Olympic Marathoner Jake Riley "There's a big part of me that wants to try and go for a medal"

Jake Riley had a rags to riches story in making the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Team.

In 2018 he hadn't raced in two years and was 50% certain he wouldn't race competitively again. In 2019, he entered the Chicago Marathon thinking he might want to run 2:17 and he ended up running 2:10:36.

Then at the US Olympic Trials he found himself in a 3-way battle for 2 Olympic spots. He finished second and will make his Olympic debut at the end of next week.

Show notes:

2:27 Covid Olympic, no opening ceremony, watch parties and more

7:41 Tokyo preparations / Thread on LetsRun: Jake Riley Has Me Worried

16:34 The heat and course in Tokyo

22:12 Goals for Olympics - "There's a big part of me that wants to try and go for a medal"

27:41 No More Next Time

28:00 On sponsorship / wearing On's super shoe, the Cloudboom Echo in Tokyo

31:08 A look back at his high school and collegiate career. Was his high school class better than Webb, Ritz, and Hall?

34:26 Hanson Brooks 27:59 10k

38:09 Being a pro runner sucks when its not going well

41:38 Halfway to retirement/ achilles surgery/ start of the comeback

45:06 Chicago 2019 - From wanting to run 2:17 to running 2:11 "Screw it, go with the pack as long as you can."

47:17 Glory at Olympic Trials and fear of Leonard Korir

54:58 Chris Derrick / Sara Hall are both not Olympians. Chris Derrick comeback?

59:53 Post Olympic plans

61:57 Jake's number one advice for other runners

63:02 Closing ceremonies

On Running sponsored the Road to the Trials on LetsRun.com. We told them we wanted to talk to Jake after the Olympic Track Trials.

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From the LRC archives: Unsponsored No More: After Earning Olympic Spot, Marathoner Jake Riley Signs with On

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