Yes, Tyler Andrews is the World Record Holder for the Treadmill Half Marathon. He is also a US National Champion, a World Championship Silver Medalist, and a World Record holder. And on this Saturday, June 6th, he will not just be racing a 50K, he will be racing a 50K on the treadmill. Talk about mental strength! He will be competing against renowned ultra runners Max King and Mike Wardian in a very special event that you can participate in too at no cost for the full 50K, or you can opt for a shorter distance.
If you’re tempted to go for a world record yourself this weekend against, say, American marathon star Sara Hall or John Raneri in the half marathon, or maybe just watch world records being broken, Tyler will provide the race details for the Chaski Challenge in this episode, including what will make it exciting for all you fans out there who prefer to spectate! He’ll also share his advice for using the treadmill as a training tool and his race day strategy, so if you consider the treadmill a necessary evil, definitely check out what Tyler has to say!
Tyler started his endurance career as a scrawny high school cross country runner only capable of running a 5K in 18:30, before competing in NCAA Div. 3 track and cross country for Tufts University. After graduation, he pursued his running dreams in South America where his hard work led to faster times at longer distances, ultimately earning him a HOKA ONE ONE sponsorship.
Ty has established himself as a world-class endurance runner, making three US National Teams for the 50K World Championships finishing with individual silver in 2016, and winning his first National Championships over 50 Miles in 2019. Over this decade of improvement, he also improved his best times to 2:46 for the 50K (the second fastest 50K time for an American), 5:43 for 50 miles (a 6:52 pace!), 2:15 for the marathon, 1:03 for the half marathon, 14:12 for the 5K, and competed at two US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 and 2020. Entering the trail world, he has also set speed records on the Inca Trail in 2019 and Everest Base Camp Trail in 2020.
In addition to being a world record holder, Tyler is the Chaski Endurance Collective founder, and his passion for athletics has also led him to empower other athletes over the last 10 years through coaching and mentorship via his work with Strive-Peru. He’s been coaching — both in person and online — for most of the last decade and hopes to continue to lead athletes to new triumphs over the years to come.
Tyler is weathering the current pandemic by being creative, making the best out of it, and just saying, “Yes” to stuff.
Questions Tyler is asked:
2:49 Can you tell us a little bit about what life and training has been like over the past year and especially now during the pandemic?
4:39 This weekend, June 5th and 6th, you are taking part in the Chaski Challenge which is open to everyone, and some elite runners are hoping to take down some world records on the treadmill. Can you first tell me about the open event and what that’s about and how people can get involved?
6:45 How do you watch that?
8:01 You do see in the recreation running community, a lot of times there’s this huge disconnect between elites and everybody else. There’s so many other sports that have just these rabid fans and we don’t always see that in track and field or marathoning or even ultra running, so that’s really cool that you’re trying to find a way to connect the two.
9:51 The more fans, the more sponsors, the more money, the more growth. It seems like if more elites take that point of view, it will only help them in the end.
10:45 Talk about the prizes. It’s okay to shout out some of the companies. I’d love to hear who’s supporting this. Your main sponsor is HOKA ONE ONE, right?
11:47 Let’s talk about the elite field for a moment. You’ve got Sara Hall headlining the Women’s half, John Raneri in the Men’s Half, and then you’ve got Michael Wardian, Max King, and you in the Men’s 50k. Sounds like a really exciting lineup! Can you break down the field for us, and do you have any predictions?
14:20 You’ve got some stiff competition, so I think that’s great that you picked some people that will give you a run for your money.
15:08 Why did you choose a treadmill and not your backyards?
16:28 Do you have to do special things like call up the people like Guiness, or how do you certify that it’s an official world record? Do you have to do all sorts of logistical stuff like that?
18:46 Can you tell me a little bit about the Chaski Endurance Collective, the organizer of this event?
21:55 I’m going to ask you to put on your coaching hat for a minute and give our listeners some treadmill tips because people hate the treadmill, and some of them grow to love it eventually, but what’s some of your best advice for using the treadmill as a training tool?
25:00 A lot of people ask me as the coach, “What about the incline?” Do you mess around with the incline or are you planning on doing that during your race?
26:10 In the race, do you plan on switching your speed up or are you just going to set it and forget it? What’s your strategy?
28:10 You’ll be able to see what your competitors are doing in real time, is that right?
28:42 You’re going to be watching the half marathon while you’re racing at the same time?
28:57 After this is all over, what’s next?
31:14 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you started running, what advice would you give?
32:30 What is the greatest gift running has given you?
34:14 Where can listeners connect with you?
34:38 Once again, your race is happening on June 6th at what time?
Quotes by Tyler:
“We just wanted to make something that was super compelling so that a person who might not normally follow the elite side of the sport can tune in and watch something that’s going to be super exciting, that’s going to be, ‘Hey, these people are going for world records, and they’re racing each other, and look at how close it is, and they’re blowing this record out of the water.’ That’s really what we’re going for with the broadcast.”
“How can we take a sport like elite road racing or ultra running and make it more approachable to a fan who’s engaged as a participant, but doesn’t really follow the elite side of the sport yet?”
“Normally, there’s no reason that a professional runner would try and go run a super hard, fast time on a treadmill. There’s just no incentive there.”
“I’m a very control-freaky kind of person sometimes , and I love to be able to control as much as I can on race day.”
“Every race that I was planning on this year has been canceled at this point, so it’s really just a matter of trying to get creative and trying to find other ways to either put on cool events or find other things that I can get excited about.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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