484. Friendship Fest with Nell Rojas & Hiruni Wijayaratne

"I would declare war on all of your enemies."

Welcome to Friendship Fest! Starting today and for the next seven weeks, we'll be hearing from runner friends about how they met, the role running plays in their friendship, and what big dreams and goals they share for the future. (Consider it Love on the Run, friendship-style!) We're kicking things off today with Boulder-based besties and professional marathon runners Nell Rojas and Hiruni Wijayaratne. Nell and Hiruni are both coached by Ric Rojas (Nell's dad), and we recorded this conversation while they were at training camp in Phoenix. They share the stories of how they met, why Hiruni joined Nell and Ric's training group, what it was like running the first 20 miles of CIM together in December, and how they handle it when one of them has a great race or workout and the other doesn't.

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What you'll get on this episode:

• What Nell and Hiruni are up to in Phoenix (6:00)
• How Nell and Hiruni met (13:25)
• What it was like when Nell and Hiruni started training together (22:30)
• How Nell and Hiruni are similar, how they're different, and what they're like when they run together (26:00)
• On running CIM together in December (40:00)
• Nell reflects on her race at the Houston Half Marathon in January (48:25)
• Nell talks about signing with adidas and what she did first after making it official (55:00)
• Nell and Hiruni talk about when they've felt especially proud of each other (59:20)

For more, check out:

Nell Rojas on Episode 434 of the Ali on the Run Show

Nell Rojas on Episode 431 of the Ali on the Run Show

Nell Rojas on Episode 229 of the Ali on the Run Show

Hiruni Wijayaratne on Episode 466 of the Ali on the Run Show

Follow Nell:

• Instagram @nell_rojas_running
• Twitter @nellrojas

Follow Hiruni:

• Instagram @hiruni_w

Follow Ali:

• Instagram @aliontherun1
• Join the Facebook group
• Twitter @aliontherun1
• Support on Patreon
• Blog
• Strava

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