112. Sarah Cummings, Sub-Elite Runner
Ali on the Run Show
Ali Feller
4.9 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 27 December 2018
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“I knew things were going to unravel at some point… But looking back, I don’t know if I would’ve done things differently.” —Sarah Cummings
Few people have a work ethic like Sarah Cummings. Sarah, a 2:34 marathoner, lives in New York City where she runs for the New York Athletic Club and is a two-time New York Road Runners Runner of the Year. Sarah works long hours in the finance industry in addition to running 100-mile weeks — sometimes include 20-mile run commutes! On this episode, Sarah — who is a former competitive figure skater who graduated with top honors from Princeton University — talks about coming back from a grueling hamstring injury to run an Olympic qualifying time at the California International Marathon.
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What you’ll get on this episode:
- Sarah recaps her 2018 CIM performance (2:30)
- Sarah reflects on her figure skating days and how she found running (7:00)
- Sarah talks about her relationship with her sister — and whether or not they’re competitive on the run (14:30)
- What it was like being a competitive runner in college (18:10)
- How Sarah runs 100-mile weeks while working a demanding career in finance (22:10)
- If given the choice, would Sarah go pro? (31:40)
- Sarah talks about her hamstring injury and getting through a major setback (35:25)
- What it’s like competing at the Olympic Trials as a sub-elite runner (48:50)
- Sarah’s best advice for dealing with an injury (52:45)
What we mention on this episode:
California International Marathon
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Aftershocks. |
| 0:08.1 | Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show. I'm your host Allie Feller and today I am joined by my |
| 0:13.2 | fastest friend. No really. Sarah Cummings is my guest today and if you live in New York City, |
| 0:18.7 | you know who Sarah is. She's the teeny tiny super speedy red-headed runner with fast feet and a |
| 0:24.8 | super long braid that passes everyone in Central Park. She runs for the New York Athletic Club and |
| 0:30.4 | just came back from an insane injury to run an Olympic qualifying time at the California International |
| 0:36.3 | Marathon. Sarah's injury story is pretty insane. She was out running a 50k when her hamstring basically |
| 0:43.3 | snapped off. She had to have emergency surgery and her road back to running was long and arduous, |
| 0:48.6 | but ultimately very inspiring. What I love about Sarah is that she's a sub-elite runner. |
| 0:54.8 | So she has race times that are basically good enough to get her to go pro, but instead of doing |
| 0:59.6 | that she works long hours in the finance industry and she loves it. Sarah's been known to do a 15-mile |
| 1:06.4 | run commute to work before 5am with a track workout thrown in the mix and then she runs home too. |
| 1:12.7 | So yeah, running a 234 marathon, which Sarah did in Chicago a few years ago, competing for the same |
| 1:18.8 | running club as Mubka Fleske. Graduating with top honors from Princeton, needless to say, |
| 1:24.8 | Sarah is a hard worker in overachiever and then some on this episode she shares where that drive |
| 1:30.1 | comes from, how she went from a figure skater to a competitive runner and what it was like working |
| 1:35.9 | billion-hour days at Goldman Sachs and running 100 mile weeks. A lot to talk about here. Let's hand it |
| 1:41.9 | over to Sarah Cummings. |
| 1:49.2 | Sarah Cummings, thank you for being here with me today. I'm super excited to chat with you. |
| 1:53.4 | I am too. This is such an honor. Thank you so much. All right, let's start with our warm-up. Tell |
| 1:58.3 | us who you are, where you're from, and what you do. Sure. So my name is Sarah Cummings. I'm from New |
| 2:05.8 | Jersey, I'd say, but I went to high school in California, so sometimes I borrow California when |
... |
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