Brittany Charboneau has created her own unique job title: “The Funny Runner”—and she certainly lives up to the name.
For the past three years, the Denver native has cultivated a career that melds her passion for running and comedy. She writes and performs in her one-woman sketch comedy show, which takes the audience through her 17-year history with running. Off stage, Charboneau recently notched a 17th-place overall finish as the 10th American woman to cross the finish line at the Advertisement - Continue Reading Below—a race, at one point, in which she led the pack of elites.
New York was the latest in a series of breakthrough performances this year. A walk-on at Colorado State, Charboneau started training for road races after graduation. She debuted in the marathon in 2012 with a time of 3:33 and progressed to 3:00 at the 2015 Chicago Marathon. Two years later, she won the Colfax Marathon with a course record of 2:52, and followed the run with another victory in Kansas City, where she improved to 2:51.
This year brought even more excitement when Charboneau ran a massive personal best of 2:36:26 at the L.A. Marathon in March, effectively shattering her goal of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials.
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In between runs and sketch writing, Charboneau caught up with Runner’s World to share her NYC Marathon experience, and what it’s like to be the “Funny Runner.”
Runner’s World: How did you feel about your race at the Advertisement - Continue Reading Below?
Brittany Charboneau: It wasn’t my ideal place or finish that I was trying to hit, but at the end of the day, there were so many positives. I couldn’t be even remotely disappointed in this race. Taking the lead was amazing, and having the courage to do it was really cool.
Making that decision to do that in the race and to go without fear was huge. Des [Linden] took the lead at mile 10, and then that front pack just went out and there was a second pack that formed. It was five to 10 seconds faster than what I was planning to go, but it was one of those moments where I had to make a decision–do I stay with the pack and push myself because at the end of the day we are in New York, or do I hang back and play it a little bit smarter?
So I decided to risk it, and it didn’t end up playing out in the end, but I’m still glad that I did that because that was a big step for me as a runner. I also have to keep it in perspective that this is my first World Marathon Majors as a pro. I have to think about the long game, and this was not a bad result for the first of many to come.
Des Linden Finishes 11th at Advertisement - Continue Reading Below?
I was so confused. I remember looking back at one point and wondering if I was on the right course. Are they still here? Did I miss a turn? I legitimately thought that and I knew I couldn’t have because the lead cars were right there. I knew what the front runners were going to be doing, but I thought they would just take it right out of the gate.
When they didn’t, I said, “Well, I’ll do it. I’m not afraid.” Yes, I’m with the top in the world, but I’m not going to be running with them the whole race. I’m also not afraid to do it. That was the decision I had to make, but it was also so confusing. I legitimately thought I was on the wrong course for a while.
Watch an interview with Charboneau by the Denver Post below.
You’ve been experiencing some major breakthroughs in the last couple of years with big jumps in your times. What can you attribute that to?
I finally started to believe in myself, to be honest. I set some goals. Last year was the first marathon that I won, and I set that as a goal. It was the Colfax Marathon, and if you won the race and broke the course record you would win $1,000, so I just set that as a goal. I figured I could shoot for that and I did it!
Then I set another goal, a very big stretch goal to qualify for the Olympic Trials. I was only hoping to qualify with the “B” standard of 2:45, and then I smashed that. It’s kind of been these little things where I really, truly started to believe that I could do it and I finally took the reigns off of myself.
How long have you been pursuing comedy?
Three years, not very long actually. I lived in Chicago a couple of years ago and started taking comedy classes at Second City. We have a theater out there. I was just following a love of it and following a passion for it. It’s a nice venture for me, but I absolutely love it.
Now that I’m back in Denver, I’ve done a ton of improv out here and I teach improv on Tuesdays and that kind of led to the development of my show this year. That’s been my first step as a performing artist with my own voice.
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My show is called “My Long Distance Relationship With Running From the Early Miles to the Olympic Trials.” It’s a one-woman comedy show about my running journey. It’s a sketch comedy show so, I tell people it’s like SNL without all of the stage and scenes and props. It’s basically you and a stage, but it’s all scripted.
In a nutshell, it’s my relationship with running, from when I first met running at 13, when I got rejected by all other sports because I was too poor for gymnastics and wasn’t aggressive enough for softball, and so I met running. It kind of follows that journey through high school, college racing, and transitioning into the marathon and really getting into competitive marathoning.
Running is personified by a tiny pink treadmill on stage that I actually run on, and the voice of running is my husband—I talked him into it. That’s the basis of the show, and scattered throughout are different characters and scenes where I make jokes about running and those annoying things that as runners, we hate to hear.
The show is almost like running is an actual person. It sounds so ridiculous, but I’m having a dialogue with this treadmill, and the voiceover is happening as I’m talking to running, and it is like I’m having a conversation with an actual person, but it’s a treadmill. This makes me sound crazy.
I debuted it in Denver in June, and it did really well. It sold out four out of the six nights, I think. I just took it to Chicago in October around marathon weekend. I’m hoping to map out my race schedule next year and figure out when and where I can take the show on the road.
What’s the most hilarious thing that’s ever happened to you on a run?
I pick up change on my runs, and I think there are so many moments where people think that I must be absolutely crazy. I’ll be running and I’ll literally stop in the middle of an intersection and pick up change.
There was a run a couple of weeks ago. It had rained and it was just a crummy day. There was a huge puddle in the gutter and there were three pennies in there and of course I pull over on my run, and I’m digging in this dirty water in downtown Denver with people staring at me, just digging out these dirty pennies.
I’m also a big fan of dressing up. We did the Disney princess run in April this year, and my husband dressed as Prince Eric and I dressed as Ariel. I carried a dinglehopper for the whole 10K, and won the race carrying this dinglehopper. That was funny.
What are your goals with these two pursuits?
My goal in running is the Olympics. I clearly have a long way to go, but if you don’t believe it why are you doing it? It’s bold to put that out there, but I’m not really afraid to share my dreams, because the more I do, the more it settles in for me and the more I believe it. It’s amazing how much support actually comes when you do share your big goals.
For me, the whole reason why I do all of it—the show and running which can be such a solitary thing—is to hopefully inspire somebody else. Even if I just get somebody excited to get off the couch and go walk around the block every day, then I’ve done my job.
That’s where all of it comes from. My show talks about my running, but when I wrote it, the purpose was to show how long it took me, but it can happen. I want my little runners to know that whatever they want to do they can do it. I never thought I could back in the day, and once I started to believe that I could, stuff starts to happen.
I just want to be that voice and that example, that whatever your dreams are, even if they’re crazy and seem like they don’t even exist, still go for it. When I quit my job, I said I wanted to be a funny runner and that doesn’t mean anything, that doesn’t even exist, what is that? And it’s now coming to fruition. I just want to inspire people that whatever they want to be and whatever they want to go after, they can do it.
Content has been edited for length and clarity.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
