Many retired elite runners have found meaningful ways to give back to the sport to which they gave so much of themselves.
One such runner is Australian marathoner Rob de Castella.
Known as a fierce competitor who never gave an inch to anyone, Rob
raced marathons so hard that he often needed several months after a
marathon to fully recover and be ready to race again.
Rob trained in almost exactly the same way under the same coach for
the best part of 15 years. His training system is a model for many
Australian runners and coaches today.
However, Rob is best known these days for his work with the
Indigenous Marathon Project, a program that trains indigenous
Australians (or “aborigines”) for races around Australia and ultimately
the New York City Marathon.
A few of the topics we discussed included:
The training program that took Rob to World Championship medals and world records in the marathonThe practice of purposefully going into hard workouts tired in order to get more benefit from a shorter workoutRob’s current work with gluten- and sugar-free foods and the Indigenous Marathon ProjectThis is clearly a former champion who wants to give back to the country that supported him for so long.Using Running to Give Back: An Interview With Australian Marathon Icon Rob de Castella