Episode 167 | Amby Burfoot

the morning shakeout podcast

Coaching, Marathons, Sports, Olympics, Running, Ultrarunning

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2021

⏱️ 95 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“One day we had a bad basketball practice. The coach was pissed off at us. He literally made us run the cross-country course as punishment. I was the worst player on the JV basketball team but I came back first when we had to run 3 miles in cross country and I just said, ‘Hey, maybe I should switch sports instead of fighting to be bad.’ And so I switched to running and running seemed to be a place where an obsessive personality and an infinite amount of work payed some benefits—and it did for me. I don't think it's quite as important now as I did 50 years ago but there's no replacement for hard work, is there?” Amby Burfoot is a legend in running and someone I’ve looked up to and admired since I first got my start in the sport over 20 years ago. A native of Connecticut, Amby won the 1968 Boston Marathon when he was a senior at Wesleyan University. After his competitive running career ended, he worked at Runner’s World, where he spent 25 years as an editor before retiring in 2012. Amby is still running strong—and writing about running regularly—as he nears the age of 75 and I just have so much respect for everything he’s done and is still doing in the sport.There’s a lot that we covered in this conversation. We talked about Amby’s competitive running career, how he got started, and what it was like to win the Boston Marathon while he was still in college. He told me about his obsessive personality and the different forms it’s taken over the course of his life. We discussed what he’s up to now, his longevity as a runner and writer, and continuing to pursue your passions as you age. Amby told me about his time at Runner’s World, he shared his thoughts on the evolution of the running media landscape over the past 2-3 decades, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— Tracksmith. Tracksmith crafts performance running apparel, inspiring publications, and distinct experiences that allow runners to indulge in the sport’s rich culture. Tracksmith is offering new customers $15 off your first purchase of $75+. Just use code MARIO15 when you check out at tracksmith.com/mario.— Goodr: If you want to support the podcast and treat yourself to a pair of goodr sunglasses, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO at checkout for 15% off your order. Look good, run goodr!Complete show notes: https://themorningshakeout.com/podcast-episode-167-with-amby-burfoot/Sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday morning: www.themorningshakeout.com/subscribe/Support the morning shakeout on Patreon: www.patreon.com/themorningshakeout

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Transcript

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0:00.0	One day we had a bad basketball practice. The coach was pissed off at us. He literally
0:11.8	made us run the cross-country course as punishment. I was the worst player on the J.V. basketball
0:18.4	team, but I came back first when we had to run through miles in cross-country and I just
0:23.4	said, hey, maybe I should switch sports instead of fighting to be bad. And so I switched to
0:30.6	running and running seemed to be a place where an obsessive personality and an infinite
0:36.6	amount of hard work paid some benefits and it did for me. I don't think it's quite
0:43.4	as important now as I did 50 years ago, but there's no replacement for hard work is there.
0:53.4	Hey, what's up everyone? Thank you so much for tuning in. That was Ambi Burfoot that you
1:18.9	just heard from a few seconds ago. I'm your host Mario Freyoli and you are listening to
1:23.2	the Morning Shakeout podcast. Okay, Ambi Burfoot. This one was a real thrill for me. Ambi is a legend
1:31.3	and someone I've looked up to and admired since I first got my start in the sport over 20 years
1:35.5	ago. A native of Connecticut, Ambi won the 1968 Boston Marathon when he was a senior at Wesleyan
1:41.6	University. After his competitive running career ended, he went to work at Runners World where he
1:46.4	spent 25 years as an editor before retiring in 2012. Ambi is still running strong and writing about
1:52.9	running regularly as he nears the age of 75 and I just have so much respect for everything he's
1:58.4	done and is still doing in the sport. There's a lot that we covered in this conversation. We talked
2:03.8	about Ambi's competitive running career, how he got his start in the sport and what it was like to
2:08.5	win the Boston Marathon while he was still in college. He told me about his obsessive personality
2:13.7	and the different forms it's taken over the course of his life. We discussed what he's up to now,
2:18.4	his longevity as both a runner and a writer and continuing to pursue your passions as you age.
2:24.4	Ambi told me about his time at Runners World, he shared his thoughts on the evolution of the
2:28.5	running media landscape over the past two to three decades and a lot more. Before we get into it,
	...

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