Toby Tanser: Running to Make a Difference - 06/17/2020

Toby Tanser - Running to Make a Difference

 


How did a nordic athlete wind up living and training in Africa
and becoming a huge philanthropist? Toby Tanser,  the
founder and CEO of Shoe4Africa, which has evolved from providing
Kenyan athletes with running shoes to a charity focused on
health, education, and women’s empowerment, and which built the
first public children’s hospital in East and Central Africa,
tells Coach Claire how it all got started.


 


In this inspirational episode, Toby also talks about his
experiences in Kenya, including differences between Kenyan and
Western attitudes towards running, and offers up some training
tips as well. He discusses his “cult classic” book  Train
Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way, not to mention he literally wrote
the book on the New York City Marathon. He has a great take on
what makes the NYC marathon unique.


 


In addition to his philanthropy, coaching, writing, and running,
Toby has sat on the New York Road Runners Board of Directors
since 2002, was on the Achilles Track Club Board for six years
before moving up to the Vice President of Achilles International
in 2011, and is on the Coaches Advisory Board for Runner's
World. 


 


Toby has many other achievements under his belt, but more than
anything, he shows us how one person can make a huge difference
in the world.


 


 
Questions Toby is asked:

 


2:27 You are a philanthropist, a coach, an author, a writer, and
a former professional athlete. What roles of these have been your
favorite?


 


2:58 Tell us a little bit about your charity, Shoe4Africa. How
did it start and what is its mission?


 


3:59 Where has Shoe4Africa grown in the last 25 years?


 


4:34 It’s not just runners that you’re helping; it’s everyone?


 


5:20 Do you still go to Africa and run with people there?


 


6:11 You’ve also written several books about running and one of
them is Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way. I’d love to hear
the story behind that book and some of the main training tips.


 


7:38 What are some of the tips you learned about how Westerners
and Kenyans train differently?


 


10:52 How have things changed in the past 25 years in Kenya?


 


12:34 I think you’ve seen that in America nowadays people are
learning from the Kenyans, and there are so many more group
running programs out there as far as at the elite level. You have
all sorts of training groups that you really didn’t see before,
and it seems to be kind of based on the Kenyan model, don’t you
think


 


13:48 It’s said that the Kenyans really take their jogging
seriously too, which Westerners sometimes have a problem with.
Can you talk about how they run easy?


 


17:11 You were on the board of directors for the New York Road
Runners and the New York City Marathon for 15 years. Can you tell
me a little bit about that experience?


 


18:56 Tell me a little bit about the New York City Marathon.
You’ve written a book on it, so I’m sure you know a lot about it.
Can you give any tips, any experiences about the marathon there?


 


21:06 How many times have you run it?


 


23:04 And after that day running the marathon for charity, pretty
much that has been your whole life is running for charity in a
sense?


 


24:50 Any thoughts about whether the New York City Marathon will
go on this fall with everything that’s going on?


 


25:58 How are things in Kenya right now with the pandemic?


 


27:24 Have they started to reopen things again in Kenya?


 


28:44 What is next for you and Shoe4Africa in the future?


 


31:21 How can people help? If they’re listening to this and
they’re inspired, how can people help the efforts that you’re
doing?






Questions I ask everyone:


 


32:25 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first
started running, what advice would you give yourself?


 


35:21 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?


 
Quotes by Toby:

 


“You rarely find a Kenyan training alone. They’re always in some
form of a group, and together you have an amazing power.”


 


“You run a marathon in Berlin or France and people come out and
cheer, but in New York, they come out to cheer the people at the
back of the pack.”


 


“Imagine if every single person said, ‘I want to run to make a
difference.’”


 


“I think in life if you’re given opportunities and you turn them
away, there’s only a certain amount of opportunity you can turn
down before you start to realize, ‘Hey, I should be doing
something.’ It’s almost like an obligation.”


Take a Listen on Your Next Run


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Mentioned in this podcast: 

Shoe4Africa


Book: Train Hard, Win Easy: The Kenyan Way


New York Road Runners


The Essential Guide to Running the New York City Marathon


All4running


Juli Anne Perry Children’s Cancer Hospital


Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community


RunnersConnect Facebook page


claire@runnersconnect.net


 


Follow Toby on:


 


Toby Tanser


email Toby 


 


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