You may have heard about the diabolical running format called , in which competitors must for days on end. One by one, runners drop out until only one remains, and he or she is crowned champion. On October 19, the world’s best backyard ultrarunners met in Bell Buckle, Tennessee for the annual Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, which this year hosted the team world championships for the format (on even years the race serves as the individual world championships).

Scott Snell recorded the top distance this year, completing 366 miles in 88 hours. But the star of the event was Megan Eckert, who finished in second place. Her distance—362 miles during 87 hours—broke the previous women’s record by a whopping 51 miles (and 13 hours).

Eckert, 38, is one of the world’s top ultrarunners. She also teaches special education and coaches high school cross-country in Santa Fe, New Mexico. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű caught up with Eckert to learn what it’s like to run for nearly four days without stopping for more than a few minutes between laps.

OUTSIDE: What attracted you to the backyard ultra format?
My first backyard ultra was actually in January, 2024, at the Saguaro Showdown in Mesa, Arizona. I had just completed a race in Houston where I ran 218 miles, and a friend suggested I try the Backyard Ultra format. I loved the open-ended nature of the event. You line up in the starting corral once every hour and go out and run this 4.167-mile loop, but how many times you’re doing to do that loop, nobody knows.

I love having a chance to see how far my body can go. I know that I’m going to face challenges out there. I know I’ll maybe get 5 minutes of rest every hour, if I’m lucky. I know I’m going to have to troubleshoot so many things during the race—how much to eat, and drink, and rest. But otherwise everything else is unknown. I love the appeal of a race in which you have no idea when it’s going to end.

How do you keep your mind engaged while running for nearly four days?
I try to focus on the lap I’m in and not the ones that are coming up. During the night at Big’s I’d listen to music, and during the daytime I’d try and chat with other runners. I love to talk to people out there. In fact, at one point a few other runners told me that they wanted to run in silence. I was like “Oh, OK, sorry.” I find conversations with other runners to be really helpful to staying engaged.

Another thing I’d do out there—I’d sing a song while I was running. But I’d often just sing every other word. I kept passing one guy when I was singing. I was like “Oh, I’m so sorry! I have such a terrible singing voice and you’re just hearing every other word.” He was amused. But sometimes it gets really quiet out there and it helps to talk or sing to yourself. Another thing I did was dance when I hit the road sections. Dancing helped keep me awake.

Do you think backyard ultra races have the potential to attract casual competitive runners?
Absolutely, because you can pick your distance you’re aiming for before going in. Maybe you want to do your first 100-mile run and finish in under 24 hours. Maybe you just want to see if you can run through the night. Maybe your goal is 50 miles. You can map that out really easily at a Backyard Ultra because of the 4.167-mile lap distance.

A Backyard Ultra teaches you good pacing, because you don’t need to run as fast as you can. If you finish the lap in 40 minutes or 55 minutes, you still head back out after an hour. Also, you always come back to the same place after each lap, so you can fuel and hydrate properly . I see it as a welcoming format for a large swath of runners who are looking to push themselves to that ultramarathon distance.

I’m curious if the backyard ultra format has taught you lessons that you can apply to your everyday life?
I’ve noticed that when I come off of one I seem to have a lot more patience for things in my life. This lasts for weeks afterward. You realize you don’t have to always move so quickly during one of these races. After all, you’re just doing one thing, and you’re doing it for a long time. So yes, it teaches you about perseverance and patience. You become more kind. You become a better listener. Life slows down after one of these races, and you often feel like you’re living in a slow-motion situation.

What wisdom from your life as a professional runner do you try and pass on to the high school runners you coach?
I want the athletes to have fun and I want running to become a passion for them. Results are fine, of course, but you need to enjoy what you’re doing first. Yes, I teach them that they will sometimes have to push through pain, but I want them to enjoy the process of training, preparation for a race, and the lifestyle. And the other big thing is teaching them confidence. I ask my athletes to set goals before meets, and to talk about them with me. We create a plan for them to reach those goals by breaking things into smaller steps. Confidence can come from goal setting.

The post Megan Eckert Ran 362 Miles to Set a New Record for Backyard Ultras appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

I have never run a marathon.

I have no intention of running a marathon. It isn’t on my bucket list. I don’t get a tinge of envy when I see the 26.2 bumper sticker proudly emblazoning the back of the car in front of me at a stoplight. I’m, personally, good. That said, I do love staggering feats of human endurance when other people accomplish them.

Thus, I was fascinated when a friend sent me a of two women arriving at the 2024 Chicago Marathon with—as the text overlaid on the video explains—“no training, no breakfast, no sleep, no headphones, no battery, and no sense.”

I sat rapt for over five minutes, watching Jaryn Garner and Paula Hughes check in mile after mile, their legs flagging but somehow still smiling, laughing, and cracking jokes deep into the back half of the marathon.

my legs are still humming #@Jaryn Garner

The major headline of this year’s Chicago Marathon was Ruth Chepngetich’s dizzyingly fast new women’s record of 2:09:56. The TikTok is pretty good, too, though, and I found myself wanting to know more about why it was created.

I reached out to Garner, one of the masterminds behind the video (in it, she’s the one holding the phone camera and wearing the beanie), to learn more about the backstory and to ask the ever-present internet question: Is what you claim in the video true? And if it is true, what did it feel like after the fact?

This Is What a Marathon on Minimal Training Looks Like

OUTSIDE: What did it actually feel like to run one of the country’s most famous marathons totally unprepared? How did it come to be, and what was the lead-up like?
GARNER: There was no real inspiration. The company I work for (, a lifestyle brand founded by professional athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel, and Sue Bird) had four bib entries for the Chicago Marathon and asked if anybody was interested about six weeks before it. Nobody jumped at the thought of the idea, so Paula [Hughes, the other woman you can see running in the video] reached out to me and said, “So, are we running the marathon?” 
 I truly felt it was a joke until we got to a month away, and I just kept thinking, wow, we’re really doing this.

We started to get all the information emails, and Nike began to send us stuff for the marathon, and that’s when it really got real. In the lead up, we had a Nike coach give us a few pointers (that we tried our best to attempt), and we started running like once or twice a week, but it was nothing that exceeded two to three miles. So, not enough at all.

Your baseline fitness seems… high! You don’t strike me as just popping off your couch and running a marathon. What’s your workout schedule look like, marathon training aside? Are you into distance running? Walk me through a little of your backstory.
Neither of us are runners in the slightest. We are both former D1 athletes. Paula rowed crew at Syracuse University, and I played basketball at the University of Virginia and finished my career at St. Joseph’s University. With that being said, we both hate distance running, so although we aren’t true couch potatoes, the thought of even running a mile is laughable to the two of us.

The caption on the video (“my legs are still humming”) indicates some post-race pain. Can you describe what the day and week after the race were like for your body?
The moment we crossed the finish line, we went back to a tent Nike provided to celebrate and recover for about 20 minutes and took pictures. After standing up, walking out of the tent, and heading out to get picked up, I experienced probably some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my lower body. Moving at a snail’s pace, every step hurt from my feet all the way up to my hips. I definitely had never experienced that. The very next day I struggled to walk and actually crawled a bit to move around.

The worst part for me was my feet. I didn’t get to 100-percent pain-free walking until nine days later, and my legs came back to 100 percent about five days later.

Seriously, Though, You Need to Train Before Your Marathon

As fun as my conversation with Garner was, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk through the very real dangers of running 26 miles without training that builds up circulatory, respiratory, muscular, and mental fitness over time.

If you read the comments on the viral video, you’ll see lots of upvoted commenters pointing out the danger of rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which muscle tissue enters the bloodstream following overexertion, among other health concerns. (You can read a longer explanation of the .)

For some perspective on the issue, I also reached out to my friend Kaylyn Christopher, a former NCAA All-American distance runner for West Virginia University, Boston Marathon qualifier, and the current men’s and women’s cross-country coach at Fairmont State University, for her perspective. She had already seen the video and said she thought “it was a brave undertaking!”

But, Christopher notes, marathons typically require intentional preparation. In addition to getting miles under your belt to make sure your body is physically ready, there are other factors to consider, like nutrition and hydration. Most marathon runners spend a lot of time honing their system during training runs.

“Do you carry a handheld bottle? Is it filled simply with water or perhaps electrolytes? Or do you practice grabbing cups from water stations? Do you carry salt tabs? What about gels? Do they cooperate with your digestive system?” says Christopher. “These are things that marathon runners seek to answer through trial and error during training.”

With her own athletes, she says, under-training leads to higher occurrences of things like IT band issues and shin splints.

Garner herself noted the same in our conversation. I asked her what she would say to folks inspired to mimic her feat. She told me that she does want to be conscious of health concerns. At the same time, she says that commenters pointed out how “we helped make them feel better about their upcoming marathon, inspired them to sign up for a marathon, or just to start working out, and that has probably been more rewarding than getting that medal at the end.”

Watch the video. Run the marathon. Just spend some time training beforehand.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Despite her feelings about marathons, Ryleigh Nucilli actually did run college track and cross-country at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. When she’s not writing, walking dogs, or wrangling a toddler, she’s lucky to get in a few miles a week.

Want more of șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű’s Health stories? .

The post It’s a Bad Idea to Run a Marathon Without Training—but We’re Still Impressed appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

On September 24, Conor Holt, the husband and coach of American ultrarunner , admitted to altering the biographies of Herron, Courtney Dauwalter, Kilian Jornet, and other prominent runners on the website Wikipedia. Holt’s edits boosted his wife’s accolades but also downgraded those of the other prominent ultrarunners.

“Camille had nothing to do with this,” Holt wrote in an email sent to șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű and several running media websites. “I’m 100 percent responsible and apologize [to] any athletes affected by this and the wrong I did.”

The confession brought some clarity to an Internet mystery that embroiled the running community for several days and sparked a flurry of chatter on social media and running forums. Herron, 42, is one of the most visible ultrarunners in the sport, and over the years she has won South Africa’s Comrades Marathon and also held world records in several different events, including the 48-hour and six-day durations. But the Wikipedia controversy led to swift consequences for Herron—her major sponsor, Lululemon, .

The entire ordeal sprung from an who spent more than a week following digital breadcrumbs on dark corners of the Internet. For those who haven’t spent the last week breathlessly refreshing niche running websites, here’s how distance running’s most bizarre controversy in recent memory unfolded.

A Digital Sleuth Digs In

Marley Dickinson, a reporter for the website Canadian Running, began looking into the Wikipedia controversy in mid-September after receiving a tip from someone in the running community. The tipster told Dickinson, 29, that someone was attempting to delete important data from the Wikipedia entry for “.”

The person had erased the accomplishments of a Danish runner named Stine Rex, who in 2024 broke two long-distance running records—the six-day and 48-hour marks—which were previously held by Herron. At the time, the sport’s governing body, the International Association of Ultrarunners, was deciding whether or not to honor Rex’s six-day record of 567 miles.

“The person making the edits said the IAU had made a decision on the record, even though they hadn’t yet,” Dickinson told me. “Whoever was doing it really wanted to get Rex’s run off of Wikipedia.”

Wikipedia allows anonymous users to edit entries, but it logs these changes in a public forum and shows which user accounts made them. After an edit is made, a team of volunteer moderators, known as Wikipedians, examines the changes and then decides whether or not to publish them. The site requires content to be verifiable through published and reliable sources, and it asks that information be presented in a neutral manner, without opinion or bias. The site can warn or even suspend a user for making edits that do not adhere to these standards.

Dickinson, who worked in database marketing at Thomson Reuters before joining Canadian Running, was intrigued by the bizarre edits. “I’ve always been into looking at the backend of websites,” he told me. “There’s usually a way you can tie an account back to a person.”

The editor in question used the name “Rundbowie,” and Dickinson saw that the account had also made numerous changes to Herron’s biography. Most of these edits were to insert glowing comments into the text. “I thought whoever this person is, they are a big fan of Camille Herron,” Dickinson said.

Rundbowie was prolific on Wikipedia, and made frequent tweaks and updates to other biographies. The account had removed language from the pages of Jornet and Dauwalter—specifically deleting the text “widely regarded as one of the greatest ultramarathon runners of all time.” Rundbowie had then attempted to add this exact language to Herron’s page. Both attempts were eventually denied by Wikipedians.

After examining the edits, Dickinson began to suspect that Rundbowie was operated by either Herron or Holt. Further digital sleuthing bolstered this opinion. He saw that the Rundbowie account, which made almost daily edits between February and April, abruptly went silent between March 6-12. Those dates corresponded with Herron’s world-record run in a six-day race put on by Lululemon in California.

But Dickinson wasn’t done with his detective work. He saw that in March, on its public Incident Report page. The reason? Rundbowie’s activity was nearly identical to that of a previous commenter that had been suspended for making repeated edits to Herron’s Wikipedia biography. That account was named . Moderators had shut down Temporun73 on February 8, which was the same day that the Rundbowie account was created.

Moderators had warned Temporun73 in January about its updates to Herron’s page. A moderator emailed the account saying: “Using language like ‘legendary,’ ‘prestigious,’ and ‘steely toughness’ is not the kind of neutral tone that is allowed in writing here. Wikipedia is a factual source of content, not a promotional platform for athletes.”

A final Internet deep dive convinced Dickinson that he was on the right track. The IP address—a string of characters associated with a given computer—placed Temporun73 in Oklahoma, which is where Herron and Holt live. Then, on a , which is where Herron attended graduate school, Dickinson found an old Yahoo email address used by Herron. The email name: Temporun73.

“To me, this was a clear sign that it was either Conor or Camille” Dickinson said.

The Running Community Reacts

Dickinson published his story to Canadian Running on Monday, September 23. The piece included screenshots of Wikipedia edits as well as Dickinson’s trail to Herron and Holt. It started off a flurry of online reactions.

A thread on the generated 360 comments, and several hundred more appeared on the Reddit communities for and . Film My Run, a British YouTube site, uploaded the following day. Within 12 hours, more than a hundred people shared their thoughts in the comments section.

It’s understandable why. Lauded for her , Herron is also one of the most visible ultrarunners on the planet. She gives frequent interviews, and has been an outspoken advocate for the , for , and for the advancement of women runners.

“I think we’re going to continue to see barriers being broken and bars raised. I want to see how close I can get to the men’s world records, or even exceed a men’s world record,” she told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Run in 2023.

Herron has also spoken and written about her own mental health. Earlier this year, she began writing and giving interviews about her recent diagnosis with Autism and ADHD.

“Although I knew little about autism before seeking out a diagnosis, my husband, who observed my daily quirks and often reminded me to eat, drink, and go to bed, would jokingly speculate that I might be autistic,” on the website FloSpace in July.

Dickinson told me he had a very positive image of Herron from his short time at Canadian Running. He joined the website in 2021.

“She’s always been super nice and welcoming,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson says he reached out to Herron and Holt via email and social media, but did not receive a reply. On Monday afternoon, a user on the social media platform X asked Herron about the story. “It’s made up,” Herron’s account replied. “Someone has an ax to grind and is bullying and harassing me.”

Herron’s social media accounts were deactivated shortly afterward—Holt later said he took them down.

Some online commenters questioned if the story was legitimate—something I did too, initially. Following Dickinson’s arcane trail through Wikipedia’s backend required a careful read, and a strong knowledge of the encyclopedia’s rules and regulations.

After speaking to Dickinson, I sent my notes to a Wikipedia expert named Rhiannon Ruff, who operates a digital consulting firm called Lumino that helps clients navigate the online encyclopedia. Ruff examined the story as well as the Wikipedia histories of Rundbowie and Temporun 73, and said that the evidence strongly suggested that both accounts were operated by the same person. But, since Wikipedia allows for anonymity, you cannot make the connection with 100 percent certainty.

Ruff pointed out that Wikipedia’s internal editors strongly believed the two accounts had a biased with Herron, because the accounts had attempted to write in the same sentence. “Both tried to add details about her crediting the influence of her father and grandfather, and how she runs with a smile,” Ruff said.

Ruff also pointed me to the prolific . Started in 2016, the account had made approximately 250 edits to various Wikipedia biographies. Most were to Herron’s own page, but the account also attempted to alter the pages for a wide variety of topics: South Africa’s Comrades Marathon, Kenyan runners Tegla Loroupe and Ruth Chepng’etich, American Jim Walmsley, Greek runner Yiannis Kouros, the city of Alamosa, Colorado (where Holt and Herron own a residence), British runner Lizzy Hawker, Lithuanian runner Aleksandr Sorokin, Barkley Marathons founder Lazarus Lake, and the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak, among others.

The account also made at least five edits to Dauwalter’s page.

Conor Holt Responds

șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű reached out to Herron via email, text, and phone calls shortly after the Canadian Running story published. On Tuesday, Holt emailed his mea culpa to șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű and nine other outlets. Canadian Running was not included on the list.

In his message, Holt said that he and Herron had been delayed in responding because they were in Greece to participate in the running race Spartathlon, which begins on Saturday, September 28. He said that Dickinson’s initial outreach had ended up in his email spam folder, which is why he did not respond to the Canadian Running story.

“I never got a chance to say anything to the Canadian Running website before they published it,” Holt wrote.

Holt admitted that he was the operator of the Temporun73 and Rundbowie accounts. But he said his Wikipedia editing was aimed at combating online bullies who had removed biographical details from Herron’s Wikipedia page in the past.

“I kept adding back in the details, and then they blocked my account in early February of this year,” Holt wrote. “Nothing was out of line with what other athletes have on their pages. Wikipedia allows the creation of another account, so I created a new account Rundbowie. I was going off what other athletes had on their pages using the username Rundbowie and copying/pasting this info.”

“I was only trying to protect Camille from the constant bullying, harassment and accusations she has endured in her running career, which has severely impacted her mental health,” he added. “So much to the point that she has sought professional mental health help.”

șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű asked Holt via email to provide further details, but we did not receive a response. In an email to Canadian Running, Holt said he was focused on Herron’s upcoming race, and would not be conducting interviews.

But the fallout from the admission came quickly. On Thursday morning Dickinson broke more news: apparel brand Lululemon, which has backed Herron since 2023, had ended its partnership. In a statement provided to several outlets, the brand said it was dedicated “to equitable competition in sport for all,” and that it sought to “intentionally partner with ambassadors who embody these same values.”

“After careful consideration and conversation, we have decided to end our ambassador partnership with Camille,” the statement said.

The announcement marked a bizarre bookend to the saga, and penned a weird new chapter into the history books of American endurance sports. In previous years, endurance athletes have faced criticism for comments made in interviews, for cheating, and for . But an endurance athlete ending up in the crosshairs due to edits on Wikipedia—that truly is a first.

The post The Strange Saga of Ultrarunner Camille Herron and Wikipedia appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

While training undeniably has the biggest impact on your marathon performance, there’s one more thing you can do to ensure you’re ready to give your best on race day: invest in a pair of marathon racing shoes.

An effective marathon racing shoe can help reduce the repeated impact that miles after miles put on your legs while allowing you to get more energy out of each footstrike. Even more importantly, the right marathon racing shoe will provide you with a platform that is stable and cushioned enough to carry you through 26.2 miles in security and comfort. We’ve spent the last year rigorously testing every option on the market to help you easily pick the perfect pair for you.

At a Glance

• Best Marathon Racing Super Shoes
• Best Non-Carbon-Plated Marathon Shoes
• Honorable Mentions
• Products to Avoid
• How to Choose Marathon Shoes
• FAQs
• How We Test
• Meet Our Lead Tester

If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

Best Marathon Racing Super Shoes

Seven years after the debut of the first super shoe, the thick-stacked, carbon-plated racers are ubiquitous at the front of every marathon and increasingly common among runners in the pack looking to optimize their performance. These shoes have been lab-proven to improve running economy by a few percentage points, making it easier to maintain a faster pace. Runners also report that, when running in a super shoe that complements their stride, they experience less muscular fatigue as well.

These are some of the super shoes that our testers found most comfortable and effective at marathon pace, but your experience may vary (as we found when we had three testers compare 16 super shoes in a ). Every super shoe boasts some sort of ultralight, hyper-responsive foam with an embedded, curved carbon-fiber plate—but each delivers a surprisingly unique ride. You’ll have to experiment to find one that gives you wings.

See our “How to Choose Marathon Shoes” section at the bottom of this article for more guidance on whether you should consider a super shoe and how to select a pair that works for your stride.

• Best Overall: Nike Alphafly 3 ($285)
• Runner-up: On Cloudboom Strike ($280)
• Most Stable: Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris ($250)
• Lightest: Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo ($500)
• Best Firm-Feel: Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 ($250)
• Bounciest: Hoka Cielo X1 ($275)
• Best Zero Drop: Altra Vanish Carbon 2 ($260)
• Best Trail: Adidas Terrex Speed Ultra ($220)

Best Overall Marathon Super Shoe

Nike Alphafly 3

Weight: 7.8 oz (men), 6.2 oz (women)
Stack Height: 40–32 mm
Drop: 8 mm
Sizing: 6-15 (men’s), 5-12 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Bouncy, propulsive midsole
⊕ Breathable, form-fitting upper
⊕ Lighter than ever
⊗ Difficult to get on/off
⊗ Unstable heel

Designed specifically for marathons, the Alphafly set a new standard as the fastest marathon shoe ever when Eliud Kipchoge wore them while breaking the 2-hour barrier in a staged marathon, clocking 1:59:40.2 in October 2019.

Now, in its third iteration, the Alphafly 3 continues to dominate as the ultimate marathon racing shoe. Designed with Nike’s Air Zoom Units in the forefoot and a PEBA-based midsole, our more competitive, efficient testers praised the Alphafly 3 for its bouncy, energy-efficient ride.

Subtle adjustments to the shoe’s geometry, including a wider footprint and carbon fiber plate, paired with repositioned Air Zoom Units and strategically sculpted midsole, give the Alphafly 3 a distinctly different feel from its predecessor. These changes effectively address some of the issues found in the Alphafly 2, which many felt was heavy and clunky compared to the original.

The new Alphafly 3 is surprisingly nimble, weighing in as the lightest Alphafly to date. Even running as fast as 5k pace, I found the Alphafly responded quickly, encouraging a fast turnover. That said, it may be too sharp of a tool for some runners, as those who require a stable stance may find it a bit wobbly, especially in the heel.

The redesigned Atomkit 3.0 upper is about as race-y as you can get—extremely light and airy. Though a bit tough to put on because of its tightly woven mesh (like previous models), the new upper is highly breathable and secure, with sawtooth laces that stay tied tight throughout the marathon. You can read our full Alphafly 3 review here and how it compared to other racers in our .

Runner-up Marathon Super Shoe

On Cloudboom Strike

Weight: 7.6 oz (men), 6.6 oz (women)
Stack Height: 39.5–35.5 mm
Drop: 4 mm
Sizing: 7-13, 14 (men’s), 5-11 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Highly cushioned without sacrificing bouncy responsiveness
⊕ Outstanding cushioning-to-weight ratio
⊗ Somewhat unstable

A stark contrast to On’s previous carbon fiber racing shoe, the firm-feeling Cloudboom Echo, the Cloudboom Strike is soft, bouncy, and fun to run in. Runners who can maintain their balance on what is a fairly unstable platform are rewarded with a lively, highly cushioned ride that’s comfortable and responsive, making it ideal for long-distance efforts.

The secret to the Strike’s sweet ride lies with the insole. On swapped out the traditional Strobel (a thin layer connecting the upper to the sole) and sockliner for a thick, removable layer of high-energy PEBA foam, thus increasing the amount of performance-enhancing foam underfoot. The result is a legal racer with cushioning that feels like it exceeds the World Athletics’ maximum stack height.

The smooth, ultra-cushioned ride is surprisingly quick for such a thick shoe, responding nimbly even when exceeding 5k pace. The shoe accommodated both long-striding testers and those who prefer to turn over faster.

The Cloudboom Strike fit runs long enough that you might consider sizing down by half a size. However, the one-piece mesh upper, which breathes well and effectively repels moisture, easily cinches down for a secure foot hold. You can read our full Cloudboom Strike review .

Most Stable Marathon Super Shoe

Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris

Weight: 6.5 oz (unisex)
Stack Height: 39.5–34.5 mm
Drop: 5 mm
Sizing: 3.5-13 (men’s), 5-14.5 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Wide, stable stance
⊕ Extremely lightweight
⊕ Versatile ride
⊗ Stiff heel counter can be uncomfortable

The Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris gives runners the best of both worlds—a highly energetic, cushioned feel and a stable ride. Super shoes’s tall, thick midsoles often create a wobbly sensation, forcing your stabilizing muscles to work harder to maintain balance.

The key to the Metaspeed Sky Paris’s stability is its wide base under the forefoot, coupled with an updated, wider carbon fiber plate. This makes the Metaspeed Sky Paris an excellent choice for beginner, intermediate, or unstable runners who want to enjoy the benefits of super shoe technology while still having a supportive, predictable platform. One back-of-the-pack tester noted that the broad base provided a “smooth ride, and the running dynamics worked extremely well with my foot and my own personal gait.”

The shoe’s stability, however, doesn’t compromise its stride-lengthening performance for experienced, efficient marathoners. Testers found that the Metaspeed Sky had the ability to work well for a wide range of runners and paces.

The shoe also has a new, more pliable and comfortable mesh upper and midsole foam that’s approximately 8 percent lighter and, Asics says, has an 8.2 percent better energy return over the previous model. The best part: The shoe got nearly an ounce lighter, making it one of the lightest marathon-racing options. You can read more about the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris in our .

Lightest Marathon Super Shoe

adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1

Weight: 4.6 oz (unisex)
Stack Height: 38–32 mm
Drop: 6 mm
Sizing: 5-10 (men’s), 6-11 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely light
⊕ Best cushioning-to-weight ratio on the market
⊕ Energetic forward roll
⊗ Lacks durability for heavy and inefficient runners

The groundbreaking adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 shatters the mold as the lightest super shoe ever made, weighing nearly 2 ounces less than the next lightest super shoe. Yet from the outset, I was amazed that a shoe this light could have this much cushioning.

The Pro Evo 1’s rocker is long and aggressive, curving up to a high toe spring (elevation of the toe box). Initially, at well-below marathon speeds, it felt forced and unnatural. However, once I picked it up to around marathon pace and my toes engaged with the steep curve, I sensed a smooth rolling action that energetically pushed me forward. I believe marathoners averaging seven-minute miles or faster will see the most benefit from these.

Besides being the lightest super shoe on the market, the Evo 1 also claims the title of the most expensive. That, coupled with initial talk of the shoe only working for a single marathon, makes the Evo 1 a big investment. Our test pair, however, lasted nearly 200 miles before the midsole showed signs of wear. While not every runner can expect similar durability, those with an efficient stride should enjoy everything the Evo 1 has to offer much longer than a single marathon. You can read our full review and durability test .

Best Firm-Feel Marathon Super Shoe

Brooks Hyperion Elite 4

Weight: 7.8 oz (unisex)
Stack Height: 40–32 mm
Drop: 8 mm
Sizing: 5-12, 13 (men’s), 6.5-13.5, 14.5 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Responsive, proprioceptive ride
⊕ Stable underfoot feel
⊕ Comfortable, breathable upper
⊗ Some may find too firm
⊗ Narrow base made some feel tippy

The challenge with super-soft, highly responsive cushioning in super shoes is that they often lack stability, demanding an efficient stride to maintain control as they first squish, then bounce back strongly, magnifying forces—whether propulsive or unbalanced. For runners seeking a more stable carbon fiber shoe without losing the performance benefits, the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 offers a firmer underfoot feel than most.

Instead of the heavily cushioned sink and trampoline-like bounce of many of today’s super shoes, the nitrogen-infused DNA Flash V2 midsole is extremely responsive, pushing back against the foot immediately and ready to pounce on the pace when needed. That lively firmness, combined with a curved carbon fiber plate embedded in the rockered midsole, gives the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 a smooth, stable, and forward-propelling ride.

In terms of fit and feel, Brooks nailed the basics. The thin, breathable mesh upper perfectly embodies a racing shoe’s ideal—minimalistic, with a secure midfoot lockdown that makes you feel firmly in control.

These are not for you if you prefer a highly cushioned, springy running experience. However, if you feel bounced around by most super shoes and want a firmer-feeling shoe that offers a good mix of stability and fast-rolling performance, the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 is the shoe you’re looking for. You can read more about the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 in our .

Bounciest Marathon Super Shoe

Hoka Cielo X1

Weight: 9.3 oz (men’s), 7.4 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 39–32 mm (men’s), 37–30 mm (women’s)
Drop: 7 mm
Sizing: 5-12, 13, 14 (men’s), 6-13, 14, 15 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely bouncy midsole
⊕ Forward propelling rocker
⊗ Prescriptive ride will only work for some
⊗ Ribbon laces are tough to tie

With a ride that feels like bouncing on a pogo stick, the Hoka Cielo X1 delivers unmatched spring with every stride. Designed with two layers of ĂŒber-responsive PEBA foam separated by a winged carbon fiber plate and a severe, heel-to-toe rocker profile, testers marveled at how much fun these shoes were. One tester described running in them as “feeling effortless,” adding, “It almost feels like you’re cheating when you’re wearing these shoes.”

However, a few testers had mixed reactions to the shoe’s prescriptive geometry. The stiff platform and aggressive rocker design seemed most effective for a midfoot strike and within a narrow pace range, specifically around six to eight minutes per mile for our testers.

Another knock concerned the shoe’s stiff, ribbon-like shoe laces. Nearly every tester commented on how difficult it was to get a tight, dialed-in knot. Still, if you can get past the less-than-ideal lacing—or choose to swap them out entirely—and are comfortable in the pace range sweet spot, the ride is worth it and could deliver a fun, fast marathon.

Cielo X1 clocks in at a hefty 9.3 ounces for mens size 9 and for womens size 10, making it the heaviest super shoe on the market. Thanks to the high-energy foam, however, we still found it held its own in the super shoe pack when it came to performance. You can read more about the Hoka Cielo X1 in our .

Best Zero Drop Marathon Shoe

Altra Vanish Carbon 2

Weight: 8.1 oz (men’s), 5.8 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 36–36 mm
Drop: 0 mm
Sizing: 7-13, 14, 15 (men’s), 5.5-12 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Highly cushioned
⊕ Wide toe box with fitted midsection
⊕ Balanced stance heel-to-toe
⊗ Foam not as bouncy as some super shoes

Unfortunately, there are not a ton of options when it comes to highly cushioned zero drop racing shoes. Fortunately, the only option is a really good one. Now in its second iteration, the Altra Vanish Carbon 2 features three more millimeters of softer, more flexible underfoot cushioning heel to toe. Embedded in the soft, nitrogen-infused, TPE-based midsole is a full-length carbon fiber plate that adds a bit of stabilizing and propulsive stiffness without feeling controlling.

The Vanish Carbon 2’s midsole doesn’t have as dramatic a trampoline sensation as some other marathon racing shoes, but it delivers a smooth, cushioned ride that’s hard to beat. Even as someone who typically struggles with zero-drop shoes, I found the Vanish Carbon 2 enjoyable and surprisingly easy to run in, thanks to the high stack and rockered profile. Testers said the low heel helped increase their cadence and kept them more on their toes.

Despite not having a ton of structure, the lightweight, breathable mesh upper does a surprisingly good job of securing your midfoot while your toes have room to splay in Altra’s signature wide toe box. You can read more about the Altra Vanish Carbon 2 in our .

Best Trail Marathon Super Shoe

Adidas Agravic Terrex Speed Ultra

Weight: 9.5 oz (men’s), 7.9 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 38–30 mm
Drop: 8 mm
Sizing: 6-13, 14 (men’s), 5-11 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Extremely efficient
⊕ Well cushioned
⊕ Agile ride
⊗ Tipsy through highly technical terrain

When it comes to replicating the performance benefits of road super shoes for the trail, shoemakers have struggled to achieve the same level of success. The adidas Terrex Speed Ultra is a standout exception. Designed with one of the most aggressive rockered profiles on a trail running shoe, the Terrex Speed Ultra feels awkward initially, almost like you’re walking downhill.

However, once you get accustomed to the unique profile that wants to push you forward, you’re rewarded with a propulsive ride unlike any other trail running shoe. Inside, the high-performance TPEE (Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer) midsole incorporates a four-pronged, slightly flexible PEBA-based rod system, providing extra stiffness to the soft foam without creating instability on technical terrain. While it manages well on groomed or rocky sections, like most highly cushioned trail shoes, it’s not designed for prolonged precise technical maneuvering.

Staying true to its race-ready design, the upper is razor-thin and slightly padded to keep weight at a minimum. The quick-drying synthetic material, combined with a gusseted tongue and sawtooth lacing that bites like a threatened rattlesnake, provides excellent midfoot lockdown. The only drawback is the unstructured heel counter, which can cause some heel lift if the laces aren’t pulled extra tight. You can read our full review of the Adidas Agravic Terrex Speed Ultra here.

Best Non-Carbon-Plated Marathon Shoes

Not everyone wants or needs a super shoe when covering 26.2 miles. Here are some top options without a rigid carbon-fiber plate, sorted with consideration for specific needs and preferences.

• Best for Beginners: PUMA Deviate Nitro 3 ($160)
• Most Supportive: Saucony Tempus 2 ($160)
• Best for Wide Feet: Topo Specter 2 ($165)
• Best Minimalist: Topo Cyclone 2 ($150)

Best Beginner Marathon Shoe

Puma Deviate Nitro 3

Weight: 8.8 oz (men’s), 7.6 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 39–29 mm
Drop: 10 mm
Sizing: 7-13, 14, 15 (men’s), 5.5-11 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Stable for such a cushioned shoe
⊕ Excellent stride and pace versatility
⊕ Comfortable, secure fit
⊗ High drop doesn’t work for some

Supershoes’ tall, highly cushioned soles create an unstable and wobbly platform, especially for beginner runners who spend more time in contact with the ground than their faster counterparts. Plus their rigid, curved plates dictate how the foot rolls, and are tuned to be optimal for fast, efficient runners.

Puma’s Deviate Nitro 3 combats these issues by combining two foams, a softer one closer to the foot with a firmer one closer to the ground, separated by a semi-flexible carbon-fiber composite plate. This design offers most of the cushioning and propulsive benefits of a super shoe, without the instability or the prescriptive stride control.

What sets the Deviate Nitro 3 apart most, however, is its remarkable ability to deliver a smooth ride at any pace. There’s nothing restrictive about the shoe—it adapts to your running speed and performs effortlessly, making it double as a great everyday trainer as well as a racing shoe.

Keeping comfort in mind, the upper features an engineered knit mesh with moderately padded heel collar. Testers felt the fit was true to size with a small amount of stretch throughout the upper to accommodate foot swelling or irregularities, such as bunions. The stretchy laces received mixed reviews, as one found he needed to keep tightening them to feel secure during the run. You can read our full review of the Puma Deviate Nitro 3 .

Most Supportive Marathon Shoe

Saucony Tempus 2

Weight: 9.4 oz (men’s), 8.2 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 33–25 mm
Drop: 8 mm
Sizing: 7-13, 14, 15 (men’s), 5-12 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Highly stable without sacrificing responsiveness
⊕ Supportive without excessive control
⊕ Snug and comfortable fitting upper
⊗ Not as cushioned as most super shoes/trainers

When the Saucony Tempus first came out, we were blown away by its ability to control the soft, unstable nature of a PEBA midsole without taking away its high-energy, performance-enhancing benefits. Keeping everything the same underfoot, but adding a better fitting, more breathable mesh upper, the Tempus 2 continued to wow us with its supportive, yet lively ride.

The combination of soft, bouncy PEBA foam and a firmer EVA frame that uniquely wraps over and under the high-performance core helps guide the foot into a more stable position, making it perfect for beginners, or any runner, who may struggle with foot alignment, particularly during a long and exhausting marathon. The moderate stack height of 33mm in the heel and 25mm in the forefoot strikes a perfect balance—not so thick and cushioned that you can’t push off effectively, yet not so thin that it compromises comfort. The dual foam midsole, without a plate, provides ample underfoot protection while still allowing for a good sense of ground feel and accommodates any stride pattern.

The main drawback is that it’s relatively heavy for a racing shoe (while light for a trainer). Weighing 9.4 ounces for men and 8.2 ounces for women, it’s the heaviest shoe on our list. However, if you prioritize stability and want to tap into the performance benefits of PEBA in a supportive but not prescriptive shoe, this is still the top choice on the market.

Best Marathon Shoe for Wide Feet

Topo Specter 2

Weight: 8.1 oz (men’s), 7.0 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 37–32 mm
Drop: 5 mm
Sizing: 8-13, 14 (men’s), 6-11, 12 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Roomy toe box
⊕ Great fitting upper
⊕ Natural, flexible, springy ride
⊗ Midsole may be too firm for some

Known for its wide toe box designs, Topo has mastered the balance of offering plenty of space for your toes while ensuring a secure midfoot lockdown. One of only four shoes in this roundup without a plate in the midsole, the Topo Specter 2 delivers a more natural and flexible experience than your stiff-plated super shoe or super trainer. A generous layer of Pebax foam underfoot is tuned firmer than usual, but still delivers its signature bouncy ride. One tester described the midsole as “firm and springy with a lot of response,” adding, “the shoe feels airy and fast with the perfect balance of stiffness versus flex.”

Testers found the Specter 2 incredibly versatile. It delivers the same ease and comfort on easy run days as it does on uptempo runs or races, thanks to its highly cushioned, responsive, and adaptable sole, and low overall weight.

Where the shoe truly stands out, however, is in its fit. One tester said about Topo shoes, “They’ve gone from being one of my least favorite brands to offering some of the best-fitting shoes I’ve tested.” The wide toe box isn’t just for runners with wide feet. Even our runners with regular-width feet appreciated the extra space, once they got used to their toes having room for their natural positioning and splay.

Best Minimalist Marathon Shoe

Topo Cyclone 2

Weight: 6.9 oz (men’s), 5.5 oz (women’s)
Stack Height: 28–23 mm
Drop: 5 mm
Sizing: 8-13 (men’s), 6-11 (women’s)

Pros and Cons
⊕ Superb fit
⊕ Unrestricted, natural, proprioceptive ride
⊕ Soft, bouncy midsole
⊗ Cushioning is too thin for some
⊗ Sole too flexible for some

As foams have evolved to be increasingly lighter, marathon racing shoes are getting thicker and more cushioned. Rather than allowing your foot to react to the ground and move naturally, these thick-soled shoes blunt the underfoot feel and dictate how your foot moves through the gait cycle to various degrees. While this works well for some runners, others prefer a more minimalist ride.

If you’re the kind of runner who finds today’s cushioned shoes cumbersome and as restrictive as a stiff suit of armor, look no further. The Topo Cyclone 2 is a free and flexible lightweight racer that lets your foot control the shoe, not the other way around. Testers described the ride as “nimble” and “flexible” with a “slipper-like” feel.

The Cyclone 2’s Pebax midsole delivers the soft feel and springy response of a super shoe, but the comparatively thin stack height (28mm/23mm) keeps the squish and bounce moderate, and lets you feel the ground under the cushioning. You won’t find a plate embedded in the flexible midsole; instead there’s a slight rocker profile to help smooth the transition from stance to toe-off.

We’ve always found Topo Athletic makes some of the best-fitting shoes on the market, and the Cyclone certainly follows suit. A tailored midsection with excellent lockdown gives way to a roomy anatomical toe box. You can read our full review of the Topo Cyclone 2 here.

Those looking for a low-profile, flexible ride with some support might consider the Brooks Hyperion 2 GTS, which has a moderate stack height (31.5–23.5mm), responsive cushioning, and gently guides the gait with firmer, raised sidewalls alongside the rearfoot.

Honorable Mentions

• – Best described as a more accessible, fast-training counterpart to the Hoka Cielo X1, the Mach X2 impressed our testers with its energetic and responsive ride. A great option for those who want a super shoe ride for training and racing without paying the super shoe prices. However, some testers found the geometry and plate to be prescriptive—dictating how the foot rolled—which prevented it from making our top picks.
• – Diadora isn’t as widely known in the U.S. as many other brands, but the Italian company has a strong tradition in athletic footwear. Sporting an uber soft underfoot feel, the shoe’s geometry keeps it surprisingly stable for such a spongy shoe. The one knock is the $300 price tag making it the second most expensive super shoe.
• – While not as bouncy as some of the above supershoes, this shoe shines in its cushioning abilities. With a soft and extremely smooth ride, I found these best suited for long runs at marathon pace when I wanted some extra protection. Marathoners who prioritize maximum cushioning will enjoy racing in these.
• – The Vaporfly 3 remains one of the top super shoes on the market, offering one of the lightest and most responsive rides available. Where most runners who like Nike will opt for the marathon-forward Nike Alphafly 3, the Vaporfly 3 offers those who like a little less shoe a lightweight, fast option.

Products to Avoid

• – Kudos for TYR for jumping in the carbon plated super shoe game, but this one missed the mark. With a downright firm underfoot ride and highly prescriptive roll testers all agreed this shoe gives nothing back and creates an awkward stride.
• – Not every tester would agree that this belongs on the “do not buy” list, but there are simply much better options available. Even On seems to recognize its shortcomings, as they’re phasing the shoe out since the introduction of the Cloudboom Strike. In my experience, it feels overly firm—bordering on harsh. If you prefer a firmer ride, I’d suggest the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 instead as it offers a firm feel with a bit of added responsiveness and pop.

How to Choose Marathon Shoes

After dedicating countless hours to marathon training, it’s just as crucial to invest time and effort into choosing the right running shoe for race day. Unlike your everyday trainer, a marathon racing shoe must strike a balance between providing enough stability to maintain your form over 26.2 miles and offering sufficient cushioning to protect your legs from the constant impact, while not weighing you down or holding you back. Here’s what you must consider when buying the ideal marathon racing shoes.

Stability

As running shoes become thicker and softer, they can start to feel unstable and wobbly. This instability forces the stabilizing muscles in your feet and legs to work harder, which can lead to premature fatigue and even injury. To prevent this, it’s crucial to choose a marathon racing shoe that provides a stable enough platform for your stride, ensuring consistent support throughout the race, even when you grow tired and your stride becomes less efficient. Stability is built into a marathon racing shoe by using embedded plates, firmer midsoles, a widened base, and a more structured heel counter and rearfoot hold.

Cushioning

Cushioning refers to the perceived underfoot firmness of a running shoe. While cushioning levels are a matter of personal preference, wearing softer running shoes during the marathon can be beneficial. One with 32 recreational runners found that wearing highly cushioned running shoes improved performance by 5.7 percent and reduced oxygen consumption by 3.2 percent during incremental treadmill tests. However, runners must balance cushioning benefits with stability and propulsion needs.

Fit

Given the length of the marathon it’s crucial to make sure your marathon racing shoes fit well. Since over the course of the 26.2 miles your feet may swell, you should make sure you have enough room in the toe box to accommodate this swelling. A good general rule of thumb is to make sure you have at least a thumb’s width of space between your longest toe and the front of the shoe. You should be able to wiggle your toes without them bumping up against the front of the shoe. While you want space for your toes to splay, the upper should hold your foot securely around the heel and instep.

FAQs

Should You Train in a Carbon Fiber-plated Shoe?

While this is a highly debated topic, the current thinking is to limit the amount of time spent training in carbon fiber plated shoes. These shoes are built with a thick, highly cushioned, and unstable platform, and a rigid rocker profile. Unlike more flexible running shoes that allow your foot to move naturally, carbon fiber shoes dictate the way your feet strike the ground and roll forward, potentially altering your natural gait, which can lead to injury. In addition, the powerful bounce magnifies any instability, causing more stress on your muscles, tendons, and joints. Ideally, limit your carbon-plated shoes to race day and a few speed sessions. Super trainers—with the same high-end foams but more flexible plates—can be a great alternative for weekly speed sessions or fast-finish long runs.

How Long Do Marathon Racing Shoes Last?

The length of marathon racing shoes varies on a runner’s weight, stride efficiency, and model of shoe. Typically, lighter runners who have an efficient stride will realize longer shoe lifespans, while heavier runners who spend more time on the ground will see less. Generally speaking, you should get somewhere around 100 to 200 miles from your marathon racing shoes before the midsole begins to decompress. Visual cues, such as worn down outsole, uneven midsole compression, or holes in the upper, can be your best indicator of it being time to replace your marathon shoes. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű of that, I’ve found if you start to question whether it’s time to replace your shoes, it’s usually time.

Should Beginners Race in a Carbon Fiber Shoe?

There are a few factors beginner runners should consider before choosing a carbon fiber shoe. First, most carbon fiber running shoes are designed with fast, efficient runners in mind. have shown that slower runners get less improvement in their running economy from the shoes, and the shoes actually make running harder for a significant number.

If you have developed solid mechanics, you may benefit from a carbon fiber shoe. However, if your form is still a work in progress, the stiffness of the carbon plate and the hyper-responsiveness of the foam could actually magnify poor mechanics, reduce your performance, and increase the risk of injury.

Additionally, every carbon fiber shoe is built differently—the placement and shape of the carbon plate, geometry of the midsole and properties of the foam all are different, model to model. This means no two carbon plated shoes will run exactly the same. It’s important to match your individual gait to a carbon fiber shoe by testing several options for the one that feels the best. In general, beginners should be cautious and make sure they’re fully comfortable in carbon fiber shoes before racing in them.

How We Test

Our exhaustive testing process involves evaluating every marathon racing shoe on the market, sometimes as long as over a year, with input from more than 20 experienced wear-testers. They each fill out a detailed testing questionnaire evaluating key points such as fit, comfort, cushioning, and speed. The completed questionnaires are compiled and combined with testing feedback from lead tester Cory Smith, who brings over a decade of experience testing running shoes for șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű. Shoes that excel in specific areas are then ranked and categorized in relation to their strengths.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Cory Smith

Cory Smith, a former Division One runner at Villanova University, has been running since the mid-1990s. With over a decade of experience testing and reviewing running apparel and shoes for publications like șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű and Runner’s World, he continues to compete as a masters athlete, boasting a masters personal best of 4:31 in the mile at the age of 44. He consistently logs 30 to 40 miles per week on roads, trails, and the track.

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The marathon is an arduous, complex physical and mental test—one that has never ceased to fascinate me even after I’ve run 26 of them. But I admit that actually watching a marathon isn’t that fun, even at the Olympics.

We see a group of runners go stride-for-stride for a little over two hours as the lead pack dwindles under the painful pace. Runners who fall off the front seem to disappear entirely. It matters little, except for personal pride, if they drop out, or hang on for 13th or 25th place.

Equally out of sight are the dozens of runners who make up the middle and back of the pack, and are never in contention to win. We see these athletes only as they straggle across the finish line during the anticlimactic half hour after the medals are settled. All of the attention is on the few athletes battling for medals.

I have a plan to make every participant in a marathon count, to make every position change significant and interesting, to make every runner a hero. It’s an idea that’s already widely used in running. My plan to fix the marathon is to transform it into a team event that employs the meets.

In cross country—that fall sport where gangly high schoolers run 3.1 miles around golf courses or rural parks—seven runners from each school represent their team. When the gun goes off, everyone starts together. Runners finishing in the top 10 or 15 (depending on the size of the meet) earn individual medals. But these awards are secondary to the team competition. To determine team placings, officials add up the finish position of the top five runners from each school, and the school with the lowest cumulative number wins.

Under this competition format, every runner matters. It’s just as important if the slowest runner on a team moves up two places from 45th to 43rd, as it is if the fastest one advances from third to first. No team can win due to the merits of its star runner. Every participant, from first to last, has to perform well for the team to succeed.

Runners back in the pack, in fact, often have the chance for much larger point swings: a top-10 finisher may get passed by three or four if she slows by 20 seconds, a mid-pack runner could easily slip back, or pass, 15 to 20 places in the same time.

Here’s my plan: we create a national team score for the Olympic marathon. Sure, we still award medals to the three individuals who cross the line at the front. But we also pay attention to how the runners behind them fare, by offering medals to the nations with the cumulative lowest score determined by each runner’s number placing.

Runners who fell off the lead would need to gut it out all the way to the finish—they wouldn’t dare abandon the race and jeopardize a team medal. Team scores—which would be displayed as current standings throughout the race as runners pass checkpoints—would become more competitive as the race went along, bringing the importance of slower runners into focus.

I’d love to see the field expand to seven from each country, or at least five; currently there are just three. But even with three runners per country you could organize a dramatic team competition. I recently re-watched the 2020Tokyo Olympics women’s race and applied my competition concept to the event. Only five points separated the top-three nations: Germany, Australia, and Japan.

Kenya, meanwhile, did not reach the podium.Sure, Kenya’s runners placed first and second, respectively, but its third runner dropped out, eliminating the country from contention. Alas, it was the same fate for the U.S. team—our runners were third, 17th, and DNF.

The Tokyo Olympic Marathon would have produced an edge-of-your-seat team competition. Germany’s first runner placed sixth, Japan’s eighth, Australia’s tenth. Each nation’s second runners were similarly close: Germany’s 18th, Japan’s 19th, Australia’s 23rd. With team totals standing at Germany 24, Japan 27, and Australia 33, the third runner from Australia crossed in 26th for a total score of 59.

As I tallied the score, I realized that a really compelling battle was brewing between each nation’s final runner. This was going on long after the Kenyans had finished first and second. Germany and Japan’s third runners were running two places apart in 31st and 33rd, respectively. Germany, in the lead after the first two runners, just needed to hang on to get gold with 55 points. If Japan’s runner could have passed one competitor, the team would have tied with Australia for silver. If she could have passed four runners, including the German, Japan would have won gold. In the end, the gold medals would have been decided by who finished in 30th place.

In a normal Olympic marathon, whomever finishes 30th is totally inconsequential, just a blurry face in the background as TV cameras focus on the winner. But with my Olympic marathon concept, running fans would need to cheer on every runner and fixate on every position change. We’d yell and scream during each dramatic moment when a runner crossed the line and hugged his or her teammates.

Just imagine this scenario. In my opinion, this would make the Olympic marathon as exciting as a high school cross country meet, which if you’ve ever attended one, you know is an edge-of-your-seat affair. And it might transform the Olympic marathon into a race you need to follow, from the first finisher to the last.

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Zach Miller had been looking forward to running the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run in southwestern Colorado for years.

The 35-year-old runner sponsored by The North Face received entry into the 2024 event via one of race director Dale Garland’s six personal picks, and with a solid regimen of training under his belt, Miller appeared to be one of the favorites for this year’s event on July 12-13. But on July 5, he woke up in Silverton, Colorado, with considerable abdominal pain. Doctors in Durango, Colorado, initially thought he might have been suffering from kidney stones—the pain was consistent to a 25-hour episode he said he suffered in mid-June—but a few hours later, he had an emergency appendectomy via a laparoscopic surgical procedure.

Miller’s appendix didn’t burst, but doctors removed it because they believed it was imminent. But soon after the procedure, he said he started thinking about the chance to be on the Hardrock starting line. He said he was walking around the hospital later in the evening after the procedure, and the next day, after he was released from the hospital, he walked about 3 miles in Durango. The following day, he rode his gravel bike in Silverton without any pain, and the the day after that—three days after the surgery—he was back running the trails around Silverton with mild post-surgical discomfort.

By Wednesday of this week, after running 8 miles and 6 miles on back-to-back days, Miller said he had hoped to start the 100.5-mile event and received verbal consent from his doctor. By Thursday morning, that consent came in written form, which he then submitted to Hardrock officials.

Miller said he had consulted with his doctor, his girlfriend, Jess, and several other people close to him and decided he wanted to continue with his intent to run. He said he didn’t feel any pain running this week, only some slight discomfort from the suture closures at the three point-of-entry holes in his abdomen that provided access for the laparoscopic procedure.

However, the Hardrock board of directors met with its medical advisors on Thursday and decided Miller would be ineligible to start the event. (Hardrock officials did not respond to RUN’s request for an interview or statement about the situation.)

“The recovery’s been really smooth, every day’s been better,” Miller said Thursday afternoon. “I ran the past four days and biked the other, and I felt surprisingly good. Honestly, I felt like I could go out there and give it a good hard go. Would I have? I don’t know, but I felt like there was a shot.”

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Looking Forward

Miller said he understands the liability and safety concerns—both for his health and for the heightened potential of on-course evacuation if a problem did arise—and respects Hardrock’s decision.

“I think if they gave me the green light, it was pretty much decided I was going to go for it,” said Miller, who finished second at the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in Chamonix, France, last summer. “But we didn’t get it, and that’s just the way it is, so I’ll just move on from here. There’s definitely some disappointment, but it was a difficult and unexpected situation, and nobody wanted to be in that situation and making those decisions. As much as it hurts, it’s understandable, and it’s the responsible thing to do.”

 

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In the months leading up to Hardrock, Miller training in Bend, Oregon, Manitou Springs, Colorado, and eventually Silverton. He said he hopes to maintain his fitness and then pivot to another event or a potential attempt in the near future, but said on Thursday he hadn’t yet thought about that in detail.

On Thursday evening, after learning he wasn’t going to be able to run, he went on a two-hour run near Silverton that covered 12 miles with 1,200 feet of vertical gain.

“There are still some good races left for the year and there’s always plenty of projects and FKTs to consider so the fitness I’ve enjoyed from the training doesn’t have to be wasted,” he says. “It’s still there and I can hopefully go use it somewhere else.”

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Pre-race yoga sessions. Training guides and support from female Olympians. Chocolate milk toasts. Tampons stocked in every Porta-potty. You’ve never seen a race quite like this before—and it’s changing the face of running for rookies and elite athletes alike.

, powered by Team Milk, is a U.S. marathon designed by women, for women. It was born of a clear need: the dire lack of female-centric marathon experiences available for distance runners. Though of American marathon participants are women, 60 percent of female runners feel that endurance races cater more to men. Historically, women were excluded from marathons because of the (ridiculous) belief that they couldn’t handle the distance; it wasn’t until 1972 that the prestigious Boston Marathon allowed women to participate. That legacy of exclusion still persists across many distance races even today, with race design, gear, and training guides predominantly geared toward men.

The first-ever Every Woman’s Marathon seeks to change all that. Scheduled for November 16, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia, this race puts women front and center. These 26.2 miles have been designed to be a physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe space for all women, from first-timers to experienced runners. Organizers emphasize community above competition, making sure the event welcomes all running abilities and body types. After all, 88 percent of women in a recent survey expressed the need for race events that embrace more diverse participants, and nine out of ten female distance runners say being part of a community is what motivates them to run.

What makes Every Woman’s Marathon truly for every woman? Each participant gets access to training and nutrition plans, which include tips and tricks from the marathon’s advisory board, including two-time Olympian Des Linden, Harlem Run founder and trailblazer Alison Mariella DĂ©sir, eight-time national champion Deena Kastor, cancer survivor and world champion adaptive athlete Danielle McLaughlin, and the first woman to compete in the Boston Marathon in 1967 Katherine Switzer. These training guides are tailored for every kind of runner, from mothers to beginners to longtime racers. More than just a race, Every Woman’s Marathon features two days of community and wellness programming, complete with cooking and yoga classes, inspiring panels, and an epic post-race party. All events were designed with families in mind and feature amenities like nursing pods and a designated kids’ play area. And the marathon itself will have wheelchair-accessible lanes, spirit squads at every mile, and a nonstop empowering vibe. (Oh, and organizers truly mean the every part: this marathon welcomes all adults, including trans or nonbinary people and men.)

Team Milk and marathons are a natural match. Cow’s milk is a nutritional powerhouse for runners, providing fuel, hydration, and recovery benefits all in a single glass. “Milk is one great option for runners because it provides all of the important pre- and post-run nutrients in one drink,” says Stephanie Darby, a Colorado-based registered dietitian who focuses her practice on female runners. “It has protein and carbohydrates, a little bit of fat, electrolytes, and fluids.”

Let’s break that down: the high-quality protein found in cow’s milk supports lean muscle development. Women know the power of this strength-building nutrient, with 70 percent of female runners reporting that they seek out protein to support their training. Carbohydrates and fat provide crucial energy. Fluids help replace what runners lose through sweat during a training session or race, and electrolytes restore fluid balance and support muscle function. Specifically, milk contains three key electrolytes for athletes: magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Milk also packs B vitamins, which help convert food into energy; vitamin A, zinc, and selenium, all of which support immune system health; iodine, which helps regulate the metabolism; and calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus, which are critical for bone health.

That extensive list of nutrients makes milk an excellent training partner anytime, but it’s particularly powerful as a recovery drink, Darby says. “It’s ideal after training,” she notes, “because you need its 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein to replenish your glycogen stores”—your muscles’ fuel supply. “It also has the fluids you need to replenish from sweating.” In fact, milk’s fluid-plus-electrolytes package rehydrates even better than water. have shown chocolate milk in particular excels as a recovery beverage, building better muscle glycogen concentrations than carbohydrate-only drinks do and extending running capacity for extra workouts.

Not only that, but drinking milk also helps prevent muscle soreness by quickly replacing fluids and nutrients, keeping runners on track with their training. Darby points out that runners often don’t feel hungry after exerting themselves, so “It can be hard to consume adequate nutrients for recovery.” Milk, an all-inclusive, easy-to-consume recovery drink, makes getting those critical nutrients much more palatable.

But the benefits aren’t confined to after a run. Milk provides sustained energy to fuel workouts, both short and long. Incorporating milk into the diet all day long—from morning smoothies, oatmeal, or lattes to afternoon protein shakes to golden milk in the evening—helps ensure runners have the oomph they need to tackle marathon training.

Registration is now open for Every Woman’s Marathon! Join the more than 4,000 women already committed to gathering in Savannah . When you sign up, a portion of the registration fee goes to your choice of one of five incredible organizations dedicated to supporting women and girls: Girls on the Run, Black Girls Run, 261 Fearless, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. The marathon world will never be the same.

The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), based in Washington, DC, is funded by the nation’s milk companies and is dedicated to educating consumers and increasing the consumption of fluid milk. For more information, visit .

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When it comes to American running royalty, Jenny Simpson is in a class all by herself.

For more than a dozen years, she was one of the top middle-distance runners in the world, first competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the world championships and the Olympics while running for the University of Colorado, then becoming a top tier competitor in the 1,500-meter run as a professional runner. She won the world championship in the 1,500-meter in 2011 as a first-year pro, then won two world championship silver medals and an Olympic bronze medal over the next six years.

On February 3, when she toes the starting line at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando, Florida, the 11-time U.S. champion will be a bit out of her element. Not only has the 37-year-old Simpson never run a marathon before, she’s only raced a half marathon once. In fact, she’s never run beyond 24 miles.

“It will be my debut in the marathon and the longest run in my life,” Simpson said with a laugh, from her home near Boulder, Colorado. “All of it is a bit weird to me, and it’s kind of an extreme exercise in faith, you know?”

The top three women in the race will earn a spot on the U.S. team that will compete in the marathon in the . Simpson and those closest to her admit her lack of experience in the marathon make her a dark horse, especially considering the Olympic Trials field might have the best collection of American women ever assembled. But if you’ve witnessed the fierce competitiveness she’s exhibited throughout her career, you know it would be foolish to count her out.

Still, her typical racing effort in a 1,500 race was only about four minutes in duration, but the Olympic Trials Marathon will likely take about two hours and 25 minutes.

“I don’t think I have any advantage, but if there’s anything that I bring to the table, it’s that I just love racing,” she says. “Thinking about race day might be intimidating because it’s something I’ve never done before—I don’t know what it’ll feel like when we’re two hours into it—but I love being competitive. So as far as getting to the starting line goes, I’ll be there and I’ll be ready to race.”

A New Beginning

Simpson could have easily given up two years ago after a challenging series of events rocked her world. In the summer of 2021, she had a hard time regaining her form after a year away from racing during the COVID shutdown. As a result, she finished a distant 10th place in the 1,500-meter final of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, marking the first time in her career—a remarkable span of 15 years—that she failed to earn a spot on the U.S. team for the ensuing Olympics or world championships.

In a surprise move, she ran the U.S. 10-mile championships on the roads that fall and finished second to marathoner Nell Rojas, one bright spot in what was otherwise the only lackluster season of her career.

Then, a few months later, on December 30, 2021, a devastating wildfire destroyed 1,000 homes near Boulder and narrowly missed the restored early 1900s schoolhouse Simpson and her husband, Jason, had purchased two years earlier. Their home miraculously survived, but they were displaced for several months while smoke remediation and repairs were being completed.

Two days after the fire, her contract with longtime partnership with New Balance expired, leaving her without a sponsor for the 2022 season, and her health insurance with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee was terminated because she hadn’t met the performance criteria to maintain it. Then, after experiencing pelvic pain while training in the early days of January, doctors diagnosed her with a stress reaction in her right hip.

Reduced to cross-training in the pool and on a bike, it all took a huge mental, emotional, and physical toll. Although she was 35 and knew her days of running fast 1,500-meter times on the track were probably behind her, the competitive fire that fueled her to success on the track still burned inside. Retirement was not an option.

Simpson and longtime coaches Heather Burroughs and Mark Wetmore knew she could still be fast enough to compete with the best in the U.S. in the 5,000 or 10,000 meters on the track and aim for the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon, but her difficulty to regain speed in 2021 and a series of injuries gave them pause. That led her to taking an entirely different approach to training and setting her sights on the marathon.

“There was a moment where I thought, ‘Do I want to do something entirely different?’” Simpson recalls. “I just needed a break from beating my head against the wall trying to be a four-minute miler. And so when I did the 10-mile championships, that was really the beginning of this long transition to the marathon.”

Making Transformational Changes

Simpson has been doing fast weekly long runs—typically in the 14- to 16-mile range—as part of her track training for 20 years. But to become a proficient and fluid long-distance road runner, she has had to go through quite a metamorphosis.

Whereas she typically ran about 70 miles per week when competing on the track, she’s been topping out at 100 miles per week for much of the past two years. She’s no longer doing the same kind of speed workouts she did in the past, but instead, her coaches assigned longer intervals and sustained tempo-paced efforts geared toward the marathon. She still does plenty of strength work every week, but not the explosive drills she regularly did to hone her powerful finishing kick down the homestretch of the track.

Simpson has put in a lot of work, and she’s made significant progress over the past two years, even though her chance to run her first marathon was derailed by another early injury last year.

“I don’t know what it’ll feel like when we’re two hours into it—but I love being competitive.”

“She’s got so much will and talent that goes beyond her mitochondria, or her actual running ability,” Burroughs says. “It’ll be intriguing for all of us to see what she can do. It’s a big unknown for anyone, but for someone with her background on the track, it’s a bigger unknown. But she’s really dug her teeth into it, and she’s done a lot of things very well. No matter what happens, she’s thoroughly impressed me with how she’s transitioned to this type of training.”

Simpson has benefited from having a built-in training partner, trusted advisor and race-day pacer in Jason, who’s run 10 marathons over the past decade, including a 2:18:44 personal best that qualified him for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta. He’s not only been able to answer her questions and reassure her when she’s had doubts, but he’s run alongside her for countless training runs and paced her stride-for-stride when she ran her half marathon debut (1:10:35, or 5:23 mile pace) in Houston last January.

While making the leap to the marathon has been the equivalent of “transitioning to a different sport,” he thinks the grit and resilience she honed as a track athlete has paid dividends in this new phase of her career. “I think she is as resilient as she’s ever been, and that’s one thing that’s critical to being a marathoner,” he says. “She’s had several training cycles, several years to get herself ready for this, and now that she’s been healthy since the spring, we’re really pleased with the transformation she’s made. I’m super excited to see how all that translates and how she’s able to execute on race day. I think she’ll be competitive and be in the mix.”

For Simpson, racing in Orlando is a return to her roots. She grew up 20 minutes away in Oviedo—in 2018 her high school renamed its track in her honor—and will have the on-course support of dozens of friends, high school teammates, coaches, and others who played a role at the start of her running journey.

But make no mistake—this isn’t a farewell tour. Simpson hasn’t been training for the marathon just to keep hanging around.

“I think everybody who loves me and cares about me at some point said, ‘Oh, she just can’t let this go.’ And I just felt so strongly the last few years, it’s not that I can’t let it go, it’s that I know I still have something to give,” she says. “It’s not over yet. I’m not holding onto this for dear life because I have nothing else to do. In fact, there are big things in life I am really looking forward to when my running career is over. But I know I have more to give, and I really want it to be in the marathon.”

RELATED: The Fight Over the Olympic Trials Start Time Has Ended. But the Real Issue Runs Deeper

‘I’m Not Afraid of the Unknown’

After years of racing the 1,500 meters against the world’s best, can Simpson make the U.S. Olympic team in the marathon?

Few middle-distance runners have been able to make that leap so profoundly, although New Zealand’s Rod Dixon famously won the 1983 New York City Marathon and finished 10th in the 1984 Olympic marathon a decade after he had won a bronze medal in the 1,500 at the 1972 Olympics.

The biggest unknowns for Simpson are how her body will feel and perform running just below the red line deep into the race, and how well she can offset glycogen depletion with on-course fueling. That’s something she never worried about during her 15-mile long runs, and she says she consumed only one gel during her half marathon last year.

She’s been practicing taking in carbohydrate-rich fluids and gels during long, simulated race efforts for the past year, but how her body adapts on the fly is undoubtedly still the biggest question mark as she heads to Orlando.

RELATED: Race Weekend Marathon Fueling

Although the physical aspects of racing a marathon will be entirely new to her, she’s banking on her ability to maintain a positive mental outlook and capitalize on her well-honed racing skills.

“I can close my eyes and imagine being in third place with two miles to go and knowing you have to keep running hard because someone is coming,” says Simpson, who signed with Puma in late 2022 and will be racing in the brand’s new Fast-R Nitro Elite 2 shoes. “That’s the easiest scenario to think about because it’s so obvious. But I probably spend as much time or more thinking: There are eight miles to go, and you’re in 12th place. How do you want to finish?”

Aside from that, she’ll be racing against a stellar Olympic Trials women’s field that includes 173 runners, a dozen of whom have run 2:25 or faster. Among the favorites are Emily Sisson (2:18:29), the American record-holder, Keira D’Amato (2:19:12), the former American record-holder, Betsy Saina (2:21:40), who was fifth at the Tokyo Marathon last March, Sara Hall (2:22:10), who was fifth at the world championships in 2022, Molly Seidel (2:23:07), the Olympic bronze medalist in 2021, and Aliphine Tuliamuk (2:24:37), the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials champion.

Simpson is excited to see how she measures up in a new event against women she’s never raced. She’s appreciative of the tradition and legacy of the marathon, as well as the congenial nature of long-distance runners—something that doesn’t exist amid the feisty intensity of the middle-distance runners on the track. More than anything, she’s grateful to be running at a high level again with an opportunity to be competitive.

“I’m not afraid of the unknown,” Simpson says. “People talk a lot about being afraid of the unknown, and there’s some uncertainty that is frightening for sure. If I knew how it would turn out, I don’t think I would’ve worked as hard. But what else is there to live for? What does tomorrow hold? To me, that’s why you wake up and you do the work the next day. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s the attitude I’m taking into this race.”

RELATED: For Ariane Hendrix, the Olympic Trials Marathon Is Just the Beginning

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Every year is a good year for running, but this one could be the best one yet. With fast shoes, a year of high-level races, and more people participating than ever before, it’s bound to be a stellar year.

Here are a few key things we can look forward to on the track, trails, and roads in the year ahead.

1. Six Olympians Will be Crowned at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon

As much as the Boston, Chicago, and New York City marathons are scintillating races with the world’s fastest runners—and the races everyone wants to run—the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon will be the best 26.2-mile tilt on U.S. soil this year.

On February 3 in Orlando, Florida, approximately 400 runners (227 men, 173 women) of the country’s best distance runners will line up for an all-out quest to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team that will compete in the marathon at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Truth to be told, only a handful of runners have a real shot at finishing in the top three of the men’s and women’s races to make the team, but what makes it compelling is that dozens of runners should be in the mix at the halfway point and nobody knows how it will play out. Plus, while some of the runners are pros, most work full-time jobs or are parents. The Olympic Trials only occur every four years, but this race boasts the deepest field of American runners, and it’s a badge of honor for every qualifier to see how they stack up among the best in the country.

The consists of a 2.2-mile mini loop to start, followed by three successive 8-mile loops that start and finish adjacent to .

“It’s beautiful, it’s flat, and it’s fast,” says Keira D’Amato, the former American record holder in the marathon and second-fastest entrant with a personal best time of 2:19:12.

The men’s and women’s races will run simultaneously with a 10-minute stagger between start times, with all the action being broadcast on Peacock and NBC.

2. This Year’s New Shoes Are Otherworldly

Running shoes have kept getting better and better over the past five or six years, but this year’s crop is definitely the best ever produced. If you missed the chance to buy a pair of maximally cushioned carbon-plated Nike Alphafly 3 ($275) marathon racers last week, you’re out of luck for a while—unless you . (They’ve been selling for $300 to $600, but the even more rare .)

There are a lot more top-tier racing shoes on the way, including the New Balance FreshFoam SuperComp Elite 4 ($250), Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 2 ($260), and Salomon S/Lab Spectur ($250), the latter of which is specifically designed for 3:30 to 4:30 marathoners. (Plus, there will be several more elite-level carbon-plated racing shoes debuting on February 1-2 just before the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon.)

There’s also a wide range of cushy trainers to look forward to this year—including Asics Gel-Nimbus 26 ($160), Topo Specter 2 ($165), Under Armour Infinite Elite ($160), and Brooks Ghost Max ($150)—as well as intriguing high-performance trail shoes like Hoka’s Tecton X 3 ($275), Brooks Catamount Agil ($180), and Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra ($220).

RELATED: The Running Shoes We’re Most Excited to Try in 2024

3. Ultra-Distance Trail Running Is Booming (and also Splintering)

Thanks in large part to the growth of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) World Series, ultra-distance trail running continues to surge on a global basis. Although there has been some elite-level pushback related to UTMB-Ironman business tactics and a lack of sufficient prize money, the series’ 2024 registration numbers have continued to soar.

On January 8, four-time UTMB winner Kilian Jornet of Spain and last-year’s runner-up Zach Miller of the U.S. emailed dozens of elite runners in an attempt —the OCC 50K, CCC 100K and UTMB 171K events—slated for August 26 to September 1 in Chamonix, France. When this news broke it was met with an interesting mix of both enthusiastic support and harsh criticism.

Jornet and Miller said they’re interested in organizing an alternative championship-style race, possibly at one of the races of the newly conceived —a series of nine independent international races that began organizing more than a year ago as an alternative to the UTMB circuit but, as of yet, has no major sponsors or prize purse.

Amid the tension, the UTMB World Series is expected to fill its championship fields through its January 11 lottery (revealed on January 16), which, if some athletes choose not to race, will likely mean some new international stars will be crowned in Chamonix.

Trail running is growing on six continents and that growth has boosted the interest to travel to destination races in spectacular places, both for elite athletes and amateur/age-group runners. While large-scale races have contributed a lot to the excitement, growth, exposure, and sponsorship opportunities, the familiar community vibe common to many regional grassroots races—the sometimes overbearing notion of “trail culture”—has proven hard to scale with the growth of large international races. The good news is there are more races around the world and around the U.S.—including the growing race offerings of , and —than ever before, so runners can find events that suits their distance, style (and budget).

4. Marathon Participation Is Surging

Are you running a marathon this year? After several years of decline in the mid-2010s, marathons are back in vogue.

There’s been a new surge in marathon participation afoot in the U.S. since racing resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic. Race participation grew 16 percent in 2022, according to , but data from 2023 is expected to show even bigger gains.

The 2023 Chicago Marathon had more finishers than ever before in 2023 (48,398), while the New York City Marathon came close to its all-time mark with 51,402. Looking ahead, , set for June 22 in Duluth, Minnesota, recently had its second-fastest sellout in the race’s 47-year history, while the March 17 is one of many growing domestic races expecting bigger fields this year.

What’s fueling the boost? There’s been a massive influx of new runners from the Millennial and Gen Z populations, a growing influx of BIPOC runners entering marathons, plus a resurgence of lapsed runners returning to action. Livestream and TV broadcasts of top performances in Boston, Chicago, and New York have also likely helped, as has the huge increase in social influencer video content on and

5. The Rise of Short-Distance Trail Racing

While ultra-distance trail running continues to surge and endure growing pains, most recreational runners still aren’t going to be compelled to enter a 100K or 100-mile race this year. However, short-distance trail racing and mountain running have become a much more accessible and enticing way to get involved in trail running and could be where a lot of trail growth happens in 2024.

Trail races from 5K to the marathon have exploded across the U.S., particularly near major population centers—for example, check out the new just a stone’s throw from Manhattan, outside of Chicago and the west of Los Angeles.

This year, the global Euro-centered has expanded into China and Japan for the first time and now includes two mid-September races in California, the and the . Other key events in the sub-ultra world of trail running include the June 21-23 in Olympic Valley, California, the on July 13 in Snowbird, Utah, the second annual in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is hosting the USATF 10K Trail Running Championship on November 16, the global and series, and the at ski resorts throughout the West.

6. Beer Mile Madness Will Escalate

The intersection of beer and running continues to proliferate by way of post-race beer gardens, runners sponsored by beer brands, and, of course, running of beer miles. (A beer mile consists of pounding a 12-ounce beer, then running a lap on a 400-meter track four times in succession.)

Last summer in Chicago, Canadian beer miler extraordinaire to win the 2023 Beer Mile World Classic in Chicago. (He actually ran about a 4:02 mile if you consider that he had chugged each beer in about four seconds then averaged 60.50 400-meter splits!)

Meanwhile, suspended American track star last summer with a 5:43.81 women’s world record. This year’s championship will be held on August 17 in Windsor, Ontario Canada—Bellemore’s hometown. In the meantime, look for the release of the sometime this spring.

RELATED: How to Run a 4:30 Mile (and Crush Four Beers Along the Way)

7. Track and Field Will Headline the Paris Olympics

The Paris Olympics are shaping up to be a once-in-a-generation event—or at least considerably more exciting and visually compelling than the COIVD-19-dulled Tokyo Olympics of 2021. Slated for July 26-August 11, the Summer Games will showcase the world’s top track and field stars, including Kenyan marathon king Eliud Kipchoge, who seeks an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic gold medal, American track queens Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu, and Sha’Carri Richardson, as well as Norway’s middle-distance phenom Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Swedish world-record pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and U.S. sprint champion Noah Lyles.

Running has never been more competitive and, with the advanced technology of footwear providing an added boost in distance running, sprinting, and field events, the marathons and track and field performances should be out of this world.

RELATED: When Will Eliud Kipchoge Slow Down?

But this summer’s Olympics are not just about watching races unfold. On the night between the running of the men’s marathon on August 10 and the women’s marathon on August 11, the Olympics will also host first-of-its-kind on the adjacent courses through central Paris. The Mass Participation Marathon will begin at 9 P.M. from Paris Hotel de Ville, while the 10K will begin at 11:30 P.M. from Paris City Hall. Both will finish at the historic Hîtel des Invalides. (Sorry, both events are sold out!)

However, if you want to tackle the Olympic marathon course on a treadmill, you can sync up a high-tech treadmill with the indoor training app, which will then display a video recording of the exact route marathoners will run from Paris to Versaille and back. The resistance level and incline of the equipment will be automatically adjusted to match the route on the screen, giving users a unique training experience as close to the real Olympic courses as possible.

8. Marathoners Might Soon Focus on Running in Sydney

If you’ve been chasing a of the Abbott World Marathon Majors—a shiny piece of finisher’s hardware earned once you complete the Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, London and Tokyo marathons—you might need to pack your running shoes on a trip to Australia.

Abbott World Marathon Majors confirmed late last year that the Sydney Marathon became the first race to proceed to the second stage of the process to join the international marathon series. If it meets the appropriate criteria for a second consecutive year when it stages its 2024 race on September 15, it would join the World Marathon Majors in 2025 and become the first new race added to the series since the Tokyo Marathon joined in 2013.

In the meantime, many runners will be heading to Sydney this year because it will host the 2024 Age Group World Championships. (Runners who participate in the 2024 championships will receive a provisional WMM star at the race.)

RELATED: Will Sydney Become the Next World Marathon Major?

The post 8 Things to Get You Psyched About Running in 2024 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

“She needs to stop. Somebody needs to give her some advice to step off and stop trying to run on.”

Watching the BBC’s broadcast of this year’s London Marathon, it was hard to disagree with Paula Radcliffe’s blunt assessment of what looked to be an ill-fated marathon debut for Sifan Hassan, the 30-year-old Dutch national and track star. (Born in Ethiopia, Hassan came to the Netherlands as an asylum seeker while she was still a teenager.) Radcliffe was providing commentary for a race she herself had won three times during her illustrious career.

Hassan was clearly having a rough time, even though it was still the first half of the race. A quad injury she’d sustained toward the end of her training cycle seemed to be flaring up at an inopportune moment. Grimacing and grabbing her left hip, Hassan stopped to stretch not once but twice. She was immediately dropped by a lead pack that included reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir. As a rule of thumb, losing contact with the leaders this early in an elite marathon means that your chances of winning are effectively zero. Even Radcliffe, a notorious grinder in her day, seemed convinced that Hassan would be better off taking a DNF.

But Hassan kept going. As she later explained, she decided that extending her first marathon experience just a bit longer would put her in better stead the next time she attempted something this insane.

“When I reached 20 kilometers, I was like, ‘Let me get one or two more kilometers,’ ” Hassan says.

She got more than that. Against all reasonable expectation, Hassan rallied and regained the stride that has made her a consistent favorite in World Championship and Olympic competition. Meanwhile, the pace was slowing at the front. With a few miles to go, Hassan caught the lead pack, which had been whittled down to four runners, among them Jepchirchir. Hassan was still there when the leaders took the final turn onto the Mall with less than 200 meters to go.

This was bad news for everyone else—Hassan is the ultimate closer, a woman with one of the most notorious kicks in professional running. In London, it wasn’t even close. As soon as she opened up her stride she was gone. Her winning time was 2:18:33—not bad for a novice marathoner. (Currently, the American record for the women’s marathon is 2:18:29.) But Hassan’s finish was less significant than the way she’d managed to bounce back from disaster. It was one of the more improbable comebacks in the history of professional marathoning. Even Hassan sounded incredulous. After the race, when reporters asked her to pinpoint the moment when she thought she could actually win it, Hassan answered: “When I crossed the line.”

It was absurd that Hassan had decided to run the London Marathon in the first place. Less than two years after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, and bronze in the 1,500, she was at the peak of one of the more decorated careers in track. This year she once again committed to racing all three distance events at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In an era of hyper-specialization, when races are won by mere hundredths of a second and athletes are fine-tuned for maximum efficiency at specific distances, this kind of versatility flies in the face of all wisdom. But normal standards don’t seem to apply to Hassan. In fact, she is probably the only professional runner competing today who is capable of throwing down a world-class performance in every event from the 800 meters to the marathon. Later this year, in October, she set a course record in Chicago, running the second-fastest women’s marathon time ever.

“I think I am just a curious person,” Hassan says about her promiscuous approach to racing. “If I were only focused on one thing, I would get bored and stop running.”

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