In Episode 413 of Airey Bros Radio we sit down with Chris Lear — the voice of American distance running and co-author of Beyond Fast: How a Renegade Coach and His Unlikely High School Team Revolutionized Distance Running (with Andrew Greif & Sean Brosnan).Lear’s work has shaped how an entire generation understands the sport through three modern classics:

• Running with the Buffaloes — inside Mark Wetmore’s legendary 1998 Colorado squad
  
  
• Sub 4:00 — Alan Webb’s wild, painful, electrifying chase for the mile
  
  
• Beyond Fast — the Newbury Park XC revolution under Coach Sean Brosnan
  
  

We talk origin stories, writing, culture and what really separates good programs from all-time great ones. From Summit, NJ and Pingry to Princeton, Boulder, Ann Arbor and Newbury Park, this one is a masterclass in storytelling and running culture.In this episode, we cover:

• Chris’s origin story in running and growing up a “slow twin” turned 4:09 miler
  
  
• How a legendary high school coach and a sub-6 t-shirt club lit the spark
  
  
• The making of Running with the Buffaloes and why it almost didn’t get published
  
  
• Inside Sub 4:00 — injuries, doubt and what Alan Webb taught Chris about toughness
  
  
• How Beyond Fast came together with Sean Brosnan & Andrew Greif
  
  
• What makes Newbury Park’s training model different — and why it could change US distance running
  
  
• Culture, buy-in and why 17-for-17 PRs matter more than times on paper
  
  
• Getting back into running as a busy dad with a full-time job
  
  
• Gambling, baseball cards & why Chris wants track & field trading cards to exist
  
  

If you love distance running, high school XC, coaching, writing, or just good stories told well, this one is for you.🎙 Airey Bros Radio — shining a light on the programs, coaches & storytellers we wish we had growing up.

SHOW NOTES & TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Why Airey Bros Radio covers JUCO, NAIA, D2/D3 and the “Power 4” media gap
1:41 – Official Howdy & Aloha intro + full bio for guest author Chris Lear
4:00 – Last Chance U, JUCO storytelling & dreaming of a XC/wrestling doc series
4:32 – Where to find Beyond Fast, Running with the Buffaloes & Sub 4:00
5:02 – NJ lightning round: pork roll vs Taylor ham & is Central Jersey real?
6:11 – Jersey thru-lines: Terrence Fagan, 90s distance legends & toughness
8:09 – Chris’s origin story in running: Summit NJ, Mr. Keebler & the sub-6 t-shirt club
10:06 – From worst football team in school history to “no politics in track”
13:30 – Twin rivalry: “slow twin vs good twin,” the mile, and first sub-5 experience
16:23 – Coach Meg Waldron, Bernards HS monsters & discovering great running books
19:03 – Reading everything: Once a Runner, Friday Night Lights & wanting better running stories
20:53 – Princeton, sociology, thesis writing & the seed that led to Running with the Buffaloes
21:53 – Covering Colorado & Webb in real time vs. writing Beyond Fast from afar
24:00 – How the Beyond Fast collaboration actually worked (Lear + Brosnan + Greif)
29:39 – What great programs share: culture, trust & wanting something bigger than yourself
33:07 – What makes Newbury Park’s training different and why coaches say it could change the sport
35:15 – Where the Newbury Park boys are now & why they weren’t “burned out” in high school
37:59 – Building culture from scratch, patience in coaching & Rich’s 17-for-17 PR 5K story
41:05 – Getting back into running in midlife, true easy days & avoiding the classic “old guy injury” loop
45:02 – How big projects change you and why Chris is now getting up at 3 a.m. to run
47:59 – Balancing a demanding day job, family life & a passion-project book
49:54 – The long road of Running with the Buffaloes: self-publishing, rejection & cult status
53:59 – How Sub 4:00 helps injured athletes + where running and wrestling cultures overlap
56:35 – Short kings, weight classes & why wrestling and distance running feel like “home”
58:18 – Process over outcomes, consistency, and why improving still feels magical
1:01:03 – Final Four: coffee rituals, daily practices, playlists, podcasts & what Chris is reading
1:05:39 – Guilty pleasures: casinos, sports betting & the Mickey Mantle/Yogi Berra grail card
1:08:10 – Dreaming up track & field trading cards + closing thoughts & upcoming Airey Bros episodes

LINKS
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