In this episode we speak with bestselling author Martin Dugard about the inspiring people who made running mainstream. The first NYC Marathon only had 127 runners (only 1 woman). Now it draws over 50,000 runners (half of whom are women) and over 2 million spectators. Martin Dugard explains how we got here. Hear about Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, Bill Rogers, Jim Ryun, and others.

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Martin Dugard is the author of a dozens #1 NYT bestsellers. He is a Fellow of Great Britain’s Royal Geographical Society, board member of USA Track and Field Foundation, and a high school distance running coach.

His new book is called The Long Run: Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and the Decade That Made the Marathon Cool.