Professional Runner & Former Olympic Alternate Jess McClain Shares Wisdom & Lessons From Her Career, How To Handle Imposter Syndrome, Why Success Stems From Joy, & Other Lessons On Sustainability

THE RUNNING EFFECT PODCAST

Dominic Schlueter

Running, Sports

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Middle-distance star, marathoner, and Brooks runner Jess McClain joins the show for the first time today, with her sights set on an Olympic qualifying time on the track.

In February of 2024, Jess came in fourth place at the Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando with a time of 2:25.46; this was just her third marathon ever.

Jess coached herself leading up to the 2024 Olympic Trials, while working full-time in marketing and training without a sponsor.

Jess had previously worked with her high school coach, Jeff Messer, after graduating from Stanford, but took a hiatus from competitive running in 2020 when the pandemic hit.

Impressively, Jess negotiated her own deal with Brooks after the Olympic Trials, showing savvy both on the track and roads but also in the negotiating room.

In high school at Xavier College Prep in Arizona, Jess was a 14-time state champion; four-time Foot Locker finalist; and Gatorade Runner of the Year in track and cross country.

Collegiately she ran for Stanford, where was a 7-time All-American, 2-time PAC 12 Champion in the 10,000m; and had an NCAA-leading time in the 5,000m in 2015.

Professionally, Jess has held the title of Executive Director of the Johnjay & Rich #LoveUp Foundation, and has worked as a marketing consultant.

In today's conversation, Jess goes into her mindset, her 2025 racing schedule, her new coach, and how she's structuring training, what she's learned through the process of returning to running, lessons from the last year, and so much more.

Jess always brings so much wisdom to our conversations, and I hope you'll take the time to learn from her successful career.

Tap into the Jess McClain Special.

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	enjoying the running and using each race is kind of like my all-out redlining moments. I don't go to
0:06.9	the well and practice like ever. So races are a really fun way for me to be like, okay, if I blow up,
0:11.7	it's because I am using this as, you know, a point in time where I'm like fully testing my limits.
0:17.4	And I'm just, I'm not scared to fail anymore. And I think it's really hard to get to that
0:21.8	point, but you have to be vulnerable and you have to kind of like relinquish control. It's been
0:27.1	fun to figure out how to get to this point. And, you know, we're still testing ourselves each
0:32.9	time we line up. But that's the fun of it.
0:40.7	That was Jess McLean today on the Running Effect podcast.
0:43.1	This conversation today was absolutely excellent.
0:47.7	I'll try to keep this intro short so that you guys can dive into the wisdom of Jess. But yeah, Jess brings years and years and years of experience and a wealth of knowledge
0:52.6	and wisdom.
0:53.7	If I'm not mistaken, she was a 14-time state champion.
0:56.4	Absolutely remarkable.
0:57.6	She qualified for the Foot Locker Cross-country National Meet all four years in high school.
1:01.4	She then went on to Stanford where she was a seven-time All-American, had a successful
1:05.5	professional running career, but then stepped back and then entered back into it and placed
1:09.8	fourth at the U.S.
1:15.1	Olympic marathon trials last February in Orlando, Florida.
1:17.0	Sorry, my mind blank there for a second.
1:18.3	Wild performance there.
1:19.7	Fourth place Olympic alternate.
1:22.7	Since then, Jess has signed a professional running contract with Brooks.
	...

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