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In this episode we look back on the biggest running news from 2017. Plus we share tips on how you can make 2018 an epic year!
In the quick tip segment we recommend an app that lets you easily run for charity.
Biggest Running News from 2017
Here is our roundup of the top stories from 2017. As you will see, some are more light hearted than others. I’m sure we missed some good stories so feel free to share a link in the comment section below.
Breakthroughs . . .
Nike’s Breaking 2 attempt at the Formula One track in Italy. Every detail and factor had been assessed and studied for nearly three years in advance. The three men participating were Lelisa Desisa, Zersenay Tadese and Eliud Kipchoge. Kipchoge was the only one who came close to two hours finishing in 2:00:25 after a 100% effort. Five months later he finished first at the Berlin Marathon.
Galen Rupp cemented himself as the current top American marathoner by winning the Chicago Marathon- running the last 5 miles at sub world record pace.
Jordan Hasay ran Boston in 2:23:00 making it the fastest marathon debut by an American woman (previous record was held by Kara Goucher). Hasay had never even raced a half marathon before.
16 year old Norwegian runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen became the youngest runner in history to run a mile in under four minutes when he clocked 3:58.07 at the Pre Classic in Eugene, Oregon. Incredibly, Ingebrigtsen would follow it up by running almost two seconds faster in front of his home crowd in Oslo, improving his mile PR to 3:56.29.
Shalane Flanagan age 36 won the NYC Marathon (first US woman to win in 40 years).
Tina Muir, of The Running for Real podcast, a professional runner from Great Britain, chose to stop running to regain her menstrual cycle (which had been gone for over seven years). After ten weeks she was able to reach her goal of getting pregnant and is expecting her first baby in early 2018.
Julia Hawkins, age 101 from Louisiana, (who started competitive cycling at age 81) competed at the Senior Olympic Games for the first time last year and recently got a PR of 36.62 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
The rivalry between Dixon Hemphill age 92 and Orville Rogers age 99 continued at the Masters Indoor Track Championship in the 60 meter dash. Rogers won by a small margin with 18 seconds flat.
Losses . . .
Middle distance Olympian David Torrence died at age 31.
Professional long distance runner Gabe Proctor died at age 27.
Long distance legend Ed Whitlock of Canada died at the age of 86. Among his many accomplishments was a 2:54 marathon at age 73 and a time of 3:56 at age 85.
Harriet Thompson, the oldest woman to run a marathon and half marathon, died at age 94. She didn’t start doing marathons until age 76 as a way to raise funds and awareness for cancer.
Bad Asses . . .
An elite runner named Esther Atkins used her speed to save money while traveling to her race. She scheduled her flight for 2 hours after she anticipated finishing the race and ran from the finishing line with a small backpack to La Guardia Airport. She placed 3rd in the race and had an hour to spare before her flight back to South Carolina.
Kelly Herron, age 36, from Seattle was attached mid-run when she stopped to use some park bathrooms. Herron fought back with a vengeance using self-defense techniques and was able to lock the attacker (a sex offender from Arizona) in a bathroom stall until police arrived. Although she was injured she didn’t let this incident stop her from running and completed the Chicago Marathon this year.
John Kelly from DC became the 15th person to finish the brutal Barkley Marathons in TN, doing the 5 loops in 59:30 (just under the 60 hour cut off). He was the only finisher this year.
Retirement . . .
Meb Keflezighi, age 42, crossed the finish line of his final professional race at the NYC Marathon.
Bart Yasso retired from Runner’s World at the end of the year.
Just for Fun . . .
British Columbia runners had to call police to report that a small white pony named Motley was on the loose and was chasing them and nipping at their heels. The situation quickly got out of hand when police arrived at the scene and it took three officers to corral him.
Artist Lori Richmond uses her runs for artistic inspiration. She snaps a picture of whatever catches her eye while running and then heads home and immediately turns the image into a painting. She’s kept up these daily paintings for her whole training cycle.
Glen Raines, age 50, a software engineer, has a running alter ego called Barefoot Caveman. During races he runs barefoot and only wears a handsewn loincloth and bone necklace. He finished the 2017 Boston Marathon in 3:40.
Chris Estwanik of Bermuda set a record as the fastest suit wearing half marathon at the NYC Half Marathon in 1:11:36. The idea was hatched as a bar bet and he bought the most flexible suit he could find for the race.
Sources:
- www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/here-are-the-most-popular-running-stories-of-2017?utm_content=2017-12-20&utm_campaign=Rundown&utm_source=runnersworld.com&utm_medium=newsletter&smartcode=YN_0005456889_0001648587&sha1hashlower=79634a51c87300ef6a8e3a947d1dea51b96d4049&md5hash=72b1a7488d27773c6bf6b3c0c2d566d7
- www.outsideonline.com/2269966/best-running-moments-2017
- www.runnersworld.com/newswire/best-underappreciated-stories-2017
How to Make 2018 an Epic Year
As we look back on the past year we have so much to be grateful for! The podcast just surpassed 5.9 million total downloads and we’d like to thank all of our wonderful listeners. You guys are the best!
I was able to run the Jackson Hole Marathon in Wyoming, Mount Desert Island Marathon in Maine, Rehoboth Beach Marathon in Delaware, and a local 5k with my boys. I also started meditating every day -which has been the single biggest positive change I made in 2017.
In 2018 I plan on continuing to mediate, do regular core training, and try to collect more marathons in new states. I’ll be running the Grandma’s Marathon in June and more races are in the works.
Trevor ran the Go! St. Louis Half, the Flying Pig Marathon in Ohio, the Munich Marathon in Germany, and the Harrisburg Half in Pennsylvania. He also managed to get to Mardi Gras, Death Valley, Podcast Movement Conference, Disneyland, and Oktoberfest (two in Germany and one in the States).
Our biggest change in 2017 was selling our house and moving to Pennsylvania, which now puts us closer to family. 🙂
It was a great year for MTA. We brought 4 new coaches onto the team: Lynn, Chris, Steve, and Dominique who are AMAZING people, and we launched an injury prevention program for runners called The Resilient Runner.
We also hosted the first ever MTA Virtual Half Marathon in November and had 350 runners from 21 countries participate.
We’re looking forward to another great year! Here are some thoughts from Trevor and I on how to make 2018 the best year possible.
From Trevor
1. Identify Your ULP (upper limit problem)
This concept comes from the book The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. He says each person has an Upper Limit Problem which is like a thermostat setting that determines how much love, success, and creativity we allow ourselves to enjoy. When things are going well for us our ULP mechanism kicks in and we suddenly start worrying about things going wrong in some way.
“Almost none of your worry thoughts have anything to do with reality”.
2. Do something that scares you.
In 2017 we talked about redefining “hard.” Ryan Hall told us, “How you define hard is how you are going to experience hard.” The truth is, what you consider hard now is only relative to your experience and moment in time. A previous version of myself would have thought that running 10 miles was hard. But now I’ve been able to do 14 marathons.
By pushing yourself to do harder and harder things you build up resilience and immunity to obstacles. Your confidence grows and you move on to bigger and bigger things. That’s why training for a marathon is life changing, it grows you into a stronger person on many levels.
Like the shout out we read from Troy in CA, who said:
“. . . I am here to tell you that not only are we capable of much more than we ever imagined, but the act of gradual intentional suffering really does transform us. What a journey this has been.”
3. Set things in motion.
This year I got to reap the benefits of things I set in motion years ago. It’s hard to tell when things will come to fruition so the important point is to get the ball rolling. Remember that our actions have exponential effects like an investment it compounds over time. You are making decisions and taking actions today that look small but will, when added to other actions, have a huge effect.
Just signing up for a marathon is a small action that will set in motion a serious of events that can change your life. The journey to becoming a better version of yourself is taking that first step.
First you’ve got to find the courage to start. So, put a race on the calendar. Just do it. Set things in motion, and like Bart Yasso says, “Never limit where running can take you.”
From Angie
1. Evaluate
One step to setting goals that will make us happier and more successful begins with evaluation. Ask yourself a couple of questions (these are borrowed from a blog post by Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy): What worked for me last year? What didn’t work for me? Honest reflection can be one of the best tools to personal growth in any area. And goal setting really pays off when we monitor what we’re doing. This can be through a blog, computer document, calendar, journal, or pictures. The key is to track yourself periodically to make sure you’re going in the right direction. The way you set and evaluate goals often comes down to your personality type and how you respond to expectations. We’ll be interviewing Gretchen Rubin, author of The Four Tendencies, about this topic in the near future.
2. Be open to possibility.
Stay open to change and new experiences. As a type A person I can tend toward being a control freak. It would be easy for me not to try anything different or hard that might not turn out perfectly. One of the things I’ve been working on the last couple of years is to try and relax more and be open to possibility. This is something that will probably take me a lifetime to master, but meditation has been so helpful to me in creating space and quiet for my body and mind. As a result I’m less hard on myself and hopefully show more grace to other people as well.
3. Gratitude
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
One of the certainties of life is change and along with the good there are often those changes that we’d really rather do without. It was a big “aha” moment when I realized that I was responsible for my happiness. I can’t place this burden on anyone else. Keeping a mindset of gratitude, focusing on the positive, and counting the little blessings in life can go a long way to having a happier life.
Another way that I stay grateful is by minimizing optional negativity (the negative stuff that I can avoid). For me this means that I listen to very little news and watch very little TV. Another small example as an avid reader (150+ books read in 2017) is that I’ve learned to ditch books I’m not enjoying. I’m an adult and can do that 🙂 I want my leisure time to be spent on things that I truly enjoy.
Also Mentioned in This Episode
The Drury Hotel Company. They have 150 hotels in 25 states (we have stayed at dozens of their locations). They have exceptional service, great treadmills, free wifi, huge breakfasts and free evening food and drinks! Use our link and get 15% off your stay and a free gift from us.
Charity Miles -an app that allows you to easily run for charity. The app’s corporate sponsors, like Johnson & Johnson, donate 25 cents for every mile you run or walk.
Health IQ -Marathon Training Academy is sponsored by Health IQ, an insurance company that helps health conscious people get special rates on life insurance. Go to healthiq.com/mta to support the show and learn more.
Bedgear Performance Bedding– Bedgear uses heat-deflecting, moisture-wicking, and air flow technologies to get you sleeping deep so you wake ready to perform at your peak. Use code MARATHON20 to get 20% off.
CW Hemp -use promo code MTACWHEMP for 10% off Charlotte’s Web products – including their new creams and balm.
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