Member Spotlight: Adam Devine
“It may seem weird, but one of the things that I wanted to focus on the most when I ran for the Board was to try to make the club more of a place where women, people of color, and all identities felt like they had a home and where their voices are heard. ”
MEET ADAM DEVINE
PPTC Member Adam Devine. Photo by PaFoua Hang
Adam Devine is the newly elected Vice President of the Prospect Park Track Club. He has also been a Team Captain since 2016. He has also unofficially claimed the title of Director of Cowbell Operations.
Where are you from, Adam?
I was a military brat growing up, so I claim a lot of different places, including San Diego and Beaufort, South Carolina. Sara and I have been in Brooklyn for 8.5 years.
What do you do outside of running?
I work as an insurance defense attorney, which means long-ish hours, but my bosses are super chill with me getting in as much running as I need to as long as I am getting my billable hours in. They think I am insane but [they] like that I am crazy.
When gyms are open I powerlift to cross-train, simply because I think it is fun. It may not be the best running-specific strength routine, but I always tell people that the best strength routine is the one that you will actually do, as so few people actually regularly do strength workouts.
Other than that, I have a newfound love for baking in these pandemic-stricken times. Mostly sweets, but I may branch into breads soon!
Adam’s sourdough starter “Bao Jackson,” vegan mixture, and vegan blueberry muffins. Photo by Adam Devine
ON COMMUNITY
Why did you join PPTC?
It’s funny, Sara and I ran the Brooklyn Half in 2015, and I did not run a smart or fun race. I remember being miserable and seeing all these people in red shirts having a great time. I thought “They look like they are having fun, and I am definitely not having fun. I should ask them how they are doing it.” Sara had already done some research on running clubs, so she signed us up in May 2015.
What do you like most about the club?
The feeling that I don’t have to do any of this alone. I run a lot of miles by myself, but knowing that there are so many other people in the club out there doing amazing things, not just in running but in being good citizens of their communities, helps me to stay motivated and to keep going.
“You all have given me something that I never had before, the sense of a place where I belong, that I can rely on, that gives me comfort and inspiration when I need it. You have given me a home. Thank you.”
I do this thing when I am in an ultra where I name all of the people that I have had the opportunity to train and run with in preparation for that race, and I thank them out loud, by name, for running with me. I use the present tense: “PaFoua Hang, thank you for running with me,” because even if I am physically alone all of those folks played a part in getting me to that exact point on the course that day, and I get to carry them with me. They give me strength when I need it most.
What is your favorite club event?
The marathon has three things that I think are absolutely amazing:
The magic tree where we all hang out in the start village
The post-race school where we all clap for one another and I sob several times
The final finishers cheer zone at the end
The whole day is just such a great example of what makes running in a club so worth it.
Also a special shout-out to the scream tunnel at the Team Champs as well—just getting to be obnoxiously loud for an entire morning is so much fun.
Adam led the PPTC Cheer Tunnel at Team Champs. Photo by PaFoua Hang
What aspect of the club are you most active in?
As a Team Captain I do a lot of work with MTG, and as a board member I have gotten more involved behind the scenes, but I think the place that I most make my mark is in the Ultra groups. Along with Matt, Juliette, Brian, Carmen, Holly, Rachel, and the rest, we have a huge and growing number of ultra runners and I love getting to go out and run the trails with those folks.
Why did you run for Vice President and what are some of your goals for the club as someone in a leadership position?
It may seem weird, but one of the things that I wanted to focus on the most when I ran for the Board was to try to make the club more of a place where women, people of color, and all identities felt like they had a home and where their voices are heard. It’s hard sometimes, as a white-hetero-CIS male (I am practically dripping in privilege), to feel like I have any political capital on these topics, and to feel like I am not a fraud for talking about identity issues, but I have been doing what I can to try to support the structural changes that we need to be making to ensure that people who don’t look and act like me still feel like we can be teammates.
“The biggest running goal I have is that other runners will look at our team and think, ‘They are good people.’”
I’d like to think that we have had moderate amounts of progress on this, and if you look at the makeup of our leadership positions, be it the captains, the Board, or our committee chairs, we are more diverse than we were when I joined the club. But we still have a lot of work to do here. One of the reasons I ran for VP instead of keeping my Director position was that I saw the roster of candidates for the Director positions, and I was willing to forego my own spot if it meant one less straight white dude calling the shots. Whenever I step down from the Board, if it is even less straight-white-dudey than it is now, I’ll be happy.
WHY RUNNING?
How did you start running?
I never really liked running growing up. I played sports up until college, and did adult league stuff like kickball. I did run a marathon in 2008 as a stupid “26 at age 26” thing with the idiots I went to college with, but I never really considered myself a runner.
It wasn’t until that 2015 Brooklyn Half that I ever thought I would really try to be a runner, and then that fall I ran my first NYCM, followed two weeks later by my first ultra, the 60k, and I knew that I had found a home.
PPTC members joined Adam's “Last Walk” before he crushed the 2019 San Diego 100 Miler in under 24 hours. Photo by PaFoua Hang
What keeps you running?
I run mainly because I get to interact with and be around so many amazing people doing amazing things. I get to not feel so alone when I am out there with them.
I also run for mental health. I have struggled with substance abuse and depression over the years, and running keeps me sane. I so often feel like there are a thousand voices screaming in my brain at the same time, but a good six-hour run seems to quiet them down quite a bit.
The last thing is that I am running from my former fat self. I have struggled with weight and as recently as 2013 I was well over 300 pounds. The running helps keep me from having to see that former me in the mirror, at least for today.
What do you think about or listen to when you run?
I listen to the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast a lot, and a couple of podcasts about ultra and trail running (a brand new one, The Adventure Jogger, just started and I am excited about it).
I also have a Spotify playlist that I didn’t realize was public that Oren started listening to, so if you want to see, please feel free to look for “Adam Running” on Spotify (it is the 8+-hour list to accommodate a 50-miler if need be). I don’t know many other playlists that will include quite a range of artists, but it is fun.
What is your best running memory?
I think it must be the first year that I went up to Rock the Ridge, when Etan won it; I didn’t even do the whole thing, just a leg of the relay. But I got to put a medal around Etan’s neck when he came in first, and then I got to be there 14 hours after the start when the last finisher crossed (just after Caryl, finishing her first ultra). It was an absolute blast, and I got to spend it with my teammates. It was a total gift.
Any advice you would give to your younger running self?
Oh man, I wish I could have told my younger self that the pain and discomfort was part of the benefit. I have never done anything worthwhile in my life that didn’t involve some amount of discomfort. Whether it is putting in the work to train for a race, studying for exams and classes in college or law school, admitting I was wrong and asking forgiveness, or asking for help (which is most uncomfortable sometimes), I think it is important to embrace the discomfort. It makes us better runners. It makes us better teammates. It makes us better people.
What are your running goals?
I have a couple of weird ones. I want to BQ, just like everyone else in spitting distance from it. I think my best shot is just to not slow down and keep getting older.
I was also hoping to break 22 hours at the Vermont 100 Miler this year.
But to be honest with you, the biggest running goal I have is that other runners will look at our team and think, “They are good people.” So I want to do whatever I can at races and other events to make the world around me better for the other runners I am lucky enough to share it with. I don’t care if I am the fastest or best runner, but if I could be “most welcoming” or “kindest”, that is a real goal to aspire to.
ON RACING
Are you currently training for anything during this period of NYS Pause?
I am currently participating in the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. I am doing the 2000K out-and-back version, and am hoping to do fairly well. I was pretty devastated when all the races this summer got canceled, but having some stupid virtual thing to participate in has taken the edge off.
Adam has been logging ultra mileage for the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee and has run over 400 miles in the first 3 weeks of the summer-long ultra already.
I started a separate fundraiser as part of this race, as well, and was completely blown away that I raised over $2000 in support of Feeding America. It really helps keep me going knowing that people are willing to support my silly hobby in this way.
What distance do you enjoy racing most?
I love the half-marathon and the 50-mile distances. The half is the last “sane” distance, and we have so many good ones here in NYC. 50-mile races are just hard enough so that I feel like I have explored some of the dark corners of the pain cave without fully setting up residence in them, like I do in 100-mile races.
What is your favorite race EVER?
The NYC 60K. As my first ultra, it will always have a special place in my heart, but I have had some really good races there, have spent a lot of time with some really good friends and teammates, and I just love the absurdity of it. Nine loops of Central Park? Sign me up! Also, the first year that I ran it, in 2015, it was two weeks after my first NYCM, and I had SO MUCH more fun at the 60K. Even though I never broke down in racking sobs during the marathon, like I did during the 60K, it just felt so much more like where I belonged.
What is your pre-race ritual, if any, the night before a race and during the morning of?
I drink lots of beet juice. To the point where my pee, poop, snot, tears, and everything looks like blood. It’s pretty frightening.
Before he retired, I also really liked yelling “PEEEEETTTTEEEERRRR CIAAAAAAA-CCIAAAAAA” at the start of NYRR races. I still like to scream “CLEARANCE ON THE ROADWAY” after they ask if they have it (they always do).
What are your favorite recovery tools?
I am in love with my percussion massage gun (it’s a knockoff brand, Opove), but I think my favorite recovery tool is just a warm bath, which I still put Epsom salt in, but please don’t tell Jemma.
What is your favorite food to eat after a hard race (assuming everything has stabilized internally)?
After the Vermont 100 Miler last year I went to a diner with Missy, Jemma, and Tim. I asked the server, “Could I have four orders of bacon?” She looked at me quizzically, so I rephrased, “Whatever amount of bacon you think it would be normal for one person to eat, I would like you to bring me four of those, please.” I then got to watch her explain it to the equally befuddled cook in the kitchen, half giggling. The dinner plate full of bacon I received was delicious.
I recently changed to a plant-based diet. Etan and Jemma, two of the most amazing athletes I have had the pleasure to run with, are vegan and seriously competitive ultrarunners. I decided to switch to a vegan diet for the Vermont 100 Miler to see what happened as an experiment. I haven’t actually raced anything since the switch, but I have been loving some of the vegan cookies and baked goods we’ve been making.
I also have to say that the plant-based switch seems to have helped with recovery if nothing else. I put in my first 150+-mile week last week and ran 200 miles this week, and I still feel relatively okay. Before, I used to be exhausted with 100+-mile weeks. It is so strange.
Adam Devine, Director of Cowbell Operations. Photo by PaFoua Hang
What else would you like your teammates to know about you?
I’ve touched on it above, but I moved around a lot both as a kid and as an adult. I never really had a place that I strongly identified as “home.” I had places where I had lived for a bit, but nothing that felt like the center of gravity in my life that I heard other people describe.
We lived in Brooklyn for a couple of years before we joined the club and I didn’t feel like this place was where I belonged, either. And then we joined the club, which welcomed us in with such warmth and love that it was overwhelming at times.
You all have given me something that I never had before, the sense of a place where I belong, that I can rely on, that gives me comfort and inspiration when I need it. You have given me a home. Thank you.
Text by Adam Devine
Interview by PaFoua Hang
Edited by Carla Benton and Anna Gold
Produced by Alison Kotch