Hello friends! Here is a look at the high points of 2025 at Marathon Training Academy. Angie finished a bucket list goal of completing all 6 original World Marathon Majors. The podcast turned 15 and brought in another 1 million downloads this year. We finally visited Ireland (and it did not disappoint) and Trevor ran his second 50k and didn’t stop to lay down under a tree.
Best of all, thanks to our awesome team of coaches we were able to help many members and clients get to the next level in their running journey. That’s what it’s all about! Here’s a run down of our year and a look at what’s ahead for us in 2026!
Client Success Stories (This is What Fires us Up!🔥)
The best part of 2025 was seeing client success stories flow in throughout the year. We gave our website a makeover and you can now go to the success story tag and see a blog roll of these stories. This year we witnessed marathon and half marathon times fall, BQ’s earned, clients get back to running after injury or pregnancy, and ultramarathons finished. Just look at all these smiling faces!
This is what keeps us going! Here’s a report from just last week. Katie from California says,
“I recently completed the California International Marathon and scored a 6 minute PR and hard earned BQ. . . I cried with happiness at the finish line as I now have a real shot at Boston which has been a life long goal and multi-year journey. Thank you Coach Steve and MTA, I couldn’t have done it without you!” -Katie L.
Exploits from MTA Coaches in 2025 🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻
MTA run coaching is 100% online and our clients come from all over the world. Our team is spread out around the USA and most them have other full-time jobs and families. They are a big inspiration to us as they keep fueling their passion for running and take action in their health and fitness. They love to run fast and far! Here are some exploits from 2025.
- Coach Antonio ran the 2025 Boston Marathon; earned a PR at the Spearfish Canyon South Dakota Half; and completed state #24 in his 50 state half marathon goal.
- Coach Abby ran the Mad City 100k and the Hennepin 100 miler in 2025!
- Coach Henry ran 2,000 miles for the year and completed The Burning River 100.
- Coach Athena ran the Mammoth Trailfest 50K in California and helped us developed a running form program for Academy members.
- Coach Erin Smith ran two marathons and completed her Level 2 RRCA Coaching Certification
- Coach Erin Palos ran the Chicago Marathon which was her 14th marathon and 3rd World Major marathon
- Coach Kris ran a sub 19 minute 5k and won the first place Women’s Masters Team at the Boston Marathon.
Reaching Podcast Milestones 🎙️
This year the MTA Podcast passed two milestones: we celebrated 15 years of podcasting and passed 500 total episodes. This means that we have dropped a new episode approximately every 10 days for the last 15 years, like clockwork. This publishing frequency might not be as high as other podcasters but it’s a rhythm we’ve been able to sustain. Thanks to our amazing listeners, members, and clients who make this possible! Here’s a look at the content we produced in 2025:
- Interviews with Famous Runners: like Alexi Pappas, Dean Karnazes, Keira D’Amato, Des Linden, and Dakotah Popehn.
- Training topics like heart rate training, relative energy deficiency (REDs), the growth of running, how to get into the World Majors, nutrition for runners, why we explore, running form, shoe terminology, and the hero’s journey of the marathon.
- Race recaps: about the Eiger Ultra Trail in Switzerland, the Dublin Marathon, and the NYC Marathon.
- Client success stories with Robin Walters -who shares an injury comeback story on her road to the Boston Marathon and Debbie Gelber -who reinvented herself through running at the age of 40 and finished 51 marathons.
- Our most popular episode on Spotify was Ask the Coach Q&A with special guest Coach Erin Palos.
Big thanks to our awesome 2025 podcast sponsors: Drury Hotels, UCAN, Previnex, MetPro, IQ Bar, Coros, Shokz, Altra, AG1, Sports Tours, Richmond Marathon, and Lagoon Sleep!
Angie and Trevor Go Back to the Alps 🏔️
In July we met up with fellow runners for a trail running adventure in the Alps. Angie and I hosted a 10 day running retreat in Switzerland and were joined by 12 awesome fans of the MTA Podcast. Everyone became fast friends. We started our journey in the Lauterbrunnen Valley by riding the steepest gondola in Switzerland up to the dreamy car-free village of Mürren.
Our days consisted of running about 8-10 miles per day, eating, and soaking in the scenery. We ran from Mürren to the candle-light hotel Obersteinberg. Then to Wengen, another car-free village. Then we climbed over the Kleine Scheidegg pass and descended to the town of Grindelwald in full view of the Eiger north face. Our partner Run the Alps did a superb job of handing all the logistics. The week culminated with the Eiger Ultra Trail race, which is part of the UTMB World Series. (Trevor ran the 51k and Angie ran the 35k). All of our runners finished their race under the cutoff.
Shoutout to the Eiger Runners: James and Susie Jin, Brad Rudler, Marcia Salovitz, Ryan Shea, Bekah Shininger, Robin Walters, Liz Sur, Marcia Mathison, Candis Ubiles, Mindy McCune, Kate Mattern, and our guides: Alistair Crompton and Marion Girod!
Trevor stayed in Europe for a couple extra weeks and feverishly worked on the podcast in-between climbing mountains in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Click here to see his via ferrata sky ladder video.
Angie and Trevor at The Dublin Marathon 🇮🇪
In October we joined a group of MTA Podcast fans at the Irish Life Dublin Marathon for a fun 4-day weekend. This is one of the top five marathons in Europe. It rained most of the time but there was plenty of Guinness and Beamish to cheer us up!
While in Ireland we drove the Ring of Kerry, walked the Gap of Dunloe, and stayed in Dingle, Killarney, and Cork (to see long time MTA member Niall Moriarty). We also toured Guinness and the Jamison Distillery.
Special thanks to the listeners to the MTA podcast and spouses who met us in Dublin: Jennifer and Ryan, David and Melissa, Sarah and Chris, Kevin and Lynn, Heidi, Cortney and Jon, Pat and Monica, Louise and Rachel, Kelsey and Clayton, and Kathleen. It was great to meet Irish fans of the MTA Podcast: Niall, Djin, Kevin, Eoin, Rose, Stephen, and Des. And thanks to Sports Tours International USA for organizing this trip!
Angie Runs the New York City Marathon 🗽
Angie finally got into the NYC Marathon after 15 years of rejection in the lottery. She secured a bib through Team Abbott. This means she was finally able to earn that coveted Six Star Medal for completing all the original World Marathon Majors.
She finished in 4:35:42 which was not too shabby considering she had just run Dublin the weekend before. This was marathon number 72 for her.
Trevor Goes to Richmond and San Antonio 👟
In November Trevor was back in Richmond, Virginia, for his 5th consecutive year and spoke at the Expo with fellow podcaster Lindsey Hein. This event is growing and this year every race distance sold out early. Thanks to Sports Backers for having him back for another great year!
On the way down to Richmond Trevor stopped at Charm City Run to chat with Josh Leavinson (store owner) and Stephanie Smith (manager, and long-time MTA Podcast fan). Trevor’s final trip in 2025 was to The Running Event in San Antonio -the largest running specialty conference in the USA.
2026 is Going to be Epic!👊
Our most important work in 2026 will be to see clients and members reach their goals. Everyone here at MTA looks forward to helping runners conquer the marathon and change their lives.
2 Running Retreats in 2026
In June we are taking a group of runners to Italy! Following our Run the Alps guides, we will village-hop from Ortisei to Cortina (where the Olympics will be held). Carrying only our running packs and poles we will venture where few tourist dare to go. We have limited spots on this all-inclusive running retreat if you want to join us.
In November 2026 we will be co-hosting a trip to the Athens Marathon with Dean Karnazes. Athens is where it all started and we can’t think of a better way to experience Greece than have the Ultramarathon Man as our tour guide. Want to join us? See this page for details.
Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Trevor and Angie
Marathon Training Academy
