Today in Running History

Today is Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025 and on this day in 1960, Wilma Rudolph won the first of 3 gold medals she would earn at the Rome Olympics.

In this episode, we’ll learn more about Rudolph’s s…

Today is Monday, September 1st, 2025 and on this day in 1980, Canadian athlete and activist Terry Fox ended his Marathon of Hope after running for 143 days and making it 3,339 miles and raising more …

Today is Sunday, August 31st, 2025, and on this day in 1904, Tswana tribesmen Jan Mashiani and Len Taunyane departed St Louis after having competed in the Olympic Marathon the previous day.

In thi…

Today is Saturday, August 30th, 2025 and on this day in 1904, 32 men ran the marathon at the St. Louis Olympics.

In this very special pod-ception episode, I am joined by St. Louis resident and hos…

Today is August 29, 2025, and on this day in 2004, Vanderlei de Lima finished third in the 2004 Olympic marathon in Athens, behind Italy’s Stefano Baldini and American Meb Keflezighi, the latter of w…

Today is Thursday, August 28th, 2025 and on this day in 1981, English phenom Sebastian Coe reclaimed his mile world record from fellow Brit Steve Ovett, marking the third time the duo had traded the …

Today is Wednesday, August 27th, and on this day in 1983, Ken Chlouber and Merlilee Maupin hosted the first Leadville Trail 100 in Leadville, Colorado.

In this episode, we’ll talk to Ken and Merile…

Today is Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 and on this day in 1988, American trail runner Hillary Allen was born.

In this episode, we’ll be joined by Allen herself to discuss how she got into running in …

Today is Monday, August 25th, 2025, and on this day in 1996, American wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll won gold at the T52/53 marathon at the Atlanta Paralympics.

In this episode, we’ll hear directl…

Today is Sunday, August 24th, 2025 and on this day in 1980, American masters runner Toshiko D'Elia became the first woman over the age of 50 to run a marathon in less than 3 hours. 

In this episode…

Today is Saturday, August 23rd, 2025 and on this day in 1975, two-time Boston marathon champion Ellison “Tarzan” Brown died at the age of 61.

In this episode we will learn about Brown’s background…

Today is Friday, August 22nd, 2025 and on this day in 2004, Deena Kastor won the bronze medal in the women’s marathon at the Athens Olympics, making her only the second American woman in history to r…

Today is Thursday, August 21, 2025, and on this day in 1985, Mary Decker-Slaney broke the women’s world record in the mile, further cementing her place as the most accomplished American female middle…

Today is Wednesday, August 20th, 2025, and on this day in 1922, 77 female athletes competed at the first ever Women’s World Games in Paris.

In this episode, we’ll learn about Alice Milliat, who sp…

Today is Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 and on this day in 1946, Amby Burfoot was born in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In this episode, we’ll hear how Burfoot became the first college student to win the…

Today is Monday, August 18, 2025 and on this day in 2004, Greek sprinters Katerina Thanou and Kostas Kenteris withdrew from their events at the Olympics in Athens after faking a motorcycle crash to a…

Today is Sunday, August 17th, 2025 and on this day in 2015, Turkish runner Asli Cakir Alptekin was finally stripped of the gold medal she had cheated her way to winning at the women's 1,500m final at…

Today is Saturday, August 16th, 2025 and on this day in 2008, Jamaican phenom Usain Bolt set the current world record for the 100 meters at the Olympics in Beijing. 

In this episode, we talk about …

Today is Friday, August 15, 2025 and on this day in 2016, Emma Coburn became the first American woman in history to earn a medal in the steeplechase at the Olympics. 

In this episode, we will discu…

Today is Thursday, August 14th, 2025 and on this day in 2020, after Covid had cancelled nearly every in-person international track competition for 5 months, Ugandan runner Joshua Cheptegei set the wo…