Goo Goo Dolls drummer to race and perform, go on to post-party
By THOMAS BOND
Get Out

Running 26.2 miles is no great challenge for marathon-regular and Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin. So he decided to spice up his participation in this Sunday's Rock ’n’ Roll Arizona Marathon by performing a song apiece with each of the 26 local bands placed along the route.
Oh, but that's not all. That evening, he'll perform at a post-race concert with the Goo Goo Dolls.

“It's going to be a full day, that's for sure!” Malinin says by phone from his home in Big Bear, Calif. “Hopefully it's not more than I can handle.”
The idea was born when the Goo Goo Dolls performed at a Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in Virginia Beach, Va., last year.

“I was talking to one of the race directors and by the end of the night we'd decided that I was going to try to do it,” Malinin says. “It was something stupid I said and he actually held me to it!”

Not that he's not up to the challenge. Malinin is an avid runner and has not only completed several marathons but also ultra-marathons, including a 50-mile run in November.

“I don’t think it'll be that much of a hassle,” Malinin says. “I’m going to run at a slower pace and I won't really be able to get into a rhythm stopping all the time, but it should be OK.”

He's less prepared for jumping on stage with more than two dozen bands along the way.

“I have no idea what we’re going to play at each stop!” Malinin says. “I gave the race people a list of standards, but if the band is doing something I don't know I can always jump in on tambourine or something.”

His Goo Goo Dolls bandmates — singer/guitarist Johnny Rzeznik and bassist Robby Takac — don't share Malinin's love of running.

“It's kind of my own thing,” the drummer says. “The guys don't really give me a hard time about it, but they don't quite understand it either.”

They are, however, very much on the same page musically.

“We're going to get working on another record in the new year,” Malinin says. “We'll be writing songs and getting into the studio.”

Rock ’N’ Roll Arizona

The 26.2-mile marathon and 13.1-mile half-marathon courses will have live bands on stages at every mile along both routes. The race begins at 7:45 a.m. Sunday at Wesley Bolin Memorial Park (17th Avenue and Washington Street) in downtown Phoenix.The main course winds north on Central Avenue, east on Missouri Avenue and Camelback Road and then heads south on 44th Street to finish near Packard Stadium on ASU's campus at Packard Drive and Sixth Street in Tempe. The half-marathon begins and ends at the same locations and heads directly east along Jefferson and Washington streets. It's $60-$95 to run and free to watch. For more information, call or visit www.rnraz.com.

‘Goo Goo Dolls post-race concert’
Where: Tempe Beach Park, Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
How much: $25, free to race participants
Info: or www.rnraz.com