Why We Marathon Alex Elman

Mika is a 47 year old real estate broker in Florida who has completed multiple Miami Marathons and Fort Lauderdale Marathons. Mika is in the middle of a half-marathon challenge where he wants to run a half marathon every single day! He currently is at 250 days in a row and you can follow his journey on Instagram @mikashevit.
During this episode we discuss what motivated Mika to start running at such a late age and how the benefits of running have permeated so many different parts of his life. We also cover his grueling training schedule, how he balances running with raising two kids, and what it's like to run in the Florida humidity.
Mika is an inspiration to anyone looking to start a new running challenge and instill healthier activities in their lifestyle overall.

Taisuk "Tai" Kim is 33 and an Operations Manager at a fashion e-commerce start-up based in NYC. Tai's parents were among the first generation "amateur" runners in Korea. They (and their friends) founded one of the oldest amateur running clubs in the country in the early 2000s. When running was still seen as a strange niche hobby, his mom ran the New York City Marathon in 2000 and his father in 2002. So, growing up, Tai had the chance to see runners and marathon races.

Tai's family moved from Seoul to Boston in 2004. And of course, the first thing my father did was registering for Boston Marathon. 

In 2015, after college and graduate school, Tai moved to NYC for jobs. At that time, for health and fitness, he ran about 4 miles, 4~5 times a week, and was putting in about 30 miles a week. Tai became friends with this one runner (Giordano) who was already into running several marathons. One day, he just suggested Tai run a marathon because he was already somewhat trained. Tai said "yeah why not?" And he made the spontaneous decision to run the Philadelphia Marathon.

Tai loves the Kipchoge quote "No human is limited," and he learned it too as he started to train for marathons. Tai never thought he would be capable of finishing a marathon, sub-3, BQ, or actually run the Boston Marathon.

Listen to the full episode to see how Tai achieved his goals.

Kaitlyn Burrows finished the New York City marathon on a broken foot! Talk about perseverance. In this episode, we cover how Kaitlyn was able to power through the pain and why she wanted to run New York City again. Kaitlyn describes the joys of running and why she loves the humanity surrounding marathon day. Especially around the New York City marathon. 

Kaitlyn also details her experience with the New York Road Runners. She talks about her approach to training and the new Nike shoe strategy she used for this year's marathon to prevent another broken foot.

Running was a hobby when Amritpal started and has firmly become the most important aspect of his life. As a runner, he's always looking to improve. It is the backbone of Amritpal's running journey, harnessed with the belief and motivation that you really have no limits and you can be the best version of yourself. Running, truly brings that out! He covers anything from a 5k up to the marathon distances. Amritpal started off in the marathon at 4hr 42mins down to  2hr 51mins currently, in there he has been able to achieve a lot of his running dreams. Amritpal has run 20 marathons to date and achieved the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star.



Visit his website to learn more about his new coaching programs and follow his running journey on YouTube too!

Austin Prario was born with a serious heart condition and only has three chambers in his heart. Doctors told his parents seven weeks before his birth, and right around the Boston Marathon, that he would never be a varsity athlete or be able to run a marathon. 

The doctors however didn't know Austin's determination or that his father Dave was a runner too. So Dave decided to run the marathon the next year to support Boston Children's Hospital and he carried Austin across the finish line in one of the most memorable Boston Marathon photos ever.

Yet, the running wouldn't stop there and Austin was determined to run the marathon himself. But you need to understand how Austin's heart functions to really appreciate his effort. On a good day it operates at 90 percent capacity but usually, his oxygen levels are in the 80s. Austin has a great analogy to a bike during this episode to really explain how much harder his heart needs to work to receive the same amount of oxygen as a regular heart.

Austin started training for the 2017 Boston Marathon to also raise money for the same doctors that saved his life at Boston Children's Hospital. He became the first person with three chambers in their heart to finish the Boston Marathon and would go on to do it once more in 2019 to help inspire all children with congenital heart disease.

Conveniently, Austin's dad was home during the interview and was able to share his parts of their story too.

Simone Hanlen loves to run but also loves to eat. She is an ultra-marathoner, a tennis coach, a fellow Peloton member, and a huge fan of New York’s amazing restaurant scene. You can follow Simone on Instagram @NYCMuncher to see some of the best eats around the city and get a glimpse into her running life too.

Simone has run a marathon in all 50 states and did a shorter version of the famous 3100 race around one city block in Queens, New York. She has great insight into a variety of scenic marathons and courses all over the country from her travels. Simone and I also share the goal of doing one marathon a year the rest of our lives!

We also cover how Simone has run 5 marathons while pregnant and even had to deal with contractions during one of her race.

Simone and I close out the interview by discussing eating issues and how people can approach eating food in a healthy way.

And just in case you were curious, Simone's favorite NYC bagel place is Zucker's with Ess-a-Bagel in a close second and Mama Too's is her go-to pizza place on the Upper West Side. We of course touch upon the Milano Market, my personal favorite sandwich shop and Simone gives a tip for which location to visit during the episode too.