If you need a bit of cheer, a motivating word, or a great running route around Charlotte, ask any one of our Ambassadors. The Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors will make you want to run through a wall — (we don’t recommend that) — or at least get you out on the road putting one foot in front of the other on days your motivation falls short.

And if you want your run to be full of colorful murals, we’ve got an Ambassador who knows that too. Laura Morrow is a runner whose Instagram alternates a post about where she ran that day with a positive, inspirational, or even just funny thoughts about life. And she REALLY likes food. (That’s why we run, right?)

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In a traditional world, it is drilled into our heads that good nutrition is a balance of all food groups, which includes protein — most often lean meat. Nothing against a good piece of grilled chicken, but our next guest on the Running Around Charlotte podcast says you don’t need to eat more chicken, or even eat meat at all!

Matt Frazier is the author of No Meat Athlete, and his blogs and books chronicle the basics of being an athlete on a vegan diet — namely, it can be done! In fact, Matt says your performance will not only, “not suffer” — it will be much better. He’s perfecting his diet every day, as an athlete and as a dad.

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I hope you got a chance to watch the Olympics this year. It was a tough year for athletes — with an extra year of training — and less-than-ideal running conditions in Tokyo in July. We know YEARS of training go into getting to that level, to even qualify for Olympic Trials, so we thought you’d like some insight from someone who’s been there.

Scott Dvorak is known to local runners as the owner of Charlotte Running Company, but he also has a long career in running at the highest level — including Trials for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. He took a break from his own “running around Charlotte” to join us on our Running Around Charlotte podcast today.

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It’s HOT outside! You might be exercising less, not drinking enough – and if you’re like us – don’t have much motivation to cook. Matt Dengler of RxRD Nutrition is here with us toay, with tips on eating (and drinking) healthy all summer long!

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We’re lucky to be back with one of our Ambassadors, Arun  You may remember his AAA plan and barefoot running – let’s see what he’s up to now!

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Our Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors are some of the best! And while they all have running in common, they come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Today on Running Around Charlotte, we get a glimpse into the life of a pharmacist who specializes in oncology pharmacy — and even rides in the popular bike fundraiser for cancer support here in Charlotte, in addition to her running.

Meg’s 24 Foundation Fundraising Page

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We’re blessed in our community to have a number of great colleges with sports programs, giving student-athletes a chance to excel at sports beyond the high school level. D-2 school Queens University of Charlotte is definitely one of those, with multiple sports like track & field, swimming, and lacrosse playing for, or even winning, national championships.

Our next guest on Running Around Charlotte is at the helm of the school’s successful running program. Jim Vahrenkamp is the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Queens-U, where teams racked up dozens of conference and regional cross-country and track & field championships, and Vahrenkamp has earned Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors nine times and South Atlantic Coach of the Year honors 10 times. Yeah he’s busy — and he also coaches the Queen City Track Club, which offers collegiate-level coaching for middle and high school students who want to reach the next level.

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If you need a little extra motivation, go read the Instagram posts from our Ambassador C.J. Langley. He has every excuse in the book to not try as hard as he does – a busy job and a foot injury among them. But still, he runs – carefully at times – but he realizes reaching goals takes the right shoes, consistency, and no shortcuts.

We’re glad he’s an Ambassador for the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon again this year, and even happier he’s here on Running Around Charlotte to share some positive vibes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:52 — 27.3MB)

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