Marathon Talk Episode 11: Alfred The Great!

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This week, we look back at the final stretch of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships race in Bathurst, which was was fraught with drama, and with the World Championships marathon route in Budapest revealed, it’s been a big week in the running world.

We’ve got a packed episode of Marathon Talk this week with a look at the all-important long run in your marathon training. On top of all the news and training talk, we have a fantastic interview with the incredible Alfred Scaletta who’s set to finish his 72nd marathon in Tokyo as a Six Star Finisher, 46 years after his first inChicago.

In this episode of Marathon Talk:
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• 0:00 - Catching up on the previous fortnight, including a heartwarming bike ride for a friend with an unfortunate, recent diagnosis
• 10:20 - We bring all the news from Bathurst’s dramatic World Cross Country Championships
• 28:45 - Training Talk: we look at the long run, and how you can experiment with it to improve your race day
• 37:10 - Alfred Scaletta shares his experience after 72 marathons’, and getting ready to end a 46 year journey towards his 6 Star medal
• 1:05:30 - Wrapping up with well-wishes for those noble Tokyo marathoners in March
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Episode highlights

“Normally, Letesenbet Gidey gives nothing away, but with about 800m to go her face changes. She starts to grimace, and you start to think that she’s really, really working for this.” - 11:55 - Martin Yelling 

“Always be there. Don't sell yourself short just because you didn't cross that finish line first, or you might be off your personal best a little bit. Keep pushing, keep getting to that finish line, because sometimes we make these breakthroughs in surprising ways.” - 15:10 - Deena Kastor

“It was definitely a challenging course to navigate. What I've learned in World Cross Country is you attack everything. Whatever obstacle is in front of you, or even the downhill where you think, ‘Oh, I'll just coast down the hill and recover a little’ - No, you attack that. ” - 21:35 - Deena Kastor 

“Simulate the demands of a marathon by running sections, and particularly the end, at really good pace. It really replicates that feeling and teaches your body and mind to cope with the pressure and pain that you're most likely going to feel in the long run.” - 32:55 - Martin Yelling 

“After I ran my first marathon and went with my American soccer team, the next year, I actually tried out for cross country in my senior year in high school. I got to run with the group, I got to learn more about training, running together and doing intervals. So it was a whole new world for me.” - 43:45 - Alfred Scaletta

“I like to use my frequent flyer points, and I ended up booking my flight a little early. I purposely ran the Boston Marathon a lot faster than I normally would so that I could catch my flight. So I finished about 30 minutes before the bomb went off.” - 51:45 - Alfred Scaletta

“You don't have to run every day. A lot of people will run every day and burn out. So if you want to just do something everyday, it could be biking, it could be walking, it could be running to stay active. Make a game of it.” - 1:02:25 - Alfred Scaletta