The CITIUS MAG Podcast | A Running + Track and Field Show

“Once you become a champion instead of a medalist, it shifts something. I used to think a medal was the best thing ever. Now I’d probably be a little disappointed with just a medal. That’s a blessing and a curse.”
My guest for today’s episode is Georgia Hunter Bell. In March, at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Georgia won gold in the 1500m, completing a remarkable arc from Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024 to World Indoor silver in Tokyo in 2025 to world champion this spring. She did it as part of one of the most extraordinary 28-minute stretches in British athletics history, with Keely Hodgkinson and Molly Caudery becoming world champions in the same session.
Georgia only went fully professional in April 2024. Before that she was working a corporate job that was about to transfer her to Sydney. In the two years since, she has put together three World Championship podiums, has run personal bests across the 800m and 1500m, and built one of the more unusual training models in elite middle-distance running while still averaging about 30 miles a week, doing long bike rides instead of second runs, and apparently ending most track sessions on the ground.
In this conversation, caught from the middle of April camp in South Africa, Georgia walks through the full arc of what it took to go from bronze to silver to gold, the European Indoor heartbreak in 2025 that set up Torun, what she learned from last year’s Tokyo World Championships and what she felt crossing the finish line as world champion.
We also get into the outdoor season ahead with Commonwealth Games and European Championships on home soil, the 1500m European record. I also get into the awkward and wonderful question of whether she wants to be in Keely’s 800m world record race and her own self-belief in attaining that. Plus, where the world indoor title sits in the athletics title pyramid.
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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez
Guest: Georgia Hunter Bell | @georgiahunterbell
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr
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SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.
WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate the exact Boston or London Marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, no breaking your flow. ⁠When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠

“I tangoed way too much in the first half and didn’t have enough left to do it again when it counted. The marathoner who dances smart wins. I danced too early.”
My guest for today’s episode is Rory Linkletter: a Canadian Olympian, co-host of the Out and Back Podcast, and one of the most analytically sharp pro voices in the sport right now. At the 2026 Boston Marathon, he ran 2:06:04 for 14th place overall and the second-fastest marathon in Canadian history. He came in with the best build of his career — two sub-60-minute halves, workouts that never said no — and went out with the lead pack convinced that anything was possible. Then the bill came due.
In this conversation, Rory walks us through the moment the race turned, the internal negotiation of the final nine miles, the hamstring that seized on Boylston, and what he took from watching Clayton Young and Ryan Ford fly past him on Commonwealth Avenue.
But we also get Rory in full pundit mode: how to actually read the Boston results in the context of 2028, why he thinks Zouhair Talbi was operating on a different level than everyone around him, his declaration that John Korir is the best in the world right now, his take on the Scott Fauble super shoe debate, the Emma Bates sponsorship controversy, and why he thinks the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will be the craziest in modern history.
He also previews Ottawa in five weeks, where he goes in with a simple mandate: run less with the heart, more with the head.
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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez
Guest: Rory Linkletter | @rory_linkletter
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr
____________
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.
WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate the exact Boston or London Marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, no breaking your flow. ⁠When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠

“I had every excuse in the book. The perfect narrative to show up and have fun and chalk it all up to injury and sponsor change. But there was this constant question: how can I be true to myself and respectful of the fitness I’ve gained?”
My guest for today’s episode is Clayton Young. He’s back after the 2026 Boston Marathon, which was his tenth marathon and this his tenth appearance on this podcast. He ran 2:05:41 for 11th place in the fastest and deepest field the race has ever seen. That time makes him one of the five fastest American men in marathon history on all courses.
What makes this performance worth a full conversation is everything that went into it. Clayton came into Boston off a foot and ankle injury that kept him cross training for sixteen weeks. He switched sponsors to Brooks, he had ten weeks of actual running, and he made the decision, consciously and explicitly, to compete — not to show up and let the circumstances be the excuse, but to play to win. The result was a two-and-a-half-minute PR and a Wellesley College high-five moment that went viral.
In this conversation, we go deep on the psychology of that decision, the Coach Ed Eyestone mantra of “fresh, flow, fearless, and faith,” the intel Clayton gathered from Rory Linkletter the night before that told him exactly how the race was going to go, the power data that said he was 1-2% less powerful than the year prior, and what it felt like to relive Chicago 2023 while dueling Ryan Ford in the closing miles of Boston.
We also get into the top 10 streak that Boston broke, what Clayton thinks about his spot in the American marathon pecking order heading toward LA 2028, and the sunglasses saga involving my own pair of shades.
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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez
Guest: Clayton Young | @_clayton_young_
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr
____________
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠
XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

Chris Chavez and Preet Majithia hop on the mics for a bonus edition of This Week In Track & Field to preview the London Marathon this Sunday. Chris and Preet break down all the biggest names and storylines to watch for in London and share some of their race day insights and predictions.
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Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Preet Majithia | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@preet_athletics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
____________
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate the exact Boston or London Marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, no breaking your flow.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

“Dathan said: you didn’t run it perfectly, but the way you competed tells us your ceiling might be much higher than we even thought when we recruited you.”
My guest for today’s episode is Ryan Ford: a member of the On Athletics Club roads squad who just ran 2:05:46 at the 2026 Boston Marathon, finishing among the top Americans in one of the fastest and deepest fields the race has ever seen. Twelve months ago, Ryan ran 2:08:00 at Boston in 2025 in what was his breakthrough performance, the race that landed him his On sponsorship and got him training under Dathan Ritzenhein and Laura Thweatt. He came back to the same city, the same course, and went two and a half minutes faster.
What makes Ryan’s story compelling beyond the result is the trajectory. He was a 14:07 5K runner out of college at UT Martin, transferred to Iowa State, chopped 30 seconds off that in a COVID extra year, joined Zap Fitness, paced Clayton Young to a 2:08 in Chicago before he’d even debuted in the marathon himself, and has been on a straight upward line ever since.
In this conversation, we talk about the training block that built this performance — the aggressive long runs with Joe Klecker on the dirt roads of Boulder, the Scottsdale camp that reset the build, and the race plan Dathan drew up for a day everyone knew was going to be fast.
Ryan also walks us through the key tactical moments on the course and shares what Dathan told him after the race about just how high his ceiling might actually be.
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Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez
Guest: Ryan Ford | @ryanford_chevy
Produced by: Jasmine Fehr | ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr
____________
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.
WAHOO: With the Wahoo KICKR RUN, you can simulate the exact Boston or London Marathon course right in your own home. You can also use the run free mode, which uses sensors to automatically match the belt speed to your stride. No buttons, no interruptions, no breaking your flow. ⁠When you use code CITIUS at checkout, you'll also get a free KICKR Headwind Smart Fan. Check it out today at wahoofitness.com.
OLIPOP: Olipop’s Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠