60 Years of Marathon Running Lessons Learned with Amby Burfoot

The marathon scene in the 1960s was wild (and niche): everyone ran in what was essentially racing flats; you measured your training run distance with a car odometer; the common hydration advice was “don’t drink anything during a race”; and runners were such outliers that they’d get heckled and have objects thrown at them in the street.

Brady sits down with RLRH founder and MH editor-at-large to reflect on the changes he’s seen in marathon training, racing and culture in his 60 years of running marathons. Amby ran his first Boston marathon in 1965, won the race in 1968, and ran the 2025 Boston marathon.