Edwin Moses Interview

In this episode, hosts Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch talk with Edwin Moses, a legendary figure in track and field. During his competitive career, he won 122 consecutive 400 meter hurdles races--a streak that lasted almost 10 years, and is unlikely ever to be beaten.

The conversation includes Moses's significant contributions to sports beyond the track, including anti-doping efforts and social change through the Laureus World Sports Academy. Moses shares personal insights on competition, training, and overcoming challenges, while also reflecting on the current state of athletics and the future of the sport.

Key moments in the podcast:

The Legacy of Edwin Moses

07:20

Reliving the Glory: The Documentary Experience

10:18

A Serious Film: Insights from the Documentary

13:16

The Journey of a Champion: Edwin's Early Life

16:09

The Evolution of Track and Field: A Personal Perspective

19:00

The Science of Hurdling: Technique and Strategy

22:04

The Anti-Doping Movement: Edwin's Advocacy

25:17

The Contrast of Eras: Modern Athletes vs. Edwin Moses

35:24

The Long Road to Clean Sports

39:02

Current State of Doping in Athletics

42:34

The Impact of Laureus on Social Change

48:00

The Future of Track and Field

51:38

The Role of the IOC in Athletics

54:28

Reflections on Jimmy Carter

57:35

Overcoming Personal Challenges

01:03:21

The State of Running and Athletics

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.

Susanna Sullivan

In this conversation, Susanna Sullivan reviews the highs and lows of her running in 2024. This includes missing the Olympic Marathon Trials in February due to an injury and Covid ... then bouncing back in October with a big marathon PR of 2:21:56 in Chicago. Sullivan has been improving steadily for a handful of years, but that Chicago performance catapulted her to the uppermost rungs of American marathon running. She'll begin her 2025 season in a couple of weeks in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon before racing an as-yet-undisclosed spring marathon. She's also seriously focused on the Tokyo World Championships Marathon in September. Here, she discusses her daily life as a teacher, her training regimen, and the importance of balancing short and long-distance races.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Susanna Sullivan's Journey

04:44 The Chicago Marathon Breakthrough

10:54 Training Philosophy and Future Goals

13:53 Balancing Short and Long Distance Racing

19:21 High School and College Running Experience

24:20 Post-College Running and Coaching Dynamics

31:47 Training Secrets and Cross-Training Insights

37:25 State of the Sport and Integrity Issues

41:55 Wishes for the Future

Susanna Sullivan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susannasullivan4/

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.

Daniel Romanchuk

Daniel Romanchuk is one of the world's top wheelchair racers. This fall, he won the New York City Marathon and, a week later, the BAA Boston Half Marathon. He set a course record in the latter event.

In August, Romanchuk entered 5 events in the Paris Paralympics, winning gold in the 5000 meters and bronze in the marathon.

Born with spina bifida--a not-fully-formed spine--Romanchuk spent his early years trying to keep up with two older siblings. He enrolled in an adaptive sports program in his hometown, Baltimore, at age 5, and has been pursuing one sport (or many) ever since.

In this podcast interview, he talks about: 

# his summer and fall of races

# why he did his first marathon at age 14

# how wheelchair athletes train

# why so many of them are located, as he is, at the University of Illinois/Champaign

# how wheelchair racing has evolved during his years in the sport

# ways he hopes to make racing wheelchairs less expensive and more accessible

# and much more

You can find additional information about Daniel Romanchuk at DanielRomanchuk.com.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.

Ted Metellus, NYC Marathon race director

Ted Metellus is race director of the TCS New York City Marathon. In many ways, he’s a miracle maker. How else do you get 50,000+ runners from midtown Manhattan to Staten Island, and then back again (on foot) to finish in Central Park? Especially when they come from so many different countries and speak many different languages. 

Metellus seems almost born to the position he holds. Raised in New York City with Haitian-heritage parents, he’s big, bold, always smiling, and details-obsessed. He has also run 44 half marathons and two NYC Marathons, so he knows the needs of midpack runners as well as the elites.

In this podcast he discusses:

# how he went to the recent Chicago Marathon but didn’t see the race’s epic new women’s world record. He had to fly back to NYC to direct the Staten Island Half.

# a few tricks that the NYC Marathon has learned from other big races

# what the NY Road Runners are doing to enhance diversity in the organization and the sport

# what new World Marathon Majors race(s) we might be seeing soon

# why everyone seems to be running these days (and trying to get entries into the most popular marathons)

# why he enjoys running road races himself

# and much more

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.

Jessica McClain Interview

Some think Jessica McClain was the "tough luck kid" of 2024. After all, she finished 4th in both the Olympic Marathon Trials and the Olympic Track Trials 10,000. And fourth is the worst position, right?

McClain herself doesn't see things that way. 

Excited about her life, her work, and her running, she sees the past 10 months as evidence that she's on a great path: happy, healthy, running strong.  And she thinks it's a sustainable path that could carry her all the way to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

McClain, who recently won the USATF 10K Road Championship, will race next in the New York City Marathon on November 3. 

In this podcast, she discusses her training to get ready for New York. It's going great.

She also talks about:

# Her last-minute trip to the Paris Olympics when she was called to be a possible alternate. She didn't know for whom, or even for which event--10,000 or the marathon. It was an unfortunate and little discussed situation for all involved.

# Her early love for running--she started when she was 12--and how she developed into a 4-time Footlocker XC finalist as a high schooler. 

# Her move from Phoenix to Seattle to become a pro runner after graduating from Stanford. And why that didn't work out so well.

# The many life changes she experienced during several Covid years, and how they eventually brought her back to her essential love of running. But not quickly.

# Why so many top women runners seem to be better after they have taken a few years away from the sport ... for whatever reason.

# The fulfillment of working for several nonprofits that support fostering children and adopting dogs.

# And much more.

You can learn more about Jessica McClain by following her on Instagram. 

If you'd like to support her work on behalf of foster kids and dog adoptions, visit the Love Up Foundation and/or the Love Pup Foundation.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.

Carey Pinkowski Chicago Marathon Interview

 

Carey Pinkowski is the longest serving race director of a World Marathon Major race, having taken the helm at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon way back in 1990. Before that, he was an elite runner with personal bests ranging from 4:01 in the mile to 2:20:43 in the marathon.

This year's Chicago is just three weeks away on Sunday, October 13. As always it will feature a big and star-studded field of runners.

In his three-plus decades with the Chicago Marathon, Pinkowski has become known for putting on a super-fast race for elite competitors, and a super-efficient race for midpackers.

Last year, Kelvin Kiptum set the marathon world record in Chicago, running 2:00:35. He covered the second half of the distance in an astounding 59:47.

This year's Chicago is expected to host more than 50,000 starters--the most ever. They come for the big city vibe, the fast tour of many neighborhoods, and the easy-accessibility of Chicago's loop course with a start and finish in Grant Park on the lakefront.   

In this podcast, Pinkowski reflects on:

# What he learned in his early years on the job

# Some of the best--and most challenging--years of the Chicago Marathon

# What runners like best about coming to Chicago and running the urban marathon

# Why Chicago has pacers vs other Major Marathons that don't

# What he learned from watching Kelvin Kiptum's world-record last year

# How he learned about Kiptum's death, and his immediate reactions

# And much more

You can follow updates from the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Twitter and Instagram.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download podcast apps from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple

Spotify

Audible

Pandora

I Heart Radio

YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is Amby’s weekly newsletter with the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners.