The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

“I think as I run more and more and get more miles on my legs, I'll be able to hang with that lead pack later and later. But I stuck to my guns. I didn't really have a race plan going in other than taking the first few miles to feel it out. Then really just believing that I belonged in that lead pack for as long as I could hang with them.”

My guest for today’s episode is Jess McClain, who just wrapped up a heck of a year with an eighth-place finish at the New York City Marathon, running 2:27:19 and finishing as the second American.

It was Jess’s first World Marathon Major, and she showed incredible grit, moving steadily from 11th to 8th in the final miles and securing a spot among the top marathoners in the world.

As we’ve explored on this show with her in January, Jess’s journey to the marathon stage has been anything but typical. A former Stanford standout who took a hiatus from professional running, she’s reemerged with stunning results. Earlier this year, she finished fourth at the Olympic Marathon Trials, making her the alternate for Team USA and nearly earning a spot at the Paris Olympics. She’s since signed with Brooks and built a strong racing resume, including wins at the USATF Road 10K Championships and a second-place finish at the USATF 20K Championships.

Today, we’ll dive into her self-coached approach, her bold comeback, and what drives her heading into 2025.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Jess McClain | @jesstonn

Previous episodes with Jess McClain:

Jess McClain On Signing With Brooks Running (Again) + Deciding To Return To The Track

Jess McClain After Finishing Fourth At The 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (2:25:46) + How She Did It Self-Coached and Unsponsored | Race Recap 

Time stamps:

3:15 - Reflections on her 8th place finish at the NYC Marathon

5:58 - Rediscovering her love for racing

8:03 - Why she decided on racing NYC as her fall marathon 

10:34 - Details on her training throughout her build 

13:34 - Importance of being grounded outside of running 

16:31 - How her training setup has evolved + what she wants to change next 

19:39 - How she strikes the balance between working and training

24:01 - Nerves before the race 

27:35 - Starting line + first few miles

29:37 - Story about accidentally reversing her bibs

35:49 - Thoughts when the big move was made during the race 

43:07 - Feelings after crossing the finish line

45:38 - Looking ahead to future marathons 

49:01 - Thoughts on racing a track 10K next year

51:16 - Overrated/underrated: training methods

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

“I’m not in charge of how fit those guys are. No matter how hard I work, they could be working harder, they could be doing something better, they could be more talented. I was trying to take that out. My main goal in this race was just to execute. Execute my race plan, make sure I ran a race that afterward I felt good about. I think I did really well for most of the race.”

My guest for today's episode is Conner Mantz, the American Marathoner who just capped off an extraordinary year by setting an American course record at the New York City Marathon. He placed 6th overall in 2:09:00. Conner was the top American as usual and he showed us his relentless competitiveness.

He pushed through a conservative start and a fierce mid-race surge led by Evans Chebet, the 2022 New York City marathon champion, that splintered the rest of the field. Conner hung tough and ultimately finished with the fastest closing mile among all of the runners in the top ten.

In his young marathoning career, Conner has already established himself as the top American in Boston, Chicago, the Olympic Trials and an 8th place finish at the Olympics. Now he's setting his sights on closing the gap between being the best in America and being among the best in the world.

In this episode, we dig into his journey, his strategic approach under coach Ed Eyestone's “deploy, enjoy and destroy” race plan, and how he handles a little bit of friendly competition with training partner Clayton Young.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠

Guest: Conner Mantz | ⁠@connermantz on Instagram⁠

Time stamps:

4:03 - Why he wasn’t satisfied with his performance at the NYC Marathon

5:46 - What would’ve made it a satisfying race 

7:43 - Overall fitness heading into the race

8:17 - Best workouts leading into the race 

13:07 - Going after the half marathon American record at the Houston Half in 2025

16:09 - Pre-race chat with coach Ed Eyestone: deploy, enjoy, destroy

19:30 - Responding to moves during the race 

25:40 - Sharing bottles during the race, Evans Chebet makes his move 

34:19 - Clayton catching up to him, snapping back into the race, final few miles

42:40 - Feelings after crossing the finish line 

47:27 - Grading his marathons throughout 2024

52:50 - Looking ahead to spring marathons 

54:35 - Future training plans with Clayton 

58:53 - Thoughts on joining Grand Slam Track as a challenger

1:03:34 - Overrated/underrated: training methods

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at ⁠WahooFitness.com⁠OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at ⁠drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

“I like having new goals and challenges. The marathon feels like almost a different sport. It's like a second career. It’s breathed a lot of life into my training, just having fresh goals all the time.”

My guest for today's episode is Sara Vaughn, who just delivered a standout performance at the New York City Marathon where she finished as the top American in sixth place overall running 2:26:56 in a year marked by comebacks.

The 38 year old mother of four wasn't about to let a tough season slow her down after battling illness and dropping out of the Chicago Marathon. Just three weeks ago, Sara decided to make a quick pivot and set her sights on New York and it paid off massively.

In this episode, she shares a bit about her untraditional journey to the starting line and how she balances elite competition with her family life. We talk about her remarkable rebound, her plans to keep pushing forward and what drives her as a professional runner and mother.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Sara Vaughn | @smevaughn on Instagram

Time stamps:

3:09 - Initial reflections from the NYC Marathon

5:01 - Having to drop out of the Chicago Marathon, shifting her focus to the NYC Marathon

6:14 - What her goals were for Chicago, how those goals changed for NYC 

8:40 - When things started to click for her in training

10:29 - How her training has changed since starting to work with coach Alistair and Amy Cragg

11:52 - What’s kept her in the sports for so long

15:37 - Racing her daughter Kiki in an 800m

21:12 - What her goals were on the day of the NYC Marathon

22:57 - Thoughts when the big move was made at 1st Ave

24:37 - Reflecting on Jenny Simpson’s marathon

27:58 - Hardest part of the race 

28:49 - Crowds during the final part of the race 

33:46 - Feelings after crossing the finish line 

36:16 - Going after the 2025 World Championships team 

36:50 - Answering listener questions

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

“[Coaching] is fulfilling, but it also sincerely does make me better. It makes me a better athlete. Miguel (Marin), just the way that he wanted to get better as a person and as a runner. He was a young person, didn't have life figured out and was still trying to figure himself out. I'm still trying to figure myself out. Just seeing him put the effort into himself that he did. There were so many times that made me be like, ‘I can do this. I can be better and improve upon things about myself and my emotional stability, my mental stability.’ All these things improve just by the relationship that we had.”

My guest for today’s episode is CJ Albertson. Just three weeks after setting a personal best of 2:08:17 at the Chicago Marathon, CJ came into the New York City Marathon and delivered another stellar performance, finishing 10th in 2:10:57.

CJ's year has been nothing short of extraordinary—top American at both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, a 5th-place finish at the Olympic Trials, and now, another top-10 finish in New York. No American had ever run sub-2:11 marathons so close together, but CJ isn't one to shy away from a challenge. We'll talk about his mindset, his breakout year, and his relentless pursuit of faster times.

Plus, CJ also shares a bit about how he was running in memory of Miguel Marin, who was one of his athletes who ran track and cross country at Clovis Community College. The 22-year-old died in a car crash over the weekend. A GoFundMe has been set up to assist with his family’s expenses. You can find the link to it here.

Plus, we do our overrated/underrated segment on training elements with CJ to close out the show.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: CJ Albertson | @cjalbertson on Instagram

Time stamps:

3:24 - Reflections on his past year of marathoning

8:07 - Which of his marathons was the most satisfying this year 

10:14 - How he approached racing both the Chicago and NYC marathons

13:10 - Factors that led to his improvement

15:13 - Hopes for what’s next in his career

22:25 - Race breakdown: 1st Ave

24:51 - Race breakdown: 5th Ave

28:32 - Thoughts on how to close the gap on becoming top American 

30:24 - How he hopes to continue improving 

36:30 - Race weight + fueling strategy while racing 

41:08 - Going after the 2025 World Championships team 

50:02 - Reflecting on Miguel Marin, his athlete who just passed away

56:40 - Answering listener questions 

1:02:02 - How coaching others makes him a better athlete

1:04:24 - Overrated/underrated: training methods

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

“You never know which build you're pulling from on race day. The most recent build is the most important build and indicator of what you can do on race day, but there's no reason why you can't be pulling from the Paris build, the Chicago build, and the Olympic Trials build. Fitness stacks over years and that lifetime fitness is just getting really, really big for me. I tried to lean into that. I think I did alright.” 

Within the past 14 months, Clayton Young and his training partner Conner Mantz have become synonymous with performing in high stakes marathon racing, finishing neck-and-neck at four marathons. Now, most recently at the New York City Marathon, Clayton crossed the finish line in an impressive seventh place finish just 21 seconds behind Conner Mantz, clocking 2:09:21.

This year has been nothing short of remarkable for Clayton, from the Olympic Marathon Trials to the Paris Olympics and now New York. We've got episodes with him after each one of those. We decided to keep the tradition alive as we dive into how New York City played out and reflect on Clayton's emotional and triumphant year in marathoning. Plus, we get to thinking about what's next in 2025.

Time stamps:

3:46 - Returning to training post-marathon

5:51 - Reflection coming off the NYC Marathon 

8:18 - His build leading into NYC: overcoming his achilles injury

11:56 - Pre-race plans with Coach Ed Eyestone

15:19 - Thoughts on the depth of the men’s field

18:57 - Breaking down the first part of the race 

22:19 - What happened after crossing the Queensboro Bridge 

32:01 - Tracking power (watts) during the race 

36:04 - “What ifs” from the race 

38:01 - Looking ahead to trying to qualify for the World Championships marathon 

42:17 - Future training plans with Conner Mantz 

48:08 - How this year transformed his running career 

51:10 - Being in the midst of the good ol’ days 

56:50 - Underrated/overrated 

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Clayton Young | @_clayton_young_ on Instagram

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

WAHOO: KICKR RUN - a new revolutionary treadmill offering the freedom and form of outdoor running at home, from Wahoo Fitness. Run hands-free and focus solely on the joy of running with the innovative RunFree Mode - which adjusts to your stride and pace automatically. For the first time runners can now fully benefit from indoor training apps such as Zwift Run and the Wahoo app for an immersive training experience that delivers unmatched realism and results. Learn more at WahooFitness.com

OLIPOP: For the past year, we’ve redefined Olipop as more than just a healthy drink known for its gut microbiome with a low sugar content and a much better alternative to regular soda. You know there are more than 16 flavors, including classic root beer, cherry cola, and lemon-lime. You know it as The Runner’s Soda. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get 25% off your orders by using code CITIUS25 at drinkolipop.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.