" I think I was just trying to make only running work for me and I just am not the kind of person that can only run. I need other things in my life," shares Jess McClain, who most recently finished 7th overall and first American across the finish line at the 2025 Boston Marathon, in 2:22:43, a 3-minute personal best.

Jess McClain is professional marathoner for Brooks Running. In 2024, she placed 4th at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, placed 4th at the U.S Olympic Track & Field Trials in the 10,000m, won the 2024 U.S. 10K road championships, and placed 8th overall at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. In other words: She had a big year!

McClain went on to PR in the 10K on the track, placed 4th at the US Half-Marathon Championships in March, and again, 7th at the 2025 Boston Marathon. This time around, as a professional runner for Brooks once again, she's doing things differently. She's clearer on what works well for her, when it comes to work, life, and running competitively, and she's leaving her own footprint on the sport because of that.

She joins the Lane 9 podcast to talk about all of the following:

• lessons learned by underfueling and overtraining for the marathon (a sacral stress fracture in 2022 became a reset for her)
• why she sticks to about half the weekly mileage of her fellow professional runners when training for the marathon (at least for now!)
• her experiences on competitive high school and collegiate track and cross country teams, the team cultures around fueling and periods, and what she learned from her coaches along the way
• her first experience as a professional runner—plagued with injuries, stress, and setbacks
• why she came back to compete at the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2024, and what she thought would happen after that race
• how she's fueling NOW for her marathon training and racing, and her pro tips for finding gels/fueling options that work well for you
• and how she loves to celebrate after her races

Follow McClain on Instagram @JessTonn.

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