Podcasts · The Marathon Podcast
#219 Christopher Brenk Lives in the Highest City in America. Now a 2:17 marathoner
· 1 h 21 min · S1 E219
Episode #219 Christopher Brenk Lives in the Highest City in America. Now a 2:17 marathoner
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Kristian sits down with Christopher Brenk, a Puma Project 3 athlete heading into the Berlin Marathon off the back of a 2:17 personal best in Eugene, for a genuinely unique running story: from Division 3 college racing to training at altitude in the highest city in the United States.
Christopher shares how a spontaneous application with his college teammate turned into a Puma Project 3 selection, and what it's meant to suddenly have shoes, gear, and a community built around his marathon racing for the first time. He walks through his path from a small Division 3 program at St. Olaf, through years spent in Sitka, Alaska and Utah, to now living and training in Laramie, Wyoming, the highest elevation D1 city in the country. The conversation covers what it's actually like adapting to serious altitude training, how he thinks about carb intake and race nutrition heading into Berlin, and the strange in between space of running elite times without seeing himself as a professional.
In this episode:
- Getting selected for Puma Project 3 alongside a college teammate
- Having shoes, gear, and a community for the first time
- A Division 3 college running background and an unconventional path
- Years spent living in Sitka, Alaska and Utah before Wyoming
- Moving to the highest elevation city in the US for altitude training
- What it's actually like adapting to serious altitude
- Balancing running with a full time job at the university registrar
- Race nutrition strategy and carb intake heading into Berlin
- Chasing a new personal best at the Berlin Marathon
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome and introducing Christopher Brenk
01:00 Announcing the podcast's sponsorship with Saysky Copenhagen
02:13 Kristian's own training week update
08:26 Welcome to Christopher and a wifi mishap
10:08 How it felt to get selected for Puma Project 3
14:04 Running a 2:17 marathon while not seeing himself as a pro
19:12 A Division 3 college running background
19:59 Years spent in Sitka, Alaska before Wyoming
20:00 Moving to Laramie for altitude training and his girlfriend's masters program
52:15 Living and training in the highest city in the US
53:39 Adjusting workouts to account for the altitude
57:07 Whether the altitude benefits are finally paying off
1:16:46 Race nutrition strategy and carb intake for Berlin
1:19:02 Closing thoughts and good luck in Berlin
Christopher on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher_brenk/
Start your free Musicbed trial: https://fm.pxf.io/kristianwarwick
Full episodes + the Boston 2025 documentary: https://www.youtube.com/@Warwickruns
Follow my training journey on Instagram: @warwick.runs
Music from Musicbed: MB01XPYH8ZYENVAMB0133EV2TCQFZY
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