Podcast: Episode 210 with Peter Gilmore

Mario Fraioli | August 1, 2022

“This is one of the things as you get older—and I realized this when I was younger, but more so now—and Sergio [Reyes] is a great example of this: He’s a super competitive guy, as am I, he’s a fantastic human being, and we get along great off the race course. And I love the fact that when we go to the starting line that I can look at him in the eye, or in the middle of a race or whatever, and know that he doesn’t care how well we get along off the track, he wants to kick my ass. And I’m sure he understands the same thing about me. All the cards are on the table and it’s OK to be competitive in that sense. It’s not cool to be competitive in that sense in so many other parts of your life because you’d be an asshole in a lot of situations, but in that framework it’s OK and it’s great to have that in your life, and to have people in your life who you have that very unique relationship with.”

This week’s episode is a long one but it’s a pretty special conversation with one of my first post-collegiate running heroes, Peter Gilmore—who, incredibly and ironically enough, is now my teammate on the West Valley Track Club Masters racing team. In the early 2000s Peter was one of the top marathoners in the U.S. He finished 10th at the 2005 Boston Marathon and later that year represented the U.S. in the marathon at the world championships in Finland. The next year he finished 7th at Boston in a personal best 2:12:45. I didn’t know him at the time but I looked up to Peter from afar because he was everything I wanted to be in the sport: a scrappy underdog, a guy who wasn’t a star in college, he didn’t have a shoe contract, but he busted his butt and became really good.

In this conversation, we talked about all of that but what I was really interested in was his path back to the competitive side of the sport a few years ago after an 8-year break from serious training and racing. We got into how and why he came back in 2018, as well as why he retired in 2010 in the first place, and that part of the conversation went in a direction I didn’t expect it to go. We also talked about what’s different for him now as a Masters athlete now versus when he was younger, what it was like spending six weeks training in Kenya right after college and what he learned from that experience, and a whole lot more.

Peter Gilmore: Instagram | Strava

the morning shakeout: Instagram | Twitter

Mario Fraioli: Website | Strava

This episode is brought to you by:

— Tracksmith. Tracksmith is an independent running brand inspired by a deep love of the sport. Their Summer Collection is now available and features staples ready for your next adventure, including the Run Cannonball Run Shorts, the Off Roads Shorts, the Run Cannonball Run Tee, and more. By using code Mario22 at checkout, you can receive free shipping on your order and 5% of your purchase will go to support the Brave Like Gabe Foundation to fund rare cancer research.

Music and editing for this episode of the morning shakeout podcast by John Summerford.