A Runner’s Life with Marcus Brown
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- September 30, 2020
Mid Strike Magazine podcast feature by Jesse Specs Spellman
This month’s Mid Strike Magazines Podcast highlight takes us over to the UK as we discuss A Runners life with Marcus Brown. This Podcast provides listeners with great content and interviews with some of the most recognizable runners in our run community from Black Roses and NYC’s own Knox Robinson, Natalie Mitchell and Alison Mariella Desir. A runner that consistently strives to see what his best looks like Marcus Brown provides this same process to his podcast which makes it a very good listen. Normally, Mid Strike Magazine would stop here, but we couldn’t let an opportunity pass without highlighting Marcus and his 6 star accomplishment.
1 hour and 55 minutes, the total time shaved off from Marcus’s first marathon major and his last. A journey that began in 2008 at the Abingdon Marathon in the UK followed by the London Marathon in 2010. As Marcus states, his earlier marathons were simply him winging it. London Marathon 2010 he made all the rookie mistakes that most of us new runners make starting out the gates way too fast which essentially led to him walk/running after mile 9. Realizing the task that still lied ahead Marcus was able to refocus but not fully recover. Eventually finishing the race at 4 hours and 55 minutes. We had the opportunity to speak with Marcus and one thing that stood out to us was the determination to be better while understanding the process. Later that year, in 2010, Marcus also ran the Berlin Marathon finishing at 4:04. The goal was to sub 4 but he eventually fell short.
After completing The Berlin Marathon, Marcus took some time to himself to really take a step back to figure out what his why was when it came to running, what it was that gave him the joy in doing so. Eventually this led to Marcus respecting the process of training and putting the necessary work in to become a better runner. He began to visualize the goals and processes of the race and trained accordingly, which prepared him for making a comeback to the Virgin Money London Marathon in 2015. Having run London, twice and Berlin once, the question was asked, what was next? Luckily for Marcus, there was a friend that mentioned the New York City Marathon. For Marcus, his thoughts usually become realities, which led him to running the worlds largest marathon in 2016. After competing New York City this is where the 6 star started to appear on his radar.
Now most folks don’t realize (myself included) until actually writing this article that Marcus has a photo that has been featured on more that one occasion in the Javits Center and in the marathon booklet (see the above photo).
Following the New York City Marathon, the questions were now getting to Chicago, Tokyo and then Boston. These weren’t the only questions but also how could he continue to get better as a runner. In 2017, he met coach John Starrett following the Tokyo marathon. Starrett took Marcus’s running to the next level, helping him run safe, motivated while also helping to understand what it took to run a solid race. After meeting with John, Marcus’s times began to drop drastically. After completing Tokyo in March 2017 at an even 4 hours Marcus then followed up with Chicago in October 2017 with a time of 3:35, thanks to the guidance of Coach Starrett.
Last up on the list is what we call the unicorn, Boston Marathon 2018. For those that remember this race, it wasn’t an easy one, as Marcus states. The weather was plain cold, windy and horrible. Leading up to the race Marcus had an idea of how things would play out. He had different view of the race than most. Taking time to write down any and everything that could possibly go wrong a few nights before the race was essentially his way of helping him to prepare. As the race started, tunnel vision set in for Marcus. One foot in front of the other or as Marcus states, not necessarily remembering the race until conquering the dreaded heartbreak hill to the final stretch eventually finishing the Boston Marathon and conquering the 6 star medal. After Boston, Marcus went on to work on his quest of obtaining a sub 3 marathon running Berlin again in 2019 with a time 3:01:07 and the New York City Marathon in 2019 with a time of 3:00:19.
This is the journey of Marcus Brown’s 12 year journey. We’ve had the pleasure of listening to A Runners Life “A runner that consistently strives to see what his best looks like The Marathon Marcus provides this same process to his podcast which makes it a very good listen.”
MSM Approves this podcast. Lots of gems and knowledgeable conversations.
