Brian Rock 
This spring, I’ve got two big goal races: the United NYC Half Marathon in March and the Jersey City Marathon in April. I ran the Fred Lebow Half Marathon last month, and from late December through January, that’s what I was “training” for. Although it wasn’t really long enough to be a solid training cycle. … Read more
Since the fall, I’ve been collecting data to project the cutoff time for the 2026 Boston Marathon. I’ve put together a Tableau dashboard to help you explore the data in real time, which you can play with here. While that tracker is updated on a weekly basis, I take a step back from time to … Read more
Ever wonder what the average marathon time was? Well here’s a meaningless number: 4:25:33. That’s the average time for all marathon finishers in 2024. But marathon performance varies quite a bit along two dimensions: age and gender. If you don’t group runners by age and gender, that average tells you more about who the runners … Read more
The best time to run a marathon is either in the spring or the fall. The weather is (usually) mild. Because who would want to run a marathon in the freezing cold of January? The only problem with this is that to run a marathon you’ve got to train. And that involves running consistently for … Read more
This week is the race – and the recovery. The week started off with the Fred Lebow Half Marathon. It went well enough. Not a PR or a spectacular performance – but a strong performance on a hilly course nonetheless. The main focus for the week, though, is recovery. I’m dropping my mileage to 60 … Read more
This weekend, I ran the Fred Lebow Half Marathon in Central Park. I signed up for the race this year because I wanted a chance to run a qualifying time for the 2026 NYC Marathon at one of the NYRR Half Marathons – and you can sign up for Fred Lebow without having to earn … Read more
Well, this is it. The final week. Those few weeks just zoomed by. The training has been wearing me down a bit. It could be the long run workouts – which have been intense over the hills. It could also be a little too much beer – the after effects of holiday celebrations. So I’m … Read more
It’s been a little over a month now since I’ve gotten my . The timing was perfect, too, because we’ve had a couple brutally cold weeks here in New Jersey that called for running indoors. My wife picked the Peloton, in part because she already had a Peloton Bike. So, the same all access membership … Read more
Last week, two runners set new American records in the half marathon in Houston – Conner Mantz and Weini Kelati. This was hyped up. When the Houston Marathon Committee announced the professional field for the race, they called out both Kelati and Mantz as contenders. Although Kelati only made a vague reference to “hop[ing] this … Read more
The Houston Marathon is the premier event of the early marathon season in the United States. From January to March, it’s one of the biggest races in the country – and it’s known for having a flat course and a fast field. This year’s race made the news for the half marathon. Conner Mantz set … Read more