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Running--State of the SportAuthor: Amby Burfoot and George Hirsch
The podcast where we talk to the smartest, most informed, most influential, and sometimes fastest runners on the planet. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Graham Blanks
Friday, 13 February, 2026
In the past four years, few if any American runners have posted results better than Graham Blanks.In his last two fall seasons at Harvard, Blanks won the NCAA Div. 1 Cross-Country Championships. After graduation, he qualified for the Paris Olympics, the 2025 Tokyo World Championships, and the 2026 World XC Championships in Tallahassee.After Tallahassee, Blanks ran two strong indoor races in the New Balance Games in Boston and the Millrose Games in New York City. At Millrose, he hit 8:08.60 in the 2-mile. Now he looks to the future. It's a future in which he believes he can continue to improve on the track, and even win global competitions. (First he has to work on his kick.)Of course, he can't help but wonder about the marathon. One of his less-accomplished Harvard teammates, Ben Rosa, already ran a 2:09:47 in December, 2025. He and Blanks plan to hook up again for some tough training sessions later this year. We imagine there will be much marathon talk on their grinding 20-milers. In addition, one of Blanks's advisors at Harvard was professor Paul Gompers, also known as the fourth place finisher in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. While some other top collegians have switched to corporate/professional coaches in their post-University days, Blanks is still working with Harvard coach Alex Gibby. A hallmark of their program? Blanks and Gibby don't believe in the "easy days" that underpin many other training plans. Even on slower days, Blanks almost never dials things back any further than 6:00/mile. He figures this means he is always adding to his aerobic development. He does take one day off per week, usually Thursday.You can follow Graham Blanks on Instagram.WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"Use your smartphone to download our podcast from Apple, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Podcasts. Once you've selected your favorite app, search for "running state of the sport."With your computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can also listen direct to “Running: State of the Sport” at the below internet links.AppleSpotifyAudiblePandoraI Heart RadioYouTube"Running: State of the Sport" is brought to you by MarathonHandbook.com and RunLongRunHealthy.com. Marathon Handbook is the world’s leading marathon website, with a special focus on trustworthy running information and free, runner-tested training plans for all ability levels."Run Long, Run Healthy" is a weekly newsletter focused on the newest, most scientific, and most useful training advice for runners. It was launched by Amby in 2021, and is now edited by Brady Holmer, exercise physiologist and 2:24 marathon runner.
