By Kyle Merber
April 13, 2023
The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project has been a driving force in American marathoning for the past 20 years. At the team’s core is a belief in the value of providing athletes with a structured training group and the support to continue building their aerobic strength. That ideology is what attracted Jessie Cardin, then working as a teacher, to make the move from her native Massachusetts to Michigan, where she is now all-in on a career as a professional runner.
Cardin graduated from Westfield College in 2018 with personal bests of 10:33 in the steeplechase at 17:14 for 5000m. But her breakout performance came in 2022, when she finished 10th at the USATF Half Marathon Championships and ran 1:12:08. Jessie ran 2:33:34 in her debut in last year’s Chicago Marathon, but following the momentum of a 1:10:52 at the Houston Half Marathon, there are big goals on Marathon Monday.
THE LAP COUNT: With a week to go until Boston, how’s everything going?
JESSIE CARDIN: I’m so excited. This buildup has been really hard. So I’m just trying to divert my energy into other things. It’s going to be so awesome.
THE LAP COUNT: What’s so significant about this taper?
JESSIE CARDIN: I was telling someone about this a few days ago, but for Chicago, my mileage was high. But for Boston, my coach, Kevin [Hanson], was like “we’re going to make your mileage higher… like, we’re going to try to challenge you.”
THE LAP COUNT: Well, give me a number. How high are we going?
JESSIE CARDIN: Like 120. So, a good amount! I got to the point where on quote unquote “recovery days,” I was doing like 16, 17 miles.
Near the end of the biggest part of the build I felt like I was setting daily goals and fighting to hit them. But then you go down to running like six and four doubles and you’re like, “Oh, gosh, I feel like I barely ran today.”
I like that part about marathon training. For Chicago, the mileage was really tough. And then this time around I just knew it was all part of the process and all this mileage was going to help me.
THE LAP COUNT: When I was talking with your coach, I told him I would love to speak with one of his athletes, and I asked who is going to have the big breakout performance. Why did he suggest you? Do you feel like a big breakthrough is about to happen?
JESSIE CARDIN: This race is my whole life. I think he knows how important Boston is for me just because I’m from there. So he realizes this is more than just a big marathon to me because it’s a Major, it’s my home.
But I feel like I’m also learning so much really quickly. I’m not saying that all of a sudden I know everything because I ran one marathon. But I’ve learned a lot from my time around the professional life. I’m more marathon mature, if that makes sense.
And Coach told me right when I joined the team that the marathon is my event. He knows how to train for it. And I’ve adjusted to the training well so he knows I can handle the event. The marathon feels like you’re breaking barriers for 26 miles, and I really like to break barriers.
The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project has been a driving force in American marathoning for the past 20 years. At the team’s core is a belief in the value of providing athletes with a structured training group and the support to continue building their aerobic strength. That ideology is what attracted Jessie Cardin, then working as a teacher, to make the move from her native Massachusetts to Michigan, where she is now all-in on a career as a professional runner.
Cardin graduated from Westfield College in 2018 with personal bests of 10:33 in the steeplechase at 17:14 for 5000m. But her breakout performance came in 2022, when she finished 10th at the USATF Half Marathon Championships and ran 1:12:08. Jessie ran 2:33:34 in her debut in last year’s Chicago Marathon, but following the momentum of a 1:10:52 at the Houston Half Marathon, there are big goals on Marathon Monday.
THE LAP COUNT: With a week to go until Boston, how’s everything going?
JESSIE CARDIN: I’m so excited. This buildup has been really hard. So I’m just trying to divert my energy into other things. It’s going to be so awesome.
THE LAP COUNT: What’s so significant about this taper?
JESSIE CARDIN: I was telling someone about this a few days ago, but for Chicago, my mileage was high. But for Boston, my coach, Kevin [Hanson], was like “we’re going to make your mileage higher… like, we’re going to try to challenge you.”
THE LAP COUNT: Well, give me a number. How high are we going?
JESSIE CARDIN: Like 120. So, a good amount! I got to the point where on quote unquote “recovery days,” I was doing like 16, 17 miles.
Near the end of the biggest part of the build I felt like I was setting daily goals and fighting to hit them. But then you go down to running like six and four doubles and you’re like, “Oh, gosh, I feel like I barely ran today.”
I like that part about marathon training. For Chicago, the mileage was really tough. And then this time around I just knew it was all part of the process and all this mileage was going to help me.
THE LAP COUNT: When I was talking with your coach, I told him I would love to speak with one of his athletes, and I asked who is going to have the big breakout performance. Why did he suggest you? Do you feel like a big breakthrough is about to happen?
JESSIE CARDIN: This race is my whole life. I think he knows how important Boston is for me just because I’m from there. So he realizes this is more than just a big marathon to me because it’s a Major, it’s my home.
But I feel like I’m also learning so much really quickly. I’m not saying that all of a sudden I know everything because I ran one marathon. But I’ve learned a lot from my time around the professional life. I’m more marathon mature, if that makes sense.
And Coach told me right when I joined the team that the marathon is my event. He knows how to train for it. And I’ve adjusted to the training well so he knows I can handle the event. The marathon feels like you’re breaking barriers for 26 miles, and I really like to break barriers.
Kyle Merber
After hanging up his spikes – but never his running shoes – Kyle pivoted to the media side of things, where he shares his enthusiasm, insights, and experiences with subscribers of The Lap Count newsletter, as well as viewers of CITIUS MAG live shows.