Playing on the radio

Back when I first traveled to the Olympics in 2014, it was very much a community experience. I billed it as a once in a lifetime thing and people were wonderful in donating money and holding fundraisers and my company matched everything that I raised. It ended up being enough money to pay for the second "once in a lifetime" trip four years later.

Since then, I've cut back on that side of things, since it's no longer a once in a lifetime thing, it's an every two years thing and if I want to go, I will find a way to raise the money. Thus the many hours of making donuts and bread all year long. It's a self-funded labor of love.

One thing that hasn't changed in my five Olympic experiences is getting the chance to talk on the radio about my travels. Back in 2014, I was contacted by Greg Kretchmar from Greg and the Morning Buzz on 100.3 WHEB, 101.1 WGIR and many other stations around New England. He had seen a Facebook post about my trip and wondered about the possibility of doing an interview while I was there.

That first trip I was very concerned about whether or not my cell phone would work, Zoom wasn't a thing yet, but I said I'd do my best to connect with them from Russia. I did a number of calls from Sochi that winter and had a blast. Each time I've been back since, I've provided some Olympic updates live on the radio. In Tokyo, PyeongChang and Beijing, it was often times late at night where I was when I was talking to the Buzz, but I've always found time to talk to them a couple times a week and they've been nice enough to have me in the studio when I get back.

The newspapers I write for have a pretty wide distribution net around the state of New Hampshire, but the radio signal of the Buzz reaches around New England and around the world through the iHeart app (I listen to them every day while I'm at the Olympics on the app), so it exposes my story to a few more people and that's never a bad thing.

Traditionally each time I start a new Olympic journey and do an interview with the Buzz, my social media gains a few more followers than normal, as people join for the look at the Olympics from my point of view, which is probably a little different than what they are getting on NBC.

I greatly appreciate Greg and the whole Buzz crew for having me on a few times while I'm at the Olympics. As a regular listener, I hope I add a little to the show and I'm grateful for the chance to share my story as I take these trips around the world.

And thanks as well to my longtime friends Mike Danais and Charlie Hossack for having me on their show, Mike and the Hoss, on the Pulse of New Hampshire a few times during the Olympics. I've been part of their show on a number of occasions and it's always nice talking with a couple of local guys about sports around the world.

Thanks for reading and thanks for listening. I'll do my best to continue to keep you entertained.

Today I spoke with Greg and the Morning Buzz live from the Le Bourget sport climbing venue.