Podcast: Episode 161 with Aaron and Joshua Potts

Mario Fraioli | May 17, 2021

“What we’re doing, it’s for the culture. It’s not ultimately about trying to get money. We want to push the track and field culture forward. We want it to be more entertaining, we want it to be more fun. We’re doing this for the athletes. And with both of us being athletes before, we understand those struggles and, I don’t know, I’m really big on believing that track and field is a stage, it’s an amazing sport, but the culture needs to be continually developed and advanced so we can showcase that—and that’s the mission, it’s something that’s not about getting subscriptions or anything. We’re really genuine and just want to push the culture forward and make track more of a mainstream sport.”

Aaron and Joshua Potts are the guys behind The Running Report, a media outlet produced “for culture and by the culture.” They also co-host the 2 Black Runners podcast, where each week they recap the most recent running news, host insightful interviews with athletes from across all disciplines of track and field, and offer up their perspective on the running world as two black runners in the sport. They first came across my radar a few months ago when they interviewed one of my earliest running heroes, Michael Johnson, and I’ve been following their work ever since.

In this conversation, we got into their recent broadcast work at The KC Qualifier put on by Trials of Miles Racing and Citius Mag. They told me how The Running Report and 2 Black Runners came to be, what they saw missing from the way the sport was being broadcast and covered, and what changes they’d still like to see as it relates to how track and field is packaged and presented. We also talked about the importance of culture and what they mean when they use that word, how they see The Running Report and 2 Black Runners evolving in the future, and a lot more.

Aaron Potts: Instagram

Joshua Potts: Instagram | Strava

The Running Report/2 Black Runners: Website | Podcast | YouTube

the morning shakeout: Instagram | Twitter

Mario Fraioli: Website | Strava

This episode is brought to you by:

— BOA. BOA wants you to get dialed in, locked in, and connected to the trail in the new BOA-powered La Sportiva Cyklon. Available in men’s and women’s, every aspect of the shoe is engineered to deliver revolutionary fit and performance on the trail, and was designed and tested in BOA’s state of the art Performance Fit Lab to improve running efficiency and reduce landing impact. BOA is exclusively offering four morning shakeout listeners the opportunity to win a free pair of the Cyklon. To enter, head over to boafit.com/Mario.

— Picky Bars. Picky’s products are made with real ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize—and there’s a peace of mind that comes with not second-guessing what I’m putting into my body. If you want to try some Picky products for yourself while supporting the podcast, go to pickybars.com/MARIO and enter the code MARIO at checkout to save 20% off your purchase of 25 bucks or more. You can also join the Picky Club at that link, which is a subscription service, and save 20% off your first box with the code MARIO. Super easy, amazing offer, take advantage of while you can at pickybars.com/MARIO.

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