Vegas Baby; with Josh HansenVegas Baby; with Josh Hansen
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Coach Blu Robinson and Josh Hansen recount a chaotic, funny and deeply moving 10k in Las Vegas, showing how sobriety can turn a night run into a powerful spiritual moment. Their conversation blends humour, grief, kindness and recovery, highlighting how running and presence can transform the way you experience both a city and yourself.
1:22:14•14 Mar 2022
Sober Highs on the Strip: Coach Blu and Josh’s Vegas 10k Adventure
Episode Overview
- Sobriety can heighten, rather than dull, the runner’s high and make moments feel more vivid and meaningful.
- Rigid expectations around races (or life) often create disappointment; staying flexible turns chaos into a good story instead of a meltdown.
- Acts of kindness, even as small as replacing a child’s spilled sweets, can rewrite painful moments for others and for yourself.
- Being fully present in the moment – rather than numbing out – allows space for powerful emotional and spiritual experiences in recovery.
- Fun, humour and shared adventures are not luxuries in sobriety; they are vital parts of long-term recovery and healing.
“Haven’t you punished yourself enough? So go out and make sobriety, make recovery fun.”
Witness the remarkable journeys of those who have faced addiction head-on as Coach Blu Robinson and Radio Ronin’s Josh Hansen swap stories from the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas 10k – a race that turned into something far bigger than a medal and a finisher’s photo.
On the surface it’s a funny race recap: nearly missing packet pickup, paying five dollars for a monorail that went “a block and a half”, walking almost an hour just to reach the actual start line, and weaving through crowds like it’s an Olympic sport. You’ll hear about city passes, odd museum exhibits, a rollercoaster that shook their souls, and a finish chute that felt longer than the race itself.
But underneath the jokes sits a very sober message about recovery, presence and purpose. Running through “Sin City” completely sober, they notice everything: drunk runners in the corrals, officers on scissor lifts scanning hotel windows after past tragedies, and the contrast between casino neon and a blazing desert sunset. As Josh puts it, “life is just so much, it’s about those moments” – especially when you’re in a team jersey that represents people lost to addiction, overdose and suicide.
Coach Blu points out that anyone high or drunk “would have missed every aspect of what Josh and I are talking about because your brain wouldn’t be able to allow so much of it in.” They also lean into kindness: buying replacement sweets for a child who dropped his dear m&ms, locking eyes with a homeless woman and simply seeing her humanity, and reminding anyone in recovery, “Haven’t you punished yourself enough?” This one’s ideal if you’re in or curious about recovery, love running, or just want proof that you can have genuine fun, connection and even a spiritual buzz in the middle of Las Vegas – zero alcohol required.
A major thread is how sobriety lets you actually feel the runner’s high. What sober adventure might be waiting for you if you let yourself say yes?
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