1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,680 You're listening to episode 293 of the Marathon Running Podcast. 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,880 In this episode, we're going to take a look back at the year 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,560 2025 and talk about everything significant that happened in the 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,880 running world. This is the Marathon Running 5 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,040 Podcast with Letty and Ryan. Join us for weekly content on 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,920 all things running and let us take you from the starting line 7 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:30,120 to the finish line and beyond. Hey runners, and welcome to 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,880 episode 293. My name is Letty. 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,240 My name is Ryan. And welcome back to our podcast 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,080 Today. We are, well today is the 29th 11 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:44,160 of December and we are going to do a year in review and pull out 12 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,760 some really fun facts for you guys, also some not so fun facts 13 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,920 and conclude this episode with some New Year's tips or I guess 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,560 New Year's resolutions to hopefully help you guys make 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,200 2026 the best year possible. So you want to get into some of 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,600 the records? For 2025, sure. 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,120 So Letty, what are the best performances of 2025? 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,720 Well, in my humble opinion, there were three or four men 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,520 when it came to fast performances. 20 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:18,360 The first one I want to mention is Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, who 21 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:23,240 this year managed to finally break the half marathon world 22 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,480 record. He broke the 57 minute barrier 23 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:30,840 for the half marathon, coming in with a new world record of 56 24 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:36,080 minutes and 42 seconds at the Barcelona half marathon, which 25 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,240 was almost a minute of improvement for him. 26 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:44,400 But just picture that Ryan the average of his race for 13.1 27 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,200 miles was 4 minutes and 20 seconds per mile. 28 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:50,960 Yeah, that's really fast. Imagine if he could run a 29 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,080 marathon at that speed. Well, to come full circle, it 30 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,720 was beautiful to see him come in first at the Chicago Marathon 31 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,800 when he came in at 2 hours, 2 minutes and 23 seconds. 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,960 So you know how they usually say take your half marathon time, 33 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,199 double it and add some? That's. 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,040 Still really fast. They went out way too fast on 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,600 the first half of the Chicago Marathon. 36 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,840 That was the race where John career was running with him and 37 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,760 he was kind of trying to do something big. 38 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:21,800 But Jacob Kipling won't lasted all throughout it. 39 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,080 John had dropped out and you know, so he did good. 40 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,440 He placed first in Chicago, so that's kind of nice to see a 41 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,240 half marathon record holder also win a world major. 42 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,160 Yeah, what about other performances? 43 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,840 So another athlete that really stuck out at me is Marcel Hoog. 44 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,080 Marcel Hoog is the absolutely most dominant person who has 45 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,240 ever been in the field of wheelchair racing. 46 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,320 They also call him the Silver bullet because he has his iconic 47 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,600 Chrome plated helmet on that everyone can recognize him 48 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,080 because it's almost like a mirror, right? 49 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,880 You can see him from afar and then you see him fly by. 50 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,280 He achieved a sweep of all the world major marathons, meaning 51 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,160 he came in and took first place in every single one of the world 52 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,480 majors. Even though for a lot of these 53 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,000 races, because of his busy schedule, he didn't even arrive 54 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,480 until the day before. For example, Sydney. 55 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,200 I was messaging with him because I'm personal friends with him 56 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,760 and he had just arrived in Sydney the day before the 57 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,520 marathon and I asked him how is the jet lag going to affect you? 58 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,040 And he said he thinks it's going to be OK, right. 59 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,760 So Marcel Hoog, his performance is absolutely amazing and 60 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,680 historic, not just because he won those seven world majors, 61 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,200 but because at this time and age the field of men's wheelchair 62 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,160 racing has been pretty deep. He has some really significantly 63 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:43,600 strong rivals such as Daniel Romanchuk and Jesse Plot, and he 64 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,960 continues to be undefeated across all these different 65 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,240 climates and topography and time zones, and that's really 66 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,560 statistically staggering, I think. 67 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,600 What's for comparison? His best time was one hour, 21 68 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:58,800 minutes, 34 seconds at the Boston Marathon. 69 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,120 So what speed does that translate into? 70 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,480 3 minutes and 6 seconds per mile and about 19 miles an hour. 71 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,920 Constant average. Wow, that is really fast. 72 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,080 And this is really fast, scary too, because Ryan, a lot of 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,280 these races like New York and Sydney, they have the uphill, 74 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,040 but they also have the downhill. Yeah. 75 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,040 So you got to be going a lot faster than that on the 76 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:20,800 downhills to make up for the uphills. 77 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:22,880 Exactly. So that was that. 78 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,720 Another amazing athlete for the year that I do want to mention 79 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,280 is Kenyan athlete Sebastian Zawi. 80 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:34,160 Sebastian Zawi has only run 3 marathons and he has won every 81 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,680 single one of them starting with Valencia. 82 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,400 This year he also won the London Marathon and then he won the 83 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,480 Berlin Marathon. And Ryan, this whole Berlin 84 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,880 Marathon thing is so kind of sad because the weather at the 85 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,320 Berlin Marathon was super hot. It was in the 70s, upper 70s I 86 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,600 believe and Sebastian Sawy for that race had trained so hard he 87 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,960 was ready to break the world record. 88 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,920 I know that because he trains with A2 Running Club in Kenya, 89 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,400 which is the club that we visited last year. 90 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,360 This year Sawy at the Berlin Marathon clocked a time of two 91 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:12,840 hours, 2 minutes and 16 seconds despite the extreme heat. 92 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:19,720 The heat was at 25°C which is about 77 ish in Fahrenheit like 93 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,240 and originally he had set out to run a world record at that race. 94 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,880 It was impossible because of the heat. 95 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,600 But if you think about it, I did a short on YouTube where I went 96 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,400 through his split times for every 5K and put it into a 97 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:38,000 calculator of what this time would have been in ideal running 98 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,960 conditions because the weather heated up so quickly in Berlin 99 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,240 and they said take a minute or two off. 100 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:48,080 So arguably he could have reached the World Marathon and 101 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,200 he achieved quite a bit of global recognition with this. 102 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,640 In addition, for the Berlin Marathon, Sabi was on an anti 103 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,080 doping mission because you know, Kenya is currently under intense 104 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,240 scrutiny and testing because of its location and its country. 105 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,920 He and Ideas had done a anti doping mission where they did 25 106 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:09,200 tests in eight weeks voluntarily. 107 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,520 So he did volunteer extra testing, so for obviously 108 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,200 marketing purposes, but also to have all that cleared up in case 109 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:19,880 he was to reach the World record. 110 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:26,040 So he was recognized by World Athletics as the World Out of 111 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,320 Stadium Athlete of the Year just this December for everything he 112 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,400 did this year. Nice, So what about USA runners? 113 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,480 Yes, glad you said that. So Conor Mance, he is the king 114 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,640 of the American distance for 2025 because he didn't just 115 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,640 break 1 record, he broke 2 records. 116 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:46,800 In January he broke the American record for the half marathon as 117 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,680 he ran a 59 minute 17 second-half marathon and by 118 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,240 doing so he broke Ryan Hall's 18 year old record. 119 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:00,800 In addition, he then also in Chicago, broke the 23 year old 120 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,160 record by coming in at 2 hours, 4 minutes and 43 seconds. 121 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,000 So he had a very significant year, which was really, really 122 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,600 crazy. I mean you know you break 2 123 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,120 records in in one year. What about the women's? 124 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,080 Yes. So for the women's, we have 125 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,240 Ethiopian runner Tigis Asafa, who set a new women's only 126 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,640 record at the London Marathon, coming in at 2 hours and 15 127 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,480 minutes and 50 seconds. And I'm saying women's only 128 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,160 because the women have that category for records where they 129 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,000 run without male pacemakers. Then we also have Jocelyn 130 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,600 Jepkoski of Kenya, who finished the year as the fastest woman in 131 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:42,160 the world, winning the Valencia Marathon in two hours and 14 132 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,240 minutes, 00, which is a massive personal best for her and moved 133 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,200 her up to #4 of the all time list. 134 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,920 And then of course we have Stefan Hassan, the three time 135 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,720 Olympic winner who continued her legacy but also winning the 136 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,800 Sydney Marathon on a course that is very difficult in two hours, 137 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,080 18 minutes and 22 seconds. Yeah, they're really fast times. 138 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,480 So what about USA women lady? Yeah, so we have some really 139 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,560 great performances. One of them was Jess McClain, 140 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,400 who came in as the top American runner at the Boston Marathon at 141 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,640 2 hours, 22 minutes and 43 seconds. 142 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,800 Then we have Annie Frisbee, who came in right behind her. 143 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,680 And so both these women became top ten. 144 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,280 Then we also have American wheelchair racer Susanna 145 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,560 Sarconi, who won her first Boston, I'm sorry, second Boston 146 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,679 title. And then for Chicago, we have 147 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:39,039 Natasha Rogers, who we also interviewed for this podcast, by 148 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,679 the way, and she had come in at a time of two hours, 23 minutes 149 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,440 and 28 seconds, which is absolutely amazing. 150 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:49,320 And then of course, we have Sharon Lockedy, who got second 151 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:53,160 at New York City, coming in at 2 hours, 20 minutes and 7 seconds. 152 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,200 And Fiona O'Keefe came in setting the new course record 153 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:57,600 for women. That's good. 154 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,120 Now let's talk about some non elite runners. 155 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,520 Well, I guess I want to talk about Elliot Kochogi. 156 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,240 I don't want to call him non elite because he's obviously so 157 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,480 faster than most super fast runners and he runs sub two hour 158 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,920 10 marathon. So he's definitely, you know, 159 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,360 one of the best of the best. But he kind of marked the end of 160 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,120 an era by finishing Sydney in New York and officially becoming 161 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,600 the first high profile runner to complete all seven world majors. 162 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,000 But he also then announced that he is transitioning into a World 163 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:33,120 Tour phase for 2026, focusing on running marathons all across 7 164 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,720 continents. Yeah, I think it's cool that 165 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,160 he's kind of using his fame for promotion now and stuff and 166 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:40,920 running and things that he likes. 167 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:42,360 Me too. I love that about him, 168 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,960 especially because I don't know if you saw it on Instagram, but 169 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,640 he also went to Thailand and he ran a marathon there and he 170 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,120 paced the queen, you know? I mean how? 171 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,040 Cool. Is that good opportunities I 172 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:53,880 guess that he gets now, which is kind of cool. 173 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,440 Yes, he constantly, you know, has pictures of meeting leaders 174 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,480 of different countries now. And he has made it his mission 175 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,480 to make running into a global thing. 176 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:06,280 And I think he's he's accomplishing it. 177 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,960 I think he's one of the best known marathoners really in the 178 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:11,920 world. I think he had good timing with 179 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,080 his, you know, he's obviously amazing runner, but I think also 180 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:20,320 running and marathon has became more forefront and appreciated 181 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,360 right during the time where he was speaking. 182 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,040 That's so true. You know, with COVID and all 183 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,400 these new runners coming in and then him taking advantage of not 184 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,600 just that, but also, you know, social media and trying to make 185 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,120 a business out of it, not just being a underpaid elite runner 186 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,080 that then fades just like everybody else. 187 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,640 I mean, if you look at Maine population and you mentioned 188 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,040 Elliot Kipchogi and you mentioned other runners, they'll 189 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,920 probably know Elliot Kipchogi is, but not so many of the other 190 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:47,200 runners. Yeah, good for him. 191 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,000 Capitalize. Exactly. 192 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaking about capitalizing or maybe not so much Harry Styles, 193 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,920 let's talk about Harry Styles. Because Harry Styles ran his 194 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,720 first marathon in Tokyo and he came in blazing fast with a 195 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:06,360 three hour 23 marathon, which was exactly my time, which I was 196 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:08,640 excited about because I was like, oh, I could have run with 197 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:15,040 Harry Style Styles. But then in Berlin he ran, and 198 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:16,680 obviously he always runs under an alias. 199 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:21,960 He ran under Stan Sarandos and he broke the three hour barrier 200 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:25,800 and now is much faster than me but he ran in that hot weather 201 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:31,680 coming in a 2 hours 59 minutes and 13 ish I think which is a 202 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:34,960 huge personal best and I think it shows how serious he is about 203 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:36,720 running. So Stan, if you want a running 204 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:38,960 partner during your next marathon, then Letty would like 205 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:40,680 to run with you. Not anymore, Ryan. 206 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:42,840 He's 25 minutes faster than me now. 207 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,160 Well, you need to speed up. I guess so. 208 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,200 I guess so, Stan, you know who to call or if you want to be 209 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,560 ever interviewed, then reach out to us here. 210 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,440 Yeah, that would be an awesome interview. 211 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,080 I'm sure he's listening. Now let's talk about a couple of 212 00:11:55,080 --> 00:12:00,520 more Ageless records and both of them have been previous podcast 213 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,120 guests. So first one, Gene Dykes. 214 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:09,080 Gene Dykes is currently, I believe, 75 years old, and he 215 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,800 ran the Billion Marathon at a time of three hours and 15 216 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,600 minutes, which is absolute master class in longevity. 217 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,120 And he's really proving that the human endurance is shifting to a 218 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,040 time much later in life than we previously thought. 219 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:25,840 That is pretty amazing too, I think. 220 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:27,560 I don't know that's that's impressive to me. 221 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:32,440 I love it when you hear people that are older and doing so well 222 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,640 and you can see that you can run really fast for a long time. 223 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,360 Exactly. And along with that Gene Dyke's 224 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:45,160 counterpart, Jeannie Rice from Naples, she is 77 years old and 225 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,520 became the first person to sweep all 7 marathons by winning her 226 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,360 age group in every single one of them. 227 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,720 So her sweep was basically winning. 228 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,280 She still runs marathons in the three 30s and and they did a 229 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,560 study on her that was published in a Journal of Applied 230 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:07,640 Physiology where they found that her VO2 Max capacity came in at 231 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:13,680 47.8, which is the highest ever recorded for a woman over 75 232 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:15,200 years in age. That's cool. 233 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,400 I hope we continue to see that trend where people stay with it 234 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,960 longer and later in life and do well. 235 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,200 I agree, although for us that means that we'll constantly be 236 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,480 competing for our own age groups because you know, by the time 237 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,440 that we are in our 70s there's going to be lots of those sub 238 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,200 three hour runners still that. 'D be cool, I would like it. 239 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,760 It's not good for your rankings and your marathons, but I still 240 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,040 like to see people doing it and stinking with it. 241 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:41,160 Nothing. We're not used. 242 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,240 To right, I guess, yeah. Any other ones? 243 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,280 No. OK, then moving on, do you want 244 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,240 to go through marathon winter times? 245 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,480 Do you want to mention any of the world major marathon winners 246 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,320 and times? Or do you have a resource for 247 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,280 someone that wants to look up all the world marathon major 248 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,280 winners and times? I absolutely do and I'm glad 249 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,960 that you brought that up, Ryan. As you listeners may have heard 250 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,080 us talk about or seen on our Instagram, we now have a website 251 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,480 that is being updated very frequently because we do focus 252 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,240 on news and world major marathons and gear review. 253 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,960 So if you head to marathonjournal.com, you will 254 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,200 see the tab for World Major Marathons and under that tab you 255 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,560 will see winning times for 2025 if you care to look at it, along 256 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,680 with some other contents such as athlete profiles, choose how to 257 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:33,560 get in, and other things that guide you when it comes to World 258 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,200 Major marathons. O go check it out and you can 259 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:40,120 get all your news and resources in one place. 260 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,040 Marathon related. Yes, Marathon journal.com. 261 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,400 So speaking about people running faster and faster, let's talk 262 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,560 about some other races that maybe people that can't get into 263 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,360 majors can participate in. Yes, yes, I love this because I 264 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,040 think at this point, we're all kind of doomed because the 265 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,680 lotteries for the majors are not very successful anymore of these 266 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,080 days. There's significant numbers of 267 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,040 applicants to get into any of them. 268 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,080 But yeah, there are some other fast races on this planet, for 269 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,640 example, Valencia. Valencia this year, which just 270 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,960 happened this month has once again proven why it really is 271 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,240 one of the fastest courses in the world. 272 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,400 Kenya's Jocelyn Yakovsky that we talked about earlier when we 273 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,440 talked about women running fast. She clocked a world leading 2 274 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,640 hours and 14 minute marathons. John Career, who had dropped out 275 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,840 of the Chicago Marathon. He is also the winner of the 276 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:38,000 Boston Marathon for this year, came to Valencia and won that 277 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,720 race with a negative split in two hours and 2 minutes and 24 278 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,080 seconds, which is the third fastest marathon time in the 279 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,600 world this year. And also Amanal Petros, a German 280 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,840 guy who came in third, also clocked a 2 hours and 4 second 281 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,920 marathons. Which all goes to show that 282 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,720 Valencia now holds one of the world's top lead times for 2025 283 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,440 and rivals Berlin and Chicago because of its course and 284 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,560 because probably also being a fall marathon and being really 285 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,280 fast. So Valencia is where it's at, 286 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,520 unfortunately, this year. And ironically, because we just 287 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,160 talked about how hard it is to get into the major marathons, 288 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:24,360 Valencia now also has a ballot because it just had too many 289 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,920 applicants. But I don't know, Ryan, I'm 290 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,040 assuming that this year, at least for Valencia, it's not 291 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:34,280 going to be as difficult to get in as it is for the other world 292 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,400 majors. So that's one to watch out for. 293 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:41,640 Another marathon that is also fast is Amsterdam and Amsterdam 294 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,600 is in the Netherlands obviously. And the Netherlands are 295 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,680 notorious for being flat and have a fast course. 296 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,160 And the fact that this race happens in mid-october towards 297 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,760 the end of October also makes it hopefully ideal weather for 298 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,120 racing it. Then we have the Seville 299 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,600 Marathon, which is in February. So now we're talking about a 300 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:05,800 spring marathon that is fast and known to be one of the fastest 301 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,119 marathons in Spain, obviously along with Valencia, that now 302 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,280 also attracts a deep field of Olympic hopeful elites. 303 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:18,319 And last but not least, Dubai. Dubai is a January marathon and 304 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:23,240 it is super flat out and back horse and it is a launchpad or 305 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:27,560 it's become to be a launchpad for new world class talent early 306 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,440 in the calendar year. And just to give you an idea, 307 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:35,440 Boot Gimmechu won the won the men's race in two hours and 4 308 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,920 minutes and 51 seconds. So for somebody that is not 309 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,000 known in the world yet to run a 2 hours and 4 minute marathon, 310 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,520 that's pretty good, right? It is. 311 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:46,800 So watch out for the Dubai Marathon. 312 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,440 Yeah, all those places are kind of cool places to travel too. 313 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,360 Yeah, absolutely. Interesting. 314 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:54,200 Anyway, so letting now to the part that everyone's been 315 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,240 waiting for scandals. Scandals and setbacks. 316 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,440 I was just going to say that, yeah. 317 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,800 So there has been a list of scandals and unfortunate 318 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,920 setbacks which we're going to talk about the worst one right 319 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:07,400 now, which is the doping scandal. 320 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:12,720 Ruth Chepingenich, who had run a world record time in 2024 at the 321 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,400 Chicago Marathon, coming in as the first woman to ever run 322 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,520 under 2 hours and 10 minutes. She came in at 2 hours, 9 323 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,560 minutes and 56 seconds. Now Fast forward to March of 324 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,760 this year. She goes and tests positive for 325 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,640 HCTZ, which is hydrochlorothiazide at a 326 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:34,080 concentration which is 190 times past the legal limit. 327 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,840 Now what is HCTG? It is a diuretic. 328 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,160 It's a masking agent that hides the presence of other band 329 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,640 performance enhancing substances. 330 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,800 And here is what she did. First she said she didn't do it. 331 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:53,920 Later on she admitted that she did take that, but she said she 332 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,960 accidentally did it because she was taking the housemates 333 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,240 medication after feeling ill. So the AIU, the athletes 334 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:05,800 integrity unit, rejected that as a hardly hardly credible 335 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,160 argument and ruled it as a indirect intent. 336 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,360 And then later on, there was phone evidence that came through 337 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,120 where literally they literally revealed screenshots of her 338 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:21,000 images on her phones of testosterone vials and messages 339 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,760 discussing the doping programs dating back to 2022. 340 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:29,640 So she received sanctions and was handed a three-year ban. 341 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,920 However, her record for the Chicago Marathon still stands 342 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,800 because the Chicago record predates her positive tests. 343 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,520 So I mean, obviously there's no one in this world of the right 344 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,680 mind that thinks she didn't dope for Chicago, but suddenly she 345 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,000 does it for everything else, right? 346 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,440 Yeah, I mean, it's likely going on for longer than just wasn't 347 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,400 caught. Which is really, really sad 348 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,640 because now where does women's sports go, right? 349 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,720 Because you have these women that never broke this barrier, 350 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,920 and now this barrier has been broken and she basically robbed 351 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,600 the other winners of their podium places. 352 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,680 And now what do we have to look forward to for women in running, 353 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,720 you know? If anyone gets close to that 354 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,200 breaking 210, it's great, but it hasn't been broken like it was 355 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:18,640 with her. So it's really, it's really, 356 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,040 really crappy. Yeah, unfortunately it's 357 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,400 probably more common than people want to believe too. 358 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,440 Yes, and I don't know, you know, about this three-year ban, but 359 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,000 also one common denominator about a lot of athletes that had 360 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,880 been popped with doping is the agent. 361 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:40,680 There is one agent specifically who is still able to be an 362 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:42,680 agent, and I don't know if that's right. 363 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:43,680 Probably not. Yeah. 364 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,840 It's a hard thing to do because it's the people that are doing 365 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:52,000 the doping are kind of one step ahead a lot of times and finding 366 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,160 the best ways to hide it. But then when somebody does 367 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,120 eventually get caught, it's like they don't know how many, how 368 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,520 long they've been doing it for, how many times they got away 369 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,400 with it too. Unfortunately, it seems more 370 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,760 common than not though, because you see it coming out in the 371 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:06,000 news over and over again. But I do believe that they keep 372 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,240 old samples, right? I don't know how old they keep 373 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:09,880 them and how much and how long they can test on things. 374 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:11,480 I mean, they come up with new techniques all the time. 375 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,480 Yeah, but I mean, are you going to go back and check? 376 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,560 I mean, you can't be checking every single world record since 377 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,720 the 1980s once they come out with a new method of testing. 378 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,120 Plus it might ban new substances, like in this case. 379 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,120 It's a diuretic, which in itself isn't necessarily a performance 380 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:28,680 enhancer, but it masks other performance enhancers. 381 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,800 Because if you can get it so that your body's not secreting 382 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,240 it anymore, then they can't detect in a test. 383 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,680 Yeah, so, so that's set for Ruth, hopefully. 384 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,080 I mean, I guess, you know, we will not see her at the 2028 385 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,040 Olympics because if she had a three-year ban, then she won't 386 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:45,640 be performing in that. Yes, not. 387 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,760 All right, moving on to other bad things, other Downers. 388 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,760 The Cape Town Marathon was cancelled and it was cancelled 389 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,920 very abruptly on race morning due to wins. 390 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,200 And basically, those wins forced the race director to pull the 391 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,040 plug just a few hours before the starting time of the race, which 392 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,560 drew a lot of criticism and uncertainty about the race's 393 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,360 future because they were in the process of becoming a world 394 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:12,680 major marathon. For those of you that don't know 395 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,160 how the process works as a race is a candidate race for two 396 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,840 consecutive years and they have to pass a list of things. 397 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,040 And I guess for Cape Town, the marathon will remain a candidate 398 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:25,000 for the World Major Marathon Series. 399 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,040 And a due date has set now this time for May because of the race 400 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,760 calendar of the world, major marathons, but also because of 401 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,280 the wins. And I just want to say, you 402 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,280 know, my own opinion, the race was cancelled. 403 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,040 And it really sucks. And it stings, right? 404 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,120 Because people have flown all over the world across, spend 405 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,280 tons of money to be there and then this race gets cancelled. 406 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,480 But you know, forces of nature are not predictable. 407 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,640 We when we sign up for marathons, we have a waiver that 408 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,040 we sign by signing up which says unforeseen circumstances. 409 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,680 This is what can happen. I know that at first Cape Town 410 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,240 had announced that there would be no refunds, but then their 411 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,960 sponsor refunded everyone or I guess allowed them to use the 412 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,880 funds for the next race entry and claimed a spot for 2026. 413 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,880 I mean, I think that the everyone wants to just say, oh, 414 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,240 it's silly to cancel a race, but then if something happens to 415 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,240 somebody and somebody gets hurt, then all of a sudden it flips. 416 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,080 And why would you run that race with the wins? 417 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,800 And so it's like a situation where there's no winning for, so 418 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,600 no win situation for whoever is organizing the race, which is 419 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:34,000 kind of sucks. It's unfortunate. 420 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,320 I think I don't know what South African liability issues are 421 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,640 like, but in the US, you know, you can be highly liable for all 422 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,080 sorts of things. And so it's the safest thing is 423 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,920 to just cancel. Well, the thing was also that 424 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,280 people were waking up on race morning and said where's the 425 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:50,840 wind? Why is this thing cancelled and 426 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,000 didn't realize that the wind had happened, a lot of it during the 427 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:59,200 night, destroying some structures and basically making 428 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:03,200 the race director saying that they are unable to even start 429 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,800 this race because structures have been blown over, etcetera. 430 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,200 In addition, I have never been to Cape Town, but I have seen 431 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,080 videos of wind gusts and Ryan, people are literally leaning 432 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,320 into wind as they walk across the street. 433 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,720 I mean, you know what you're into surfing and people go there 434 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:21,880 for the surf and there's a lot of wind and gust. 435 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,280 I know you foil bored. Everyone knows you foil bored. 436 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,120 Wing surfing, wind surfing and all that stuff is pretty 437 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,560 prominent down in Cape Town in that South African area. 438 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:32,680 Yeah. I mean, it's definitely, it can 439 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,480 definitely become a dangerous situation. 440 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,600 I think it's hard to appreciate sometimes how strong wind can 441 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,640 get and what it can do. I think a lot of times it's the 442 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,560 structures or as they alluded to, structures or other things, 443 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,440 debris or other things that may be dangerous more so than the 444 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:48,920 wind itself. Yes. 445 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,920 And how do they say here in the States, one wrongful conviction, 446 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:54,920 OK, I'm not going to go there. So that was that. 447 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,880 We are still very positive about Cape Town. 448 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,640 I mean, obviously I'm going to be going to Cape Town in May. 449 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,880 I'm very excited for this race and I look forward to running 450 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,760 this. So that's another set back. 451 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,320 And so now since we're talking about set back in scandals, 452 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:12,080 another set back was the Niagara Falls Marathon course air in 453 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,640 October. Elite cyclists took an early 454 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,560 turn, leading the top three runners in both the 10K and the 455 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,560 half marathons off course. And all all of these effective 456 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,240 athletes were subsequently disqualified because they did 457 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,280 not complete the full certified course, despite the mistake 458 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,240 being the fault of the race official. 459 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,480 And that sparked an intense debate over athletes 460 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,800 compensation and the nature of the World Athletics timing 461 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,320 rules. That's pretty unfortunate. 462 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,800 Yeah, I think it's relatively easy to make it like clear where 463 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:42,960 the race course is. I mean, that's the whole purpose 464 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,480 of someone creating a race is to make sure that the race is well 465 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,000 marked. So that kind of is unfortunate. 466 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,680 I don't I don't know what the solution is once it's already 467 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,480 done because it's not fair to the people that ran the correct 468 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,040 course and it's not fair to the people that got diverted into 469 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,680 the incorrect course. Well, yeah, no, absolutely. 470 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:04,840 And especially if it's the lead cyclist. 471 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,560 But you know, human error can happen. 472 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,680 I guess the solution would be to have more than one lead cyclist 473 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,400 and then figure it out together and just tell them don't rely on 474 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:14,280 each other. I don't know. 475 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,440 I mean, obviously the Niagara Marathon or Niagara Half 476 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,720 Marathon cannot be super large because I don't see this 477 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,480 happening at a big race. So hopefully we will never have 478 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,160 to see that happening. So next we have another 479 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,360 unfortunate incident that happened at the Sydney Marathon. 480 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,440 American wheelchair racer Daniel Romanchuk, who is probably one 481 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,120 of the biggest competitors to Marcel Hoog. 482 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,960 He had his season cut short because he had a collision with 483 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,600 a spectator at the Sydney Marathon, which happened when a 484 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:49,800 spectator just simply crossed the race course, causing Daniel 485 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,000 to have a shoulder injury when he was, you know, forced over 486 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,480 trying to avoid the pedestrian. And so that again forced him to 487 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,080 withdraw from the Chicago Marathon and focus on 488 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,680 rehabilitation instead. Yeah, that's unfortunate. 489 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:05,480 Especially when you're going that fast. 490 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,160 You see it sometimes with biking, you see some really bad 491 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,720 accidents because someone steps out in front or doesn't obey the 492 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,600 boundaries. And that's that's that's like a 493 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:19,640 bad fans need to stay in the boundaries because that's really 494 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,800 hurts. It can really hurt people and 495 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:23,400 not good. Yeah. 496 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,840 And he, I actually ran into him in Chicago, where I briefly 497 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,240 spoke with him. He was happy that that was the 498 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,760 only injury that he attained his shoulder because he was going 499 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,280 really fast. But he's a very positive person. 500 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,760 And he basically was in Chicago because he was actually the 501 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,400 cheerleader for his wife who was running the marathon. 502 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,200 So it was good to see that his rehabilitation was going well 503 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,440 and that he was in good spirits. Yeah. 504 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,120 I mean, it sounds like he's taking it in good spirits, which 505 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:53,680 is a good yes. Hopefully I'll be back in racing 506 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,200 soon. Absolutely. 507 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,680 So we only have two more bad news, right? 508 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:01,000 So one of them is the Kish Island race director arrests. 509 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,760 So this is something that just recently happened in in 510 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:08,160 December. So the Kish Island is a marathon 511 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,280 that happens in Iran where hundreds of women ran without 512 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,240 the mandatory covering of their heads. 513 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:20,160 And so in the aftermath of that, looking at this as a civil 514 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:23,160 disobedience, Iranian authorities arrested the race 515 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,520 directors and key officials from the private timing company, 516 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,760 charging them with a violation of public decency. 517 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,480 The incident drew an international condemnation and 518 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,200 highlights the dangerous intersections of sports and 519 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,640 political protests. So that's that. 520 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,240 If you want to read more about that, we have an article on that 521 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,280 on our websites, which I link in the show notes because that one 522 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,480 was quite interesting. And now last but not least, I 523 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,320 don't know how many of you listeners have heard about the 524 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:55,880 Grand Slam track race, which was something that was set out to be 525 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,480 a great track series organized by Michael Johnson, who ended up 526 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,760 filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reporting debt between 10 and 527 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,520 $50 million. The collapse happened when his 528 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:16,280 sponsors did not pay, and so he knew about that and he still 529 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,640 continued hosting the race for a significant part of the year, 530 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:25,240 but leaving athletes with unpaid prize money and fees and venue 531 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,440 rental fees that were outstanding. 532 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,160 So that was kind of crazy. Yeah, I've heard that happened 533 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,080 in other sports too. I know in volleyball, beach 534 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,800 volleyball, they did that a while back as they just have 535 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,560 prize money, but then the athletes never got their money. 536 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:39,640 Which is absolutely horrible, right? 537 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,800 Because yeah, it's hard. I think as a promoter you need 538 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:47,160 to stop when like I know the hope probably I don't know how 539 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,600 bad his was, but the hope of is, oh, we can find other sponsors 540 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,920 or we can fill the gaps. But but a lot of times it 541 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,200 doesn't happen. And you got to like, you got to 542 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,680 be upfront and and transparent with people. 543 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,280 And unfortunately, most aren't. What is it like? 544 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,160 The Fry Festival was a perfect example. 545 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,640 Oh yeah, with Ja Rule. Well, there's a lot of people 546 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,000 promoting it and it's supposed to be this music festival in the 547 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,840 Bahamas, but then I think nothing came through really. 548 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,680 And so then none of the artists were going to be there. 549 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,840 And then a lot of the less of the funding was actually there. 550 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,600 And so the guy ended up in jail because of a scam. 551 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,120 Yeah, and everyone had ever All the guests had flown in and 552 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:28,440 ended up having to try to sleep in really crappy tents when they 553 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,080 had paid thousands of dollars. Bologna sandwiches or something 554 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:32,840 ridiculous. You guys have not heard about 555 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,040 that. I think it might be still on 556 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:36,360 Netflix, but it's called Fry Festival. 557 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,200 So that is that. And I'm done, right? 558 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,440 I am done with bad news. Let's move on to something more 559 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,040 positive. So end with some good news. 560 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,480 End with some good news. OK, so let's talk about some 561 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,400 triumphs and some milestones. Go first one. 562 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,200 Obviously Sydney became the 7th world major marathon, becoming 563 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,360 the first major in the southern hemisphere, and this expansion 564 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,960 opened up new opportunities for six stars finishers to hunt for 565 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,800 the 7th star. Obviously there's a part of bad 566 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,520 news on there because people that set out to have the six 567 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,320 stars are now like some of them are now like, oh, now there's 568 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,560 another race. I don't want to do it, but the 569 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,600 fact that Sydney joined the major marathons does not change 570 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,520 the fact that you only have to collect the first six stars if 571 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,320 that's what you want to do. And then there will be 9th star. 572 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,800 So that that is that. But you know, Sydney becoming 573 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,000 the 7th world major marathon was absolutely epic. 574 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,760 It was one of the reasons that I, for the first time traveled 575 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,880 to Australia and absolutely fell in love with the place and the 576 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:39,320 race, which is really, really cool. 577 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,160 They had fireworks the night before. 578 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,440 It was just really, really cool with the very iconic finish at 579 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,480 the Opera House, a tearjerker, super, super cool. 580 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:52,040 So that was one of a more of a triumph and a milestone. 581 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,920 The other thing that is very cool is running for causes, 582 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,520 right there is the $100 million milestone, which is the combined 583 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,400 fundraising efforts of the London and New York City 584 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,040 Marathons, which is absolutely record-breaking, right, $100 585 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,840 million race for charity in one single year. 586 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,720 And a significant portion of these funds was directed towards 587 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,640 global mental health initiatives, local youth running 588 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:21,040 programs, marking the most successful philanthropic year in 589 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,920 distance running history. And that is according to BBC 590 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,560 Sport. So that is a really, really huge 591 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,120 triumph, right, and a milestone. And while we're talking about 592 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,640 records, the ballot records were also significant. 593 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,880 London said new world record for any marathon with 840,000 594 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:43,600 applications for the 2025 race, which nearly doubled the demand 595 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,360 for the you know for the race for just two years prior. 596 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,360 The Boston Athletic Association, the BAA, announced that they had 597 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,880 a new cut off time for the 2025 races and runners had to run at 598 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,280 least 6 minutes and 51 seconds faster than their qualifying 599 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,600 standard, which resulted into unfortunately 11,000 qualified 600 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,320 runners being turned away. But the positive spin of this is 601 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:08,640 because obviously I'm trying to say positive things right now, 602 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,800 is that so many people are running. 603 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,120 But just beautiful, you have that many people running that 604 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:15,720 the standard had to be lowered again. 605 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,280 Yeah, yeah. And I guess if the there's the 606 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,840 demand and a lot of times they'll meet it. 607 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,640 So they'll be either other races, or races will get bigger, 608 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:27,880 or they'll be another major marathoner. 609 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,320 And it's all keep Chogi's fault because he's travelling the 610 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,200 world and telling everyone. That they want to contributes to 611 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:34,320 it, right? Exactly. 612 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,280 And then last but not least, while we're talking about these 613 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,440 records, applications for the Tokyo Marathon this year 614 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:45,000 exceeded 320,000 runners. So basically, only one out of 10 615 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,800 people were able to secure a spot through the Tokyo Lottery. 616 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,960 Becoming quite competitive. Yes, that's right. 617 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,800 And, and that's why it's so important that we, if we want to 618 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,400 run fast marathons, you know, we have to look around and find 619 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:01,280 some other fast races out there that are not crowded and that 620 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,880 you can actually enjoy. And you know, so that way you 621 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,680 don't get frustrated because you don't get into the majors if 622 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,880 that's, you know, what happens. So last but not least, looking 623 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,920 ahead to 2026. All right, so looking ahead for 624 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,600 2026, we do not have any names that we are allowed to reveal 625 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,800 yet when it comes to which runners are running, are running 626 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,639 which race, except for what's known in public. 627 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,480 So instead of doing that, we wanted to focus on you guys and 628 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:31,760 provide you guys with some actionable high impact habits 629 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:35,360 that will keep you on the road and keep you smiling and keep 630 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,040 you getting those faster times. So the first tip out of five 631 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:43,199 that we have for you guys is to master the AD Twenty rule. 632 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,880 Yeah, I think there's a lot of like good tips that you've come 633 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,960 up with over the years that show that you don't necessarily have 634 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,159 to make your runs miserable in order to get faster. 635 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:59,000 And one of those is running easy instead of running hard. 636 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:03,960 And I know in other spots you've shown the data that proves that 637 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,760 just running more miles increases your your running 638 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,640 speed significantly. So you don't necessarily have to 639 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,560 be pushing yourself to the limit all the time, but just getting 640 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,920 out and doing it is actually benefiting you. 641 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,240 Exactly. So how to figure out if you're 642 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:20,800 running easy enough? If you can't speak in full 643 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,160 sentences, slow down and and that's that one. 644 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,480 Now the next tip that we have is the prehab, which is, you know, 645 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,560 I like saying that sentence prehab to avoid rehab. 646 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,200 And that is basically to say don't wait for an injury. 647 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:38,200 Instead, commit to 10 minutes of strength or mobility twice a 648 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:39,480 week. Everyone does it. 649 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:44,000 Now there's been so much data that shows that squats, lounges, 650 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,800 playing, exclude bridges are good for you and the person that 651 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,320 we just talked about earlier, Jeannie Rice, the seven-year old 652 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:55,200 marathoner proved it this year that a strong body is a fast 653 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,040 body at any age. So tip #3. 654 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,640 So with the caveat before of running, getting out there makes 655 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,120 you faster in itself. You should still, you should 656 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:09,280 still plan your run so that you keep track of it and you can see 657 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,000 your improvements. I think getting in a run also is 658 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,920 not good. But if you record stuff, you can 659 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,560 see what you're doing and see how to mix things up and change 660 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,520 it. So that's step number. 661 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,080 So that's tip number. Three. 662 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:25,000 All right, so tip #4 make friends in the running 663 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,240 community, because when you have friends, what do they say? 664 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,440 Show me who your friends are and I'll show you who you are or 665 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:33,680 isn't. Isn't that a saying in English? 666 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:35,160 I. Don't know, maybe. 667 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,160 I think it is, so basically surround yourself with those 668 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:40,760 that you want to be like. Surround yourself with runners, 669 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,080 good friends that are runners and then you'll be running more 670 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:48,640 and with that you'll be able to much easier achieve your goals. 671 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:54,760 And now Ryan tip #5. To conclude your 2026 tips is. 672 00:36:54,760 --> 00:37:00,120 Find your why beyond the watch. You have to realize that PBS 673 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,760 personal records personal bests are great, but joy is more 674 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:06,440 sustainable. Eventually we're all going to 675 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:10,520 age and we're all going to get slower and you have to find a 676 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:14,360 meaning or a reason to run beyond just pace. 677 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,840 And I think it's kind of like in the dating world, right? 678 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,360 They say that you meet someone when you're least expecting it. 679 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:25,600 So just go in with an open mind and go in with a joy for 680 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,080 running. And that joy alone will probably 681 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,200 also help you get faster. And hey, if it doesn't, you'll 682 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,120 still find joy in running. I think I'm really good at 683 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,160 enjoying running, maybe a little bit too much. 684 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:41,240 I've turned this 8020 rule into like a 98 two rule because I 685 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,320 really, really enjoy just running. 686 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,600 But at the same time, whatever keeps me happy, right? 687 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:47,920 Agreed. I mean, I think that's 688 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:50,720 definitely one purpose for running that you should not 689 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:55,160 forget or not leave behind in your quest for whatever it is. 690 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,640 Absolutely, because if you don't think about it that way, it can 691 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,520 really also end up killing your joy and you'll get frustrated 692 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:03,840 with yourself and life is too short for that, right? 693 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,560 Agreed. All right, So thank you 694 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,680 everybody for tuning in. Again, if you want to look 695 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,760 further into any of these articles that we mentioned, head 696 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,400 on over to our website. Happy New Year's, everybody. 697 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,600 Stay safe. On New Year's Eve, don't forget 698 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:20,040 to get up early in the morning of the 1st and see the first 699 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:21,760 sunrise. We do that with our running 700 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,640 group and absolutely love it and with that. 701 00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:30,440 A good week of running. Thanks for tuning in. 702 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:35,440 For more information, go to www.marathonrunningpodcast.com 703 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:37,760 or check us out on all channels.