From 2:09 in New York to 2:04 in Boston: Charles Hicks and Coach Alex Ostberg on the 16-Week Build, 1,000 Extra Training Miles, and Why A Sub-2 Marathon For Him Is Now a Conversation
THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST
Dominic Schlueter
4.9 • 822 Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2026
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Charles Hicks ran 2:04:35 at Boston in his second marathon. His coach was watching from Eugene, trying not to lose his mind.
Alex Ostberg and Charles Hicks were Stanford teammates for exactly one year: Ostberg a fifth-year senior, Hicks a freshman who wasn't even first on the depth chart in his incoming class. Five years later, they're coach and athlete inside Nike's Swoosh Track Club, and they just executed one of the most stunning American marathon performances in history.
In this conversation, they pull back the curtain on the full arc: the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler that first convinced Jerry Schumacher the marathon was Charles's calling; the abbreviated eight-week build into New York that exceeded everyone's expectations; and the 16-week Boston block where Charles never dipped below 105 miles in a single week.
They talk about what it actually means to train under Schumacher—workouts revealed 10 minutes before, plans built in two-week cycles, and a phone call every night at 9:30 PM—and why Ostberg's role is less about designing sessions and more about being a steady hand when the experiencing self and the remembering self stop agreeing.
Charles also explains the text he sent Ostberg after a disappointing half marathon in Atlanta that became the quiet thesis of the entire Boston build: I will navigate my failure points more effectively than my competition.
Affirm the past. Appreciate the present. Inject ambition into the future.
Tap into the Charles Hicks and Alex Ostberg Special.
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review!
S H O W N O T E S
-The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs
-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run
-THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ
-My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en
-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffz
Instagram: _charleshicks
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Recently, Charles Hicks ran a 204-35 marathon placing as one of the top finishers at the |
| 0:07.2 | 2026 Boston Marathon. And he's coached, or at least partially coached by Alex Osper, who is a frequent |
| 0:13.6 | appearance on the Running Effect podcast. He also happens to write a newsletter for me in the |
| 0:18.3 | running effect community called The Rundown by the Running Effect, written by Alex himself. I leave a link in every single episode description, but |
| 0:24.5 | pertaining to today's conversation, Alex wrote a piece this past Thursday completely free of |
| 0:29.1 | charge for you to check out inside Charles Hicks's 204 marathon, where he breaks down 10 different |
| 0:34.1 | insights that went into Charles's 204 breakthrough performance. So I thought it'd be a cool idea. I think it was actually Alex's idea to do a three-way podcast between the three of us and Breakdown Charles' career, his mindset, this 204 marathon performance, what he thinks he can do in the future as well as their coach athlete collaborative relationship. It's actually quite cool. They both ran for Stanford back in the day. Alex was taking a fifth year at Stanford when Charles was a freshman. And so from teammates to now |
| 0:58.7 | coach and athlete and Charles being one of the fastest American marathoners in history and only |
| 1:04.2 | his second appearance at the distance. Big future ahead. We break down it all in today's conversation. |
| 1:09.0 | I'll keep this intro short for the sake of time and you guys enjoying the conversation. But please subscribe to the newsletter, read that piece. Also pertaining to the podcast, give us a five-star review. It takes next to no time. Share the podcast with a friend that is the easiest way in which we can go and hit the fall button for more conversations with Charles in the future, Alex in the future, and new world-class |
| 1:27.7 | athletes every other day or even sometimes more frequently. We are on our podcast grind these days. |
| 1:32.4 | So with that further ado, enjoy the conversation with newly minted 204 marathoner, Charles Hicks, |
| 1:36.8 | and his world-class coach, Alex Osberg. |
| 1:41.9 | Alex Osberg, Charles Hicks, the coach and the talent. Welcome to the podcast. Alex, we'll |
| 1:47.0 | start with you. Charles seemingly has a perfect block runs 209 last fall at New York, |
| 1:54.1 | sneaks under sub 210, first go at it. World kind of starts to converge, start talking about |
| 1:59.6 | this new marathon talent. |
| 2:05.7 | What was the conversation like internally between you and him, even Jerry, or other people on the team? |
| 2:07.5 | Okay, what's the next mark? |
| 2:08.9 | Is it Boston? Is it London? |
| 2:10.8 | And how did you guys settle on Boston? |
| 2:14.9 | I actually think we should probably rewind the clock a little bit further. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dominic Schlueter, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dominic Schlueter and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.