Podcast: Episode 144 with Craig Curley

Mario Fraioli | January 18, 2021

“I’m responsible for my life and what I want to do in this world. And whatever silly thing that I am good at, I’m going to pursue it and not look back. I believe I could be super fast and I don’t want to waste those gifts. And that was kind of my moment of, ‘I’m gonna do this running thing.’ Because in the beginning it was really easy to be like, ‘I quit running, I don’t need to run competitively, I don’t need to do any of that.’ But when that happened to me, that event, it changed me in the sense that there’s lot of people who have different gifts and they don’t use [them]. And I wanted to make sure that I used my gifts because I think if we all use our gifts we could do something really special, not for ourselves, but for our family, and, if we’re really good, we can do something for our community, wherever we live.”

This week’s episode is one of my favorite conversations that I’ve ever had for the podcast and I am super excited to share it with all of you. Craig Curley was one of most up and coming distance runners in the U.S., from about 2010-2016, clocking a 63-minute half marathon, 2:15 marathon, and some top-10 finishes at national championship races. He hasn’t raced a lot in recent years but two weekends ago he finished third at the Bandera 100K, his first time competing at that distance.

Craig, who is 32 years old, is one of the most, humble, hard working, and down to earth people that I’ve ever spoken to and it really comes out in this episode. We caught up a few days before Bandera and hit on a lot of different topics, from the connection Craig feels to the trails and mountains, to his life growing up on a Navajo reservation in Arizona, and how he balances living in the modern world without getting too far away from his Navajo roots. We also discussed his relationship to running and how it’s evolved over the years, not wasting his gifts and talents, serving as a role model for other Native Americans, and a lot more.

Craig Curley: Instagram

the morning shakeout: Instagram | Twitter

Mario Fraioli: Website | Strava

This episode is brought to you by:

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Music and editing for this episode of the morning shakeout podcast by John Summerford.