Why We Marathon

Austin Prario was born with a serious heart condition and only has three chambers in his heart. Doctors told his parents seven weeks before his birth, and right around the Boston Marathon, that he would never be a varsity athlete or be able to run a marathon. 

The doctors however didn't know Austin's determination or that his father Dave was a runner too. So Dave decided to run the marathon the next year to support Boston Children's Hospital and he carried Austin across the finish line in one of the most memorable Boston Marathon photos ever.

Yet, the running wouldn't stop there and Austin was determined to run the marathon himself. But you need to understand how Austin's heart functions to really appreciate his effort. On a good day it operates at 90 percent capacity but usually, his oxygen levels are in the 80s. Austin has a great analogy to a bike during this episode to really explain how much harder his heart needs to work to receive the same amount of oxygen as a regular heart.

Austin started training for the 2017 Boston Marathon to also raise money for the same doctors that saved his life at Boston Children's Hospital. He became the first person with three chambers in their heart to finish the Boston Marathon and would go on to do it once more in 2019 to help inspire all children with congenital heart disease.

Conveniently, Austin's dad was home during the interview and was able to share his parts of their story too.

Simone Hanlen loves to run but also loves to eat. She is an ultra-marathoner, a tennis coach, a fellow Peloton member, and a huge fan of New York’s amazing restaurant scene. You can follow Simone on Instagram @NYCMuncher to see some of the best eats around the city and get a glimpse into her running life too.

Simone has run a marathon in all 50 states and did a shorter version of the famous 3100 race around one city block in Queens, New York. She has great insight into a variety of scenic marathons and courses all over the country from her travels. Simone and I also share the goal of doing one marathon a year the rest of our lives!

We also cover how Simone has run 5 marathons while pregnant and even had to deal with contractions during one of her race.

Simone and I close out the interview by discussing eating issues and how people can approach eating food in a healthy way.

And just in case you were curious, Simone's favorite NYC bagel place is Zucker's with Ess-a-Bagel in a close second and Mama Too's is her go-to pizza place on the Upper West Side. We of course touch upon the Milano Market, my personal favorite sandwich shop and Simone gives a tip for which location to visit during the episode too.

Jeff Galloway is a world-class athlete and world-famous running coach. In part 3, we cover how Jeff has helped over 300,000 runners achieve their goals of running a marathon race and the science behind his legendary Run-Walk-Run method.

As a member of the 1972 Olympic team, Jeff competed against the world’s best athletes in Europe, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. He broke the U.S. 10-mile record (47:49) in 1973 and has a six-mile best of 27:21. Among his victories are the Peachtree Road Race, Honolulu Marathon, and Atlanta Marathon. He has also been a top-place finisher in many prominent U.S. races such as the Boston Marathon.

Jeff is also the Founder of the Jeff Galloway Training Programs. He's coached over 300,000 runners and walkers to-date. Jeff is also the author of North America’s bestselling running books: Galloway’s Book on Running, Galloway Training Programs, The Run-Walk-Run Method, and other inspiring books.

Jeff Galloway is a world-class athlete and world-famous running coach. In part 2, we cover how Jeff qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics and what it was liked to be coached by the legendary Bill Bowerman. We also share a funny story about Steve Prefontaine and what it was like to be in the Olympic village during the terrorist attack against the Israeli team.

As a member of the 1972 Olympic team, Jeff competed against the world’s best athletes in Europe, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. He broke the U.S. 10-mile record (47:49) in 1973 and has a six-mile best of 27:21. Among his victories are the Peachtree Road Race, Honolulu Marathon, and Atlanta Marathon. He has also been a top-place finisher in many prominent U.S. races such as the Boston Marathon.

Jeff is also the Founder of the Jeff Galloway Training Programs. He's coached over 300,000 runners and walkers to-date. Jeff is also the author of North America’s bestselling running books: Galloway’s Book on Running, Galloway Training Programs, The Run-Walk-Run Method, and other inspiring books.

Jeff Galloway is a world-class athlete and world-famous running coach. As a member of the 1972 Olympic team, Jeff competed against the world’s best athletes in Europe, Africa, and the former Soviet Union. He broke the U.S. 10-mile record (47:49) in 1973 and has a six-mile best of 27:21. Among his victories are the Peachtree Road Race, Honolulu Marathon, and Atlanta Marathon. He has also been a top-place finisher in many prominent U.S. races such as the Boston Marathon.

Jeff is also the Founder of the Jeff Galloway Training Programs. He's coached over 200,000 runners and walkers to-date. Jeff is also the author of North America’s bestselling running books: Galloway’s Book on Running, Galloway Training Programs, The Run-Walk-Run Method, and other inspiring books. 

Michael Selman has been running since 1982 and has built a special relationship with his father around running marathons. Michael has run over 30 marathons with his first one taking place in 1983 and the last one occurring last year before the COVID-19 shutdown completing the Ultimate Peach.

Michael can claim to have run at least one marathon in five different decades!

Matt talks about running the New York City marathon as a guy who grew up in the city. It wasn't a matter of if he would run the New York City marathon but a matter of when. We also discuss what inspired him to run the Atlanta marathon. Matt also discusses his transition from running to Crossfit and additional training activities. He dives deep into how marathon running changed his mental approach to both fitness and life in general. 

Paige Tatulli speaks about how her meeting with Gabriele “​Gabe” Grunewald as she sought treatment for her third battle with an incurable cancer inspired Paige to run the Philadelphia Marathon. She describes how she used to run under 3 miles and then decided it was time to take her  running to the next level.

Paige had an extremely creative idea to dedicate each song on her running playlist to a different person and solicited submissions ahead of race day. Throughout the race Paige was able to connect to her friends and family through music.

Gia Alvarez a fourteen-time marathoner started training other runners to prepare for marathons and realized that running is what she “wanted to do!” Running was no loner a past time; it organically became her lifetime career. Gia, like many other women struggled with fertility issues. She found that running marathons got her through major life changes and more importantly struggles. Running helped her through her fertility journey by reminding her not to doubt her strength. 

When you are in the middle of something incredibly hard, we often doubt our abilities. Running helped her believe that her body has the ability to do really difficult things like setting training goals and accomplishing them. 

Gia has run 14 marathons, countless 1⁄2 marathons (she lost countJ), 2x Boston Marathon qualifier (fastest time 3:32), 1:40 fastest 1⁄2 marathon and is currently training for a spring 1⁄2 marathon; and to run the New York City marathon in the fall of 2021.

Alvarez opened her first treadmill studio, Juma Fit in the fall of 2018 in Tenafly, New Jersey (Bergen County). Juma Fit is an interval based, group based treadmill workout/community space studio for walkers, joggers and runners. It is the only treadmill studio geared towards all different types of people and their different workout needs. Each person walks, jogs or runs on state-of-the-art Woodway treadmills. 

Gia is passionate about making Juma a studio that allows each person to be the best version of themselves, regardless of their fitness journey.

Episode 13 is now live featuring Kirsten Godleski's amazing story of running 58 marathons across all 50 states. She's run everything from the New York City Marathon to smaller races like the Lake Mead Marathon in Nevada. Kirsten details what it's like to run smaller races with under 100 people! Kirsten's passion for running has even taken her to a new job at a local running store!

Ray Zaragoza hails from San Gabriel, California and is 44 years old. Ray was a banker for about 10 years, got laid off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to pursue his passion as a full time fitness coach. Ray has done 54 marathons including the Lake Tahoe Triple which comprises of 3 marathons over the course of a single weekend! Ray's running has brought him all over the world including the Area 51 race in Nevada, the famous UFO themed event.

In 1996 Tawni Gomes weighed 295 pounds and was working for a Fortune 500 company climbing the corporate ladder, working her way up to the top. But, she was severely depressed, on antidepressants, and wasn't working out. But, then she was inspired by the Oprah Show. One day she was watching it and they were launching Bob Greene's book, Make the Connection. (Bob Greene is Oprah's trainer). So she bought the book and a treadmill. She was living in a tiny apartment in San Francisco at the time and barely fit. But, she would come home from work and watch Oprah. And at first she would walk on the treadmill during the first commercial of the show and get tired and sit down. Then she'd walk the second commercial, and so on. After a while she could walk during the whole show! Then she started walking outside but got hit by a car. That was December of 1996, and she was in a wheelchair. Tawni spent the next six months in rehab and physical therapy. When she was able to walk again I set the goal of doing a 5K. Tawni signed up for one that was part of the San Francisco Marathon. It finished at Kezar Stadium, where the 49ers used to play. It was a powerful moment. Tawni didn't know how long a marathon was and actually thought she had done the marathon! That's how little she knew about running. So, then Tawni thought that if I did 3 miles with a little training, I should be able to do 26 miles! Too bad you can't walk a marathon, Tawni said to herself And right then, a lady passed by with a flier saying, "Learn how to walk or run a marathon. The flier was for Team in Training. So Tawni, signed up, and in December of 1997 she walked her first marathon in Honolulu! Since then, Tawni has run over 100 marathons!

Jack Fultz won the 1976 Boston Marathon, the hottest on record, with a time of 2:20:19. The temperature was over 100 degrees before the noon start time. The race is known as the "The Run for the Hoses" as spectators all across the Boston suburbs took out their garden hoses to spray down the runners. Jack speaks about his first marathon race in Washington D.C. and how he went from the Navy to become an elite marathon runner.

Fultz qualified for three consecutive United States Olympic Trials marathons in 1972, 1976, and 1980. Because President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, Fultz did not run in the 1980 Olympic Trials. In 1996, Fultz was inducted into the Georgetown University Hall of Fame and on that occasion was invited to the White House to run with then-President Bill Clinton. Also in 1996, Fultz was inducted into the DC Road Runners Hall of Fame.

Jack now helps coach the Dana Farber Institute Boston Marathon team and fundraises for this amazing organization.

Cheri details how she recovered from a stroke at age 50 and started training for her first marathon after this scary life incident. She decided to start in her hometown of Fargo, North Dakota with a childhood friend. Since that first one, Cheri has run over 100 marathons all across the world. Cheri currently runs the Ventura County Jeff Galloway running group and resides in Camarillo, California.

Matthew Growney details how running has helped him handle the grief of losing his mother and why he now runs for the Dana Farber Institute. Matthew provides excellent background on how he fundraises for the Dana Farber Institute and how they run their marathon fundraising program different compared to other organizations.

Matthew brings up how running connected him deeply to memories of his mother and how it's also made him a better father, husband, friend, and professional. It's a deep episode as Matthew provides commentary on how he can better relate to his mother and connect with her on a spiritual level during runs.

Matthew has run 9 marathons, finishing 8, and we explore the story of his DNF on heartbreak hill during the Boston Marathon on Easter Sunday. Yet, Matthew battled back and ran Boston again and continues running to this day!

Janet speaks about how she's been able to run for decades including the original marathon in Athens, Greece along with her memories from the Disney Marathon. Janet details how her running journey all started in a bar with a bucket list promise to run the New York City Marathon with her friend. Janet has run 19 marathons all across the country and we highlight the beauty of smaller races.

Gabriel talks about growing up poor, his father walking out on Gabriel's family at age 12, and how marathon running helped Gabriel redeem his self worth. Gabriel also digs into how marathon running is all mental and how he still struggles with his diet but is constantly working to improve his health. We touch on how karma and being a good person helped Gabriel get into the Boston Marathon.

My favorite line from the podcast is "Your attitude determines your outcome." Gabriel says that he's going to get it done no matter what this takes. He adds that there's no shame in walking which we totally agree with on the podcast.

Gabriel also speaks about how marathon racing has taken him all over the world to the Tokyo Marathon, Kingston Marathon in Jamaica, and many more! And we even cover the toilet situation in Tokyo too!

Corrine Fitzgerald shares her story of going from a high school steeplechase superstar to marathon runner. Corrine explains how she transitioned to become a marathon runner and why she loves coaching runners for a variety of races today in New York City. Coach Fitz also talks about major injuries she's had from running and how it changed the way she approached running and recovery.

I'm your host Alex Elman and I’m proud to announce my new podcast Why We Marathon where I’ll dive into the deep personal reasons people run marathons. Episode 1 is a bit emotional and my own story about how marathon racing helped me cope with my mother’s death, concealed a binge eating disorder from myself and those I love most, go from 280 pounds to 185 pounds, build a tighter community of friends, and change my overall outlook on how to achieve my goals in life.

Phil Irvine dives deep into his family history and how many of his family members lived into their 90s and even early hundreds but how is dad actually passed away in his early 60s due to health and fitness reasons. This inspired Phil to stay in shape and conquer the three marathons he's run to-date in San Diego, Orange County, and most recently Los Angeles in 2020 right before COVID-19 became an official pandemic. We also dig into the podcasts Phil listens to while running and how running has become a way for him to be better informed across a variety of subjects. Phil enjoys The Ringer and Bill Simmons' podcast series and I recommended Broken Record by Rick Rubin and Malcom Gladwell for any music fans.

Liz Corkum also known as Coach Corky dives deep into her 20 plus marathons including running Boston during the bombing and how she persevered to make it back to Boston two years later. 

Kristen Dunleavy has run three marathons with her PR coming from the Philadelphia 2019 race. Kristen is passionate about running for causes such as Running to Protest and is a member of the Goldfinger Track Club. She admires runners like Eddie Gieda Jerry Francois, Gavin Wynn, and Alison Desir.