We've just about recovered from an exhilarating weekend of racing at the Tokyo Marathon. Not only did we see one of the closest finishes to an elite race, we also witnessed a remarkable Guinness World Record, as over 3,000 athletes collected their Six Star medals, making this the most decorated Six Star race in history!
One of those 3,000 was Dr Steve Sigmund, and we caught up with him on Marathon Talk this week to hear more about his heartwarming journey to that finish line.
Beyond our record breakers, we round up the rest of the news from around the world of elite running, we have more preparation tips for your next spring marathon, national record-breaking runs, and so much more…
In this episode of Marathon Talk:
- 0:00 - Deena’s preparation (or lack thereof) for Paris and Martin’s parkrun gains
- 9:40 - Rounding up Tokyo’s staggering runs and sprint finishes, plus a look at Eilish McColgan’s chances in the TCS London Marathon next month
- 24:50 - Training Talk: we’re guiding you towards a spring marathon, looking at speed sessions in your final six-week run-up
- 31:00 - Deena talks to the incredible Dr Stephen Sigmund, who balanced emergency work with training, and joined the world record-breaking Tokyo race to achieve his Six Star Finish
Episode highlights
“I have mental strength going for me. That's the only thing I have on my side is the will to go, to keep moving. It's going to be a sufferfest and I have to acknowledge that it's going to be really painful. ” - 4:10 - Deena Kastor
“Nobody wants a marathon to come down to a sprint finish, that just has to hurt so badly. But seeing the top nine men under two hours, six minutes and Cam Levins lowering his Canadian record was so impressive.” - 12:05 - Deena Kastor
“The TCS London Marathon is coming up in April and toeing the line will be Ailish McColgan. I am quite excited about seeing her debut, especially as she has just run a new British record for 10,000 meters on the track in California last weekend.” - 20:20 - Martin Yelling
“You can still do a higher intensity lower volume session right up until marathon race week, particularly in the early part of race week, so long as you're not taking any injury or health risks because you don't wouldn't want to undo all that work.” - 30:10 - Martin Yelling
“Because of my schedule, and particularly the difficult times during COVID, I had to train alone a lot. But those times when I'm with the girls and able to train, and beyond that when we go on trips, it makes the rest of the world and time just wash away.” - 36:50 - Dr Steve Sigmund
“Just thinking about I still get a little tearful, it was such a feeling that as you see this line coming in front of you, and you're getting closer and closer, you just hear in your head, ‘I'm doing it, I'm really doing this’.” - 46:35 - Dr Steve Sigmund
“It's just a group of doctors, we all work together in a diligent way until our work is done. Now one of the beauties is they've been so supportive to everything I'm doing, and having flexibility with my schedule. When those long runs start happening, and you have to put in big mileage, it's challenging to get it in with a work schedule.” - 1:00;55 - Dr Steve Sigmund
“The kinship - you feel so close to your fellow runners so quickly, it's an amazing feeling and you're so blessed to have it.” - 1:05:30 - Dr Steve Sigmund
