The Social Run podcast, give it a listen if you haven’t. Stephen Cameron, creator and host, has a unique approach to his show.
The Social Run
He interviews strong and inspiring runners whom he has met on either Twitter or Instagram. Get it? The Social Run. He usually launches each episode with a well thought out guess or dissection on how the runner came up with their handle or the meaning behind it. His guesses can be creative. Stephen does a great job researching the people he interviews and comes up with good questions. He discusses running, ultramarathon training, ultra races, and a smorgasbord of non-running topics with his interviewees. There is more to us than just running. People share about their work, families, and other things that they are passionate about. And then there are the dad jokes. Stephen tells a dad joke every episode. Some of them are silly and some are actually funny. He is building a collection of dad jokes and leaving them behind one day to his two daughters.
The Social Dad
Stephen is a North Georgia trail and ultra runner, and rocking at being fit in his 50s. If you follow him on social media, you will see posts about coffee, running memes, running books, hiking with his girls, and what he’s doing to be fit over 50. On Twitter, he is like a cheerleader, commenting congrats, encouraging words, and retweeting fun runner stuff. When Stephen hears or reads something motivational he writes it down, so that he can remember it to help push through a tough part of a long run.
The Story Behind the Podcast
“I thought it would be really cool to actually ‘hear’ from the people that inspire me and maybe share a little more than just running. We see pictures of people on social all the time. I thought adding a voice to that person would be super cool.
And I’ve been able to talk to some amazing people. People that I would never get to hear with out the podcast.” Stephen
Being a [short] Guest
I was invited to be a guest on the show in September of 2020. Stephen Twitter messaged me a “Congratulations on your FKT! What a way to kick butt!” And then continued to tell me about his podcast, his thoughts on what we could talk about, and invited me to have a conversation with him. After reading the message, I thought about it for two hours and messaged him back that I’d be happy to! I have been a guest on one podcast before and it was a really fun experience, plus this would be another opportunity to improve my speaking skills.
On show day, I was nervous and excited. [I didn’t write any episode spoilers in here] Right off the bat, Stephen dissected my handle, be.short.run.ultra, and we chatted about that and my height. I’m pretty short, but I actually don’t notice it until I see pictures of myself next to another person. We talked about my FKT on the Gerard Hiking Trail loop at Oil Creek State Park and about my DNFs and crazy experiences at Oil Creek 100. I’m not going to spoil the stories. Pregnancy and running came up because I ran Badwater Cape Fear 50 miler when I was in my second trimester. It’s fun to recall that day. Stephen had really good “short” jokes lined up for the show. Highly fitting. We briefly chatted about being a mom and a runner. Doing both is hard, but I figure it out. I make them both work. How? 90% of the time, I’m not sure. Our last topic was about being a mental health counselor, and then I needed to solve Stephen’s irrational pre-race jitters. I failed at taking a stab at it, but we survived. Life is hard, this is why we like to run stupid long distances.
That’s The Social Run podcast in a nutshell. Listen to be motivated and to hear funny stories and dad jokes. Follow Stephen on Instagram and Twitter to stay updated on his running journey and podcast episodes.
Mindset and Mental Wellness Coaching 