It’s been common wisdom in endurance sports that the further the race distance gets, the longer it takes to figure it out.

But every rule needs an exception to prove it and on this count one needs look no further than the career of Molly Seidel. 

After a gold-studded NCAA career at Notre Dame winning titles at 3000, 5000, 10000 and cross country, Seidel’s star only seemed to rise higher as the distances grew greater.

She made her marathon debut in 2020 at the US Olympic Trials, proving a quick-study at the event with a stunning 2nd placing showing and a spot on the US Olympic Team headed to Tokyo. 

A year and a half later, at those pandemic-postponed Olympic Games, She’d once again outperform expectations to run away from the best of the best en route to a brilliant bronze medal.

Fast forward to today and it seems her reputation for moving up in distance and throwing down continues to hold true, even with yet another change of surface.

In January she marked the start of a new chapter on the trail scene with a win and course record clocking at the Banderas 50k in Texas. Weeks later, she would take another huge leap forward at the famously competitive Black Canyon 100k in Arizona. 

Facing some of the best trail talent in the world, Seidel turned a lack of experience into gold, claiming a 4th-place finish and snagging an elusive “Golden Ticket”, securing her a place in the biggest ultra of them all, the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run. 

Today, Molly joins the show to recap her incredible rise through the trail running ranks, what it’s looked like to double her race distance with every start, and how she’s applying the lessons of a legendary career on the roads and track to a the new challenges of the trails.

Check Molly out @bygolly.molly

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Cover Photo: Misty Wong