180. Rory Linkletter | On Running Olympic Standard at the Seville Marathon

Inspired Soles

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Rory Linkletter is a professional Canadian athlete who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, is sponsored by Puma, and is coached by US half marathon record holder, Ryan Hall. He is also now the 2nd fastest Canadian marathoner in history!

We first had Rory on the show six months ago (Ep 153) after finishing 19th at the World Championships marathon in Budapest. Since then he’s been training up a storm with one goal in mind…making the Paris Olympic team this summer. Ideally that meant running the Olympic Standard of 2:08:10, which was no small feat considering he’d have to shave over 2-minutes off his personal best. But on February 18th 2024, Rory got the job done in Seville Spain with nine seconds to spare, running the race of his life in a new personal best of 2:08:01!

In this conversation, we discuss:

• How he got fired up watching the US Olympic Marathon trials
• What Pumas he wore on race day
• What it meant to have his family’s support in Spain, and
• What it feels like to run a 1-second negative split.

Even though Rory is at the very top of the sport, so much of what he talked about was relatable to the average runner. Just like you and me, he experiences taper crazies in the weeks before a big race, he ceases to be able to do math in the final stretches of a marathon, and he sometimes hesitates to put his big goals out into the world in case he fails to reach them. You’ll have to listen to the end to hear about his Olympic Marathon dreams this summer in Paris should he be named to our Canadian Marathon team, which we’ll know by May 5th.

Resources we discussed in the episode:

• Rory's first interview on Inspired Soles: Top Canadian Men's Marathon at 2023 World Championships
• US Olympic Marathon Trials Recap
• Ben Flanagan | Deep Dive on World Championships

Connect with Rory:

• YouTube: @LinkletterRory
• Instagram: @rory_linkletter

Connect with Carolyn & Kim:

• Email us with guest ideas: [e-mail]
• Inspired Soles Instagram
• Kim's Instagram
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• Carolyn's Facebook
• Carolyn's website

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