Athletics Ontario Running Podcast · John Shep

EP 188: Ben Preisner - Tokyo-Bound: An Elite Runner's Path to 2025 World Marathon Championships

·36 min·2 clips

Ben says missing Paris came from “too many little injuries here and there,” not one big collapse.

1. Athletics Ontario Running Podcast features Ben Preisner, an elite marathoner from Milton, Ontario, talking about his path to the 2025 World Marathon Championships in Tokyo. 2. Host John Shep frames Preisner as an Ontario runner whose results matter because he has moved from high school cross country to international marathons. 3. The episode asks how a hockey player from Milton became a world-class runner and what it takes to stay competitive after Tokyo, Paris, and Edmonton. 4. Preisner says Milton changed a lot while he was growing up and that he played hockey with the Milton Winterhawks from Tyke through grade 11. 5. He explains that running began as conditioning for hockey in grade nine before cross country and track became the main priority by grade 12. 6. He tells coaches and high school athletes that consistency is the main pillar of running and that routine matters more than one specific workout length. 7. He also argues that cross country and track are team sports in practice because the social side and school scoring build commitment. 8. Preisner says he chose university by balancing engineering with running, rather than chasing a school only for its NCAA program. 9. He notes that he looked at several schools in Canada before going to the University of Tulsa, where he studied chemical engineering and trained hard. 10. At Tulsa, he says he was averaging about 100 miles a week by the end and was trying to make the travel squad and lead by example. 11. Preisner says he nearly stopped after graduation in 2019, then got fit again during a summer of regular training and used the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon as a turning point. 12. He recalls that at that stage a Tokyo Olympic 10K standard would have been about two minutes out of reach, while the half marathon showed him road racing could suit him. 13. He says the cancellation of the London Marathon in April 2020 delayed his debut but gave him extra months to build marathon-specific fitness and nutrition habits. 14. He describes that period as useful because it let him practice taking in carbs and water during runs, which had been foreign to his track background. 15. Preisner says he handles big-stage racing by simplifying life, keeping his routines, and staying analytical rather than getting distracted by media or event noise. 16. He points to the disappointment of missing Paris, saying he had too many small injuries while chasing a much faster qualifying standard than the one he faced for Tokyo. 17. He says that missed standard produced a difficult summer with low motivation, especially because marathon racing opportunities are usually concentrated in spring and fall. 18. Preisner says his wife and family helped him by putting the focus on the process and reminding him that a team selection does not define him. 19. The interview style is conversational and coaching-oriented, with John Shep asking detailed follow-ups while Preisner answers with specific training, racing, and life details. 20. Listeners who follow Canadian marathoners, high-school coaches, or endurance training will get the most from it. 21. Listeners who want fast race recaps without training detail may skip it.

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