26.2 | TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More!

Lead Stories: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

JOSH COX: Interview Excerpts

Posted November 1st, 2007 at 9:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Special Features, Interviews

Below are textual excerpts from my interview with U.S. Olympic Marathon hopeful JOSH COX.

NOTE: To listen to the interview in it’s entirety via Episode 99 of The Final Sprint Podcast, please click here.

In the interview Cox talks about a multitude of topics, such as: Sunday’s U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials, his comeback, his father’s battle with cancer, their father-son relationship, faith, his “calling”, GodTube, Team Running USA, the transition to Mammoth, and much more!

On Competing in Sunday’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials:

“I’m gonna run November 3rd like it’s the last 26.2 miles of my life”

“[Once I’m at that start line] - I’m gonna let it rip. A lot of guys are motivated by a lot of different things but I am running this [race] for my Dad.”

On His Comeback – Physically, Mentally and Emotionally:

“I’m excited that I am excited about running again which is something I hadn’t been for the last two years.”

“I was basically the fat kid when I first showed up to Mammoth] … I am just getting’ my butt handed to me daily by Meb”

“My Dad told me, ‘Just be faithful with what God has entrusted in you’ … [and now when I run] that’s what this is all about.”
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

Runners hit the stairs for China’s Great Wall Marathon

Posted June 15th, 2007 at 2:19 PM by Jessica Galvano

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Great Wall Marathon 26.2 - For some runners, this number means endless months of training, unnatural sweating, and corporal agony. For these runners, 26.2 is simply out of the question.

For others, a deep-rooted affection for the marathon drives them to what many perceive as insanity and is arguably exemplified by those who compete in China’s Great Wall Marathon.

Great Wall Marathon 2 While many people cannot even fathom the physical demands of a typical marathon, some runners continue to test their physical limit with nearly 4 miles of the Great Wall. Even New York’s bridges and Boston’s notorious “Heartbreak Hill” cannot compare to the 3,700 individual steps that make China’s marathon one of the world’s most grueling.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

26.2 - vs. - 13.1:
13.1 reasons for running a half-marathon before attempting your first full

Posted June 4th, 2007 at 6:08 PM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: Running & Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Let’s get this one simple fact straight: you do not have to run a marathon to be considered a “real runner.” Anyone who pounds their feet on the pavement in repetitious monotony, automatically knows how many miles are in a 5K, and doesn’t laugh when someone bellows out the word “fartlek,” is a REAL runner.

But since the running boom officially “boomed” a second time with Oprah’s 26.2 feat in 1994, not to mention her triumphal landing on the cover of Runner’s World magazine, more and more runners continue to spin their feet at the distance. Dubbed “everyman’s Everest’ by former professional runner and current Runner’s World executive editor, Amby Burfoot, the marathon of the twenty-first century attracts everyone from the taut and toned twenty-year-olds to the Ben & Jerry fifty-year-olds. Gone are the days of the first boom where everyone ran hard, everyone ran more than 70 miles per week, and almost everyone belonged to the same gender.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, 410,000 runners hit the finish line last year, as opposed to 277,000 in 1994. And there are no signs of slowing down: the Chicago Marathon shut down registration for its famously flat October race earlier than ever before.

But why the sudden rush to the summit when there at least 13.1 reasons to run a half before you land on top of the world?

Read the rest at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com

One comment, add yours | Permalink