Charles Hicks After Running 2:04:35 For The Second-Fastest Marathon In American History | 2026 Boston Marathon Recap + Reflections

About this episode

Charles Hicks discusses his remarkable performance at the 2026 Boston Marathon and his journey as a marathon runner.

“The difference between confidence and arrogance is evidence. Boston gave me the ability to train like a 2:04 guy without it being irrational. That’s the greatest thing this race could have done for me.” My guest for today’s episode is Charles Hicks : the 24-year-old Nike athlete, Stanford alum and former NCAA Cross Country Champion who just ran 2:04:35 at the 2026 Boston Marathon. That’s the second-fastest marathon ever run by an American and it’s only his second marathon. He did the entire build on simulated altitude — not a single breath of real mountain air outside of a layover in Denver — which may make him the fastest sea-level-trained marathoner in history. Charles turned to the marathon two years ago, not at his own suggestion but at coach Jerry Schumacher’s. He ran 13:09 for 5K in his first year as a pro, looked too comfortable in his long runs, and Jerry pulled him aside and said: I think this is the event. What followed was a nine-month racing gap, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler that validated everything, a 2:09 New York debut without a watch where he negative-split the course, and then Boston. In this conversation, Charles breaks down the full arc of how we got here —…

People in this episode

Guest: Charles Hicks

Topics covered

• marathon running
• athlete training
• sports performance
• NCAA
• Nike
• Boston Marathon
• running strategy

Keywords

• Charles Hicks
• Boston Marathon
• Nike athlete
• marathon training
• Jerry Schumacher
• 2:04 marathon
• running strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nike, Stanford, NCAA

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