Our latest podcast features an interview with 94-year old Dr. Ken Cooper, the father of Aerobics. In our view, he has done as much, or more, than any other individual to promote the benefits of running and other consistent exercise.

A star high-school miler in Oklahoma, Cooper ran two Boston Marathons (1962 and 1963) while a student at the Harvard School of Public Health. He improved from 3:54 in his first effort to 3:24 the following year.

Prior to breaking his leg decades ago in a skiing accident, Cooper logged 38,000 miles of running. Since the accident, he has continued a vigorous fitness program that now consists of roughly 50 percent recumbent bicycling and 50 percent strength training.

Beyond his personal example, Cooper spearheaded hundreds of studies at his Cooper Clinic. This research has demonstrated the dramatic mental and physical benefits of regular exercise, which leads not just to longer life but also to a slower onset of cognitive decline.

The author of 20 books, Cooper this summer released Grow Healthier As You Grow Older, available from Amazon and other booksellers.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download our podcast from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple
Spotify
Audible
Pandora
I Heart Radio
YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is a weekly newsletter focused on the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners. It was launched by Amby in 2021, and is now edited by Brady Holmer, exercise physiologist and 2:24 marathon runner.

George and I discuss the biggest wins and most unexpected surprises of the first half of the Tokyo World Championships, then turn our attention to Jeannie Rice. By several measures, she is the world's best marathon runner.

Rice is the first person known to have won her age group in all 7 World Marathon Majors. In six of those, she beat the first male in the age group.

Her scores in the respected Age-Sex Graded Calculator, also put her atop almost all marathon performers.

In this podcast, Rice describes how her astounding age-group success came 30 years after she began with the goal of losing five pounds. Her singular skill: She hasn't slowed down during those 3 decades.

How? Rice laughs and says she doesn't know. Then she talks about how she has maintained a training regimen of 50 miles/week for 40 years ... plus a little more when building up to her several-times-a-year marathons.

If nothing else, Rice stands as a prime example of consistent, dedicated training--week in, and week out.

At her first World Masters Track Championships in Sweden in 2024, Rice won six gold meals, from 800 meters on the track to the half-marathon on the roads.

Next year's World Masters meet in South Korea, where she was born, will serve as strong motivation for 2026.

And then? Rice is already looking forward to turning 80 in 2028, so she can take aim on another set of age-group running records.

For more about Rice, visit JeannieRiceRuns.com.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download our podcast from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."

With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple
Spotify
Audible
Pandora
I Heart Radio
YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels.

"Run Long, Run Healthy" is a weekly newsletter focused on the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners. It was launched by Amby in 2021, and is now edited by Brady Holmer, exercise physiologist and 2:24 marathon runner.

Ben Rosario has done a bit of everything in running, often with an entrepreneurial spirit. As a professional runner for a decade leading up to 2010, Rosario achieved a marathon PR of 2:18:55. For several years, he trained with the highly respected Hansons Brooks team in Detroit.

After that, he opened a retail running store in St. Louis, where he had grown up, and then jumped into his biggest project to date. In 2012 his wife and 1-year-old daughter moved to Flagstaff, AZ, to begin the Northern Arizona Elite training group.

The team was soon sponsored by Hoka, and has played a significant role in USA distance running ever since. Runners from NAZ Elite have scored ten top 10 finishes in World Marathon Majors. Biggest victory? In 2020 Aliphine Tuliamuk won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta.

Rosario left his leadership role at NAZ Elite a year ago. In this podcast, we learned that he and family have recently moved to Phoenix, where he has taken a job as a private school teacher of sixth- and seventh-graders.

He and several business partners have formed a team to organized a unique new approach to marathon running. It's called The Marathon Project, and will be held for the first time in mid-December in Chandler, AZ, just outside Phoenix.

The Marathon Project is actually two marathons on two days. The first, on a Saturday, aims to present a concierge-like, high-service event to all entrants. They will be treated like elite athletes with pacers, special water bottle placements, and easy start-line access. All this on a super flat/fast 4-lap course in conditions likely to be cool and low-humidity.

The next day these Saturday finishers will be able to watch a professional marathon, with $40,000 in cash prizes, on the same loop course.

For more from Ben Rosario, you'll find him here on X.

WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"

Use your smartphone to download our podcast from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport.

"With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.

Apple
Spotify
Audible
Pandora
I Heart Radio
YouTube

"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels."

Run Long, Run Healthy" is a weekly newsletter focused on the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners. It was launched by Amby in 2021, and is now edited by Brady Holmer, exercise physiologist and 2:24 marathon runner.