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This is part 1 of a 2 part podcast series with 300 Pounds and Running on this viral letter to Race Directors. Check out RunEatRepeat.com for pics of Martinus Evans, his favorite gear & shoes. And I’m challenging you to see things from another point of view. Follow @RunEatRepeat on Instagram so you don’t miss a thing!

Today I’m talking to Martinus Evans from 300 Pounds and Running and we’re doing something different – this is part 1 of 2 episodes.

We’re splitting it because we were set to talk about his recent article that went viral – AN OPEN LETTER TO RACE DIRECTORS FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK.

But we started by talking about how he found running, weight loss and setbacks after his first marathon… And I think his running journey is really important.

Running is hard.

Weight loss is hard.

And he’s had set backs – but kept going. It’s super important for us to remember – keep going with whatever set backs we face.

There will be setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle set backs.

New here? I’m Monica Olivas – and I created RunEatRepeat.com to document training for my first full marathon and weight loss journey. While I was sharing my life the site grew an amazing community of runners, eaters and virtual friends all over the world and now it’s this podcast!

Check out Run Eat Repeat.com for more and follow @RunEatRepeat on Instagram for more.

Podcast warm up:

I listened to a Ted Radio Hour podcast a while back that stuck with me. I think it was about how we’re all different and how hard it is to see things from someone else’s point of view. And a college professor…

Imagine if all day today (or tomorrow if it’s late) you tried to see everything from someone else’s view?

Every interaction you have today – put yourself in the other person’s shoes and listen carefully. Then, put yourself in their position and try to feel how they feel… see it exactly how they see it – NOT how they should see it.

Try to understand them – not judge them. Understand –how they see you, how they see the world, how they much feel… before you respond.

We’re all just doing our best. And when someone is doing something that you think is wrong, or weird, or unhealthy or whatever… there is a reason why. It’s really hard to be friends with someone or help them if you’re busy judging them.

So today I challenge you to slow down and observe with a super open heart – who the people around you truly are.

And part of me is saying this because that talk really stuck with me and I think it’s important. But also – I realized that I identify with Martinus. I feel like I’m like him. I get it. I feel overweight – or like I’ll always identify as chubby (see my post on why I’ll always think I’m fat). And I like that. I like that I feel like I connect with certain people because we’re the same on this deep level of how we experienced parts of life.

And it made me sad to think people are mean because they don’t get it and don’t identify with us.

Then, I realized that … it’s easy for me to be compassionate towards someone I identify with. The real challenge would be to try and understand someone I disagree with or have nothing in common with.

With that – I encourage you to be open minded and open hearted today. Let’s get to the interview…

Martinus Evans is the founder and voice behind the blog and podcast 300 Pounds and Running. It’s been featured in Runner’s World, Self.com, Live Strong, Shape Magazine and more.

He started running in 2012 after his doctor called him fat and laughed when he said he was going to run a marathon.

Since then he’s run over 30 races and has been an inspiration for larger runners worldwide.

Lately, he has been the talk of the running community with his recently published article: AN OPEN LETTER TO RACE DIRECTORS FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK – we’re getting into that next time!

Martinus Evans from 300 Pounds and Running Podcast

Decided to run a marathon after a doctor told him he was overweight. He started with a couch to 5k training plan. And he built up his fitness and eventually ran a 10K, half marathon and a full marathon.

Then, he got into 2 big car accidents and couldn’t run for a year. He gained all the weight back and had to start all over again.

And now he’s back! After being benched for a year, then an injury… he was determined to get back to the runner he knew he was.

He just ran the NYC Marathon!

We’re talking about his journey from a scary doctor’s visit to running a full marathon and losing the weight, gaining it back and how he got back better than before!

He recently wrote a blog post called “Re: AN OPEN LETTER TO RACE DIRECTORS FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK” –

that went viral because of it’s in-your-face tone and because it resonated with so many runners. I wanted to give him a chance to share his point of view on how back of the pack runners are treated at races and by some other runners. But – we ended up talking about running and weight loss to start and it runs kinda long so this is going to be a 2 part series.

Today it’s about his story of becoming a runner, losing weight, having major setbacks and eventually getting back to the sport.

Next time we’ll talk about his open letter blog post. There’s just so much!