“You never know which build you're pulling from on race day. The most recent build is the most important build and indicator of what you can do on race day, but there's no reason why you can't be pulling from the Paris build, the Chicago build, and the Olympic Trials build. Fitness stacks over years and that lifetime fitness is just getting really, really big for me. I tried to lean into that. I think I did alright.”

Within the past 14 months, Clayton Young and his training partner Conner Mantz have become synonymous with performing in high stakes marathon racing, finishing neck-and-neck at four marathons. Now, most recently at the New York City Marathon, Clayton crossed the finish line in an impressive seventh place finish just 21 seconds behind Conner Mantz, clocking 2:09:21.

This year has been nothing short of remarkable for Clayton, from the Olympic Marathon Trials to the Paris Olympics and now New York. We've got episodes with him after each one of those. We decided to keep the tradition alive as we dive into how New York City played out and reflect on Clayton's emotional and triumphant year in marathoning. Plus, we get to thinking about what's next in 2025.

Time stamps:

3:46 - Returning to training post-marathon

5:51 - Reflection coming off the NYC Marathon

8:18 - His build leading into NYC: overcoming his achilles injury

11:56 - Pre-race plans with Coach Ed Eyestone

15:19 - Thoughts on the depth of the men’s field

18:57 - Breaking down the first part of the race

22:19 - What happened after crossing the Queensboro Bridge

32:01 - Tracking power (watts) during the race

36:04 - “What ifs” from the race

38:01 - Looking ahead to trying to qualify for the World Championships marathon

42:17 - Future training plans with Conner Mantz

48:08 - How this year transformed his running career

51:10 - Being in the midst of the good ol’ days

56:50 - Underrated/overrated

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Clayton Young | @_clayton_young_ on Instagram

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WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In a fitting theme for the city of Broadway, the 53rd edition of the New York City Marathon was all about breakout stars finally getting their time in the spotlight. Both winners of the men’s and women’s elite races in NYC are frequently recurring characters near the front of major races, but neither had completed a signature performance before today.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won their first World Marathon Major titles by defeating fields full of former NYC champs, with Nageeye outkicking 2022 champ Evans Chebet down the homestretch and Chepkirui beating 2023 champ Hellen Obiri at her own game with a late surge through Central Park.

Time stamps:

Women’s race:

2:10 - Breaking down Sheila Chepkirui’s win

5:03 - Hellen Obiri talking a big game + reflecting on her career

13:20 - Kudos to Vivian Cheruiyot for her third place finish

16:10 - Sara Vaughn’s top American performance

19:42 - More top results: Jess McClain, Sharon Lokedi, Kellyn Taylor, Tristan Van Ord, Dakotah Popehn

22:38 - Reflecting on Jenny Simpson’s career

Men’s race:

26:47 - Breaking down Abdi Nageeye’s win

31:24 - Evans Chebet’s performance, 30th career marathon

33:18 - More top results: Albert Korir, Tamirat Tola

35:19 - Conner Mantz and Clayton Young’s races

39:45 - Kudos to CJ Albertson

More thoughts:

44:27 - 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

48:40 - Valencia Half Marathon recap

54:50 - What’s ahead on the CITIUS MAG Podcast

56:18 - Sydney Marathon becoming the newest World Marathon Major

Mentioned in this episode:

Watch: NYC Marathon Watchalong

Read: Parting Thoughts From The 2024 NYC Marathon: Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui Win + More

Listen: 2024 NYC Marathon Pre-Race With Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Hellen Obiri, Dakotah Popehn, Jess McClain + More

Listen: Jenny Simpson Reflects on Her Career from High School to 2019, Shares 2020 Plans and Hopes

Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram + Isaac Wood | @isaacew on Instagram

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

We opened up The CITIUS MAG Podcast to have ANYONE join us to share their NYC Marathon stories. It’s a rapid-fire, live podcast recording where we don’t know the guests and just want to connect and hear cool stories from the community. Thanks to HOKA for creating a safe and welcoming space for all these people to share their stories with us.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

NAZ Elite's Paige Wood (née Stoner), Abby Nichols and Katie Wasserman join us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

"The marathon is the longest event. You have to believe in yourself: 'I can do this.' It gets tough at the end. If you don't have that belief, if you don't believe in your training, it's going to get tough. It's just the mindset that, 'I can do this, but I need to be patient enough so that I can finish strong."

Wesley Kiptoo of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon. He shares about transitioning from college racing to the marathon, his reflections from his debut marathon, how he prepared for the NYC course, and his race plan for tomorrow.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

"It's more me against the distance instead of me against the field. That's how I like to think of the marathon."

Futsum Zienasellassie of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview ahead of the 2024 NYC Marathon. He shares about how his training block for NYC compared to his training for the U.S. Trials, what it's been like training with teammate Wesley Kiptoo, how he hopes to improve upon his 2:09 PR, and his race plan heading into tomorrow.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

"I want to reach the goals that I know I'm capable of reaching. It's going to require me to do things I have not done in the past. I feel like I just kept doing the same thing over and over in the past where I'm just coming top three, top four, top five. Sometimes I was satisfied with that. But I think if you want to be a champion, you can't be satisfied with that."

Ahmed Muhamed of NAZ Elite sits down with us for a live interview after winning the 2024 Abbott Dash To The Finish Line 5K in 13:38.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.

"The pleasure of being a coach is you get to bear witness to the process of what goes on behind-the-scenes. The fans only get to see what people do for a performance, but you get to know what's actually going on, the ups and downs... It makes those great moments mean even more."

NAZ Elite's Head Coach Jack Mullaney joins us live in New York to reflect on his first year with the team. Jack shares what he loves most about coaching, his philosophy, what the transition was like going from coaching at the college level to pro level, and what's ahead for the team.

The race kicks off on Sunday, November 3rd with the women’s race starting at 8:35am E.T. and the men following at 9:05am E.T. (Don’t forget to set your clock back an hour the night before!) The race will be streamed nationally on ESPN and locally on ABC.

You can read our full NYC Marathon preview here.

CITIUS MAG is proud to partner with HOKA for our coverage of the 2024 NYC Marathon.