February 18, 2019
Rob Napolitano joins the CITIUS MAG Podcast after pacing Yomif Kejelcha at the Millrose Games to a 3:48.46 mile. Kejelcha fell 0.008 seconds short of breaking the 3:48.45 record set by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997 in Ghent, Belgium. Napolitano was tasked with going through 440 yards in 56, 880 yards in 1:53 and 1,000 meters in 2:20. After about 800 meters, Kejelcha took over and ran the rest of the race on his own.
We dive into those four laps of work by Rob and what the 24 hours were like that led up to an important pacing job.
We also dive into how he became a professional runner with the New Jersey-New York Track Club and making the most out of an opportunity presented by coach Frank Gagliano. The conversation also hits on life as a rookie runner in Europe and how professionals try to make money in those races. It’s a fun an interesting conversation that you’ll enjoy.
You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Stitcher, Google Play and now Spotify!
Here is the link to the GoFundMe Page to help Kemoy Campbell and his recovery efforts.
If you enjoy this podcast, check out the other shows on the CITIUS MAG Podcast Network including Runners of NYC, 1609 Podcast, Price of a Mile, Running Things Considered and more.
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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.