The first time I met Alexi Pappas, I was at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago for the marathon. For our race coverage, Meg and I decided to get a pre-race interview with her, as she planned to pace for 13 miles. 

 

Alexi met us in the lobby wearing her Oregon Track Club jersey, dozens of bracelets on both wrists, and her hair in a messy bun with a feather sticking out. She suggested we sneak into the top floor where all the athletes were staying, and despite my hesitation, she led us to the most beautiful view in the city. The camera rolled and the Oregon grad ate pretzels while sitting against a window overlooking Lake Michigan. From her upcoming movie Tracktown, to training in Eugene with her professional group, Alexi was an open book of excitement and positivity, an overall joy to interview. 

 

When I reached out to her again in January for an update on her movie, I knew the interview would be nothing but entertaining. 

 

My expectations met reality as our interview took place over the phone while she was driving from her altitude training stint in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival, traversing the country and her two callings. 

 

On the Road

 

“It [Mammoth] was amazing. Now Jeremy, my boyfriend and I, are driving to the Sundance Film Festival where we will meet some of the advisors we've been working with on our film and be a part of that for a week,” Alexi said while sitting in the passenger seat of the car with Jeremy at the wheel. 

 

“It's been an amazing month and I'm excited for this new film experience too,” Alexi said. 
 

Jeremy and Alexi have worked to co-write, co-produce and co-direct the film Tracktown, a story set in her home of Eugene, Oregon centered around the town’s track & field culture. Alexi plays Eugene native Plum Marigold, who is getting ready to compete at the Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. 

 

The film was picked up by the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Lab and the San Francisco Film Society, and includes former “Saturday Night Live” actress Rachel Dratch and former cast member of “The Office” Andy Buckley. Alexi also enlisted the help of several professional runners in the Eugene area such as Olympians Andrew Wheating and Nick Symmonds. Filming was completed in the summer of 2014, allowing Alexi to strategically plan her training break so she could focus on the film. 

 

Now in post-production, Alexi prioritizes her dedication to both running and film-making by maintaining a balance between the two.

 

“It's been challenging but really fun. I remind myself that it's a choice. One makes me happy in some ways, the other makes me happy in other ways. The main thing that I've learned is that you can't, or I can't, do both at once,” Alexi said over the phone while I sat at my desk in my house in Austin, Texas. 

 

Holding the phone to my ear, I imagined the beautiful trails Alexi got to run on in Mammoth, combined with the film editing done in the mountain home between her and Jeremy, the perfect setting for both jobs. 

 

“When we were shooting the film, I took that time as my break from running and I knew that if I tried to squeeze in runs in the morning before a full day of acting and directing that I would not be my best runner or actor/filmmaker self. But now, like in Mammoth for example, when I nap or when I'm tired after practice, I'm there to run so I'm going to go to sleep,” Alexi said over the phone while Jeremy agreed.

 

“It's been really special to have Jeremy as a partner in all of this because he's supportive of me trying to do these things, but not trying to overdo it or be unreasonable.”

 

The two filmmakers met while studying at Dartmouth and created their first film, Tall as the Baobab Tree in 2013. Jeremy lived and worked as a filmmaker in New York before moving to Eugene to work on Tracktown with Alexi. 

 

Inspiration in the Mountains

 

During her stay in Mammoth Lakes for the month of January, Jeremy stayed with Alexi, working on post-production editing while she could focus on training with the Mammoth Track Club, who inspired her goals immensely heading into the 2015 indoor and outdoor season, including a 10k attempt at some point in the spring. 
 

“They make the 10k look short [laughs], there's something about being in Mammoth that was just so cool to spend some time with them. They're awesome. So I don't know, it was just like a wrinkle in time that we'll all take with us this year,” Alexi said musing over the past month of training with the long distance group of Deena Kastor and Lauren Kleppin, among others. 

 

Her coach Ian Dobson put her in touch with Andrew Kastor who invited her into the fold to train with the Mammoth Track Club. Dobson also supports the balance Alexi maintains along the way.

 

“I have a good relationship with my coach and he knows that in a sport that's so mental, it's important and really good to be a happy and balanced person,” Alexi said. 

 

“There's this special window of time to make running a priority and I'm embracing that, but in the long term I couldn't imagine doing anything else besides making stuff with Jeremy. So I think there'll be another project on the horizon and we'll see when or what that is, but I think I'm really going to focus on 2016,” Alexi said. 

 

Wearing Two Hats

 

As our conversation continues, the reception cuts in and out while Jeremy and Alexi drive through the mountains and out of the state of California. Throughout the phone call, I can hear her smile as she speaks of the inspiring experience she is driving away from and the new adventure she is driving towards. 

 

“Today I was running in the mountains of Mammoth and tomorrow I'll be in some film party in Park City with Jeremy,” Alexi said. “It's two different hats but it feels like I'm among the best of something and it's really a privilege.”

 

Alexi will be racing the Shamrock Shuffle 8k in Chicago this weekend, the same city where we had our first interview.