130th Boston Marathon Recap

Carrie Tollefson: Hey everybody, how you doing? Welcome to the RunDot Podcast. Today we are twinning. I have fresh off his Boston Marathon finish and he's got his medal right there. Brady Hoover. Brady was on the podcast last week talking all about the different majors and how you qualify for them and this time, this week, we are talking about your ninth Boston Marathon. You and Marcel Hug, the men's wheelchair winner who won his ninth one. And he's like, I don't even know how many I've won. So you and Marcel Hug, the silver bullet, are, you know, one in the same. But anyway, Brady, just a little background on you. You've coached many athletes to Boston qualifiers. You are an ACSM certified personal trainer. I think I screwed up every single time. ACSM certified personal trainer and a 248 marathon. You've been coaching runners and triathletes for years. And I'm Carrie Tollefson, Olympian broadcaster and your guide to the world of run. We treat the show like any good workout. We'll start with our warm up question. We'll settle into our main set conversation and then we're gonna wind things down by having coach Brady answer an audience question on the cooldown. Lots of good stuff today, so let's get after it. All right, Brady, before we get into all things Boston Marathon, on our warmup question we have a little bit of Boston Marathon stuff, but let's just get into this. The Boston Marathon is known for unpredictable weather, so are lot of other races. It can be cold and rainy just as easily as it can be sunny and pleasant. For today's warm-up question, what is the worst weather you've ever had to race in?

Brady Hoover: Oh, wow. I don't even have to think about this. I Boston 2020 and 2018. I mean,

Carrie Tollefson: Hey, well, wait, 2020\. OK, yeah, OK.

Brady Hoover: No, 2018, I'm sorry. 2018\. I've raced on many bad days, but nothing is ever going to top that day where it was in the low 40. It was, I think it was in the high thirties at race start. And I mean, it was just dumping buckets. Were you broadcasting at that one too?

Carrie Tollefson: Mmm. Yeah, I was not out for that one and but I remember watching it on TV wondering why are the elite athletes basically wearing our jackets we're twinning today but the jackets like this I could understand it I'm like it must be freezing I knew it was raining but for them to run in these big jackets you know usually they want to be aerodynamic they were not that day so it had to been freezing

Brady Hoover: Yeah, it was brutal. was, yeah, high 30s, low 40s. I didn't get over like 42. The wind was whipping. The winds were coming out of the east. So was a headwind the whole way. The winds were kind of swirling. It was just, I still, like when I was looking 10 days out prior to Boston this year and I saw rain in the forecast, I was having nightmares. like, I cannot, I cannot do this again. I just can't, like I wouldn't do it again. my gosh, it was just, I can't even tell you how bad that day was unless you experienced it. I mean, I can describe it. I mean, it was from the moment we got off the buses, it was just downpouring. There was no way to stay dry. You could start with a poncho. Yeah, maybe that would buy you 10 minutes of, you know, 10 minutes of comfort, if you will. You could have had extra pairs of, an extra pair of socks and shoes, which I did to at least start with dry feet, but that didn't last long. You know, there was a puddle right there. It's like, okay, I'm already wet. You know, here we go. and, we knew about the forecast, like a few days in advance to that. was going to be that bad. And I remember I was running for the Alzheimer's association then, as a qualifier, but also raising money. And I remember the coach of the team saying, like, you could go out in a poncho, you could wear this, you could wear this, you could go out and, know, a long sleeve, you could go out in a singlet and you know what? You're going to be fine and you're going to finish. was that like the mantra there? But there was points of that race where I just, thought it was going to drop out. knew my parents were at mile 12. and I said, well, if it's that bad, I'll drop out. I mean, but there was sections of the course where it was, it was always downpouring, but then you got this ice bucket rain, like literally felt like ice was pouring on you and it just got really cold. And that happened at mile, it was in Framingham, like mile, mile five, where it just opened up and it was that cold rain. And if it had sustained that like ice bucket cold, I would have dropped out at 12. It was one of those races that either had a pretty good day or you had a bad day. There was a lot of hypothermia on the course. Cause what happens with marathoning is well, your pace starts to slow. And if it slows to a certain point and your heart rate starts to drop, you're not generating as much body heat. And that's where things can go really bad, really fast. so you just had to like, it was one of those days where you just had to like, literally minute by minute. was lap resetting my watch constantly. I would, you know, get behind some runners and sit there for a little while and then I decided to make a surge and get to the next group of runners and sit back there. Give a little, okay, there's no wind for this second. I'm gonna give a little surge, pull back a little bit, conserve some energy. I ended up actually running two hours 57 minutes, which I don't know how I did that that year. from the stories I heard that year is either you had it, you know, people ran really well and beat what they expected to finish. I was just hoping to finish and I was trying to get there as quick as I could. Or you just had a really bad day. As you can tell, I'm going on and on. was that bad that I'm reliving it and I'm cold thinking about it.

Carrie Tollefson: I love it though. Well, I mean it's funny because that will go down I think is what well probably the worst You know there are other times and there were like monsoon type rain But it wasn't that cold rain and it was windy and it was brutal That was the year that Shalane Flanagan anyone who knows that name. I mean, she's an Olympic medalist She's just you know, she had the American record and almost all of the events for many years She had to stop and use the restroom and then Des Linden dropped back to wait for her because Des thought she wasn't gonna have a day and then Des went and won the thing. It was just amazing. So yeah, I would have to say I don't\... Yeah, the other elites, a lot of them had to drop out because they had hypothermia. I mean it was just a wild day. But I mean I think that's kind of how this\... weekend was too. It a wild day. was a really, really perfect temperature type day for most. I was a little concerned about some of the athletes being underdressed, especially up front. Some of the East Africans, especially when they've been training in a little warmer maybe, or you know, our altitude training camps over here right now are pretty cool and even some are very cold. But when you go over to East Africa, a lot of them had warmer temps or they had their rainy season. And so I was worried that that cold would affect them but they all seem to be pretty good. A lot of them had gloves or arm sleeves on which is smart. We don't always see that but this year you had a pretty good tailwind. Brady tell us about your race.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, well, I gotta know what was your worst race that, know, worst weather that you had in a race. I gotta hear from Carrie on this one.

Carrie Tollefson: I know, I forgot about mine. You know, I feel, the funny part is, is I always wanted it to be bad. Like, I don't even really think that\... That question even pertains to me. I'm from the Midwest and anytime there was a weather element, I was like, bring it on. I'm ready for it. But I would say the other way for me, when I ran the Olympic trials, I had run three races before the final of the 1500 and they put the 1500 on at prime time NBC. And so we were at 130 or 115 PM in Sacramento. And so that's like 415 or something east coast. I can't remember exact times. But anyway, they put us in the middle of like the big show and it was 118 degrees on the track. That's how hot it was on the track. So the sprinters were like pouring water to put their hands down and their blocks. And you know, so many of us athletes had run so many races in pretty hot conditions out there that week. So we were all very dehydrated. And so for me, I would have to say that dry, dry heat was one of the worst that I've ever run in. So anyway. Yeah, kind of another extreme. I've done workouts in 32 inches of snow on a golf course before when I was in high school. That comes to mind. There's all kinds of different things, but I just loved weather elements. I felt like that was my way of saying, bring it on. I'm going to show you, Mother Nature and my competitors, that I can be tough. And it didn't always work in my favor, but I tried to switch it into a positive. Back to your race, Brady. I want to hear about your race.

Brady Hoover: Okay, the race. The Boston Marathon. It went as I planned. I knew going into it that I just didn't have the training miles to race it, but I had the training miles to run it and complete it. So I said, I'm just going to stay. I was tempted because this weather that we had, it's 40 degrees at the start, eight mile an hour tailwind out of the west.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. It was only 8 miles per hour? huh.

Brady Hoover: We had the gusts where we get up to 20 and you could, you could definitely feel that push. I was tempted to go out hot. I was like, you know, should I just run this hard and just see what happens? Like, know cardiovascular, I'm fine, but you know, with the downhills of Boston, said, no, my muscular skeletal system is not prepared for what lays past mile six. 16 was my longest run going into this. And when I look back at my training log, I'm like, yeah. the last eight weeks I had two runs over two hours and I said that's enough to finish this I'm gonna play it smart I'm gonna be you know, I coach athletes and you know if they come into the same situation It's a long training run day. I'm running zone two pace So I said I'm gonna run somewhere between 315 and 320 is what I was telling folks and I went 315 on the button zero. I said no way. I can't believe I did that yeah, so just started out. I was in the second wave, so I qualified with two hours 58 minutes, which puts me in the second wave. Um, but corral one, which was a cool experience because usually when I, when I've qualified with 2:50 to 2:51, I'd be in like the fourth corral. So there'd be 2000 runners or so in front of me. No, I was the, I had one runner in front of me and to just see the course, like the other field was 15 minutes down the road. to just be there on the edge of that hill looking down at the course was like, it was surreal. I was like, this is what the pros see, right? There's nobody in front of them. It's like you almost felt like an elite athlete at that point, or I did. I was like, this is so cool. It's so surreal. And of course, the first mile I went out a little fast because there was about 6,000 other runners behind me. I didn't want to get trampled on. But it was just cool to see nobody down the road and then see some of those like front runners just start moving away and then looking over my shoulder and seeing the sea of people behind me. It's just, was, it was a totally different experience than I've ever had.

Carrie Tollefson: really cool. So you basically were racing for the win of your wave.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, yeah, that's exactly, that's a good way to put it.

Carrie Tollefson: Huh, and did you end up getting that guy or how did it work? You dropped back, yeah. That's what I thought. Cause that second wave is pretty quick. Yeah.

Brady Hoover: no, because I dropped back after the first pile. said, I'm going to go to my 730 pace and let's Yeah. They are pretty quick and, you know, there was there was folks in there that, you know, they had I was talking to one guy and he was going to do like 245 and like, why is he in this? You know, he's like, I'm coming off of injury. And I said, I see in his qualifying race. He had a bad day, but he still hit the mark. You know, he's still Just like when we were talking last week and I had tachycardia and went 304 in New York But I would have went 254 right? It's like, you know, that was my potential. It just didn't happen on that day I still qualified So those are you know, some of the other runners that you might be in, know amongst with is yeah They're there but they had a bad day and they still qualified so they're just back Further than they otherwise would be because they didn't have a better seating time. Yeah

Carrie Tollefson: Right. Mm-hmm. Sir. Well, that was the other thing I was wondering for you too, because you know, a lot of the elite said they actually felt like they were being carried at times with the wind because they are like you said there. There's not that many of them in those elite front packs, especially as the race goes on. It gets down to, you know, maybe eight people at mile 16, 17 and then 20. It's down to five or six. And then so they kind of are exposed to all the elements. So was wondering if maybe you didn't quite feel as much of a push when you had more of those bodies. around you.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, it was only when the winds would like pick up at times. like, oh, it feels like there's no wind here or the course would turn, you know, it's like turn to the right, slight turn to the left and you'd get a little bit of a crosswind because the winds were coming out of the the Northwest and not directly from the West. that, you know, at points it was like, you know, on your left hip and you feel that, you know, that the pack started to thin after about four. Well, I say thin, but, you know, you get some separation where you can spread out your arms and, you know, twirl around and you're not going to hit anyone. there's a little bit more space that's where you can start to feel it. Many of my parents were at mile 12 so that helps break down the course because I wasn't going for time got to chat with them and then you know it took me 10 minutes to get up heartbreak hill because I stopped and chatted with my family for four minutes.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. cool. That's as you should. I remember my husband saying, I'm like, one of my marathons, I I walked through the last six water stations. He's like, so does everyone else in the marathon. So, you know, I was like, well, I don't know if people do that, you know, I'm used to racing. And he was like, hey, welcome to the club. We all do that. So it's nice that you took the time to say hi to your family.

Brady Hoover: Yeah. It's just all the traditions of Boston just make it happen. mean, there's generations of families that, know, you know, it's their grandparents now, but they're still watching at the same spot they did when they were little kids. And they brought their kids, so their kids now have, you know, their kids now have their kids, right? So you got the grandparents of the kids, and those kids are gonna grow up, and they're gonna watch from the exact same spot, right? Like we did growing up. And you just have all these traditions, right? You have, you know, the music at certain miles and it's not always the same people, but it's this, you know, it's still a DJ at, you know, going into NADAC Center. It's, there's just so much history and this has been going on for generations and years and years and years. And that's what really makes this race special.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. So cool. How many athletes did you say you had racing on Monday?

Brady Hoover: So I had three athletes that I coached racing. One was a qualifier. So she qualified and got in and got to run Boston for her first time. It went really well for her, you know, at first. then her leg, you know, the downhills got to her legs. You we did all the right training. You just never know, like even on the perfect day, like how your body's going to handle it. like, yeah, I remember my first Boston. I was trained to smash it and the course smashed me. But she did fantastic. She still ran a qualifying time this year. So she, she re-qualified though. She's right on the cusp of, you so she's, you know, she's looking to look at another race this fall. said, don't, don't think about that right now. Like you've got girls. And then two of my other runners were that I've been coaching for a while are charity runners. They raised a lot of money for causes that are near and dear to their heart. They had great races. One of them,

Carrie Tollefson: Okay. Yeah, enjoy the process that you got there and yeah.

Brady Hoover: Andrew, got sick a week before. Yeah, his girlfriend had COVID and shared COVID with her and he was just getting over it. So I said, okay, the name of the game is paces out the window. So forget about our pacing plan. Heart rate is your, know, because we're coming off of COVID, you know, it affects the heart a little bit. The heart rate is elevated. I said, you don't want to be burning matches and be going out there according to plan. Your heart rate is going to dictate that. You know, keep it first 10 miles, we keep it. You know, keep it around 140 second, you know, after you go through the half, I'm willing to let it go up, you know, 145 13 after 13. If it starts to get into the 150s, that's where you're going to cap it. You know, walk the hills if you have to. We just want to get you to reach that finish line, right? We're all going into this in different places. And then the other athletes he had. Believe it or not, he was playing golf and had done something to his calf. And then I was in league. Yeah, so that set him back a couple of weeks. We weren't able to do a lot of long runs, but we were able to do some cross training. you his plan was run for 10 minutes, walk for a minute, run for 10 minutes, walk for a minute, and he executed that. So all in all, they all did great. And then my father-in-law was out there running. He turned 70 this year, so I hope I can be as cool as him one day and still be running this race. so I was just thinking about him when I was out there on the course and yeah, he wanted, he wanted to go five hours and he went five hours and one minute. he, you know, the final miles got to him, but he held pace. Yeah. So good. It was a great day all along and I couldn't help. Like during while I was running, was like, Carrie is doing the broadcast on these elite athletes. How was your day?

Carrie Tollefson: I was wondering if you had maybe thought about putting us in your ears. Some people do. Some people listen to us.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, I should have. should have. I was like, gotta know.

Carrie Tollefson: I actually think we should kind of promote that to the runners a little bit more because there are so many athletes that are like, I really want to race, but I want to see who wins. And you know, sometimes I'm like, if you, cause they do, some people will track runners as they're going as well. So maybe they should just put their earphones in, but no, it was super fun, Brady. We, you we were frozen. I'm just going to be like, we were not so thrilled about the weather because I know that you guys were, that we were happy for the runners and that's really what it's all about that day. But I put on social media. that morning like I put on a layer of like my tights and a tight top that was like warm a warm running tight top and then I put on one of those you know the hand warmers that you can crack and put in your gloves there Hannah Storm who works for ESPN she brought me this vest that was like just a tight vest that had those warmers like up on my chest on my stomach on my back and up on my shoulders and that thing saved me I mean I had a winter jacket on I had a turtleneck but my toes were absolutely frozen. So we made it. We made it just fine. But it was so cool. mean\... The races were amazing on the wheelchair athletes did so well Marcel Hug as I mentioned at the top of the show he won his ninth Boston Marathon. He's known as the silver bullet. He wears a silver helmet just an amazing athlete and then Eden Rainbow Cooper. I was not surprised to see her. So my I was working with John Anderson who's a longtime sports center anchor at ESPN. He also is one of the main guys from Wipeout. Remember when we used to watch Wipeout from back in the day, that's John Anderson. So the two Johns that were the original hosts for like 16 years or something like that, that's John Anderson. So he is the main host of the show that I work on for ESPN and the WCVB, which is the local ABC affiliate. And then I am one of the lead analysts, Medka Flesky, who's the 2014 champion and Olympic silver medalist. He was also on the show. And then Amanda McGroary, who is one of the best wheelchair athletes we've ever seen in the U.S. she's retired now. So Amanda was doing the broadcast and analysts analyzing the wheelchair. So we saw Marcel Hugh win his ninth and then we saw Eden Rainbow Cooper who as I was saying I thought she was the one to beat. And there were a couple other ones in there. Manuela Schar and Katherine DeBrunner. Those two have won big races as well. They've all won majors. And Amanda kind of was leaning towards those two. So I got a little, I was like, yay, Eden Rainbow Cooper. I saw her run in New York a couple weeks ago. She did great. And then on the professional side, we saw Sharon Loquetti. Repeat she won last year in a course record. She ran to 1722 last year this year She I did not think she was gonna break 220 they went out they were out at like 220 to pace through I think like 16 or 18 miles and then her last Yes for most of the race I'm trying to think of when Sharon

Brady Hoover: In the US, we've been reading, right, for a little while.

Carrie Tollefson: took off. think it was at like mile 18 or 19. She started to move into the lead but her last 5k Brady was 1448. She ran a 435 mile.

Brady Hoover: I'm saying it. Yeah, didn't she run like a 425 coming off of heartbreak, like on that down? I mean, I know it's downhill, but I know she like, just threw down the handbrake.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, 435. Yep. Yes. Last year she threw down a 504 but they were much more consistent at being at that on that course record pace last year. This year it was a wind-up and it was amazing. And then this new lady on the scene her name is Laus Chemnang. She ran Chicago for her first time this past October and this is her second race and she finishes second to Sharon Lochetti who is fourth at the Olympic Games. She's won New York, won Boston. I mean she's just a star Sharon Lochetti is and then just real quick, I know I'm getting cut into the weeds, just a big shout out to Jess McLean. Jess was the top American last year, this year again, and she set, so it's not the American record, Emily Sisson is the American record holder for the US Marathon. Jess McLean set the American record Boston Marathon course record. So when she's the fastest American to ever run on Boston and she ran 220. So just a wild day on the women's side. And then real quick on the men, another repeat champion, John Carreer. He set the course record. A long standing course record of 20302 was set in 2011 by Jeffrey Mutai. Yes. That is really long, especially with the new technology that's out there right now. And last, that 2011 year was a real big tailwind as well. That was the last time that we saw everyone across the board run PRs. And so for John career to run as fast as he did 201 something, I'm just under 202. Yeah, he sure did.

Brady Hoover: to a one 52 and he did a negative split as well to win.

Carrie Tollefson: He sure did and his brother Wesley won back in the day as well. just I mean, you know there I say it on the broadcasts all the time like Every single one of you that runs a Boston Marathon has a story. And it is just so much fun to be able to tell some of that and some of those stories. So I actually claimed it was the year of the woman. I something's just come out of my mouth, Brady, but I'm on air that log. And I was so fired up to see the women. You know, we said to the kid Dakota Popane, who is one of my dear friends. She and I have our the same Olympic tattoo. She's from Minnesota. She and Annie Frisbee. train here and they're like my little sisters I say but to see them smiling through Wellesley and like the whole entire lead pack Brady they were having such a blast in your hometown like it's just really cool to see what Boston Marathon does for everybody and even the women up front who are chasing after you know hundreds of thousands of dollars to be honest if you win the Boston Marathon you win over a hundred K plus you get huge prize or appearance fees to come back so they were having a blast.

Brady Hoover: But then if you set the chorus record, you get a bonus there too.

Carrie Tollefson: \$50,000! Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of money on the line, but it was really cool to see how they were all coming together and having a blast during it. So yeah, it was fun. It was really fun.

Brady Hoover: Yeah. The pro fields is always, you always wonder how it's going to shake out. You know, it's going to be, it's a perfect weather day. mean, we don't, you don't get that. We don't. I mean, like to say like, get this weather once in a decade in Boston. It's like, it's, it's longer than a decade. It was 15 years since we saw a day like today or a day like Monday. but the elite field, they kind of run as, as hard as they, they base it, their effort on like what the field is going to do or, or somebody just goes out early. Like MEP did, like Yuki did in 2018. and hope that they can put on a gap and they're not gonna chase them though they'll try. But a lot of the time they really stick together and they're conserving energy and then somebody late in the race just drops the hammer like John did and just puts in, what did he do? Coming up a heartbreak, I think it was I was reading the stats like 415 on that downhill, just like just. one point.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Yeah. He really cranked it out too. That's kind of his MO. He loves to do that. He loves to just kind of feel the race out. I mean, we saw in Chicago, he went for the course record, which would have been the world record. And he ended up having some stomach issues and had to drop out of that one. He thinks, and obviously if you can run 201 on Boston, it's a very hard course as we've talked about. If he can run 201 on a flat, fast course like Chicago, he probably can be close to Calvin Kipton's two hour. Yeah, but I think you're right. it's what's so fascinating for me to watch when I'm calling races, especially up front, is there's so many different strategies. And on the men's side, we saw a number of athletes that were maybe more like 205, 206, 207 guys. And they were the ones that really made the race. You know, it was Rory Linkletter from Canada and Stephen Pfeffer. And I think Alex Meyer actually was up there from the States and they kept the pace honest. So John career really didn't have to touch the lead for a long time. Benson Cabrudo who has won the race in 2020. See this is where my brain now. Was it 2022? I think he won the race. No 2021. Anyway, like he was they weren't even up there. These guys have won the race and they're not even leading it right? And neither did Sharon Loquetti. She didn't have to lead the race until a little further in. However, the women were out at a much slower pace than most of the top women will run. So it was just it was interesting that every time I call a race I get like more excited about the future of running because it's just so fun.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, there's different tactics. There's like, okay, I'm just going to run point A to point B as fast as I can. And then there's like, I'm just going work with the pack and whatever they're doing. If they're holding back, that's more energy. know I can, I know I can throw down a fast 10 K. At what point did you know that the course record was going to be broken? You know, was it before heartbreak? Was it at heartbreak?

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. I think it was after. mean, that's really where we started to focus on that because I think for a long time we weren't really even paying attention to the time because it just felt like they were running more like a sit and kick type race. But then they started to really squeeze it down. As you said, they negative split. So that means they get faster as they go. And that's where I think we really started to see that the course record was in jeopardy.

Brady Hoover: thinking on hate. and For those that don't know the Boston course, all the hills come, you the first uphill is mile 16. So it's a negative split. You know, you're getting about 500 feet of elevation gain in the second half of the race and that's a negative split for these guys. Like I think he already, did a one hour and something second. Yeah, just blows my mind.

Carrie Tollefson: Hmm. Yeah I know. 101\. Yeah. Was it 101? I have to go back and look at that folks, because I am all full of stats. So it was just a wonderful weekend. I think everyone from first to what was it? How many people ran it?

Brady Hoover: There was 30,000 runners and close to that for finish, 29,000 something finishers. So very close to those that started finished. So there was.

Carrie Tollefson: 30,000. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I think a lot of people look pretty good coming through. They always show those videos of, you know, people having some trouble in the last little bit and everyone helping them across and they're so inspiring. But we didn't see a lot. At least I didn't see a lot of it. As I said, I had to I zipped off to the airport right after my last hit of the day and people were still finishing. Actually, I got to the airport so early that I didn't get to see anyone coming in their foil blankets. Normally I see people getting on my flight with their sweat on their face still and foil. blankets. So really special day. How did you celebrate?

Brady Hoover: Yeah. Well, I actually I was waiting for I was waiting for my athlete. She was two waves behind me Bonnie to finish Because I wanted to meet her, you know, it was her first Boston where my other athletes have you know This was their third and fourth Boston. So I was like I wanted to be there on that finish line for Bonnie luckily enough I run with a BAA run club there. So we have VIP so I was able to come out and just after the finish line, like, like be there and grab her, hug her, you know, she had this big old smile on her face, even though she didn't hit the time that she wanted. She was still just like glowing from ear to ear. So, you know, walked with her cause I had already had a chance to eat and all that. So just like walked with her, grabbed all the things like, I'm like, you just keep pushing forward. Let me get you food. Let me get the foil. Let me get, know. Let's get you know, let's get your bag. Let's get you know some comfy shoes on some pants on throw your jacket on there the celebration jacket And then meet her husband and her family. Yeah So that's what we did and then I came home and made pizza with the kids.

Carrie Tollefson: That is so nice. Aw. Were you just trash though or did you not feel like you had just run a marathon because you did conserve some energy?

Brady Hoover: It wasn't, I was walking pretty good. Yeah, I don't hurt. I didn't hurt as much as I normally do after Boston. Um, one, the weather and two, the pace, right? There wasn't as much pounding on my quads though. At mile 18, I was starting to feel the miles. It's a marathon. No matter how you go, what pace you're running, it's, going to get you eventually. Um, but yeah, the last three miles were a real struggle. It was hard to hold. It was hard to hold training pace at that point. One, limited miles and two, it's a marathon, right? It's miles on the legs, especially those downhills, a lot of pounding.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Hmm. Well, it was a fun weekend. We got to meet for the first time in person. We've been on the Rundown podcast a lot, which I always appreciate when you come on because I think everyone likes to hear from you and whatever. yeah, it was really fun on. I got to do the press conference on Friday. So I was the host of the press conference of the elite athletes. And then on Saturday, you heard me on the 5K. I was doing the announcing with Laura Green.

Brady Hoover: Yes. Huh. And Lauren was on her way in.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, yeah, that's right. So ran the five care announced a 5k then announced the elite miles Which and the youth miles and one case super fun and then I went to meb kafleski's brother Howie is Meb's agent and so we went and a lot of you know meb some of you are coached by him I am see that event that howie hosted, was called the Howie and Hope Awards that he presented there. And then from there, I went to the expo where I got to meet you. Did you have fun?

Brady Hoover: Yes, yeah, it was a blast seeing Ashley, you know, getting, that was like history in the making running 100, I don't even know, and she's running like 7, yeah, she's running 730s, that's what I ran for the marathon. I said to you when I saw her, said, Ashley is still going over there. And she was like, when you\...

Carrie Tollefson: Ashley Paulson I know. So for those of you who don't know who Ashley is, Ashley was on my podcast, C Tolle Run last week, and she is an iFit trainer for NordicTrack, right? That's on NordicTrack, I believe. Yeah. And she ran a hundred miles on the treadmill at the Expo. And what was her time again? Twelve hours, forty seven minutes or something. Seven thirty pace.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, in order of shot. recordings. Yes, yeah, world record. Yeah, like.

Carrie Tollefson: And she tells all about the whole process of she hadn't done it when she was on the pod. But she said she has to let the treadmill come to a complete stop when she had to use the restroom. There were all kinds of rules that she could not do while she was on there. Otherwise, it would just negate it. She made it. Guinness World Record. That's pretty awesome. So you went to that, you saw her there, and then you came to the expo, or to the panel.

Brady Hoover: I know just actually, we were some tears and then yeah, yeah, I came back to the panel because I knew I wanted to see the international athletes and you were there and I had a chance to meet you and you know, it nice just getting to know the runner, you know, because we live, think of these like they're like, you know, running gods, but they're everyday people. I love the questions you were asking them, like what's your favorite ice cream? Well, I guess, I guess that's more an American question than it is an international question because they were like ice cream, like.

Carrie Tollefson: It totally is. Yeah, but most of them like cookies. They like cookies with so we had John career who ended up winning Benson Capra, Camprudo who he's won the race before and he was I think third or fourth. I can look it up, but he was he was right up there.

Brady Hoover: No, chocolate chocolate! Yes, cookies. Yeah, they don't have it up their butt.

Carrie Tollefson: And then we had Sharon Loquetti, Irene Cepdai, who was fourth last year. I think she finished up maybe fifth. my gosh. I should look this up for you guys. And then we had Marcel Hoog and Catherine DeBrunner. Was that that was a six, right? Yeah. And yeah, we asked all kinds of questions about Boston, but then you all know if you've listened to my C Tolle Run that I like rapid fire questions. So I kind of took them through those and they said cookies rather than ice cream toppings.

Brady Hoover: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I would have been all about the ice cream, but I was like, that surprised me, you know, and just getting to know them. And then I got a chance, like it was 10 to come to the question and answer and nobody's raising their hand. I'm like, okay, well I got to ask them, like they've all run this course before. Like, what's your favorite part? Like I have my favorite part, you know, but what's your favorite part? I mean, I have multiple favorite parts, but you know, my favorite, I've been seeing my family. Um, but it was just funny to hear their answers. said, but again, I said, besides the finish line. because we all love the finish, but you know, where else on the course do you look forward to? you know, one of the gentlemen said, you know, and right before that someone said, how do you say slow down in your language? And they were saying it. And then the next question was my question about, you know, your favorite part of the course. And one of the gentlemen, not John, the other gentleman that won in 2002, goes.

Carrie Tollefson: Right. Yes. Mm-hmm. Benson get brutal. Yeah

Brady Hoover: Leslie called us and you just had to jump in there. like, because you want your other runners to slow down so you can kiss the girls. And he's like, watching, smiling ear to ear.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah! And he totally was like, yes! But I was watching Benson. He didn't go over there and give any kisses, but he did smile and he did enjoy it. Clayton Young was over there high-fiving everybody and yeah. Do you stop and say hi to any of the ladies? Do you dare admit it? You high-five.

Brady Hoover: Yeah. I high-fived the whole way and even there was a part where like the barricades were further back and I'm like, these girls are giving it their all. I got to get up on the grass here and just keep the high-fives going for that half mile stretch. It is one of my more enjoyable stretches. My favorite is I like going into it's Cleveland circle, know, mile 22 or so, crossing the train tracks and looking down that hill.

Carrie Tollefson: cool. How fun is that? Mmm. Okay.

Brady Hoover: And just seeing the wall of people right on both sides of the street, the whole square's lit up. And then I know it's just, it's a straight shot home other than the right on Hereford and left on, know, it's just straight to Boston. So it's like, okay, I know the crowds are going to carry me from here on out, but just being like up high, coming down the hill and just seeing, you know, literally thousands of people knowing that your grandma's home. That is my favorite, my favorite part.

Carrie Tollefson: So fun. Yeah, yeah, think, I mean, I have not run the Boston Marathon. I just run my mouth throughout the entire time. So one of these years, yes, but it was a blast. I loved every minute of it. It was an honor to get to meet you finally and to have you in the crowd and so thankful that you did ask a question with everyone. I think they liked that question and yeah, I can't wait to come back.

Brady Hoover: Well, one of these days. Yeah, it was nice to hear everyone's perspectives, right? John, said he liked the start because he likes to run fast. And he showed us that. He showed us that coming off of Harvard.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah? Yeah! But remember John career fell last year in the first like 20 meters of the race. The man who won the race last year everybody. fell and then do you remember how he showed you like I didn't ask if they like one of a lot of times I like to ask if they would if they have a tattoo would they ever get one but he showed us he kind of has a tattoo because he has this real big circle on his hand from how deep of a cut he had last year it's a scar and so he has a reminder all the time of the Boston Marathon so it's just interesting he ran with his number in his hand the entire way and you know that's something like if we were to grab a little rock or if we were to you know use our phone in our hand like it sort of is different and it is also like it kind of changes your mentality of like having to hold something throughout a race or 26.2 miles I mean I forgot that he held that but he which he should he had to go through all the timing mats and things but I guess I would have probably tucked it in or something like that but he held that number the entire way last year

Brady Hoover: Yeah, it's distracting and you know, it's a race bib, so it's not too much energy, but like these guys, sometimes they're fighting for hundredths of a second and holding something in your hand can be that hundredth of a second that cost you a win.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was really, really cool though. What a story. He's a great guy. John Carrier and Sharon Loquetti, Eden Rainbow Cooper, Marcel Hoog, all of them are just delightful people. So made it easy for me. I was crying on the broadcast again, Brady. I can't help myself every single time. And John Anderson as the jokester, he makes fun of me every time too. anyway, hey, thanks for coming on the show and doing a recap of your race and letting us hear about your awesome athletes and just the fun that you have running. I think that's the big thing at RunDot. We just want people to enjoy themselves, get the most out of their efforts. And you clearly do that. You practice what you preach, dude.

Brady Hoover: Yeah. Yeah, I I try to. I was like, can't leave these our audience like hanging like, okay, we just got excited about the Boston Marathon like last Tuesday. And then we were talking about the other world majors. I'm like, we have to do some sort of recap to just kind of hear in chat like unscripted. Like, let's, let's just talk about our days.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. I believe that too. Yeah. I know. Well, and if you didn't run the Boston Marathon and ever want to go back and listen to last week because Brady gives a breakdown of how you can qualify for any of the majors. But also, I think there's just more to it. You know, as I said, announcing the five case and the miles like not everyone can run the mile, but you can run the five K and then stick around and watch some of the world's best or the up and comers running. It's really it's a fun weekend. And then being able to witness the Boston Marathon. I mean, the crowds were, I don't know, 10 deep a lot of times. It was so loud and it's just a big party. Yeah, there's so many shakeout runs you coming to the expo and just being able to listen to some of the world's best or like the next day I had Katherine Switzer on a panel the first woman to well, she wasn't the first woman to run the Boston Marathon

Brady Hoover: Yeah, there was no quiet. Yeah, there was no quiet. But she, yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: But she was the first woman to register and run. And she was tackled by the race director because he didn't know that she was a woman when she registered. So it's just a great story. Check that out.

Brady Hoover: And I heard, even heard, I don't know if you heard this, I didn't see her, but Emma Bates was there in the Newton Hills and two girls were talking about that. I'm like, how did I miss her? Like, even if they're not running, they just come out to watch, right? From all, some people just fly in to watch like Bonnie's friends flew up from Florida just to watch her run. And I'm like, that breaks my, you know, but warms my heart, I should say.

Carrie Tollefson: Yes. I know all of the, there's so many. Yep. They really do. So cool. Warms your heart. Yeah.

Brady Hoover: that, yeah, no, here they are. were college roommates and stuff. And they flew up just to watch her run the Boston Marathon. Then when they were leaving Tuesday, I'm like, those friends are keepers.

Carrie Tollefson: Hmm. And it is hard to pick your person out sometimes. Like you're just like this all day. Like are they there? Are they there? I mean now you can now you can track. Oh good idea.

Brady Hoover: Yeah, that's why I always wear the pink Adidas hat and red shoes. And I just bought a new pair of shoes because I had just they were losing their pop. So I just got pink shoes to match the pink hat so that in future races, I stick out like a sore thumb, I hope.

Carrie Tollefson: love it. That's great. We know that you like to wear crazy hats. We've seen them on the show. All right, we're gonna head into the cool down, Brady. We got a question from the audience. This is from Andrew. I wonder what Andrew that is. Everyone in the world knows Boston is a must-see TV every year. What is the short course equivalent? Aside from the Olympics, of course, what short course events should we try to catch the broadcast for? Ooh, that is a hard question. Hmm. Well, I flew home from Boston last night or on Monday night and on Tuesday night I was already broadcasting the USATF Road mile Championships in Des Moines, which is part of the Drake Relays week. That was an exciting race, but let me let me just ponder on this for a little bit. Do you have one Brady?

Brady Hoover: gotta say, I was gonna say it's gotta be like a one mile, one of the one mile races where you get the top athletes out because you just don't know there's so much strategy to a one mile race like just, you know, just watching the one the invitational mile that happened over the weekend that was so much fun to because they're just they're running so fast. I like the indoor mile as well that they do at New Balance. I like tuning into that some of those, whether it's youth. Yep.

Carrie Tollefson: Mmm. Yeah. Yep, like Milrose games, New Balance games, any of those. I have to say a big one coming up now in a couple months here is the pre-fontaine classic. That'll be on NBC and that is pretty much the who's who of the world of track and field. So you'll get to see field events, you'll get to see sprints, you'll get to see distances and they also air a distance carnival sort of thing the night before. But actually coming up this coming up this weekend is also Pen relays weekend so you get to see all kinds of great. think CBS has Drake relays. Pen relays will be on NBC. Lots of running will be on TV so. You guys, there's just so much. And if you're not a fan of the pro side of things, sorry. Get with the times. Let's go. We got some interesting stories. And this is a perfect time to become a fan because 2028 is right around the corner and it's right here in the States. And so the American runners are doing really well. And obviously we love athletes from all over the world. But if you are from here in the States, we're going to have an Olympics here. We need to get behind our American athletes and show them the support.

Brady Hoover: I would say a lot of our Olympic trial field, the men and women's were there at the race and a lot of them have been in your pod since that time. Yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: Exactly. I know. Yep. We will get them on C Tolle Run. Maybe we'll get them over here on RunDot if people want to hear from them. But hey, thanks for joining us everybody. Brady, congratulations and we'll have you back on the pod real soon. Keep getting after it everyone. I got a new bracelet. Check it out. Yeah. Running with Grace. That's who made that. Alright you guys. Thank you.

Brady Hoover: Woo. I love that.