Marathon Talk Episode 29: Catherine Debrunner

After a thrilling season, the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series reached its conclusion in New York last weekend.

While some divisions had already been decided, there was real drama in the elite women's wheelchair division, with four athletes in contention to take the top prize. By Sunday evening, this week's guest, Catherine Debrunner, reigned supreme and finished the year as the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series champion.

Her series culminated in a stunning three wins on the bounce in arguably the best year of her career to date, and we're fortunate to have her join us on Marathon Talk this week to give us more detail on her race, her training, and her thoughts on a truly remarkable season.

Elsewhere on the show, we take a closer look at what went down in Central Park on Sunday. We have news of Kelvin Kiptum's next shot at the sub-two-hour race, and we get the inside scoop from Deena on what it's like commentating to the world!

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In this episode of Marathon Talk

0:00 - Deena’s recovery from a 25-hour trip home from New York & the excitement of commentating on the world feed

11:20 - Rounding up a thriller in NYC with a course record broken, close call in the women’s race, and Marcel Hug completing the clean sweep

33:50 - Catherine Debrunner joins us to break down her HUGE 2023, becoming Series XV Champion, the challenges of NYC street racing, and much more

Episode keywords

Marathon talk, abbott world marathon majors, marathon running, distance running, endurance marathon, marathon training, endurance training, london marathon, berlin marathon, boston marathon, chicago marathon, tokyo marathon, new york marathon, six star finisher, catherine debrunner, abbott world marathon majors champion

Episode highlights
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“New York City was such a thrilling day. It's the best day in New York City all year long, and the competitions did not disappoint. ” - 11:20 - Deena Kastor

“What about Marcel Hug? What a perfect season - he won all six majors and took another series title, getting a six Star Medal for winning all six races. There are only two of those in existence. ” - 26:00 - Martin Yelling

“Will we see in the Olympic Games a head to head for a title and in the handing of the baton, you know, the handing over of the Olympic champion and kind of greatest of all time, I guess, if Kiptum takes an Olympic title and the world record away from Kipchoge in 2024.” - 32:00 - Catherine Debrunner

“In a marathon, it's a journey, and it's a very long race so the emotions grow. Together with the crowds on the site, with the atmosphere, they carry you into the finish, and that's very special compared to the track.” - 38:00 - Catherine Debrunner

“Having those abilities from the track helps you a lot to be an even better marathon racer. On the other hand, since I'm training for marathons, my feeling to go close to the limit has changed a lot.” - 50:20 - Catherine Debrunner

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