Mauri trains on Planet Fitness treadmills, races Chicago
The 2:05 debutant from Toledo heads to a world major off a block almost nobody in American distance running would recognise.
Vinny Mauri does most of his training on Planet Fitness treadmills. That is according to Jonathan Gault, whose profile of Mauri landed a week out from the Chicago Marathon and set the rest of the sport talking.
Gault's summary of the setup is short and strange. Mauri ran 2:05 in his marathon debut, in Toledo. One of his workouts was 36 miles at 4:56 pace in a single day. And the bulk of the work happens indoors, on gym treadmills.
Steve Magness read the story and zeroed in on the hardware. He says the treadmill Mauri uses tops out at 12.4mph, which is just slower than Mauri's marathon pace. Magness offered to fix that himself if the result goes the way some people think it might.
The numbers behind it
The treadmill detail sits on top of the session Chris Chavez pulled out on the CITIUS MAG Podcast, which we covered earlier. That September 8th day was 2 x 50 minutes in the morning, 4 x 20 minutes in the afternoon, 45 miles in total, and Mauri picked it by texting friends five options and letting them choose. Chavez calls it one of the more unconventional marathon blocks any American professional has put together ahead of a world major.
Mauri himself is not treating Toledo as the real thing. He told Chavez that Toledo was a debut effort of the marathon, and that Chicago is his debut race of the marathon.
Toledo was a debut effort of the marathon. This is my debut race of the marathon.
What it actually means
Brady Holmer is the one who has put a number on it. He says the men's American record goes down at Chicago, that it will be either Charles Hicks or Mauri, and that the time will be 2 04 17. That is one analyst's prediction, not a consensus, and 2:05 off a treadmill block in Toledo is a long way from a record at a major with a full elite field around you.
What is not in dispute is how odd the preparation looks next to the rest of the American marathon field. Most of them are doing their long work on roads or at altitude. Mauri is doing a chunk of his on a machine that, Magness says, cannot physically run his goal pace.
If this guy breaks the American Record, I'll gladly sponsor him by giving him a treadmill that at least goes his marathon pace
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