July 22, 2025
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"My view on running is that it’s the simplest sport — but the fact of that simplicity opens up the possibility that if you think about it deeply... it can be a tool to help you understand the really important and complicated stuff."
By day, Nick Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic shaping the future of journalism. By early morning and often late evening, he's pounding the pavement between his Brooklyn home and Manhattan office, logging miles that many of us would consider as workouts. But somehow at age 49, he's still getting faster.
In 2021, Nick ran a 2:29 marathon. At 45, he broke the American age group record in the 50K. Now he's the author of “The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports.” It's a book that's part memoir, part meditation on how running shapes us, challenges us, and sometimes reveals more than we're ready to face. It's out this fall.
In this conversation, Nick opens up about growing up in the shadow of a gifted but troubled father, about breaking free from a years-long plateau in his running, and how sport has helped him find meaning both on and off the track. He discusses how data, discipline, and science have also enabled him to become faster with age. For Nick, running has never just been about the finish line or breaking records. It's about understanding who we are and who we want to be, which sometimes we learn in the process. We recorded this back in April, so there may be a few references to the Boston Marathon which Nick was slated to run as part of Puma's Project 3 but had to withdraw from the race due to a family matter.
He went on to run at the Lake Warrao 50 miler and won it in 4 hours 43 minutes and 8 seconds at 6:51 per mile, and as he shared it, that's the fastest age group time in the world this year and the best time in the ultra running North American ranking since 2022.
Host: Chris Chavez | @chris_j_chavez on Instagram
Guest: Nick Thompson | @nxthompson on Instagram
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | @jasminefehr on Instagram
Nick Thompson
Mentioned in this episode…
Pre-order: The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports
Watch: The Running Ground: Nick Thompson On Life, Legacy and the Simplest of Sports
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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.
