318. Calum Neff on Pacing Sara Hall at The Marathon Project

“I was just like, my three girls are at home cheering for us, yours are right here. There’s so much love for us right now. We’ve just gotta go. Let’s do it for them.” Last weekend, Calum Neff became known as "Green Shorts Guy" at The Marathon Project in Arizona. Calum was one of several pacers assigned to help Sara Hall run a 2:19 marathon in hopes of setting a new American record. And Calum more than earned the very important role: He's a lifelong runner with four Guinness World Records to his name, three of which are stroller running records that he's earned with each of his three daughters in tow. (A 2:31 marathon with his oldest daughter, a 1:11 half with his middle, and a 31:43 10K with his youngest.) On this episode, Calum passionately talks about his love for this sport, about how he trained (with 102-mile weeks!) and mentally prepared for his duties at The Marathon Project, and what it's like balancing running with family life and a full-time job at an energy technology company. Next up for Calum: attempting the Canadian national 50K record. What you’ll get on this episode: Calum’s best piece of stroller running advice (5:15) Was running The Marathon Project about the training journey or about race day? (10:00) How Calum got the job as a pacer, and what his training was like leading up to race day (12:50) On imposter syndrome and the mental side of training and racing (24:15) On meeting Sara Hall for the first time (27:30) On communication during the race (38:00) What’s next for Calum? (48:50) Calum’s post-race recap (55:45) “The art of pacing” (1:00:20) What we mention on this episode: The CIM Olympic Trials Qualifying Time Pacers on Episode 196 of the Ali on the Run Show Thule Glide Performance Jogging Stroller Thule Urban Glide II Jogging Stroller Sara Hall on Episode 300 of the Ali on the Run Show Sara and Ryan Hall on Episode 144 of the Ali on the Run Show Keira D’Amato on Episode 305 of the Ali on the Run Show Michael Gervais' "Finding Mastery" podcast Follow Calum: Instagram @calneff Follow Ali: Instagram @aliontherun1 Like the Facebook page Join the Facebook group Twitter @aliontherun1 Support on Patreon Blog Strava Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Spotify SoundCloud Overcast Stitcher Google Play SUPPORT the Ali on the Run Show! If you’re enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Spread the run love. And if you liked this episode, share it with your friends!