Revealing The Marathon Myths That Never Actually Happened

About this episode

The episode discusses marathon myths with author and historian Martin Dugard.

Marathon history is full of drama, heroes and quite a few myths that you are probably perpetuating yourself at your local run club. Today, I’m going to talk with author, coach, and historian Martin Dugard. Martin is the author of a dozen #1 New York Times bestsellers, he’s a Board Member of the USA Track and Field Foundation, and blogs weekly as The Paper Kenyan on martindugard.com. His new book, The Long Run, dives into the rich history of the marathon and debunks some of the most pervasive myths in the sport. We discuss: The origin story of the marathon and what really happened How the jogging craze led to the marathon boom, and The impact of some of the biggest stars of the sport who still influence runners today. And Martin is kind enough to do a book giveaway to listeners of The Planted Runner who live in the US. If you’d like to win a copy of the book, first write an Apple Podcast review of the show and then email me your US shipping address to claire@theplantedrunner.com. We’ll pick a random winner by the end of April 2026. Welcome to the Planted Runner. I’m Coach Claire Bartholic and my mission is to help you improve your running, your mindset, and your life with…

People in this episode

Host: Claire Bartholic

Guest: Martin Dugard

Topics covered

• marathon history
• running myths
• jogging craze
• sports influence
• book giveaway

Keywords

• marathon
• myths
• running
• history
• jogging
• book giveaway
• sports

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USA Track and Field Foundation, The Planted Runner, martindugard.com

Books & works: The Long Run

More episodes of The Planted Runner

• Afraid of the Track? How to Finally Master the Oval · June 11, 2026 · 17 min
• PRTL: Athletic Running Plan · June 4, 2026 · 38 min
• Marathon Era Over? Here's The Big Thing No One Tells You · May 28, 2026 · 16 min
• This is Why Silly-Looking Skips Are Really Powerful for Runners · May 21, 2026 · 14 min
• BONUS: 5-Minute Guided Warm Up for Long Runs · May 15, 2026 · 6 min
• The Real Reason You Hate Rest Days Will Surprise You · May 14, 2026 · 15 min