“I just really enjoyed getting here. Maybe not the whole last eight years – it's been a road and a journey – but the last year or two of running has been so fun. I know it's been a whole thing that I don't have a coach, don't have an agent, don't have a sponsor. But I literally have just been running because I love it. It's been so freeing and there's been no pressure. I think I needed to step away from that infrastructure and that approach to the sport for a little bit. And it's just been so fun. I think enjoying the process, not having that pressure coming into the trials – I had nothing to lose. I knew I had to be smart, that it could go sideways if I wasn't. Getting here healthy was 100% the focus and enjoying every moment of training.”

Jess McClain (née Tonn) stunned America on Saturday when she finished fourth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. She ran 2:25:46 for a personal best by nearly four minutes. She is unsponsored. She has a full-time job as the executive director of the Love Up Foundation. She also works as a marketing consultant. Before all of that, many in the track and field community remember her as Jess Tonn – the former Brooks Beast 5000m specialist and an All-American at Stanford. We didn’t have her on our pre-race predictions or our radar at all but now we will.

In this episode, we re-introduce you to Jess as one of America’s newest marathoning stars. She takes us through the past few years and how running may have always been part of her life but didn’t define her after leaving the professional ranks. She ran her first marathon in February 2022 with a 2:33 at the Mesa Marathon. She ran 2:29:25 at Grandma’s Marathon in June 2023. And then the stunner at the Trials.

Even though she was seconds away from making an Olympic team, she is all smiles and calls this her favorite running memory of all-time.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Guest: Jess McClain | ⁠⁠@jesstonn on Instagram⁠

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