Meet Bryan Gould and Peter Villa, co-hosts of the world-famous, Boston-based running podcast How Was Your Run Today? (HWYRT)

To say that I’m a little obsessed with the podcast would be an understatement. However, I also don’t think I can call myself their biggest fan, because a huge number of people have already been vying for that title through the years. I am, however, proud to hold the title of “HWYRT’s Official Photographer, Karina Hathaway” (though I must say, I’ll feel much more official once I have my own sting… *hint, hint, nudge, nudge, if you’re reading this Bryan and Peter*).

I first came across How Was Your Run Today at a Boston Marathon fundraiser in 2017 – Peter and Bryan were at the Cambridge Heartbreak Hill Running Company interviewing attendants about their marathon goals and aspirations. My friend and running muse Corinne (fans of the show might recognize her as “The Running Unicorn”) introduced me to them and I got suckered into being interviewed right there. That led me to go hunt the podcast down to hear my segment and I got hooked – I listened to the whole 100+ episodes of the show over a series of long runs (and long drives) that summer.

Because I became such a huge fangirl, and they seemed oh-so-very famous, it wasn’t until 2019 that I finally got up the nerve to ask Peter and Bryan if I could take their portrait. At the time, they were recording at the WGBH studio at Boston Public Library every week or so. Since the first time I had met them at a running event and the only other time I had ever seen Bryan was at the November Project, understandably, I was expected to photograph two guys in running shorts and sneakers.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the WGBH studio and find two guys in tuxedos. Not suits, tuxedos! I didn’t even recognize them when I walked in. I puttered around the library cafe for a bit, wondering when these fancy pants guys would wrap up and Peter and Bryan would arrive.

Thankfully, we got ourselves sorted out – I figured out that they were the fancy versions of themselves that day and they figured out I was the photographer, despite my tiny camera (Fuji mirrorless was just coming into its own).

It turns out, I caught them on a very, very good day. You see, each December for the past five or so years, Peter and Bryan have been running this little, free marathon in Millinocket, Maine. This past December, they were able to convince the talented Greg Shea of Running with Cameras to come along and create a short film about the race to help promote it – and thus, Run Millinocket was created.

And wouldn’t you know, the film ended up being nominated for a New England Emmy Award! I just so happened to catch Bryan, Peter and the rest of the HWYRT crew (the Artist in Residence, Andrea Bonnie Gould, and the Social Media Guru, Anna Brooks) all dressed up and on their way to the Emmy’s after recording the show for the week.

And, by the way, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to the whole HWYRT and Running with Cameras teams on winning an Emmy Award for Run Millinocket!!