[HURDLE LIVE] Team USA Marathoners Susanna Sullivan, Jess McClain & Erika Kemp Dish On the Race Of a Lifetime, Running In Tokyo's Challenging Humidity & Putting It All Out There

Hurdle with Emily Abbate

iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Watching the three women representing Team USA and Brooks put it all on the line over the weekend at the World Championships here in Tokyo on Sunday, September 14, was absolutely wild. Had the awesome opportunity to catch up with Erika Kemp, Jess McClain, and Susanna Sullivan on Monday after the race at the Brooks Hyperion House. We get into it all: The highs, lows, debrief the entire race, and the lessons they learned from a tough 26.2 that they'll bring into their running moving forward.

IN THIS EPISODE

(3:30) How the women are doing really after their performance over the weekend

(6:14) How the temperatures really felt—with humidity above 90%

(8:34) How Erika felt to see Jess and Susanna leading the race when she wasn't having the day she hoped for

(10:54) How Erika handles a disappointing day and navigates shifting her mindset

(13:23) How Susanna's training set her up for the best case scenario on Sunday

(17:00) Jess details the benefits of the way the course was laid out in Tokyo

(17:46) Jess talks about how she got to be at a place where she felt more comfortable racing and "became her own best friend."

(21:58) What it meant to "work" the entire marathon and what tools and fuel were available on the course to try to cool off in the heat

(37:05) What does the post-race debrief look like?

(39:04) Susanna reflects on an awful race in Budapest at the last World Championships on how she bounced back to stellar performances

(45:00) What it looked like post-race in the stadium

(52:43) What the girls are all looking forward to next

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I didn't have a good day and like that's the reality of it.
0:02.7	But I think it's really important to still like share those moments and not just like the highlights.
0:24.8	Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
0:41.9	Emily Abadi here popping in with a special episode of Hurtle live from Tokyo here for the World Athletics Championships and sat down with Team USA's three marathoners, all Brooks running athletes.
0:48.7	We've got Erica Kemp, Susanna Sullivan, and Jess McLean, who all towed the starting line of one hell of a marathon on Sunday, September 14th. For context, as we talk about in today's episode,
0:56.7	the temperatures out there, a real feel of the high 90s, intense humidity cusping 100%
1:03.9	crazy, crazy conditions, but truly remarkable to watch these women get out and do their thing.
1:13.8	Susanna went for glory.
1:15.3	She finished fourth in the world championship marathon for a better part of the race.
1:20.1	She was actually leading the pack for a considerable amount alongside Jess McLean.
1:25.8	Erica ultimately had a tougher day, finishing 52nd.
1:29.6	There are times respectively, Susanna into 2817,
1:33.0	Jess in 2, 29, 20, and Erica into 5035.
1:38.7	In today's conversation, we talk about it all.
1:40.8	We talk about the prep, we talk about the day,
1:42.5	we talk about the highs and the lows, the day. We talk about the highs and the lows.
1:44.5	The lessons learned what it was like immediately following the race, how they celebrated.
1:49.3	And of course, what's next?
1:51.8	Such a stellar opportunity to sit down with these ladies at the Brooks Hyperion House here.
1:56.4	As a marathoner myself, a massive fan of the sport, you couldn't have asked for a better opportunity.
2:01.8	So to the Brooks team, thanks for welcoming me in.
2:05.1	Each of these women have really gotten to this point with their own roadmap on their own
	...

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