Epic Final 200 yards for 2018 USA National Marathon Championship Winner Brogan Austin
Who doesn’t love an underdog or watching a competitor rise up to an unforeseen victory?
2018 USA Marathon Champion
Recent California International Marathon winner and USATF Olympic Marathon Championship winner, Brogan Austin, did just that a few weeks ago at CIM. Brogan is a sponsored professional athlete who somehow manages to fit in his training while working a fulltime job and he shares with us how he gets it all done.
Photo Credit DesMoines Register
Introduced to running early in life as his dad was a triathlete, he went on to win high school state titles, competed as a Division I athlete in college, and is now runs a sponsored athlete for Rabbit Running.
As with many of us, Brogan has had challenges with overtraining, injuries, and struggling to find balance between life and running, but ultimately put together a breakout victory at the USATF Marathon Championships. Brogan’s current goal is to make the US Olympic Marathon team in 2020.
In this episode, Brogan gives us the inside breakdown of the final stretch that was an epic chase down of Matt Llano, who had led the entire race up to that point, to score an amazing come from behind win at CIM this year, and we also learn about what being a professional runner is like and what it takes to get there.
Questions Brogan is asked:
3:40 First Four:
- How old are you?
- Where were you born?
- Where do you live now?
- What is your favorite race distance or type of race?
5:16 Give us the lead-up to the incredible finish at CIM where you caught and passed Matt Llano for the win?
10:44 Did you know Matt was slowing down and did he know where you were behind him?
12:31 Were you worried that your legs might give out at the end?
14:57 Who’s your coach?
18:21 How do you balance a fulltime job with being a professional athlete?
22:54 Who puts up the prize money for races like CIM and what other sources of income are available for pro runners? And what makes someone a professional athlete?
26:27 Did you still have to pay your race entry fee?
29:55 You have goals of setting new PR’s in all distances from 1-mile to a marathon; how’s that going?
31:14 What can you tell us about Rabbit Running and how did you get sponsored by them?
37:58 What does “Run, Forest, Run!” mean to you?
38:38 What about your quote “Pain lasts a day; Regret lasts a lifetime”?
40:36 What advice do you have for people interested in training for the Olympics or other top-tier level of competition?
44:18 Any final thoughts?
46:25 Final Kick Round:
- What is your favorite local training run (location, starting point, parking, distance, terrain and safety issues)?
- Favorite running book(s)?
- Words of Wisdom or Humor?
- Who or what would you like to have featured on the Run To The Top podcast?
Quotes by Brogan:
“Everybody’s hurting, but if you can pretend that you’re feeling OK, you can maybe break somebody earlier. I’ve been broken many times.”
“My dad said, ‘Oh, you got paid $10,000 / hour for that race.’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve been putting in 20 years of work, so if you do the math that way I’m probably getting pennies on the hour. Or not even.”
“Pain lasts a day; regret lasts a lifetime.”
“Keep being deliberate about figuring out what went wrong and then, be deliberate about changing the things that went wrong or exploring new options.”
“If I’d given up running and never had this opportunity, maybe life goes on, but I’ll forever be able to say ‘I’m a national champion.’ and it’s all because I was persistent.”
Take a Listen on Your Next Run
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Mentioned in this podcast:
Run To The Top Winners Circle Facebook Community
DMACC West Campus – Out Back Running Location
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Follow Brogan on:
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