How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon)

How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon)

From excellence, actually by Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, & Clay Skipper

April 30, 2026 · 41 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the recent achievement of two runners completing the London Marathon in under two hours and explores the implications for personal limits and technology in sports.

Not just one, but two (!) men finished this past weekend's London Marathon in under two hours, a time that has never before been beat and was once largely thought to be impossible. Today, we unpack how it happened: the advances in running shoe and fueling technology that made this moment possible, the giant elephant on the podium (the ever present question of doping), and what we can all learn about harnessing the power of belief, confidence, and competition to push past our own perceived limits. Get a free LMNT drink mix pack with any purchase:  drinkLMNT.com/Clay Click here for an AI-generated transcript (please excuse errors in grammar or spelling) - Subscribe to  The Growth Equation newsletter -  Join The Growth Equation Academy - If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks! iTunes and Apple Podcasts Spotify Android PocketCasts YouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Hosts: Steve Magness, Brad Stulberg, Clay Skipper

Topics covered

  • marathon
  • belief
  • competition
  • technology
  • doping
  • self-improvement

Keywords

  • marathon
  • sub-two-hour
  • belief
  • confidence
  • doping
  • running technology

Sponsors

LMNT

Mentioned in this episode

Products: LMNT drink mix

More episodes of excellence, actually

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the excellence, actually podcast page.