Marathon racing, explained at running pace.
Marathon Talk is a brisk running show built around the rhythms of the marathon calendar. It mixes elite-race analysis, practical training talk, race-entry advice, and interviews with runners who know the distance from the inside.
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Marathon Talk is a running show with its eyes fixed on marathon season and its ears tuned to the chatter around it. The show follows the Abbott World Marathon Majors, elite fields, qualifying rules, race entries, training blocks, and the culture that grows around big races. It moves quickly. A typical episode can open with Boston, swing through results or a record, then settle into a long conversation with a runner, author, coach, or race-world figure. The format feels lived-in because the small talk is not decoration. Weather, birthdays, injuries, family weekends, taper nerves, travel, medals, and race-day logistics all feed back into the same larger subject: why runners keep showing up. Recent episodes have looked closely at Boston and Tokyo, with course context, elite-field previews, and post-race special coverage. Bill Rodgers brings Boston memory and road-racing history. Conner Mantz talks through toughness, risk, and the simple self-talk that can carry a hard race. Sara Hall reflects on training, racing, London, and why a perfect marathon may stay just out of reach. Allie Bailey brings mindset and endurance-running perspective, while David Jackson adds breathing advice before spring marathons. Rob Dalto gives practical guidance on getting into major races, from ballots to charity routes. The show also widens beyond marathon performance, with Brendan O'Meara discussing Steve Prefontaine and running history, and Spencer Matthews talking through the pressure and possibility of Tokyo. Its appeal is the mix. Marathon Talk can be useful without becoming instructional, and enthusiastic without sounding inflated. It respects elite racing, but it keeps the ordinary runner in frame. For PlayNext users browsing marathon podcasts, this is the one that feels like a knowledgeable post-run conversation that somehow also has the race notes, guest access, and calendar awareness ready to go.
Made for: For marathoners, major-race followers, running-history fans, and runners who like training talk with conversational energy. It especially suits listeners tracking Boston, Tokyo, London, Chicago, and the wider Abbott World Marathon Majors calendar.
What sets it apart: The show blends major-race literacy with casual runner-to-runner texture: elite previews, entry mechanics, course lore, and personal training chatter all share the same table. It feels informed without flattening the messier, funnier parts of running life.
Marathon Talk has returned in 2022 as part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors family. Hosted by Martin Yelling and the great Deena Kastor, every two weeks we'll bring you news, views and some amazing guest interviews from across the world of marathons and running.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes elite marathon decisions legible through course detail, race strategy, and candid accounts of training, uncertainty, and ambition.
Marathon Talk turns the marathon calendar into a conversation between race previews, athlete interviews, and the hosts' own running lives. Martin Yelling and Deena Kastor move from elite fields and qualifying standards to personal training, injury, and race preparation with an…
From a 2:59 Tokyo plan to Bill Rodgers' Boston memories, your race nerves get company.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Boston Marathon preview, Bill Rogers insight, and a Carlsbad opening frame the episode.
Marathon Talk centers on Monday's Boston Marathon, pairing a full race preview with Bill Rogers' course insight and career reflections. It also begins in Carlsbad, where Dina is at the 40th anniversary of the world's fastest marathon, alongside a morning of 5K races and a…
A brisk Boston-season episode where a simple mantra gives everyday pressure some practical shape.
Marathon Talk's 87th episode carries a clear Boston-season charge, but its strongest material comes from the runner's-eye view of what happens when a race starts to bite.
Rob Dalto gives runners a practical guide to Tokyo and the seven-major marathon circuit.
Marathon Talk frames entry to the major marathons as a practical problem rather than a dream-list exercise, using Rob Dalto's experience to show how runners can get themselves to the start line.
A conversational Tokyo preview with elite-field detail, Sarah Hall, and race-week context.
Marathon Talk takes a relaxed look at the Tokyo Marathon, moving from the elite field to the defending champions and the practical details that shape race week.
A holiday return links Spencer Matthews' sub-three Tokyo aim with the search for one runner to take on all seven majors.
Marathon Talk comes back from the holidays with a neat split between big-stage ambition and the ordinary nerves that sit underneath it. The episode sets up the search for one runner to take on all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors, while Spencer Matthews looks toward Tokyo and…
A relaxed, thoughtful look at why Prefontaine still stands so large in American track and field.
Marathon Talk's 72nd episode frames Brendan O'Meara's Frontrunner as an entry point into Steve Prefontaine's enduring place in American track and field.
A lively running roundup becomes a grounded conversation about risk, anxiety, and the words that keep a race together.
Marathon Talk turns a busy week in running into a broader conversation about what elite ambition feels like once a race starts to bite. The hosts move from three British gold medals in 30 minutes at the World Athletics Indoor Championships to Boston's approaching 130th running,…
Trail running, told from inside race week.
Marathon Talk hosts Martin Yelling and Deena Kastor interview author Brendan O'Meara about his new biography, 'Frontrunner,' on Steve Prefontaine.
Marathon Talk hosts Martin Yelling and Deena Kastor preview the Boston Marathon and interview US distance star Conner Mantz about his American record in Chicago and training.
Episode 88 turns to Monday's Boston Marathon.
Marathon Talk episode 87 opens with World Athletics Indoor Championships golds for Georgia Hunter-Bell, Keeley Hodgkinson, and Molly Coldry, then pivots to a Guardian report about a possible two-day London Marathon in 2027.
Nathan Martin beat Michael Kamau by 0.01 seconds in the LA Marathon after Kamau followed the lead vehicle and lost time near 26 miles.
This episode features an interview with trail runner and author Allie Bailey about her new mindset book for runners, along with discussions on recent marathon events and coaching advice on breathing techniques for performance.
This episode is a special Tokyo Marathon edition featuring hosts discussing the event's significance as the start of the Abbott World Marathon Majors spring season, with insights from a host who experienced the race firsthand.
Episode 84 of Marathon Talk looks ahead to next month's Tokyo Marathon.
Marathon Talk is back after the holidays.
This episode features an interview with author Brendan O'Meara about his new book on track legend Steve Prefontaine, along with running news and personal anecdotes.
This episode previews the Boston Marathon, featuring insights from 2014 champion Meb Keflezighi on the historic course, along with listener stories and hosts discussing seasonal training motivation.
This episode features an interview with nutritionist Meghann Featherstun about marathon nutrition strategies, along with running news updates including events like the Shamrock Shuffle.
This episode of Marathon Talk features an interview with Abbott World Marathon Majors' Danny Coyle to answer listener questions about recent announcements, while also discussing personal challenges like a 100-day discipline reboot and updates on marathons.
This episode features an inspiring interview with Chris Nikic and his father Nick, discussing Chris becoming the first runner with Down syndrome to earn the six star marathon medal and his new documentary.