Run Across PA with Cain Leathers

If you're like me, it's obsessive. You lace up your shoes, put one foot in front of the other, and teach yourself to push through it all costs. I'm on a journey. A journey to find what makes me, no, us, what makes all of us tick. Tune in, turn on, drop out, and run. I'm gagged, and this is running times. All right, everybody, welcome. We are live. My government name is Michael Albert Gagliardi, but there's a really good chance you know me better as gags. Welcome to the show. Before we get started, I want to say thank you first and foremost to Philadelphia Runner. You know him. You love him. Philly Runner is. Philadelphia is only independent and locally owned specialty running company that strives to be more than just another ordinary boring running store. The folks at Philly Runner are runners of fitness enthusiasts themselves, and all they want to do is share their passions and experiences, strengthen the Philadelphia fitness and running community, and inspire others to start moving. 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I'd like to begin the show with a quote that will help us frame our discussion. It's not the differences that divide us. It's our incapacity to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. Audrey Lordd. My guest today is a community fitness leader in the Philadelphia area who just finished running across state of Pennsylvania to raise money and awareness for the Trevor Project, which provides 24/7 crisis support services to LGBTQ young people. Being Leathers is the founder and executive director of QueerRun, Philly's newest LGBTQ+ running group that is creating unity between the LGBTQ community and its allies. The group meets on Monday nights, 8pm written house square, and is open to all. Their goal is simple. Encourage more inclusion in the running industry because the world could always use a bit more acceptance. Welcome to the show, Kane. Thanks for having me, Gags, my pleasure, man. It's nice to finally have this conversation. So for the folks at home, the first time I was ever made aware of Kane Leathers, and I've never told you this. I got a call from Ross Martin's in December of 2020, and he's like, "Hey, Gags, we got a guy at the store. He just finished the Frosh Looper over the weekend. He won it. He ran 60 miles. It was an eight hour race. I'm doing math. I'm like, that's a 7.750 pace." He's like, "Yeah." And I'm like, "What's his name?" He said, "Kane Leathers." I'm like, "Who?" He's like, "You definitely need to know this guy." At the time, I had no idea, Kane, that you had run a sub-3 in Boston back in 2015. I didn't know that you ran at 232 in Houston in 2020, 111 at the PDR in 21. I had no idea about any of this stuff, all right? So that was my first introduction to you, Kane. And that was the first time I think that you would ever ran more than 31 miles. Yeah. My first 50k was back in 2014. I know it was a trail 50k, and I hadn't done any ultras since then, so I actually took a break and focused on marathons for a bit, and a friend was running the Frosti Looper. I was going to pace her, like be like a crew a little bit of a sport for her, but then the race actually went virtual. And so there was a big snowstorm, too, and we decided we couldn't do it together. And so I decided to go to the course and just run it by myself. And the course was icy. The course was covered nice. All right. Icey and snowy. So we were actually running in the road around the sidewalk that it was supposed to be on. OK. But yeah, very dangerous. Yeah. But I felt so good that day. I just kept going, kept rolling. I had a crew member giving me nutrition and hydration out of the car in one of the parking lots, and I just kept rolling, and it was a really great day. You blew the doors off that race. So that's it. I mean, you ran basically a 100k in eight hours. Yeah. And I'm going to call that your first real foray into ultra running. So you made a hell of a splash. So congrats, Kane. Thanks, gags. Absolutely, man. You know, we're going to be getting into a lot of stuff tonight. I think to help us frame this conversation, it would be wise if we went over some basic terms here. My first question. What does queer mean? Yeah. So queer means any individual that may be perceived as different. It's often looked at as someone's sexuality being different, but really it can embody any characteristic in an individual. So I like to think of queer more as like a community of people that are seen as an ordinary in a sense. But together we make up such a strong friendship, okay, I would say. So it's a fair to say queer is the umbrella term. Absolutely. Yeah. So some people often, because everyone's perception of themselves and their identity is different, some people might not identify as queer. But might be bisexual or might be non-binary. It's all based on perception of the individual. You mentioned non-binary. Non-binary is an individual who may not identify as any gender at all. They might identify partially as male, partially as female, or just maybe both at times too. So they can use multiple pronouns. They might use she/him, he/they, or she/they for instance, or maybe they/them. Gotcha. So multiple genders or maybe no gender at all. Next question. What does LGBTQQIP2SA stand for? That's not a true question. It's so many letters. Right. So LGBTQQIP2SA. So lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two spirit, androgynous, and asexual or ally, okay, sometimes there are just so many letters. But that's one of the questions I, you know, when I post about, I'm at the queer one. Or I have these conversations with people. You know, I'm making a joke when I say alphabet soup. But that really is what some people, how some people feel about this. So it can be a little confusing. It's like, you know, I'm always trying to be patient with people, you know, when I'm explaining certain things. And you touched on this also, Kane. A person sex and gender identity does not have to be the same. It's important to know what they are and how they differ. So sex is the way we are born, for instance. So when we are born, they have to put male or female on the birth certificates to determine our theoretical path in life. Essentially, we're referring just to the reproductive organs, genes, and hormones. Yes. And gender identity is how we identify as an individual. So we might have the sexual reproductive organ of a male, but our identity might be female. Gotcha. It might be emotionally how we identify, and that might be the path that we set forth in life just based on who we are. So sometimes emotionally and mentally, might not identify or align with our sexual reproductive organs, which is something that is hard for a lot of people to kind of grasp, especially if they don't live in a progressive city like Galadolpheon. To think, well, this person looks like a male, they walk like a male, they have a penis. So how could they possibly be a female? And just like gender sex is not binary. Absolutely. We have the basics out of the way now. So with that being said, why did you start the queer run? So I started queer run for many reasons. So I worked in the running industry for a few years, and like every environment, there are always really incredible things and things that can be improved upon. And so inclusion and diversity in this world is such talked about problem. There are many organizations in the United States and the world that are trying to tackle it, and it's a bit of a journey for a lot of places, and I saw a bit of a gap in the Philadelphia community for the LGBTQIA+ and allies to kind of come together. Was there anything like that prior? Yeah, so there are some running groups that do focus on different kind of factions within that LGBTQIA, but often with like minority individuals, we can kind of seclude ourself from those allies and from those outliers in the community too. So someone might look at a group and say, I don't identify as what they are, so I don't I don't think I'm allowed to be. in that group. And that is what I did. I kind of went around to different places and try to find a home for myself and and trying to join other groups. I found I didn't really feel like I belong in a lot of them. And I took all those feelings that I got from different community groups that I tried to be a part of and wrote down some notes and thought how can I make this better? How can I bring in all those people that felt the same way that I did and create just one big community? And ensure that people don't feel that way anymore. And so I decided to start queer run. A running organization created to kind of bridge that gap between the LGBTQIA and the allies in the community. And it's been fun watching your group grow since the very beginning. I was there at your first run. I've been there pretty much every Monday night since. And it really is a truly welcoming environment. And for me, I mean, I'm a cisgendered hetero male. That's what I identify as. But I want to say thank you because I've learned a lot from hanging out with your group on Monday nights. You know, I mean, listen, I'm living in the neighborhood, Kane. Pride Fest was Sunday literally, literally out my front door. All right. This is where I've been for the less six, seven months. So to me, it's like, this is my community. This is my environment. Let's see what it's all about. Thank you for being very welcoming. Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for coming. Actually, it's so great to see like 30% of our weekly attendees be allies. I think that really helps to create more welcoming kind of comfortable environment for the members that do fall in that LGBTQIA spectrum and remind them that there are people in the world that do support them and believe in them, especially in athletics, which can kind of be a bit more biased, a bit more discriminatory across every category of athletics, not just running. So that's really great. Thank you guys. Not totally, totally. And I'm really enjoying my time there. One of the things I've been doing when someone engages me in conversation, you know, we'll start chatting like chitchat and like, what are you training for this and now? Whatever. But then I ask them, so, you know, what brings you out or why did you come out to this run? And the people I've talked to at your run, they're so appreciative that this space has been created for them. How does it make you feel? It's very emotionally overwhelming at times. This was a lot of this was to create a space for myself to feel comfortable. And I know that there were others out there that felt like me, but didn't feel like they might have had a voice to speak out or didn't have time to create something like this. So I'm very appreciative for all these new friends that I've made, all these people in the community that have taken the step and joined the group and helped to kind of like make this way towards a more inclusive environment. And what's nice too, Kane is that, you know, every week when the run is over, you'll ask a random person in the park to take our picture, right? And it's like every person you ask, they're like, oh my gosh, this group is great. And we've had people come out to the run who took the picture. That's what it's all about before you start a queer run. And even before you were running with other LGBTQ groups here in the city, did you feel a sense of belonging or a sense of community? So I did, I did feel a sense of community in some groups. Like there's some really incredible groups in the city. Well, intention groups also. Yes. Yeah. But I didn't feel like 100% myself and a lot of them. So often with going to groups that are primarily heterosexual, I feel like I have to put on a mask before I walk into that circle of runners, where I feel like I have to pretend often to be someone that I'm not in order to fit in. Understood. And while it was a really great experience with the fitness and the community, I was missing that piece of myself and every single group I would go to. So I've had a thought in my mind, I would say for about a year that I wanted to start developing a group, but didn't really know where to start. And one really incredible mentor in my life, Takiya McClendon, who you've had in a previous year, has been a big advocate for me and my goals in life. And I've talked to her quite a bit about a lot in the past year. So I'm very thankful for her. And I would say in the past, yeah, like three to four months, it really started coming together. All these ideas, the name where I wanted to meet the time of day, we find that many LGBTQ+ individuals, especially like in college, are service workers too. So they will get out a little bit later. So having an APM runtime will allow more accessibility for people to come to the run. And there are a lot of groups in the city that meet around like five or six. And so having one later in the day, they've gone to dinner, they've come home from work, they've unwinding a bit. So there's less conflict, I would say, with that time. So it does allow more accessibility for people to come out. Right on. Shout out to Takiya McClendon and Stride's community. Takiya, as well as Kane and myself, we're all hookah flyers. We are. Time to fly. We love Hookah here. Let me ask this question, then, Kane. You know, you know who you are, right? Yes. How long have you known who you are? So I have known for as long as I have a memory. So you know, just I knew I could say like three or four years old, my longest memory in life, I knew. How was that? It was different. You didn't grow up in Philadelphia. I did not grow up in Philadelphia. Where did you grow up, Kane? So I grew up in a very small farm town in Ohio. Very, very small. You fit in great there. Yeah. It was definitely a challenge. I'm sure. Quite a bit. Sure. I definitely had to hide a lot, almost my entire childhood life. My parents split up pretty early on in my life and it caused my my single mother to then move around a lot. Right. So even when I would begin to get a little bit more comfortable in an environment, I had to kind of pick up and start somewhere new and find my identity all over again. So it was quite a challenge even at the new schools. It was still in like that same farm town area. So the vibe was the same. Right. But the people were different. And this is when you're in your early teens. Yeah. This is when shit really starts forming. Yeah. Yeah. This is when yeah, this is when hormones happen. This is when people start to develop hobbies, activities they like real friend groups and relationships start to begin. And I very much felt like I wasn't getting all of that. You didn't have that. I didn't have that. That's a shame. Yeah. Was your mother aware of your sexual orientation? I think that she might have been. I actually grew up with a gay uncle. Okay. And my family wasn't the nicest in the way they would talk about him when he wasn't around. And so I could tell how she would react if I verbally told her. Okay. That I was. But I think she kind of had an inkling because I mean, anyone that has a son that plays with polypockets growing up knows there's no hiding that. But I think it was one of those like like we don't discuss it. Right. Like if it is, we don't talk about it. And I'm sure that gave you mad anxiety. It did absolutely. So if you're already going through it at school and now you're coming home and you're having a hard time even being yourself at home, how do you cope with everything? The worst way possible, I would say. Did you love yourself then? I didn't. I definitely did not. So it's really hard when you spend eight, nine hours a day in a building and don't feel like you have a place and then you go home and still feel like you don't have a place, like you don't have anyone in your circle. And just day after day, year after year, it definitely gets very hard. And I think I told myself after a certain point that I was just non deserving to be here. That if all these people in my life that I see every single day didn't appreciate me or show me love, then why would I show myself anymore? And so at that point, I started slowly hurting myself. So I used to keep a knife under my pillow. And every night before I would go to sleep, I would pull out that knife. And that was a progressive thing that used to do over a long period of time. And I still have scars on my body from that. And at one point, I actually came home from school. And I think I started to gain some friends and maybe started to show a little bit more about myself than I should have. And I think word got to one of my brothers that I could potentially be gay. And he confronted me in the kitchen in my home. And told me that you know what mom's going to say when she finds out. See might as well just kill yourself right now. And at that point, I reached over to the knife block in the kitchen, a foot away from where we were standing, pulled out the knife and said, okay, I will. And I took that knife to my left arm, which you could still see the scar to this day, pulled it. And if my arm had been just a few centimeters turned, I wouldn't be here on this earth right now. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I'm here two gags. But what happened? So at that point, blood just started coming out. He seemed unfazed by it. Really? My mom knew that I had cut my arm. I did not go to the hospital. It's a pretty deep scar. It is a deep scar. I wrapped a bandage around it, maybe an old t-shirt. I believe it healed by itself. I did not seek medical treatment for it. And that was the environment that I grew up in, which is hard for some people to kind of fathom them thinking that that exists, but there are so many other people in this world that probably go through very similar things that I do, which even with like self-harm, physically in front of their family, that's not enough of a cry for help to actually get that help. Two people I've talked to at the queer run have, they've told me stories every eerily similar to yours, which to bring it back to the Trevor Foundation. That's an organization that you're wholeheartedly committed to. Those folks provide 24/7 crisis intervention for young folks who were going through it. Folks who quite frankly are thinking about harming themselves. If that organization was around, when you were coming up, where are they around, or did you know about it? So they started in 1998, so they were around, but I think I was in that weird time where social media and technology wasn't the most advanced. So getting the word out that these programs and these organizations existed, I didn't have as much accessibility as children do now, and so I didn't know that there were spaces out there for people like me to talk to, to cry, to just divulge everything I was dealing with, to let me know that I was loved and that I had someone in this world that wanted me here. Did you have anybody in your corner when you were growing up? So later in my high school days, I developed a mentor, so closer to my senior year, but before that, my grandmother was really my best friend. We used to do everything together. We would play in her garden a lot. I used to take her hand weights and I used to go running with them on the country roads and the cornfields and tell myself I was making myself stronger. And she got very sick around my sophomore year of high school. And she developed a cooling cancer and it progressed pretty quickly. And she was one that I knew my family knew who I was, but when it talked about it, just like everybody else, but like very much loved me for Halloween would make a joke that I should dress up in her dresses and her heels. And go trick-or-treating as just like a really old woman. But like I saw that as a sign like thank you for loving me, for loving you for who you are the way your parents should have frankly. Yeah, like I said, I'm a father. I have two boys. I don't care what they're into. I could care less. And they know that, you know, and I wish more folks had parents like I did growing up. And listen, like my dad's from Italy. My mom's parents are from Italy. They're pretty old school. But they've always taught me. It doesn't matter if they're a good person, they're a good person, that's it. And I wish more folks had that growing up. So I'm sorry that you didn't have that. So your grandmother passed in high school when you're already going through it. Yeah. I think if she had been here a little bit longer, perhaps you could have talked some sense into my like a third party, like a third party negotiator. Yeah, we say. My grandmother definitely had a lot of influence in the family. I don't think that she spoke as much about me and who I was probably as much as she could have. So she got very sick very quickly. And I remember coming home. I lived very close to the school where I went to at the time. And I forgot my track spikes before the track meet. And I ran home really quick. It was like a five minute run to grab my spikes. And my mom told me that in there that she had passed away just moments before a track meet. And I just felt so many emotions. Just heartbroken that my best friend in life, my biggest like confidant in life, my biggest believer, the one who was going to make it easier for me to be who I was in the future was then gone. So that was very hard. That was probably the hardest moment in my entire life to this point was walking through that door, track spikes in hand and just being told to sit down because I had something I had to hear. And I think from that point on, she has really been what has inspired a lot of my running going to the school and doing that track meet very emotional. I still went back to school. I still ran. I think she's with me every single time that I do run now every time I put on my shoes, every time I'm out there, every single mile, every single hour. I think that's one of the reasons why I love running so much because it kind of connects me back to her. It makes me feel like I did when I was the most love to my life when I was with her when I was in the garden. So it really brings me back to those moments, which is I think why I love running so much as well because running is my best friend. Every single time I go running, I can say anything I want to and running always listens. I can just be who I am. I'm sitting here smiling as I can totally relate to that. Believe me, I can relate to that. How soon after your grandmother passed, did you realize Ohio is not cutting it? I think I knew before my grandmother passed that when I wasn't cutting it. And then after she passed, I was just kind of waking up every day trying to make it through until I graduated high school until I could leave. Some days were definitely harder than others. And then the moment I graduated barely, mental health was definitely declining. So I'm very lucky to have walked at graduation to have gotten my diploma to even get like a handshake from the principal saying you deserve this and those kind words because he knew it was a very small town. Everybody knew I'm sure no one talked about it, but I think everybody knew what I had gone through just as an individual. And so I knew once I got off that stage, once I left graduation that I was going to be leaving as soon as I could. I'd been back. I have not been back, I would say, in seven or eight years, any contact whatsoever. So I've tried regaining contact a little bit over the past few years, texting here and there definitely falls through a lot. There's not a lot of plans to see each other. I don't have contact with all my siblings. The one that was in the kitchen with me with the knife instant, I have not talked to him in about 10 years. And being 27, that's a large chunk of my life. So I think we're slowly getting there, but the more I talk about it and the further I get in my life, I realize that some demons in your life just shouldn't resurface. And so perhaps my circle now is stronger without those individuals that I had in my childhood. Understood. So let me ask you a question then. And you can answer this present tense or you can answer this back in high school. What is something you wish others understood about your identity? Oh man. It's a load of questions. What a big question. The biggest thing I wish people understood growing up is that you can be gay and still be an athlete. My senior year of high school, I did come out to everybody and my family knew before my friends in the rest of school did a bit of a crazy circumstance. My best friend had actually gone to the guidance counselor to talk about her life and just talk about some things going on and happened to mention me and mention my sexuality and just being the school, my hometown, everybody knowing each other, they felt like it was necessary for my parents to be brought in to be told. And so that day I was just going to class normally. What year is this? This was 2012. And so I was in class. I believe I was an art class at the time. And I remember hearing my name on the announcements to come to the office and I was like, oh, this is strange. And I walked on the hallway and they told me to go into the guidance counselor's room. And I walked in and my best friend was sitting in the chair crying. I can still see the tears just rolling down her face and she mouthed the words, I'm so sorry. And then someone closed the door behind me and they told me that my parents are brought into the school. They were in the room right next door. I looked over and I could see them both sitting at the board table. They were split up and had not been in the same room in many years. And this is what brought them together. And so I knew exactly what was happening. And it was just like the most suffocating moment you could ever imagine. And I went into the room and the school told them and we chatted about some things. And I went home with my mother and it was just silent. The entire car ride home. And just so much fear in my body because I didn't have control over the situation. There's so many people that come out that don't have control. And I know exactly how they feel in that moment, just not knowing which direction your life is about to go. But knowing that there's going to be some harmful things said to you in a very few moments. So when we got home, complete silence, there was a conversation that led to me leaving. So at 17, this entire conversation happened a few days before Thanksgiving. So at 17, right before Thanksgiving, I was then on my own for a week. while in high school. So I packed up what I could and went to my best friend who is the one who told the guidance counselor. I went to her home. Her mother was very open accepting. They even brought in an extra table for their dining room, or actually chair for their dining room table. And they felt so bad for being the reason my life just spiraled downhill. And that was very hard to think from one moment I'm in our class just trying to keep myself under wraps for a few more months. So I can get through and then live life and be who I am to then being essentially hopeless. I'm just sitting here shaking my head if they would do that in 2012. How would you like to have come out? Because I would imagine you only get one shot at this, right? Yeah, I think at that time I had so many scenarios in my head but didn't have a good one. I would have loved to have come out to all my friends first individually, which I ended up doing. I got it within myself a few weeks after my parents had found out and actually pulled all my friends aside in school and told them all. And they were all almost all of them were very supportive, very loving, which was really wonderful to experience that after what I had just experienced by parents. And then after seeing so much love from them, I posted a Facebook status just to like everyone else in my life because why not. And the feedback I got was so overwhelming. I used to dance actually in high school and I posted the Facebook status and then went to dance rehearsal. And it was like a 10 hour rehearsal. So I knew I could just get my mind off of it and just focus on something else and then go back to my computer later and just the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of likes on it, all of the comments. I went to school the Monday morning and got hugs from so many people. The, I was a wrestler and my wrestling coach actually hugged me and said he was very proud of me. So just like, it's crazy how much love there is in the world. That can be suppressed from just fear that people experience in their home environment. And I wish that I had realized that there's that much love present sooner. And then I wouldn't have harm myself as much as I did. It's not to say that after coming out that everything was easy because there was definitely still a lot going on behind the scenes. These people knew that I was gay now, but they didn't know that I didn't have a home. And so I used to come to school and I would shower in the locker rooms. And then I would go about my day as if I was a normal child doing normal things. And then I would still do my sports. I would go to show choir. I would do everything I could in my power to be in the school as long as possible every single day. And then I would go back to my friends home. And that was my life for quite a while. Just so hidden. It's like the secret identity that no one knew about it. You and I were a part of a group run just recently hosted by Hoka and Les Run. We did the historic pride run through the Gaborhood. And I learned a lot of cool things about my neighborhood. But the one thing that really stuck out and you kind of touched on it right here, it made me really sad because I walk by this place all the time. And I see it. I know what it is. The name escapes me. And I'm sorry for this. But it's the one of the only three in the country retirement homes for the LGBTQ community. And I don't know why I didn't put two and two together. It made it just my privilege. But when you would said, you know, you're estranged from your family. And I had said, you know, I mentioned that there's two people I know of in your group who I've talked with. They had the very similar experiences. So it's like, why do why does the LGBTQ community need their own retirement home? Well, when CC was talking, she was saying that these people, now these folks are, they're seniors now. So when they came out, it was 50, 50 years ago, things are way, and things are where a lot different than they lost their family. They didn't have the opportunity to go to work. So when you can't work, you can't save money for your future, those kinds of things. And I started to think more and more about the implications for those folks. And it's heavy. And it made me sad, frankly, it was like, the, like the room was fun until we got to that point. And then I was like, it was like a bummer. You know, and then we then then we kept on moving. But yeah, yeah, really that one, like that piece really made me think it was definitely a very educational run. CC Teles and Les Run are incredible. Totally. And working towards educating the community about every category of LGBTQIA, plus, which is they're just beautiful people. So that was a really great run with Les Run and Hoka. Yeah. So you don't really think about those people that kind of like stood up for our rights and took those beginning steps towards coming out, setting the stage for LGBTQIA plus community back in the 60s, the 70s, the 80s. And yeah, they lost their families. They lost everything. So to have a retirement home for them, a place where they can just relax and be themselves around people that are like themselves, a community that's just so, so, so comforting, I would say, very much like home is really great. And it was nice on Sunday too when I was, I was volunteering for Philly Runner at Run Fest. I think I back to the city just in time to catch the March, you know, down in the Constitution Center. And we walked on up before the party started. And it was a party that that day. Wow. Was it wild? But the March itself was great. I loved, like, I'm a, I'm a history kind of guy. So I like to learn little fat toys and stuff about history. I really enjoyed the March this year. Were you down there? So I was not. So my boyfriend actually scheduled a trip before he realized that it was Pride weekend. And so we went to go visit his friends in Shenandoah. Okay. We went to the National Park. But I saw so many videos of just the March. I'm like, this doesn't seem like a parade. This is like an actual March for our rights being the 50 year anniversary of such like a monumental moment in time. It was incredible to see so many people out in the streets just chanting with their sign. Just it was beautiful. I gotta tell you too, Kane. And I'm, and I'm using my kids and their friends as a gauge here. Like it is not the same as when I was coming up. Like it is just not. How do I explain this? They can't quite fathom the bigotry. You don't understand. It's like they have friends who don't look like them who are not the same orientation as them. And to them, it's like, it's just normal. It's right. And that gives me hope for the future. You know, like, I'm 46 years old, wondering if I should post some of my fucking stories and what people are going to say, you know, and I'm 46. My boys are 13 and 15. And as far as I know, they're both straight and they're posting pictures with flags with like rainbow flags. And their friends are all comment on it. And there's none of this. Oh, you're gay. You're this. No. It's a total. So that gives me hope for the future. So when I, so when I'm there at the March, it was nice. You know, it was, it was nice to see everybody come in together just to celebrate love. It's, it's, it's that simple. Yeah. So much, so much progress. Totally. It's definitely a lot more to go. Still. Yes. Absolutely. It's crazy to think that being in that March, you wouldn't realize that there are all these laws and legislation in place against all these people that are standing together, loving themselves for who they are that we still live in a country that is very much against all those people. Kane, you are professional because there's a perfect segue to talk about the other run that we did together with Hoka and Les Run for the for the trans teens down in Texas. Yes. A run like that that we did together with Les Run to raise awareness and to raise funds, you know, to combat that type of legislative bigotry is needed these days. Absolutely. And so when I look at something, you know, when I look at what you've just accomplished and we're going to talk about it very, very soon. I promise, you know, but you raised, I think, $60, 300, you know, for the Trevor Project and some of that money will go to to fight legislation. Absolutely. Kudos to you, Kane. Thank you. Yeah. It's actually we're still continuing to raise money. So I left the the funding open and we still get donations every day and there and there will be a link in the show description. You know, and I'll mention it right now. You can visit Kane on his social media. He's Kane Leathers across the board on all platforms or you can check out Kane's website run run across PA. And there is the link there, which will take you right to the Trevor Project also. So you're still getting donations. We are. Yeah. I think all of the added publicity. I was just in runners world as well. So that article being out there is still continuing to spread the word, which is great, because while the run was 10 days, it's still an ongoing issue that we're battling. So we could always use the funding to support the Trevor Project. Now might be a good time to thank our premier sponsor, Kane. Philadelphia Runner. You used to work at Philadelphia Runner, correct? I did used to work at Philadelphia Runner. What was your position there? So I was the assistant manager of the Center City location near Rittenhouse Square. I also helped a lot with the training too. So a lot of hiring a lot of the initial stages of training in the first week. - I have to make a comment here. Everybody there is so nice. Like so nice, so friendly. - So it's a very relaxed environment. I mean, it's running. So you go into work every single day. It doesn't feel like work. You just talk about running, you make friends. - Right. - You learn a lot while you teach people a lot. So it's just a really enjoyable environment. - So when we stand and show that, you know, fit of your runner is the hub for all things, running and fitness here in Philadelphia, is that a far cry? - Absolutely not. So definitely like a powerhouse. They have five locations in the Philly area and each one is so great in its own way. Everyone is so knowledgeable. Everyone's so friendly. They have top-of-line products, the newest shoes, the best nutrition. - That's great and I should say too. Philly Philly runner is hiring. It's a great environment to work in. And as Kane said, you're around runners all day long, talking about running. And guys, you can walk in there any time of day, talk about running and they'll talk back. - And what's great too is that you can work there, even if you aren't this top-of-the-line fast runner. So there are team members there that were dancers or lift weights or our walkers trying to get into running. So it is just an environment for you to learn yourself. - Yeah, not a very person there is a 232 marathon. - Yeah, so. - Yeah, there's definitely someone that can help you from every facet of athletics. So you can always feel like you're at home and have someone that you can be comfortable with. - Right on. And I do wanna say one more thing. Registration remains open for the classic Philly 10K, as well as the PDR, the Philadelphia distance run, which Kane ran back in 2021 with a 111 time. Wow, is that smoking fast, dude? All right, Kane, so you're one of these guys super fast, super speedy marathoners who were eyeing up the ultra world. And you've been running 16-minute 5Ks since you were 16, I think. - Yeah. - Maybe even younger than that. - Yeah. - So at what point did you decide to yourself, I wanna make the jump and be an ultra runner and why? - Yeah, so I actually did my first marathon while I was in high school. So I was 17 during track season my senior year. I was like, you know what, why not? And my track coach thought it was the worst idea I ever had. And he said, if you do this, you still have to do the meat on Tuesday. And I said, of course I will. And I ran that marathon a little over 330, was in the most pain I'd ever been in. - Sure. - I'm sure. - I was miserable that Tuesday track meet and till myself, I would never do it again. But then instantly was like, I have to do it again. And just the distance is so fun, just the challenge of it. And then I looked at what I could do next. And shortly after my senior, I actually did kind of an ultra in Texas, which was two marathons and two 5Ks within 24 hours. It was called the Dallas Double over New Year's, even New Year's Day. - That's awesome. - Yeah. And so I was 19 for that. And I won the first 5K, the first marathon, the second 5K. And then DNF'd the second marathon because I was like, why would I ever sign up for this? This was so hard. But it was pretty cool to see myself conquered, even further distance. And then I was like, what's next? I registered for a trail 50K near my hometown in a really great park, Oak openings, where I used to do a lot of cross-country practices. - Okay. - And I won that. I signed up two weeks before the race and did not really train at all. And I was very surprised that I came away at the win. - Yeah. - And then just focused on marathons for a while. Just kept running, kept training. I really like just running every single day. If I could just run all day long, that's absolutely what I would do. And then I recently took on my first 24-hour race and George Young. - Who's Stinger, right? - It was yeah. So there's the Stinger. - The Stinger. - Yeah, the Stinger. The just outside of Atlanta, it was 24 hours on a track. I thought, wow, this would be a very nice just flat course. My crew was very excited to be in one place the entire time. - Sure, I'm sure. - And I had no real expectations. There was a goal that I wanted to meet in terms of mileage, but I was just kind of seeing what I could do. And I started going and actually ended up leading the race from mile 10 to mile 97. Just very surprising. And then the coldness in the night started to creep in, and the fatigue started to creep in. - You know I was following you on that race. - Yeah. - I was tracking you like, awk. - It was such a fun race. And at 97, my body just like hit a wall and started shutting down completely. It was like, why are you doing this? This is the longest you've ever gone. - Right. - And so I decided to get to that 100 miles, get my first buckle and call the day. But it was pretty cool to lead for like 85% of the race in the environment I had never been in to see exactly what I could do if I trained a little bit harder, like what I could actually accomplish, which was so cool. So yeah, I accomplished the 100 miles in under 19 hours, which was great. We'd love to eventually get that 24 hour team USA spot and conquer another 24 hour race. - Yeah, that's still one of your goals. - That is still one of my goals. Yeah, so I'm just sure about that. 145 miles, 24 hours, I think it's definitely possible, especially on a track. - Right, all right. - All right, Kane, I'm gonna read a quote from your fundraiser. My name is Kane Leathers. And this may I will be embarking on a journey of both self exploration and empowerment. My goal is to raise $5,000 for the Trevor Project by running across state of Pennsylvania during mental health awareness month. There are a lot of changes happening in the United States and legislation and government policy create to harm LGBTQIA+ individuals and restrict how they may live their life. With Youth in America being a large portion of the population affected by these changes, they see a very difficult future ahead for themselves or no future at all. And then in a different piece of literature that I read about you, you go on to say that you survived your struggles because of fire inside you burn brighter than the fires around you. So this spring was the 10 year anniversary of a pretty big event in my life. I was actually before finishing up my senior in high school, I was hospitalized. Had a bit of a relapse with mental health, just a lot to deal with with not having a home bouncing around a bit. And so I was in the hospital for a week, right before graduation, I senior year, didn't think that I would be here on this earth. And so I wanted to do something that was empowering for myself that could also help other people. And I thought, what could I possibly do? What big accomplishment is there in this world that I could do and running across the United States? I think my body was not ready for that. That is a very big accomplishment. And so I thought, let's run across the state of Pennsylvania. And the original plan was to run from Ohio to Philadelphia, but a week before the run, we actually, I went out west and we drove the route. And there was just a bit of construction, bit too much on the dangerous highways for running. So we rerouted it and then I ran from West Virginia to Philadelphia, which I actually lived in West Virginia for a small time when I was around five. So I was still a little personal, which I liked. And the goal was 5,000, which we exceeded that by close to 1,400, which was pretty cool. But I wanted something that would push me to my absolute limit and bring out a lot of emotion and appreciation for myself. And I wanted to prove to other people that athletes like myself, athletes that fall in that LGBTQI spectrum are strong and can do the unthinkable. And I wanted to prove to children that watch this, that listen, that read things about me and my story that they can do it to, that there are no boundaries for what they can accomplish in their life. That if they want to join the cross country team, they don't have to be afraid. - Right on. And you mentioned that the year route. You changed the route a week before. - Yes, that's nuts. - I think we changed the route the night before. I think there's a lot of planning. - 'Cause that's a logistical nightmare. - Yes. Yeah, so every single night in the hotels, there was a lot of looking at the next day in the route, but luckily Strava has some really great routing options for runners. But yeah, it was just, it's very tricky. So I tried to avoid highways as much as possible. And that did not happen. So there was a day where I spent 38 miles on a highway on Lincoln Highway where cars were going 65, 70, 75 miles an hour, definitely not paying attention to pedestrian running on the road. There was a lot of like side stepping and jumping and fearing for my life crew, fearing for my life too. But we definitely did our best with the routing. But there were some really great days where I was on running trails and cycling trails. And I was on some hiking trails for a bit. Did the abandoned highway out in Western PA for a short time, which is pretty cool. So I did get to enjoy some relaxing moments. - Oh, that's important. [BLANK_AUDIO] left into my self came because I think I'm laughing at myself because I have this obsession with running across the country and you are one of us, you are now part of a small group of guests I've had on. I've had Jared Schofer. He went and ran across the country. I had Pat Hine, ran the mid-state trail from south to north in Pennsylvania. Cole Crosby ran the length of New Jersey and now we have Kane bringing across the state of Pennsylvania. So clearly I have an affinity towards these huge distances, you know. So you started this, what day, you started this on May 15th? May 15th, yeah. May 15th, day one. When I talked to you that I before you left, you know, we were talking about the pace that you were going to keep and I told you Kane, don't go out too fast buddy, don't go out too fast. What was the pace that you kept? So for most of it, I was around 10 to 1030 per mile. So that was a very like solid pace. Did it feel comfortable for you at that pace? It did. After a while, I was very thankful that I was at the pace. In the beginning, it was like my crew was so excited for me to go and they were like, okay, go. And then I started just like slowly trotting away. It was very and like I'm active. But it felt very good on my body very relaxed, especially because the first day I did do 50 miles, almost 51 miles, like 50.77, it was the longest day. So I was thankful to have that pace and not try to go out like a blazing, fast pace. More like preservation for my legs and training for this, getting ready for training. You and I were talking and we, this is where we differ. I think you and I have many similarities, but we differ on our approach to training. Now your training block arguably has more volume than mine does. Yes. Period. End of discussion. But your approach to training, me, I like the pressure. I want the eyes on me. You know, I want people looking at me because it holds me accountable. And it's like there's times when I, when I wake up in the morning, I don't want to run. But it's like, you know what? I already put it out there. So I got to do it, you know? You won the other hand. You decide to shut your strawberry down and make it totally private. Would you mind explaining your decision to do that? Yeah. So there are definitely a lot of pressures in the world. So Strava is even a social media platform where you make comparisons to your, to other people based on your training cycle and their training cycle. And you think, am I not, am I not doing enough? Am I doing too much? Will I hurt myself? And so I decided to just get off Strava completely for a few months and focus on what I thought was best for me without making those comparisons. And there were times when I even would just take off my watch and go for a run, right? Didn't it know what time it was really? Yes. I don't know what that means. And it definitely helped me become comfortable with what I was doing and not really paying attention with other people or saying what they were doing. So I knew going into the run across the state that I was doing enough because I felt comfortable. My body felt good. And on that first day, that very first day, you raised over $1,000 when you're very first day. I didn't. That had to make you feel like you wanted to run five minute miles. Yeah. It was, it was really good. There were sometimes like running through, I ran through Pittsburgh on the first day. I was like, man, I could just pick it up. And I definitely did a little bit. And I knew I had to slow down if I wanted to feel good on day five, day six, day seven. Sure. Sure. So I had to ring in that excitement a little bit. Yeah, it felt really good. Day two, of course, things don't go as expected. Shick those sideways quickly, man. It's as I know you know. Yeah. I woke up the second morning and we got going a little bit later in the day. Muscles were a little bit more sore too. Yeah. Sure. And there were thunderstorms and a lot of raining for the beginning, like half of the day, I would say. Do you handle change like that? Well, uh, no. I definitely like to be very organized and when things go wrong, I'm like, uh, and I start thinking about how this is going to back me up on day three, on day four, on day five. But my crew is like, you know what? It's great. If we need to take an eighth day on this trip or a ninth day, we'll be perfect. All you need to do is run. And so that was very, I was very thankful for that, that they kind of, uh, help take away my stress. Were you able to be present in the moment? Yes. There are some times in the run where I could definitely stop and just relax. There are times when I stopped my watch, just to stand in this expansive farmland with no cars around and enjoy the moment. So I definitely could do that. I think I started getting more comfortable with that on day three, on day four, on day five, as the run got further. I started becoming like happier and like less focused on, on the time goal. Yeah. I would assume. And more on the experience. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. At the beginning, it was like, there's a job that needs to be done. Yeah. But yeah, the tornadoes and the thunderstorms on day two definitely threw me off. But even like nighttime tornadoes started coming in right before the sun went down. So we couldn't even run at night. So day two, the mileage was, um, like 14 or 15 miles less than day one. Um, and so that kind of had to restructure the rest of the journey completely. Did you feel lighter at all? Once you changed your mindset. Yeah. So, um, day three, I was still definitely a little sore. Uh, I think day four is when my body was like, you know what? This is great. My body started like loosening up a bit. Uh, I didn't have problems like getting off and starting running in the morning. Um, but I think going into day four is when I really started to just release all my stress and have a complete incredible experience. There's even like running on the highway. My crew was a little bit worried about me, but I was like, this is fine. I'm invincible. I can, I can do anything because like if I got to this point in my life, I've got to this point on this run, then I could do this day on the highway. This is fine. Like we are, we're going to be great. There's nothing to worry about. And that's what I have in my notes here too. It has day four, 37 miles, 37 miles were completed on day four. Most of them on the highway. Yeah. Did people stop you on the run and say, Hey, what are you doing? So a lot of people stopped my crew in the cars because there were signage on the vehicles that said runacrosspa.com. Okay. Uh, and had a picture of me. And so people could stop and talk to them. And they definitely did. There were some, uh, cars that drove next to me while I was running on the road. And we're like, what are you doing? And so we did chat that way too. Uh, and they would drive ahead and then circle back around and say, I donated or like, I support the Trevor project. This is incredible. And so they, they took that time and read my story and then wanted to come back and tell me they appreciated me, which is really great. You're crew where they leapfrog in you. So it was definitely leapfrog. So I had one crew member that was with me the entire time in his vehicle. And then another one that would, uh, pack up my stuff at my hotel and drive to the next one unpack, make sure everything was set, make sure there was food. Uh, worry about like publicity and talking to the new stations. Um, so I did have one that leapfrog me the entire time. Um, and during really dangerous parts like up in the PA kind of mountains, those big hills, uh, they were right behind me the entire time with their hazards on to make sure that cars zooming around those corners weren't getting too close to me. And they were aware that, you know, there was something on the road to be cautious of, um, so in the really dangerous parts of the run, they were right next to me the whole time. Uh, but a lot of it was leapfrogging. Day six, 221 miles complete. And you're writing on your social, the further we get into the run, the better my legs seem to feel. You're an animal cane that is true. Yeah. I think around day six is when I started like throwing in one mile a day to see how fast I could go. And I think I did like, like, speed work. Yeah. I think that day I did like a six, 58 mile towards the very end. Uh, like mile 34 was like six, 58. I'm just to see like how I could do for the day. Right. Um, and then yeah. So I started feeling really good. I didn't wake up sore at that point. I was ready to go. I could sit down in the car for five minutes, take a break. Get back out on the road and my body would feel even better after that five minute break. I would just I could go with no Frankenstein legs. Nope. I could go at any point. Yeah. Wow. It's crazy how the body just adapts to this. It is. But by the time you finish, was your body like ready to break down? You think so my body was was breaking down. Yeah. Uh, day seven was definitely that injury day, uh, where towards the very end, my body was like maybe you need a little bit more rest. Uh, also in the nineties that day. Yeah. So yeah. So it was like 90 to 95 degrees. Yeah. Uh, there's no real way to train for that either because in Philly, the highest temperatures were like mid 70s leading up to that. So I had two days that were getting close to 100. You had to heat acclimation. It was like literally. It wasn't by fire. Yeah. Literally. Um, the, yeah, the first day, there's the first or second day with that heat that I actually had to stop around like 17 miles because that's when my body started shutting down. Um, because I had no idea what I was doing. And it was just so much impact day after day after day, um, so much training on my body and so my crew and I made the decision to just like stop around one or two pm that day and just sleep for the rest of the day so that I could recover so that I could relax, get hydrated. Um, because if I had pushed myself further, just like muscle straining, just the, the sodium loss, the fatigue probably would have landed me in the hospital. Now it's probably a good time to mention who your crew is. Yeah. Yeah. So a few crew members. So one was a mentor that I gained in my life right before I finished high school. I'm very thankful for him. His name is Corey. My second crew member was my boyfriend who I'm very grateful for as well. Jake took time out of his life to come support me too. And I told him he definitely did not need to, but he wanted to be there every step of the way. So much love, which is great. And his mother was the third crew member who joined us on day seven. And his mother flow is actually a very avid runner too. And the day after she got there, she ran the first 14 miles of the day with me because she just wanted to be with me every step of the way literally. I had the most heartwarming conversation with flow. You guys don't notice. You and Jake don't notice, but I called, but I reached out to flow. And I was like, flow, give me the details on the run, like, talk to me about Kane. Flow, you are such a sweetheart. I said, wonderful woman. Man, it was just like, she was, she's the kind of mom I wish a lot of people had, you know, just so supportive. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about you. Yeah, she was just, she was, she was awesome. Talking to her made me feel like really good. Yeah, she was so shout out flow. A very lovely person to have. Absolutely. Mentally physically just, just so much support from her. Yeah, we're talking about this. I said it so many times in this show, this, this, this energy is cyclical. And I said to her, I'm like, because she's an accomplished marathon. I'm like, so you're hanging out with Kane now. What's up? And she's like, well, Kane has inspired me to train for my first 50k. And not only that, Kane, she's going to be raising money for kids and foster homes while running her 50k. So, and I asked her, point by, I'm like, was this because of Kane? She's like, yeah, it was. That's so nice. That's, it's great. So I said to her, I'm like, give me a question for Kane. Her first question is, why do you want flaming hot cheetos so much? Oh, man. So I got this bag of flaming hot cheetos. I think it was on like day two or three. And my crew would not let me eat it. Of course they would, because they're smart. It's like the last thing you want to eat is fucking flaming hot cheetos. I just wanted that every single day. That was what I crave the most on my run. It was like flaming hot cheetos. And I think it was like sprite and lemonade combined, where like the two things I just wanted every single day. And they gave me the soda, but they would not give me the flaming hot cheetos, which I'm thankful for, especially on those 95 degree days. But the day after, actually I think I finished around like, like 745 in the morning on the 10th day. And I went home, slept, woke up, and immediately ate that bag of flaming hot cheetos. I don't know flow. It was very addicting. And the second thing she said was, you know, she said that Kane had asked Jake and I one day, what did we learn about each other since we're spending so much time in the car together? And a nice conversation in suit and I'll keep that private. But she wanted to pose the question to you, what's the one thing you learned about yourself during your journey? That's the one thing that I learned about myself that I kept telling to myself, especially in the later half, is that I really can do anything. So there's a lot of limitations I set for myself in my life. I feel like we all do at times that think like, maybe I can't do this or maybe I can't do that. But really as the run got more progressed towards the end and I felt better, I thought, you know, what can I do next? I can do so many things in this world. I didn't think I could make it this far. I said out on the journey with this big goal and there was a little doubt on my mind, even though I felt very strong. And I just accomplished so much and I felt so good at the end of it. I already, it was a week and a half ago and I ran almost 11 miles yesterday. So I'm already back on, right back on the road. Some very, I'm becoming more grateful for myself and just who I am in my strength, not just physically, but mentally too. There's a lot that it takes to be an ultra runner, especially a lot of mental strength, especially in those really long, long runs like the 100 miles, the 200 miles. There's some really crazy races out there. And I think after this journey, I really know that I can do anything. So yeah, doing this run during mental health, awareness month in May, I told myself during the journey that I just wasn't that happy with what I was doing in my life. And I, it was a really incredible company. Don't get me wrong. This is not fully runner. We'll leave it at that. So this company, I started with them about two months prior to my run. They were very supportive of the run too. They even donated a large sum, especially even after I gave my notice to leave. They donated a very large amount and said they supported me and then I'll do great things in life. They were saddened in a workout, but we're still in my corner, which is nice. It was really beautiful. Yeah. But yeah, I just wasn't happy. I was unhappy, pretty early on. And I would have been not fair to myself if I was doing this during mental health, awareness month for, for like suicide prevention, for happiness and being in a very unhappy place in my life. And the more I got into the run, the more I realized that I needed to make changes. And on day seven, I sat down in the hotel after the run, typed out an email, a very, very nicely worded email and said that I was resigning. And I think it was just a big weight lifted off my shoulders. And I gained a lot of time to focus on queer run now and just focus on things that do make me happy, which is running, which is community. We're just trying to change beliefs of people and make a more inclusive environment, an accepting environment between the LGBTQIA and the allies in the community. So I'm very grateful for that big leap. It was a lot in the moment, but I would not change it. But you've made that big leap before in your life. I have. I made a lot of big changes in my life. I'm definitely not afraid to make a quick change after sometime in Ohio, after graduating high school. I made a big leap and moved to North Carolina and Wilmington to train with a really great group without limits. Tom Clifford, the director of without limits is actually a hoka flyer to now. So shout out to Tom for shout out Tom. Shout out to Tom doing an incredible job with his, with his group. So I was there for a while and then decided I wanted another change as well and sold everything I owned except for two suitcases and went to Sweden to Stockholm for about half a year just to run, just to run in my life and find my new direction. And when my visa was up there, my flights to the US came back to Philly. And I visited for about a week. I lived in a hostel for that week. I know so adventurous. And I really found a strong sense of community and inclusiveness here that I had never felt anywhere else. Growing up in Ohio and then coming to Philly and seeing murals and people walking around in drag, which is so different to me. And just like the queer culture, the LGBTQ culture was just so amazing here. And so I thought I could see myself living here. And I did. And that was about five years ago. That's one of my questions is why, I mean, listen, I love Philly. So I'm curious as to why you chose Philly and you just answered it right there. Yeah, just a beautiful city. Absolutely. So Kane, you ran across the state 361 miles. Yes. Took you 10 days, 167 hours and 30 minutes. Yes. You started 815 AM on 515. And you finished on the bridge 745 AM. Man, how that, I mean, like those last few miles, were you just like, I'm done with this or were you sprint? So the last day, I actually developed an injury on the ninth day. And I had to like stop at Dick's boarding good to get a knee brace. And it was struggling to put any weight on my knee at all. So it was a lot of like walk running for day nine. And day 10, I felt a little bit good in the morning. And I, my crew and I got up at like 2.33 AM because we knew we had to finish these like six and a half miles before 8 AM to finish that 10 day mark. So we went to bed the night before at almost midnight and then got up really early and the first eight miles of the day, I ran a little over eight miles in the first hour. So I was going fast going a little faster than I did before. And I was like, my muscles feel okay. I wasn't sure how I was moving as fast as I was, but I was taking advantage of those moments and making as much ground as I couldn't. Yeah. So I was like, how are fast I'm going right now? I'm not going to slow down because I know that maybe in like half an hour, I won't be able to do this. And so after like 8 and a half miles, my boyfriend actually walked ran with me the rest of the time because I wasn't a lot of pain. And then I got to the bottom of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. And I was like, why did I make the last moment of this run completely uphill? And then I ran and it was a very out of body experience to take those final steps and just like relive every moment of the journey up until that point and realize that it was coming to an end that I was accomplishing this massive feat. I thought I would cry a lot more, but I think I was just so ready for bed going off like three hours of sleep the night before. But it was it was incredible. What do you think the teenage iteration of Cain would say? Wow. I think would be surprised that I am running so much right now, but very, very proud of me. I thought about that a lot during the run too. Like if only I could just hug myself. Yeah. And just tell myself like it's okay. Like look what you can do. Look what you will do. I thought about that a lot. Well, hopefully others will, you know, who may be experiencing what you experienced. We'll look at this and realize that they can do it too. That's my hope. I have had quite a few people reach out to me on Facebook on Instagram. I've had some people speak me in person that it has changed their life. Some people told me that they had try it out for the cross-country team or the track team or they weren't going to run in college, but they are going to be an athlete at the university this fall. I've had some people reach out to me that my story touched them and made them rethink their thoughts on their life, which was very touching, very hard. It's like a reminder that people do go through a lot of hard things in their life and it just if you have something to say, say it because you never know who's listening and you never know who it's going to help. Well said, came. I'm closing. I definitely want to thank you and thank Queer Run for helping influence my understanding of gender and sexuality. Just thank you for that. It wasn't easy for me to go to those first couple of runs. I felt very welcomed and although I didn't know you prior to 2021, it appears that now, after studying your social media, that you've gained a profound sense of growth. I don't see you pursuing goals so much as I see you with purpose or having purpose, and there's a huge difference there, man, huge difference. It's because I'm proud to be your friend and I'm excited to just watch you keep growing. So thank you, Kane. Thank you, Dex. Absolutely. All right, Kane. So I do need to start wrapping up here. I want to say thank you to Philadelphia Runner. Philadelphia Runner is Philadelphia's only independent and locally-owned specialty running company that strives to be more than just another ordinary running store. So visit one of their five store locations or shop with them online at PhiladelphiaRunner.com. The best part, drop my name in store or online, GAGZ. Please check out the Trevor Project.org and be sure to follow Kane on social media. He's Kane Layers across the board on all platforms, Kane Leathers. Queer run on Instagram. Is that it? Yep. All right, folks. Peace and love. Thank you. Thank you for listening. I'm your host, Michael Gagliardi, aka GAGZ. Running Times is produced by Mary Arnold of Active Brand Consulting and recorded by Lauren Deluca at Milk Boy the Studio. If you enjoyed this episode and wish to help me grow the show and I really hope you do. Please take a moment to like, share, subscribe, tell a friend, help me grow the show. Peace and love.