2025 BOSTON MARATHON PREVIEW | LIVE FROM PUMA'S HIGH POINT

Leah O'Connor joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast after releasing a lengthy and open blog post called "Hey, Struggling Runner", which she dedicated to "the frustrated runner, the anxious runner, the hurting runner, or any runner who feels irritated with themselves, like they might want to throw in the towel on their dreams" Leah was a two-time NCAA champion while at Michigan State and owns a personal best of 9:18.85 for the 3,000 meter steeplechase as a professional for adidas. Shortly after that personal best was set at the 2016 Prefontaine Classic, Leah suffered a partial tear of her right plantar fascia and then ruptured it during the steeplechase final at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She had a brief stint training in California but still dealt with injuries that didn't allow her to return to that top form. After nearly three years of struggles, Leah opened up about things in her blog post. We delve deep into some of the key parts that she disclosed including her fear of never getting back, watching U.S. women's steeplechasing going to the next level, what does it mean to grab a spoon and deal with things "one spoonful at a time." Plus, she talks about how three-time U.S. Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, her new coach, has been a major resource in keeping her career alive. This isn't your usual interview where we talk about training and races but it's a great and honest conversation with Leah. I hope you all enjoy it. You can check out Leah's post here: https://bit.ly/2B7SvAQ --- This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Kudos. They're our new partner and they're providing a great new way to show off race medals. Check them out at www.kudos2u.com/citiusmag/ If you hit that link and get yourself a coaster, a portion of the sales come back to CITIUS MAG so that we can continue producing these shows that you enjoy. Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/akudos2u/

15 Nov 20181h 4min

Isaac Wood, a CITIUS MAG contributor and author of The Wood Report (our NCAA cross country projections), joins the show to preview the 2018 NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Isaac has been producing a very strategic and statistical algorithm to predicting where everyone will finish in the race and who will win. He shares insight into who he predicts will win the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which take place on Saturday, Nov. 17 in Madison, Wisconsin. Some of the points addressed: - The NAU vs. BYU narrative (Isaac is also the director of operations at BYU so he delves into why we decided not to include the Cougars in the projections and columns) - Who will be this year's Portland Pilots and surprise the field to make the podium? - Can anyone stop Morgan McDonald? - What does anyone know about Bradley? - Can the New Mexico women go back-to-back? - Hot takes about Arkansas' women's team - Weini Kelati. Sharpie. Listener questions are addressed and more on this bonus episode. Follow Isaac Wood and the Wood Report on Twitter: @Wood_Report

13 Nov 201842min

John Anderson, who is familiar to many people as one of ESPN's longtime SportsCenter anchors, joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast. He is one of the voices of ESPN's broadcast for the New York City Marathon alongside Carrie Tollefson and Tim Hutchings. His voice will be familiar for years to come since New York Road Runners, WABC-TV, and ESPN extended their partnership to broadcast the New York City Marathon through the 2022 event. I met John for the first time when I was an intern at ESPN in 2014 and we've been friends ever since. We usually get together when he's in town for the marathon so I decided to ask him to come on the podcast. He said he was down so we chatted it up. John was a high jumper at Mizzou but he shares why his high school cross country team was his favorite, an epic tale from his first marathon and what are some of the challenges in covering track and field on TV for everyone. I've seen a lot of criticism of the ESPN broadcast on Twitter. Some of it is fair and for some other points, you may be able to better understand how a broadcast is run after you hear from John. Come for the sports media talk, stay for when John imagines what his call would be if I won the New York City Marathon. ------- This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Kudos. They're our new partner and they're providing a great new way to show off race medals. Check them out at www.kudos2u.com/citiusmag/ If you hit that link and get yourself a coaster, a portion of the sales come back to CITIUS MAG so that we can continue producing these shows that you enjoy. Follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/akudos2u/

6 Nov 201839min

Cam Levins joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast after winning the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and breaking a four-decade-old Canadian record in 2:09:25. The previous record was held by Jerome Drayton in 2:10:09.  Levins, 29, was a 2012 Olympian for Canada in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. He was a standout star at Southern Utah and won the 2012 Bowerman Award. He was legendary for weeks that topped out at 180-191 miles per week. He spent time training with the Nike Oregon Project under Alberto Salazar. In recent years, he has been sidelined by injuries and was unable to race at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.  We discuss his comeback, the plan that went into his marathon debut and a return to high mileage. Levins plans to compete in the marathon at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but what do his 2019 race plans entail? New York Times best selling author Malcolm Gladwell, also the host of the hit podcast 'Revisionist History', submitted his own questions for Levins so we get to those.  Plus: We share your listener questions that were submitted on Instagram.  ------- This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Kudos. They're our new partner and they're providing a great new way to show off race medals. Check them out at https://www.kudos2u.com/citiusmag/ – if you hit that link and get yourself a coaster, a portion of the sales come back to CITIUS MAG so that we can continue producing these shows that you enjoy. Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akudos2u/

1 Nov 20181h 2min

Allie Kieffer joins The CITIUS MAG Podcast before she takes on the 2018 New York City Marathon. The Big Apple was the site of her major marathon breakthrough in 2017. She finished fifth overall in 2:29:39, which was also a personal best by more than 15 minutes. The only American woman ahead of her was Shalane Flanagan, who became the first U.S. woman to win the race in 40 years. Since last November, Allie signed a professional contract with Oiselle and moved to Boulder to train under Brad Hudson. If the name sounds familiar, he is also the coach of past podcast guest Parker Stinson. Workouts seem to indicate that Allie may be in for another big race and she says that she wants to run fast. We discuss her training including why she's raced back-to-back half marathons. Allie reveals what she's learned from studying tape and film of other marathoners. Allie is also very vocal about body image activism. Her Instagram page is filled with various posts about her past struggles with weight and body image and how she is now comfortable with her body. We discuss the process of what's made her comfortable in that conversation and how others have responded. We also make note of the LetsRun message boards and why she's OK with reading some of the criticism that can sometimes end up there. All that plus listener questions from Instagram... ------ This episode is brought to you by Runners of NYC. Check out the latest show in the CITIUS MAG Podcast Network. Jeanne Mack and I bring you untold stories behind luminaries and legends of the New York City’s running culture. Episode 1 is out! Episode 2 drops Oct. 30! Subscribe today: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/runners-of-nyc/id1438435120?mt=2

24 Okt 20181h 8min

We'll be back to your regularly scheduled CITIUS MAG Podcast interviews this week. Our next guest is Allie Kieffer so look for that interview later possibly on Thursday or Friday. Just wanted to take a moment to give you all a preview of the newest show on the CITIUS MAG Podcast Network. This is a project that I am very proud of and I've got high hopes for the new show. It's a show that I co-host with Jeanne Mack. She interviewed me on this podcast a few weeks back. We announced this was going to happen. Now it's here. Introducing "Runners of NYC". This is the first episode. You may not be from NYC but this show will give you some good insight into the many people who make up such a great city. It's every day runners in an every day setting but not your common backgrounds. In a city of 8 million people, Jeanne and I have a lot of stories to tell. We're excited to share them with you. The show is now available on iTunes and Soundcloud so subscribe today! iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/runners-of-nyc/id1438435120?mt=2 ----- Our first ever guest on the 'Runners of NYC Podcast' is Joe DiNoto. Joe is a runner whose ties to New York City go back multiple generations. He is someone who has had a huge and lasting influence on the sport and culture of running here in the city. He is the founder of the Orchard Street Runners, a co-ed running group that meets on Tuesday nights in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Through Orchard Street Runners, Joe started organizing and holding unsanctioned races for men and women through the streets of New York. Those races have continued to grow in scope and competition, so we dive into Joe’s process of bringing those races to fruition, along with how he became a runner, and what keeps him running. This is Runners of NYC. A new podcast from CITIUS MAG. Hosts Jeanne Mack and Chris Chavez look to bring you many of the untold stories behind luminaries and legends that make up New York City’s running culture. For more information on the Orchard Street Runners, follow them on Instagram: www.instagram.com/orchardstreetrunners/ Follow the show on Instagram: @RunnersOfNYCPod. Don’t forget Twitter as well: @RunnersOfNYC Music for the show is by Future Generations. Portrait of Joe DiNoto taken by Jason Suarez. Podcast artwork by Kyle Klosinski.

21 Okt 20181h 4min

Intern Matt (also known as my good friend Matt Kulling) joins me over a beer at Murphy's Bleachers in Chicago just one day after he ran the 2018 Chicago Marathon. He was not a runner before July and so I decided to catch up with my buddy about what he learned from his first marathon. Why did he sign up to do this? What was the hardest part of training? What were the highs and lows of the actual race? Would he ever do it again? Here's what he said, when I asked him what he learned from this whole process. "It doesn't really matter if you run in 2:04 or if you run in 6:04, people will cheer you on the same amount. This is me kind of patting myself on the back but it's a tremendous accomplishment to just finish or even say that I'm going to do this at all. It's a self-imposed goal. The fact that people are so supportive of you – if you have to walk, it doesn't matter. If you're really old, it doesn't matter. If you're really young, it doesn't matter. People really rally around you and that's what I thought was cool about seeing you run Berlin and London and now something I experienced in Chicago." Congrats, Matt.

9 Okt 201833min

Jeanne Mack takes over the CITIUS MAG Podcast to put me in the guest position for once. Maybe we should've done this at the start of the podcast so that listeners can get to know me better but here we are. I turn 25 on Sunday, Sept. 25. Before I start this quarter-life crisis, Jeanne asked to interview me and so we sat down in a park to chat about my background. This episode delves into how I got started in track and field as a sprinter at Xavier High School in New York City. Was I any good? (Spoiler: No) How did I gain interest in distance running? What spurred me to start running distance? Jeanne asks about my professional life as a writer for Sports Illustrated and then how I came about with the idea to start CITIUS MAG. What's the story behind #LegsAreFeelinGood? What's the hope for the future of CITIUS MAG? How can the readers and listeners help out? There's a lot to unpack in this episode so it's a bit longer than usual. We sat down and then realized that we had been recording for at least 80 minutes. Enjoy this pod at your leisure. Let me know what you think by tweeting at me: @ChrisChavez. Stay tuned for a special announcement in the middle of the show. This episode is brought to you by the Legs Are Feelin Good™. Get out there and get yourself the most popular running mugs! SHIRTS: rdbl.co/2O9nMeh MUGS: rdbl.co/2MWgkSZ

29 Sep 20181h 28min