April 8, 2026 • 40 mins
Mary Kate Shea, the Chief Operating Officer at the Boston Athletic Association, joins Sarah ahead of the Boston Marathon on April 20th. The woman responsible for getting the world’s best to Boston’s starting line shares how she scouts and recruits future champions, the behind-the-scenes amenities offered to pros in the field, and the best spot for fans to watch all the action. Plus, there’s the door, here’s the hall, and where’s the Xanax?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where we thought we learned back in grade school that
our government was a complex system of guardrails protecting against
a deranged and maniacal tyrant unilaterally threatening a genocide.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
That schoolhouse rock was full of shit.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's Wednesday, April eighth, and on today's show, Chief operating
officer at the Boston Athletic Association, Mary Kate Say, joins
us ahead of this year's Boston Marathon. The woman responsible
for getting the world's best to Boston's starting line shares
how she scouts and recruits future champions, how the pros
really prepare for the notoriously hilly course, the best spot
for fans to watch all the action, and some of
(00:36):
the biggest names in this year's field. Plus there's the door,
here's the hall, and where's the Xanax. It's all coming
up right after this welcome back slices. Here's what you
need to know today. A lot of coaching news today,
(00:56):
starting with college hoops. South Carolina head coach Don Stale
put out a statement on Tuesday addressing Yukon head coach
Gino Oriama's outburst during the NCAA semi finals Staley wrote
in part quote, I spoke with Gino, and I want
to be clear. I have a great deal of respect
for him and what he's meant to this game. One
moment doesn't define a career, and it doesn't change the
impact he's had on growing women's basketball. The standard at
(01:18):
Yukon is what it is because of him, and that's
something this game has benefited from. So I'm asking everyone
to turn the page. Let's refocus on what matters most,
continuing to elevate our game, creating opportunities and pushing it forward.
That's always been my mission and it's not changing. End
quote Don Staley leading by example once again.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I just want to mention too.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I heard a lot of extreme takes out in Phoenix
after Friday's outburst from Gino. Gino should retire, he should
be fired. Players won't want to play for him. And
I said it then and I repeat it now that
the news cycle moves real fast. Listen, Gino saw red,
he couldn't rein it in. But some coaches across every sport,
at every level, have had similar moments inappropriate behavior, and
(02:01):
they've recovered, They've returned to the sideline and gotten back
to what they do best.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I know Gina will need to answer to this again
in the future and we'll need to handle that appropriately.
But if he does, I do believe he's earned some
grace and forgiveness, and Dawn agrees that we should turn
the page, which seems like what's best for the sport
and for Yukon's players and program.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
More college hoops.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Virginia has fired women's basketball head coach Amaca Agugua Hamilton,
just one week after she led the Cavaliers to a
Cinderella run at the NCAA Tournament. As a reminder, the
team made history as the first number ten seed to
advance from the first four to the Sweet sixteen, ultimately
falling to number three seed TCU. Virginia Athletics released a
short statement on Saturday, simply saying Agogua Hamilton will not
(02:44):
return as head coach and that a national search for
a new head coach will begin immediately now. The news
came as a shock to many people given the team's
late season success, but on Sunday, USA Today reported at
Gougla Hamilton had been the subject of an internal investigation
due to allegations of staff mistreatment within the program. A
string of transfer portal entries followed, including the team's top player,
(03:05):
Kamora Johnson, who was one of just three players in
NCAA Division One to average at least nineteen points and
five and a half assists for the season. Speaking of
the transfer portal, it's flooded, y'all. The damn to the
portal has broken. On the first day of eligibility, more
than one thousand players officially entered the women's NCAA basketball
transfer portal, including every single player on Kim Caldwell's Tennessee
(03:29):
roster this season. Yeah, every single one. We're resisting the
urge to photoshop called well and so that fresh Prince
meme you know where Will's looking around at an empty
living room. Transfer portal time is tough, y'all. We got
lots more to say about all of that. Big Citrus
is going to talk about it on Friday. More coaching news,
the WNBA's Washington Mystics have fired general manager Jamila Wideman
(03:52):
after just one season. Friend at the Show, ESPN's Alexa
Philip who reported the news on Monday, with sources saying
the firing was due to quote veriest strategic differences plus
friction increasing as the team prepared for the start of
WNBA free agency this week. Now, head coach Sidney Johnson,
who's entering his second season with the Mystics, will assume
control of basketball operations for the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
As for this.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Season's roster, Philip Who reports that the Mystics hope to
add strong quote unquote proven talent to their young core,
which currently includes top twenty twenty five draft picks Georgia Amore,
Sonya Citron, and Kky Eriefin Washington also has the fourth
pick in the upcoming college draft, which happens to include Arlington,
Virginia native Azy Fud.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You have to wonder if.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
They try to pull off a trade with a one
through three team and snag their hometown girl. Lots more
to say about that and the WNBA Draft, also with
Big Centrists on Friday Show, and for one final piece
of coaching news, we go to the PWHL where the
Ottawa Charge announced on Monday that head coach Carla McCloud
will be stepping back as Shandergo's treatment.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
For breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
McLeod first made her diagnosis public last fall, but she's
can continued to lead the Charge and served as head
coach of the Czech team at the Milan Courtina Olympics
as well. She'll now be away from the team for
an undetermined period. In a statement, the Charge say McCloud
quote remains in good spirits and is focused on her
health and recovery end quote. Assistant coach Hailey Irwin will
step up as acting head coach. The Charger currently fifth
(05:19):
in the league standings, fighting for that final playoff spot.
We're sending all of our thoughts to coach McCloud back
to hoops. The Naysmith Basketball Hall of Fame class of
twenty twenty six was announced on Saturday, and some friends
of the show are getting the call up. The entire
nineteen ninety six US Women's Olympic team is being inducted,
including Lisa Leslie, Don Staley, Ryl Spoops, Jennifer Azy, and
(05:40):
Rebecca Lobo. Led by legendary head coach and friend of
the Show tar Vanderveer, they won gold in Atlanta, and
their victory there helped lead the successful launch of the
WNBA the following year. Fun to see them honored thirty
years after winning gold. A few w legends are also
joining the hall, including former two time MVPs League champions
and Olympic gold medalists Kandice Parker and Elena Deladon, and
(06:02):
six time WNBA All Start Olympic gold medalist Jamika holtz Claw.
The official induction ceremony will take place in August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Got to give out shouts to all the goats who
made it to.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The track where US sprinting champion Shakeri Richardson has won
Australia's oldest foot race. The race is in a rural
town a few hours outside of Melbourne and it's called
the Stall Gift. It's unlike any traditional track race. First
of all, it's run on an uphill grass track, and second,
the starting point for each runner is determined by speed.
The faster you are, the further back on the track
(06:35):
you have to start. Richards And, the raining Olympic silver
medalist in the one hundred meter dash, started the furthest
back in the race on Monday, about a full ten
meters back from the rest of the pack. Not only
did she catch up to them, she zoomed past them
for the win. She ran one hundred and twenty meters
in thirteen point oh eight seconds, the fastest women's time
in the one hundred and forty eight year history of
the event, taking home a prize of nearly thirty thousand dollars.
(07:00):
If you haven't watched the video, it's really worth your time.
We'll link to it in the show Notes to Golf.
LPGA veteran Lauren Coglan came out on top over the weekend,
dominating the Ramco Championship in Nevada. She shot even par
seventy two for a seven under total, beating fellow US
DR Nelly Quorda by five shots. The win was especially
sweet for Coglin since she was a close runner up
(07:21):
at the event last year. This year, she walks away
with six hundred thousand dollars and her third LPGA title.
Runner up Quorida has now talied three straight second place finishes.
Following her Tournament of champions win in early February, She's
echined closer and closer to reclaiming her world number one
spot from Thailand's Gino Titzkun Tvebs. Where the Love regular
(07:41):
season concluded over the weekend, marking the end of one
absolutely legendary era. Jordan Larson played her final match on Saturday,
with her Love Nebraska team falling to Love Austin in
five sets and missing out on the playoffs. Larson, a
four time Olympic medalist for Team USA, had announced back
in January that this season be her last. Her final
performance was an incredible one. The thirty nine year old
(08:04):
recorded nineteen kills and twenty digs in the loss. A
four time All American at Nebraska and one of the
school's all time leaders in kills and digs, she.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Got to finish her career back where.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
It started, and Love honored the Nebraska legend by retiring
her number ten jersey to the rafters. Looking ahead to
the Love playoffs, four teams clinch spots in the postseason
number one Houston, number two Atlanta, number three Austin, and
number four Salt Lake.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The semi final round consists of each.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Pair of teams playing two matches Houston versus Salt Lake
and Atlanta versus Austin. All four teams are in action
on Friday, with the second matches of the best of
two series on Saturday and Sunday best of two. You ask,
how does that work? Well, we were confused too. What
happens if the team split the matches. If the teams
go one and one, the winner will be determined using
a first to fifteen golden set, which will immediately follow
(08:51):
match two.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
By the end of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The top two teams who advance make the two day
Championship Series April sixteenth and eighteenth in Long Beach, California.
We got to take a break, slices when we come back.
Secrets of the Boston Marathon with Mary Kate.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Jay joining us now.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
She's the chief operating officer at the Boston Athletic Association,
responsible for getting the world's best marathon urist to Boston
every April. She personally ran twenty five consecutive Boston Marathons,
and the fastest runners in the world call her MK.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's Mary Kate Jay. Hi, Mary Kate, Hi, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
How are you nice to be here?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I'm good, Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I'm excited to pick your brain, especially as someone who
has not run a marathon. I at one point when
I was a collegiate track athlete, thought later in life,
that'll be something I do, and then unfortunately injuries derailed
me and I'm not able to do it. But I
still question the sanity of people who do a lot
of them. I understand, you know, getting the one medal
and saying you tried it and you did it, But
(09:54):
twenty five in a row that's crazy. So congrats, But also, damn,
how did you get into running marathons and making it
your goal to maybe run twenty five straight in Boston?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Thanks Sarah. What was your track event? Heptathlon? Oh? I
did the pentathlon. That's great? Oh way, yeah, yeah, I
love that.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, so eight hundred was long enough for me.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Yeah, definitely, eight Hundred's a beautiful event, isn't it. Sure? Yeah?
So I ran in college at Holy Cross in Weston, Massachusetts,
and from there I just love to run. So I
started running in about seventh grade and always had always
had been a runner. I just love what it feels
(10:36):
like to be a runner. So pretty early on I
set a goal of, because I grew up in this area,
I'm going to run the bust A Marathon, but I
wanted to qualify first, so I want to qualify and
then run the Boston Marathon, and then from there, I
just said I always had the goal of twenty five consecutive.
I'm going to get this done. And you did it.
(10:56):
I did, and now all my I have four children,
all of them have run, their partners have run, and
my husband's run. Whoa, well except for one. We have
one left. We'll get here.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
One person left to wrangle in. What a legacy for you.
I think that this is right. But correct me if
I'm wrong. When you say you wanted to qualify, that
means you've hit the time that's required to race, as
opposed to you've used a sponsorship or charity to help
get you entry.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Correct. Correct. There's a couple of different ways to get
into the Boston Marathon, and running a qualifying time is
one way. Raising money for charities. We hit that fifty
million benchmark last year, which was truly astonishing because it
does provide a lot of the foundational infrastructure and financial
support for probably close to one hundred and fifty local
(11:43):
Greater Boston nonprofits. So it's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, the power of a very few people. The average
BIB for about two thousand people, they raise probably around
thirteen thousand dollars each.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Crazy, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I want to talk about the history of the race
for a minute, because for listeners who might not know
Boston Marria's, the world's oldest annual marathon, started as a
men's only race in eighteen ninety seven. Fast forward a
long ways to nineteen sixty six, Bobby Gives the first
woman to run the race unofficially. A year later, friend
of mine, Catherine Swinzer, became the first woman to run
the race officially, and then the women's division was established
(12:17):
in nineteen seventy two. So Boston is the first major
marathon to actually have a women's division starting back then.
Over the years since then, is there a particular women's
champion whose race stands out as your favorite?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Well, I've been doing this since nineteen ninety nine. You
can do the math on that, so it's been it's
been quite a while. I have so many favorites I
can't even say. But yeah, I better not to say.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
What if one just like snuck out?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Top of mind, if one snuck out, Our whole family
is a big team, dez fan. I mean for her
to prevail in the weather of the twenty eighteen just
the pure grid of being in New England and it
was like a nor'easter and it was leading sideways and
it was so freezing. I think that is one that
really stands out to me. But growing up, we always
(13:06):
we cut out of track practice. We hopped on the tee,
we got to the finish area, and there's so many
greats that have run. Cool.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, friend of the Show, Dez Linden, is a good answer.
We'll take that one because we also love reminiscing.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
About that great race.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You know, the course of the Boston Marathon has quite
a reputation as well.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Point to point.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Course, runners start the twenty six point two outside of Boston,
wind their way through eight towns. They make a famous
right on Hereford, left on Boilston. We've heard about the
race being tough a billion times and you've run it
a billion times.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
What makes it so memorable in your mind?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
What's different about Boston is that, unlike other Abbot rural
marathon majors or other significant races, including the Olympics now
in the World Championships, we're point to point, we don't
have pacers. There's very significant rises and falls. Well we
won't call them mountains, but we will call four significant
(14:02):
hills in the Newton area, and the downhill is significant
and you really have to know the course train on
the course, and it's not just the speed. It's not
turning off your brain. It's a combination of having experience
on the course, setting a mental strategy, running your own race,
but also having the knowledge that you don't have to
(14:24):
be the fastest on paper to win the Boston Marathon.
You need to be the smartest to win the Boston Marathon.
You really need to know yourself. And I'm so proud
of all of the profiles, the wheelchair, the pair of
the women's, the men's. They're absolutely amazing with the depth
that we're bringing in, but significantly both the men's and
the women's, especially the women's American field is noteworthy. I
(14:49):
will say many years we're so excited about it, but
this year we are over the top excited about this.
We have all three Olympians coming with us. That's to
go to pup pain that Emily Sissen and Fiona O'Keefe
combined with those three ladies, we have the three World
championship ladies. So that was in Tokyo, Olympics was in Paris,
(15:10):
Susanna Sullivan, Jess McLain and Erica Kemp. So just having
those six individuals is amazing. But then add into the
mix one of our favorites, Annie Frisbee, who came in
second American last year, after Jess MacLean, Gabby Rooker, Amanda Vestri.
Some of them are new to racing and the commitment
(15:30):
that these ladies have is wonderful. We had Fiona O'Keeffe
out here early training on the course, just trying to
learn the course, because that gives you a great advantage.
Erica Kemp is right out of Providence, so she knows
the course. Jess McLain has trained on the course and
she's run on the course. Susannah Sullivan was with me
last weekend. I drive the pros out backwards on the
(15:51):
course so they can understand that height of land, that descent,
and we go over every single kilometer, every single mile
of that course. Sisson, the American record holder who is
in the race, she came out and practiced and she
ran at Providence College and she knows the area. But
they all want to get out on that course. It's
a significant mental advantage, but it also lets you test
(16:15):
your legs on those down hills.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, you've got a great pack of US competitors. You've
also got the defending champion course record holder Sharon Loketti,
You've got a bunch of others. Eight athletes with personal
best under two twenty. That's about a five to twenty
minute per mile, which is crazy to me.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Yah Sarah, I like your pace chart.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
What would you say about this field in terms of
like ranking it in terms of one of the deepest
maybe that the Boston Marathon has seen.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
That's another significant difference for Boston. Unlike some other races
who may have a couple of stars, a couple of
stars here, a couple of stars there, we always have
the depth too. So on the American side, there's ten
women who run to twenty five or better. That's just phenomenal.
And then we have thirty women totally run under two thirty.
(17:02):
So having that depth on the women's side really proves
that this sport is just keeps raising the bar. Overall,
the pro field we have, I think it's about one
hundred and eighty athletes from thirty four countries, thirty four countries.
In the pro field, cool I bring in about sixty
to seventy pro men, sixty to seventy pro women, and
(17:24):
then we have about sixty pro wheelers and thirteen para pros.
The other nice thing about Boston is that we have
twenty champions returning, so we have seven para divisions, so
that's a big group that we have. The wheelchair champions returning,
Susanna Scaroni, who is American and she's a defending wheelchair champ.
She is pregnant, so she is taking a pass, but
she'll be visiting with us. And then as you mentioned,
(17:47):
we have Sharon Logiti Cumming and John Career our defending champ,
and Marcel Hoop.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, so let's talk about how you get this incredible field,
because that's your job. You have to go out and
get all these folks to show up. It's not the
typical chief operating officer and the way many people think
about it, because you're recruiting professional distance runners from around
the world to say, I'm going to come to Boston.
I'm going to commit to training for this very specific
race for a big chunk of my year, and unlike
(18:15):
maybe folks that are working for other races, you do
have the prestige, but you also have a race that's
not known for world record times, so you've got to
sell people to come to something very prestigious. But that
maybe isn't going to help them with the numbers that
they're looking for. What's the sales pitch you make if
someone's maybe on the fence.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
That's true, that's true, and I don't want to be remiss.
We also have world class five k on Saturday, and
we have a super cool professional mile on Saturday as well.
So check out those field lists and come down to
Boston if you can.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
And that's your job too, that's our job too.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
And then the CEO job really is so it's internal operations,
So it's every single person who runs any of our races.
Our team are there touch points from the time the
decision to sign up for the race until the time
you cross that finish line and head back home. So
all of those athlete services, all of the sales force, infrastructure,
(19:10):
all of the human resources, all of the financial all
of that is in our group. So we really do
touch every athlete, which is super cool. So on the
recruiting side of things, yeah, it's challenging, right because we
have some heavy eeters in the spring, right, we have London,
we have Paris, we have Tokyo. Why would you ever
want to come to Boston? I mean the year after
(19:30):
twenty eighteen started pouring rain and I said, we're never
going to get these people back, but once they come here,
we really try to. We have such a wonderful team
at the Bust and Athletic Association headed by Jack Fleming,
and we like to think every athlete are really treated
like superstars. Right, this is a lot of people's ultimate
dream to run the Boston Marathon. It's devastating if you qualify,
(19:53):
you don't get in. It's devastating if you can never
get here, and this is your lifelong goal. So we
liked think that we set up an experience that really
is part of the frosting on the cake. Right, So
what can you prove? Like, how did Eli Kipchoge decide
to come here? How do some of the best Helena Berry,
(20:14):
Sharon Logani, why do they decide to come here? They
come for the competition. They know it may not be
their fastest race, but it might. It's still Ryan Hall's
fastest race, Jeffrey Mutai in twenty eleven. We rent a
two three or two in twenty eleven. You know there
have been some crazy fast times here. It can be
a world best and we love to say it's a
(20:35):
world best. It has been a world record back in
the day with Joni and others, and people want to
come here because they want to strategize and it does
mean something. There are so many athletes from so many
countries that win in Boston. We have a significant prize award.
They take that money, they go back. People have built hospitals,
(20:55):
people have brought electricity to their towns. There's just an
amazing amount of good that people do. But it is
it's historic, there's a legacy there, and we really treat
people well. You know, from the time they leave their
country till the time they land at Logan, they're greeted.
We have a private chef, we stay at a great hotel,
this family dining, we have massage, we have recovery. Anything
(21:16):
they need, we're here for them. There's a lot that
goes into it, so hotel, travel, meals, everything's taken care
of for these amazing athletes.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, and you mentioned the feet.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So the way this works for professional merit donners, the
top athletes get paid in appearance feed by a race,
So the boss and athletic association will pay them to
just show up and run and then depending on how
they perform in the race, they could walk away with
more money too, if they win, or if their sponsor
maybe has a bonus for hitting a certain time. I
know the details of how much people make is confidential,
but that's generally how it works, right, That's part of
(21:46):
the experience. Is not just when you come here, we
treat you great, but also it's worth your time to
show up here. Not only because also if you're a
strategist who maybe isn't quite as fast as someone else,
you think this right race might be the one you
can best them in, because it is more about strategy
than just speed.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Absolutely, it's pure racing here. These are professional athletes. These
are the best athletes in the world who are coming
to Boston, and they deserve to be paid. They deserve
to be sponsored, they deserve every perk they can get because,
unlike a lot of sports, they may be working, say
twelve weeks, sixteen weeks to prepare for an event, and
(22:22):
everything is laid on the line for those two and
a half hours, and this is either going to be
tiers of joy or tiers of pain, or maybe both,
maybe both at different times.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Yeah, a lot of pain, even when you win. That's right,
How does the recruiting process typically work? Like, how far
in advance are you talking to someone.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
For the marathon? It's evergreen. It's it could be in
advance of this year's race where they might want to
come out in the summer and check out Boston and
maybe run one of our distance medley events. It might
be minutes after they crossed the finish line at the
Boston Marathon. It's really evergreen. I would say the heaviest
parts for the Boston Marathon are that I would probably
(23:02):
have the field mostly locked up by early November.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, and you've got to travel for your job a lot,
going to races distances all over the world to scout
potential recruits.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I do, and I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What do you look for in a runner that you're like,
this one might be great in Boston.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
It's like it's like that kid who knows every stat
about baseball, So I already know all the stats. There's
a lot of great databases. I know what races they've run,
I know who they're coached by, I know their agents,
I know who they run with, I know where their
training camps are. So all of those elements come into
the decision. To really understand how somebody runs and what
(23:41):
their mental game is. But if I go to say
New York, and I see someone being really gritty as
they come into Central Park, or there's a spirit there
that they're never giving up, or they're not afraid to
challenge the field, they're not afraid to be a front runner,
or they're not afraid to run their own race and
drop back knowing that they will reset and get back
(24:02):
into the group. What does their stride look like, what
does their carriage look like? All those things that go
into really understanding who that person is. You know, what
is their life like outside of running?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Right, and you're choosing individuals, but ultimately you're going to
put these individuals into a group of runners that you
want in Boston. So you're building a field and it's
kind of the same as team sports, where like you
could have a guard who's a great shooter, but if
they're not a great facilitator, the rest of the players
aren't going to play at their best. So, right, how
do you figure out what you want to try to
include when you're looking at the pro field as a whole.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Sure, you're always thinking about the future and the future
of the sport, and you always want to provide some
up and coming athletes who are amazing, maybe in college,
maybe on the track, transitioning to the roads. You want
to provide them opportunity. So that's one avenue. But you
also want to bring back experience because the experience will
drive the strategy and the pace and then is all
(25:00):
always nice to bring in champions, Olympic champions, world champions.
We have alfons symbol becoming a world champion. Combined with that,
I think the best thing is to see how they
work alone, see how they work in groups, and see
how they finish. The New York City Marathon, it was
a photo finish, so it was won by less of
(25:21):
a difference than one hundred meter at the Olympics, so
it was like, you know, this much difference and who
prevailed was one of our champions, Benson Canprudo, because he
was going to die trying and he prevailed. So you
do like that spirit and you can really see it.
You can see it in runners.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, I feel like you also are going to look
for a mix of people from different countries, folks that
will help inspire people in different places to get into it.
We talk about the future of marathoning is you need
folks from all over the world to see somebody that
looks like them, and it is from where they are
who's competing in winning.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Oh absolutely, And I think I mentioned this earlier about
thirty four countries just in the pro fields. There's so
much talent globally, and running is a major sport in
a lot of countries and including America. Right. It's just
it's going bonkers right now. I mean, you look at
the last Olympic Trials, there were so many people on
(26:14):
that starting line, and that's what you want to see.
You want to see that excitement.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Yeah, London's looking at two days. I don't think the
Boston Marathon's ever going to two days.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Right I At this time, I think we have other priorities.
But I also think what makes this race special is
it's eight cities in towns, right, And when I take
these pros out and then we go backwards to Hopkinson,
it can't believe it, you know, It's just it's the
roads are so narrow, there's beautiful trees, there's lakes, there's
it's a different kind of feeling than a big city marathon,
(26:42):
and that's part of the uniqueness. We're always evolving and growing, So.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Not an answer, but yeah, you'll be you'll consider it,
I hear, is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You know, we never throw any idea out the window.
But yeah, yeah, no, I think that's great diversity and
professional running, and there's great cultural differences in professional running.
What we do that a lot of races don't do.
We have a family dining situation, so we have a
small dedicated dining room, so all of the athletes get
to meet each other. I get to eat meals with
(27:12):
each other and just get to understand each other's culture.
Is a little bit better cool.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
You know, when you're recruiting, doping is always a big
topic when it comes to marathon and do you have
to consider it all or do you consider it all
if someone's been flagged in the past or has that
on their record when you're considering recruiting them.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Oh absolutely, If you've served a doping sanction, you are
not invited to Boston. And we're the first marathon in
the world. Two years ago we instituted a voluntary repayment program.
And what that means is if after the prize awards
are dispersed and someone has to be reranked at our race.
(27:48):
We will not only rerank you, but we will give
you the prize differential. And that's one way to try
to find some equity and fairness if you've been robbed
of your rightful place at this race.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, you know, speaking of payments, there's kind of just
a long history across sports in general, every kind of
sport of women not being compensated as well as their
male counterparts, even while doing the same work on and
off the field to play. Is there anything that your
team does specifically behind the scenes to make sure you're
not inadvertently contributing to the gender pay gap.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Oh, for sure. The depth of field is always equal.
We always start out with we'll start out with seventy five,
seventy five. What might change that balance gender wise is
that there may be more injuries on the men's side
or more injuries on the women's side. Are you know,
a problem with fitness on one side or the other.
But at the end of the day, really the appearance
and the depth the amount of athletes that we host
(28:42):
and provide hospitality to is very often very equal. It
might change a little bit here and there, but it
has made significant progress over the last twenty years for sure.
Just the depth alone.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
When you talk about trying to build for the future,
that means looking at folks who might be great down
the road.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Those might be cross country runners.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Boston course could be compared to a really long cross
country race with the inclines and the declines.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Is there any connection there?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Are you looking at good college cross country runners that
might make good Boston marathon runners?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Absolutely. I went down to Florida, I went down to
Tallahassee at the beginning of the year to the World
cross Country Championships, So I was looking at a lot
of not only the U twenty but the open group
and seeing how they perform on cross country courses and
what that is like. That definitely is a factor. That
toughness is inherent there. So definitely look at the cross
(29:34):
country seasons.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, what about middle distance?
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Any middle distance racers that maybe haven't yet moved up
to longer.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
But you're keeping an eye on that. You're hoping we'll
try twenty six point two.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I think that's always the hope and the difficulty is
So that's why I love going to the Olympics and
World Championships, because I love to just live at the
track and see that progression. I think the hope is
that you know, as that speed diminishes for one reason
or the other, that transition to roads is a great
equalizer because you can still put in the speed, you
(30:06):
can get the ranking on the roads, but you may
not be as fast as you need to be on
the track. Oh, there's not as many qualifying rounds or distractions.
Most people do transition if they're even milers, have a Sarah,
is still time for you as a half miler?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Gosh, I wish, I wish we got to.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Get you out there. We have to get you out there.
What do we have to do. You've got to try it.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Give me a new leg would be the Yeah, I
tore my achilles, so it's a whole mess down there.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Oh jeez, that's painful.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about this sort of selection
process and if there's probably a year or two where
you've found someone and you've plucked a diamond and they've
had a great finish and you've been like, I knew it.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I saw that. I knew that person was going to
do great.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Nobody else would have seen that except for me, because
I have all this stuff living in my head. Is
there anyone you have conversations with about this stuff? Are
you battling anyone who says nope, we don't have room
and you're like, I'm fighting for this person or is
it just you get to decide?
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Well, I like to think it's a team. It's a
team effort. And I speak with a lot of agents,
I speak with a lot of athletes, a lot of coaches.
I listened to my teammates here and everything has to
be right, everything has to be right.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so it's a benevolent dictatorship. You're still in charge,
but you try to listen.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, no, no, not at all.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
It's very it's collaborative. It's collaborative. But like you can,
let's just take you know, Yuki kaw Ochi as an example, right,
he represented Japan and many world championships, never made it
on the big stage, so to speak. And he said
it come to Boston, but he wanted to come and
do training. So I set up at January certified and
(31:44):
sanctioned marathon for him to run to get a world
record with Guinness Guinness World Records. And he was here
for a week and he must have run like fifteen
marathons in a week's time and then he came back.
But he's someone not everybody would take a chance on.
There's a lot of people that not everybody would take
a chance on. But I don't know. For me, determination
goes a long way grittiness, you know, intelligence, humor, being
(32:09):
a nice person.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, we're talking about partners and marathon runners exactly. I
want to ask specifically about US runners Susannah Sullivan and
Jess McLain.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
They're both sponsored by Brooks.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Susannah and Jess kind of worked together as this fearless
duo at the World Championships in Tokyo last summer. They
were leading the pack for a good tunk of the race.
Do you think we're going to see them working together
out on this Boston course.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
I will tell you Jess McLain is on fire and
Susannah Sullivan is on fire. It's going to be really hard.
If you asked me to even secretly do the lineup here,
it's going to be incredibly difficult because Emily Sisson is
coming in hot. Fiono O'Keefe looks so strong to codable pain.
She just reported that you've been like twenty seven miles
(32:53):
and under two thirty just as a training run, you know,
training run. But Sullivan, yes, Erica Kemp. All the ladies
are coming in. They know they have to come to
Boston prepared. Nobody comes to that starting line unprepared. They're
all prepared. They have to be. Yeah, it's a tough course.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Last two quick ones for you because you mentioned Jess McClain.
She was one of the athletes at the US half
marathon who has accidentally let off the course.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
We've talked about her on the show here.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
She ended up getting cross money, she ended up getting
a ticket to the World Championships. We don't know yet
if she'll be considered the scoring athlete of the group
or not. But what do you make of the solution
that US Track and Field and World Athletics came up with.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Well, it's an interesting solution, right because they it has
to be three and three different kits. They have to
identify four who will be in the rankings. The three
and three can't work against each other or with each
other a team up to pace and be groups, so
that will be a little bit challenging. It's a great opportunity.
I think the women amongst themselves will come to terms
(33:53):
with who they think should be ranked, and now we
just have to have a race, right.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yeah, it was a tough sit you to find an
easy solution for it was.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
A tough situation. But before the race even ended, I
texted Jess and I said, you look so strong out there.
I might have said LFG and we can't wait till
you're in Boston. So it's all and I said, we
want you healthy and happy. So it's all about the positives,
Like what did go well there? She looked for sure, amazing, Right,
(34:23):
she was out there to win it. She was driving
the train. So let's concentrate on the positives.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Last two fun ones.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
You mentioned that you'll drive the racers the reverse direction
on the course to check it out with the traffic
in Boston.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Does it take longer to drive the course or run it?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Oh my gosh. I was in the car for like
an hour and a half with Emily Sis and we
know everything about we're talking about the course and then
you digress. Susanna Sullivan, she's also chatty. That was great,
And Fiona, it takes really it takes from the finish
line takes about an hour and thirty or forty minutes,
so it is close to them running back. But then
(35:01):
they get out there. You know, we have an office
building out there that's going to be a museum. Er
in the starting line and they get rolling and they
are flying. It's just very impressive to see them flying
down this course.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, Producer Bianca actually lives in Boston and we have
a lot of listeners in the Boston area.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
So we want to know from you.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Since you've run it twenty five times, since you've been
there every time since ninety nine, what do you think
is the best spot on the course to cheer from.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Oh, it has to be, you know, on Comab near
the right, on Harrifins left and Pullston, but with the
fans in the nitty gritty, not in the finish line,
but with the fans just driving people that last mile,
just cheering for them for all your worth.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I've kissed some grand babies on that corner.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Oh, that's great. That's great.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
It's a great spot right there.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Well, we're looking forward to watching from Afar and for
some of us in person. So thanks so much for
the time. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Okay, thank you so much. I love talking about this.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Thanks again to Mary Kate for taking the time and
don't forget you can now watch full length good Game
interviews like my interview with Mary Kate on the Iheartwomen's
Sports YouTube channel. Said one commenter on my Sue Bird
and Dinah Tarassi interview. Quote unless they're really good friends
and I just dkay, is it just me? Or was
the host a little passive, aggressive and at times disrespectful to.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Sue and Diana End quote?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Loll Excited to welcome in that new audience. As folks
discover our channel, we have to take another break when
we return every day a fresh new hell.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. If you're running the
Boston Marathon on April twentieth, let us know producer Bianca
will be out there cheering and she'd love to track
all the slices on the race app. So send us
your bib number or your name at good Game at
wondermedianetwork dot com. We always love to hear from you
us up on email. Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com.
(37:02):
Or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and
review slaces.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
It's real easy.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Watch hydrate, exercise, rest, check for updates on potential World
War III. Rating zero out of zero. Solutions for the
mess were all in review. Yesterday, I had that thing
where multiple people are texting you all at the same
time about vastly different topics.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
You've been there.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I'm sure ding ding ding, They're all coming through, but
each one requires a completely different emotion and a different
kind of processing. What are the Chicago sky doing? Can
you do dinner on the sixteenth? Did you hear Shelley
passed away? As I tried to respond, it felt like
there was this little imaginary ball in my brain that
was bouncing from one inside out character to the other
(37:49):
kind of trading who was in charge of my mood?
I could feel the ball bounce with the ding of
each text I received and the spoosh of my responses
being sent out like I could feel in that moment
how wrong it was for messages about an acquaintance's death
to be interrupted by texts about a basketball team. The
speed at which we have to process our lives via
the roulette wheel of our phones is unsettling, whether via
(38:12):
text or social media platform, all at once. We're liking
a friend's baby picture than scrolling to news of an
endangered animal population and decline onto a promotion for a
movie sequel right below a post from the President proudly
announcing his plan to commit genocide at any moment. If
we stop and think about it, it's frankly fair to
ask why am I paying this bill or responding to
(38:35):
this email? Or how can I be booking this vacation
or trash talking the star of this reality show? How
can we be doing anything other than protesting, calling our
local representatives, writing letters to newspapers and TV networks demanding
that they treat this moment with the gravity it requires.
And yet for many of us, myself included, it kind
of feels like the only way through this is cognitive dissonance,
(38:58):
Like somehow try to hold both things at once, like
at Leon said on Blue Sky. Yeah, man, I'll circle
back to you on that agenda item from yesterday's All
Hands in just a sec our, Pedophile King just threatened
to destroy a whole civilization, Like we can't just be
angry all day or hide or stop trying or caring
or looking for joy. And we can't ignore that what's
(39:18):
going on is bigger and scarier and worse than likely
any of us imagined on November fifth, twenty twenty four.
So I guess we just have to let the ball
bounce from horrified that happened? To thrilled for your success
to sorry, can't make it tuesday? To holy shit, how
is no one stopping him? If anyone's got a better solution,
(39:40):
I'd really love to hear it, because I don't know
how much longer we can all do this. Now it's
your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Mary Kate, Good game, everyone signed
up to run in Boston? You the spineless, gutless cowards
doing nothing to unseat and arrest the resident.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
An iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier,
our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones,
(40:27):
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where we thought we learned back in grade school that
our government was a complex system of guardrails protecting against
a deranged and maniacal tyrant unilaterally threatening a genocide.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
That schoolhouse rock was full of shit.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's Wednesday, April eighth, and on today's show, Chief operating
officer at the Boston Athletic Association, Mary Kate Say, joins
us ahead of this year's Boston Marathon. The woman responsible
for getting the world's best to Boston's starting line shares
how she scouts and recruits future champions, how the pros
really prepare for the notoriously hilly course, the best spot
for fans to watch all the action, and some of
(00:36):
the biggest names in this year's field. Plus there's the door,
here's the hall, and where's the Xanax. It's all coming
up right after this welcome back slices. Here's what you
need to know today. A lot of coaching news today,
(00:56):
starting with college hoops. South Carolina head coach Don Stale
put out a statement on Tuesday addressing Yukon head coach
Gino Oriama's outburst during the NCAA semi finals Staley wrote
in part quote, I spoke with Gino, and I want
to be clear. I have a great deal of respect
for him and what he's meant to this game. One
moment doesn't define a career, and it doesn't change the
impact he's had on growing women's basketball. The standard at
(01:18):
Yukon is what it is because of him, and that's
something this game has benefited from. So I'm asking everyone
to turn the page. Let's refocus on what matters most,
continuing to elevate our game, creating opportunities and pushing it forward.
That's always been my mission and it's not changing. End
quote Don Staley leading by example once again.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I just want to mention too.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I heard a lot of extreme takes out in Phoenix
after Friday's outburst from Gino. Gino should retire, he should
be fired. Players won't want to play for him. And
I said it then and I repeat it now that
the news cycle moves real fast. Listen, Gino saw red,
he couldn't rein it in. But some coaches across every sport,
at every level, have had similar moments inappropriate behavior, and
(02:01):
they've recovered, They've returned to the sideline and gotten back
to what they do best.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I know Gina will need to answer to this again
in the future and we'll need to handle that appropriately.
But if he does, I do believe he's earned some
grace and forgiveness, and Dawn agrees that we should turn
the page, which seems like what's best for the sport
and for Yukon's players and program.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
More college hoops.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Virginia has fired women's basketball head coach Amaca Agugua Hamilton,
just one week after she led the Cavaliers to a
Cinderella run at the NCAA Tournament. As a reminder, the
team made history as the first number ten seed to
advance from the first four to the Sweet sixteen, ultimately
falling to number three seed TCU. Virginia Athletics released a
short statement on Saturday, simply saying Agogua Hamilton will not
(02:44):
return as head coach and that a national search for
a new head coach will begin immediately now. The news
came as a shock to many people given the team's
late season success, but on Sunday, USA Today reported at
Gougla Hamilton had been the subject of an internal investigation
due to allegations of staff mistreatment within the program. A
string of transfer portal entries followed, including the team's top player,
(03:05):
Kamora Johnson, who was one of just three players in
NCAA Division One to average at least nineteen points and
five and a half assists for the season. Speaking of
the transfer portal, it's flooded, y'all. The damn to the
portal has broken. On the first day of eligibility, more
than one thousand players officially entered the women's NCAA basketball
transfer portal, including every single player on Kim Caldwell's Tennessee
(03:29):
roster this season. Yeah, every single one. We're resisting the
urge to photoshop called well and so that fresh Prince
meme you know where Will's looking around at an empty
living room. Transfer portal time is tough, y'all. We got
lots more to say about all of that. Big Citrus
is going to talk about it on Friday. More coaching news,
the WNBA's Washington Mystics have fired general manager Jamila Wideman
(03:52):
after just one season. Friend at the Show, ESPN's Alexa
Philip who reported the news on Monday, with sources saying
the firing was due to quote veriest strategic differences plus
friction increasing as the team prepared for the start of
WNBA free agency this week. Now, head coach Sidney Johnson,
who's entering his second season with the Mystics, will assume
control of basketball operations for the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
As for this.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Season's roster, Philip Who reports that the Mystics hope to
add strong quote unquote proven talent to their young core,
which currently includes top twenty twenty five draft picks Georgia Amore,
Sonya Citron, and Kky Eriefin Washington also has the fourth
pick in the upcoming college draft, which happens to include Arlington,
Virginia native Azy Fud.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
You have to wonder if.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
They try to pull off a trade with a one
through three team and snag their hometown girl. Lots more
to say about that and the WNBA Draft, also with
Big Centrists on Friday Show, and for one final piece
of coaching news, we go to the PWHL where the
Ottawa Charge announced on Monday that head coach Carla McCloud
will be stepping back as Shandergo's treatment.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
For breast cancer.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
McLeod first made her diagnosis public last fall, but she's
can continued to lead the Charge and served as head
coach of the Czech team at the Milan Courtina Olympics
as well. She'll now be away from the team for
an undetermined period. In a statement, the Charge say McCloud
quote remains in good spirits and is focused on her
health and recovery end quote. Assistant coach Hailey Irwin will
step up as acting head coach. The Charger currently fifth
(05:19):
in the league standings, fighting for that final playoff spot.
We're sending all of our thoughts to coach McCloud back
to hoops. The Naysmith Basketball Hall of Fame class of
twenty twenty six was announced on Saturday, and some friends
of the show are getting the call up. The entire
nineteen ninety six US Women's Olympic team is being inducted,
including Lisa Leslie, Don Staley, Ryl Spoops, Jennifer Azy, and
(05:40):
Rebecca Lobo. Led by legendary head coach and friend of
the Show tar Vanderveer, they won gold in Atlanta, and
their victory there helped lead the successful launch of the
WNBA the following year. Fun to see them honored thirty
years after winning gold. A few w legends are also
joining the hall, including former two time MVPs League champions
and Olympic gold medalists Kandice Parker and Elena Deladon, and
(06:02):
six time WNBA All Start Olympic gold medalist Jamika holtz Claw.
The official induction ceremony will take place in August in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Got to give out shouts to all the goats who
made it to.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
The track where US sprinting champion Shakeri Richardson has won
Australia's oldest foot race. The race is in a rural
town a few hours outside of Melbourne and it's called
the Stall Gift. It's unlike any traditional track race. First
of all, it's run on an uphill grass track, and second,
the starting point for each runner is determined by speed.
The faster you are, the further back on the track
(06:35):
you have to start. Richards And, the raining Olympic silver
medalist in the one hundred meter dash, started the furthest
back in the race on Monday, about a full ten
meters back from the rest of the pack. Not only
did she catch up to them, she zoomed past them
for the win. She ran one hundred and twenty meters
in thirteen point oh eight seconds, the fastest women's time
in the one hundred and forty eight year history of
the event, taking home a prize of nearly thirty thousand dollars.
(07:00):
If you haven't watched the video, it's really worth your time.
We'll link to it in the show Notes to Golf.
LPGA veteran Lauren Coglan came out on top over the weekend,
dominating the Ramco Championship in Nevada. She shot even par
seventy two for a seven under total, beating fellow US
DR Nelly Quorda by five shots. The win was especially
sweet for Coglin since she was a close runner up
(07:21):
at the event last year. This year, she walks away
with six hundred thousand dollars and her third LPGA title.
Runner up Quorida has now talied three straight second place finishes.
Following her Tournament of champions win in early February, She's
echined closer and closer to reclaiming her world number one
spot from Thailand's Gino Titzkun Tvebs. Where the Love regular
(07:41):
season concluded over the weekend, marking the end of one
absolutely legendary era. Jordan Larson played her final match on Saturday,
with her Love Nebraska team falling to Love Austin in
five sets and missing out on the playoffs. Larson, a
four time Olympic medalist for Team USA, had announced back
in January that this season be her last. Her final
performance was an incredible one. The thirty nine year old
(08:04):
recorded nineteen kills and twenty digs in the loss. A
four time All American at Nebraska and one of the
school's all time leaders in kills and digs, she.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Got to finish her career back where.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
It started, and Love honored the Nebraska legend by retiring
her number ten jersey to the rafters. Looking ahead to
the Love playoffs, four teams clinch spots in the postseason
number one Houston, number two Atlanta, number three Austin, and
number four Salt Lake.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
The semi final round consists of each.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Pair of teams playing two matches Houston versus Salt Lake
and Atlanta versus Austin. All four teams are in action
on Friday, with the second matches of the best of
two series on Saturday and Sunday best of two. You ask,
how does that work? Well, we were confused too. What
happens if the team split the matches. If the teams
go one and one, the winner will be determined using
a first to fifteen golden set, which will immediately follow
(08:51):
match two.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
By the end of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The top two teams who advance make the two day
Championship Series April sixteenth and eighteenth in Long Beach, California.
We got to take a break, slices when we come back.
Secrets of the Boston Marathon with Mary Kate.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Jay joining us now.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
She's the chief operating officer at the Boston Athletic Association,
responsible for getting the world's best marathon urist to Boston
every April. She personally ran twenty five consecutive Boston Marathons,
and the fastest runners in the world call her MK.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It's Mary Kate Jay. Hi, Mary Kate, Hi, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
How are you nice to be here?
Speaker 1 (09:33):
I'm good, Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I'm excited to pick your brain, especially as someone who
has not run a marathon. I at one point when
I was a collegiate track athlete, thought later in life,
that'll be something I do, and then unfortunately injuries derailed
me and I'm not able to do it. But I
still question the sanity of people who do a lot
of them. I understand, you know, getting the one medal
and saying you tried it and you did it, But
(09:54):
twenty five in a row that's crazy. So congrats, But also, damn,
how did you get into running marathons and making it
your goal to maybe run twenty five straight in Boston?
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Thanks Sarah. What was your track event? Heptathlon? Oh? I
did the pentathlon. That's great? Oh way, yeah, yeah, I
love that.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, so eight hundred was long enough for me.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Yeah, definitely, eight Hundred's a beautiful event, isn't it. Sure? Yeah?
So I ran in college at Holy Cross in Weston, Massachusetts,
and from there I just love to run. So I
started running in about seventh grade and always had always
had been a runner. I just love what it feels
(10:36):
like to be a runner. So pretty early on I
set a goal of, because I grew up in this area,
I'm going to run the bust A Marathon, but I
wanted to qualify first, so I want to qualify and
then run the Boston Marathon, and then from there, I
just said I always had the goal of twenty five consecutive.
I'm going to get this done. And you did it.
(10:56):
I did, and now all my I have four children,
all of them have run, their partners have run, and
my husband's run. Whoa, well except for one. We have
one left. We'll get here.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
One person left to wrangle in. What a legacy for you.
I think that this is right. But correct me if
I'm wrong. When you say you wanted to qualify, that
means you've hit the time that's required to race, as
opposed to you've used a sponsorship or charity to help
get you entry.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Correct. Correct. There's a couple of different ways to get
into the Boston Marathon, and running a qualifying time is
one way. Raising money for charities. We hit that fifty
million benchmark last year, which was truly astonishing because it
does provide a lot of the foundational infrastructure and financial
support for probably close to one hundred and fifty local
(11:43):
Greater Boston nonprofits. So it's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
It's incredible.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Yeah, the power of a very few people. The average
BIB for about two thousand people, they raise probably around
thirteen thousand dollars each.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Crazy, that's so great.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I want to talk about the history of the race
for a minute, because for listeners who might not know
Boston Marria's, the world's oldest annual marathon, started as a
men's only race in eighteen ninety seven. Fast forward a
long ways to nineteen sixty six, Bobby Gives the first
woman to run the race unofficially. A year later, friend
of mine, Catherine Swinzer, became the first woman to run
the race officially, and then the women's division was established
(12:17):
in nineteen seventy two. So Boston is the first major
marathon to actually have a women's division starting back then.
Over the years since then, is there a particular women's
champion whose race stands out as your favorite?
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Well, I've been doing this since nineteen ninety nine. You
can do the math on that, so it's been it's
been quite a while. I have so many favorites I
can't even say. But yeah, I better not to say.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
What if one just like snuck out?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Top of mind, if one snuck out, Our whole family
is a big team, dez fan. I mean for her
to prevail in the weather of the twenty eighteen just
the pure grid of being in New England and it
was like a nor'easter and it was leading sideways and
it was so freezing. I think that is one that
really stands out to me. But growing up, we always
(13:06):
we cut out of track practice. We hopped on the tee,
we got to the finish area, and there's so many
greats that have run. Cool.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, friend of the Show, Dez Linden, is a good answer.
We'll take that one because we also love reminiscing.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
About that great race.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Yeah, that was good.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You know, the course of the Boston Marathon has quite
a reputation as well.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Point to point.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Course, runners start the twenty six point two outside of Boston,
wind their way through eight towns. They make a famous
right on Hereford, left on Boilston. We've heard about the
race being tough a billion times and you've run it
a billion times.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
What makes it so memorable in your mind?
Speaker 3 (13:41):
What's different about Boston is that, unlike other Abbot rural
marathon majors or other significant races, including the Olympics now
in the World Championships, we're point to point, we don't
have pacers. There's very significant rises and falls. Well we
won't call them mountains, but we will call four significant
(14:02):
hills in the Newton area, and the downhill is significant
and you really have to know the course train on
the course, and it's not just the speed. It's not
turning off your brain. It's a combination of having experience
on the course, setting a mental strategy, running your own race,
but also having the knowledge that you don't have to
(14:24):
be the fastest on paper to win the Boston Marathon.
You need to be the smartest to win the Boston Marathon.
You really need to know yourself. And I'm so proud
of all of the profiles, the wheelchair, the pair of
the women's, the men's. They're absolutely amazing with the depth
that we're bringing in, but significantly both the men's and
the women's, especially the women's American field is noteworthy. I
(14:49):
will say many years we're so excited about it, but
this year we are over the top excited about this.
We have all three Olympians coming with us. That's to
go to pup pain that Emily Sissen and Fiona O'Keefe
combined with those three ladies, we have the three World
championship ladies. So that was in Tokyo, Olympics was in Paris,
(15:10):
Susanna Sullivan, Jess McLain and Erica Kemp. So just having
those six individuals is amazing. But then add into the
mix one of our favorites, Annie Frisbee, who came in
second American last year, after Jess MacLean, Gabby Rooker, Amanda Vestri.
Some of them are new to racing and the commitment
(15:30):
that these ladies have is wonderful. We had Fiona O'Keeffe
out here early training on the course, just trying to
learn the course, because that gives you a great advantage.
Erica Kemp is right out of Providence, so she knows
the course. Jess McLain has trained on the course and
she's run on the course. Susannah Sullivan was with me
last weekend. I drive the pros out backwards on the
(15:51):
course so they can understand that height of land, that descent,
and we go over every single kilometer, every single mile
of that course. Sisson, the American record holder who is
in the race, she came out and practiced and she
ran at Providence College and she knows the area. But
they all want to get out on that course. It's
a significant mental advantage, but it also lets you test
(16:15):
your legs on those down hills.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, you've got a great pack of US competitors. You've
also got the defending champion course record holder Sharon Loketti,
You've got a bunch of others. Eight athletes with personal
best under two twenty. That's about a five to twenty
minute per mile, which is crazy to me.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Yah Sarah, I like your pace chart.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
What would you say about this field in terms of
like ranking it in terms of one of the deepest
maybe that the Boston Marathon has seen.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
That's another significant difference for Boston. Unlike some other races
who may have a couple of stars, a couple of
stars here, a couple of stars there, we always have
the depth too. So on the American side, there's ten
women who run to twenty five or better. That's just phenomenal.
And then we have thirty women totally run under two thirty.
(17:02):
So having that depth on the women's side really proves
that this sport is just keeps raising the bar. Overall,
the pro field we have, I think it's about one
hundred and eighty athletes from thirty four countries, thirty four countries.
In the pro field, cool I bring in about sixty
to seventy pro men, sixty to seventy pro women, and
(17:24):
then we have about sixty pro wheelers and thirteen para pros.
The other nice thing about Boston is that we have
twenty champions returning, so we have seven para divisions, so
that's a big group that we have. The wheelchair champions returning,
Susanna Scaroni, who is American and she's a defending wheelchair champ.
She is pregnant, so she is taking a pass, but
she'll be visiting with us. And then as you mentioned,
(17:47):
we have Sharon Logiti Cumming and John Career our defending champ,
and Marcel Hoop.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, so let's talk about how you get this incredible field,
because that's your job. You have to go out and
get all these folks to show up. It's not the
typical chief operating officer and the way many people think
about it, because you're recruiting professional distance runners from around
the world to say, I'm going to come to Boston.
I'm going to commit to training for this very specific
race for a big chunk of my year, and unlike
(18:15):
maybe folks that are working for other races, you do
have the prestige, but you also have a race that's
not known for world record times, so you've got to
sell people to come to something very prestigious. But that
maybe isn't going to help them with the numbers that
they're looking for. What's the sales pitch you make if
someone's maybe on the fence.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
That's true, that's true, and I don't want to be remiss.
We also have world class five k on Saturday, and
we have a super cool professional mile on Saturday as well.
So check out those field lists and come down to
Boston if you can.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
And that's your job too, that's our job too.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
And then the CEO job really is so it's internal operations,
So it's every single person who runs any of our races.
Our team are there touch points from the time the
decision to sign up for the race until the time
you cross that finish line and head back home. So
all of those athlete services, all of the sales force, infrastructure,
(19:10):
all of the human resources, all of the financial all
of that is in our group. So we really do
touch every athlete, which is super cool. So on the
recruiting side of things, yeah, it's challenging, right because we
have some heavy eeters in the spring, right, we have London,
we have Paris, we have Tokyo. Why would you ever
want to come to Boston? I mean the year after
(19:30):
twenty eighteen started pouring rain and I said, we're never
going to get these people back, but once they come here,
we really try to. We have such a wonderful team
at the Bust and Athletic Association headed by Jack Fleming,
and we like to think every athlete are really treated
like superstars. Right, this is a lot of people's ultimate
dream to run the Boston Marathon. It's devastating if you qualify,
(19:53):
you don't get in. It's devastating if you can never
get here, and this is your lifelong goal. So we
liked think that we set up an experience that really
is part of the frosting on the cake. Right, So
what can you prove? Like, how did Eli Kipchoge decide
to come here? How do some of the best Helena Berry,
(20:14):
Sharon Logani, why do they decide to come here? They
come for the competition. They know it may not be
their fastest race, but it might. It's still Ryan Hall's
fastest race, Jeffrey Mutai in twenty eleven. We rent a
two three or two in twenty eleven. You know there
have been some crazy fast times here. It can be
a world best and we love to say it's a
(20:35):
world best. It has been a world record back in
the day with Joni and others, and people want to
come here because they want to strategize and it does
mean something. There are so many athletes from so many
countries that win in Boston. We have a significant prize award.
They take that money, they go back. People have built hospitals,
(20:55):
people have brought electricity to their towns. There's just an
amazing amount of good that people do. But it is
it's historic, there's a legacy there, and we really treat
people well. You know, from the time they leave their
country till the time they land at Logan, they're greeted.
We have a private chef, we stay at a great hotel,
this family dining, we have massage, we have recovery. Anything
(21:16):
they need, we're here for them. There's a lot that
goes into it, so hotel, travel, meals, everything's taken care
of for these amazing athletes.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, and you mentioned the feet.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So the way this works for professional merit donners, the
top athletes get paid in appearance feed by a race,
So the boss and athletic association will pay them to
just show up and run and then depending on how
they perform in the race, they could walk away with
more money too, if they win, or if their sponsor
maybe has a bonus for hitting a certain time. I
know the details of how much people make is confidential,
but that's generally how it works, right, That's part of
(21:46):
the experience. Is not just when you come here, we
treat you great, but also it's worth your time to
show up here. Not only because also if you're a
strategist who maybe isn't quite as fast as someone else,
you think this right race might be the one you
can best them in, because it is more about strategy
than just speed.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Absolutely, it's pure racing here. These are professional athletes. These
are the best athletes in the world who are coming
to Boston, and they deserve to be paid. They deserve
to be sponsored, they deserve every perk they can get because,
unlike a lot of sports, they may be working, say
twelve weeks, sixteen weeks to prepare for an event, and
(22:22):
everything is laid on the line for those two and
a half hours, and this is either going to be
tiers of joy or tiers of pain, or maybe both,
maybe both at different times.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Yeah, a lot of pain, even when you win. That's right,
How does the recruiting process typically work? Like, how far
in advance are you talking to someone.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
For the marathon? It's evergreen. It's it could be in
advance of this year's race where they might want to
come out in the summer and check out Boston and
maybe run one of our distance medley events. It might
be minutes after they crossed the finish line at the
Boston Marathon. It's really evergreen. I would say the heaviest
parts for the Boston Marathon are that I would probably
(23:02):
have the field mostly locked up by early November.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, and you've got to travel for your job a lot,
going to races distances all over the world to scout
potential recruits.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I do, and I love to travel.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
What do you look for in a runner that you're like,
this one might be great in Boston.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
It's like it's like that kid who knows every stat
about baseball, So I already know all the stats. There's
a lot of great databases. I know what races they've run,
I know who they're coached by, I know their agents,
I know who they run with, I know where their
training camps are. So all of those elements come into
the decision. To really understand how somebody runs and what
(23:41):
their mental game is. But if I go to say
New York, and I see someone being really gritty as
they come into Central Park, or there's a spirit there
that they're never giving up, or they're not afraid to
challenge the field, they're not afraid to be a front runner,
or they're not afraid to run their own race and
drop back knowing that they will reset and get back
(24:02):
into the group. What does their stride look like, what
does their carriage look like? All those things that go
into really understanding who that person is. You know, what
is their life like outside of running?
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Right, and you're choosing individuals, but ultimately you're going to
put these individuals into a group of runners that you
want in Boston. So you're building a field and it's
kind of the same as team sports, where like you
could have a guard who's a great shooter, but if
they're not a great facilitator, the rest of the players
aren't going to play at their best. So, right, how
do you figure out what you want to try to
include when you're looking at the pro field as a whole.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Sure, you're always thinking about the future and the future
of the sport, and you always want to provide some
up and coming athletes who are amazing, maybe in college,
maybe on the track, transitioning to the roads. You want
to provide them opportunity. So that's one avenue. But you
also want to bring back experience because the experience will
drive the strategy and the pace and then is all
(25:00):
always nice to bring in champions, Olympic champions, world champions.
We have alfons symbol becoming a world champion. Combined with that,
I think the best thing is to see how they
work alone, see how they work in groups, and see
how they finish. The New York City Marathon, it was
a photo finish, so it was won by less of
(25:21):
a difference than one hundred meter at the Olympics, so
it was like, you know, this much difference and who
prevailed was one of our champions, Benson Canprudo, because he
was going to die trying and he prevailed. So you
do like that spirit and you can really see it.
You can see it in runners.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, I feel like you also are going to look
for a mix of people from different countries, folks that
will help inspire people in different places to get into it.
We talk about the future of marathoning is you need
folks from all over the world to see somebody that
looks like them, and it is from where they are
who's competing in winning.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Oh absolutely, And I think I mentioned this earlier about
thirty four countries just in the pro fields. There's so
much talent globally, and running is a major sport in
a lot of countries and including America. Right. It's just
it's going bonkers right now. I mean, you look at
the last Olympic Trials, there were so many people on
(26:14):
that starting line, and that's what you want to see.
You want to see that excitement.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Yeah, London's looking at two days. I don't think the
Boston Marathon's ever going to two days.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Right I At this time, I think we have other priorities.
But I also think what makes this race special is
it's eight cities in towns, right, And when I take
these pros out and then we go backwards to Hopkinson,
it can't believe it, you know, It's just it's the
roads are so narrow, there's beautiful trees, there's lakes, there's
it's a different kind of feeling than a big city marathon,
(26:42):
and that's part of the uniqueness. We're always evolving and growing, So.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Not an answer, but yeah, you'll be you'll consider it,
I hear, is what I'm hearing.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You know, we never throw any idea out the window.
But yeah, yeah, no, I think that's great diversity and
professional running, and there's great cultural differences in professional running.
What we do that a lot of races don't do.
We have a family dining situation, so we have a
small dedicated dining room, so all of the athletes get
to meet each other. I get to eat meals with
(27:12):
each other and just get to understand each other's culture.
Is a little bit better cool.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
You know, when you're recruiting, doping is always a big
topic when it comes to marathon and do you have
to consider it all or do you consider it all
if someone's been flagged in the past or has that
on their record when you're considering recruiting them.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Oh absolutely, If you've served a doping sanction, you are
not invited to Boston. And we're the first marathon in
the world. Two years ago we instituted a voluntary repayment program.
And what that means is if after the prize awards
are dispersed and someone has to be reranked at our race.
(27:48):
We will not only rerank you, but we will give
you the prize differential. And that's one way to try
to find some equity and fairness if you've been robbed
of your rightful place at this race.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, you know, speaking of payments, there's kind of just
a long history across sports in general, every kind of
sport of women not being compensated as well as their
male counterparts, even while doing the same work on and
off the field to play. Is there anything that your
team does specifically behind the scenes to make sure you're
not inadvertently contributing to the gender pay gap.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Oh, for sure. The depth of field is always equal.
We always start out with we'll start out with seventy five,
seventy five. What might change that balance gender wise is
that there may be more injuries on the men's side
or more injuries on the women's side. Are you know,
a problem with fitness on one side or the other.
But at the end of the day, really the appearance
and the depth the amount of athletes that we host
(28:42):
and provide hospitality to is very often very equal. It
might change a little bit here and there, but it
has made significant progress over the last twenty years for sure.
Just the depth alone.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
When you talk about trying to build for the future,
that means looking at folks who might be great down
the road.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Those might be cross country runners.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Boston course could be compared to a really long cross
country race with the inclines and the declines.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Is there any connection there?
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Are you looking at good college cross country runners that
might make good Boston marathon runners?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Absolutely. I went down to Florida, I went down to
Tallahassee at the beginning of the year to the World
cross Country Championships, So I was looking at a lot
of not only the U twenty but the open group
and seeing how they perform on cross country courses and
what that is like. That definitely is a factor. That
toughness is inherent there. So definitely look at the cross
(29:34):
country seasons.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Yeah, what about middle distance?
Speaker 2 (29:38):
Any middle distance racers that maybe haven't yet moved up
to longer.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
But you're keeping an eye on that. You're hoping we'll
try twenty six point two.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
I think that's always the hope and the difficulty is
So that's why I love going to the Olympics and
World Championships, because I love to just live at the
track and see that progression. I think the hope is
that you know, as that speed diminishes for one reason
or the other, that transition to roads is a great
equalizer because you can still put in the speed, you
(30:06):
can get the ranking on the roads, but you may
not be as fast as you need to be on
the track. Oh, there's not as many qualifying rounds or distractions.
Most people do transition if they're even milers, have a Sarah,
is still time for you as a half miler?
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Gosh, I wish, I wish we got to.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Get you out there. We have to get you out there.
What do we have to do. You've got to try it.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Give me a new leg would be the Yeah, I
tore my achilles, so it's a whole mess down there.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Oh jeez, that's painful.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, you know, I'm thinking about this sort of selection
process and if there's probably a year or two where
you've found someone and you've plucked a diamond and they've
had a great finish and you've been like, I knew it.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
I saw that. I knew that person was going to
do great.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Nobody else would have seen that except for me, because
I have all this stuff living in my head. Is
there anyone you have conversations with about this stuff? Are
you battling anyone who says nope, we don't have room
and you're like, I'm fighting for this person or is
it just you get to decide?
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Well, I like to think it's a team. It's a
team effort. And I speak with a lot of agents,
I speak with a lot of athletes, a lot of coaches.
I listened to my teammates here and everything has to
be right, everything has to be right.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
Yeah, so it's a benevolent dictatorship. You're still in charge,
but you try to listen.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
No, no, no, no, not at all.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
It's very it's collaborative. It's collaborative. But like you can,
let's just take you know, Yuki kaw Ochi as an example, right,
he represented Japan and many world championships, never made it
on the big stage, so to speak. And he said
it come to Boston, but he wanted to come and
do training. So I set up at January certified and
(31:44):
sanctioned marathon for him to run to get a world
record with Guinness Guinness World Records. And he was here
for a week and he must have run like fifteen
marathons in a week's time and then he came back.
But he's someone not everybody would take a chance on.
There's a lot of people that not everybody would take
a chance on. But I don't know. For me, determination
goes a long way grittiness, you know, intelligence, humor, being
(32:09):
a nice person.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah, we're talking about partners and marathon runners exactly. I
want to ask specifically about US runners Susannah Sullivan and
Jess McLain.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
They're both sponsored by Brooks.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
Susannah and Jess kind of worked together as this fearless
duo at the World Championships in Tokyo last summer. They
were leading the pack for a good tunk of the race.
Do you think we're going to see them working together
out on this Boston course.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
I will tell you Jess McLain is on fire and
Susannah Sullivan is on fire. It's going to be really hard.
If you asked me to even secretly do the lineup here,
it's going to be incredibly difficult because Emily Sisson is
coming in hot. Fiono O'Keefe looks so strong to codable pain.
She just reported that you've been like twenty seven miles
(32:53):
and under two thirty just as a training run, you know,
training run. But Sullivan, yes, Erica Kemp. All the ladies
are coming in. They know they have to come to
Boston prepared. Nobody comes to that starting line unprepared. They're
all prepared. They have to be. Yeah, it's a tough course.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
Last two quick ones for you because you mentioned Jess McClain.
She was one of the athletes at the US half
marathon who has accidentally let off the course.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
We've talked about her on the show here.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
She ended up getting cross money, she ended up getting
a ticket to the World Championships. We don't know yet
if she'll be considered the scoring athlete of the group
or not. But what do you make of the solution
that US Track and Field and World Athletics came up with.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Well, it's an interesting solution, right because they it has
to be three and three different kits. They have to
identify four who will be in the rankings. The three
and three can't work against each other or with each
other a team up to pace and be groups, so
that will be a little bit challenging. It's a great opportunity.
I think the women amongst themselves will come to terms
(33:53):
with who they think should be ranked, and now we
just have to have a race, right.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Yeah, it was a tough sit you to find an
easy solution for it was.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
A tough situation. But before the race even ended, I
texted Jess and I said, you look so strong out there.
I might have said LFG and we can't wait till
you're in Boston. So it's all and I said, we
want you healthy and happy. So it's all about the positives,
Like what did go well there? She looked for sure, amazing, Right,
(34:23):
she was out there to win it. She was driving
the train. So let's concentrate on the positives.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Last two fun ones.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
You mentioned that you'll drive the racers the reverse direction
on the course to check it out with the traffic
in Boston.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Does it take longer to drive the course or run it?
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Oh my gosh. I was in the car for like
an hour and a half with Emily Sis and we
know everything about we're talking about the course and then
you digress. Susanna Sullivan, she's also chatty. That was great,
And Fiona, it takes really it takes from the finish
line takes about an hour and thirty or forty minutes,
so it is close to them running back. But then
(35:01):
they get out there. You know, we have an office
building out there that's going to be a museum. Er
in the starting line and they get rolling and they
are flying. It's just very impressive to see them flying
down this course.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, Producer Bianca actually lives in Boston and we have
a lot of listeners in the Boston area.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
So we want to know from you.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Since you've run it twenty five times, since you've been
there every time since ninety nine, what do you think
is the best spot on the course to cheer from.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
Oh, it has to be, you know, on Comab near
the right, on Harrifins left and Pullston, but with the
fans in the nitty gritty, not in the finish line,
but with the fans just driving people that last mile,
just cheering for them for all your worth.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I've kissed some grand babies on that corner.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Oh, that's great. That's great.
Speaker 3 (35:48):
It's a great spot right there.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Well, we're looking forward to watching from Afar and for
some of us in person. So thanks so much for
the time. Appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Okay, thank you so much. I love talking about this.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Thanks again to Mary Kate for taking the time and
don't forget you can now watch full length good Game
interviews like my interview with Mary Kate on the Iheartwomen's
Sports YouTube channel. Said one commenter on my Sue Bird
and Dinah Tarassi interview. Quote unless they're really good friends
and I just dkay, is it just me? Or was
the host a little passive, aggressive and at times disrespectful to.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Sue and Diana End quote?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Loll Excited to welcome in that new audience. As folks
discover our channel, we have to take another break when
we return every day a fresh new hell.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Welcome back slices.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. If you're running the
Boston Marathon on April twentieth, let us know producer Bianca
will be out there cheering and she'd love to track
all the slices on the race app. So send us
your bib number or your name at good Game at
wondermedianetwork dot com. We always love to hear from you
us up on email. Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com.
(37:02):
Or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two
four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and
review slaces.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
It's real easy.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Watch hydrate, exercise, rest, check for updates on potential World
War III. Rating zero out of zero. Solutions for the
mess were all in review. Yesterday, I had that thing
where multiple people are texting you all at the same
time about vastly different topics.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
You've been there.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I'm sure ding ding ding, They're all coming through, but
each one requires a completely different emotion and a different
kind of processing. What are the Chicago sky doing? Can
you do dinner on the sixteenth? Did you hear Shelley
passed away? As I tried to respond, it felt like
there was this little imaginary ball in my brain that
was bouncing from one inside out character to the other
(37:49):
kind of trading who was in charge of my mood?
I could feel the ball bounce with the ding of
each text I received and the spoosh of my responses
being sent out like I could feel in that moment
how wrong it was for messages about an acquaintance's death
to be interrupted by texts about a basketball team. The
speed at which we have to process our lives via
the roulette wheel of our phones is unsettling, whether via
(38:12):
text or social media platform, all at once. We're liking
a friend's baby picture than scrolling to news of an
endangered animal population and decline onto a promotion for a
movie sequel right below a post from the President proudly
announcing his plan to commit genocide at any moment. If
we stop and think about it, it's frankly fair to
ask why am I paying this bill or responding to
(38:35):
this email? Or how can I be booking this vacation
or trash talking the star of this reality show? How
can we be doing anything other than protesting, calling our
local representatives, writing letters to newspapers and TV networks demanding
that they treat this moment with the gravity it requires.
And yet for many of us, myself included, it kind
of feels like the only way through this is cognitive dissonance,
(38:58):
Like somehow try to hold both things at once, like
at Leon said on Blue Sky. Yeah, man, I'll circle
back to you on that agenda item from yesterday's All
Hands in just a sec our, Pedophile King just threatened
to destroy a whole civilization, Like we can't just be
angry all day or hide or stop trying or caring
or looking for joy. And we can't ignore that what's
(39:18):
going on is bigger and scarier and worse than likely
any of us imagined on November fifth, twenty twenty four.
So I guess we just have to let the ball
bounce from horrified that happened? To thrilled for your success
to sorry, can't make it tuesday? To holy shit, how
is no one stopping him? If anyone's got a better solution,
(39:40):
I'd really love to hear it, because I don't know
how much longer we can all do this. Now it's
your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening, slices, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Mary Kate, Good game, everyone signed
up to run in Boston? You the spineless, gutless cowards
doing nothing to unseat and arrest the resident.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
An iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier,
our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Lucy Jones,
(40:27):
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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