Brendon O'Leary epitomizes Boston strong and proved it in the 2012 Boston Marathon, where temps hit 89 degrees and there was carnage on the course. In a race of attrition, he was shocked to pass Geofffey Mutai, the 2011 winner—who ran 2:03:02, on the side of the road and kept his focus on getting in enough fluids and showed us all how to stay in the fight, running 2:34, placing 41st overall & 25th American.
In 2014, the year after the bombing, Brendon had his breakthrough race, running 2:29, feeding off the crowds who were chanting "USA!" for Meb—who broke the tape in 2:08—and that big energy helped carry him home over the last 3 miles! Truly epic to rock your PR on such a historic day!
We discussed Brendon's experiences running in the sub-elite field at the New York Marathon in 2016, 17, & 18 and compared and contrasted the courses and what they require.
We closed focusing on the close-knit, family culture they've created at Team ORT and examined three big breakthroughs by their athletes:

-The Soto's father/son team from Guatemala, who both ran sub-3 in 2018 at the Chicago Marathon, qualifying to run Boston together.
-Stephanie Plummer running 5 marathons in 63 days, earning her Abbott World Marathon Majors Six-Star medal and finishing the last race at CIM with her fastest time, 3:42.
-Erin Genova smashing through the sub-3 barrier at CIM, running 2:58 for an 18-minute PR.

I'm stoked to see Brendon get fully healthy and start racking up some fast times again soon. And I'm equally excited to watch him and Casey Kilareski, who ran the Olympic Trials marathon in ATL, continue to grow Team ORT!

I hope you all enjoy this convo as much as we did!

If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.

Connect With Brendon:
Instagram: @olearyracingteam
Coaching Intake, Team Store, Running Plans, & More: https://linktr.ee/Olearyracingteam

Connect With Ron:
Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc
Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc
Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats
Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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Produced by: David Margittai | In Post Media
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© 2022 Ron Romano