Chill Track Friday

Anthony Peña is the guy you always hope to find and run with in a race...IF you can keep up with him. Anthony is a calm, steady, decisive, intelligent and wise runner. These qualities make him a superlative coach as well. If you know Anthony then you know he is a wealth of knowledge and also kindness and encouragement. He is always willing to share his experience and tips with anyone who asks. Eve...

Celebrate! It’s the end of 2019 and the end of an expansive year for our ourselves and for Chill Track Friday. In honor of this amazing year we have a very special episode and we are so excited to share it with you. As our first production year draws to a close, we compiled all the episode Training Tips into one, inspiration-filled episode. We hope you enjoy this gift and that it provides humor, i...

In her application to be a Featured Athlete during her training for the TCS New York City Marathon on November 3, Andrea posed many of her marathon goals as questions: “Can I still get faster? How much of that is mental and how much is physical? How do I push myself and still stay on the right side of injury? And how do I balance the time demands of training with parenting?” These are questions th...

Brian is an experienced and skilled runner. He is also a coach and an important mentor to the Chill Track Friday coaches. When Brian applied to be a Featured Athlete we were delighted, yet surprised. We wondered what more we could offer him than what he already has. That’s one of Brian’s defining characteristics, though: he maintains a beginner’s mindset and is willing to learn from whomever he ca...

In her application to be a Featured Athlete while training for the BMW Berlin Marathon, Melissa described herself as someone who had been running on-and-off for years. Initially she ran once a week to lose weight; she did not yet understand what “training” was. After running a few races with friends however, Melissa realized that she loved the race atmosphere and wanted more. She was still showing...

The TCS New York City Marathon is nine days away. To celebrate the beginning of race week, Chill Track Friday sat down with Michael Capiraso, President and C.E.O. of New York Road Runners, to discuss all things marathon, and all things Michael. Whether you are running the marathon this year, cheering, have run the race before, or aspire to be among the field in the future, this episode will energi...

Sid Howard ran his first marathon in 1978 at the age of 39. He ran eight more marathons until finally deciding to forego the distance in order to focus on racing the mile. This decision allowed his talent to truly shine. Over a long career, Sid continued to surpass his own performances. Sid has earned over fifty National masters titles, six U.S. records, five world records, eight world championshi...

Megan Foster is smart, talented, funny, and no-nonsense. She is an artist and a runner and in both endeavors embodies the ideals of hard work, perseverance, and committing to long-term goals. Megan patiently does the work required to pursue her passions, all the while trusting the process and remaining focused. Megan is a master printmaker and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. She is a...

Matthew Futterman is a captivating storyteller. He’s also a pretty fast runner who has finished 23 marathons. Combine these two talents and you get a man who’s passionate about running and always looking for a good story to tell. Enter Coach Bob Larsen and the Southern California runners whom he molded into national long-distance running champions. After learning about Larsen and his Jamul Toads t...

Chill Track Friday is about the journey. It is about our personal stories, shared passions, and commitment to goals. Most importantly, Chill Track Friday is about sharing our stories with others. We all have our own journey, but throughout our life we will share our journey with many different people. Sometimes the shared journey lasts a short time, while other times it lasts for many years, perha...

Christine Burke ran her first marathon alongside her parents when she was a sophomore in college. Running has been a through line in her life ever since. Christine has completed 26 marathons and one Ironman triathlon. Christine has an innate drive to challenge herself in all realms of life. She is a mother, businesswoman, Ironman, and the Burke family running coach. She is a role model and inspira...

Very few people can keep up with Roberta Groner. This past April, she ran 2:29:06 at the NN Marathon Rotterdam, and in September, she’ll be one of three women on the United States marathon team at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha. Roberta will also be among the elite field at the TCS New York City Marathon on November 3, 2019, and in February of 2020, she’ll toe the line at the Olymp...

Adrian Brune is passionate about “The Story.” She has been searching for it from a very young age so it is no surprise that Adrian is a journalist. Adrian is also an athlete. Perhaps, then, it was inevitable that her talents would converge. Adrian is curious, inquisitive, courageous, and resilient, and she exhibits all of these qualities in both her career and in her athletic pursuits. After a ten...

We can start our day over again at any moment. Similarly, we can work towards changing the direction of our life at any moment. For some, change requires only little tweaks. For others though, a complete tearing down and rebuilding is required to save one's life. Fortunately, in 2015 Jon Tascher got the message loud and clear: something had to change, and now! At the outset of his new beginning, J...

John Honerkamp, Founder and President of Run Kamp, LLC is a rare blend of running talent, creativity, entrepreneurial vision, drive, and resources. The result is that John regularly helps hundreds of thousands of people incorporate running into their daily lives. Recognizing needs within the running community, John draws from his experience, and his ability to see where he can contribute, to colla...

John Honerkamp, Founder and President of Run Kamp, LLC is a rare blend of running talent, creativity, entrepreneurial vision, drive, and resources. The result is that John regularly helps hundreds of thousands of people incorporate running into their daily lives. Recognizing needs within the running community, John draws from his experience, and his ability to see where he can contribute, to colla...

Luis Porto is a dynamic powerhouse. He is humble, dignified, courageous and a sportsman of the highest caliber. He is a tenacious and determined competitor who, through each race and every new goal, continues to build his competitive edge. An aspiring 200m sprinter at the age of 8, Luis eventually found his groove in the mile. Over the course of many years he has patiently tested the limits of his...

Dr. Barbara Mann is an inspiration. She is a dedicated mother of twin girls, a doctor at a renowned hospital in New York City, and an athlete at the top of her game: Barbara regularly age places in New York Road Runner races; she is a pace leader at large city races, all the while pursuing her own aggressive running goals. Barbara began running at a young age. She was subsequently dissuaded from h...

THE SCENE: The Bronx, 1970s THE STORY: Two champion runners, one with the soul of a miler, the other with gold-medal Olympic marathon dreams. Ken Rolston and Ernie Rivas ran in the same circles but for many years their paths did not cross. Finally they met through a mutual friend who was also the captain of the Lehman College cross country team. Their mutual admiration and competitive natures igni...

THE SCENE: The Bronx, 1970s THE STORY: Two champion runners, one with the soul of a miler, the other with gold-medal Olympic marathon dreams. Ken Rolston and Ernie Rivas ran in the same circles but for many years their paths did not cross. Finally they met through a mutual friend who was also the captain of the Lehman College cross country team. Their mutual admiration and competitive natures igni...

Athletes are naturally inclined to focus on performance goals. We balance training with recovery in pursuit of the best possible race performance, sometimes coming up against, or even crossing the fine line between peak fitness and over-training. Perhaps a more sustainable approach for long-term success lies in directing additional attention to injury prevention in the name of performance. After a...

What is it like to coach the cross country / track and field program at an NCAA Division 1 college? How does a coach guide multiple high-level athletes, all with different training backgrounds, goals, and notions of what they would like to accomplish? Mitchell Thornton navigates this landscape with authority and pragmatism. Sifting through much experience, and employing the powers of observation a...

George Mendes is a determined and compassionate individual. He is a humble perfectionist who does what it takes to “get it done!” George is not swayed by challenges and, in fact, he rises to meet them with creativity and quick thinking. George is the Chef and owner of Aldea Restaurant in New York City. George puts his heart and his soul into his craft and it is abundantly clear; Aldea has been awa...

How does one craft the elements that will allow the greatest chance for success? In this episode Ben Delaney shares his experience answering the questions he asks himself as he continues to pursue his potential in running. For Ben, trusting the process, fixing what doesn’t work, perfecting a running “recipe,” and sharing his experience with others are the factors that have unlocked the door to a n...

In this two-part episode we interview Stuart Calderwood about track racing and about coaching runners. Stuart has coached runners since his freshman year in high school. During his 11 years as a head cross-country coach in California, his Laguna Beach High School boys’ team won the 1989 State Championship and his Orange Coast College men’s team won the 1988 South Conference championship. In 2003 S...