpatryk on Instagram💻 Learn more about The Bronx Burners here: https://www.bronxburnersrc.org/ or follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bronxburnersrc

Runners of NYC is relaunching. We're changing up the format — fewer studio sit-downs, more conversations out in the wild across the five boroughs — and we're thrilled to welcome Patryk Odedina as our new co-host. Same mission of surfacing the untold stories behind NYC's running culture, with a fresh approach to how we tell them. More soon.

First...Meet Patryk.

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"I was at the gym one day, doing the typical dude thing — asking my neighbor Kenny what he was working on. Chest? Back? Arms? He just looked at me, straight-faced, and said: 'Five or six miles on the treadmill.' I swear, I had never heard someone say something like that in my life. And Kenny's not some lean guy — he's a husky dude. So I'm standing there like, what is he talking about? Then he tells me he's training for the New York City Marathon. That's all I needed. I thought, if Kenny can do it, I can do it."

Patryk Odedina is a Bronx-based runner who picked up the sport at 29 after a gym conversation with his neighbor Kenny, and has since completed all six World Marathon Majors while chipping nearly 90 minutes off his debut time.

Background:

– Born in Poland, raised in the Bronx from age 3. Polish mother, Nigerian father.

– Played basketball at Lincoln High School (the one in Yonkers) and Lehman College. No running background.

– Spent six-plus years in tech sales

The origin story: Late 2018, lifting weights in a Harlem gym, his neighbor Kenny mentioned he was training for the NYC Marathon. Patryk had never heard anyone say something like that out loud. He signed up for the 2020 race through Team for Kids before knowing what a 5K was.

Marathon résumé:

– 2020 NYC (virtual): 4:40. Ran the actual route solo in the rain; mom as support crew.

– 2021 NYC: ~4:57. The 50th anniversary edition.

– 2023 London: 3:58. Finally cracked sub-4 on his fourth attempt.

– Six Stars: NYC → London → Berlin → Tokyo → Boston → Chicago. Wore a Yankees singlet in Boston.

– 2026 Jersey City: 3:09. Now chasing sub-3.

Beyond the race: Associate board member of the Bronx Burners, a 501(c)3 that has distributed $100K+ in college scholarships to Bronx youth. Creator of the Run Clubs of NYC video series — 49 NYC clubs and counting.

This is Runners of NYC. A podcast from CITIUS MAG. You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Spotify. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter | @RunnersOfNYC

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