Running--State of the Sport

00:55:25

Dan Schlesinger--marathon great and fine artist

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/10/01

As a freshman at Yale in the spring of 1974, Dan Schlesinger broke the school's record in the 6-mile run. That record was previously held by a guy named Frank Shorter. Remember this for your next running trivia game.Schlesinger did much more in his running career, and also on the long, twisting path that eventually led to his current work as a fine artist. In the 1982 NYC Marathon, Schlesinger came out of seemingly nowhere to finish third in 2:11:54. He was beaten only by Alberto Salazar and

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01:16:15

German Silva--Mexican marathon great

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/09/11

In the latest episode of the podcast, "Running: State Of The Sport," George and Amby chat with German Silva, winner of the 1994 and 1995 New York City Marathons.Silva grew up as one of 13 children living in a small Mexican town without electricity. His father thought running was a waste of time. It was better to pick oranges in the local orchard.However, the young Silva fell in love with running, and ran strongly in the steeplechase and 10,000 meters before finding his best distance, the

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01:16:37

Rod Dixon--New Zealand great

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/08/25

Rod Dixon is one of the alltime great runners from New Zealand--a country that has produced far more than its expected share of top runners. This possibly extends from the influence of Arthur Lydiard, the immensely influential New Zealand coach from the early 1960s to the present day.[In this episode, George and Amby also discuss Yomif Kejelcha's half marathon record, Jenny Simpson's health update, and Ethan Strand's 1500-meter win over Cole Hocker and Jacob Ingebrigtsen.]Dixon won an

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01:07:40

Pete Pfitzinger--marathon great, book author

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/08/08

Pete Pfitzinger was a two-time USA Olympic marathoner, in the 1984 and 1988 Games. He won the '84 Olympic Marathon Trials in a stunning sprint-finish victory over Alberto Salazar, and ran from behind to clinch third place in the 1988 Trials. Pfitzinger always knew how to get the job done, especially at the marathon distance--his speciality.Later he converted his experience and knowledge into a best-selling book, Advanced Marathoning, co-written with Scott Douglas. The book recently was updated

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01:09:36

Paul Gompers--elite marathoner and Harvard Business...

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/07/21

Paul Gompers has a long history in the marathon and in the pursuit of excellence. It's hard to imagine anyone more competitive than Gompers. He even owns Alter-G treadmills in two separate residences so he can work out twice a day. Gompers ran his first marathon in 1983 while a Harvard freshman. His 2:15:28 in Huntsville, Ala, still stands as an under-20 world record on a eligible course.Four years later, Gompers improved to 2:11:39 at the 1987 Twin Cities Marathon. The following spring, he

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00:58:18

Bob Bickel--RunSignUp.com

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/07/13

Back in his college days at Bucknell University, Bob Bickel trained 100 miles/week, and pushed his 10,000-meter time down to an impressive 29:07. Then he took his electrical engineering skills into the tech industry, and enjoyed several modest successes. Next he opened a running retail store in Moorestown, NJ, and a few years later decided he could improve upon existing race registrations platforms. He was right. Run Sign Up has become the dominant road race registration platform in the U.S.,

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01:14:17

Paula Radcliffe

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/06/20

This week’s podcast features an interview with Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, one of the best-known names in running for the past 30+ years.Radcliffe first gained international prominence when she won the World Jr. Cross-Country race (on a snowy day in Boston, MA) in 1992. She had a great track career, and then moved up to the marathon, where she enjoyed unparalleled success. Among her biggest wins: three London Marathon titles, and three NYC Marathons.At the 2003 London Marathon, Radcliffe ran a

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01:01:09

Jared Ward

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/05/24

In this week's episode of "Running: State of the Sport," Jared Ward becomes our first two-time guest on the podcast. We can't think of anyone better.Ward placed 6th in the 2016 Rio Olympic Marathon without the super shoes worn by the podium finishers. Neither he nor anyone outside Nike even knew about super shoes at the time.He soon began working with Saucony on that company's line of super shoes, and continued running fast times in major marathons. Ward hit his marathon PR,

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00:48:40

Oz Pearlman--mentalist and marathoner

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/05/12

Oz Pearlman is a well-known mentalist-entertainer and a less-well-known marathon and ultramarathon runner. However, his record on the roads and trails is just about as impressive as his mindreading tricks.Pearlman, 43, has run a 2:23 marathon, a 2:25 at Boston, and finished the Western States 100, the Badwater 135, and the Spartathlon in Greece. Recently, he was the planned entertainer at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington, D.C.--the evening interrupted by gun shots and an apparent

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00:49:39

Boston & London Marathons: Wow!

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/04/28

Amby and George go it alone to review the recent Boston and Lo ndon Marathons. And, wow, is there a lot to review: A sub-2:00 hour world record by Sebastian Sawe at London, a new course record by John Korir at Boston, and a new women-only world record at London for Tigst Assefa.And plenty of hot action beside these three brilliant performances. We get into all the details--the latest Adidas shoes, consistent negative-split running, carb fueling, bicarb use, and an unusual number of strong American

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00:54:39

Martin Dugard, author

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/04/14

Marty Dugard began writing for Runner's World in the late 1980s, gained more notice as the best-selling coauthor of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" series of books--Lincoln, Kennedy, Jesus, etc--and now has returned to running with The Long Run. It's a epic, fast-moving history of running (and especially marathon running) from roughly 1970 to Joan Benoit's victory in the 1984 Olympic Marathon, with a few throwbacks to Pheidippides, Bill Bowerman, and others. You'll meet

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01:02:56

Grant Fisher

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/04/03

In this episode of the podcast “Running: State of the Sport,” we interview American superstar Grant Fisher. Fisher is one of the greatest American distance track runners ever.He has run the fastest American times ever in the 3000, 5000, and 10,000 meters, and he won bronze medals in both the 10,000 and 5000 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.Most recently, Fisher completed his first serious road race in the super-competitive New York City Half Marathon. And he finished the tough course in a fast 60:53,

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01:11:13

Jack Fultz, 1976 Boston Marathon champ

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/03/23

Jack Fultz is the only runner to have finished first in the Boston Marathon, and also last. In this new podcast, Fultz talks about both memorable experiences.In April, Fultz celebrates the 50th anniversary of his epic victory in the 1976 "Run For The Hoses"--the hottest race in Boston's 129 year history. He didn't run particularly fast that day, 2:20:19, but who runs fast in 90-degree heat.Two years later, in better conditions, Fultz returned to finish 4th in 2:11:17. For the last

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00:47:02

Barb Galloway: RIP Jeff Galloway

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/03/04

Jeff Galloway, who died recently may have been the world's most influential and beloved running ambassador. In this podcast, we speak primarily with his wife, Barbara, and also with his son, Westin, and his co-coach, Chris Twiggs.Galloway was an Olympian in his competitive days, and also winner of the first Atlanta Marathon (1963) and the first Peachtree Road Race (1970).In those early days, no one could have imagined that running would be a massive participant sport on a global scale. Galloway

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01:01:03

Graham Blanks

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/02/13

In the past four years, few if any American runners have posted results better than Graham Blanks.In his last two fall seasons at Harvard, Blanks won the NCAA Div. 1 Cross-Country Championships. After graduation, he qualified for the Paris Olympics, the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, and the 2026 World XC Championships in Tallahassee.After Tallahassee, Blanks ran two strong indoor races in the New Balance Games in Boston and the Millrose Games in New York City. At Millrose, he hit 8:08.60 in the

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01:11:35

Brett Larner, Japan Running News

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/02/03

Born in Canada and educated mostly in the United States, Brett Larner has lived and run in Japan for the last 30 years. There, he began JapanRunningNews.blogspot.com to help the English speaking world understand more about the whys and hows of Japanese running.There's a lot to learn. After the East African countries, Japan has long led the rest of the globe in marathon success. For a time, Japanese running was mainly confined to a number of smallish, but super-elite annual marathons. However,

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00:58:01

Dakotah Popehn, formerly D Lindwurm

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/01/15

After two wins and a second-place finish at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, Dakotah Popehn, then Lindwurm, burst onto the national scene with her third-place finish in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she finished first among USA runners with a strong 12th place.Since Paris, Popehn has gotten married and improved her marathon PR to 2:24:20. She was hoping for much more, which she discusses in this podcast. In fact, she hopes to eventually break the American

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01:03:13

2025 Year In Review

Running--State of the Sport ·

2026/01/01

Who won? In global marathons 2025, several of the biggest races ended in near photo finishes. Here Benson Kipruto edges out Alexander Mutiso in the NYC Marathon. Kipruto became the first male marathoner to have won Boston, Chicago, and New York in his career. (Ingrid Kristiansen has achieved the Triple for females.)Other male marathon highlights: Sebastian Sawe won his second and third big marathons (London; Berlin) in three marathon starts, all with times in the low 2:02s. His 2:02:16 in Berlin,

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01:05:35

Jeff Galloway

Running--State of the Sport ·

2025/12/08

Early in his career, Jeff Galloway won the first marathon he entered in 1963, won the first Peachtree Classic 10K on July 4, 1970, made the 1972 U.S. Olympic team at 10,000 meters, and ran the Houston Marathon in 2:16+.Later in his life, Galloway made much bigger contributions. For the last 40 years he has focused his attention on teaching beginning and intermediate (and injured) runners how they can use his Run-Walk-Run method to get fit, avoid injuries, and maybe run faster than they had imagined

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01:22:16

Dathan Ritzenhein

Running--State of the Sport ·

2025/11/19

Dathan Ritzenhein has been a headliner in American distance running for more than 25 years now, ever since his sensational high school career in Rockford, Michigan. He finished 8th-1st-1st in three successive Footlocker appearances, including an epic race in 2000 against Alan Webb and Ryan Hall. After high school, Ritzehein starred at the University of Colorado and as a professional runner for Nike. He achieved best times of 12:56 for 5000 meters, and 2:07:47 in the marathon.Since 2000, Ritzehein

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