Why Would Someone Run 31 Miles While Eating Taco Bell?

Last year we got an email from a young woman named Eleanor Sigel that said: “I’m training for the Taco Bell 50k. With ten Taco Bell stops in thirty miles, it should be a fun run, so I thought I'd invite you to join me.” While Dan had absolutely no interest in running 31 miles, eating that much Taco Bell, or combining the two endeavors into one, we decided to follow Eleanor as she took on the challenge. How do you train for this race?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dan Pashman?

  As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things, I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean. Whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf, whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean. Whether it's their boots, their Scotch plaid flannel, their rugged field coat, or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside. Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider. As someone who has been lucky enough to go to Napa Valley, I can tell you, it's everything people say it is. Beautiful scenery, quaint, beautiful towns, and phenomenal food and

• 0:44Dan Pashman?

  drink everywhere you go. I don't even know that much about wine, but I know that every glass of wine I had in Napa Valley was excellent. I mean, there's no bad glass of wine and no bad meal. Choose between hundreds of wineries, tasting rooms, and chef-led restaurants from a low-key lunch on a vineyard terrace to a full tasting menu paired by the winemaker. Plan your trip at visitnapavalley.com.

• 1:16Speaker 01

  It's like a sexy, tight dress that looks like a Taco Bell sauce packet. So me and my friend, we're gonna do matching ones. I mean, he's a dude, so I don't know how he feels about this, but I'm just gonna buy them and, you know, hopefully he'll wear it.

• 1:27Dan Pashman?

  So not only are you running a 31-mile race in a costume, but the costume is a sexy, tight dress?

• 1:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I think it'll be, you'll get a lot of airflow. It'll be a little more aerodynamic. Like, it's better to have too little than too much when you're running, I think.

• 1:45Dan Pashman?

  This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. Before we get into the show, I gotta tell you, a little while back, I announced that I'm teaming up with my friends at Culinary Backstreet to lead a tour of Mexico City next year. Well, reservations have now opened up and spots are filling up fast. This is gonna be such a special trip. We're gonna go into the homes of master mole makers, go on a Taco's Alpaca. Store crawl and a lot more. We're even going to a lucha libre match. That's Mexican pro wrestling with this fascinating cultural history. Also, my fall 2027 Italy tour is now open for reservations. We're going to Rome and Puglia. We're gonna eat spaghetti alla assassina in Bari, where it was invented, and a ton more. The last one sold out well in advance, so get on this one, too.

• 2:29Dan Pashman?

  For info on both trips, go to culinarybackstreets.com/sporkful. Come travel and eat with me. All right, let's get into it.

• 2:39Dan Pashman?

  I love when we get mail from our listeners. And last year, I got an email that stopped me in my tracks. It reads, "My name is Eleanor Siegel. I'm 22, and I've been a Sporkful listener for years. The Sporkful is a great accompaniment to my runs, especially since I run for two to three hours every day. Right now, I'm training for the Taco Bell 50K. This should be a great challenge for my stamina and stomach. With 10 Taco Bell stops in 30 miles, it should be a fun run. So I thought I'd invite you to join me, maybe on a bike, though." Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join Eleanor, because the race was in Denver. And also, I have no desire whatsoever to run or bike 30 miles while eating that much Taco Bell. But today on the show, we'll do the next best thing.

• 3:22Dan Pashman?

  We're gonna follow Eleanor as she attempts to run her first ever Taco Bell 50K. Can she finish this grueling test of cardio and stomach endurance? Can she, against all odds, actually enjoy it? And why on earth does she want to do this to herself in the first place?

• 3:40Dan Pashman?

  Well, Eleanor started running when she was 17. During her senior year of high school, COVID hit.

• 3:45Speaker 01

  I was living in Chicago, and it was so cold out. And I couldn't really like socialize or do anything fun. And so I might as well do something even more miserable. And so just to get out of the house, I'd do a few miles.

• 3:56Dan Pashman?

  Had you ever been a runner before that?

• 3:58Speaker 01

  No, I was, the closest thing to sports I did in high school was the math team.

• 4:03Dan Pashman?

  After graduation, Eleanor left Chicago Winters to go to college in LA. That's when she really got hooked on running.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  Probably junior year, I was averaging like 10 miles a day. And then by senior year, maybe more like 15 to 20.

• 4:15Dan Pashman?

  What was the first time you ran in any kind of a race?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  I learned that people could run like in races together in groups. When I was doing this internship in Florida, my roommate there, she was on her like college track team. And she was training for a half marathon. And so at that point, I'd run maybe eight or nine miles. And then I realized you could break 10, like one could break 10 and they might not die. That's when I started running maybe like a half marathon every day. And then at that point, I was like, well, a marathon's really not that far off. I could just sign up for one. And so I did, I just found the cheapest one I could, that would be like near my college. And I didn't follow any kind of training plan. I was just like, well, if I can run a half marathon every day, then what's two half marathons in one day?

• 5:00Speaker 01

  My first marathon, I did November of my junior year of college.

• 5:05Dan Pashman?

  And how'd you do?

• 5:07Speaker 01

  I got a 358, which was, which was all right.

• 5:10Dan Pashman?

  A 358 means she ran the marathon in three hours and 58 minutes, which is more than all right for a first marathon. It actually puts her in the top 20% of women marathon runners. And it sounds like after that, you felt like, well, I conquered a half marathon. I conquered a full marathon. Now what?

• 5:27Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah. Because once you run a marathon, it's like, what's the next frontier? Obviously, I could try to get faster and faster. But I don't think I'm gonna make the Olympics, most likely. I don't think I'm gonna like break any world records.

• 5:41Dan Pashman?

  You wanted a different kind of challenge.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 5:45Dan Pashman?

  While Eleanor was studying abroad in Paris, she heard about wine marathons, where the race course brings you to a bunch of local vineyards. And at each one, you take a sip of the local wine. Eleanor found one in Burgundy, so she hopped on a train.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  So that was 19 wine stops. And at the wine stops, they also served like the local food. So like little cakes, stews.

• 6:03Dan Pashman?

  Yeah, because when you're out for a run, if there's one thing your body's craving, it's stew.

• 6:08Speaker 01

  Well, you know, the French, they're not gonna just have wine. You have to pair it.

• 6:12Dan Pashman?

  Right, but maybe like a little bread and cheese, I would think. Sure, maybe a slice of ham, maybe. I don't know that I'd want a bowl of stew, but, but, and then you're, you're having one or two sips of wine at each stop?

• 6:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, probably like equivalent to like a shot glass.

• 6:27Dan Pashman?

  Okay, but even that will add up if it's 15 or 20 of them.

• 6:30Speaker 01

  Especially if you're dehydrated, yeah.

• 6:32Dan Pashman?

  When we think of marathon running, we tend to think of it as being pretty intense and serious, right? Like, if you want to get into one of the coveted races like New York or Boston, you need to qualify by running other marathons and posting good times. So even getting in is competitive. But in France, Eleanor discovered a different side of running.

• 6:49Speaker 01

  It was like all a celebration, like it was a celebration of like what your body can do, but also a celebration of food. And we did it all in costume. Me and my friend did it. She was a bunny rabbit and I was a donkey.

• 7:01Dan Pashman?

  How, I feel like this, these costumes must be warm.

• 7:05Speaker 01

  Oh, this one was just ears and a tail, but.

• 7:07Dan Pashman?

  Oh, okay. All right. It's not like a full body. You're not going furry, encased in a donkey head.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  I have, I have a little bit of self-respect left, not very much, but.

• 7:17Dan Pashman?

  I mean, that would have been a real commitment, though, Eleanor. Maybe you gotta up your game.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  Okay, maybe you give it a try then.

• 7:25Dan Pashman?

  What, what did you eat on this race?

• 7:26Speaker 01

  Well, when I went to college, I stopped eating meat, just for moral reasons. Um, and so fortunately I could skip the stew, but I did go for the cheese. I did go for the cakes. And at the end, there was this massive tent where you could try every single, like in case you missed a stop, you could try every single pastry that was offered.

• 7:45Dan Pashman?

  Oh, I like that. Eleanor had stumbled on a parallel universe of extreme running that involves extreme eating challenges. It's part of a growing trend. There's the Krispy Kreme challenge. You run two and a half miles to a Krispy Kreme, eat a dozen donuts and run another two and a half miles back. There's even the Coney Island Hot Dog 50K in New York. It's pretty much what you'd imagine. The next race Eleanor did was the Beer City Half in California. It was a half marathon followed by a beer tasting. Then they also had a beer mile race, which is when you run a mile with a stop every quarter mile to drink a beer. So four beers in one mile. Eleanor thinks she was the only person to run both the half marathon and the beer mile that day. And yes, she puked. Does it ever cross your mind, maybe you should just stop?

• 8:30Dan Pashman?

  Like, maybe you don't need to finish the mile?

• 8:32Speaker 01

  Maybe, I think a smarter person would say yes. But when everyone's cheering for you, you're in the human bud-like costume, and everyone around you is finishing the beer mile. Really, like, it would be a step backwards for womankind if you don't finish the beer mile. I'm just, I'm a feminist. What can I say?

• 8:49Dan Pashman?

  I would think that then after that race, you're like, okay, I just threw up twice. Maybe this is my last race of this kind.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  I, that is exactly what I thought. And then, a few weeks later, I found out about the Taco Bell 50K.

• 9:08Dan Pashman?

  If you met Eleanor when she was a child, you would not have predicted she would ever sign up for a Taco Bell 50K. That's partly because she wasn't a runner, but also because of what she typically ate as a kid.

• 9:17Speaker 01

  I mean, I grew up in like a very food-focused household where my mom was like, like she used to cook professionally. And so she was a great cook. We had a big garden. Um, so she grew everything from scratch and we had chickens. And so, like even when I was a little kid, I was eating like pate and like fresh bread and all kinds of delicious French-style things.

• 9:37Dan Pashman?

  Then, when Eleanor was 14, her life changed forever.

• 9:40Speaker 01

  I get a text from my sister and she's like, Ellie, look in your desk. And I opened my desk and there is a cold chicken chalupa that she had left for me the night before. I mean, it was, it was a cold, eight-hour-old taco. It had the sour cream and the dry shredded cheese and the ground beef against this like crusty fried chicken. And I try it and it's my first taste of fast food and it's incredible. It's so good. Like, I, I love my mother's pate and whatever, but there's like so much flavor, like such an intensity of preservatives and additives that like, just like would knock the socks off of a Victorian child, which functionally I was at that point.

• 10:21Dan Pashman?

  How did your relationship with Taco Bell blossom from that first encounter?

• 10:26Speaker 01

  Honestly, the fact that I went vegetarian really nurtured our relationship. Taco Bell is like probably the best vegetarian fast food there is because you can sub everything for black beans. And so for nine bucks, you can get the Luxe Combo box where you get like a bean burrito, black bean crunch wrap, and Fiesta potatoes with a drink. The calorie per dollar ratio on that is really unbeatable.

• 10:50Dan Pashman?

  That brings us to last year, when Eleanor graduated from college and signed up for the Taco Bell 50K.

• 10:55Speaker 01

  This race, it was organized by like a local running group in Denver. And so basically, it traces this loop around urban Denver, like nowhere really special, but it goes from Taco Bell to Taco Bell.

• 11:07Dan Pashman?

  To be clear, this event is not officially sanctioned by Taco Bell. It started in 2018 with seven runners. Now it's ballooned to 700. All its website says that the race began with a hot tub, a stoic Russian, a short king from New York, and Suzie. There's a total of 10 Taco Bell stops along the route. The run starts and ends at the same Taco Bell, so that one counts twice. Runners have to order at least one food item at nine out of the 10 stops. They have to finish that menu item and keep the receipt as proof. And is there like an official, like a referee at every Taco Bell?

• 11:40Speaker 01

  It's a free race. I don't know if they have the funding for that. I think it's, if you lie about finishing the Taco Bell 50K, then you're kind of the lowest person. I think there's like a circle of hell just devoted to that.

• 11:53Dan Pashman?

  There are a few additional rules that I ticked through with Eleanor. It says by the fourth stop, all entrants must have consumed at least one Chalupa Supreme or one Crunchwrap Supreme. Now, in case people aren't familiar, both of those involve beef, or in your case, beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomato, all encased in a taco shell or flour tortilla.

• 12:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm going for the Crunchwrap. I love a Crunchwrap.

• 12:14Dan Pashman?

  Like, let's strategize here a little bit. Where should the Crunchwrap Supreme go?

• 12:18Speaker 01

  I'm probably gonna push it to four. Honestly, I think the later you can push it, the better. If you can get in like your good miles at the start, I think that's smart.

• 12:26Dan Pashman?

  And then by the eighth stop, you have to have had at least one burrito Supreme or one Nachos Bel Grande. So which are you gonna have for that?

• 12:34Speaker 01

  You gotta help me. I don't know. They're both pretty bad.

• 12:38Dan Pashman?

  I'm thinking nachos would be the lighter option, but nothing about this whole event sounds like a good idea to me. So I'm not sure what to say. As I'm told, when you're running along race, conventional wisdom is that you want to eat small amounts of simple carbs and avoid anything that could upset your stomach like dairy or fiber, meaning avoid cheese and beans. This race seems specifically designed to push the stomach to the limit, and it includes additional opportunities to find that limit, like the Diablo challenge.

• 13:05Speaker 01

  You have to cover every single menu item with Diablo sauce. And then at the end, you have to do a shooter of Diablo sauce.

• 13:11Dan Pashman?

  That's Taco Bell's hottest hot sauce.

• 13:13Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 13:14Dan Pashman?

  There's also the Baja Blast Challenge, named after the flavor of Mountain Dew that I believe is proprietary to Taco Bell.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  Yes, I love a Baja Blast. I think it'll go really well with the Diablo. Like you have the Diablo to heat things up and the Baja to cool it down.

• 13:28Dan Pashman?

  Actually, that makes a lot of sense to me as a flavor pairing. Plus, it's just like salty and spicy and then the sweet. I mean, for people who don't know Baja Blast, it's it makes the color of Mountain Dew look all natural.

• 13:40Speaker 01

  It's it's beautiful. It looks like the ocean.

• 13:43Dan Pashman?

  It's iridescent. Like if the light refracts off it just right, it is actually, it's beautiful. It's it's it's a breathtaking color that certainly can never be replicated in nature. But to accomplish the Baja Blast Challenge, you have to drink a total of two liters.

• 13:58Speaker 01

  I'm not going to do the Taco Bell 50K and only do half my effort. I'm taking every challenge I can.

• 14:06Dan Pashman?

  Coming up, as the race nears, Eleanor begins her final preparations. Then she heads to Denver and the Taco Bell 50K begins. That's coming up. Stick around.

• 14:22Speaker 02

  It's time to open up a can of advertisements.

• 14:28Dan Pashman?

  As we turn to fall and the weather starts to cool down, I think of things like crunching leaves. I think of sharing from the sidelines of a soccer game, walking the dog in the woods. And when I think of doing all those things, I'm usually wearing something from LL Bean, whether it's my puffer vest, my puffer coat, my scarf. Whatever you're doing outside this year, you probably need something from LL Bean, whether it's their boots, their Scotch plaid flannel, their rugged field coat or more. Grab the layers and people you love and get outside. Visit llbean.com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider.

• 15:02Dan Pashman?

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• 15:44Dan Pashman?

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• 16:03Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back to The Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman. Last week on the show, I'm live on stage in Boston with a few local luminaries, including Matt Shearer, AKA Reporter Matt on Instagram and TikTok. Matt has taken it upon himself to find some of the quirkier folks in Massachusetts and tell their stories. A lot of times, those stories involve food. One of his most famous was about the uproar after both Dunkin' locations in the town of Stowe, Massachusetts closed. At our show, Matt made a powerful argument for why that story mattered.

• 16:30Speaker 03

  Dunkin', when you live here, it's like an extension of your kitchen, right? Like you go downstairs every day and then you put on clothes or whatever, you walk out, you go to Dunkin', and you don't even look at the menu when you walk in. That's how you can tell if someone's local. If someone's looking up when they walk into a Dunkin', they're not from here. You just, you walk in, you know what you're getting, and then imagine somebody just took your kitchen away. That's what it's like to lose both your Dunkins. It's just a part of your routine, a part of your everyday, a little something that brought you comfort.

• 16:57Dan Pashman?

  Now, during that live taping, I also asked Matt to look into a guy named Mr. Fresh, who used to work at Dunkin' Donuts near me when I lived in Boston. And guess what? There's a development in that story. Check my Instagram for that. That live show also includes cookbook author Omi Hopper talking about how she went from makeup to cooking, and Ian Cos, host of the Catching the Codfather podcast, to talk about why we should eat more monkfish. That one's up now. Check it out. All right, back to Eleanor Sigel and her attempt to run the Taco Bell 50K. As Eleanor and I are talking, the race is just one week away. I asked her if she's done anything special to prepare.

• 17:31Speaker 01

  Usually I wouldn't eat before I run, but lately I've been running to my favorite bakeries, eating like an almond croissant or something and then running back and trying to like run through the stomach cramps and that's been working. I've been eating usually a light breakfast before my morning runs, which I didn't used to do. And then I've been adding in runs later in the day. So like I'll have like a big lunch and then maybe a few hours later I'll go running. You know, people call this gastric training. This is a thing that people do in order to like be able to eat more during ultras to improve their performance. And so that's been very helpful. I haven't been eating any Taco Bell. I've completely gone cold turkey on Taco Bell because I'm trying to build up a craving.

• 18:10Dan Pashman?

  Oh, interesting. But are you eating anything similar to Taco Bell or are you eating like kale?

• 18:15Speaker 01

  I've been trying to eat like richer things. I'll have like a slice of toast with like cream cheese. Like usually if you're eating when you're running, you want to go more carby. But I've been trying to have things that have like a similar fatty protein emphasis to like a crunch wrap.

• 18:28Dan Pashman?

  I'm not a certified gastric trainer, Eleanor. I don't know that a slice of toast covered in cream cheese is going to quite prepare you for nine servings of Taco Bell.

• 18:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I think if I do that, if I really try to do the full training now, I'll just get sick of it. So I want to do the nine servings of Taco Bell over a race just once in my life and then probably never again.

• 18:50Dan Pashman?

  But Eleanor, you were saying never again after the beer mile.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, maybe the next stop is a McDonald's 100K.

• 18:57Dan Pashman?

  Does that exist?

• 18:58Speaker 01

  I'll start it. You know, I'm young. I have, I've got big things ahead of me.

• 19:05Dan Pashman?

  Is there any part of you that's regretting the decision to do this?

• 19:10Speaker 01

  I think the regret is going to come a bit later. I think right now I'm excited. I got one of my friends to sign up, so me and him, we're all geared up. We're working on our training. I think after, probably by stop four, when I have to face the crunch wrap, I think that's when the regret will hit. I've like thought about like trying to qualify for like more and more prestigious races. I kind of think it's a joyless pursuit. I think this is something that's a lot more social. It's not about being the best. It embraces stupidity. We're just going to like test the limits of the human body as much as we can while we're still in our early twenties and can probably recover from it.

• 19:48Dan Pashman?

  The key word being probably.

• 19:49Speaker 01

  Probably.

• 19:56Speaker 04

  All right. This is our eighth edition. This race is called Attack of the Tostada.

• 20:03Dan Pashman?

  Since I wasn't able to go to Denver even as a spectator, we sent an audio reporter named Ray Solomon to meet up with Eleanor at several of the Taco Bell stops on the route. Here's Ray.

• 20:12Speaker 05

  The sun is rising over Denver. There's just a huge crowd here. I love the beginning of races. I'm a runner myself. I love doing races. It's very exciting. Like the beginning of a race is just so much anticipation. And there's something really beautiful about starting the race. You're just in this crowd of people. Everybody's getting ready to like push their bodies to the limit as hard as they can.

• 20:40Speaker 05

  Okay, so you were the only one in a taco hat?

• 20:43Speaker 01

  Shockingly, I mean, so far.

• 20:45Dan Pashman?

  Ray meets up with Eleanor and Eleanor's friend Roberto Gonzalez at the starting line. They're not wearing the sexy hot sauce packet costumes they planned on because the costumes didn't arrive in time. So just regular running gear plus a taco hat for Eleanor. The starting line is at the first Taco Bell on the route. So even though the race hasn't begun yet, runners can get food here and it does count as their first stop.

• 21:05Speaker 01

  Started out, I've had about three pints of Baja Blast so far, just to, you know, wake up, get some caffeine in me, and a Chalupa Supreme, which honestly, like, we woke up pretty early, didn't sleep so great last night. So getting like a little bit of food in my stomach, it feels good.

• 21:24Dan Pashman?

  One menu item down. Eleanor just has to eat Taco Bell eight more times. Easy. And there's more good news. As you'll recall, the rules require Eleanor to eat at Chalupa by stop number four. So by eating one now, she's already ahead of the game.

• 21:36Speaker 06

  I would have never enrolled, but then I got a text saying like, hey, want to do this race with me? And I was like, eh, you know what?

• 21:41Dan Pashman?

  This is Roberto, Eleanor's friend and running partner.

• 21:44Speaker 06

  I'm trying new stuff, so why not? I was training for a half marathon last year, but then like I got injured, so I didn't run for a while and I just started running again. And I think like the farthest I've run so far is like 25 kilometers, which is half of what I'm going to run today, but I'm pretty confident actually. Confident? No, I'm kind of greedy. So like, out of pure greed, I will make it to the end line, even if I have to crawl or something like, I'll be there.

• 22:09Dan Pashman?

  Roberto is from Mexico City, so he's certainly eaten his share of tacos. But the first time he ate Taco Bell was three weeks ago.

• 22:17Speaker 06

  I thought it would be worse, actually. There's a lot of like, small menu items which I can eat, so... Because I also have like, a kind of sensitive stomach. Like, I never eat that much before I run. So, we'll see how that turns out.

• 22:29Dan Pashman?

  Roberto says he's probably gonna deploy the cinnamon twist strategy, meaning he'll rely heavily on cinnamon twists, which is sort of like mini churros, one of Taco Bell's lighter menu items. Eleanor, on the other hand, she's not gonna do that. Eleanor goes hard or goes home. And in the days leading up to the race, she got even more intense with her gastric training. She's a university research assistant, so she put her academic mindset to the challenge.

• 22:51Speaker 01

  I've just kind of had the Taco Bell menu open in like, a tab and like, sneaking over while my code runs, just like, how can I optimize the carbs in this? I ate half a deep dish pizza and then ran home, maybe like, four miles after that. And it, it went okay. So I've actually... I've at least increased my confidence this week.

• 23:10Dan Pashman?

  This year, as I said, there are 700 runners from all over the place, including someone who came from India. They assemble outside the first Taco Bell. Jace Romero, one of the race's co-founders, goes over some of the other rules.

• 23:21Speaker 04

  When you're ordering your food items,

• 23:25Speaker 04

  you must eat and drink your food items at the actual Taco Bell. Stop at the Taco Bell, take the time, get it down, and then continue on with your run. Have fun and suffer. Okay. Dan's suggestion, have fun and suffer. I know we got a couple ladies in there.

• 23:40Dan Pashman?

  Then, a band performs an original song.

• 23:43Speaker 07

  My wife left me and she took the kids.

• 23:51Speaker 07

  Before she left, she did forbid

• 23:58Speaker 07

  me from running the Taco Bell 50K.

• 24:05Dan Pashman?

  After that, the announcer leads the runners in a chant of the official slogan of the Taco Bell 50K.

• 24:10Speaker 04

  When I say on the count of three, one, two, three, you're gonna say, "I am hungrier than I think I am and I can eat more than I think I can." One, two, three! I'm hungry!

• 24:30Dan Pashman?

  At 7:30 a.m., they're off. Eleanor and Roberto head out, and Ray heads to her car. She drives ahead and meets up with Eleanor at stop number four. That's seven miles into the race.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  We're pretty good. It's been pretty slow, like with the, just the logistics, there's like stopping at each one, like the last one. I forgot to put in my order. We get there, I think it's ready. Turns out, there's like a 40-minute wait. But, you know, the Taco Bell employees, they were like troopers. They were very nice, like making sure everyone got their orders. Um, yeah, I had a cheesy roll-up at the last one. Before that, the Doritos Locos Taco. Um, cheesy roll-up, it's not sitting great, but I'm doing a hash brown right now, so that should be a nice switch.

• 25:11Speaker 06

  I'm doing great, like my legs feel fresh, uh, and stomach-wise, I also feel fine so far, so I've had, uh, hash brown at the second Taco Bell with Baja Blast, and then at the last one, I just had cinnamon twists. And I'm gonna do cinnamon twists with Baja Blast here, and also use the bathroom.

• 25:26Speaker 01

  I'm feeling the heat more. It's like getting to be 80 degrees and sunny, not much of a breeze, so I've been replenishing my Baja Blast like at every stop.

• 25:37Speaker 06

  Yeah, gonna go get my...

• 25:40Dan Pashman?

  Eleanor's sounding confident, but she still has 24 more miles to go, and six more Taco Bells to eat at. Can she make it to the end? That's coming up, stick around.

• 25:55Dan Pashman?

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• 26:02Dan Pashman?

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• 27:29Dan Pashman?

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• 28:01Dan Pashman?

  Welcome back. Let's return to the race where Eleanor and her running partner Roberto again meet up with reporter Ray Solomon at a Taco Bell on the route.

• 28:09Speaker 05

  Keyword stop number seven is just about one o'clock and here come Eleanor and Roberto.

• 28:17Speaker 01

  Howdy.

• 28:17Speaker 06

  Hey.

• 28:18Speaker 01

  How are you guys? We're two thirds of the way. We've got nine miles from here. I've got a burrito supreme. It's cold. Just how I like it, I guess. I don't know. But yeah, I think the run's just starting.

• 28:30Speaker 06

  Yeah, for me, it's cinnamon and the lights hold away from here to the end and then bah blast.

• 28:35Dan Pashman?

  Cinnamon delights are cinnamon sugar doughnut holes filled with cream cheese frosting. That's what Roberto's planning to stick with, but Eleanor wants him to try the caramel apple empanada at the next stop.

• 28:44Speaker 06

  Engine, I guess.

• 28:45Speaker 01

  You've got to try the empanada. People say it's good.

• 28:47Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 28:47Speaker 01

  People say it's lapsed. Next one, we got an empanada.

• 28:50Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 28:50Speaker 01

  Although you look like you're in pain.

• 28:52Speaker 06

  It's okay. I'll try it. Better than I thought. Yeah.

• 28:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, most of his time, like at least half the time, has just been like waiting and begging and being like, please give me this burrito. The what is this? So this is a burrito supreme. I got it with black beans instead of beef. It's a pretty small burrito. Like it's not, this isn't a triple A burrito.

• 29:17Speaker 01

  How are you doing on your Baja Blast challenge? Um, honestly, pretty good. I've had maybe one cup of water and like eight or nine of Baja Blast. So I think I'm like pretty much there. I'm a little worried about the caffeine. I'm starting to twitch. But I think that's why my energy is like pretty good right now. I'm not, I'm not much of a social runner. But I'm a social eater. And so when you get here, you can like talk to people about their orders and what they recommend and like what time, how their stomach's doing. You finished the cinnamon delights really quickly.

• 29:44Speaker 06

  Yeah, there's only two of them, which is better. But they're also like more, like the dough is more like, like a gum, like yeah, so it's harder to swallow.

• 29:54Speaker 01

  Is that enough to carry you to the next stop?

• 29:56Speaker 06

  Uh, yeah, but I think I need water because my mouth feels like very dry and I think it has to do with like the sugar.

• 30:02Speaker 01

  Are you guys ready to go or are you gonna let it sit? I'm, I'm gonna see if it, I'll see how it, how it moves. I'll order my, the caramel apple empanada and then let's, let's get to move on.

• 30:16Dan Pashman?

  Eleanor and Roberto only have three more Taco Bells left. It seems like they're in a groove. But then at the last stop, Roberto hits a wall. He gets a caramel apple empanada and it doesn't sit well. He has to switch to walking for a few minutes.

• 30:32Dan Pashman?

  Eleanor, however, would not be deterred. At 2:32 PM, seven hours after starting, she crosses the finish line, which is a Taco Bell drive-through. Roberto does finish a little while after and he and Eleanor find each other after the race. In the end, neither of them attempted the Diablo challenge, but both of them completed the Baja Blast challenge. Perhaps most impressive of all, neither of them puked, which I think makes both of them winners.

• 30:55Speaker 06

  Uh, I feel great. It's the first time I've run a marathon and 50K, so I'm pretty happy about that.

• 31:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, I just, I got like an energy rush at the end. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, like the first two miles of this race were really hard for me, but like the last like 10 really just kind of flew by.

• 31:13Speaker 06

  Get a buddy who gets you to do this. It's pretty fun. Everyone needs a buddy like that. Yeah.

• 31:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, you need someone who will just be convinced to do the worst thing that one can do to themselves. Well, you know, you guys have inspired me and now I feel like, hmm, maybe I should do this next year. Yeah, you could do this.

• 31:35Dan Pashman?

  A week after the race, I debrief with Eleanor.

• 31:38Speaker 01

  It was so much fun. And I finished, which, shocker, I didn't think I would.

• 31:43Dan Pashman?

  You didn't think you would, like, from the beginning? Or, like, there were points in the middle you didn't think you would?

• 31:48Speaker 01

  Honestly, beforehand, I kind of thought I would probably drop out over the race.

• 31:53Dan Pashman?

  Is that common for you with these things? Do you have that moment of doubt frequently? Or this was a different feeling for you?

• 31:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's always, like, a little bit right before. Like, the sun's coming up and you're surrounded by all these people and they're wearing, like, really crazy athletic gear. And you're like, oh, my God, I'm in a taco hat. Like, how am I gonna finish this?

• 32:10Dan Pashman?

  For those of you keeping score at home, here's the complete list of everything Eleanor ate, subbing in black beans for meat where applicable. One chalupa supreme. One cheesy roll-up. One nacho cheese Doritos Locos Taco. One hash brown. One order of Cinnabon delights. One crunchy taco. One burrito supreme. One caramel apple empanada. And after all that, one Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco. That comes out to a grand total of 1,950 calories, nearly the recommended daily intake for the average American adult. And honestly, a lot less than I would have guessed. But it doesn't include the Baja Blast. Speaking of which, Eleanor got Baja Blast at five of the stops. And while it was supposed to make finishing the race harder, she thinks it might have actually helped.

• 32:54Speaker 01

  When you're running, like, you're just burning through a lot of calories. And it's just sugar and caffeine. And it goes down really easy and it's cold and it's refreshing. And it's just, like, a really easy way to get quick energy in. I just kept refilling my water bottle with more Baja Blast. I think I made three liters.

• 33:13Dan Pashman?

  Now remember, the Baja Blast Challenge only required Eleanor to drink two liters, but she's clearly an overachiever. All of the obvious difficulties of the race aside, there was an additional challenge that she says she didn't anticipate. It took her seven hours to finish the race, but she only spent four and a half of those hours actually running. The rest was mostly spent waiting around.

• 33:32Speaker 01

  Because imagine a Taco Bell that's used to like, you know, maybe a few dozen people showing up in the mornings. Suddenly you have 600 runners all pre-ordering. We're all like fighting, scrambling for like our bag with our little name on it.

• 33:45Dan Pashman?

  Oh my God, do you lose momentum? That must be hard.

• 33:47Speaker 01

  So you lose physical momentum, but getting to spend like an hour just like chatting with people, discussing strategy, like hyping each other up, like seeing everyone else in their silly costumes, seeing where people are from, like what kind of races they've done before, how they're feeling. At first, it was really frustrating. I was like, my time's gonna be terrible. But then I kind of realized that like waiting in the Taco Bell in this like hectic mass of people who all decided to do this like idiot thing, that was the fun of it.

• 34:14Dan Pashman?

  But maybe the most surprising thing of all was just how much Eleanor actually enjoyed the food.

• 34:19Speaker 01

  Mile 14, I get a Cinnabon Delight. They're these little donuts covered with cinnamon sugar. And honestly, after seven miles especially, they were delicious. I like kind of wish I'd ordered more, but the line was so long that I couldn't. I just had to get to the next Taco Bell.

• 34:34Dan Pashman?

  Are you allowed to repeat menu selections?

• 34:37Speaker 01

  You are allowed to? I decided not to.

• 34:39Dan Pashman?

  You wanted this to be a challenge.

• 34:41Speaker 01

  I don't eat at Taco Bell that much. This is my one opportunity to just like explore the menu, see what I can do to my stomach.

• 34:48Dan Pashman?

  I think a lot of people like the idea of exploring the menu of Taco Bell. Not so many people combine it with a 31-mile run. But okay, look, Ray, respect. I like that even, even in such an extreme situation, you did not lose your appreciation for food and your desire to explore new eating experiences. I was curious to unpack more of Eleanor's strategy. Remember, she only had to stop at nine of the 10 Taco Bells. Initially, her plan was to make her final stop at the one at the finish line.

• 35:14Speaker 01

  But like mile 23, I was thinking about it and I was like, when I get to the end, I want it to be the end. Like I, I want to make it across the finish line and not have to eat any more Taco Bell.

• 35:27Dan Pashman?

  Eleanor called an audible. She got food at the second to last stop, which completed her eating requirements for the race.

• 35:33Speaker 01

  So then I ordered another Doritos Locos Taco. I ordered the Cool Ranch and this time they pulled through. They still had some left. Honestly, the Cool Ranch never fails. At mile 28, it was like still delicious. I still enjoyed it. Roberto, like he stuck with the cinnamon twist strategy. I kind of made fun of him for, I was like, you hate the cinnamon twists. They're disgusting. He was like, I know, but he just like crushed them up and mixed them in with the Baja Blast and like chugged it down.

• 35:58Dan Pashman?

  Wait, that's like Kobayashi style, like in the, when he puts the hot dog bun in the water.

• 36:04Speaker 01

  Yes, just to get it down easier.

• 36:06Dan Pashman?

  Oh, that seems a little sad though. He didn't enjoy the food as much as you did.

• 36:09Speaker 01

  Yes. I, I mean, I think I had a, I had the ideal Taco Bell 50K experience, but I think it's so impressive that he finished. Honestly, I think on my long runs now, I might just like route to Taco Bells instead of carrying like, you know, gels and snacks.

• 36:25Dan Pashman?

  Now, I won't turn you in Eleanor, but did you have any on course Pepto Alka Seltzer, Pepsid AC or Mylanta?

• 36:31Speaker 01

  No.

• 36:32Dan Pashman?

  Cause that would have been a violation of the rules.

• 36:34Speaker 01

  This is not a race worth cheating for.

• 36:39Dan Pashman?

  Was there any moment during this race that you regretted doing it?

• 36:44Speaker 01

  No, honestly, I feel like races, like a lot of runners agree with me. It's kind of a type two fun where you look forward to it and you're happy you did it afterwards. But during the race, you're like, why did I sign up for this again? Like this hurts. It's hard. I'm never going to make it. But I was having fun the entire time.

• 36:59Dan Pashman?

  In that sense, it was like your best race ever in terms of just pure enjoyment.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  I think so. I'm already signed up for next year.

• 37:05Dan Pashman?

  Really? Oh my god.

• 37:06Speaker 01

  Yeah. Next year Diablo.

• 37:10Dan Pashman?

  Congratulations to you Eleanor on accomplishing this very impressive feat of human endurance.

• 37:17Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 37:18Dan Pashman?

  And I'm glad it went so well for you. I'm glad you managed to enjoy the food as well as finish the race. And I can't wait for next year's update when you go for the Diablo.

• 37:28Speaker 01

  I'm looking forward to it too. And if they start a Taco Bell 10K, maybe I'll invite you.

• 37:33Dan Pashman?

  All right, all right. That still sounds daunting to me, but, but I'll, I'll consider it. I'll, I'll give that a real thought.

• 37:49Speaker 07

  Before she left, she did forbid

• 37:56Speaker 07

  Me from running the Taco Bell 50K.

• 38:04Speaker 07

  From running the Taco Bell 50K.

• 38:13Speaker 07

  I told her I wouldn't, and now I'm a liar.

• 38:21Speaker 07

  My name's on the list, it's like the goblet of fire. I may not win or make it to Monday,

• 38:37Speaker 07

  but I will eat the nachos Bel Grande.

• 38:43Dan Pashman?

  That's the band Hot Sauce, playing their original international Taco Bell 50K anthem. My thanks to Eleanor Sigel, Roberto Gonzalez, and our reporter Ray Solomon. In Denver, you can hear more of Ray's work on Colorado Public Radio. And the Taco Bell 50K this year is October 3rd. You want to sign up? Go to TacoBell50K.com. And start training now. I will not be there. Next week on the show, we head to the 1970s era test kitchen of Ebony magazine, which was rescued from demolition just a few years ago. That's next week. While you wait for that one, check out last week's live episode in Boston with reporter Matt Shearer, cookbook author Omi Hopper, and reporter Ian Cos. That one's up now. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the SiriusXM app? Yes,

• 39:26Dan Pashman?

  the SiriusXM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to SiriusXM.com/sporkful. This episode was produced by me along with managing producer Emma Morgenstern and senior producer Andres O'Hara It was edited by Camille Stanley and Johanna Mayer Our engineer is Jared O'Connell Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of SiriusXM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.

• 40:10Speaker 04

  And this is Ethan from Golden, Colorado, reminding you to Eat more, eat better, and eat more better.

• 40:43Speaker 07

  Thank you, guys. It was so much fun.

• 40:49Speaker 05

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• 41:19Dan Pashman?

  Hey, it's Dan here. Thank you so much, first of all, for tuning into this podcast every week. We really appreciate it. And I want to let you know, if you want to hear new episodes ad-free, subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts Plus on Apple Podcasts, or visit siriusxm.com/podcastsplus to listen with Spotify or another app of your choice. Thanks.