Marathon Training Podcasts

Some of the most useful marathon audio is the most local. Run Farther & Faster — The Podcast with Coaches Lisa Levin and Julie Sapper treats the Boston Marathon as a problem you can solve in advance. In Episode 278: Everything You Need to Know to Run Your Best Boston Marathon-2026 Edition (63 minutes), the coaches say "the best antidote to nervousness is facts and preparation." Then they supply the facts: more carbohydrates in the final days, port-a-potties before the long bus ride, and one host's reckoning that the longest of the hills is 0.6 miles. In Episode 277: Tips for Spectating the Boston Marathon with Darren Sapper, the guest recommends Newton to families who can manage only one viewing spot.

Long Run Radio, from NYRR Coaching Lab coaches Daphne, Gordon and Josh, is meant to play during the long run itself. Near the end of 1 Week Out they note that listeners are approaching the 60-minute mark of their run. The episodes belong to the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon cycle, and the race-morning advice includes pandemic masking. The taper thinking in 3 Weeks Out has aged well. It compares the final weeks to honing a chef's knife and insists your race shoes go in the carry-on.

The Run Cape Town Podcast does the same work for the Cape Town Marathon, with one of its voices preparing for London a few weeks ahead of the listeners. The Biggest Cape Town Marathon Mistake (6 Weeks Out) counts the recovery cost of racing a 5K mid-block. Cape Town Marathon: What You Do Next Matters Most offers a rule worth repeating: "fatigue is the enemy of performance."

Away from any single race, the instruction shows split by temperament. On The Knighton Runs Podcast, Coach Chris Knighton spends 71 | You NEED to Run These Paces when Marathon Training (25 minutes) arguing that slow, moderate and fast running are separate pieces of one puzzle, with roughly 80% easy and 20% hard. He shares an intensity chart on screen for video viewers and talks audio listeners through it. For more on mechanics, the Coaching & Form page sits next door.

The Elevate Your Running Podcast, hosted by Sara Manderscheid, looks inward. In EP. 219 - How to Chunk Up Your Next Race with Sports Psychology Coach, Emily Saul (Replay), Saul compares pace targets to "the bumpers on a bowling alley," the edges of the lane. The real race, in her account, is where you put your attention.

Marathon Running Podcast by Marathon Journal speaks to the runner without a coach. In the episode listed as 288. Marathon Training as an Uncoached Solo Runner, host Leti describes the online plan, printed, perhaps laminated and taped to the fridge. She then argues for scheduled walk breaks, practiced in training before race day.

The Dopey Diaries is a different pleasure. Brittany trains for Disney's Dopey Challenge, 48.6 miles in four days, and narrates the spirals. In The Week I Quit… and Then Ran 26.28 Miles she describes stripping away the plan, the expectations and the shame, then running 26.28 miles days later. In What Nobody Tells You About Running the Dopey Challenge she says she was depressed on the day she ran 26 miles on her treadmill, and she handles it plainly. Listeners who want encouragement will find plenty. Those wary of life coaching should know what they're choosing.

The Rambling Runner Podcast finds its inspiration in other amateurs. Host Matt's guest Bill Volpe entered his first race at about 53 and ran 3:11:23 at the McCurdy Micro Marathon at 60, on a course of eight laps around a lake. On Marathon Training Academy, How Angie Went from 5k to 50 Stater recalls a fried-chicken lunch before a long run that included throwing up at the roadside. Run Strong Run Podcast promises "inspiring voices from the back of the pack."

Marathon Talk, with Martin Yelling and Deena Kastor, keeps the elite race in view. EP86 | How To Get Into Every Major revisits an LA Marathon finish decided by one hundredth of a second. As the hosts tell it, Michael Kamau went the wrong way near the end. The episode then poses an ethical question about a rival led off course and explains how Boston qualifying works. EP88 | Meeting A Boston Marathon Legend | Marathon Talk Meets Bill Rodgers has Rodgers on running within yourself through the hills. For wider listening, try the Running guide and the Sports category guide, and for distances past 26.2, the Trail & Ultra Running page.