Pandemic Papers: An interview with Conor Shelley (Class of 2011), Part 3

 

This final installment of the epic, three-part interview with Conor Shelley continues to be the gift that keeps on giving (in my humble opinion). Fond memories abound, even post-graduation, of Conor showing up at the Vassar track in an extremely conspicuous, orange (I think?) New Balance van, and proceeding to show the young’uns that he still has it. His many great road races – surprised that he didn’t mention the 10-mile race that ends at Blue Point Brewery on Long Island, Conor being one of a long line of alums who will Run Fast For Beer. His flawless handling of the pandemic, which includes soon-to-be two pandemic era babies! And finally, his uncannily outstanding and forward thinking advice to graduates and cheerleading for more alumni participation and fundraising. To that end: Stay tuned for a planned large celebration of all things Marist Track/Cross Country, dating back to decades before many/most of you were even born (well, not YOU, Marty!). Mark down the weekend of October 22-24, and eagerly await further details. For now, enjoy one final day of Conor Shelley musings. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

 

What are you doing now professionally and personally, and how has the pandemic affected your life in those areas?

 

Most of my professional career has been spent within the Run Specialty/Sporting Goods Industry, with the last 5+ years working as a Tech Rep for New Balance. My most important responsibility is influencing sell-through at local businesses via education, localized marketing, and some good old-fashioned schmoozing! As NB is the official Footwear/Apparel sponsor of NYRR, I’m also commonly the public face of the company whenever Road Runners is hosting an informational seminar for their training programs (which are often live streamed). This last piece has been rewarding as it’s helped foster an affinity for public speaking, while allowing a corporate shill to be paid to offer honest advice about the sport.

 

Since the pandemic began, my mostly in-person role has turned 100 percent virtual; so while remote work has largely been a fixture in my work life, we’ve had to get leaner and more clever about being impactful at our accounts. I’ve learned a great deal about video editing and social media marketing. I recently led an activation in which my team interviewed Olympian Jenny Simpson on her approach to nutrition and mental health, which will hopefully air in NYRR’s feed soon. It hasn’t all been positive, but I implore anyone in the working world to keep an open mind to the educational benefits of a disrupted working routine (I’m certainly trying).

 

On the home front, Laura and I were expecting our daughter when the world shut down last year. The uncertainty of the whole situation was pretty stressful, as we navigated the new realities of patient care and our target delivery hospital moved further west (away from NYC). Thankfully, restrictions on spouses in-hospital were quickly lifted. While I as the father didn’t have much to suffer through during delivery, anyone going through a serious medical event deserves an invested advocate at their side. 

 

Isla was born in April, we were slow and cautious to open our 3-person pod to immediate family and done our best to hold it there (there have been some rare and brief outdoor exceptions). We recently moved back to Rockville Centre to be closer to both sets of grandparents for additional care. During this time, I was furloughed from work, which honestly wasn’t the worst. With the federal stimulus, I got a rare glimpse of what parental leave looks like in the rest of the industrialized world. When baby #2 arrives in June, it’s going to be a shock!

 

Where do you see this all headed, short-term and long-term, in terms of the pandemic?

 

The pandemic has been fascinating from a Fitness Industry perspective. Approximately 7 million Americans (in a global sport) picked up or returned to running since the shutdown last year and most of them are expected to stick with the lifestyle. I remember being on vacation in August and seeing many more elementary/middle school aged kids out for a run than in years past. It’s a major democratization, which will hopefully help shift global attitudes in the direction of a common worldview that readers of this humble blog share.

 

While XCTF programs across the NCAA are increasingly under threat under a guise of financial instability, these are not new.  The frequency of recent high-profile cases have borne a growing confederacy of alumni networks, whose actions may help make the NCAAs most accessible sport viable to the business model. I was also excited at the prospect of “Winter XC” (despite the terrible decision to host two NCAA Champs within the same week) and its possibility to make the sport more spectator friendly, while making terrain more difficult.

 

Lastly, there are some unique opportunities to localize the sport. With the Olympics deferred a year, many athletes and race directors are starting to get creative about activating in Athletics. The recent “Marathon Project” gave us all the feelings we get watching the Olympic Trials, without any of the stakes.  The old days of Prize Fight races are coming back. I’d love to dust off a couple classic Marist Routes and get an FKT leaderboard going for runs like “Tower” (Mid-Hudson Bridge Route) to keep the alumni involved. Maybe there’s even a chance at a resurgence of AAU!?

 

Side note: I ran “Under the Bridge” in August 2019 (Franny Reese to you young bloods) and couldn’t find the probably illegal game trail which led to the farm overlook. There’s a separate post about institutional knowledge there!

 

Talk about your post-Marist running -- how much have you done, racing highlights and future goals?

 

After graduation, I quickly joined the storied New York Athletic Club (NYAC) on their Road Racing Team. For the WWE fans out there, I was a jobber whose role was to keep local members interested in funding the club’s Elite Team; so the likes of Meb Keflezighi and other actual Olympic hopefuls could get funding. Within the local sense, I was fairly prolific between the NYC and Long Island running communities from 2011-2016. I was the top American at the Dublin Marathon in 2013 (2 days after my 26th birthday, among other coincidences), notched a few top-15 finishes at NYRR (including one “oh first American” performance which I have mixed feelings about), and most notably beat both Girma Segni and Will Griffin in a sanctioned race (although not at the same time).

 

While most of this was on the roads, I was able to briefly return to the Vassar Twilight Race and run a solo 5k PR under the lights. Considering I was a long-departed alumni, the fact that I was being cheered for like a Forever Fox meant so much. I remember Stefan Morton coming up to me after Qualifying for IC's and talking to me about hearing my story and impact from yesteryear (at a moment where we were all trying to hype HIM up). I’ll also be remiss in mentioning my fellow Firebird/Fox/AC teammate Dietrich Mosel (who’s own Shelley Challenge went successfully) enthusiastically screaming in support!

 

I netted nearly $4k in prize money during that period (mostly at random road races), with a greater amount being comped. I won’t say it’s an easy thing to do, but it isn’t as hard as you think with the right support system. In my Grey Fox years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be near other motivated runners (often enough fellow Marist Alums) to get JUST enough social running to not totally lose my marbles. 

 

The best part about the post-collegiate scene is running into (and hopefully with) various other Forever Foxes and other college rivals over the years. Our network is strong in a social sense, but running into someone at a start or finish line is a special experience that I cherish! I’ll also mirror Matt Walsh’s comments that having a supportive community to help get you out the door has immense physical and psychological benefits. Ryan Scrudato and Mariella Bilello happened to move into our building a few months before we left Long Beach. It was so nice to have someone to run with and also to relive the old glory days (and maybe occasionally spill the tea in Alumni Gossip).

 

A last Pandemic note: I was uptrending in endurance in late 2019 and quarantine was generous enough to allow me to focus on my personal fitness (with a big ramping up of various cycling disciplines over the last three years). The forest has certainly given away for the trees, as I was able to clock a 15:44 (barely missing my 18th Calendar Year of Sub 5 Miles at each split) 5k in Prospect Park. Keep showing up.

 

Talk about your post-Marist coaching (with Swift Endurance) and where do you see that going?

 

Adam Vess (I’ve already written too much, but I’ve barely touched my partner in crime) has roped me into a fantastic opportunity to leverage our shared expertise within the Running Industrial Complex, into a premium endurance coaching service. Personally, I’ve taken on a few clients and recently passed the Dr. Jack Daniels VDOT certification process (which has also helped with the aforementioned comeback tour). It is strange because the business model thrives on mass participation running events, but that’s not a deal breaker. After that, my only challenge is reminding myself that I’m worth the rate I’m charging (which is a fraction of the cost of similar services)! 

 

As you know, last year's seniors and to an extent this year seniors have had their student-athlete lives greatly disrupted. What are your memories from your final few months at Marist and what can you impart to them and what they are experiencing?

 

Endings are always difficult and normally one’s final semester at Marist is fine-tuned to take some of the pressure off of an impending future. Likewise, as an XCTF program can be an incredibly insular culture, this period allowed the social group to spread out more than normal and interact with folks we didn’t always commune with. I can’t say I would trade much for the memories made during such wonderful traditions as River Day or Senior Week (and as someone who did five years, I got double the fun)! 

 

This all being said, there will always be another party, another friend you haven’t met yet, and hopefully many more happy endings. Do what you can to stay close to those you became close to here, support your fellow Forever Foxes, and keep supporting this incredible program! Having walked into my fair share of practices post-graduation, I can guarantee you’ll still be treated like family.

 

The last thing I’ll say here is to note what everyone else says in their recruiting question in this series. Poughkeepsie and the Mid-Hudson River Valley is an incredibly special place; it is scenic at almost every turn and chances are you were able to experience it in a lens seen by few.  If campus is on pause, go explore a new park or develop a new route for future generations (hopefully within your pod).  If you can’t be with your teammates, find a challenging Strava segment and face off virtually. 

 

The last thing I did as a Poughkeepsie resident was to hit the 10-mile loop at Minnewaska. While the first run at Marist is always Ogden Mills Hill, the Minnewaska trip always felt more like the first real opportunity to get to know everyone.  I’ve had the pleasure of making various pilgrimages back to the Shawangunks while on work and personal trips; and may yet attempt Matt Walsh’s “Minnewaska Marathon”.

 

If you could give one piece of advice to the 18-year-old/high school senior version of yourself as you were about to embark on your Marist career and life in general, what would it be?

1.     Buy In - The experience will only be as fruitful as your own personal investment. Take it seriously and prioritize the things that will make you “Be Better” (it was “Do Work” back in my day), but make sure you are also enjoying the journey. The coaching staff at Marist is seasoned and the formula for success is not complicated.  Trust them, trust yourself, and remember that it’s a journey. 

2.     Call Home More Often - If the pandemic hasn’t taught you to stay in touch with those not in your physical bubble, I don’t know what will. I’ve picked up the habit of reaching out to friends or family I haven’t talked to in a while. It doesn’t have to be a marathon phone call, just a quick “Hey, what’s happening and here’s what’s happening”! Fifteen minutes can mean the world to someone, and it might make you feel a little better as well.

3.     Explore - I’m doubling down on this advice from the previous question. I can’t understate how ideal of a running location Marist is. This being said, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of running the same handful of routes EVERY SINGLE DAY. Don’t be boring, current phone/GPS watch technology makes exploration much easier than when I was in school.  Some of my most memorable college runs happened when we went off the beaten path! I remember one route we extended off the Accelerator Loop, with all the key teammates who would be most likely to hammer an easy run. We finished quite ragged at 1:12 on the clock (Timex days) and Tom Lipari goes “That’s about 9 miles right”!? Considering we were barely able to speak, the rest of the group harangued him for undercutting what was clearly at least 11 miles!

4.     Take the College Part Seriously - You are here to learn, find classes that will engage you and help you find the necessary skills to be an informed, competent, and responsible member of society. Skills to make yourself financially stable and professionally nimble. Most liberal arts folks won’t end up working within their field of study. My wife studied Fashion Merchandising and now works within the Non-Profit Sector, I studied Political Science and now have a job within the realm of Fashion Merch! These careers should be switched but that’s how the world goes.

 

Anything else you'd like to add?

 

This series has thus far been a wonderful trip through memory lane, but I’d like to see a few things come out of this initiative.

1.     Bring back the comment section! Pete puts a significant amount of time into this site and we all read it; a lively (civil) conversation is an easy way to show your appreciation and will act as a feeder for excellent content!

2.     We need to continue to show that the XCTF family is one of the strongest alumni networks at Marist. Perhaps there is a fundraising opportunity we can drive through here naturally. I have listened to a few podcasts featuring some of the key players in trying to save various NCAA programs and the first line of defense is an active and invested alumni network. Let’s also get some activity in the Forever Foxes Strava/Facebook Groups!

3.     Current Student Athletes, to my knowledge there has been a MAAC Mustache drought in recent years. BE BETTER! The man with a bad MAAC ‘Stache walks taller than his peers (and race facial hair gets better over time).