September 22, 2026
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“I think if you had told me on the front end that was going to happen, I would have been floored. But now I’m just like, okay, I gotta refocus on marathon training.”
My guest for today’s episode is Emma Grace Hurley and since we last had her on in May, a lot has happened. She went to Copenhagen last weekend and finished fifth at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in a personal best of 1:06:23, an American record for an all-women’s race. She also helped the United States women’s team claim the silver medal — a result that, going into the day, wasn’t even on anyone’s radar. The team went 5th, 6th, and 7th with her, Weini Kelati, and Jess McClain all finishing within 30 seconds of each other, and the photo of the three of them at the finish is one of those American women’s distance running moments that we want to blow up into a poster.
In 19 days, she runs the Chicago Marathon for her debut at the distance. So there was no easing into the post-Copenhagen glow, no week off, no victory lap. She got home, got drug tested, and went back to training.
Emma Grace is an ASICS athlete who trains under Andrew and Amy Begley at Heartland Track Club in Indianapolis. She came into this season as the American record holder at 8K, won the USATF 10-Mile title at Cherry Blossom, and finished second at the USATF 5K Championships in her own city. The Copenhagen team silver was the chapter that closed out the Atlanta misdirection story from March, where she was one of the three athletes who was sent off course in the closing mile of the US half marathon championships and ultimately earned her spot in Copenhagen through the special exception World Athletics granted.
Discussed in this episode:
- Copenhagen hasn’t settled in yet
- Why Chicago
- The two-marathon plan before the Olympic Trials
- Coach Andrew Begley’s training philosophy
- The Jenny Simpson’s quote that she carries
- The heat disruption in Indiana this Summer
- What the Mini 10K taught her
- What Falmouth taught her
- The Copenhagen race plan — and where it went sideways
- The photo at the finish line with Jess McClain
- American women’s distance depth
- The Copenhagen post-race chaos
- Andrew’s assessment post-race
- The women’s-only record bonus
- What she doesn’t know she doesn’t know
- How to cheer for her in Chicago
- Why she’s a little sad marathon training is almost over
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Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and on Feb. 15th, 2025 finally broke five minutes for the mile.
