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The Garmin Marathon in the Land of Oz is held in the town of Olathe, KS in April. The word Olathe is Shawnee Indian for “beautiful.”
The town has around 100,000 people and is a 25 minute drive from Kansas City. This race is in its 12th year and is a well-organized small marathon. You’d think that KS would be flat, but this area certainly has plenty of hills. Continue Reading →
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This is a special tribute to the 2013 Boston Marathon. In this episode we read emails from people within the MTA community who were at the Boston Marathon, and speak to our friend Angela Coloumbe who was volunteering near the finish line.
Glued to our laptops, Angie and I watched the live streaming of this year’s Boston Marathon until the elite runners crossed the finish line. We have truly grown to love these running icons (especially Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan) and every year we cross our fingers hoping an American will win. No offense to my non-American friends . . . it’s a rooting for the home team sort of thing. The last American to win Boston was Greg Meyer in 1983.
You gotta take your hat off to both Lelisa Desisa Benti, who has only ran one other marathon before winning Boston, and Rita Jeptoo who won in 2006, took 7 years off to become a mother, then returned to win it this year!
In case you didn’t see this yet: Continue Reading →
Angela Coulombe is a graphic designer and photographer. She uses her running to raise awareness for Lyme Disease. She and 5 friends were near the finish line as volunteers.
Boston – In 2012, a friend and I set a goal to train for and run a marathon that would qualify us for Boston, which, as you know, is a runner’s Mecca. It’s the worlds longest standing marathon and most prestigious, either you qualify or you raise lots of money to run for charity. Two of us were fortunate enough to qualify for 2014: me with a time of 3:41 and a friend with a time of 3:40. Because we hoped to run it in 2014, we thought it would be a great idea to go down and volunteer, to give to runners and help in a very karma like way, so that when we run it in 2014, we receive back the same karma. Also, meet new friends, speak with runners, get a lay of the land, but mostly, really to give support and help to runners and the BAA. Three women from Saco as well as myself met two other friends from MA in Cambridge the Sunday before the race, all of us volunteering together in what we thought would be a great girls weekend away.
We thought ourselves very fortunate that a college friend was able to get us a spot in Sector 6, finish line security, our sector starting right after the finish line. Our responsibilities were to direct runners towards water, Gatorade, blankets, their medals, or medical help. It was also to direct VIP runners down the VIP chute and to keep the medical lanes open so that medics could get from the finish line to the end of the water line and back again to the medical tent which was positioned in the middle of our sector. And so we started our day at 9:30 a.m. at an introduction meeting, picking up our volunteer jackets and badges, name tags and security badges and set off to work. Continue Reading →
Eric Strand is a friend of ours from St. Louis, MO. We interviewed him on podcast episode 67. He crossed the finish line approximately 10 minutes before the first bomb exploded.
BOSTON—This was my sixth trip to the Boston Marathon. (My wife) Tami and I love the marathon weekend here. Everyone in the city embraces the race, even the cabbies who grumble about the street closures. Just like St. Louis knows its baseball, Boston knows marathon running—and maybe a bit about baseball. Weather conditions were very good with a light headwind that picked up to a stiff breeze as we made the turn on to Boylston (Street).
Crowds were excellent, about three or four deep the entire length of the run down Boylston from Hereford to the finish. Tami, my mom, aunt, uncle and some local Boston friends were camped out along Hereford about a half mile from the finish. Their plan was to watch me run by and then walk back to the hotel to meet up. We are staying near Tufts Medical Center, so they had to head in the direction of the finish line.
As I approached the finish, they had the second wave runners go to the left and the third wave runners to the right side of the finish line. I was in the second wave. My son pointed out that the bomb was probably already planted a few feet away as I ran by about 10 minutes before the first explosion. Continue Reading →
I shared a hotel room with Danielle (left) at the 2013 Go! St. Louis Marathon
In this podcast episode we talk with Danielle Hastings (T-Rex Runner) about her eleven year battle with an eating disorder.
I’ve followed Danielle’s blog for some time and was able to meet her at the recent Go! St. Louis Marathon. She has written an excellent series on Eating Disorders for her blog.
Reading these posts made me realize that this serious issue is often avoided or minimalized. I’ve had a few friends over the years who’ve struggled with an eating disorder and I know that there are many people out there with the same battle.
This episode will help educate you on this very important topic. Continue Reading →
T-shirt and Medal from the 2013 Go! St. Louis Marathon
Although I’ve already run a marathon in the fair state of Missouri I was already going to be in St. Louis that weekend for a coaching clinic.
You might say that this was an opportunistic marathon. That’s one of the benefits of staying in marathon shape—you can sign up for a race at the drop of a hat.
After spending two days sitting in class from 8-5 and cramming my head full of information I was ready to run 26.2 miles. I stayed at the lovely Drury Plaza Hotel and my room had an awesome view of the Arch. I shared my room with Danielle (T-Rex Runner) who we interviewed in episode 79 and her friend Amanda. When they got into town on Saturday (after running a marathon that morning in Indiana) we went to the race expo together to get our race packets. I was embarrassed to be unable to help with directions around St. Louis in the slightest. Continue Reading →
Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon is a well organized local race drawing about 3,000 people. It features a marathon, half marathon, and 5k. My dad and I ran the half marathon.
Farewell to Modesto
The purpose of my coming to Modesto was to help my mom and dad empty their house and move to the Washington coast.
The move required a massive downsizing –from a 4,000 sq ft home to a cabin less than half that size. Literally every item had to be packed, sold, or given away. I’m talking about 60 years of stuff! Some of the stuff was going to me . . . I just had to get it home.
The move just happened to coincide with the Modesto Marathon so Dad and I decided to run the half as a final goodbye to the city where I grew up and where he lived most of his life. It took us 2 hours and 24 minutes to finish the half marathon. Apparently we like long goodbyes.
—Read the rest of my race recap— Continue Reading →
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In addition to running over 100 marathons, Lisa Smith-Batchen has completed the Badwater Ultra Marathon 9 times (winning twice).
In 2010 she ran 50 miles in 50 states in 62 days raising money for orphan charities.
Her new challenge is completing the Badwater Quad (4 back to back Badwater crossings). To accomplish this feat she will run a total of 600 miles in the merciless summer heat of Death Valley, California.
You might have heard on our last podcast episode that I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon in 3:54:15.
A sub-4 hour marathon is not remarkable as far as finishing times go. I’m a middle of the pack runner. (I finished 597 out of 2633).
But I did run 37 minutes faster than my best time . . . which is remarkable for me.
And it was actually easier than I thought it would be. Much easier than running my first marathon.
Here are a few tricks I used to keep my run under 4 hours.
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Last weekend we rocked the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon. It was great to be in the “Big Easy” again and enjoy the sites, sounds, and food. We stayed at the beautiful Drury Hotel located downtown in the business district. All in all we had a wonderful mini-vacation/marathon experience.
*Audio Content Available For Members Only. Click Here to Join NowT[/drocap]his podcast episode celebrates the 3rd anniversary of MTA.
I can definitely stay that time flies (or more appropriately that time can run away if you’re not careful).
It has been an amazing experience to interact with thousands of runners over the years and personally help people achieve their goals through the Academy.
We want to thank each one of our faithful listeners.
Building Confidence as a Runner
In this episode we answer personal questions that many listeners want to know and talk about building confidence.
It doesn’t matter where you’re at in your life right now. You can move forward and reach your goals. First, you must allow yourself to dream.
Next, you must take action and put in the hard work. You’ll finally see the rewards if you have confidence in yourself and don’t give up.
Marathon training is about so much more than running 26.2 miles. You’ll find that your self-esteem will grow by leap and bounds when you dedicate yourself to reaching that goal. Suddenly a whole world of possibilities opens up to you. That’s why we always say,
“You do have what it takes to run a marathon and change your life.”
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Ben Greenfield is a fitness and nutrition expert who competes at the Ironman and Half Ironman World Championships.
What does it mean to become superhuman?
Everyone is born with a certain number of genetic triggers. Your diet can unlock or keep locked those triggers that have the power to activate your genetic potential. Becoming superhuman means to become the strongest version of yourself possible.
Here are the questions we asked Ben:
Yaktrax pro for running in the snow!
