Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, so I've run four marathons and I didn't even know anything about the actual history of the marathons until I researched this whole episode. Boston Marathon. It's right around the corner. I mean, literally, it's coming right up. And over 30,000 people are training right now for it, and none of them know. The story behind the marathon is totally made up, and we're going to fix that today. Welcome back to Sort of Sophisticated. I'm Pete here with Amanda, as always. Hi, Amanda.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi. Hello.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Hello. Hi.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: So we're talking about running today because. Just kill me now.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: We aren't quite just talking about running. We're talking about marathons, specifically, like, long race. Did you watch the LA marathon? It just happened like a little while ago.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: I mean, I didn't really, but I watched the highlights.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: The highlights were crazy.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, it was that one guy.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Yes. What's his name? His name? His name. He's an American guy. American guy. Won for the first time. Nathan somebody. Nathan Martin. He was a teacher. Came out of nowhere.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: It's crazy.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: And, like, past the Kenyan dude. Kenyon. Yeah. However you say that, I don't even know Michael. Michael Kamau. That's crazy. Guy who, like, wins marathons all the time. And beat him by. What do they call it? Photo finish. Photo finish in a running race. Photo finishes should be in a car race, not in a running race.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: It's like he kind of, like, put his little turbos on, afterburners, all of all, like, oh, there you go. There you go.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: You know what? He probably had a gastrointestinal issue and was just like, sort of letting it out. And as a result, that was turbo. He went turbo.
It was insane. The women's was no less insane. She wasn't American, she was another Kenyan. She was 45 years old. And you'd be like, okay, well, I mean, I get it. 45 year olds could run, but I'm
[00:01:28] Speaker B: almost 40 and I can't run.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Trace babies, three kids. Yeah.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: And this was only the second marathon she ever ran.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Dang.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: And she smoked it. Her name was Prisca Sharono. 45 years old.
[00:01:40] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Just smoked it in, like, I don't know what it was, like 220 or something.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: It's amazing.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: It is absolutely amazing. I love marathons. And here we are.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: I mean, I'm officially embarrassed because one, I can't run to save my life. Like, if we were running away from a bear. You said we'd be faster than one person.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: Nobody's Got to worry. If I'm in that group, it'll be me.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Good to know. So I just need to, like, hitch myself to your wagon.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Okay.
50 yards in front of me. It's fine. Also, speaking of this lovely woman who won at 45 years old.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Prisca.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: Prisca.
I had read somewhere that, like, 50% of people, this was their first time ever, like, running a marathon. Is that true?
[00:02:14] Speaker A: That is totally true. Yes, it is.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: But don't you have to, like, score up, or is LA marathon one of those marathons that you have to just go in?
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Oh, there's, like, 50,000 people that go into Boston. The one that's coming up. That one.
Absolutely. No. This is insane. It's incredible what's going on right now, and I don't even know why it's happening. But that's why I decided to do this whole episode in the first place. Cause I was like, dude, there's so many Gen Z ers out there. Like, even when I run my half marathons right now, they're all out there, and they're all, like, going crazy for it. And so I'm like, boston's coming up. I want to know what's going on. Nobody knows the history of this marathon. So, of course, yes, here we are. And so, official hooky title. The race that's. That started with a dead guy and a lie.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Stop it right now. Someone died.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: So I'm in. Let's go.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: I mean, theoretically.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Does his ghost haunt marathons?
[00:02:56] Speaker A: It does. This is why I do so poorly.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: Are you lying?
[00:02:59] Speaker A: This is why I do so poorly on marathons. Are you lying? It only haunts me.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Oh, well, fair.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: That's the problem.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Okay, fine.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: It doesn't haunt Winter. You know who it haunted? Michael Kamau.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, okay, fair. Okay, fair. Okay. Okay. Go ahead and do word of the week. Just real fast, though, because I want to know about the ghost.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: There's no ghost. Okay. The word of the week is borborygmus.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Borborygmus.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Borborygmus, correct.
Got nothing.
No borborigmus.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: Well, like, igmus. Hippopotamus.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Not even worms.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Pygmus.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Pygmus. I don't even know what that is, but I like that. That would be a good Scrabble word because you have the pig.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: But even borborgmus would be. That'd be like.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: How many bees do you get in Scrabble? I don't know.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: A lot of bees. It's a noun, and it's the rumbling or gurgling sounds that your stomach makes when you're hungry. Oh, gassy. I guess maybe like me right now, I'm being borborgmus. It comes from the Greek. Whoa, Greek. Greek. We usually do Latin. This doesn't even come from Latin. This comes from Greek.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: That is weird.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Yes. Bor. Borzein. Borborezine. Literally meaning to have a rumbling of the bowels.
Wow. Apparently it happened enough to Greek people that like, they made a word for it.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: But you're borboregabus today.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: I am. I'm very borbarismus, thank you. Yeah. I'll tell you, this is going to be easy to use because when you run, there's a lot everything jiggles.
[00:04:14] Speaker B: I'm sure.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Oh, man, there's a lot happening there.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Okay, can we start the episode already? That'd be great. Thanks.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, we can.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Are we going to start with history? I.
I don't know. You said that we don't know what a marathon is and it's all about some dead guy and a lie.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: I feel like we have to. Tell me how marathon started.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: We're going to do that, but. Okay, stop. Pause. If you guys like what you're listening to, just don't forget to hit subscribe, leave a review. That all kind of stuff or send to your like, friends, please. Thank you very much. Okay, back to basics.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Let's go. Yes. History.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Check this out. You ready for. 490 BC, this whole thing starts. The Persian Empire under King Darius the first decides it's time to invade Greece.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Okay?
[00:04:52] Speaker A: Because like back then they're bored and don't know what to do. So they're like, yeah, let's go invade something. We want more properties. We need more properties. Right?
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: So apparently they did some recon work in advance and found out they had 25,000 soldiers and the Athenians only had like 10,000 soldiers or something like that. So, like a lot less. So King Darius is like, duh, Purse is going to win. But by some miracle, thanks to a general named Miltiades from Athens, they pull off a massive upset and actually beat the Persians on the plains of Marathon.
That's where it happened.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Is that where we get the word marathon?
Here we go.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Okay, so now onto the story.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: Ready?
[00:05:26] Speaker A: This guy named Pheidippides, right? You probably heard of. Have you heard of.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: No, but that's a great name.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: This is where we go sideways a little bit because I'm not like level seven lying or anything, but nobody really knows the story, so that's why the whole thing is like a lie because we lost it to history. We don't really know. So the popular version of the story, anyway, is after that battle where Athens won, Philippides runs from that battlefield on the plains of Marathon all the way back to Athens, which was 25 miles, not 26.2. Thank you. And announces in Greek, which means, we have won. We have won.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: And then story goes, he immediately drops down.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: Stop it.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Dead.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Really?
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Yes. That's the story. From exhaustion. From running 25 miles. Right. But here's.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: So the whole point, then, of a marathon is to die well, to see if you don't die well, yeah, absolutely.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Wow. Right? It's like a stress. It's like you're doing the. What is it? The stress test. Right.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: When you're on the trail.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: That's it.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: But here's the deal, because it's totally made up.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Well, you told me this whole story. Now you're telling me it's made up.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: Yes, that's what I said. It started with a dead guy and a lie. So hang tight. So.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: I feel so emotionally triggered. Keigo, continue.
[00:06:28] Speaker A: Okay, so here's the thing. The most reliable ancient historian we have at the time was his name was Herodotus, and he was only born, like, five years after this marathon would happen.
[00:06:38] Speaker B: I do feel like I need, like, a chart.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: A chart?
[00:06:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Of all these people.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: It's not that much. There's a historian sitting over here in the corner, and there's Pheidippities over here.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: Okay, okay, fair.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: Okay. That sort of all. But my point is, he never even wrote about it. And this guy was a nerd on history and everything. And so if he didn't write about it, it probably didn't really happen.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: So you're saying it's a folklore.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: Thank you. Because the first time it actually comes up. Yes. A guy named Lucian, 600 years later, it's the first time we ever see the writings of Pheidippides and the story. And Lucian this writer was known for. He was like.
What do you call it when they're, like, a humorist? Like a satirist.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Okay, okay.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: So there's not. There's not a lot here.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: A tall tale of sorts.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: Yes, it absolutely is a tall tale, but not completely, because Phidipides was totally real. Because our buddy Herodotus does actually write about Phidipides, but about one of his runs that he made to Sparta from Athens, which was 150 miles, because at the time, they were trying to get army and troops to help the Athenians. So they sent Pheidippides 150 miles one way in 36 hours. He gets there. Yes. Right. Then runs all the way back. Right. And explains what's going on. So my point is, is that's the story. 150 miles each way to Sparta. This is how.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: That's like a bigger deal.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Right. So that's why people are thinking it's just made up. Because he was this long distance courier guy and, like, some stories are mixed. Does that make sense?
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. But why then is he not more well known for running 300 miles rather than the 26 miles?
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so fast forward. You had Lucien, who I talked about, who finally wrote it down. But then you got to get all the way to like the 1800s. Like 2000 years goes by, okay? And there's some dude named Robert Browning. He was a British poet, and he writes a poem called Pheidippides, and that is about the battle of Marathon. It's a real super famous poem. If you haven't read it, fine, whatever. But that blew up. That got totally famous. And so the concept of the marathon and that 25 miles and that whole thing was. Was because of some English poet that decided to do something about it, not because of anything super historical.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Does that make sense?
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, got it.
So then another 15 years goes by. Roughly now we're in like, now we're getting close to like 1900. Do you remember our episode on the Olympics? We had the guy, Pierre Coubertin.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Who wanted to, like, do the modern games again. Okay. So apparently some guy. I know I'm throwing out a lot of names here, some guy named Michael Brielle, okay. Read Robert Browning's poem, okay. And was super into it and loved the whole idea. So he approached Pierre Coubertin and said, hey, what if we make this marathon the center focal point of the whole modern Olympics that you're trying to start?
And fun fact, they decided to do that. Pierre's like, oh, my God, that's such a great idea. So that's sort of how the whole thing began in 1896, officially, first marathon, roughly 25 miles.
And super fun fact, I was just there and I saw where they ran. Yes. I saw the stadium. It's still there. Like, I was so cool. Yeah, Yeah, I loved it.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Anyway, so just to get this all
[00:09:36] Speaker A: straight, straighten it out for me.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: So we basically have this thing called a marathon that all started from this kind of folklore, myth thing.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Totally.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: That then got Pulled into our modern day, through the modern Olympics, by awesome
[00:09:47] Speaker A: writers who know how to, like, make stories beautiful and fun. Thank you, storytellers.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: It's true.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Yes. And then into the modern Olympics.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: And here we are.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: And here we are. Yes.
[00:09:56] Speaker B: Races that happen, I feel like weekly.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Yes, Basically we do. Yes.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: But wait, I have a question, because you keep saying 25 miles isn't like a marathon. 26.2.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: It is. 26.2 precisely. Yes. Right. So what is that all about? People are just making shit up everywhere. So apparently all the way back, it was close to 25 miles. Nobody gave two shits because the idea was just anybody who is stupid enough to run that far, good on you. So it didn't. So when they started it, it was 25 miles. It was 25.3 miles, it was 24.8 miles. It didn't matter. Nobody gave a shit. It was just, here's a really far long distance race. Who wants to sign up? And we're going to laugh at you when you can't cross the finish line. That was sort of the concept behind the whole thing, right?
[00:10:33] Speaker B: Fair. Yes.
[00:10:34] Speaker A: So it wasn't really until 1908. So I don't know how many. So 1896 Olympics. 1908. I don't know, 12 years. Okay. London, that's when shit gets real. So, I mean, it has to, because it's Great Britain and, you know, they have the Queen and everybody has to be in charge of everything. So the race for that Olympics was planned at Windsor Castle.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: That's where it was going to start. Which was like.
Is it the summer house? I think it's the summer house of the. Of the English market. Yeah, I think that is right. Because then they say in Buckingham palace and then.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: So. So it was at Windsor Castle. And then she wanted it to end right at the finish line, right at her royal box in White City Stadium is what it was called.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Okay, okay.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: But the whole idea is, after they, like, mapped that whole thing out, it was 26 miles. So they're like, okay, cool, close enough. 25, 26. Close enough. But she was so specific. She wanted to start on the exact lawn, like, overlooking the nursery of Windsor Castle, so all of her grandbabies and everybody could watch the start of the race. And then she wanted to make sure it ended exactly at her box at the end of the race. And so that added 385 yards, which was the 26.2 miles exactly. So which you would argue then we're all set. Right. But we're not. So then another 12 years goes by and they do the same shit. They go back to 25, 24.8, 27. Nobody gave two shots.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: So it literally took all the way until 1921.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Before this thing called the International Amateur athletic federation, the IAAF decided that's it, we're making it 26.2 miles. The Queen was smart. That's what we're doing.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: So I mean, was it because it was like the farthest that they've ran?
Like why that one?
[00:12:09] Speaker A: So I think when I did my research, I think it came down to Great Britain. Like London at the time was like they were so forward thinking, right? You think of Paris, you think of London, you think of New York, right? So London back in 1908 was massive. Massive. So people were like, oh well if that's what London picked and that's what the Queen picked because you know, they were colonizing everybody at the time. So I think that was one of the main drivers. And also it had a crazy ass finish.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: That 1908 one, it wasn't like two people were racing, but this guy, Italian guy, Durando Petrie.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Okay, right.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Comes running in the stadium. He's 25 miles and change into this thing and then he's going to loop around the stadium maybe a few times and then he's going to stop at the Queen's box. Woohoo. Yay. Right, what happens? He loses his shit. He falls down, his legs stop working. He can't do anything. He literally gets up, starts running the wrong way, starts running backwards. Everybody's yelling at him, they're like, no, no, no, turn around. Like, have you seen this before? This happens a lot. Like this happens a lot.
[00:12:59] Speaker B: Well, I'm sure delirium.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: Yes, delirium sets in. So I guess one of the race officials went over, like helped him up, got him up, situated him, got him sent in the right direction. He finished the race. They disqualified him because a race official helped him.
So they had to give. So if you go back and look in the history books, in 1908 they gave the gold medal to an American.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Wow. Johnny Hayes was the last time an American won.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Let's go. Probably until, until yellow marathon like five minutes ago. What's up? Yeah. No, but she loved Dorondo so she gave him like a whole like the next day she gave like a trophy. Dah, dah.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: Because I mean he was a total recognize.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: He was a total baddie. Like he was awesome. Right? For sure. So anyway, I think those are the reasons why it's 26.2. There's not some exact magic to it. But now it's obviously officially set and it's a pain in the ass. And there you go.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Is that kind of what launched us into, like, the marathon and what made it big?
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Oh, totally, yes. From then on, it was, like, bonkers, right? Everybody starts going crazy, and that's where we are.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Well, now, because it's, like, exciting. Some guy, like, well, they also died in front of you.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: They make it fun, too. Like, I don't know, like, if you haven't run a marathon.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: I've never ran a marathon. They do make it fun, but, like, I've never ran.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: Like, back in the day, I'm sure it was quiet and it was terrible and you were just, like, out there for, like, hours on your own and nobody was saying. Now there's, dude, every. Everywhere you turn, there's music and dancers and people playing and da, da, da. It is an absolute community.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: So what then made Boston the pinnacle in America?
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Okay, that's actually a good point. So I didn't know, but apparently Boston was the first marathon in the United States. So start. Yeah. So it goes all the way back to 1897, when Boston started. And they started because of the first modern Olympics in Athens. So 1896, Pierre Gouberton, the whole thing.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: Well, they had to be competitive, so you gotta have your own.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: And Boston started one year later in 1897. I didn't know that. I was like, holy shit burger. So, like, we're literally on our 130th. 130th, yeah. Yeah. Running of the Boston Marathon. So that's why Boston took over. I mean, America, of course, was like, dude, if Greece can do this shit, then we can do it. Right? But. And then Boston has all our immigrants, right? It's awesome, because back in the 1900s, almost all the population's over there anyway. And that's the one, Amanda, that you were saying you have to qualify for. Right, Right. Yeah. So, like, I looked up what, like, to qualify, because I've always wanted to run Boston, I looked up what I need to qualify. I'm not going to qualify until I'm 112 years old. Because qualifying times are based on your age.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Okay.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: So my qualifying time right now as a 53 year old man, do you
[00:15:09] Speaker B: want to know what guess an average mile is? What, like 10 minutes maybe?
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Well, if you're fat like me, yes. Well, that's why I'm not going to qualify.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: So that would be 200. I could hit 10.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: That would be 260 minutes. That would be. That would be four hours and 20 minutes.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: 10 minute mile. Yeah, it's gotta be less.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: So let's take like an hour off. Three hours.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Yeah. 320. You're absolutely right. I cannot run a 320. That means I have to run 7 minute and 30 second miles.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Oh, wow. For 20.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: For 26 miles.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Now point two.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: I don't even think I could run a 7 minute 30 second mile. One mile. That's not even one. And I'm supposed to run 26 of those. Right. So when you get a little older, qualify. Let's just.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And if I looked up 60 years old because I was like, maybe I'll do. When I'm 60 years old. You still need to do a three hour and 45 minute. My record running a marathon. My record was four hours in one minute. I've run four of them. I can't even break four hours. It's insane. I have no chance. Whatever. You want to know like what the time limit is for men 18 to 34, like in my son's age group. It's. It's insane. It's under three hours. It's two hours and 55 minutes.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Holy shit.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: That's a 640 mile.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: 26 of them.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it's, it's. I mean, I know, I know like the Kenyan guy and the American guy who just won. Like, I know that they run that, but like regular people, you can't run that. You have to be like really, really good. For sure. I think there's like 33,000 people running in it. And then another fun fact about Boston specifically. Do you know that they didn't even let women run races until 1972?
That's a year I was born.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: Really?
[00:16:31] Speaker A: Women couldn't even be in the marathon. It was a man's sport. It's bullshit. Till 1972.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: That's shocking.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: 50 years ago. What the hell?
[00:16:39] Speaker B: That's shocking.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: Dude, don't get me started. Okay, but it's kind of a cool story on how the whole thing started. I guess it was Susan B. Anthony kind of. Right. But that wasn't her name. Her name was Catherine Switzer. Yes. You can look her up on the Internet. They got these videos. They got pictures. It's like still pictures of it. Yeah. She was 20 years old at the time. She was pissed off that she wasn't allowed to run. So she was like, yes, I'm gonna do this.
Just entered the race as K.V. switzer. So nobody would, like, know. Her name was Katherine. Right, right, right, right. So she gets her bib, shows up, race morning, starts running. Everything's going fine for, like, the first two miles she's in it. And then I guess a race director caught her and drove up right next to her and then got out of the car. And she was running with her boyfriend, and he started trying to rip. You could see they have pictures of this. They have a photographer who took pictures of this back in 1967, ripping her bib off of her chest. And her. Her boyfriend, thank God, he was like a big muscle man. I mean, literally floors this racer. I mean, like, puts him on the ground.
[00:17:29] Speaker B: Oh, dang.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Yes, Absolutely. Shoved him right on the ground so she could keep racing. And then sort of was her bodyguard the last 24 miles of this race so she could actually finish the race. I didn't believe any of this. I looked it up. I could not believe the pictures that I saw. It's crazy. So that was 1967. They didn't even let her in. It took five more years till 1972 before they were like, okay, that enough's enough. Now we'll let women in. Right. So they didn't even let them in the next year, which I think is totally stupid.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: I mean, that's super crazy that they didn't allow women up until 1972, and then even after one snuck in, they still didn't let women.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: I know.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: For another five years.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: It's crazy.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: I just don't get it. I mean, here we are.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: At least now your girls can run any race they ever want.
[00:18:08] Speaker B: They can. I mean, that's actually thanks to kvc. That is kind of like a fun fact, I think, for everyone to, like, know and appreciate. So that's a good one.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: I would agree.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: But, I mean, we talked about Boston. We kind of talked about how LA is like a qualifying marathon in order to be able to kind of get to Boston. But, like, you hear about marathons all the time.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:27] Speaker B: I mean, I know there's, like, big city ones, but are they all tied together? Is there, like, a network? What's the whole book?
[00:18:32] Speaker A: There's, like, world. I don't know enough about all this stuff to be sophisticated. I know there's some very famous ones, and they're all different for. They're all famous for different reasons. Right. That's sort of all I know. Louisiana. Well, L.A. is iconic because, I mean, just think of all the neighborhoods that you go through, right?
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Beverly Hills.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: Go through friggin Santa Monica. It ends at the pier. You Dodger Stadium, Man's Chinese Theater, like Hollywood Walk of Fame. You go everywhere with like LA Marathon. But the LA marathon is like a slightly downhill. So I don't think, don't quote me. I don't think you can use it as a qualifying race anymore. It's not like Chicago or anywhere else. So LA is more of like the fun marathon. And I have a fun fact about that. So we just talked about women. Yes. 1972, they were allowed to race in marathons. They weren't allowed to race in Olympic Marathons till 1984.
Oh yeah, 1984, they weren't even allowed to race. So they're in marathons. But like no, you can't be in the Olympics. So 1984, first time they did the Olympics. And that was right, right here in la, all the way back in the day. Mayor TOM BRADLEY and here we are, 42 years later, we're doing it again on the same streets. There you go. Inaugural Women's Olympic Marathon. We're going to do it here in la, But LA is just a fun one. So Boston obviously is like the biggest and the best in, in America. Then you have New York, right. New York is like la, but New York is even bigger, even louder because it's, it's more condensed, right. You go through all five boroughs. The New York Marathon, there's nothing like it. L A is too spread out. New York's is just incredible. So the people go nuts for the New York Marathon because of all the history and all the nostalgia. Does that make sense? Yeah. Then you have London, of course, because it all started there in 1908. So that's a big deal. The London Marathon is the single largest sporting event in the world that raises the most, most money for charities.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Which I think is absolutely incredible.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: So a lot of people like London. So la, Boston, London, Chicago, super flat, super fast. If you ever hear about people wanting to pr, Break a record, qualify for something, you could do Chicago.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Okay, that makes sense.
[00:20:20] Speaker A: It's, it's the best. Yes, absolutely. And then you could have, you know, Chicago style pizza afterwards. Like what? Who are we kidding? That's going to be the best. Germany, Berlin. So that's another super famous one. That's number five, same as Chicago, just like super flat, super fast, pr Totally awesome. And then Tokyo is the sixth sort of major, what I'd call major marathon. Super organized, super clean, hardest one to get into by far, because apparently everybody in Japan just wants to run the damn thing. So it's like literally impossible to get into that one right now. So that's. That's sort of the big. That's the major six marathons in the world, right? Yeah.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: It's shocking how like out of the top six, like Hawaii is not on there. The Honolulu one, my friend just did. It should be like insane. The humidity, the hills, all the things.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: The macadamia nuts.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Well, that's like for after, right?
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Okay, whatever.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Maybe you're snacking on your running. I don't know. But it feels like it's this new trend.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: It's totally a new trend.
[00:21:13] Speaker B: But why? I mean, there's. I hear about run clubs. I mean, snail pace down the way, they have like a club that.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: I was just at snail space. I just got my new shoes.
Oh, look at this.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: I mean, they're all dirty, but so fancy.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: But anyways, why. What's like made it the cool kid thing to do, right?
[00:21:29] Speaker A: So I looked some of this up because I had social stuff. I just know that when I probably when I signed up for to do these, like, they're massive. Like I did the Disneyland half marathon.
[00:21:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: And stupid.
[00:21:37] Speaker B: Well, but it's Disney.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: 20 years ago, it was nothing. Okay, so check out these stats. 1976, 25,000 people a year were finishing marathons in 1976. A year.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: That's not a lot, right?
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Because Boston by itself this year is going to be like 33,000 people.
[00:21:50] Speaker B: Right?
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Okay, so last year, 2025, 550,000 people finished marathons.
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Dang.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: Over a half a million. Which still is not a lot of our population. But it has what, from 25,000 to 550,000. That's insane. And New York, New York by itself was 55,000 people.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Now 1/10 of that total. The 550,000 finishing in the United States. Just in the United States.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Just the United States, yeah.
[00:22:13] Speaker B: So are we getting skinnier as Americans?
[00:22:15] Speaker A: I wish.
In the world, over a million people are finishing marathons.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: Dang.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: I now have so much pride for all these people and you who've completed a marathon. Because it's probably something I'll never could do in my life. New respect. I have a theory though.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: What?
[00:22:28] Speaker B: As to why I think people are.
[00:22:30] Speaker A: I can't wait to hear this theory.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: Oh my God, I hate you so much. I think this as a society, we have everything that's continuous, right? Social media, you know, our death scrolls Just life, going, work, going, all the things. But with a marathon, like, you have to train for it. It's not something that you can just go do. Most people can, but most people can't. You have to train for it. You have to put the effort in. You have to, like, work for something.
You do it, you finish. You have now an accomplishment.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Oh, totally.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Right. Versus, you know, we are just.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: Have you ever heard of the runner's high?
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Trent tells me this all the time and I don't believe it.
[00:23:05] Speaker A: No, it's. It's. It's Amanda. Same reason I wake up every morning. I wake up, I make my bed. I don't know if you make your bed. I make my bed. You know why I make my bed? Because it's a micro accomplishment.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: So you brush your teeth, research packs, all this. You're totally onto it. That's exactly right. You feel. You feel like you're getting through something. You feel like you've accomplished something, so you're totally on the right track. And it's not just like old people like me who are like, oh, look at me now. I'm. Look at all these boxes. I'm checking off. Bullshit. So check this out. I looked up the stats of the last New York City marathon. Gen zers made up over 25% of the field. So 50,000 people, 12,500 are Gen Zers already. Then Gen Z's are like my kids. So that's like, what, 25 and younger, right? That's incredible. I think the idea of social media and TikTok and all that, I think
[00:23:49] Speaker B: that gives it momentum.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Absolutely gives it momentum. Then they buy into this whole thing and they're like, holy shit, this is awesome. I feel like I've accomplished something in my life because you imagine what do they like, that's new to me.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: But did this also increase because of the pandemic?
[00:24:02] Speaker A: I didn't find anything on it, but I would say. I would say, probably right.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: People had to get out and. Yeah, what else do we had to do when the pandemic happened? Go run. I don't know.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: So my buddy. I have a buddy, Kyle Landig. Shout out to Kyle. I know him through Vistage. Okay. He started a running club for like, I don't know, I'm too old for it now. He won't let me join.
He's ageist, by the way, but he's awesome. So he started this scoring club. It's massive. I was trying to get my boys to go to it. So it's like from like, I don't know, let's call it like 20 year olds to like 40 year olds. He has over 5,000 followers.
It's called Fast Friends right now. And it's in Orange county and he plans everything. And then they run whatever, 5Ks, 10Ks, whatever they run. And they always pick the week, the time, where to meet, and then afterwards they are sponsored by all these breweries. So they just go hang out at these breweries. And if you look at the pictures on Instagram, this is not like five people showing up. He's got hundreds of people showing up to run.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: I'm going to tell all my running friends so I can be cool.
[00:25:02] Speaker A: Fast Friends.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: Here we go.
[00:25:03] Speaker A: Fast. So it used to be Mike Held Running Club. He rebranded it. It's Fast Friends. He's amazing. Shout out to Kyle.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: That's clever.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:25:09] Speaker B: Good job, Kyle.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: Because running clubs are all over. Like you said, snails pace. Right? Go to.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: If you go. If you go to any one of these marathons and just look, it'll say join a club. Like if you, if you went to check Disneyland half marathon, right? And it just says join a club. Click. You can find 20 different running clubs you can pick from, which is totally bonkers. Amazing. And I think it's a good way for Gen Z to like socialize.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: But I think I'm craving socialization, whether it be marathons. I mean, this is mahjong clubs now, which we'll get into.
[00:25:35] Speaker A: I mean, I think this is the reason where, like, this is how social media works. Good. You know how we always shit on social. This is one reason where it's like, I see it, I want to do it and I go out and I do something with people. And so I would argue this is a good part of social media. For sure.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: I would concur.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: Here we are.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: I love it. Doing hard shit together. And also, Amanda, it's one of the only places where like professionals and amateurs could be at the race at the same time. Right. So like, if you think of Gen Zers and out there and they're like looking for all their influencers, so the people in the front of the race are the superstars. They're like LeBron James in the NBA or like Tiger woods or whatever, you know what I mean? And they're literally in the same race as you are. So I know you don't get to see them, you don't get to meet them or anything like that, but just saying that you as an amateur could go be in the Same race as them is kind of a big, cool thing anyway, right? I mean, I could.
If I would have signed up for la, I would have been hanging out with my man Nathan, who just won the damn marathon, right?
[00:26:27] Speaker B: I mean, running at the time, he would have smoked you long ago.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: So running with you three times.
[00:26:32] Speaker B: But I mean, doing hard things, I think is the.
[00:26:35] Speaker A: Doing hard things. Yeah, I like it. That's what we should have called this, doing hard things.
Excuse me. Did you hear that? No, I'm sorry. That was my. That was my borgamous stomach. I just had to get that in there, right under the wire. What's up?
[00:26:48] Speaker B: Oh, that was funny.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: That was too hard of a word to use.
[00:26:50] Speaker B: You did it. You did it. Check, Check.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: That's why we got to do verbs, because verbs are easy, because we just know how to. Okay, whatever. Sign.
[00:26:55] Speaker B: All right, fun facts. Time.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Fun facts.
[00:26:58] Speaker B: Fun facts.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: Fun facts. All right, Fun facts. Do you know if you're going to run a marathon that you have to lace up your left shoe first before your right shoe?
[00:27:04] Speaker B: You're full of shit.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: I absolutely am.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:06] Speaker A: I just totally.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: More superstition.
[00:27:08] Speaker A: Do you know that 12.2% of every marathoner shits their pants while they're running a race?
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Okay, that's also bullshit. I have no idea. But look up that. I would.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: I would totally believe it, because I was literally thinking, for 26 miles.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: I want to know, because I did not put it in my fun facts. You look it up while I'm doing fun facts.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: Can I. Yeah, go ahead.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: Okay. Okay, number one. Real fun facts, people. Here we go. Number one. Remember how he supposedly ran from Athens to Sparta before the battle? Like, 150 miles, like I said, in 36 hours. Like, all the way. At the beginning, he was a total badass career guy. Okay. There's actually an ultra marathon race named after him. Well, not after him, but it's called the Sparthalon, and they run it every year in Greece. And it follows his same route of the full 153 miles, not the 26.2. So if you want to run the real Pheidippides race, you got to go to Athens and run this 153 miles. I mean, Amanda, over mountains, through the nights. You don't get to take a break. You got to talk about pee and poo. You got a pee and poo right there, dude. Started in 1983 with only five people that did it, and today they cap it. Now it's 400 people every year.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: Dang.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Yes. Literally running in Fidipity's footsteps, which I think is. That is, you know how history brings shit together for me. Well, but it is one of those moments. Did you find it yet or no?
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Yeah, 12%. I said not, not. Not of, like, not every marathon, but just 12% of long distance runners shit their pants.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, my God. At some point, I gotta knock on wood. I've never shit my pants.
[00:28:30] Speaker B: Well, here we are.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: I had that one episode that was really close, but I got home.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: There's always a time and place.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Here we go. Okay. Number two.
I said number two. Get it? We were on. Okay, you just missed that one. That was funny. The very first winner of the first modern olympics.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: Okay, okay.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: 1896 was a Greek farmer named Spyridon Lewis. And reportedly, during the race, Amanda, he actually stopped in, like, a tavern somewhere and drank a glass of wine as a pick me up, because he thought, like, he needed that to keep going and still won the race by seven minutes. Greeks went crazy because he was a Greek. And the first modern Olympics was obviously in Greece. So he immediately became a national hero. The King of Greece reportedly offered him anything he wanted as a reward. Anything he wanted. Since our boy Louis was a farmer, you know what he asked for? He asked for a horse and a cart just to help him carry water to his village. That was it. Not money, not land. The King of Greece was going to give him whatever he wanted to, and
[00:29:26] Speaker B: that's what he picked.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: A horse and buggy.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: That was important to him.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: Okay, here we go. Number three. Okay, so we already talked about K.V. switzer, Kathleen Switzerland. The first woman in 1967. Okay. The first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon when women were allowed to enter in 1972, was a woman named Nina Cusick. She'd been running it illegally for five years, all the way up to 1972, right after Catherine Switzer did it. And then when it became official, she just smoked everybody because she was already running. Right. All right. And finally, the economic impact of the 2025 Boston Marathon. Last year's Boston Marathon was over $500 million to the state of Massachusetts. $500 million they made? Yes. That's not even the biggest one. In 2025, Chicago made 550 millions for the city of Chicago. Yes. It makes sense now why they put these marathons on. I mean, if you're making that much money. Right. That's it.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: Where's all the fraud going, though? There's fraud somewhere.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: There probably is, but there's this cute story about fidipides. That they turned this into like some massive awesome way.
[00:30:25] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:30:26] Speaker A: Like a billion dollar global industry.
All because of our boy who. Who didn't unalive. Who didn't unalive himself. He didn't.
[00:30:34] Speaker B: I'm very excited for all of the people who are going to listen because I know I knew nothing about the history of marathons.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: Did I. Did I get you to want to even get out and like, exercise?
[00:30:43] Speaker B: No, I do want to exercise. Just in general. I just don't want to.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Will you run a 5k with me?
[00:30:47] Speaker B: Three miles, homie, I don't even think I've run a mile since, like, high school.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: Okay, but you walk 10,000 steps a day.
[00:30:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I walk. You want me to run?
[00:30:55] Speaker A: If you walk 10,000 steps a day, that's five miles at least. There's no way you couldn't finish a three month. You have to run, just jog. Literally, just start jogging.
You would smoke it. All right, whatever.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: I mean, I'm not going to say that it's motivated me to go run a marathon. It may motivate me to try to jog a little bit, to get out, to do a little more.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: You don't give yourself enough credit.
[00:31:18] Speaker B: But no, I just don't want to die.
[00:31:19] Speaker A: It won't.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: I might.
That's the moral of the story here. Everybody run too much. You might die.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: It is.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: I'm just kidding.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: I love this. We're the self sabotagers of our own episodes.
[00:31:32] Speaker B: Everybody should try. You know, it's like we have our spectrum. You are the four marathoner. I am the never marathoner. It's fine. There's a whole one more.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: I told myself I would do one more. It's on my.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Oh, five. Because you'd be. I've done five.
[00:31:44] Speaker A: I just want. I always told myself over the age of 50, I have to do one more.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: And so I don't know how I'm gonna sign up. I don't know when, but I'm gonna do it. I know.
[00:31:51] Speaker B: So for anybody who wants to take it up, like me and needs to learn more about marathons, what should we be looking at? What should be watching? What should we read in all of the things? I guess.
[00:32:00] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. But first, quick reminder. If you want the fun facts or you want this episode summary I'm about to go through, delivered to your inbox. Just DM us on Instagram, please. We'll send them out to you right away. Thank you very much. Okay, here we go. First read Born to run by Christopher McDougall. I swear to God, this is my favorite book of all time. No bullshit at all. Like, I know. I read a lot of books. This is top tier. It's about this American ultra marathoner. His name's Micah True, whose nickname in the book is Caballo Blanco White Horse. It's a true story. He basically disappears into the Copper Canyons in Mexico and meets this secretive tribe, like indigenous tribe called the Tarahumara, who are considered the greatest natural distance runners on earth. You can look all this up. All this is true. I'm not making any of this shit up. And he gets so. Micah True gets so obsessed with, like, keeping their running culture alive and, like, why they do it that he starts a 50 mile ultramarathon race specifically in honor of them, to give them a reason to keep running and so on and so forth, because their lifestyle required them to do a lot of this running. That's how they lived back then, right? And then the author, Christopher McDougall, actually goes down there to meet Micah True and to report on everything. So he's like, firsthand, this is not bullshit. Like, the author went down to figure all this stuff out and, like, kind of figure out why humans or how humans were built to do what they do. And why specifically these Tarahumara tribe, like, what. What do they have that we don't have? And so on and so forth. And then it's totally sad. But then like, three years late, like, literally the book came out. It was amazing. And then three years later, Micah True was found dead. Like, he was running on the side of a river in New Mexico from cardiomyopathy. Like, so some shit with his heart and he just crapped out.
[00:33:32] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: Which is totally sad.
[00:33:33] Speaker B: I mean, that's when it's gonna happen.
[00:33:36] Speaker A: But this book, Amanda will like, if you're even considering running and you read this book, you will absolutely get up and run. That's.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: That's how good this is.
[00:33:42] Speaker A: Okay.
Second, watch the documentary Spirit of the Marathon. Incredible. It follows six runners from all walks of life.
I watched this a few years ago in the buildup to Chicago Marathon. So this is like, they pick like an elite athlete, but they also have like a mom of, like, two kids. So you get a vibe of how everyone trains and what it all means to them. And it's on Amazon Prime. Totally, totally easy to watch and absolutely will get you off your ass if you want to get out there and start running America. And then third, look up your local couch to 5K program to find a running Club. Like I said through Roadrunners of America. If you just go to Roadrunners Club of America, you can find basically any club in the world. You can go to a lot of places. I mean you can go to my friends, fast friends. I mean you can, like we said, snails, pace. Doesn't matter. Just find something. Because I would argue.
Amanda, you were talking about being social. I think that running clubs are probably one of the few places that are ultra inclusive still. Like, still. So I mean, I know you want to have a certain time or like you want to meet up with people that are generally similar to you, but you're not being told you can't run. I'm sorry, you can't run with me. Like, right, no one's doing that. Like they're bullshit. They're just encouraging you to get that out there and run. And I don't know, there's many places, like, I'm sorry to say, like, I think even like some churches suck at that now. The whole idea of being inclusive, I think the running community is one of the last that does a really good job.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: All right.
[00:34:57] Speaker A: And then if you don't want to do any of those things, just remember these details to seem sort of sophisticated. Number one, the marathon is named after the town of Marathon in Greece where the Athenians defeated a much larger Persian army in 490 BC. The story of Phidipides who was a real professional runner and ran hundreds and hundreds of miles on behalf of his city, but didn't quite run that dramatic whole run to your death. 25, 26 mile marathon that inspired the race that's, that's a myth. And got written into a poem 1400 years later and accidentally became the blueprint for the Olympic event that started it all. Number two, the marathon has been 26.2 miles since the 1908 London Olympics when the course was adjusted at the request of the royal family so the race could start beneath the nursery window at Windsor Castle and finish in front of the Queen's seat. The distance wasn't standardized until 1921. It was basically an accident that ended up becoming permanent right.
Number three. In 1967, a 20 year old woman named Catherine Switzer registered for the Boston Marathon using just her initials, became the first woman to officially run it with a bib number, was physically attacked mid race, mind you, by the co director of the race and finished anyway, thanks to a boyfriend who beat the shit out of the guy. Women were officially allowed to enter Boston in 1972 and the women's Olympic marathon didn't even start until 1984. What the hell is wrong with us?
[00:36:13] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: That's less than one human lifetime ago. I can't believe that. I know.
And finally, the marathon is more popular right now than it's ever been in its 130 year history. Over 840,000 people applied to run the London Marathon lottery last year. 840,000 people. The new York City Marathon broke the world record for finishers in 2025. 55,000 people. And like you said earlier, nearly half the runners in the 2026 LA Marathon were running for the first time ever. Researchers believe the growth is driven by something very human.
In a world that feels chaotic and fragmented, people are looking for something with a clear beginning, a brutal middle, and an ending that belongs entirely to them. Just as you were saying earlier. Look at that. I pulled out the research fun fact for you. You got it right, like an hour ago.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: Circle. Here we go.
Well, there you have it, dear listeners. We started with a Greek soldier on a battlefield and somehow ended up at how Gen Z is keeping the traditional eyes.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: Amen, Gen Z. Let's go.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Since the inception, the marathon has been a myth, a protest, a royal inconvenience, a political act and a social movement. And it still manages to be, at its core, just one person choosing to keep moving when they really, really want to stop. So we've done our job. Today. You're walking away a little more sophisticated and maybe a little more curious about those people in your life who are training for something you couldn't imagine doing. Like myself. Because now you know they're not just running. They're part of a 2,500-year-old story that started with a man who ran himself to death to say we won. As always, if you like this episode, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with that one friend who keeps posting their long run splits on Instagram because now, finally, they have historical context. So, until next time, stay curious, stay moving, and remember, every finish line in history started with someone who had absolutely no guarantee they were going to make it there.
