Marathon Precision: The Rory Linkletter Edition

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Rory Linkletter, a professional marathon runner for PUMA, who has a 2:08:01 marathon personal best to his name. For those interested, it is episode 385 of my podcast. Now, 2:08:01 is fast, really really fast, all on its own, but it carries the added value of being just under the Olympic Standard of 2:08:10. Rory is Canadian, so this means he is one of only two Canadians at the moment who can be considered for their marathon team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and barring not one, but two heroic performances by fellow Canadians between now and May, he will be selected to represent Canada in Paris. 

If Rory had crossed the line 10 seconds slower he would not be able to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games. That means had he been 0.38 seconds per mile slower, he would have missed out. When you zoom out and imagine the years of preparation required to get to where Rory was on the day he ran his fastest marathon, it becomes pretty mind blowing how delicate of a process it can be preparing for a single day every four years. Now to be fair, there is more to professional marathon running than the Olympic Games, but it is still the big dream. The target everyone in Rory’s position dreams about. 

When preparing for our conversation, I was watching some of the YouTube videos Rory had produced while preparing, including his recap of the race. Near the end of the video, while being interviewed just after crossing the finish line he said, "with 1200 meters to go, I saw I needed to run just about 4:50/mi pace and just kicked harder than I have ever kicked in my life, puked at the finish line." Despite piecing together what was undoubtedly the performance of his life, all it would have taken is a small hiccup with 1200 meters to go for it to all dissipate. 

Imagining what Rory is thinking about over the course of that race is a fun thought experiment. What is he using to push back the inevitable seeds of doubt that come along for the ride? Brutal workouts, his family, his career, how much being able to add Olympian to his bio, what that means for the future of his career. All of it surely was pulled from on that day. A full arsenal of reasons why the task at hand is feasible was necessary. The more the better. These are the mental tools he is going to lean on to go alongside his physical ability when going through the race. 

Listening to Rory describe his lifestyle, training, dedication, etc… definitely pulls me back to performances where in hindsight, I realize how much added value it is to take inventory of things that can be used to beat back the negative thoughts that will be there on race day. It is part of the process. If you decide to set out on a physical goal like the marathon, it is not enough to go through the physical motions of preparation if you want to maximize your potential. You also need to recognize and collect any mental wins you can bring to the race. The more of these you have, the more you will be able to grandize all you did to get there, which in turn, will help minimize the enormity of the race itself. When Rory looks back at all the hard things he was able to do just to get the opportunity to stand on the start line of the marathon, he surely can have the confidence that the race itself is not only achievable, but a small part of the process. Every benchmark on race day just becomes one more very small piece to a much larger puzzle. 

These are the skills and processes I find most valuable talking to people like Rory. They are not only inspiring, but transferable. They aren’t unique to the marathon, or running. They are the scaffolding required to accomplish any goal that is considered meaningful. Extracting all the value from the work being done will only strengthen the outcome. 

Here are the splits that Rory produced en route to 2:08:01 at the Zurich Seville Marathon.

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