Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan Talk 2025 TCS New York City Marathon Debuts

Episode Transcript
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Becs Gentry (00:00):
We should be celebrating every position that comes over the
finish line, as well as the people who don't because
race day is the celebration, the training, as you say, training
like a professional athlete for you both. Training hard for
people who are just starting out running. That is so
important to being healthy and making a routine and falling

(00:24):
in love with running.

Rob Simmelkjaer (00:30):
Hey everybody and welcome to Set the Pace, the official
podcast of New York Roadrunners, presented by Peloton. I am
your host, Rob Simmelkjaer, the CEO of New York Roadrunners
and with me on what I think will be a
very memorable episode of Set the Pace. My co- host,
Peloton instructor, Becs Gentry. Hey Becs.

Hello. How are you?

Oh, I'm great because we are about to talk to
two of the all- time legends in the sport of
distance running. Can you even believe that we're going to
be sitting down and talking to these two individuals?

No, I'm nervous. I'm so nervous and starstruck. Like Sifan, I love
her. I love her. I'm obsessed with her. And Eliud,
I met him for the first time when I ran
Berlin Marathon, which is almost exactly now, oh my gosh,

(01:29):
eight years ago and this is weird that it's exactly
to the date pretty much that I first met him
and tripped over my words because it's going to happen
again. I'm going to trip over my words and I'm
going to look at these two and just see greatness
and I cannot wait for our listeners to hear this conversation.

It's so exciting. As Becs teased, we are going to
have Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan joining us here on Set the Pace.
And boy, how much excitement is there for this conversation.
We'll get in a minute to why they're joining us
on set the pace. That's some exciting news as well.
But Becs, you and I are seeing each other for the

(02:10):
first time in a couple of days. I got a
chance to spend some quality time with you on Sunday
at the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile in person. It
was a wet day, but I felt like it worked.
The rain kind of tapered off in time for the
pro races and a lot of the races, the NYPD,
FDNY race late in the day. A lot of the

(02:30):
early runners definitely had to run in some rain. It
was wet, no doubt about it. So for those running
at 7
but it was only a mile and-

Exactly.

... it was cool and a lot of people thought
it was really cool to run in that rain, so it
turned out to be a pretty good day for more than 9, 000
runners in 30 heats.

Exactly, and I think that is one point to shout out New York
Roadrunners for the organization of this event. Being that it
was wet and rainy being that it was only one
mile, but the fact that you guys are so organized
in getting 30 heats of people rolling on this mile
and it was so, so well done. So huge congratulations on

(03:15):
all of those 9, 000 plus smiles and we saw
so many smiles this weekend.

Well, thank you Becs. I'll accept thanks on behalf of the team who did
a tremendous job on Sunday as they always do, putting
on a great best in class experience, as we say
for our athletes, and it was an exciting day for
the pro runners. Our friend who we had on set
the pace last week, Olympic bronze medalist, Yared Nuguse won the
men's race at a time of 3

(03:45):
the third- fastest time in event history. And man, that
race was just-

It was tight.

Tight from the world, go right to the finish line.
I don't think anybody really was clear that Yared was going
to win until the last maybe 10 strides.

No. I mean, you and I weren't and we were right on the finish line. I'm not saying my
eyesight is terrible, so I was squinting my way through
the rain just trying to see who had a toe
ahead. But Parker Wolf, Drew Hunter and Yared would just,
they were kind of trading off step by step. It
was that close until Yared, just... If you watch back

(04:20):
any of the footage, Rob, you can see the grit
in their faces. I mean there was some digging deep
happening for the final race of the season for a couple
of them at least there to kind of get over
that line and oh, Yared's smile when they... I mean all of their smiles, but I mean I love,
I adore Yared Nuguse. His smile and his elation at that

(04:45):
finish was beautiful to see.

It was, he's a wonderful young man and it was nice to
see him get a positive finish to his season after
the disappointment of not making it to the World Championships
in Tokyo. So congratulations to Yared. The men's race, Becs,
had 23 finishers under four minutes. That's a record. And
you know Becs, it's interesting watching the pro races on the

(05:08):
road like that and it's just this straight line race,
right? There's no inside, there's no outside, there's no turn
to kind of sometimes create the tactics around how to
pass, right? I mean, everybody's just going in their straight
line and it was interesting to watch that play out
in such a tight men's race, the women's race, not

(05:30):
quite as tight. Gracie Morris won it with a time
of 4
quite speedy. The third- fastest time in event history, and
Gracie was kind of a little bit of an upset
there. She finished fifth last year, out kicked Kayley DELAY

(05:50):
this year and the defending champion Carissa Schweitzer. Not a
household name for a lot of fans Becs, but boy
was so happy to have a real breakthrough moment like that.

She was. Look at that, two of them getting their first time wins
and both the third- fastest time in event history. That's
quite cool. I love matching steps. But Gracie was thrilled.
She was absolutely over the moon. And in relation to
the mile to the distance that they covered, she really

(06:22):
did out kick the other runners there, she broke away
and she said in the post- race interview that I
got to speak to her, she said that she saw
Carissa hold on for the halfway marker.

Bonus. Yes.

The bonus.

The bonus for that who leads at the halfway point
and that can inject some interesting decision- making into this race.

Absolutely. And she says she watched Carissa go for that
and saw her sort of dropped back. I guess they
noticed these small things to the unbeknowing, unprofessional miler eye.
We don't really see that. And she said that's when
she made her move. She just knew, and boy did
she make her move. She was a good few strides

(07:08):
ahead of the other women who have really performed in
stronger ways this season and at this race before. So
huge congratulations to Gracie, Puma team there. She's going to
be a household name. I can see it, and she's
a really, really wonderful, wonderful young woman.

Yeah. That really came across in your interview with her, by the way.
Great job on the interviews for our broadcast Becs. It
was great to see you there at the finish line
interviewing all these great pro athletes and you also got
a chance to interview some of the participants in the
first ever Broadway Mile, and that was a stunning success.

(07:47):
We had nearly 70 Broadway performers and theater professionals competing
in that first ever Broadway Mile. Not only did they
come out raise money, give the fans something fun to
cheer for, but they also raised $ 15,000 for Broadway Cares,
Equity Fights AIDS, an incredibly important cause. And it was
a lot of fun to see these great folks from

(08:09):
our Broadway community out there enjoying the day on Fifth
Avenue, the musical Mamma Mia won the Team trophy with
Jordan Litz, Thomas Dougler and Hannah McGrath posting the fastest
mens, non binary and women's Broadway Mile times. So that was a great
day and it really added a lot to this event so you

(08:31):
can all expect to see another Broadway Mile next year
and we'll make it even bigger and better. It was a
lot of fun.

And our previous guest, Jordan and Ellie will be absolutely
elated to see that number raised for Broadway Cares, Equity
Fights AIDS. They were, if you haven't listened to the
episode, go back, listen to it from a couple of
weeks ago to understand exactly where and what that will
be going towards because I think Jordan described it so

(08:59):
eloquently and with so much personal passion, it's something we
should all understand more about.

Yeah, yeah, it was a great day. So congrats to all of our Broadway
Mile finishers. All right, Becs, we've talked about a lot
of the fast runners, the pros and the Broadway milers,
but we have not focused on one of the real
stars of the day, I thought, which was your daughter
Tallulah running her first ever New York Roadrunners race. That's

(09:26):
right. She ran stage one and came running down that
Fifth Avenue stretch with Austin and was just adorable. Won her
heat with Austin's assistance, but we won't count that. Won
her heat and just the smiles on her face, your face,
Austin's face, that to me was just what it's all

(09:49):
about at New York Roadrunners. It's on your social by
the way. I love the post of it on your
social, what was it like Bax for you to see your pride and
joy, your daughter cross her very first finish line?

Oh my gosh, Rob, that was... I mean first of
all, thank you to all the team for getting her
in and signed up. I love leaving everything to the last
minute in my races and apparently I'm putting that onto
my daughter as well. So big shout outs to Matt
and Christine for getting her in there, but she was

(10:22):
so excited. I mean she came to the broadcast booth
beforehand. I had her bib and she was just, I
felt like she was in the zone, she was standing...
Tallulah doesn't stand still, but she was standing so still
letting me pin her bib on her and she was
just like, "Yeah, I got this mom." And Austin took her

(10:44):
to the start line and she was surrounded by all the
other kids and parents because obviously of their age, they're not old
enough to quite run it by themselves.

Yeah, they've almost all got parents running down that stretch with them.

Next year I think she'll just go for it. And
I was about to do my first pre- record hit for
the broadcast, so I was already at the finish line
and I could just see her standing there and she was
in Austin's arms to begin with and she was sort
of looking around at everyone taking it all in. She's
such an observant child and the minute he put her

(11:16):
on the floor, I could see her little legs were
starting to go. She's a very fast runner, naturally. I
don't know where she gets that from.

Yeah. Who knows where that can possibly come from.

And she's strong. She's strong. She is a absolute force
when it comes to her strength for her age. Her
pediatricians always said she's a very, very strong girl and
she went for it. I think she was dragging Austin.
I mean Austin was trying to keep it together there.
And the smile on her face, she truly enjoyed it.

(11:49):
I mean you do look around, you saw other kids
crying, being bribed with a bagel or whatever it was
to get over the finish line, but T was just
boom. Off she went and I think everybody saw on
the broadcast her elation, she wanted to go again. She was like, "Again, again."

It was so special to see. She gave you and Austin
a little kiss afterwards and I was so happy for you guys.
It would look like just a great memory for you all. So
I hope you got some video and some great pictures and that's-

Yeah, I'll have to get the official video from the incredible cameraman Kayle
who was with us then in that moment. I have
to try and find that and her bib will be
framed for sure.

A hundred percent, a hundred percent. Congratulations to Tallulah and
to you in Austin. That was really a special moment.
Well, Becs, let's talk about my training for a minute or
two here. Here I am, five weeks or so out
from the Chicago Marathon on October 12th.

Oh my gosh.

The training for these endurance events, it's just not a straight
line. We have weeks that are great and then we
have weeks where we feel exhausted and there are setbacks
and you start to question things and I'm having one
of those weeks this week. It's funny, I had a
great day on Labor Day as you'll remember, running the

(13:13):
New Haven half and that was great. And then there
was a stretch of heat and humidity that we had
here over this past weekend. A lot of folks might
remember Saturday in the New York area the day before
the Fifth Avenue Mile and before that front came in
that produced the rain on Sunday. It was a brutal
day. It was very hot and humid and I wasn't

(13:34):
even trying to go along that day Becs, I actually decided
that I was going to go a little bit short because
I'm going to go long with the Bronx ten- miler
on Sunday and then long again for our eighteen- miler
in the park than a week after that. So I
was going to give myself a little bit of a
break this week and run like 10, but Becs, that
was hard to get through. I mean it was so
brutal and I just felt like my body was just

(13:57):
blowing up. The heat and humidity is tough for me.
And it's just you're going to have those pluses and
minuses. I guess one question I have for you, Becs,
is when you do hit a patch like this where
you start to just feel worn down... And this has
been a long block for me. I'm doing like fifteen-
week training block. I've never really done one that long.

(14:19):
What do you do? What do you do? I did decide to
take the foot off the pedal a little bit just
to catch my breath and try to recharge a bit,
but what are your thoughts on taking a break and
that deload week as it were, when you start to
feel like it's really getting heavy for you?

Yeah, great question. It's something that I think inevitably we all
go through. Some of us will experience it deeper than
others. I think it's so important to have deload weeks.
Reducing the intensity. That's all that really means. You keep
up your routine but your intensity, your duration, paces, everything
gets a little bit less. I tend to program people

(14:59):
at least two deload weeks in an 18- week program.
Obviously the 18- week program includes two weeks of taper,
so you're really actually training for 16 weeks within that
will be two deload weeks because not just mentally but
physically, the body, as you say, it starts to feel
tired and it's very, very frustrating when you're putting in

(15:19):
all of this time and effort into what you want
to be a linear progression towards the start finish line
and you feel like you are plateauing and you're not
making any progression. I think when you have those deload weeks, you allow your
body to catch up with all of the hard work

(15:40):
that's being done and I think mentally that is a
huge light bulb moment that we all need to understand
is that it's okay. That's your body's sign of saying, "
Hey, I'm going to stick with you here but you
need to stick with me. I need to just reel
it back a little bit. I need all these adaptations

(16:00):
to fulfill themselves and then we will keep going." Because
if you keep pushing, pushing, pushing, most of us are
not able to do that because we have 101 other
things going on outside of our running training and we
may be subconsciously pushing in those areas of our lives
as well. Be it career, personal life, and it will

(16:24):
always, always come out physically. Always. You can be concerned
and stressed about something at work, a presentation, you'll feel
it in your traps, perhaps in tension or maybe you'll
have your lower back and it's just your body just

(16:45):
gives off these signs. So have that in your mind
and yes, please pull it back. Just pull it back.
And it's up to you whether you pull back duration
or intensity, mileage decrease is absolutely fine on these drop
down weeks. In fact, it's encouraged. If you want to
keep the mileage up because mentally for you you want

(17:07):
to keep increasing mileage, fine, decrease your pace, take it
away from marathon pace and just take it to long,
steady, slow running almost don't look at your watch, you know? You know what I mean? You
just run, you're just running, you're just moving because in the
end it's just getting the miles in the legs. So
you have to work with your coach to understand, all right, I'm

(17:28):
a distance person or I'm a time person or a pace
person. Which one's going to make you feel better or
worse? Conversely. And just maybe your speed sessions that week
aren't so prescriptive. They aren't like, " All right, you're going
to hit your one- mile repeat time." It's going to be, "
Hey, we're just going to do three minutes hard effort."

(17:49):
You tell you what your hard effort is in that
moment and you're going to do 10 three-minute hard effort
intervals and hard effort is that day. It is pertinent
to that exact day. There's no numbers attached to it,
so you can't feel disappointed because you're not like, " Well,
that wasn't my mile pace." So it's about offloading all

(18:13):
the stress mentally and physically for those weeks. I think
you did the right thing by just taking your foot
off the gas and it's a great time to think
about food, sleep, rest, where can you on the next
six weeks, where can you squeeze in a nap? I
know you're CEO of a company, very difficult to do that.

Sleep. Sleep. All I think about is sleep. Part of it is I'm really
trying to enforce my bedtimes. I'm not letting that, oh,
I really want to watch one more quarter of that
NFL game when the game's going to run until 11:30
at night. You know what, I'll find out what happens in the
morning 10 o'clock I'm shutting it down, right? Because I
do feel that makes a big difference. I've got the

(18:54):
new balance, Bronx 10 miler, which by the way, Becs is
low key, one of my favorite races of the year
on the New York Roadrunner's calendar. I love this race.

I've never run it.

Oh my god.

I know.

You have got to come out and run this race. It
is so much fun. It is such a great course.
There is such great energy. I haven't missed this race
once since I've been here and this is not going
to be the year I'm going to miss it either. So that's
a 10 miler. My plan is to run that Becs and
then add 10, I'm thinking maybe 10 marathon pace, 10

(19:27):
at like an easier pace on sat on Sunday.

Yeah, just enjoy the miles in the Bronx, do that
or whatever and then where you're by yourself head, you
could almost head straight to the west side highway and
do some flat fast.

Something nice and flat. Yeah.

Yeah. Something flat and fast. You'll be in the city. You can
just get amongst everybody else who's out there running the
miles, which is also very uplifting. I think sometimes maybe
for you in Connecticut, when you do these longer miles,
there's less runners out there to give you that motivation
and it's hilly.

Yeah. That's so true.

But in New York we're so lucky because there are
hundreds of thousands of people probably training for these four
races right now. And so Saturday, Sunday, well even Friday
at the moment, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, there is just hordes
of people getting those miles in and you feel that
camaraderie, it gives you that energy when you are feeling
a little bit, " Oh god, five more weeks. I've got this."

Yeah, that's where I'm at. That's where I'm at. All right, well thanks Becs.

Cut that New York love.

Yeah, I'm going to need it. Thank you for that coach. Appreciate it. All in all,
I'm still feeling good, so just got to get through
a couple of these tough weeks as we approach some
of those peak peak training runs. I know a lot
of you training for New York are still on the
upswing towards some of those, so just keep it together
and obviously stay positive and do what you need to

(20:48):
do for your body because we all know it's a
long haul and making it to the starting line is one of
the biggest accomplishments in running a marathon. All right, Becs,
we have such an exciting announcement this week in New
York. Roadrunners two of the greatest marathoners in history are
about to take on the TCS New York City Marathon

(21:08):
for the very first time. Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan will be
joining us today to talk about their recent race in
Sydney. That's right. They both ran Sydney.

Just a small one.

Just a little bit of an effort. Sifan Hassan won the TCS Sydney Marathon, ELiud Kipchoge finished in ninth place. So
we'll talk about that. We'll talk about the personal philosophies
that drive them and I love hearing Kipchoge talk about
his philosophy after Sydney and why they are taking on
the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon less than a couple

(21:42):
of months after running Sydney. So we can't wait to
hear from both of them. We also have a very
special member moment today on this 24th anniversary of 911,
I spoke with FDNY Battalion chief Dennis Sweeney. He's not
only a marathon runner but also a vital partner to
both New York City and New York Roadrunners. Our races
and our city are safer because of Dennis and his

(22:04):
colleagues at FDNY and so looking forward to that conversation
as we do approach the 24th anniversary of 911. Finally,
today Meb will be here to talk about the 2025 New York
City Marathon by the mile. He continues that by the
Mile Countdown and he's going to be halfway there today.
He's going to be talking about Miles 13 through 15.

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Today on Set the Pace. We are joined by two
of the greatest marathoners of all time, Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan.
Kipchoge at the age of 40 remains the philosopher king
of distance running. Still training under Patrick Tsang after more
than two decades, while balancing the highs and lows of
recent seasons. And Hassan fresh off of her win at

(23:10):
the Sydney Marathon and of course her historic Olympic triple
in Paris continues to push boundaries across distances few thought
possible. Neither of these two legends has ever run the
TCS New York City Marathon until now. That's right. They
will both be joining us in 2025 and we are
so honored to welcome them both to New York and

(23:33):
to set the pace for the very first time. Eliud,
Sifan, it is an honor to speak to both of
you. Thank you so much for joining us.

Sifan Hassan (23:41):
Thank you so much.

Eliud Kipchoge (23:42):
Thank you too.

It is... I feel like I'm speaking to well you are to me you are both royalty to
this runner over here. I am overwhelmed with great gratitude
for having you here today. I think Eliud actually you
and I met eight years ago almost exactly eight years

(24:04):
ago in Berlin after you absolutely crushed your race there
and Sifan, we are yet to meet in person, but I
promise when I see you in New York, I'm going
to be the weirdo who gives you a big squeeze
because you are such an inspiration to everybody but especially
women in sport and my little girl is already going
to be idolizing you. So thank you for everything you both do

(24:25):
to elevate this incredible sport.

So let me start by asking both of you. Eliud,
we'll start with you. What made you decide to run
New York this year? For the first time we've been
waiting for you in New York. We have been dreaming
and hoping for this moment. You just ran Sydney as
did Sifan, finished in ninth place. Had a great day.

(24:49):
But why was this the year Eliud to finally run
New York and collect your sixth Abbott World Marathon major star?

I think this is actually the best time actually for me
to line up at the starting line actually of the New
York City Marathon. (inaudible) I really want to join
those who actually the biggest crowd ever in this world,

(25:20):
I want to join them to click over 60,000 finishers or even 65,000 finishers this year. I want to join them and to be actually proud to talk that
I was among the group actually who actually break their
own records by the best and the highest ever finishers. I think New
York one is that it's the best course ever and I think it's good

(25:42):
for me to experience the wonderful city which I went to
walk all around city, see how fast the city is,
visit many people who actually love the sport and who
believes on what I'm actually saying and what I'm doing in New York. And those are the

(26:02):
factors that are making me to come to New York for 2025.

Sifan, what about you? You just won the TCS Sydney Marathon
so you might be a little tired from that but
we know from Paris that you don't get tired easily.
So what is it that made you decide to run
New York so soon after winning in Sydney?

Yeah, believe me for Marathon you get tired. In Paris because I did Marathon in the last day, after
the Marathon I was broke but I was broke actually.
So it's like for Marathon, I'm so sorry. I haven't recovered yet from
Sydney Marathon. Yeah, to me, I just start three years
ago, two years ago, London. It's just fresh but still. I

(26:50):
actually was planning to run last years in New York
and I was thinking of it but really after Paris I was
emotionally damaged. Also physically. I was like not only because of
I ran marathon in Paris, I couldn't do. I was
sick, I couldn't recover. So that's why I did, I

(27:11):
say next year Inshallah I will do it. So that's
the reason I did this year and New York is to
me especially, it's very famous city. Everybody talk about it
and this is a big city. I don't know who doesn't know
New York? So that's how big... I want to run in the big... As a child also
more than America, I know New York this morning in

(27:33):
Ethiopia, we know New York, everybody say New York. And
also I've been in New York couple times, it's so
busy. I hope in the marathon we don't have that. No problem.
I'll stretch. If it's so busy I would just stretch. (inaudible)
work, no problem. But it's again, that's the reason. Also, the
other reason they have a lot of fans, it's almost they have more than

(27:57):
a million fans around like they watching, a little public
watching, they give you energy, they cheer you, you feel
like you are at World Chamber at the Olympics. They give you motivation
that you also feel like that it give you meaning of running. It give
you meaning of marathon. So that is like, that's what I
excited most of the time about New York. When I

(28:18):
think of when I watch the New York Marathon, I
see how many people are crazy watching. So magic I'm
running more than a million people watching it going to give me a lot of energy.
So this make me excited.

That's a really beautiful message for not just the professional
athletes but the everyday runners who might be embarking on
the TCS New York City Marathon for the first time
are crowds here are the best in the world. Fact
and you are correct, there's well over a million people
come out on the day to cheer you on every

(28:55):
step of the way. You will not be alone. There
will be New Yorkers on every corner and the energy
gives every runner the impetus to get to that finish
line so strong and it will be fast- paced. I
will warn you, this city is very fast- paced but
I'm sure your coaches and your teams will have your

(29:17):
schedule accordingly calm when you're not around it, but it's
infectious. It's truly the best day and I know that
hearing that you both are going to be here, it's
probably going to attract another million people to the sidelines.
So soak it in.

It's really great. Wherever I'm in New York, I feel
like I'm human being because it's like woman should love,
be like that/ a lot of people around and we should... It's like a
lot of people. That's what I love actually. A lot
of people around and a lot of traffic also. I don't like the car,
but the people no problem.

I love it. I really love it. Eliud, what are
your thoughts about New York? How much time have you
spent in New York? Have you been here many times
and what are you most looking forward to do in
New York besides running the marathon?

I've been in New York many times. I like New
York generally and besides the marathon I went to visit
most of the partners who actually believe in what I'm
saying, who believes actually in this channel of movement, in
this channel of American New York Running city and making

(30:34):
America Running nation or went to visit them to learn
from a lot of sports, visit the basketball to see
whether to learn, just get the knowledge visit ultimate UFC. If
that'll be lucky actually to have a fight in New York, I

(30:54):
would love to visit or even visit their team to
see what's happening. So a lot actually is in my
bucket list as far as New York is concerned. I hope
I'll finish them all before I leave New York.

Amazing, amazing. Sifan, whilst we're talking about start lines, you've
been heard to say that you are one of the
most scared people when it comes to the start line
of your races, which I can believe it but I can
also, it just astounds me because of your profession and

(31:28):
your expertise. But do you think that your fear sometimes
makes you stronger?

I used to say why I have that, but when I when get
long grow up, I get matured and more wiser. I
think it's also, yeah because the fear is actually you care
about that things. I think I really care about that.
Even most of the time when I look back, as a young, I scared most of the time for 1,500 then 800. So when I look, because I really care about 1,500 back then, but now I think I was scared of marathon because I

(31:59):
look back, I think, oh I don't like, okay, I enjoy marathon because
most of the time it just luckily I get away winning it, that thing, but I really
deep down I care so much. So that's why I'm think I'm
scared. Maybe I even deep down I want to be
the best of myself. I think I want to be the greatest

(32:22):
that I want to show myself. That's why I think I'm scared.
I thought it's not just nature. I'm like, I'm thinking,
I'm thinking said why I'm so scared always because I care. I
think I really care if I don't care why I scare, I tell most of the people, I told them, when are
you nervous actually you care about that thing. So that's what I figured

(32:43):
out myself and when people scared, actually they're going to
do great. So as long as they don't make mistake, but it's like it's not to do, they're going to
do again and again and again.

It reminds of the famous quote by the tennis player,
Billie Jean King who says pressure is a privilege, right?
If you feel the pressure, it means you're in a
privileged position of caring and really wanting to do well
and so I love the way you talk about that
Sifan. Eliud for you maybe it's a different feeling, maybe

(33:15):
less pressure. You tell me, I mean tell me what
it's like because as you said the other day in
Sydney after you finished ninth, you don't have anything to
prove. You have done it all in this sport. You
have been the man for a very long time. So
do you feel pressure or nerves going into races? When

(33:36):
you step to the starting line in New York, what
are you thinking in your mind you most want to achieve?

The first thing is that I still feel pressure. I still
feel tense. Reason is that it shows that I'm really
ready but during the, in New York at the starting line, I'll still feel
tense but I always say I have nothing actually to prove.
But what I have actually in my plate is to

(34:04):
make this world a running world. What I have in
my plate actually is to promote. I believe anything actually in
life you need to move to promote the movement of
running to actually get us more as possible people to run and
not be held. Able to actually people to set a
lot of clubs around the world have brands, backgrounds, road

(34:27):
runs and everywhere in this world and I will be
supporting them and that's what is in my mind now
as far as, but all in all, I still want to
start finish in a good way, still train competitively, run
competitively, but finish actually by actually leaving my footprints in
New York, which tells people, let us all run, let

(34:49):
us make New York a running city. Let us make that Manhattan
actually everybody to be filled every morning, actually everybody to
run over the weekend, 10 times, a lot of people, 10 times to come
in and run and that's what I'm there for.

I love that. The statement you made was absolutely wonderful.
You know that I'm sure you've been told by everybody that saying the things you
said after coming in ninth, we should be celebrating every
position that comes over the finish line as well as
the people who don't because race day is the celebration, the

(35:28):
training. As you say, training like a professional athlete for
you both training hard for people who are just starting
out running. That is so important to being healthy and
making a routine and falling in love with running, is
the training. It's the day in, day out, moving your
body. So that was just wonderful and seriously nothing to

(35:52):
prove, dude, you're the goat forever. Forever. Can we talk
about Sydney just a little bit? Sifan, you went out
hard, really hard in Sydney on what is reported to
be a tough course, quite similar to our course here

(36:12):
in New York City. And I mean can you just
talk us through those first 5K? What was going through
your mind?

Let me tell you, this is the first time I
ever feel at the start line good or at the start, what are 850, 110,
000 meters since I was like, I don't know, more than 10 years
I'm pro athlete. I always will feel so terrible. Last
time I feel like crazy. I was almost good. The first 1K

(36:44):
was good, behind almost the guys. I think I want
to be also friends, just be with Eliud. It was crazy. It was
really feeling great and I was like, wow, okay. Then I don't
know how marathon was hurt you so badly. So I was
like after 15 or 20K, I was like oops, I make mistake. I make mistake. But Alhamdulillah, I

(37:11):
get away with it. I was, I like, let me
check. Okay, I'm going to keep going. No, it's okay, it's okay.
No problem. It hurts so badly. It started hard. It's no problem.
Yeah, I start very hard in Chicago but I was really feel
good because they start so hard. I was like, what
the freak, I'm going to run 5,000 meters. Why if these people so hard? But in Sydney I

(37:35):
did myself because I feel so good. The pace is calm down,
say no, go, go. I was like, wow, okay. I like
crazy time. I told myself but I didn't know that's
happened. It just beat me very hard. I was talking
to myself until the last two kilometers so I was
like punish myself so hardly and I was like seriously my both leg, my up leg

(38:00):
feel like a numb. But I still couldn't continue. Actually
kind of problem myself. I can go so deep.

Wow.

So it was crazy. It's crazy. I hope I do that also, I
have so strong mentality in the city, in New York too.

Yeah, we love that. And a lot of marathoners can relate to that feeling of oh
my gosh, what did I do? I went out too
fast because then you were worried about paying the price
so you certainly managed to hold on. I just want
to ask the two of you about getting to know
each other because I noticed in Sydney you did so

(38:37):
many of your appearances together. There are so many smiles
between the two of you when you are together and
you really are this incredible duo. A man, a woman,
both reaching the heights of this sport and inspiring so
many people. What has it been like to spend this
time together and Eliud, and I'll ask the same question of Sifan,

(38:59):
but what do you Eliud most enjoy and admire about
Sifan Hassan?

I think Sifan is crazy. (inaudible) actually how she's actually enjoying herself when we are together and (inaudible)
how she promotes the sport as far as so many

(39:25):
is concerned. I think I'm really interested in, I'm enjoying when we
actually at the first conference or doing some interview with
her, to catch what's going on in his mind, what has been going on for the last
three months in training. It's really very good.

How about you, Sifan? What do you most enjoy about
Eliud and admire about him?

It's true. Like he said, I'm crazy. He's very calm.
I really like be (inaudible) him energy because so Eliud is very calm and crazy.
So people whoever have my character kind of, because we
human being, we going to share each other. People who have
Eliud's character except they could be great as long as

(40:08):
do whatever they're doing as long they do their best. So
is this good actually for the view for the people
who watch, they don't have to change their character. You could be
yourself, be crazy and still be the best and I
be like childish like me. Oh you could be also calm down,
slowly speaking, very philosophical. You would still be the best. So Eliud for me, he's really great and especially

(40:35):
when people tell him when you retire, that piss me
off. I want to see him actually... You know what
the funny thing? Being pro athlete is the hardest. If
the man have mentality to keep going, why we ask
him, we should proud of him being number nine is

(40:56):
crazy in marathon. So we should just go as long...
If he don't tired of it being prone, being everyday
wake up, being constant and pushing yourself to the limit
and being so excited, so nervous and people standing there. That is
very hard. If you have that brain, we should proud of

(41:18):
him and we should learn that. Oh, just keep going. I will
wish he go until 65, I don't know, hundred years.
As long as he... He will help me actually. We work until 75,
right? I don't know. (inaudible) so why we stop running?

What do you think Eliud? 75? Keep going.

(inaudible) .

During the 86 kilometers actually marathon in South Africa, Eliud is
here. Then one of the old men actually the oldest one was 86 kilometers
and the guy actually finished those distance in 10 hours. Which
is really crazy.

Wow. At 86?

Yes, at 86.

Wow. And I bet they enjoyed every moment of it
as well, running with a smile and being blessed that
they could still move their bodies.

So I have to break down my record. I will
be the oldest woman to break-

Brilliant. Brilliant.

Okay.

Yes. We'll wait for it to happen. I love it.
Absolutely beautiful. We really hope that you both continue to
run and continue to tell anyone who asks you Eliud
when you're going to retire to with all due respect,
shut up because ask them how fast they can run

(42:55):
a mile. They're not going to catch you.

Yeah. One thing I would say, I really impressed his mentality.
I really impressed his patience and how somebody have so
passion. I am really jealous of it. This is the goat,
to me it's the goat. His patient, passion is the goat. So strong mentality.

All round in every single way. I loved how you
said Sifan, it's like a philosopher. I think I have always thought
of you that way Eliud, And you're like a running philosopher every time
you speak it is profound and your performances are profound.
So you named it perfectly there Sifan.

So Sifan coming off of a win in Sydney, what do you
think is possible in New York? I know you're still recovering,
but when you start to retrain and we have a
lot of runners in our community, recreational runners who will
run two marathons in the fall in Sydney and New
York or Chicago and New York, but it's unusual for

(44:01):
the pro side, although you do have a couple of
good months between Sydney and New York. What do you think
is possible?

Look, I have very two best recorded are very strong.
So to me, I have to really be run smart,
also do my best really physically or tactically or mentally
because that's not easy. These people... It's not only you

(44:30):
strong, you win. They are also very smart runner also, especially Aubrey, like
she's a beast. So she could also give up. It's
also she finish also, she can kick very well also.
So I really want to be, I will see I do my
best. I wish I win. If I win that, man
like I win lottery. I would be so happy. It's crazy. The best. So I wish I would be the best. I wish I

(44:58):
will be at least one of the greatest. Yeah, I
wish I would do my best that I would see, but I'll really
hard to say I'll win a hundred percent because the
lady are crazy. They're very strong, so I don't have
really easy opponents. There's not only they're physically strong, also
they're mentally strong.

Yes.

Yep. And they know the course well. I think-

Yeah, they know the course because it'll be like their
fourth time? Or three times, I don't know.

Yes. Three or four for sure. Helen. Yeah. Do you
learn when you run alongside these women who have so
much experience on a course that's new for you?

Yeah, because I really have to focus on them. I have
to learn because I'm going to... Because these people, these women, they also experience, they are been running
a long time, very special. I don't know how lucky
it is, been like she's before me there so she's
no more also wiser and so stronger. It's very smart
lady also. So she already have... She know all the

(45:59):
roots for me just knew. I try to just be
my best and try to be smart and even sometimes
I'm not smart.

You're pretty smart.

We like the risk- taker in both of you.

Yeah, think so. Yeah.

Eliud for you. So many recreational runners like myself, dream
of this six star medal, right? Abbot, world marathon major
six star. This will be your six star, actually it
will be your seventh because you ran Sydney, but you'll
receive that six star medal from our friends at Abbot
World Marathon majors when you cross the finish line in

(46:36):
Central Park, what does that mean to you?

Wow. It means a lot. I'm looking forward for that
medal actually to hang on my neck and I'm really
looking forward. I think that will have a huge voice on
my social media channels to tell people, " Hey, this is the
right movement, this is running, this is New York," and I think it'll

(46:59):
help me to put more footprints in at the finishing
line actually of the New York marathon. So I'm really,
really looking forward. I've been actually taking photos with those who have actually the six star but I think this year I'm the one.

That is so exciting. I didn't know that was your
sixth / seventh star. But oh, congratulations in advance. It's a really-

Thank you.

I cried for half an hour when I got mine
because it was years like you. It took years for
it to come together and it's an achievement for every
single runner out there. My gosh. Everybody who is listening
who is also getting your sixth star, you are getting your six
star with the goat. I mean, wow.

It will be incredible for them. And of course most
of those six star finishers didn't win most of the
marathons where they got their six star, but they can
still relate. And Eliud, I think it's so amazing that
it does mean something to you because it means so
much to so many people who are following your lead
and just running and running around the world and moving

(48:06):
their body. So just to have the ability to relate to
you in that way I think will be very special to a
lot of runners.

I think you should organize after actually finishing the race
you should organize a big photo shoot for all of us
who will be having the sixth star. At the street it'll be actually very good. So please organize for us so that I
take a beautiful photo with everybody who will be given a medal.

I'm on it, we're on it. I will talk to
Donna Stone, the CEO of Abbot World Marathon Majors and
we will definitely make that happen because what a thrill
that would be for everybody to be in a six
star photo with the goat as we all agree. Eliud Kipchoge.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Sifan I want to ask the same question to you.
I asked to Eliud earlier, what's one thing you want
to do while you're in New York besides run?

Eat pizza. Yes, the spicy, spicy one. I like spicy
pizza the Italian way. I'm going to do with a hand
so I don't have to fight with it. I want to eat pizza because-

Oh my goodness-

I want to stand and eat pizza on the street.

Yes.

And I love what she said. Did you hear what she said?
She's going to use her hands, not a fork in
a knife, which is the New Yorkers will respect you
much more for that. I love that Sifan.

With the grease dripping down.

And also would respect me too.

Yeah. We'll have to make sure that your team has
the right place to take you for a spicy New
York pizza.

I've got some ideas for you. Well, I just can't say
how excited we all are to have you in New
York. This is going to make it a truly special TCS
New York City Marathon. So thank you both for joining
us. Sifan, you're in your car, I think, and somewhere in
Ethiopia. So thank you for joining us there. Late at
night, obviously, so much. So great to have you. Eliud

(49:58):
Kipchoge. Thank you. Thank you. We are so thrilled and
cannot wait to welcome you here to New York. We
will see you soon. If you're training for a race
or just trying to stay motivated. Peloton is the perfect
running companion. Their instructor- led runs and walks or built
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(50:21):
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an official partner of the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon.

(50:43):
New York Roadrunners puts on over 60 races every year
across all five boroughs of New York City, which means
we work closely with a lot of city agencies, including
the NYPD longtime partners at the FDNY. One of those
partners is Battalion Chief Dennis Sweeney. He's a trusted collaborator

(51:03):
here at New York Roadrunners and also a pretty accomplished
runner. Dennis is also the founder of the FDNY Running
Club and he's completed 21 New York City Marathons. As
we mark the anniversary of nine 11, the 25th anniversary next year,
Dennis joins us for today's member moment to reflect on
how running and firefighting have shaped his life of service.

(51:26):
Dennis, I've seen you at a few finish lines. We've
done the Mayor's Cup presentations with the competition with the
NYPD, but it's nice to have you on Set the
Pace. Welcome.

Dennis Sweeney (51:37):
Thank you. I'm happy to be here and talk about the community building
that we do with the department and all the races
within the races that the Roadrunners offer us.

Yeah, we got a lot of those and you guys
are a big part of those. One thing about you,
Dennis, I think is interesting, and I actually just kind
of learned this getting ready for this podcast. You didn't
start out as a firefighter. You actually worked in finance
on Wall Street for a few years. What made you
decide to leave that career and join the FDNY?

I had a pretty accomplished career for a couple of
years, but while I was working on Wall Street, I
reflected back on my first job, which is one of
my favorite questions to ask new acquaintances. I think it
says a lot about where you grew up and what your
values might be. And my first job was painting houses
with a crew. My mom set me up with a
sole proprietor and I learned a lot about camaraderie, humor,

(52:27):
overcoming challenges as a team, and I was having a
tough day walking home from work. One time I saw
an FDNY rig go by and I thought, I bet
those guys have some of those qualities that I enjoyed
in house painting. I had no family on the job,
no real connections. But I took the test and it
turned out to be a great fit.

Wow. So you were looking for that kind of team
environment that you get. And I know you guys have
some very tight- knit teams. You need it for the
really difficult work you do at FDNY.

Your first job?

Oh, my first job. Well, gee, the first time I
ever got a paycheck for anything, Dennis, I worked at
a grocery store. It was like a summer job, a
cashier, and I used to scan people's groceries and I
had a bagger. And I guess what I learned from
that was I had to deal with a lot of people, the

(53:21):
public, right? So every single person who'd come into the
store that day, they might be in a good mood, they
might be in a bad mood, they might be friendly,
not so friendly. So I learned to deal with a
lot of different types of people in that job, which I-

First job can be really formative.

A hundred percent. Absolutely. Your running career is pretty impressive.
I mean, let alone your firefighting career. 21 New York
City marathons. What has made you such a stalwart marathon
or what was the reason you ran your, speaking of
first, why did you run your first one?

I probably ran my first one to reassert my sense
of identity as a New Yorker. I was a young child
in the city. We lived on 38th and Lex, and then
my mom needed to get out. She couldn't handle it
with three kids. So we moved to New Hampshire. I
did the back half of grade school in New Hampshire
and high school as well, and took up running in
high school. I wasn't particularly accomplished, but had a great

(54:14):
team. And then when I came back, it was almost
a foregone conclusion that if you were a runner and you were a New
Yorker, you ran the New York City Marathon. I basically
had to, and I guess I ran my first one probably in '03 and after
that I just had to keep going.

Yeah, I know the feeling. I also, as a young runner in New York, I just
felt I had to do it and did mine in
'97. So I was a little bit ahead of you,
but you're way ahead of me now in terms of
how many of these things you've run and the FDNY
Running Club is such a big part of your life.

(54:51):
It's such a big part of our events at New
York Road Runners. We love it when the FDNY, NYPD,
the other city agencies line up to compete. What inspired
you to start that run club inside of the fire department?

Well, I do appreciate that aspect of the intro. Not
probably a hundred percent true, maybe reinvigorated. There was a
newsletter and a competitive crew back in the seventies. In
fact, one of our archivists found the original first FDNY Running
Club newsletter. I can send it to you later for
your perusal. And I would say with the tragedy of

(55:26):
911, certainly things like that became less important. I joined
in 2005 when the department was still rebuilding, and I
sort of held my piece as a junior firefighter for
a few years, but after maybe five years, I realized
that I could contribute my organizational skills, run a newsletter,
try and encourage turnout to memorial Races and the Roadrunner

(55:49):
events. And I would say reinvigorated the club from its downturn.

And there was some great history. Gary Murky, the winner of
the very first New York City Marathon had been a
firefighter. So you guys had some history when it came
to running. And I guess there's, I mean, clearly some
crossover between the two things. What do you find for
your firefighters, for yourself is the biggest benefit that running

(56:16):
gives you when it comes to doing the job of
an FDNY member?

Well, I think certainly an appreciation for cardio fitness is a
definite aspect of the running club that we're happy to
push out to the members. And one that I emphasize in
all my chitchats and all my newsletters can be found at every
level of competition. The Running Club motto is, we don't
need the fastest folks. We want turnout from our members
to come join, have just a group run, a small

(56:43):
race, a big race, and afterwards we'll solve the problems
of the fire department over a rehydration session, if you
will. But it's definitely great for health and fitness awareness,
it's great for camaraderie. I call it my second firehouse
where I get that sense of community in addition to
where I'm working. And I've found that to be really fulfilling and I hope we've accomplished that for all of our members.

Absolutely. Since I've been here, Dennis, I've seen NYPD and FDNY face off
a number of times. You guys have a few chances
to compete against each other. There's the Fifth Avenue Mile,
the New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile. There's a competition there.
There's the Mayor's Cup at the TCS New York City
Marathon as well. There's the Commissioner's Cup, which includes a

(57:27):
lot of other city agencies as well. So how friendly
is the competition? You guys seem to really get along
at these races. So I sense it's really friendly, but
it's competitive. You guys have some real competitive people on
both sides of that aisle.

Oh, certainly. There's certainly bragging rights and there's an old
line about the fire department. They call it high school
without homework. And the opportunity to have a rival like
the NYPD, a very valiant rival that has accomplished runners. It
makes every race even more fun than certainly just an opportunity

(58:02):
for a personal best. And the marathon itself is, I have
to admit, a very unusual scoring mechanism. It is scored
by whichever department gets 10 members over the line first.
It's effectively a 10th runner competition, rather a cumulative time
or average time. And confounding to many and can lead

(58:23):
to some stunning results including last year where I'm embarrassed
to say, I don't remember the name of police officer,
but our man, Kenny McLaughlin came across the line Rob
like so, arms and air and triumph, steps behind the
10th police officer, feet who himself came across the line,

(58:45):
hands on his knees fully exhausted having left it all
in the field. And Kenny took some level of abuse
for that one because he clearly had a little bit
left in the tank. So some of those years it
can be a blowout and they get six members across
the line before and we get 10 or vice versa.

(59:06):
Last year was incredibly tight and exciting for all, and
I really do think we're all grateful to the Roadrunners
for giving us that extra competitive fire in the marathon
for those of us that are in the scoring range
of that competition.

It is a competition that is depth, I guess, as
well as speed, right? I don't know, maybe we should
have a summit at Roadrunner's offices, get NYPD in, get
you guys in, and we can talk about the rules
of that. If you guys think we should look at
it. Could be a change, but I kind of like
the way we set it up. It's like no man
or woman left behind, right? That competition for 10th ends

(59:42):
up being a lot of drama. I like that.

Yeah. And a long- standing tradition that goes back before
I joined the department, I would be (inaudible) to
tinker with it.

I love it. I really love the way that it's
set up. So there's also the competition at the Fifth
Avenue Mile, Dennis. And do you feel, because NYPD has had the best
of you guys since I've been around at the marathon,
at the half- marathon distance as well. What do you think
for a shorter distance, like the mile, does FDNY have
a little more speed? What do you think?

Dennis Sweeney (01:00:10):
I think unfortunately in the mile they probably favor us. They
have some really stunning individual contributors. Anthony Morale, as I
believe is his name, is well under three hours in the
marathon, which marks him under five minutes in the mile.
So I think the 10th runner rule favors us in
terms of the team scoring mechanism. So we'll leave it

(01:00:34):
all out there on the field on Fifth Avenue, including
me warming up from the rising race. My little people
will be running down at the bottom of the park in the 4- year-
old and 6- year- old bracket. So my warm- up
will be from the finish line, zipping back up to
catch my club at the top.

Rob Simmelkjaer (01:00:51):
I love it. I really love it. And every year,
Dennis, as we get into the month of September in
New York City, we can't help but think about September
11th, 2001. We're thinking about it a lot this year.
And even looking ahead already Dennis, somewhat to next year,
which will be the 25th anniversary. And I always felt

(01:01:14):
there is a connection in a way between the marathon
and what happened on 911. I wasn't a part of the
2001 New York City Marathon, but to me it's still
an incredible thing that that marathon even happened. Runners were crossing
the Verrazano Bridge with full view of ground zero and

(01:01:36):
that was still very much a scene of devastation at
that point, only weeks after the event. What does it
mean for all of you at FDNY to be a
part of events like this in September and in the
fall? And how do you try to use these events
to honor those that you lost on September 11th, 2001?

One way the department honors them is our form of
perseverance. And of course I was not hired back then
either, but I know that in addition to the challenge
of rescue and recovery down to ground zero, the department
staffed every firehouse in every neighborhood no matter what the
days and weeks that followed. And I think that speaks
to our ability to both and carry on time. And

(01:02:21):
we recall how that was done. And those stories are
passed on from generation to generation within the fire department
and specific to the Marathon, I can tell you, which
will no longer be an inside aspect of our deck.
But when we depart from our muster point near the
finish line to drive to Staten Island in the morning,
we of course go down the West Side Highway before

(01:02:42):
doing the tunnel to get to the Marathon Bridge. And there's a caravan
of six to eight buses depending on the headcount. And
we have staffers with handy talkies work in the front
of each bus. And every year, as long as I've
run, there's a moment of silence as we pass ground
zero. And that is the case for new runners, probies that

(01:03:02):
were hired after 911. Guests, friends and family or wives
that may be on the bus are sometimes surprised at
the first time they see the moment of silence. But
I think it's an important way that we can show
that during a joyous event, a competitive event, a wonderful
day for the city, the Marathon, the fire department does not forget
as we drive past ground zero.

Yeah, Dennis, that's appropriate. And we will never forget either
at New York Roadrunners, it's such an important, tragic part
of our city's history. We know that we always like
to say that the New York City Marathon is the
best day of the year in New York City. We
really believe it is, but we always want to make

(01:03:46):
sure we remember the worst day, one of the worst
days in the history of New York City is part
of the way that we conduct this event as well.
So thank you, Dennis, for everything that you do, everything
that FDNY does, we're excited to see you guys on Fifth
Avenue. Excited to see you on November 2nd and to
give credit, by the way, I want to make sure

(01:04:06):
I'm giving your folks at FDNY credit. You guys have
a huge lead all time over the NYPD and the
Mayor's Cup in the Marathon. 20 to seven. So NYPD
has been hot lately, but you guys still have that
historical edge.

I think it'll be a competitive first Sunday, let's put it that way, Rob.

All right, sounds great. Dennis, it's great to see you.
I'll see you very soon a couple of times this fall.
All the best with your training and we'll see you
out there at the starting line.

Thanks for having me, Rob.

All right. Dennis Sweeney from FDNY. Thank you so much
Dennis for joining us and for being a member of
New York Roadrunners, of course, for all your service and
your colleague service at FDNY. Now to the final part
of our show, today's Meb Minutes.

Meb (01:04:55):
Thanks Rob. Welcome back to my mile by mile countdown
to the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. This week we
are counting down to mile 13 through 15. This is
a little bit where you have to evaluate mile 13 Pulaski Bridge, Quinn halfway. I
always remember going to the halfway of the TCS New York City Marathon. It's

(01:05:17):
to evaluate there's water station and you kind of sprint.
But that bridge is iconic to just say, " Hey, I'm
at the halfway mark. How am I doing?" This is
where the transition from physical to mental. People here want
to hit the halfway mark. I was in the lead
and I won or I won the lead and I
finish strong. You want to be able to just relate and say, " Hey, I'm in the

(01:05:39):
mix with the people." Some people will try to make a
move because we know what's ahead that's going to come
to the Queensborough. So people are evaluating each other on
this Brooklyn- Pulaski Bridge. But be in control of what
you can because this is only halfway. You have a long
way to go, but good time to just say, " Hey, I
think I can replicate what I have gone through, or

(01:06:02):
I'm hurting a little bit. I need to slow down."
This is where you need to talk to yourself. Say, "
I am ready, I'm willing. I'm doing this and I'm
at halfway point. This is what can be happening in second half."
My philosophy is always to run the second half fastest.
But you can do that. And sometimes for me, I
can't because of the competition up in the front, they make
moves, you got to respond and things like that, but

(01:06:24):
you can control your race at the halfway mark, mile
14, this is where the bridge is not a lot of
crowd here. It's you and the bridge mile 15, you
heal yourself breathing, you heal yourself saying, " Why have I
done this?" But you're doing it. You are climbing one

(01:06:44):
of the biggest bridges there is. And you will be
treated with amazing... You're thinking ahead. You say, " I am
here breathing my breath control, working hard, but there's more
to come. 11 miles of excitement."

All right, that does it for a very special episode
of Set The Pace. We want to thank today's legendary
guests, Sifan Hassan and Eliud Kipchoge, as well as the FDNY's,
Dennis Sweeney. If you like the episode, make sure you go
ahead and subscribe, leave it a rating or send us
a comment so we can hear from you. This obviously

(01:07:24):
will help lots of other people find the podcast as
well. All right, everybody, hope you enjoyed this great show.
Enjoy the miles. We'll see you next week.

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