Elite Training for Mere Mortals: Katie Sloane & Ivan Alonzo
Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running
RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog
4.5 • 936 Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2021
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Imagine having the opportunity to train for one of the top marathons in the world with nearly all the advantages of an elite. You'd have access to world-famous coaches, have top of the line training gear and tools, and thousands of dollars of free stuff. When race day comes around, you'd be whisked away to meet your teammates in person, as prepared as humanly possible for the race of your life.
Sounds amazing, right? Katie Sloane and Ivan Alonso won exactly that.
They are two of the lucky winners of a contest held by Zwift, a massively popular multiplayer online cycling and running platform.
Ivan Alonso is a 39 year old, Texas-based husband and father of two young children. Since beginning his athletic journey, he's lost nearly 100 pounds from both running and cycling and dropped an incredible more than 90 minutes off his very first marathon to become a sub-three hour marathoner today.
Katie Sloane is a 31 year old amateur ultra runner from England who is shifting to the roads by training for Berlin. She's most at home on the trails with her dog, but don't underestimate Katie's talent in the marathon. She's training for a blisteringly fast 2:45 finishing time.
Claire Bartholic asks them about their running Cinderella story and what it's like to virtually train like an elite for one of the world's most iconic races. If you've ever wondered what your training and racing would look like with some of the best coaches and gear in the world, you can experience it vicariously through their stories.
CONNECT, COMMENT, & COMMUNITY:
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts! A great FREE way to support the show!
Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram
Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month!
Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community
GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT!
This week's show brought to you by:
Heal from the Amino Company. Heal is an amino acid, whey and creatine based formulation designed to reduce recovery times and improve physical function after injuries by accelerating muscle repair while helping maintain a healthy inflammatory response. Check out the research here: https://aminoco.com/rttt
If you're looking for a nutritional advantage when it comes to recovering from your running injury or your daily training I recommend you give Heal a try.
If you're interested in learning more and giving Heal a try, we've got a special offer for you where you can save 30% by using the code RC30. Just head to: https://aminoco.com/rttt and use the code RC30 at checkout to save 30%
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi this is Kati |
| 0:07.0 | is Katie Sloane. |
| 0:10.0 | Hi this is Ivan Alonzo and you're listening to the Run to the Top podcast. |
| 0:17.2 | Hi there my running friend this is coach Claire Bartholic the planted runner and this is the Run to the Top Podcast, one of the first and only |
| 0:25.6 | running podcast dedicated to making you a better runner with each and every episode. |
| 0:30.8 | We are created and produced by the expert team of running coaches at runnersconnect.net where you can find the best running information on the internet as well as running coaching plans to fit every runner and every budget. |
| 0:44.0 | Imagine having the opportunity to train for one of the top marathons in the world with nearly all the advantages of an elite. |
| 0:56.8 | You'd have access to world famous coaches, have the top of the line training gear and tools, |
| 1:02.2 | and thousands of dollars of free stuff. |
| 1:05.2 | When race day comes around, you'll be whisked away to meet your teammates in person as prepared |
| 1:11.0 | as humanly possible for the race of your life. |
| 1:13.7 | Sounds amazing, right? |
| 1:15.2 | Well, for six lucky runners, that's exactly what they've won, and I'm talking to two of them today. |
| 1:22.0 | Katie Sloane and Ivan Alonzo are two of the lucky winners of a contest held by |
| 1:26.4 | SWIFT, a massively popular multiplayer online cycling and running platform. They were two of the over 12,000 people who signed |
| 1:36.9 | up for something called SWIFT Academy Run. If you completed the programs, eight |
| 1:42.1 | workouts and two races, |
| 1:44.2 | athletes had a chance to make the final team of six, |
| 1:47.4 | who would all be given training and prizes |
| 1:50.1 | to get them ready for this year's Berlin Marathon. |
| 1:53.6 | What kind of goodies did they get? |
| 1:55.3 | Well, they get coaching from legendary long distance coaches |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.