RunningStateOfTheSport: November 2023

In this episode of "Running: State of the Sport," George and Amby chat with Keira D'Amato, the American record holder at 10 miles and the half-marathon, and the second fastest ever in the marathon with her 2:19:27.

These performances make Keira a top contender in the February 3 Olympic Marathon Trials.

Keira has followed an unusual path to her current running. Soon after college, she stopped serious training to get married, have two children, and start a real-estate business. She stayed away from elite running for more than a decade.

However, she zoomed back in 2019 with a 2:34 marathon in Berlin, and she's only been getting faster since.

Before talking to Keira, George and Amby discussed the biggest recent news in running. George was impressed by Parker Valby's win in the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, especially by her low training mileage. He also noted noted that Harvard's Graham Blanks became the first Ivy League winner at NCAAs. Blanks called his race "dumb ass" after finishing, but there wasn't much evidence of that.

Amby mentioned that Harvard has an actual world-record runner in physics prof Jenny Hoffman. She recently set a female record for the run across America, averaging 63 miles/day for 47 days. Amby was also fascinated by Jonathan Gault's report at LetsRun.com on the increasing use of a sodium bicarbonate mix by top runners. (It's legal but often produces more "runs" than running.) It's claimed that Kelvin Kiptum, Molly Seidel, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen have been using the bicarb mix.

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Audio engineering by BJ McGeever.

In this episode of "Running: State of the Sport," George and Amby chat with Patti Catalano Dillon, who received the prestigious Abebe Bikila Award at the recent TCS New York City Marathon. In the 1980 Marathon, Patti became the first American female to break 2:30 in the marathon, finishing second to Grete Waitz. Patti scored many major road race victories in her meteoric career, including 5 at the Ocean State Marathon (Rhode Island) and 4 in the Honolulu Marathon.

Patti explains her unique background, including her first run (in Earthshoes) around a cemetery in Quincy, MA, and her first marathon experience. "I thought I was going to die." She also discusses her continuing involvement in Native American running.

Before talking to Patti, George and Amby discuss the biggest recent news in running. Amby was disappointed by how slowly the elite women ran at NYC, suggesting that maybe they should have their fees reduced commensurate with their slow times (the 1980 Patti Catalano would have been right with them). But he was impressed by the 3:19 finish of 6' 9" former hockey star Zdeno Chara.

George marvelled at how the NYC Marathon once again seemed to knit an entire city together. At a time of universal concern over several wars, various groups chose not to stage protests around the Marathon.

He also enjoyed a dinner gathering of some of his longtime favorite marathon runners.