NYC Marathon Recap with Mom & Dad Maher!

Summary

House of Maher – “NYC Marathon Recap with Mom & Dad Maher!”

Podcast: House of Maher
Host: Wave Originals
Date: November 4, 2025
Guests: Ilona Maher, Olivia Maher, Adriana “Dre Baby” Maher, Meenaka Mar (Mother), Michael Mar (Father)
Summary by ChatGPT

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Episode Overview

This heartfelt, raucous, and cozy episode of House of Maher centers on the recent NYC Marathon, run by Olivia (“Girl Dinner” creator), and reflects on family rituals, body image, and Maher family dynamics. With Olympic rugby star Ilona, advocate Adriana, and Mom and Dad Maher joining for a roundtable, listeners get an inside look into the bonds and banter that define the Maher sisters — served alongside marathon stories, childhood memories, and life lessons from their parents.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Marathon Recap: Inside Olivia’s NYC Marathon

Starting at [03:20]

• Olivia’s NYC Marathon Experience

  • Olivia announces triumphantly: “I just won the New York City Marathon.” ([03:22], Olivia, tongue-in-cheek)
  • Actual result: finished in 5 hours 17 minutes—a personal victory ([03:31], family celebration).
  • Jumped into the episode straight from the marathon, still running on adrenaline.
  • First marathon, fueled by high energy at the start line: “My adrenaline was cranking so hard, I’m pretty sure I levitated over that entire thing.” ([04:15], Olivia)

• Race Details: Nutrition & Strategy

  • Olivia took a gel every ~40 minutes, used salt tablets: “Just keep your salts cranking…you don’t want to cramp up.” ([07:45], Olivia)
  • Didn’t stop running (besides quick hugs!).
  • “I am violently chafing on my butt cheeks.” ([09:09], Olivia — honest about marathon pain)
  • “I never want to see a carb again… shoveling pancakes and french fries… I just felt thickums, hefty like the earth’s gravity was working with me.” ([10:19], Olivia)
  • Halloween happened during carbo load; she costumed as Zara Larson and struggled with body confidence but “once she put that wig on, she was a different woman.” ([11:50], Ilona)

• Best/Worst Moments

  • Best mile: “Probably 1 and 2 where I was just cooking.” ([26:48], Olivia)
  • Worst mile: “The Bronx. I was fighting demons…up at the Bronx.” ([27:01], Olivia)
  • Best gel flavor: “I like the mango ones…the honey-based ones with fruit punch.” ([27:16], Olivia)

• On Family Support:

  • The Mahers (and friends) showed up at mile 16, the “Maybelline Mile.”
  • “I gotta look athletic. Come on, Liv, pick up those knees, let’s go.” ([38:08], Olivia)

• Signs and NYC Energy

  • Favorite sign: “You run better than our government.” / “If you can run here, you can run anywhere.” ([28:01], Olivia)
  • Olivia loved cheers from strangers: “Psychological boost…someone goes, ‘Yeah, Olivia!’…You have to snap up, put a smile on.” ([23:29], Olivia)
  • Admits there was confusion with “Ilona” signs, as both sisters have similar names! ([08:15], Olivia/Adriana)
  • Did the race mostly without music: “I actually was listening to the city mostly…letting it fuel me.” ([21:51], Olivia)

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II. Training, Health, and Real Talk About Marathoning

Starting at [16:57]

• Training was a huge time commitment: “It takes many hours to run that many hours in training…I did make it my job.” ([17:04], Olivia)
• Discussion: Are marathon runners healthier? Cites Perplexity AI: Marathons improve cardiovascular health but carry risk of injuries/overtraining. ([17:47], Adriana/Olivia)
• “You never actually run a full 26 miles in your training. Max you go is 20. To not risk injuries.” ([18:05], Olivia)
• “My knees…putting a lot on them with every step…they’re throbbing as we speak.” ([18:29], Olivia)
• Comparing Rugby and Marathons: “She ran for five hours plus straight.” ([29:52], Adriana)
  “Was somebody tackling her while she did it?” ([29:56], Ilona, rugby flex)
  “My demons, my booty cheeks.” ([29:58], Olivia — comedic candor)

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III. The Maher Family Way: Rituals, Dinners, & Parenting Philosophy

Starting at [35:08]

-Family Dinners: A Maher Staple ([44:55])

• “Every night we did a family dinner…Had to sit at the table doing homework.”

• “That’s when we had conversations…that’s when we talked to each other. I’m on a first name basis with most of my daughter’s friends.” ([45:16], Michael/Father)

• Encouragement of team spirit and banter: “You gotta learn how to take up space at the table… workshop stuff with each other, bomb a couple jokes, learn from it.” ([47:26], Adriana/Olivia)

• Body Positivity & Raising Confident Women

  • Mom Meenaka on breaking cycles:
    “I still remember being a size 10 and an aunt of mine patted my belly and said, ‘You got a little belly there, don’t you?’…I did not want to pass that on to any one of you guys.” ([42:29], Meenaka)
  • “It’s what we’re learning constantly: the love for your body continues to change.” ([44:17], Ilona)
  • “Menopause…a whole new chapter in a woman’s life where you have absolutely no control…you guys have done a great job supporting me.” ([44:21], Meenaka)
  • Adriana as the “body image sheriff”: “Adriana especially is very good at keeping me in line and making me toe the line of self appreciation.” ([43:26], Meenaka)

• Sports and Gender

  • Dad Michael: “For young women, participating in sports helped them in so many other social endeavors and gave them confidence…Olivia volunteered to be a soccer goalie…All three of you were softball pitchers…You learn to take the heat.” ([40:29], Michael)

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IV. Childhood, Personality, and Sibling Shenanigans

Starting at [59:06]

• Sister Superlatives: A “Settle It” Game
  • Bossiest: “Olivia” (unanimous)
    “Are you bossy or are you the boss?” ([59:27], Mother/Ilona/Adriana)
  • Messiest: “Ilona.” “You can’t walk in her room without tripping over something.” ([60:06], Mother)
  • Night owl: “Adriana.”
  • First to cry: “Olivia.”

-Who is the Funniest?

• Family refuses to settle this:
  “You’re all funny in different ways…funny in media is different than funny across the dinner table…humor takes intelligence.” ([64:49], Michael)

• “You’re going to come to me on the day of my NYC Marathon and tell me how John is the funniest?” ([65:51], Olivia)

• Siblings as Adults vs. Kids

  • Olivia always the leader, “quintessential oldest child” ([53:44], Meenaka)
  • Ilona was shy and introverted as a child: “If anybody had said Ilona’s gonna be a very famous, outgoing person, that’s not what would have been predicted…You were an extrovert who was shy.” ([54:03], Michael)
  • Adriana: “You were the one who wanted to be anywhere else…now, as a homebody, you’re the one who most enjoys being at home.” ([57:27], Michael)

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V. Parenting Insights & Marriage Wisdom from Mom & Dad Maher

Starting at [67:00]

• On Marriage (32 Years):

  • “No unilateral decisions…we agreed we’re going to talk about things in advance, make rules together.” ([67:30], Michael)
  • “Your relationship has to be strong and good…with kids being nurtured immediately after…Now that you guys are gone, we’re here. We’re stuck with each other…Thank God, we like each other.” ([68:12], Mother/Father)

• Parenting Advice

  • “Raise kids with praise, but honesty…It’s just a balance of being as honest as you can. The secret is to try.” ([48:18], Michael)
  • “My advice: love your partner first. I always thought it was really important you guys would feel comfortable coming to me with any question.” ([48:12]/[49:04], Meenaka)
  • On open communication: “You guys were the happy recipients of many a lecture… I think the communication was always there.” ([49:36], Meenaka)
  • “It was never a don’t do this. Like, don’t do drugs, don’t drink. It was: you can do it, but you gotta be smart about it.” ([49:48], Ilona)

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VI. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Right through delusion, all things are possible.” ([37:31], Olivia)
• “My adrenaline was cranking so hard, I’m pretty sure I levitated over that entire thing.” ([04:15], Olivia)
• “Leave nothing in the tank.” ([31:29], Ilona’s marathon/rugby mantra)
• “Adriana especially is very good at keeping me in line and making me toe the line of self appreciation.” ([43:26], Meenaka)
• “Raising kids is the most amazing thing…I would have a crapload of money…but I would be so much poorer. I mean, our life is so rich because of you three.” ([68:59], Michael)
• “A house divided cannot stand.” ([68:09], Olivia quoting Abraham Lincoln, jokingly)
• “What comes around goes around. For every reaction, there’s an equal and opposite.” ([44:46], Meenaka on family support flipping as children age)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:20] — Olivia announces marathon finish & start of the recap
• [07:45] — Marathon nutrition, support, and city energy
• [16:57] — Touching grass: balancing marathon training, health
• [23:29] — City crowds, signs, the psychological boost
• [35:08] — Parents join: nerves, family perspectives on marathon
• [40:29] — Parenting philosophy: sports, confidence, daughters
• [42:29] — Body image stories & lessons from Mom
• [44:55] — The importance of family dinners and rituals
• [59:06] — Sisterly superlatives game
• [67:00] — Marriage insights and parenting advice

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is intimate, irreverent, and supportive — full of genuine affection, teasing, and sharing of wisdom. The sisters’ banter brings both humor and vulnerability, while Mom and Dad offer grounded, heartfelt parenting philosophy.

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In Summary

The “NYC Marathon Recap with Mom & Dad Maher” episode is a celebration of both personal accomplishment and the messy, loving collaboration that is family. Olivia’s marathon story anchors a discussion that roams from sports to confidence, body image to parenting, with the Maher household’s rowdy table-talk always at the center. It’s a fun, real, and uplifting look at what it means to be a Maher—and why there’s no place like home.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

Sean Bean and Connie Nielsen star in Robin Hood. From Sherwood Forest to the Norman Court.

A classic tale reborn for today.

The story continues to unfold. New episode Sundays on mgm.

[Adriana Mar]

Who was the messiest?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Ilona.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

It was Ilona.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, dad. Can you expand upon that?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, good Lord. You can't walk into a room without tripping over something.

[Adriana Mar]

Right?

[Ilona Mar]

First off, when I come home, I bring a lot of stuff home.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

You do?

[Ilona Mar]

And I check many bags, so that's why.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay.

[Ilona Mar]

That's my space.

[Olivia Mar]

That's my area growing up, though, too. She was the messiest.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Nobody. No, you were a different kind of mess. You were. No, it goes 1, 2, and. Immaculate.

[Ilona Mar]

Immaculate Jesus. Okay, here we go. Here we go. Here we go.

[Adriana Mar]

Don't go too fast. Jesus.

[Ilona Mar]

What is that in that cup? Should you be having that?

[Olivia Mar]

Lights.

[Ilona Mar]

Right.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, you guys.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay.

[Ilona Mar]

Do you want to lay down? I might. Hold on.

[Olivia Mar]

Let's kick these off.

[Adriana Mar]

Take the shoes off in my direction.

[Olivia Mar]

That's scary. Put that up.

[Ilona Mar]

Have that up there a little bit.

[Olivia Mar]

There it is.

[Ilona Mar]

Maybe.

[Olivia Mar]

No.

[Adriana Mar]

Oh, have a sit.

[Ilona Mar]

Actually, orange might be your color.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah. No, you're lying.

[Ilona Mar]

No.

[Olivia Mar]

You're a dirty, dirty liar. No.

[Ilona Mar]

Put your leg down. Put your leg up.

[Adriana Mar]

Olivia.

[Ilona Mar]

Nobody wants to see that.

[Olivia Mar]

That's the Victoria Beckham everyone wants to see that.

[Ilona Mar]

Actually, that was not that bad.

[Olivia Mar]

That actually felt really good to do.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay, well, thank you for joining us, Olivia. It's crazy that you're here. And thank you to all of you for joining us here at House of Mar A Wave Original. We Have a few house rules for you. You got this, Olivia.

[Olivia Mar]

Girls are magic.

[Adriana Mar]

Reading is hot.

[Ilona Mar]

And so are you. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube. So you can see Olivia in this off putting orange. Then she's just laying there and she's just salty.

[Adriana Mar]

She's actually never looked better.

[Olivia Mar]

And you want to know why? Because I just won the New York City Marathon.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay. Did you say one?

[Olivia Mar]

Yep.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

She didn't win.

[Adriana Mar]

She won it in five hours, 17 minutes.

[Ilona Mar]

Five hours and 17 minutes, which is pretty. And that's a win for her.

[Olivia Mar]

That's a win. And you know what? I think I was like, yeah, let's. You know what? Let's get in the stude. Let's drop some bars right afterwards. As long as I can have the couch to myself. And that's what we got going on here, you guys.

[Ilona Mar]

That's crazy, dog. You actually. I'm impressed. Well, let's go over voices, of course. If you're listening or watching. I'm Alona. I was just watched. I just watched my sister absolutely crush the marathon. We were all a little nervous there, to be honest, but she did it.

[Adriana Mar]

You killed that. Thank you. And I'm Adrana Mar. And I was watching your splits, and you were going fast, very fast.

[Ilona Mar]

For a minute there, I thought that.

[Olivia Mar]

I might be coming out of the gate. Like, off at the start line you go. You start on the bridge from Staten island into Brooklyn, and it's an uphill, and everyone's like, don't burn yourself out. Take it easy. I tell you what, my adrenaline was cranking so hard, I'm pretty sure I levitated over that entire thing. Like, I. Like, it was an insane energy to be around that I was just like. And then it was like. And then also the cannon fires. The cannon. Like, it's a. It's a cannon. So, like, when you're inside the start tents, it's actually kind of spooky. And, like, there'll just be these cannons for, like the heats. Before you, I kind of felt like I was in the Hunger Games. I was like, what the fuck? They were loud. It was funny. It was scary. But yeah, I took off, I think fast. But then I maintained it. When you showed me my splits, my watch battery died, I think, when I was in.

[Ilona Mar]

So did you run a marathon?

[Olivia Mar]

Did I actually run a freaking marathon?

[Ilona Mar]

You're watching and get it. Did you even run a marathon?

[Olivia Mar]

If I can't get props on various.

[Ilona Mar]

Athletic apps, what's the point?

[Olivia Mar]

Did I even do a marathon?

[Ilona Mar]

No. I don't think so. That sucks. But also so impressive my foot is right now.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, my God.

[Ilona Mar]

Hold on, Olivia. Keep going through the pain. We are watching. Your first couple miles were like 10 minutes.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, I was cooking.

[Ilona Mar]

That was much faster than we done. Whenever you and I ran 10 minute miles, you were getting stressed.

[Adriana Mar]

I was gassed and it was 10, 10, 10.

[Olivia Mar]

Like you were going holding it. Dude, that is insane. I truly like cuz I was estimating running 11 minute 30 second miles, like for marathon, like holding that pace and then it just was flying.

[Ilona Mar]

It felt like.

[Olivia Mar]

But it felt good. I didn't feel like stopping. I did feel at some points when I felt like I was going really slow. You showed me. You showed me my splits. I was still going like 11:30, like my original mile pace that I was aiming for, but I felt like I was crawling. But here we are. Hold on. Yeah, show my metal out.

[Adriana Mar]

Shove that bling.

[Ilona Mar]

Liv got a medal too.

[Adriana Mar]

Hey, Lou, you notice what color that is?

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, what'd you say?

[Adriana Mar]

Say it again. No, say that again.

[Ilona Mar]

What'd you say? Say it again. Look me in the eyes and say it again. Look me in the eyes. Say that again.

[Adriana Mar]

He has a gold medal. Her and 55,000 people have that gold medal.

[Ilona Mar]

I have a medal too.

[Adriana Mar]

She meddled.

[Ilona Mar]

Not that medal, though.

[Olivia Mar]

Not this one.

[Ilona Mar]

I meddled once.

[Olivia Mar]

There were two athletes in this family.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay, overall vibes, how are you feeling?

[Olivia Mar]

I weirdly feel okay right now. And I don't know if I'm just kicking on adrenaline.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, dude, for sure.

[Adriana Mar]

I don't want to be around you.

[Olivia Mar]

In about three hours.

[Ilona Mar]

Have a sip of this maybe. Yeah, get in on that.

[Olivia Mar]

Thank you.

[Ilona Mar]

Get on that.

[Olivia Mar]

Am I allowed to drink this? Oh, it's a glass of champagne.

[Ilona Mar]

No. Should you be drinking it? No, but rugby after tournament. Do we drink?

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

That's more about mental vibes, you know?

[Olivia Mar]

Right.

[Ilona Mar]

That's mental. Well being.

[Adriana Mar]

This isn't an everyday thing.

[Olivia Mar]

Put it back.

[Ilona Mar]

You have to be independent, Olivia.

[Olivia Mar]

Put it back. This. This over here feels insane. No, I got it. There we go.

[Ilona Mar]

Ooh.

[Adriana Mar]

Olivia's putting a glass onto the table and.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Really?

[Olivia Mar]

Really.

[Ilona Mar]

Was that your bones or where. No, that was the straps of that. You look salty as heck, girl.

[Olivia Mar]

I feel salty as hell.

[Adriana Mar]

No, when I kissed you at the 16 mile mark, I licked my lips after and I was like, salt. Salt. Oh. Kept happening for about a few minutes.

[Ilona Mar]

Can we get a number of how many gels and how many salt packets you had?

[Olivia Mar]

I took a gel every 40ish minutes.

[Adriana Mar]

Right.

[Olivia Mar]

So I think that was about five before I saw you guys, if that math is mathing.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, and then we gave you more gels.

[Olivia Mar]

Then I had you give me more gels because I didn't want to have to hold on to all of them, Right. So I had about five gels before I saw you guys. Plus, I had an extra one on me just in case something fell out or went wrong. And then you guys, when I saw you guys at mile 16. So I ran, you know, the 60 miles, saw some friends in Brooklyn, saw some other people that I don't know if they recognized me, and they were just, like, really excited for me. A lot of people kept going, alona.

[Adriana Mar]

Alona, you ran a marathon today.

[Olivia Mar]

Alona ran the marathon today. And I would go so close, and they would go. They would get really confused, but it's all good. And then I had you hand me about four more gels and some salt sticks and some more salt, which actually didn't need. I had enough on me, but I had. I take those salt tabs about every 30 minutes. Just keep your salts cranking and. Because you don't want to, like, cramp up as well. And I think that worked really well. The energy of the city is insane, right? That's what you hear about. It really was like, the city shows up. It was so exciting. It was so, so freaking cool. And then I. So I saw. Saw the family at Mile 16, the Maybelline Mile, where you guys were hanging out, and I got to hug everybody. And I'm just so proud to say that I did not stop running. I didn't stop running.

[Ilona Mar]

No.

[Olivia Mar]

Well, except when I was, like, hugging you guys, like, by. In movement, you know? So that was really very freaking cool to say. And I will also say this, guys. I am violently chafing on my butt cheeks.

[Adriana Mar]

Between my butt cheeks.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, my God. It didn't. Luckily, I didn't feel it during the race, but after, when you keep walking and I stopped for a while, and then I walked again, I was like, something's wrong.

[Ilona Mar]

Now give me a description. Are we talking, like, in between the cheeks or, like, underneath?

[Olivia Mar]

I want. I want you to. I want you to hear me here. Do you know what I'm saying?

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, I know exactly the part you're saying is bad. Oh, spooks. That's not good. Oh, no, it's okay.

[Olivia Mar]

And I kind of went into this. I actually wasn't even really that nervous this morning. I think I was nervous packing last night to make sure I had everything for, like, the Start village. I don't know why that was stressing me out the most. Was like have my gels, have the stuff to keep me warm. Do I have the extra this? Do I have the extra headphones? Do I have. You want tissues in case you want to pee and there's no toilet paper places, whatever. Also I have not peed.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, that's cuz your body use of all your water.

[Olivia Mar]

You're fine.

[Adriana Mar]

We shouldn't be see the Salt on.

[Olivia Mar]

You 30 this morning.

[Adriana Mar]

Hey girl. Oh, you're going to have a crazy bowel movement tomorrow.

[Olivia Mar]

I'm going to have like I'm going to poop crazy style. Like awful.

[Ilona Mar]

Going back though, you've been carboloading. You said in the car, I quote, I never want to see a carb again. Share that with us.

[Olivia Mar]

I would not like to eat another carb for the next minimum two weeks. I was just like shoveling like I had pancakes and french fries and bagels and bread and that sounds really cool. That sounds like a dream. But after a couple of days and you just, you're already full but you know you need to keep putting it in your body. Vile process. It's not fun. And I truly, I felt so bloated from all the carbs. Like I thought like I was going to float away. Like I thought I was just like I felt, I just felt thickums like hefty like to the earth gravity was working with with me, you know what I mean? We went and did Halloween in New York City. So mind you, I'm carbo loading. I'm feeling like I'm bearing down on the earth with how much carbs are in my body. And I put on a skimpy little outfit to be Zara Larson for Halloween. But I think it worked well actually. I got a spray tan. Spray tans always help, so that was good.

[Adriana Mar]

How did you feel confident while you were carbo loading and being Zara Larson?

[Olivia Mar]

At first I was really nervous.

[Ilona Mar]

You guys know I. Because I saw her, she was not feeling very confident.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay.

[Ilona Mar]

And then she learned how to lay a wig down.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh my gosh.

[Ilona Mar]

A new woman.

[Olivia Mar]

I Learned I watch 50 bajillion. I always watch like a wig, wig installation videos when they come up on my TikTok. I love them. I love watching them. People are so talented. So I've watched enough. And then I was really watching to know how to do it because I wanted it to look, look good. Yeah, don't think we look good blonde unless it's done well for sure. And I did that and I got dressed and I was really spooked. I was wearing like short shorts that were kind of like low rise as well. I never knew that was.

[Ilona Mar]

But once she put that wig on, she was a different woman.

[Olivia Mar]

I felt good.

[Ilona Mar]

And she was dancing.

[Adriana Mar]

She was all about that midnight style.

[Ilona Mar]

We, yeah, we were doing a dance like. And so I'm like, for my disrespect, I'm like, 1, 2, 3, 4, hit, hit, hit, hit.

[Olivia Mar]

I couldn't get it.

[Ilona Mar]

I kept getting wrong. I was like, olivia, we need to clock in here. We need a 1, 2, 3, 4, get in that ballroom.

[Olivia Mar]

And I got it by the end. Team, thank you, Alona, thank you for Dancing with the Stars, for the knowledge that you acquired. Yeah, tell me. That was my first ever dancing video on the Internet.

[Ilona Mar]

So it was, it was a scene getting us ready. Cuz I had to start getting ready at like to get my wig on at 1:32.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

And it took hours to do. As I was doing it, I was like, this is a terrible idea. I look like Legolas. For a minute there we were, we were.

[Adriana Mar]

And we know that reference.

[Ilona Mar]

That's why we know that. Yes, I looked like Legolas. And I was like, this is the worst mistake I've ever made. And you can attest I looked kooky there.

[Olivia Mar]

A little spooky.

[Ilona Mar]

It was a little spooky. And I.

[Olivia Mar]

You did. You got a very talented wig artist though who knew to like brown the roots a bit. So like it did look a bit more natural to you, but.

[Ilona Mar]

So it was crazy. He cornrows my hair because I have a lot of it. And then he has to like pin it up this way as well. And then he puts a bald cap on and then he had to like glue it and also do all sorts of other stuff on it. So it was really down. And then put the wig on and at that point I was gonna take it off, but we, I stayed with it. And then he did all sorts of cutting and shaping it. My makeup girl came, she did all the blue eyeliner and whatnot.

[Olivia Mar]

And meanwhile. So all of this was to get ready for Heidi Klum Halloween.

[Ilona Mar]

Yes.

[Olivia Mar]

Right. Which was happening at like 9:00pm, 9:00pm so this, this hair and makeup process has started at 1:30 in the afternoon. But mind you, she first had a fitting at 8am for her custom made costume. They came to the hotel room, mind you, we got. Because of all the flooding and storms in New York City, we got delayed. We didn't get in, into bed in New York City until 4:00am 4:00am so it was like, to make Halloween hot happen.

[Ilona Mar]

And then, mind you, mind you, I had another fitting at 11am for three.

[Adriana Mar]

Hours until you had to leave early to get your wig on.

[Olivia Mar]

And so then I went into her next fitting to get clothing put on me to see if it would be good for her. You know, we. We compensate for boobs and stuff, but it's all good, so it's fine.

[Adriana Mar]

But mind you, mind you, I had a fake bang. Very easy.

[Olivia Mar]

Was banged out.

[Adriana Mar]

I was banged out.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay, wait. Happy Halloween.

[Ilona Mar]

Happy Halloween.

[Adriana Mar]

I was Judy Garland and meet me in St. Louis. It was so fun. I had a really. Judy was me, and I was Judy.

[Olivia Mar]

What do you mean you were Judy Garland?

[Adriana Mar]

What do you mean you were Judy Garland, 1944. It was so incredible. I did not shut up the entire evening. I was singing every, every moment. I gave my friend my phone constantly. Hey, record me real quick.

[Ilona Mar]

Clang, clang, clang.

[Adriana Mar]

And we went to two parties. The first one was with my friends.

[Ilona Mar]

On the Upper west side.

[Adriana Mar]

And you would call it maybe a straight party, if you will, or just. It was mostly straight people. No one knew who I was.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, that's.

[Adriana Mar]

Someone was like, are you Little Debbie?

[Olivia Mar]

Little Debbie from the snacks?

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah. I was like, she wears plaid.

[Olivia Mar]

I'm in stripes. I'm in stripes, bitch. What the frick, you uncultured swan.

[Ilona Mar]

And I might have been at that straight party because I would not have known who you were if I'd have seen you at a glance. The thing is, I've seen the movie, though.

[Adriana Mar]

I thought. I wasn't really expecting people to know. I was like, this is a really niche costume. Get to our next. Our next location. What you could call a gay Halloween party.

[Olivia Mar]

In Bushwick.

[Adriana Mar]

In Bushwick. In Bushwick. Mind you, I'm walking up the steps. Clang, clang, clang.

[Olivia Mar]

I was like, oh, my God. Someone clocked you immediately.

[Adriana Mar]

I'm not even inside yet. And then throughout the night, I just had people come up to me to be like, judy, you've done so much for me. They just started singing clang, clang at me. That's awesome. I had, like, maybe six or seven, and I was like, that's a.

[Olivia Mar]

That's pretty good. That's awesome dream.

[Adriana Mar]

So.

[Olivia Mar]

You looked great. You did look good.

[Ilona Mar]

Once I saw a picture of you next to Judy. I was like, that's a great costume.

[Olivia Mar]

Great costume.

[Adriana Mar]

Thank you very much. It was actually very easy to put together right now.

[Ilona Mar]

Tell me, were you drunk or just the Spirit of Judy over.

[Adriana Mar]

Actually, I wasn't that drunk.

[Ilona Mar]

You had to sing that song at every place you went to. You kept going, who? This is what Adriana does when she wants you to record. Hey, can you record this? You don't know what she's about to film.

[Olivia Mar]

You have no idea.

[Ilona Mar]

She doesn't give you any premonition on what sort of the video is. She just says, hey, just record this. You gotta be ready for whatever comes out of her mouth. So I imagine one of your friends was just, hey, can you record this? And they were just on.

[Adriana Mar]

Yep. Leah was so down for it. It was great. And I didn't get that drunk. It was really just real vibes, man.

[Olivia Mar]

I felt Spirit of Judy.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah. I felt the song. I had a song into my heart. It was. And also I was like, I gotta.

[Olivia Mar]

Get a good TikTok out of this.

[Adriana Mar]

And then each one, I just wasn't happy. So at the end of it, I was like, what if we just put them all together? Good. Clearly, some of you are out here taking life a little too seriously. So we're here to remind you to touch some grass. People make running marathons their whole personality. Yeah, I don't know about you, maybe. So touch some grass.

[Ilona Mar]

Live. When you were training for a marathon, did it kind of consume your life? Because when I'm training, it's pretty much, you know, everything. You do your job.

[Olivia Mar]

Though for me, it was a lot. It's a lot of hours. It takes many hours to run that many hours in training. So a lot of times when I was on my runs, I would be like, how do people like, you know, I have a very interesting job. I work for my sister and I work for myself, and I work for this. So my hours are not like a normal person's like nine to five. So I'm like, how do people with like nine to five jobs do this? How are they training? When are they doing this? When are they finding the time? When it's dark out all the time. So that was very impressive. But it was. I did make it my job and I. I really clocked in there. So that's why I'm like, I'm tired, I'm exhausted. I think we have perplexity way in here. Perplexity. Are people who run marathons actually healthier than those who don't?

[Adriana Mar]

It says generally people who run marathons tend to have better cardiovascular health and lower all cause mortality rates compared to those who do not engage in regular endurance exercise. But marathon running also carries risks, such as Acute injuries, temporary immune suppression and potential negative effects from excessive training or racing.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, maybe that's why like they never, they say like you never actually run a full 26 miles in your training. Like the max you go is 20. I think it's just like to, you know, not risk injuries, these kinds of things. It's a lot on the body, it's a lot of stress on the body from like that kind of excessive training. So I think that that's why you keep it to about like the 20.

[Adriana Mar]

You've been talking about your knees for so long, you know, are not built for this.

[Olivia Mar]

I don't know if there's a lot of me or something. I'm putting a lot on them with every step, but they're throbbing as we speak. Conclusion. Marathon runners on average are healthier than sedentary counterparts and even people who exercise less intensely, particularly in terms of cardiovascular, metabolic and mental health. However, marathon running poses acute and sometimes long term risks not shared by less intensive exercise and moderation may provide the greatest net benefits. Thank you, Perplexity. One thing I do want to discuss before we move on. Did you guys see British Vogue's article about how having a boyfriend now is embarrassing? Good for us thought. Kudos to us. What are our thoughts there?

[Adriana Mar]

Obviously it's like, yeah, okay, I didn't mean to do this, but I'll take it. But also I haven't read the article, so just going off of the title, it feels like that being a girl with a boyfriend is embarrassing. You know that like it's the fact that you have one. But I think it's more so that like boyfriends can embarrass the girlfriend, you know, like by their actions rather than just like the act of having a boyfriend.

[Olivia Mar]

That's funny, I took it as. What's embarrassing about it is that like, typically when I think about all the stories I've heard in my life of people that have like my friends that have boyfriends or whatever, or like the breakups I've gone through is that their boyfriends, they're sort of settling. The boyfriend is not as great of a person as they deserve. They don't put in the work and the woman is accepting that she's accepting lesser than she deserves and that's embarrassing that she's not holding herself to a worth that is conducive of the type of person that she is, the kind of work that she puts into their relationship when he doesn't. So I think that that's what they meant by having a boyfriend. Is embarrassing. What do you think?

[Ilona Mar]

I think men can be can embarrass you at times.

[Adriana Mar]

I think we should actually read the article.

[Olivia Mar]

We should read the article.

[Adriana Mar]

Studies show the headline.

[Olivia Mar]

Studies show it's embarrassing to have a boyfriend. Alona hates it.

[Adriana Mar]

Simply put, keep your wits about you. Stay safe out there and touch some grass. Break through the busiest time of the year with the brand new peloton cross training Tread plus. Powered by Peloton iq, Peloton helps you.

[Olivia Mar]

Achieve more in less time. So no matter if you're caught up in work, travel or the upcoming holidays, Peloton helps you stay on track.

[Ilona Mar]

Peloton's most elevated equipment comes with real time guidance. So it's cross training reimagined alone or with your favorite instructors. Shout out to Robin and Toondy.

[Olivia Mar]

We see you.

[Adriana Mar]

Peloton IQ has features like goal setting and even gives weight suggestions for your lift. So you're always taking your strength training to the next level.

[Olivia Mar]

Plus, the all new movement tracking camera allows peloton IQ to count your reps and correct your form in real time.

[Ilona Mar]

Peloton IQ takes the guesswork out of your workout so you can train safer, lift smarter and make every rep count.

[Adriana Mar]

And with personalized plans plus insights and guidance, Peloton IQ helps you unlock new breakthroughs.

[Olivia Mar]

As it gets too cold to train outside, you can hit your 45 minute run on the tread plus. Then flip that screen around and do a 5 minute stretch all in one smooth spin.

[Ilona Mar]

No matter how busy you are, Peloton helps you reach your goals effortlessly and.

[Olivia Mar]

Suggests endless ways to train.

[Ilona Mar]

For a well rounded routine, let yourself.

[Adriana Mar]

Run, lift, sculpt, push and go explore the new peloton cross training tread [e-mail].

[Ilona Mar]

Ladies, let's settle in for tea time because there is plenty to spill today. Today's tea time is brought to you by beats. Speaking of beats, Olivia, you just ran a marathon. Were you listening to stuff?

[Olivia Mar]

I actually was listening to the city mostly. Oh, the energy, it's letting it fuel me.

[Adriana Mar]

Listening to your block, is that from.

[Ilona Mar]

Is that from in heights?

[Olivia Mar]

Right?

[Ilona Mar]

What is it? I'm listening to my block.

[Narrator]

Shh.

[Adriana Mar]

Let me listen to my bl.

[Ilona Mar]

Wait, what's your favorite song? My block.

[Olivia Mar]

Me. I was like the block I'm in, you know, So I was. I wanted to really feel the energy. And when. When I've been training and I've been doing my long runs, I try to not start with music. I try to just go au natural. And I would go for about like Four or five miles without anything. It truly is kind of nice. You just let your thoughts untangle a bit. And then when it starts getting to be like this, this I'm bored, this awful, then I would put on music and start really jamming. And so for the start of the marathon when it was like the bridge and the. Just the adrenaline and the people and obviously there's no spectators on that first bridge. So the first, like mile and a half, two miles, there's no spectators until you get really into Brooklyn. And I was just still just vibing. I was just like, I was just letting myself think and take it all in. And there was all these helicopters around the bridge and it was crazy. And I was running with Maybelline. And so I started at 9, 10 in the morning, which is like one of the first heats to go out. So then behind us are released people that are like, really, really running, you know what I mean? And they're going for time. And they all like it. It was like, not great of them, but, like, I get that they're there to, like, be like athletes. They were like, pushing people out of their way to, like, get to, like, the sections. And they were being a bit rude about it. And like, I get it. And they were like, I heard one guy go, how the hell am I supposed to get a 3:30 in this? I'm like, figure it out, King.

[Ilona Mar]

It's a race.

[Olivia Mar]

That's part of it. You know what I mean?

[Adriana Mar]

So New York's not the race that you prn.

[Olivia Mar]

That's what I've heard. So that was interesting. But I do get, like, where they're coming from. And so I just took in the city and I got there. And then when you start seeing people, they start cheering for you. And I. I read you either write your name on it or I don't know if this is new this year, but you can request to have your name on this. So I have my bib under here with my number, which has the chip on it that's like tracking me, which means that I can then put this one over it because I don't. They don't need to see my number for any kind of tracking. It's already being read. So people read your name and they cheer for you, which was quite nice because when you're down in the dumps, when you're like trapped in your head and you feel like you're going slow and you're like, oh, you're battling demons, all of a sudden someone goes, yeah, Olivia. Because they read Your shirt, and you have to kind of, like, snap up, put a smile on. And like, I. I was like, look at anybody that said that. So it would be like this weird psychological boost because I also know starting to smile and, like, put on a show for people. So it was really cool to have my number on it. And then through most of Brooklyn, with all the excitement, I didn't listen to anything. Just listen to the city, your block. Block. Listen to my block. Listen to my block. And then I saw people that had a sign that said alona would want you to keep running. And at first, when I was coming up on it, it said ilona. And I was like, oh, my gosh, there's another. There's somebody named Ilona running this race. That's crazy. I gotta tell Ilona. And then there was a cutout picture of Alona that I recognized. I was like, oh, it's a sign for me about alone. And so I went up to those divas and gave them a hug, and that was so exciting and so cool. And then I saw my first set of friends a little bit down there. It was so. It was so exciting the way that they were so excited. I think I was so focused. I was so excited. But they were, like, emotional. I was like, thank you for coming. Like, they made signs. That was really special. Then I kept running. And I think it was a ways into Brooklyn because you do run in Brooklyn for a while and sort of gearing up towards Queens in the crossover that I did start playing music for the first time, and then especially on the Queensborough bridge, because once again, there's no more people cheering for you. So you, like. It's quiet mind palace. You go into your mind palace. I put more music in. I made a nice. I made a New York City playlist that were songs that I was trying not to listen to. Like, I put it in there as my, like, race day when I need it. So I wasn't, like, training with these songs, so it was exciting to listen to them. And midnight sun and how many times.

[Adriana Mar]

Did you hear concrete jungle today?

[Olivia Mar]

Actually, I don't. I think once.

[Adriana Mar]

Oh, that's actually very surprising.

[Olivia Mar]

Spread in the news quite a bit.

[Ilona Mar]

What that'd get me.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, yeah, it was great. There was one that was like, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up. That got me going. I was like, running fast after that. That was great. Back to this chafing.

[Ilona Mar]

Could you have done that? Remember you. You put, like, a body stick in that bag. And I was like, what's this? For she's like, in case I need it.

[Olivia Mar]

That's the thing. I wasn't feeling the chafing while I was running. It's when I stopped and I think it dried out a little bit.

[Ilona Mar]

If that makes owie gross. That's probably spooky down there.

[Olivia Mar]

It's gonna be real scary down there.

[Adriana Mar]

Shower's gonna go crazy later. Don't sit down in the shower. You're not gonna.

[Olivia Mar]

I want to. You won't get up.

[Adriana Mar]

Not with the steam. You're gonna pass out.

[Olivia Mar]

I'll pass out. Whatever.

[Ilona Mar]

Olivia, let's do some rapid fire questions. What was your best smile?

[Olivia Mar]

Probably 1 and 2 where I was just cooking.

[Adriana Mar]

Your splits would say that.

[Olivia Mar]

Me learning the term splits. That's such something. Your splits would do. Absolutely. Smile.

[Ilona Mar]

Worst smile.

[Olivia Mar]

I think. I think the Bronx. Like, I was fighting demons by getting up at the Bronx.

[Ilona Mar]

Best snack you've had. Best gel flavor.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay. I was really liking.

[Ilona Mar]

The.

[Olivia Mar]

I like the mango ones. Those are really yummy. The honey based ones in the fruit. The fruit punch flavor. Those ones that was like.

[Adriana Mar]

You can say it.

[Olivia Mar]

Crack cocaine.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

The first time I had those, I was like, speed.

[Adriana Mar]

Caffeine. No caffeine.

[Olivia Mar]

What do you like? Just sugar.

[Adriana Mar]

Did you have any caffeine gels?

[Olivia Mar]

No. Whoa.

[Ilona Mar]

Did you have a coffee this morning?

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

I can't believe you didn't have any kids today. No, because that would be by. You know why I couldn't run a marathon?

[Adriana Mar]

Literally.

[Olivia Mar]

She is on a schedule. She's on a strict schedule. I'm on schedule when it comes to bowel movements.

[Ilona Mar]

I couldn't.

[Olivia Mar]

I could. She ran with me in London and she was like, we gotta stop.

[Ilona Mar]

I'd have to run an afternoon marathon.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, an afternoon marathon.

[Ilona Mar]

Funniest sign you saw.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay. There was a bunch of funny signs. The one I saw the most was like, you run better than our government. That. A lot of people had that one.

[Adriana Mar]

Hilarious.

[Olivia Mar]

There was ones that were like, keep running if you think I'm sexy. And those are obviously funny. The rats don't run this city. You do. That was a perfect classic. You know that meme, why are you running? Somebody had that one with the cutouts of the people in that meme. Oh, I was. This one I liked, and I think I'll put it as an Instagram caption, was, if you can run here, you can run anywhere. Or something like that. I really like that. That was cool.

[Adriana Mar]

I made you a sign. It is so embarrassingly bad.

[Olivia Mar]

What do you mean?

[Adriana Mar]

I didn't even bring It. Let me show it to you.

[Olivia Mar]

Hold on.

[Adriana Mar]

You're gonna take one look, and you're gonna be. Do you know how to write?

[Olivia Mar]

It was, like, arts and crafts queen.

[Adriana Mar]

And I actually measured it beforehand, too, which is somehow the worst part. Olivia loves Twilight. Oh, God.

[Olivia Mar]

You're impossibly fast and strong, Dre. This is beautiful.

[Adriana Mar]

Take a look at those S's.

[Olivia Mar]

I am now looking at all of the, like, eraser marks. I almost gave up, but I was.

[Adriana Mar]

Yellow the choice because captions are yellow.

[Olivia Mar]

This is great, Dre.

[Adriana Mar]

So that's what I had planned, and I was like, I can't raise that up.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, I love it. Okay, well, the thought that counts. Here, I'll take it. Beautiful. Beautiful. Mom made signs. My mom is in her graphic designer era. Apparently, it's her passion.

[Adriana Mar]

She had four signs or something?

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, yeah, Made signs. Our aunt made signs, and mom made one, and she, like, covered out something. I'm impressed. I'm really impressed. It was really cool.

[Ilona Mar]

Last one. Well, there was a question on here that said, which is harder, Rugby game or running Marathon. And I'm not. I'm not asking that. Mona.

[Olivia Mar]

We're okay.

[Adriana Mar]

Let's be real. Let's be real. She ran for five hours plus straight.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, was somebody tackling her while she did it?

[Olivia Mar]

My demons, my booty cheeks.

[Adriana Mar]

What do you think?

[Olivia Mar]

Suffer running a marathon or a rugby match? No, she'll be mad. I'm gonna say marathon.

[Ilona Mar]

I'd say marathon, too.

[Olivia Mar]

I'd say marathon 15s. Rugby or sevens. Are we comparing to my marathon 15s?

[Adriana Mar]

I've never heard alona hat.

[Olivia Mar]

You're gonna go marathon shaped ass cheeks. It's gonna be a marathon every time.

[Ilona Mar]

What body part hurts most other than your butt cheeks, but other than the.

[Olivia Mar]

Chafe that was heard around the world?

[Ilona Mar]

Chafe is what? And by the way you described it, is that more your taint?

[Olivia Mar]

So I think there's some in there, too. I will say. I'll say it.

[Ilona Mar]

Your gooch.

[Olivia Mar]

Is that what you're. Is that what you're feeling it? The no man's land, Right? Okay, this hurts here. My knees. My knees have been the worst part about this whole training process. Right. Also, I saw a beautiful thing that was like, you already ran the marathon. This is your victory lap. Like, all the miles of training. Okay, I'm emotional. Loosen it. Like, this is your victory lap. And, like, the whole time, like, when it was getting bad, I would just be like, forward is a pace. Like, I was, like, hunched over. I'm like, forward is a pace. I'm doing it. Alona texted me at a really good time. She was like, leave it all out there. What'd you say?

[Ilona Mar]

I said, yeah, wait. I was actually really nice. I was hoping that it would like read it to you. Oh yeah, I messaged her. I love inspirational text. Keep pushing. Almost there.

[Adriana Mar]

Don't let up.

[Ilona Mar]

Leave nothing in the tank.

[Olivia Mar]

Leave nothing in the tank.

[Ilona Mar]

And I was like, that's what we say.

[Olivia Mar]

Rugby barely could speed up, but I did by the end. I did by the end. So that really hurts. My hips kind of hurt. I'm gonna say everything kind of hurts, but my heart is full and heels perfect.

[Adriana Mar]

That's really beautiful. So even as a New York girlie, this was my first time really watching the New York City Marathon.

[Olivia Mar]

And wasn't it so cool to watch your sister run it?

[Adriana Mar]

Yes. But I do have some more questions about it.

[Ilona Mar]

I want to know a little bit.

[Adriana Mar]

About the history of the marathon.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay, well I've got good news for you there. Perplexity, our touchgraph sponsor for today, is an AI powered answer engine that searches the Internet in real time to give you fast, high quality answers with sources. No chatbots here.

[Ilona Mar]

Unlike legacy search engines that respond with a list of links, Perplexity skips straight to the answers you need and it's.

[Olivia Mar]

Explained in everyday language so it's easy to understand with sources and citations.

[Adriana Mar]

Say you're getting ready to watch the New York City Marathon and you're curious about which burrow is the most spectator friendly you can ask Perplexity and it will give you a detailed answer in seconds, complete with links to the latest sources so you can easily verify information or dive deeper.

[Ilona Mar]

Perplexity Ask Perplexity anything at pplx AI forward slash House of Mar check out.

[Olivia Mar]

Their new AI powered web browser. Comment@www. Perplexity.AI forward slash comment Discover fast and.

[Adriana Mar]

Reliable search with Perplexity today.

[Olivia Mar]

Built for ultimate stability and comfort, powerbeats Fit is a true wireless earbud made for everything.

[Adriana Mar]

Whether you're on the way to work or trying to get an early morning workout in the wingtips, have a secure fitness fit that gently tuck behind your ear and stay in place while you're on the move.

[Ilona Mar]

They are designed to fit so securely and comfortably you don't even have to think about your buds, no matter how intense your workout is.

[Olivia Mar]

For absolute focus, Advanced Active Noise Canceling blocks external sounds, while Transparency Mode lets you hear what's going on in the world around you.

[Adriana Mar]

Especially useful when crossing those busy new York streets.

[Ilona Mar]

Powerbeats Fit is also sweat and water resistant. Whether you're running in the rain, hitting the slopes, or drenched in the heat, these workout earbuds can handle your hardest training.

[Olivia Mar]

Powerbeats Fit Fit for every move.

[Commercial Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by Rumchata, a delicious, creamy blend of horchata with rum. It's best enjoyed over ice or in your coffee. Rumchata Delivering vacation vibes anyway, or anywhere you drink it. Find out [e-mail] drink responsibly Caribbean rum with real dairy cream. Natural and artificial flavor flavors. Alcohol 13.75% by volume 27.5 proof. Copyright 2025 Agafe LoCo Brands, Pojoaquee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved.

[Narrator]

Hey friends, it's Karamo, talk show host, life coach and your next best friend. You just don't know it yet. I'm hosting a new podcast called Start it on Brotherhoods. We're going around the world to explore male friendships and all the wins, challenges and bonds that are made in WhatsApp group chat. And that's exactly where you can listen to it, right in the app. It's streaming on the official WhatsApp channel. Just open the app and go to the updates tab to start listening. While you're at it, message your best friend and make sure they listen too. I'll see you there.

[Podcast Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Like a good neighbor.

[Podcast Advertiser]

State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Ilona Mar]

There are a few people who show up for us on every great adventure. They are there for us in our times of struggle, in our great achievements. Welcome to the podcast. The founders of the House of Mar, Meka and Michael. Mar.

[Olivia Mar]

Welcome.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Thank you for having me.

[Ilona Mar]

Now, am I saying that right? Meenika.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Meenaka.

[Olivia Mar]

And is she saying that as well? Michel.

[Ilona Mar]

Michael. Michel.

[Olivia Mar]

Michel. Michel.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Michael.

[Olivia Mar]

Michael. Oh, Michael, as in Ilona Mars. Dad, as he's famously known in the rugby communities. He strolls in.

[Ilona Mar]

Mom, dad, welcome to the set.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Why, thank you very much.

[Olivia Mar]

What do you think?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

It's very different.

[Olivia Mar]

Very spacious. Spacious? Does it feel like home?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yes. I like the selection of, you know, crockery and glasses and, you know, on.

[Ilona Mar]

This couch here with the microphone in your face.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yes. Very comfortable. Very comfortable. I'm not holding in my stomach at all.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

We have more seating than we have in our TV room.

[Adriana Mar]

True.

[Olivia Mar]

Hilarious.

[Adriana Mar]

True.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, all right, we'll get into that. That's actually. That's actually really seating out of the. Now we got to see you. We were with you, Adriana and I with you the whole race. You've gone to all my games, Mom. Every game. You're very nervous. How did you feel as you were watching Olivia? She was very nervous. Olivia? Oh, she tried to do a pacing thing. Olivia.

[Olivia Mar]

No way.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, gosh, yes.

[Adriana Mar]

Why?

[Olivia Mar]

So you didn't believe in me.

[Adriana Mar]

Wow.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

It wasn't that. It was. I knew that you had incredible belief in yourself. Right. And I believed you. But still, stuff happens. No, you had never run 26.2 miles before. You've done 20, which you did excellently. But, you know, things happen, and your body can sometimes say, nope, no, I did not want to have to rush and do something. We saw you at 16 and you looked good.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

And you were smiling and you were joking, and then you made it to 26.2 and you were standing upright. I was good.

[Olivia Mar]

Hell, yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I was ready to take on the day then.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

But her nervousness was started, you know, days ago. I mean, yes. Yesterday she was an absolute nervous wreck. This morning, she was a nervous wreck.

[Adriana Mar]

Really?

[Ilona Mar]

Not dad. He was like, she better do this.

[Adriana Mar]

She better do this.

[Olivia Mar]

Dad's cool as a cucumber.

[Ilona Mar]

She better finish drawing.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

You know, same thing with your Roy beings. What's going to happen? It's going to happen.

[Adriana Mar]

It's either she finishes or she doesn't.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah, exactly.

[Olivia Mar]

Right through delusion, all things are possible. I made that happen for real.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Bring it really to the basics.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

I even made a video at mile 20 where I was like this. I was like, I just made it to mile 20. Every step I take here is the longest I've ever run in. Run, like, from this. From this moment. So that was very exciting to do.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, I was amazed, as I think you already said earlier, how good you looked at mile 16. I was like, wow. After your first 16 mile, you were just not good, warmed over. And so to see you at that, I'm like, wow, she's looking great.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, I felt good. I think it was just like. It was the adrenaline, I think, of all of it. It was the spirit of the city and the energy that I was just carrying me through. And I was like, I'm about to see my family. I gotta look athletic. Come on, Liv. Pick up those knees. Let's go. Pick up your feet.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And looking athletic. Did you tell them what you did at the end of the race?

[Olivia Mar]

Yes. I finished strong like you said, and I just. I picked it up. I didn't know where I found that gas in the tank, but I had some fumes and I. I really sent it and it felt really good. But the problem is then you guys were a little bit further than that. So you didn't actually see me, like, pick up. But it was all good.

[Adriana Mar]

I'm sure.

[Olivia Mar]

You swear I did?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I swear it's on film somewhere. I hope so get to see it.

[Olivia Mar]

If anybody did get film of me from about mile 20, like mile 19 to 23. That wasn't me. That was the evil version took over. No, it was not me.

[Adriana Mar]

But you can send it to me. Yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

And we'll hold it in ransom.

[Olivia Mar]

She'll make it. She'll make an edit out of it.

[Adriana Mar]

Now, if we go back five months, out of all your daughters, who do you think would have ran a marathon?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I don't think any of you were meant to be marathon runners.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Nope.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I would have thought, being the professional athlete, that if anyone was gonna get asked to do a marathon, it would be Alona, and she wouldn't want to do it. But, you know, if the time was right, she would. And obviously the situation here was right, that it was the right thing to do to accept that offer alone.

[Olivia Mar]

Are you gonna be doing one or what?

[Adriana Mar]

She was in the car talking. She's like, could get under four.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, I was. I was like, you know what? I could probably get like under 4:30. I ran with a lady recently, and she got. She said she ran a 3:30 marathon. So I think I could probably do like 4:15.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Had her longest run of her life yesterday.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Right.

[Olivia Mar]

Accidentally.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yeah.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

She went out for a run, right. You met up. You just started running with a woman. You two started going and chatting, and next thing you know, you matched your pace and went for what, eight point something?

[Ilona Mar]

Seven miles. Seven miles. Longest.

[Olivia Mar]

Your longest run.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

There's only one way to find out if you'd actually get that far.

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, I. I know I could, but I can't. I don't want to train like that.

[Olivia Mar]

Right.

[Ilona Mar]

Any. Not about me today. I do want to talk to dad, though, because I. I talk about this all the time, and I always am. And interviews. But people, I say that you all encourage us to play sports so much, knowing you had three daughters, but you never treat them like sons. Can you say that in your own words because I'm constantly saying it.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, you know me. I read lots of articles and things. I was looking to, you know, get better and things. And there was just, you see, so many things that young people who participate in sports tend to do better socially and in school and things. But it was especially true for young women that. For young women, participating in sports helped them in so many other social endeavors and gave them the confidence to do other things. And so I was like, okay, we're gonna keep my kids busy doing sports. And it shows. I mean, just. I mean, Olivia volunteered to be a soccer goalie. You know, that's not a job for a lot of people, you know, but she had the mental capacity to withstand that. All three of you were softball pitchers? Yeah, it's a lot of attention. It's also a lot of attention every time something goes wrong. And in softball, things always go wrong. So when you give up a home run, everybody knows that you were the pitcher. And so you learn to take the heat. You learn that this is not the end of the world. When the game is over, win or lose, you're still okay.

[Olivia Mar]

It's also so much about, like, just dealing with people, dealing with teammates, how to work in team environments. That sets you up for, like, work and life. All the kinds of people you run into, you've definitely run into them on some form of a soccer team.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Oh, yeah. And it's not just you're dealing with your own teammates. You're dealing with your opponents. You're dealing with the officials. You're dealing with the obnoxious parents on your side, the obnoxious parents on the other side. It's, you know, there's a lot to be learned there, as opposed to just sitting at home and playing a video and Mom.

[Ilona Mar]

I think we talk a lot about body image here and in life, and we're constantly talking about it with each other. We, I think, also interesting enough, have been raised with really good body image in the ways that we view ourselves. I think a lot of that is down to you. What do you think that you did that made us so feel okay in being in these, like, stronger, bigger bodies? And how do you think you spoke to us about yourself even when we were growing up?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I think that, you know, when I was younger, I still very, very clearly remember being, like, a size 10 and having just gone to go clothing shopping, and an aunt of mine, you know, patted my belly and said, you got a little belly there, don't you? And I was, you know, I've never been a small woman. That's where my girls have magnificent physiques. But, yes, so that was very tough. Took a long time to get over it, and I did not want to pass that on to any one of you guys. That was never. You do not need that. But I also learned from you guys because there are days that, you know, I was gonna walk actually into the door and ask the camera crews to put in their skinny angles, and I'm like, I'm not gonna say that. Cause I know they're gonna rip me a new one.

[Olivia Mar]

Because even as a joke, though, it's something that, like, you mean. But everybody feels that way.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

But you guys are very good, and Adriana especially is very good at, you know, keeping me in line and making me toe the line of self appreciation of my own body.

[Ilona Mar]

At this point, I think it's flipped because when we were younger, I mean, I don't know about you, Olivia. I mean, John and I, we always say we have very similar bodies, but, like, I always felt bigger and I always was just like, you know, people comment on that, and I always go to you to that. And you always made me feel beautiful. And then I think it's almost slipped now where we are doing that for you in many ways. And it helps us, I think, like, well, you know, we don't. We shouldn't be talking about ourselves like that for other people to hear. So it's been cool to. I think it's. It's what we. What we're learning constantly is like, the love for your body continues to change. You've had three babies. How you've had to, you know, learn through that and everything. So it's just. It's a never ending thing.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, and then menopause. Learning how to appreciate and love your body.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

A whole new chapter in a woman's life where you have absolutely no control and things change very rapidly. Right. And you guys have really done a great job supporting me on that and the problems that come with it, and I'm really grateful.

[Olivia Mar]

So, as Alona says, it's nice that we can kind of help each other as we kind of switched roles growing up. That's nice.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

What comes around goes around. And for every reaction, there's an equal and opposite.

[Olivia Mar]

You reap what you sow. What else we got, team? Come on.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

We got another one. Come on.

[Ilona Mar]

One thing that you guys always did and we're so. And I'd love you to speak on this. Every night we did a family dinner, and it didn't Matter if mom was working. You came home from your long day, you were making chicken for us. Mom would be in the kitchen. We had to sit at the table doing homework. Was that a plan you made even before you had kids? We're gonna have dinners every night. What was that about?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Pretty much a known thing that families that eat together have much better communication and stuff. I hear friends of mine talking about, you know, they've made one thing for Johnny because he's going to do this when he gets home from this sport. They're going to do it when they come home from this sport. And they never sit down and eat together or everything they're eating is pre made from the supermarket or from Costco or whatever. And I'm like, I could see that in a pinch. But no, we sat down. That's when we had conversations and we talked to each other. And I often said that I talked to friends of mine. I had the feeling they didn't know their own kids because they didn't know who their kids friends were. And I'm like, I'm on a first name basis with most of my daughter's friends.

[Olivia Mar]

You wouldn't know their names. You don't know their first names.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, I can't tell them apart. You know, her two best friends don't look anything like each other. But to me, I, you know, white.

[Adriana Mar]

Girls with brown hair.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Is it Alyssa or is it Leah? I don't know.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

It's one of them.

[Olivia Mar]

I'll speak vaguely about either of them.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Until I figure it out.

[Ilona Mar]

That's really how we connect in our household, is through dinners. But also, and that's a big message I always have is our comfort through food and how my mom is an extraordinary cook, as you know, but that was. Is how we come together at the end of the day with the best quality food and like how much joy it brings us as a family.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

But it's just the whole process also. It's just the process of, you know, doing the mise en place and getting things, you know, ready to cook. And then the cooking part and then the eating part and then the cleaning.

[Olivia Mar]

Up part, the being together, the conversations.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Throughout all of it, all of that, there's talking and you don't look. I have to look at each other the whole time.

[Olivia Mar]

Right.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Like that's why the parents say, like, you know, oh, the best conversations I have with my kids are in the car is because you're actually just, you know, you don't have to.

[Ilona Mar]

Interesting.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

And that's the same thing. Like, what you guys were doing. I would. You know, we were talking. We were doing.

[Olivia Mar]

We're doing homework. We're doing this. We're emptying the dishwasher.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yeah. Conversations.

[Olivia Mar]

And you learn conversation skills, learn people skills. I remember sitting on that table, it's like, you can float any idea by these people that I love and trust and, like, hold space for me to, you know, learn and grow. You also can start. You learn how to riff a bit. You learn how to be funny, and.

[Adriana Mar]

You got to learn how to, like, take up space at the table. Because I remember sometimes when, like, no one's asked me a question, and I would just sit there quiet quietly, and I wouldn't say anything, and I'm like, who's gonna notice that?

[Ilona Mar]

Because we are the ones. We're all supplying.

[Olivia Mar]

It's like, no one's going to wait for you. Yeah.

[Adriana Mar]

You have to, like, put yourself. But it.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Put yourself into the narrative. That's good.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

And she got very good at it.

[Olivia Mar]

She got good at it. She got good at. But you learned it. You had to workshop stuff at the table with each other. You bomb a couple of jokes, you know, you learn from it.

[Ilona Mar]

You move on. It's all good and special for other parents out there. What's, like, a piece of advice you would give them to raise? People call us, like, confident. They call us empowered.

[Olivia Mar]

What.

[Ilona Mar]

What's an advice you can say to them?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Love your partner first.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah, well, thank you. That's a big part.

[Olivia Mar]

But it's.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

It's raising kids with praise, but honesty, you know, I mean, not some people. I think there's praise, praise, praise. Well, there's praise, but there's also. Well, you could have done it this way, you could have done it that way. But some people are very critical all the time. And I can think of some people not looking at you.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, no, I didn't get that at all.

[Olivia Mar]

I was catching a stray. Family.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Family we know as a business, people that are super critical of their kids or people who refuse to say praise for, you know, be praiseful of the things that deserve to be praised. And it's just a balance of being as honest as you can. We all make mistakes as parents, and we all try to go ahead. And all of our friends who raise, you know, have raised strong families. I think they've all just. The secret is to try.

[Ilona Mar]

Mama, your advice.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

My advice is for raising.

[Ilona Mar]

And you raised three girls, so your advice for, like, raising girls to be confident women who.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I always thought it was really important that you guys would feel Comfortable coming to me with whatever question that you had and that I would never say. Oh, no, no, no, no.

[Olivia Mar]

We'Re not.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Going to talk about that. Yeah, I think that you guys were, you know, the happy recipients of many a lecture about things that you were like, well, I just wanted to know one thing and you gotta.

[Olivia Mar]

We got the whole thing.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

You got the whole thing.

[Olivia Mar]

We learned it all.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

So that's. I think that the communication was always there and that you guys hopefully still to this day, feel comfortable to come and ask any question.

[Olivia Mar]

So.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, I also felt like with you guys, it was never a don't do this. Like, don't do drugs, don't drink. It was like, almost, you can do it, but you gotta be smart about it. Or not saying you do it, it's just. That's something that you're gonna come across. Here's what can happen. It's gonna be your choice to make. Which almost took the fun out of it.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, I was like, oh, so I.

[Ilona Mar]

Can drink with you guys? Boring.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

But then, you know, you throw a couple of stories from the ER in there and it.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, that gets you.

[Olivia Mar]

That always helps. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Adriana Mar]

Changes the tune. There's certain things you guys wouldn't let us do. I was telling a story recently how one birthday, I wanted a record player. Dad sat me down and he was like, this is a dark path to go down. This is a dark path. Physical media in the year 2015. It's just a waste of time and it's a waste of money and you really shouldn't do it.

[Olivia Mar]

Why is that?

[Adriana Mar]

Like, I was a troubled kid.

[Olivia Mar]

I am so sorry to disappoint you. I recently acquired a record machine vinyl player that is now in my living room.

[Adriana Mar]

But it was freezing.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah, and have you plugged it in yet?

[Olivia Mar]

No.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

No, I didn't think so.

[Olivia Mar]

I know, but it's sitting there.

[Ilona Mar]

You probably realize our dad doesn't have many opinions. He's a pretty chill dude.

[Olivia Mar]

He has no thoughts or feelings on many things.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

It's very hard to.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Lightly held, strongly expressed opinions.

[Olivia Mar]

Lightly held. That's brilliant. But I mean, this is what we talked about too, where it's like, I wonder what's going on with this. Dad will have a correct opinion on it.

[Adriana Mar]

Bring him up.

[Olivia Mar]

Most likely correct.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Oftentimes my answer is very. It's both. It's gray. It's not black or white.

[Olivia Mar]

Right, Right.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I'll give you this.

[Adriana Mar]

What is.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, there's this and there's this. I'm not. I'm not you know, usually I'm not a one way or the highway kind of guy. It's. There's good, there's bad to so many things.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

The one that was like when they had to write a paper.

[Adriana Mar]

Oh, all three of us, but especially me, I was. Because I had so many political science.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Classes and you would like, you know, write stuff down and ask.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah, I'd ring him up and I'd be like, hold on, I'm taking notes.

[Ilona Mar]

You want to know something about the.

[Adriana Mar]

Civil war, that's your man.

[Ilona Mar]

Talk to my guy over there.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

You ask me questions about the Soviet Union or Ottoman Empire.

[Olivia Mar]

You want something about the French and Indian War, forget about it. Guy for it. Whereas if you need a craft ASAP overnight, this is your woman.

[Ilona Mar]

I have a funny story about that. So in my.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

This is like the quintessential, you know, hovering mom who does everything.

[Ilona Mar]

In my English class, we're reading Lord of the Flies and I'm like, well, I had to do like a book project or something like that. And I was like, mom, can you just. I can. I. I did not like English. I don't really, you know, didn't like what we were doing. But it's like, mom, can you just please cut me out a circle? I'm gonna make it look like a clock face and it'll be fine. I'm just gonna paint on it. I get home, no lie. She's made a full on grandfather clock out of cardboard with a moving pendulum too.

[Olivia Mar]

Right?

[Ilona Mar]

Didn't have a movie.

[Olivia Mar]

I go home.

[Ilona Mar]

I was like, mom, what?

[Olivia Mar]

She's got a glue gun and a vision.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Give me a glue gun and anything and I can make you whatever.

[Ilona Mar]

And then I painted on it or something like that.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yeah, I mean, saw that and went.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, there's no way alone. You did that a couple times too, where she. I would just, mom, please. And then I'd be left with this. Like, okay, one time. We've already said this before, but my Halloween costume, when I went as Eve.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, God.

[Ilona Mar]

And she got a body colored suit and then just glued leaves on it. It was Eve from Adam and Eve. Going to a Catholic school Christmas or.

[Olivia Mar]

A Halloween party in a nude, tight skin, tight suit outfit, segment leaves with.

[Ilona Mar]

A snake over.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

The leaves in the very important places.

[Ilona Mar]

Looking back, that's crazy.

[Olivia Mar]

Hilarious.

[Adriana Mar]

That was the 2000s, Alona.

[Olivia Mar]

Right. Is there a way that we, your girls, are different as adults than we were as, you know, kids? Or are we like kind of exactly the same? Like, was there any kind of progression or.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Olivia has always been like the. The oldest child. She's always been like the leader. She's been the, you know, she stripes. She always, you know, got great grades. All three of you guys got great. But she was like, you know, she always set the bar. Ilona was the quiet one. She is really, in my opinion, very different than what she was.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Okay.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

If anybody had said to me that Ilona's gonna be a very famous, outgoing person who was just very outgoing, that's. Yeah, that's not what would have been predicted.

[Ilona Mar]

People don't believe me. I was socially awkward, interesting girl. And I was an interesting girl, really interesting figure.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

So I thought. We thought you. You were introverted, but you were just an extrovert who was shy.

[Ilona Mar]

Yes.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And that can be easily be a thing. Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

I didn't feel comfortable in many places, in many areas, especially, like, on my sports teams. I didn't feel comfortable with the girls. I was a great athlete, but didn't feel comfortable. So I think it took finding a space like rugby and I would say, especially the USA 7 team, when I really felt like, okay, this is my space. But yeah, guys, I was really a very quiet person. I still, to this day, like, I'm not as quick to say, like, jokes as my sisters are when we're at home. I'd say, but I'm not. And I'm not as funny as them. But. But yes, I. I think I have changed. I think it was always in me, but I was. I've always was suppressed it. And I was never felt comfortable because if I don't feel comfortable, I won't be myself.

[Olivia Mar]

That is a big change from childhood to today.

[Adriana Mar]

What was Livy's biggest change?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Livia just has always had this incredible trajectory that's just, you know, she just builds on whatever she has built and makes it better and just, you know, it's amazing, you know. And Livia is also one that, you know, when she puts her teeth into something, she will do it to the fullest. Exactly. Right there. Like when she. In the car over here, I was telling them about Michael and Olivia went to a baseball game and the Miss Vermont. Miss Vermont was there. And she, you know, probably lopped out the first baseball. And Olivia sat there and was like, I could do that. So that then parlayed itself into four months of a rabbit. Consumption of pageant info, rules, lore, buying hair extensions and knowing how to do and fancy heels.

[Olivia Mar]

You really do get into things.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

And the base and the. The butt glue and then the different bikinis that were the Ones that you needed to get because blah, blah. And we ended up going to Montreal to find your. And then she goes and does the pageant and, you know, gets, you know.

[Ilona Mar]

Bunch of run ups in this.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

First runner up and miss Photogenic too.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Yeah, most photogenic.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, I think I. But I get that from you. Like, you find something you love and you're like, you know. Or then you're like, I'll love this for the next while. And this is what we're gonna do.

[Ilona Mar]

So now we gotta talk to the baby over here.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I'll tell you one thing, maybe not from, but like from, you know, the time of high school, you were the one who wanted to be anywhere else, you know. Oh, not to hang around with you people. Why don't you go take on a trip and I'll just stay home? Or if you're at home, why don't I go somewhere else? And you tried like hell to get on all these different exchange programs and you got to the final stages of several and couldn't. And then you didn't get into them. And so you talked the local rotary into restarting their edition of the international Rotary program. And you ended up going overseas for a long time.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I mean, they did it for. It was great.

[Adriana Mar]

And.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And you did that. And then again in college you went overseas again. But now I think of the. As a homebody, you're the one who most enjoys being at home. Right? That's what I think.

[Adriana Mar]

I think so.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And that's interesting.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

Dre was cool. We've said it before. Audrana was cool. Lone and I were very quiet and shy and we didn't talk to many people. Whereas Audrana had a more public school trajectory, I'd say. And so she. She got it.

[Ilona Mar]

Now I'm washed up.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, she peaked. Best days in her life. Best days in her body now.

[Adriana Mar]

Cool.

[Ilona Mar]

I will say, at times I think dad and Adriana, they didn't go. Not after each other. But like Adriana was always wanted to do something else. So we played the same sports together. And then when Adriana got to high school, she wanted to try different things. She always wanted to do swimming, but they didn't have a swim team.

[Olivia Mar]

So she's like all this.

[Ilona Mar]

She sets her mind to a path and she does it so well.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Sometimes I'd drop her off at the YMCA because she wanted to go swimming. But what would you do instead?

[Olivia Mar]

I would go to the library.

[Ilona Mar]

Loser. You'd go read.

[Adriana Mar]

Okay. Usually it's not all the time. I did that most of the time I did swim. Sometimes I cut my swims off early.

[Olivia Mar]

So I could go to the library.

[Adriana Mar]

And read the Times.

[Olivia Mar]

You didn't swim. Would you like wet your hair under the library sink so that when dad picked you up?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Cuz she is smart that way.

[Olivia Mar]

That was.

[Ilona Mar]

I don't remember exactly.

[Olivia Mar]

Cunning.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah, like you think I'd notice.

[Narrator]

I don't.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, right.

[Ilona Mar]

Be like, oh, they have a blow dryer down there.

[Olivia Mar]

I can make him believe anything. How exciting. You're right.

[Ilona Mar]

He wouldn't know.

[Olivia Mar]

He'd be like, great.

[Ilona Mar]

We're going to play a special edition of Sister Subtle It. We're putting mom and dad in the hot seat, but the girls can counter.

[Adriana Mar]

Okay, so you're going to point.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Oh yeah. You'd never do that in real life.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

There's never an argument.

[Adriana Mar]

You guys are going to point and then say whose ever name it is that you think it is.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay, so who was the bossiest child?

[Ilona Mar]

They're all pointing at Olivia.

[Adriana Mar]

Say the name Olivia.

[Olivia Mar]

What the hell?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Why?

[Ilona Mar]

Are you bossy or are you the boss?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Dude, you are the organized one. Nope, you are. You're not bossy, but you are the.

[Ilona Mar]

She's a quintessential older sister. She's bossy.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

She's sometimes.

[Adriana Mar]

I've had arguments with her recently.

[Ilona Mar]

You zip it.

[Adriana Mar]

Because she'll. It's so common of like how we speak to each other where she like won't be like, please like move to the side. She just means like move to the side.

[Olivia Mar]

I delegate.

[Ilona Mar]

Well, you two have interesting communication.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh yeah, it's fun. It's fun to be, you know, to be a part of.

[Olivia Mar]

Sorry. So I would say you're the bossies.

[Adriana Mar]

But not like a bad bossy.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Right.

[Olivia Mar]

I'm a get stuff done kind of boss.

[Adriana Mar]

Who was the messiest?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Ilona.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, dad, can you expand upon that?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, good lord. You can't walk in her room without tripping over something.

[Adriana Mar]

Right?

[Ilona Mar]

First off, when I come home, I bring a lot of stuff home.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

You do?

[Ilona Mar]

And I check many bags, so that's why.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay, what about my space? That's my area growing up though too. She was the messiest. Yeah, yeah.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

No, you were. Different kind of mess. You were. No, it goes one, two and immaculate.

[Olivia Mar]

Immaculate.

[Ilona Mar]

She's not immaculate. Immaculate.

[Adriana Mar]

Mom. May I bring up the case of her organizing the garage?

[Ilona Mar]

Oh, let's bring up that case now.

[Olivia Mar]

Let's talk about that.

[Ilona Mar]

That's crazy.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

They got you on the.

[Olivia Mar]

And I was wildly depressed and not okay. I don't care. Let's start there.

[Ilona Mar]

In the upstairs of our garage, we have a ton of boxes of old DVDs. Cause our man's over here, Mr.

[Olivia Mar]

Physical Media himself.

[Ilona Mar]

Physical Media himself. One day Olivia goes, I'm gonna sort out the garage. This was probably 10 years ago.

[Olivia Mar]

Oh, more maybe that's when I got back from the Netherlands. Y.

[Ilona Mar]

She was to sort out the garage. To this day. To this day, it is not sorted. She. There's boxes everywhere where she started. And.

[Adriana Mar]

And.

[Ilona Mar]

But that's actually a trade of moms. Yeah, yeah, that's a trade of mom's.

[Adriana Mar]

Mom's. Mom.

[Olivia Mar]

She harps on me the worst about it. Because that's something she does exactly it.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay, okay.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, when your mother's on a tear, I sometimes do. So I know she hasn't eaten. I got to get some food in her. But if she's cleaning really well, I'll wait.

[Olivia Mar]

You wait with the.

[Ilona Mar]

With the egg and toast.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, she's really getting into those crevices.

[Ilona Mar]

That refrigerator is going to look really good.

[Olivia Mar]

Shine. Not the one cleaning the fridge.

[Adriana Mar]

He's throwing out the food in the fridge.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Oh, but I clean it.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I remove stuff. She's the one who cleans it.

[Olivia Mar]

I mean, we also say, though, about.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Our house, that yogurt. It's fine.

[Ilona Mar]

Say yogurt.

[Olivia Mar]

You can't throw it out. Unfreaking believable. In our house, we like to say it's lived in.

[Ilona Mar]

Like, we.

[Olivia Mar]

It is not, like, immaculate in that way. We are. We live there. People live there. They love there. They, you know, all those things. So it, you know, it gets messy from time to time. But the fix for that is you promise your daughters. Pizza delivery.

[Ilona Mar]

Domino's Pizza.

[Olivia Mar]

Domino's pizza delivery. And it means everything needs to be cleaned. Everything needs to be put away. You got a vacuum. You got a vacuum. Ugh. Vacuuming. You got a vacuum. And then there will be a pizza waiting.

[Ilona Mar]

What are you saying? Say it again.

[Olivia Mar]

No, just in vacuum. She says vacuum, vacuum.

[Ilona Mar]

The hell is that about the.

[Olivia Mar]

Is that vacuum, vacuum, vacuum.

[Ilona Mar]

You're throwing peas at me.

[Olivia Mar]

Vacuum, vacuum.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

But I just remember sometimes we were cleaning. This is, you know, later on. But we would be cleaning sometimes like that, because somebody's coming over. And Olivia especially would be quoting that there was a woman on the Internet who did it, where she's urging her family on, like, I need this house to be as clean as a Disney and ice show.

[Olivia Mar]

It's not a woman. It's the comedian Chris Fleming. A video he did Forever and a day ago on YouTube. Yeah, he was fantastic. If you haven't made your beds yet, throw them away.

[Ilona Mar]

Yeah, there's the same, like, throw the chairs out. We can't let them know we sit.

[Olivia Mar]

We can't let them. We, Santa.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Because we. We knew, like, Oma and Oprah coming to town. They lived out of town. Let's attack it. And we could get so much done.

[Olivia Mar]

But it would always so critique.

[Adriana Mar]

We're having dominoes for dinner. You have to clean the house.

[Olivia Mar]

You have to clean. Everything.

[Adriana Mar]

Works.

[Ilona Mar]

And Pavlov's dogs or whatever, we hear.

[Olivia Mar]

Dominoes and start doing stuff.

[Ilona Mar]

Who was the night owl?

[Adriana Mar]

Adriana.

[Olivia Mar]

Adriana.

[Adriana Mar]

Yes.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I guess so.

[Olivia Mar]

I was about to say yes.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Okay.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah. Like, you read well into the night. Like, even with my time change. Like, you obviously live in New York, so you're three hours ahead. I'm like. I'm calculating. I'm like, ah. She'll still be up. It's one in the morning. She's gonna be up.

[Adriana Mar]

She's up, and then she'll call me at, like, midnight. And it's the one night I've, like, went to bed a little early, and I'm like, why the fuck?

[Olivia Mar]

And I'm pissed that she's asleep too.

[Adriana Mar]

I'm so pissed. You woke me up.

[Olivia Mar]

Who was the first one to cry if they got in trouble.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Much? You were more emotional. I'm gonna go with Olivia.

[Olivia Mar]

That's me.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Olivia. You know, she was such a perfectionist. Wanted things done, and she wanted to do it right, and she wanted to be. And if. So if you called her out on something that was difficult for you, because.

[Olivia Mar]

I think it might be me.

[Ilona Mar]

Sorry.

[Olivia Mar]

I lead with emotion in my heart. On my sleeves.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Exactly.

[Ilona Mar]

Baby, let's settle this once and for all. And you have to be honest. Who is the funniest?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I'm not going to.

[Ilona Mar]

You have to answer it.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I settled it once and for all a few years ago.

[Ilona Mar]

Time change, man.

[Adriana Mar]

No, don't keep it.

[Ilona Mar]

Time change. Time change. What did you say? What did you say? Daddy.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

So. Well, at that point, I said, of course, at that point, you were living back home again. And of course, when you're close, she knows how to really get me. I mean, she sticks the fork in and twists on a comedy. I'll say something. And she. But you guys are all so funny in different ways. And especially funny in media is different than funny across the dinner table. I don't think. Ilona, for instance, you're hysterical on media, but you're not Gonna have the quickest comeback across the mashed potatoes about something that was said. Right.

[Olivia Mar]

I feel like it. I will. You know, sometimes, Right.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I'm gonna say you're all funny.

[Olivia Mar]

Okay?

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

You guys are all funny.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And I've always said that humor takes intelligence. You show me people who don't get jokes, not necessarily the smartest people in the room. And so I think the fact that you guys are all so funny shows there's a certain level of intelligence cranking.

[Olivia Mar]

You're gonna come to me on the day of my New York City marathon and tell me how John is the funniest. Look, he threw his head back and laughed right there. That's crazy.

[Ilona Mar]

He didn't. He said that he spent more time with her. That's why. If you'd been living in there too, you would have been funny.

[Olivia Mar]

I said before my type of humor.

[Adriana Mar]

Is more geared towards him.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Right, but also, all three of you guys have made your father laugh so much that he's almost passed out.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah, he's famous for that. He stops. He doesn't like to breathe.

[Ilona Mar]

Fine. If I'm not gonna be the funnest, m. Am I the smartest?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Well, as in the wizard of Oz, you know, they distill pieces of paper to prove who's smart. And you do have more pieces of paper in that regard.

[Ilona Mar]

And the wizard of Oz, sucker. Fuck you, Adriana. I am the smartest.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

If I only had a brain, I am the smartest.

[Ilona Mar]

I have one more question for you all. So 32 years of marriage, right?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah, my wife says so. Yes.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

He has to take off his ring to look at the date on the inside.

[Ilona Mar]

That's engraved in there, right? Okay. 32.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

32.

[Ilona Mar]

What was the date of it? You got this.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

June. It was in June.

[Olivia Mar]

It was a Lovely June wedding.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

26Th. June 26th.

[Ilona Mar]

Okay. He had to check with Adriana there.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Her birthday is July 14th.

[Olivia Mar]

He only knows that because it's Bastille Day. And he's a history guy.

[Ilona Mar]

He doesn't know the year, though.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

People of revolution.

[Ilona Mar]

So 32 years of marriage. What. How have you done it? How. What's the advice for us as we're looking? And, you know, you guys are still in love and happy. Of course, you have your differences, but tell us a little about that.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Getting. Well, getting back to child raising. One thing I want to say is that we tried to have an agreement, which sometimes we'd have to work on is no unilateral decisions. Like, not one of us could make this unilateral Unilateral decision that we will never do this, or it must always be. We don't know. We agreed that we're going to talk about that sort of thing, and we.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I was the one that did it.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

So it's like, no, we've agreed. So we'd come to a compromise. Because the worst thing is if one partner makes a rule the other partner doesn't agree to, and then they. Then they disagree about it later on, that's not good. So it's like it was. We would try to always talk about these things in advance to then make rules.

[Olivia Mar]

A house divided cannot stand.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yes, exactly. Yes.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

But I also.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Thank you, Abraham.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

But I also think that the very important part was that I think we realized that our relationship had to be strong and good and respected and nurtured first. With you guys being nurtured immediately or almost at the same time after. Because if we. If you don't have. Because now that you guys are gone, you know, we're here.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

We are stuck with each other.

[Olivia Mar]

We're stuck with each other.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Thank God. We like each other.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

We enjoy each other. But if you don't nurture that in the years where you're mad, taking care of three active children and work and your parents that are aging and all that stuff, then you have a very, very high probability of losing touch with each other. And building that back up again is difficult when you get older.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

But raising kids is the most amazing thing. You see these things on these Internet people that are gloating about the fact that they can do this because they don't have kids. We've got money that don't have kids. I'm like, I would have a crapload of money in the bank right now if I didn't raise kids, but I would be so much poorer. I mean, our life is so rich because of you three. And not just because you were out doing your thing, but you just make us, and you keep us grounded. And I'm so rich because of you three that we would do it all over again.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I work at making him a little less rich sometimes.

[Olivia Mar]

But this is your job as a wife.

[Ilona Mar]

As a woman should.

[Olivia Mar]

As a woman should make his pockets hurt out, too, so. Right. Don't worry.

[Ilona Mar]

I got y' all later on, though. You keep taking this money. Mama.

[Adriana Mar]

I got.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

I mean, do your viewers realize that your mother works a bun. When they call for overtime at the hospital, if there's babies coming out, she. She drops the phone and just flies.

[Olivia Mar]

Well, yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

And that's the little thing. So Mama, you're a nurse. You've been a nurse for.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

I'm in my 39th year.

[Olivia Mar]

Wow.

[Ilona Mar]

39 years of nursing, birthing babies and.

[Olivia Mar]

Saving people in the emergency room. It.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah.

[Olivia Mar]

That's incredible.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

Great fun.

[Adriana Mar]

Yeah. You do bank?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

What? Yeah, I do financial stuff.

[Ilona Mar]

Finance.

[Olivia Mar]

Our dad's a finance bro.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

After packaged media went to hell.

[Adriana Mar]

Right?

[Ilona Mar]

Package media.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Talking about movies is a lot more fun than talking about interest rates.

[Ilona Mar]

No, you have a blast in the.

[Adriana Mar]

Basement talking about credit scores. I hear you down there.

[Olivia Mar]

You get a right good giggle out of it, don't you?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

Well, mom, dad, thank you so, so much for coming on to House of Mar. Pretty much your house. We learned so much from you. And I think one thing dad always says is the most thing he's proud of is not the Olympics. It's not pageants. It's not, you know, study abroad and the person we've become. It's. It's the people we are and how kind, how funny and nice we are. So I love that we get to share that with all of you and you get to hear a little bit about them. I hope you learned something.

[Olivia Mar]

Yeah.

[Ilona Mar]

Because they are somebody you can really learn from.

[Olivia Mar]

There are some quotable moments there. Would you guys come back? Would you visit us again?

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Yeah. But next time, don't wait till I'm in a strange city having traveled for five, six days or whatever it is with just carry on clothes and then say, oh, you're gonna be on camera.

[Olivia Mar]

Yes, sir.

[Ilona Mar]

You look great, man.

[Olivia Mar]

You look great.

[Ilona Mar]

Couldn't put the contacts in.

[Olivia Mar]

No contact.

[Meenaka Mar (Mother)]

He's only been drinking water.

[Adriana Mar]

Thanks so much for coming over to the House of Mara. Wave Original.

[Ilona Mar]

Be sure to watch and subscribe on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Olivia Mar]

Plus, follow the show on social media HouseOfMar for clips and behind the scenes content.

[Ilona Mar]

Yay.

[Narrator]

And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habit, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Ilona Mar]

Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Narrator]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty.

[Adriana Mar]

Liberty.

[Olivia Mar]

Liberty Savings Ferry Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

Excludes Massachusetts.

[Narrator]

Extra value meals are back for just $5. Get a savory and sweet sausage, egg.

[Michael Mar (Father)]

And cheese McGriddles plus hash browns. Coffee only at McDonald's for a limited time only.

[Narrator]

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