Kenny Bednarek After Making $300K Off 30 Seconds Of Racing To Win The 100m & 200m At World Ultimate Championships
The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field ShowShow Notes
Once I crossed the finish line it was more like relief. You always know you can do it, but once you finally do it you’re like: okay. Now we’ve got that check mark. Now we’re on to the next thing.” Kenny Bednarek is the first man in history to win both the 100 and 200 meters at a single World Ultimate Championships, which he did in Budapest last week. Two gold medals, roughly 30 seconds of combined running, and a $300,000 payday. Kenny has been one of the most decorated sprinters in the world for several years — two Olympic silver medals in the 200, a world championship silver, and a personal best of 19.52 that puts him among the fastest 200 runners in history. But individual gold at a global championship had not happened yet. This season had one overriding goal — set before World Ultimates existed on the calendar — and it was not about times. It was about executing when it counts. He opened his 200 season in 19.69, confirmed it was automatic, then pivoted. At the Silesia Diamond League in Poland he ran 9.87 and felt he had more. He carried that into Budapest. Two days before the 100 final, the block starts were clicking so cleanly that he turned to us at the press conference and said: watch the 100. He knew. In this conversation, we go deep on all of it — what the championship finally felt like after years of silver, what two years of training next to Christian Coleman did to his start, what he had to unlearn about those final twenty meters where the form used to break down, why he thinks Budapest was a 9.7 race in warmer conditions, the world record conversation he almost never has out loud, what he wants World Ultimates to keep, and why he thinks the sport grows when people see who these athletes actually are. ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS OLIPOP: OLIPOP's Citrus Rush packs apple, lemon, lime, and orange juices with 60mg of green tea caffeine for a bold, refreshing blast of flavor ready to fuel your next adventure. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about! Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders. ALTRA: The new Vanish Carbon 3 was built for race day. A patent-pending split-toe carbon plate delivers the rigidity you need for speed while letting the big toe engage in a more powerful way. Underneath it, a supercritical two-piece full PEBA foam — Altra’s lightest and most responsive ever. And Altra’s Racing FootShape leaves room for your toes to splay and generate power. Don’t just run. Vanish. Head to AltraRunning.com and use code CITIUS10 for 10% off your first purchase. SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2.
More from The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show
“Going into my first one, we played it pretty safe. We really wanted to work on strength and didn’t touch much work faster than 5:00/mile pace. Then going into Boston, we pushed the envelope a little bit — like, okay, we’ve got one on the board, let’s go for a big one.” We’re kicking off our pre-NYC Marathon interviews and my guest for today’s episode is Joe Klecker — an Olympian, 2026 Boston Marathon top-ten finisher, and in eleven days, a returning TCS New York City Marathon competitor. He ran 2:05:56 at Boston in the spring, which puts him in the conversation with everyone we’ve been talking about this fall, and he goes into New York off what he described to me as his best training block yet. There were seven weeks above 130 miles and a peak at 135. This is a training-heavy discussion for the freaks. I think the part I enjoyed the most was thinking through with Joe on his theory of what a former 5K and mile specialist has to do to actually become a marathoner from the inside out? That was him. He’s spent the last two marathon builds trying to rewire his physiology for an event that is fundamentally different from everything he trained for across the first fifteen years of his running life. He ran 60:02 at the NYC Half in the spring. He shares basically all of it on Strava and through his Suunto posts on Instagram. So for the training obsessives, we talk mileage, the fueling evolution from New York to Boston to now, what he wants to fix from last year’s race, how he thinks about the OAC internal competition with Patrick Kiprop and Ryan Ford, who are all set to race alongside him. ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2. KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app. WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate your goal marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, and no breaking your flow. When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
LA28 OLYMPIC MARATHON QUALIFICATION DETAILS ARE HERE. World Athletics has outlined how athletes can qualify for the 2028 Olympic marathon: - Qualification window: Nov. 1, 2026 – April 30, 2028 - 70 quota places per gender (down from 80 in Paris) - Entry standards to be finalized in December - Top 5 at a Platinum Label marathon counts toward the entry standard - World Rankings will help fill the remaining places - March 19, 2028: Top 55 on the filtered quota list are locked in That last date is especially important for Team USA. It’s six days before the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis, meaning the Americans could have all three men’s and three women’s Olympic quota places secured before race day. We broke down the rules, the Boston Marathon wrinkle, potential qualifying standards and why we feel better about the U.S. avoiding a repeat of the 2024 qualification headache. ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2. KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app. WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate your goal marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, and no breaking your flow. When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
“I’ve watched too many Chicago Marathons. I’ve been in too many Chicago Marathons. My experience in this race is unparalleled right now — and it felt good when it mattered on Sunday.” Clayton Young is the top American at the 2026 Chicago Marathon, now officially the second-fastest American in history on a record-eligible course with a 2:05:23. He did it on a hamstring with a 12-centimeter tear that his doctor had recommended four weeks of rest for. The race itself was one of the more dramatic in recent American marathon history. Vinny Mauri went to the front at 15K, dropped the pacers, and made a genuine bid for something bigger — at 30K he had 38 seconds on the rest of the Americans and was on 2:04 pace. Then it was his hamstring that started talking. He stopped several times to stretch in the final miles, the chase pack caught him. Charles Hicks surged hard trying to catch Mauri after the pacers stepped off, and Clayton simply followed before making his big move with a 4:38 mile. Clayton was chasing Connor Mantz’s American record of 2:04:43 the whole time since he he called that shot publicly weeks ago — and it didn’t happen. But he ran his fastest time ever, finished seventh overall in a field that included the likes of Amos Kipruto and Jacob Kiplimo… again, he did it all while managing a torn hamstring he’d been babying for a month. He called it one of the best marathon performances of his career. I agree. We discuss: – The night-before meeting with Coach Eyestone – The chaos of those Mauri miles – The moment he decided to throw down – The faith that carried him through four weeks nobody could have scripted – What comes next for the hamstring, the spring, and 2027 + More ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2. KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app. WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate your goal marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, and no breaking your flow. When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
"I’m coming away happy with taking a big swing at it. It’s better to hit the wall early than in March of ’28 or at something that matters a little bit more.” My guest for today’s episode is Vinny Mauri. And Sunday’s Chicago Marathon was exactly as exciting as you hoped it would be thanks to him. At 15K, running 2:04 pace in his first world major, Vinny looked around, decided that was too conservative, and made a move for something he described as “astronomical”. He led the Americans by 38 seconds at 30K. He was on American record pace at mile 21. And then the hamstrings started talking, he had to stop and stretch about six times in the final ten miles, and he finished tenth in 2:06:45. He also still managed to walk away with the U.S. 30K record. Vinny is 25 years old, still self-coached, still working at Second Sole in Niles, Ohio, now signed with ASICS, and now in two marathons has run 2:05 and 2:06 — one alone on a bike path and one in the lead pack of the Chicago Marathon where he spent the first nine miles fist-bumping his competition (who maybe didn’t hit him back) and making faces at his family on the sidelines. He says his third marathon will be a little different. He said so himself on Strava that he’ll plan to take it a bit more seriously. People who don’t know him might read that as disrespect for the distance. People who do know him understand it’s the opposite. In this conversation, we discuss: – The weekend vibe he and his girlfriend set for themselves the moment they landed in Chicago – The start tent energy – The Strava post that previewed everything – The green light moment at mile nine when he decided to go – The stops to stretch and what he was calculating each time – The moment Clayton and Charles caught him and he waved them on – What he’s actually going to change for the next block. – We also get into the four hours in the drug testing room and his belated celebration for it all ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2. KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app. WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate your goal marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, and no breaking your flow. When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
I always want to take it in and appreciate it because I feel so lucky to get to have those moments. And I know it takes a village.” Emma Grace Hurley ran 2:20:47 at the 2026 Chicago Marathon on Sunday — the fastest marathon debut by an American woman in history, breaking a record that stretches back to Deena Kastor in 2001 and runs through Kara Goucher, Jordan Hasay, and Fiona O’Keeffe. She finished seventh overall on a warm day where most of the lead women finished minutes off their goal times or didn’t finish at all. She did it mostly alone aside from the miles shared with her pacemaker Caleb Kerr. If you’ve been following Emma Grace’s year — the 8K American record in Chicago in March, the USATF 10-Mile title at Cherry Blossom, the Copenhagen team silver — none of this is entirely surprising. But it is also only her first marathon, and she is already the sixth-fastest American woman in history at the debut. We discuss: – The feelings from race day and the aftermath – Her Debrief with Coach Andrew Begley and Race Takeaways – How she fueled for this one – What made Chicago feel different – The baby steps that got her here – Thinking back to her half marathon and marathon debut – Race day execution – The cameraman, the watch, the finish – Izzi Batt Doyle and the “American Battle” confusion – The Champions dinner and meeting Joan Benoit Samuelson – Ranking her American records – The U.S. debut record and the lineage from it – The press conference word game + More ____________ SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SUUNTO: The Suunto Run 2 is their new flagship watch built specifically for road running and the marathon. You get around 10 days of battery with daily use and 24 hours in performance mode with dual frequency GPS. The watch also tracks your sleep, HRV, and training balance, so you know when to push and when to back off in your workouts. If you're in the market for a new watch, check out the Suunto Run 2. KAIZEN: kaizen is a training app that starts with your running history to set the baseline and then updates around the training you do. kaizen looks at the bigger picture of your training to know your current fitness. The app translates your last few months of training into an accurate view of how your current fitness, taking a big picture view that quiets the noise of individual workouts. Download today in the App Store or Google Play and get two weeks free with code CITIUS within the app. WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate your goal marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, and no breaking your flow. When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.