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Photo courtesy Nate Jenkins

If ever there was an inspiring comeback story, we’ve got one in Nate Jenkins, who hopes to make a long-awaited return to the marathon in Boston on April 20. Years after finishing 7th at the Olympic Trials in 2007 and losing coordination in one of his legs, Nate discusses his long recovery, his current training, and his hopes for Hopkinton. After the chat with Nate, Gregg and Brenn recap the indoor track season and delve into political issues in the sport. Gregg gives a race report of his Dubai Marathon, where camaraderie trumped competition.

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Kim Conley winning the 3,000m at the Millrose Games, 2014

Kim Conley’s decisive win at the US Half Marathon Championships in Houston served notice that the perpetually improving elite is as dangerous on the roads as she is on the track. In Episode 34, we ask Kim to detail her go-to workout and her thrilling, Houdini-like finishes at the 2012 Olympic Trials and at the 2014 USATF Championships. Elsewhere in the podcast Gregg preps for the Dubai Marathon, names the top distance running events for each month of the year, and defends Internet streaming of races.

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Teen marathon sensation Alana Hadley and her father Mark Hadley join us in episode 33. Alana, who recently won the Indianapolis Marathon in 2:38:34, shares her plans for marathon running between now and the Olympic Trials in 2016. The father/daughter combo field questions on turning pro, potential sponsorships and training groups, and the approach that has brought Alana marathon success at such a young age. After the interview Gregg updates his training for Dubai, and we delve into less cheery subjects of drugs in the sport and the Stephanie Hightower/Bob Hersh vote reversal at the USATF annual meeting.

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It isn’t often that a marathon is won by a grandmaster, but that’s just what happened when Lawrence Warriner descended from Toronto to break the tape at Brooklyn. In our interview, Warriner, 51, describes the race and shares a training regimen that has kept him ahead of the whippersnappers. Elsewhere, we praise another master, Daniel Gercke, on his Philadelphia Marathon, relay Al Michaels’ take on the Zola Budd/Mary Decker tangle from his new book “You Can’t Make This Up,” and jump on the “Queens in the next Brooklyn” bandwagon to resolve the competition among race organizers for access to the streets of New York.

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We’re joined by Desiree Linden in episode 31, just days after her fifth place finish at the New York City Marathon. The uber-cool elite describes her windblown NYC race and outlines the Hansons-Brooks training approach that turned the 2:44 debutante into a 2:22 runner and one of the world’s best. Elsewhere, we recap pros who took flight in the fall marathon season, those whose wings were clipped, and a few missing in action. Brenn details his NYC race where the proof was in the pudding, and Gregg gets on the soapbox to draw inspiration from a race walker.

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Photo courtesy tatyanamcfadden.com

In Episode 30, we preview the New York City marathon with a focus on Tatyana McFadden, the indomitable wheelchair athlete who is seeking a Grand Slam of four major marathon wins for the second consecutive year. Tatyana discusses her road from a Russian orphanage to the pinnacle of track, marathoning, and cross-country skiing. We preview the rest of the elite NYC marathon fields, relay advice from local runners who smashed the three hour barrier at Chicago, and get set for Brenn’s next attempt at 26.2 miles. Finally, Gregg climbs on the soapbox to skewer Russia’s international adoption ban.

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Tyler Pennel, fresh off his U.S. Championships conquest at the Twin Cities Marathon, joins us in Episode 29 to detail his race and fill us in on where he’s going and where he’s been. Can you guess what the ZAP Fitness athlete ran in the half marathon as a sophomore in high school? We take a look at this weekend’s Chicago Marathon, Gregg spans the globe to find the perfect location for his next attempt at cracking 3 hours, and our Soapbox debate about the location of the U.S. Marathon Champs results in a first-round knockout.

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In Episode 28, we digest the daylong street festival of running that is New York City’s 5th Avenue Mile. We’ve got post-race interviews with the pro race winners Jenny Simpson and Jordan McNamara, as well as Brenda Martinez and Irishman Paul Robinson. We also chat with Central Park Track Club masters runner Daniel Gercke, who shares keys to his remarkable improvement after a late start in the sport. Elsewhere in the show, Brenn recounts his double mile, and the recently relocated Gregg offers his first impressions of running in the U.K.

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In Episode 27 we chat with Becky Wade, a bright young star with a global perspective on the sport. Before her debut victory in 2:30:41 at the California International Marathon in December, Becky spent a year on a Watson Fellowship surveying running cultures abroad. Wade is now squarely on the map among elite U.S. distance runners as she prepares with the ASICS Mammoth Track Club for the Chicago Marathon this fall. Elsewhere in the episode, we discuss racing at the NYRR Team Championships in New York, and Gregg sets his sights on the U.K.

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With his American record–tying run in the 25K and wins at Cherry Blossom and Peachtree, Christo Landry has vaulted to the top of the USARC leaderboard. In Episode 26, we ask Christo about his recent emergence, his training, and this fall’s Chicago Marathon, where he hopes to demolish his 2:14:44 PR. http://cloud259.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/episode26.mp3

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