1,000 Miles on a Track, Sawe to Berlin, Kejelcha to Valencia, Soweto Pay Scandal & Is Bolt the GOAT?
The Running Story | Marathon Handbook NewsShow Notes
The fall marathon season is already taking shape and Michael Doyle and Jessy Carveth are here to break it all down. On this episode of The Running Story, the team runs through the five biggest stories from the past week in running. In this episode: The Soweto Marathon prize-money scandal — six months after the November 2025 race, the winners are still owed roughly $15,000, runners-up about $7,000, and the South African government is now threatening to step in. We unpack the broken sanctioning process, why the doping-results excuse fell apart, and the criminal charges that could be coming for the organizers. Mason Wright runs 1,000 miles on a Utah high school track — 18 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes, roughly 4,000 laps, and only the third person in history to finish the distance on a track. We talk about the mental load, the nerve damage by halfway, and where this fits next to Yiannis Kouros and Ned Brockman. The fall marathon field is set up early: Sabastian Sawe is officially racing the Berlin Marathon on September 27, Yomif Kejelcha is heading to Valencia on December 2 (with a $1 million-euro world-record bonus on the line), and Jacob Kiplimo is reportedly bound for Chicago. Who are we more excited to watch? Can either of them run sub-2 again without the other one in the race? A 15-year-old girl dies at the Leiden Half Marathon — and the conversation about minimum age limits in distance running comes roaring back. We get into how she was able to enter a 16+ race, the differences between European and North American bib pickup and ID checks, and why this debate shouldn't need a tragedy to happen. Sports scientists name the GOATs — a team of 16 researchers, published in Sports Medicine, used Olympic medals, world championship titles, world records, and record longevity to rank running's greatest. Usain Bolt and Faith Kipyegon take the top spots. We debate the men's and women's top five (Bekele, Johnson, Gebrselassie, Nurmi; Dibaba, Fraser-Pryce, Hassan, Ottey), the apples-to-oranges problem of comparing sprinters to marathoners, and the glaring omissions of Eliud Kipchoge and Kelvin Kiptum. Plus: Jessy's impromptu 5K podium ("Running Revenge Vol. 2"), and a preview of the new Alex Cyr / Alexis podcast dropping into this feed soon.
More from The Running Story | Marathon Handbook News
Ultra legend Courtney Dauwalter is heading back to the roads. She’s racing the California International Marathon (CIM) in December to chase the 2:37 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials standard. On this week’s episode of The Running Story, Michael and Jessy go through the top running news of the week, recorded in person in Toronto following the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Marathon Budget Episode: https://youtu.be/iOX5QNbZXb8?si=BHmCFaOc-aFt3ubN NYC MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 31st Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-nyc-2026-tickets-2002340913574 Join Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub Shop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.com Send us a question: https://marathonhandbook.com/podcast/ Join our newsletter: https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/
Recorded live and in person in Chicago, hours after the finish, Michael Doyle and Jessy Carveth break down the 2026 Chicago Marathon and the week’s other top running stories. TORONTO MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 17th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-toronto-2026-tickets-2002512056467 NYC MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 31st Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-nyc-2026-tickets-2002340913574 Join Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub Shop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.com Send us a question: https://marathonhandbook.com/podcast/ Join our newsletter: https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/
The 2026 Chicago Marathon is almost here, and in this bonus episode of The Running Story, Michael Doyle and Jessy Carveth cover everything you need to know before race day. We love Wahoo’s KICKR RUN treadmill – go to https://wahoofitness.com and use promo code MHRUN to get a free $319 KICKR Headwind Fan with your treadmill order. Join our Chicago Shakeout Run on 10th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002027257420 Tickets for our live show, MILE ZERO presented by Zappos: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-presented-by-zappos-chicago-2026-tickets-2001880670976 TORONTO MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 17th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-toronto-2026-tickets-2002512056467 Join Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub Shop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.com Send us a question: https://marathonhandbook.com/podcast/ Join our newsletter: https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/
It's Chicago Marathon week! Michael Doyle and Jessy Carveth go through the week's top running news. Join our Chicago Shakeout Run on 10th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002027257420 Tickets for our live show, MILE ZERO presented by Zappos: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-presented-by-zappos-chicago-2026-tickets-2001880670976 TORONTO MILE ZERO LIVE SHOW, 17th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-toronto-2026-tickets-2002512056467 Join Marathon Handbook's RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub Shop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.com Send us a question: https://marathonhandbook.com/podcast/ Join our newsletter: https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/
In this week's episode of The Running Story, who cover how Tigst Assefa was on world record pace at the 2026 Berlin Marathon until the final 2K. Assefa still won in a course record of 2:11:04, even though she appeared to suffer an Achilles injury around 40K. Early reports suggest a partial tear. Guye Adola won the men's race in 2:02:50, his first personal best in almost ten years. We also cover Josh Kerr's 1,000m time trial at altitude in Albuquerque, which came within 0.83 seconds of Emmanuel Wanyonyi's world record before the Ultimate Championship. Join our Chicago Shakeout Run on 10th Oct: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2002027257420 Tickets for our live show, MILE ZERO presented by Zappos: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marathon-handbook-live-mile-zero-presented-by-zappos-chicago-2026-tickets-2001880670976 Join Marathon Handbook’s RunClub for access to our members-only podcast, training plans, community rooms, merch and more: https://marathonhandbook.com/runclub Shop Marathon Handbook Merch: https://store.marathonhandbook.com Subscribe to our newsletter: https://marathonhandbook.com/newsletter/